the rather, I will advise him to come to England with her. He says he shall be able to leave her a fortune of ten thousand pounds. Upon the interest of that they could live very well, and perhaps we may be able to furnish them with a house."

Four months after this we read as follows:

"My dear son, having lately shown. symptoms of great weakness, partly the consequence of his rapid growth, and the long cold spring following a most severe winter, has been advised to take a sea voyage, by way of bracing his constitution. As we all of us naturally dreaded so great a separation, Mr. Lovel has hired a small yacht; in that Linton thinks to cruise round the coast of England, which his doctor pronounces as likely to answer the. end he proposes; which, with the blessing of God, I pray for. He can turn his weakness into strength, if such be His good will.

"I had well-nigh wished myself a young

woman again, that I might have joined him, for the weather is now as genial as I ever experienced, and methinks a little straying from home has a mighty efficaciousness on the spirits. We that live at home are scarcely alive to the vast influence of this small island over the rest of the world. This sea-bound, densely-peopled land, so insignificant on the map, so infinite in its social relations-ubiquitous, for who can measure its shores or put a boundary to its possessions? -how we should love it! Next to being a Christian, I thank God I am an English woman, with a brave spirit to dare and do all that the Almighty may command and permit. Does this energy and life—so conspicuous in the English race- belong in a particular manner to islanders? It would be a good study to make out this theory from the history of other islands. Though my dear Mr. Lovel will have his answer ready:

"To the winds with your theory. If all

islanders are braver, more daring, more resolute than the inhabitants of continents, where are England's rivals? She ought to have many. Borneo, for instance, fifteen hundred miles in circumference, with fine rivers, iron, tin and loadstones in its mountains, and, what England has not, brilliant diamonds, and eatable birds' nests. But Borneo we will forego. Eight months of rain in the year would be quite sufficient to damp the most energetic race, though I believe the "Beaujus," as they call themselves, are upon the whole civilized people, compared with other savages. There is New Holland, New Zealand, Madagascar, one thousand miles long, and three hundred broad, spoken of by Pliny as Cernè, supposed to be the Menuthiasde of Ptolemy. Now this is an island with natural beauties and advantages that are generally scattered in units over other lands. Cascades rivalling Niagara, beauty of scenery that might belong to Italy, fertility of soil unknown in

Their

any other land. Ebony and rare woods. lavishly springing in every direction. The merest labour produces a hundred-fold. The inhabitants hospitable, simple, not idolaters, but the rather imbued with the religious tenets of the Old Testament, as ordained by Moses for the use of the Jews— though with them the head of the house is priest, judge and father in one. Why do they not rival England? I surmise, because they have so little need for exertion. energies are not called forth by labour, and their dispositions are quiescent also. As they have no great virtue, so they have no great vice, but remain stationary, at peace with each other and all the world. Now in Britain we must labour, and that with brains as well as hands, to turn the riches of our little island to the best advantage. And we are indebted to our country being an island for the greater part of our pros perity. In the first place, we are a free people, yet being islanders we must be

united by a bond of union. No country can encroach upon our land, or cramp our energies by constant warfare and interference. We have a boundless highway, which so far from costing us anything to repair, is a source of wealth, and a great cause of the hardy and intrepid race, that we pour forth so unceasingly into all parts of the world. We are not affected by winds, for let them blow either way, the centre of our island benefits by the one coast or the other. And so, my dear wife, if Linton had wished to know wherefore England is so prosperous, he will be able to answer when he returns to us from visiting her coasts and harbours.'

"Such would be his reply doubtless, and my Linton would sit and smile at his mother, while he prompted his father to stun me quite with the statistics of every known island, their habits and customs.

"But to return from this long digression to the origin of it. I am especially pleased at the desire Linton expresses to know his own