THE YOUNG MIDSHIPMAN.

When hands are link'd that dread to part,
And heart is met by throbbing heart;
Oh! bitter, bitter is the smart
Of them that bid farewell.

Heber.

Next Monday morning, at an early hour, Frank had again found his way
with great difficulty to the house of Widow Mackay, where he spent all
his pocket money on two fine scarlet geraniums. If they had been nettles
or cabbages, he would have felt the same pleasure in buying them; and
his eyes sparkled with animation when he entered uncle David's room,
carrying them in his hand, and saying, "I was so glad to have some
money! I could spare it quite well. There is no greater pleasure in
being rich than to help such poor people as Evan Mackay and his poor
sick mother!"

"Yes, Frank, I often wonder that any enjoyment of wealth can be
considered equal to the exercise of kind feelings, for surely the most
delightful sensation in this world is, to deserve and receive the
grateful affection of those around us," replied Major Graham. "What a
wretched being Robinson Crusoe was on the desert island alone, though he
found chests of gold, and yet many people are as unblessed in the midst
of society, who selfishly hoard fortunes for themselves, unmindful of
the many around who ought to be gratefully receiving their daily
benefits."

"I was laughing to read lately of the West India slaves, who collected
money all their lives in an old stocking," said Frank, "and who watched
with delight as it filled from year to year; but the bank is only a
great stocking, where misers in this country lay up treasures for
themselves which they are never to enjoy, though too often they lay up
no treasures for themselves in a better world."

"I frequently think, Frank, if all men were as liberal, kind, and
forbearing to each other as the Holy Scriptures enjoin, and if we lived
as soberly, temperately, and godly together, what a paradise this world
would become, for many of our worst sufferings are brought on by our own
folly, or the unkindness of others. And certainly, if we wished to fancy
the wretchedness of hell itself, it would only be necessary to imagine
what the earth would become if all fear of God and man were removed, and
every person lived as his own angry, selfish passions would dictate.
Great are the blessings we owe to Christianity, for making the world
even what it is now, and yet greater would those blessings be, if