was sold at auction, he overbid all contestants, and secured its
occupancy. For all the preceding year, he had failed to enjoy the
Sabbath services, because another family had a pew regarded as
better situated than his; and now he enjoyed these services as
little, through annoyance at having given so large a price for the
right of choice, that people smiled when they heard the sum named.
He had paid too dear for the privilege, and this fact took away
enjoyment.

Envy tormented him in a hundred different ways. He could not enjoy
his friend's exquisite statuary, or paintings, because of a secret
intimation in his heart that his friend was honored above him in
their possession. Twice he had sold almost palatial residences,
because their architectural attractions were thrown into the shade
by dwellings of later construction. Thousands of dollars each year
this troublesome guest cost him; and yet she would never let him be
at ease. At every feast of life she dashed his cup with bitterness,
and robbed the choicest viands of their zest. He did not enjoy the
fame of an author, an orator, an artist, a man of science, a
general, or of any who held the world's admiring gaze--for while
they stood in the sunlight, he felt cast in the shade. So the guest
Envy, warmed and nourished in his heart, proved a tormentor. She
gave him neither rest nor peace.

Detraction, twin-sister of Envy, was all the while pointing out
defects in friends and neighbors. He saw their faults and hard
peculiaries; but rarely their good qualities. Then Doubt and
Distrust crept in through the unguarded door, and soon after their
entrance Markland began to think uneasily of the future; to fear
lest the foundations of worldly prosperity were not sure. These