and then the touching close--

'In truth, the prison unto which we doom
Ourselves, no prison is; and hence to me,
In sundry moods, 'twas pastime to be bound
Within the sonnets scanty plot of ground;
Pleased if some souls, for such there needs must be,
Who have felt the weight of too much liberty,
Should find brief solace there as I have found.'

_The weight of too much liberty_. Ah, who has not experienced this!"--Mr
Michael Allcraft sighed profoundly. A slight pause ensued after this
sudden outbreak on the part of the junior partner, and then he proceeded,
his animated and handsome countenance glowing with expression as he spoke.

"You are really to be envied, Mrs Mildred, with your cultivated tastes and
many acquirements. You can comply with every wish of your elegant and
well-informed mind. There is no barrier between you and a life of high
mental enjoyment. The source of half my happiness was cut off when I
exchanged my study for the desk. Men cease to live when what is falsely
called life begins with them."

"We have all our work to do, and we should do it cheerfully. It is a
lesson taught me by my mother, and experience has shown it to be just."

"Yes, madam, I grant you when your mother spoke. But it is not so now.
Mercantile occupation in England is not as it has been. I question whether
it will ever be again. It is not closely and essentially associated, as it
was of yore, with high principle and strict notions of honour. The simple
word of the English merchant has ceased to pass current through the world,