THE HAPPY HOME.

II.

THE SHIP OF HEAVEN.

THE man was very poor, and one of those poor men who never make it any better. Always so laggard and so listless, he looked as if he had come into the world with only half his soul. Having no fondness for exertion, he had great faith in windfalls; and once or twice he was favoured with a windfall; but as he took no pains to secure it and turn it to account, the same fickle element which brought it, scon wafted it away. His character was gone; his principles, never firm, were fast decaying; and betwixt laziness and bad habits, he was little better than the ruin of a man. He had a brother far away; but so many years had come and gone since last he was seen in those regions, that he was faintly recollected. Indeed, so long since was it, that this man had no remembrance of him. But one evening a messenger came to him, telling him that

his brother lived, and in token of his love, had sent him the present of a gallant ship with all its cargo. The man was in a heartless mood. He was sitting in his dingy chamber; no fire on the hearth, no loaf in the cupboard, no pence in his pocket, no credit in that neighbourhood, bleak weather in the world, bleak feelings in his soul. And as with folded arms he perched on an empty chest and listened to the news, he neither wondered nor rejoiced. Sure enough it was a windfall; but he was not just then in a romantic or wistful mood, and so he heard it sullenly. No; he neither danced nor capered, neither laughed nor shouted, but coldly walked away-scarcely hoping, scarcely caring to find it true. And when, at last, he reached the port, and espied the ship, it dispelled all his boyish dreams of Eastern merchant-men. The masts were not palms, with silken cords furling the purple sails; nor did its bulwarks gild the water, and its beams of sandal scent the air. It was much like the barques around it-chafed, and weathered, and bleached by the billows, and bore no outward token of a gorgeous freight. But stepping on board, as soon as the master of the vessel knew who he was, he addressed him respectfully, and descanted with glowing warmth on the glories and generosity of his absent brother, and then invited him below to feast his eyes on his new possession. There was gold, and the red ingots looked so rich and weighed in the hand so heavy; there were robes, stiff with embroidery, and bright with ruby and sapphire stars; there were spices such as the fervid sun distils from the fragrant soil in

that exuberant zone, and dainties such as only load the tropic trees. Nor in the wealthy invoice had forethought and affection omitted any good; for there were even some herbs and anodynes of singular power; a balm which healed envenomed wounds; an ointment which brought back the failing sight; a cordial which kept from fainting; and a preparation which made the wearer proof against the fire. And there was a bulky parchment, the title-deeds to a large domain somewhere in that sunny land; and along with all a letter, distinct and full, in the princely donor's autograph. Of that letter, the younger brother sat down and read a portion there; and as he read, he looked around him to see that it was all reality; and then he read again, and his lip quivered, and his eye filled, and as the letter dropped upon his lap, he smote upon his breast, and called himself by some bitter name. And then he started up; and if you had only seen him-such an altered man; such energy, and yet such mildness; such affection, and withal such heroism as beamed of a sudden in his kindling countenance; you would have thought that, amidst its other wonders, that foreign ship had fetched the remainder of his soul. And so it had. From that day forward, he was another man; grudging no labour, doing nothing by halves, his character changed, his reputation retrieved, his whole existence filled with a new consciousness and inspired by a new motive, and all his sanguine schemes and cheerful efforts converging towards the happy day which should transport him to the arms of that unseen brother.

Reader, have you lost heart about yourself? Once