more happiness than one that
is the reverse; and if "honesty is the best policy," after all the
shifts and expedients of cupidity, so does virtue lead most unerringly
to happiness here, as it opens up the way to happiness hereafter.

All the men of the Abraham had heard of Ooroony, and of his benevolent
qualities. It was his goodness, indeed, that had been the cause of his
downfall; for had he punished Waally as he deserved to be, when the
power was in his hands, that turbulent chief, who commenced life as his
lawful tributary, would never have gained a point where he was so near
becoming his master. Every man on board now pressed around the good old
chief, who heard on all sides of him assurances of respect and
attachment, with pledges of assistance. When this touching scene was
over, Mark held a council on the quarter-deck, in which the whole matter
of the political condition of the group was discussed, and the wants and
dangers of Ooroony laid bare.

As commonly happens everywhere, civilized nations and popular
governments forming no exceptions to the rule, the ascendency of evil in
this cluster of remote and savage islands was owing altogether to the
activity and audacity of a few wicked men, rather than to the
inclination of the mass. The people greatly preferred the mild sway of
their lawful chief, to the violence and exactions of the turbulent
warrior who had worked his way into the ascendant; and, if a portion of
the population had, unwittingly, aided the latter in his designs, under
the momentary impulses of a love of change, they now fully repented of
their mistake, and would gladly see the old condition of things
restored. There was one island, in particular, which might be considered
as the seat of power in the entire group. Ooroony had been born on it,
and it had long been the residence of his family; but Waally succeeded
in driving him off of it, and of intimidating its people, who, in
secret, pined for the return of their ancient rulers. If this island
could be again put in his possession, it would, itself, give the good
chief such an accession of power, as would place him, at once, on a
level with his competitor, and bring the war back to a struggle on equal
terms. Could this be done with the assistance of the schooner, the moral
effect of such an alliance would, in all probability, secure Ooroony's
ascendency as long as such an alliance lasted.

It would not have been easy to give a clearer illustrat