ithout parents, but without name, he was re-christened by
Adams by the cognomen of the "King's Own," and by that title, or his
Christian name, Willy, was ever afterwards addressed, both by officers
and men.

There is an elasticity supplied to the human mind by unerring Wisdom,
that enables us, however broken down by the pressure of misfortune, to
recover our cheerfulness after a while, and resign ourselves to the
decrees of Heaven. It consoles the widow--it supports the bereaved
lover, who had long dwelt upon anticipated bliss--it almost reconciles
to her lot the fond and forsaken girl, whose heart is breaking.

Unusually oppressed as Willy was, with the loss of those to whom he had
so fondly clung from his birth, in a few months he recovered his wonted
spirits, and his cheeks again played with dimples, as his flashing eye
beamed from under his long eyelashes. He attached himself to the old
quarter-master, and seldom quitted him--he slept in his hammock, he
stood by his side when he was on deck, at his duty, steering the ship,
and he listened to the stories of the good old man, who soon taught him
to read and write. For three years thus passed his life; at the end of
which period he had arrived at the age of nine years.

After a long monotony of blockade service, the ship was ordered to hoist
the flag of a commodore, who was appointed to the command of an
expedition against the western coast of France, to create a diversion in
favour of the Vendean chiefs. Captain A---, whether it was that he did
not like to receive a superior officer on board of his ship, or that he
did not admire the service upon which she was to be employed, obtained
permission to leave his ship for a few months, for the restoration of
his health, to the great joy of the officers and crew; and an acting
captain of well-known merit, was appointed in his stead.

The squadron of men-of-war and transports was collected, the commodore's
flag hoisted, and the expedition sailed with _most secret_ orders,
which, as usual, were as well known to the enemy, and everybody in
England, as they were to those by whom they were given. It is the
characteristic of our nation, that we scorn to take any unfair
advantage, or reap any benefit, by keeping our intentions a secret. We
imitate the conduct of that English tar, who, having entered a fort, and
meeting a Spanish officer without his sword, being providentially
supplied with two cut-lasses himself, immediat