reproach and poverty, and
the countless trials of a wilderness, appealed directly to the best
feelings of the heart. Arthur was reminded by all around him, of this
noble triumph of mind and principle over the greatest physical
obstacles; and he strongly felt the contrast which it presented to the
habits and opinions of the Acadian settlers, with whom he had been
lately associated. The bitter enmity of La Tour and D'Aulney, the
struggle for pre-eminence, which kept them continually at strife, had
deadened every social affection and aroused the most fierce and selfish
passions. They had attempted to colonize a portion of the New World,
from interested and ambitious motives; their followers were in general
actuated by a hope of gain, or the mere spirit of adventure, which
characterized that age; and, if religion was at all considered, it was
only from motives of policy. The purity and disinterestedness of the
New-England fathers was more striking from the comparison; and, as
Stanhope mused on them, he wondered that the light sacrifices he had
himself been compelled to make, could ever have appeared so important.
His country, his profession, his hopes of honorable advancement, were
indeed abandoned; but dearer hopes had succeeded the dreams of
ambition; and what country would not become a paradise, when brightened
by the smiles of affection!

His reverie, by a very lover-like process, had thus revolved back to the
point where it commenced, when he was reminded of the lapse of time, by
the sound of a bell, which floated sweetly on the still air, and
announced the stated hour for the second services of the day. He was
slowly turning to obey its summons, when his attention was attracted by
the appearance of a vessel; and he again paused in curiosity and
suspense. It was a pinnace of large size, and sailed slowly over the
smooth waters, frequently tacking to catch the light breeze, which
scarcely swelled the canvass. The waves curled, as if in sport, around
the prow, leaving a sinuous track behind, as it came up through the
channel, north of Castle Island, like a solitary bird, skimming the
surface of the deep, and spreading its snowy wings towards some region
of rest. As it entered the spacious harbor, the gay streamer, which hung
idly from the mainmast, was raised by a passing breeze, displaying the
colors of France, united with the private arms of Mons. d'Aulney.

The vessel soon attracted general observation, but the sanct