esque rocks, its little green islands, indeed, everything
about it was so grand and beautiful, that it seemed more like the
creation of an enthusiastic imagination than a substantial reality. The
retired shipmaster loved the beautiful in nature, and his first view of
the silver lake and the surrounding country enabled him to decide that
this spot should be his future habitation. He bought the land, built
him a fine house, and was as happy as a mortal could desire to be.

But I beg my young reader not to think that Captain Sedley was happy
because he lived in such a beautiful place, and had such a fine house,
and so much money at his command; for a beautiful prospect, a costly
dwelling, and plenty of money, alone, cannot make a person contented
and happy. The richest men are often the most miserable; a bed of down
may be a bed of thorns; and a magnificent mansion will not banish the
gnawings of remorse.

Captain Sedley was a good man. He had always endeavored to be true to
his God and true to himself; to be just and honest in his relations to
his fellow-men. In an active business experience of twenty years, he
had found a great many opportunities for doing good--opportunities
which he had had the moral courage to improve. He loved his God by
loving his fellow-man. He had made his fortune by being honest and
just. He had lived a good life; and as every good man will, whether he
get rich or poor by it, he was receiving his reward in the serene
happiness of his life in this world, and in the cherished hope of
everlasting bliss in the world to come.

Captain Sedley was happy, too, in his family. Mrs. Sedley was an
amiable and devoted woman; and Frank, his only child, was an
affectionate and obedient son. Perhaps my young friends cannot fully
appreciate the amount of satisfaction which a parent derives from the
good character of his child. Though the worthy shipmaster had a
beautiful estate and plenty of money, if his son had been a liar, a
thief, a profane swearer,--in short, if Frank had been a bad boy,--he
could not have been happy. If a wise and good father could choose
between having his son a hopeless drunkard or villain, and laying his
cold form in the dark grave, never more to see him on earth, he would
no doubt choose the latter. Almost all parents say so; and their words
are so earnest, their tears so eloquent, that we cannot but believe it.
Such was the father of Frank Sedley, and it was such a father that made