them; I, at
all events, have not, for I have to see to the refitting of the ship;
and you must acknowledge that I have been a good husband and father. I
have done my duty; and what more can you want of me?"

"The best of human beings are sinful by nature, and have committed
numberless sins, and require to be washed in the blood of Jesus to fit
them to enter into the presence of a pure and holy God," answered Mrs
Graybrook, gently.

"I dare say it is all true," said the captain, kissing his wife. "You
are a good creature, and mean well; but I have not time to listen now,
and must be off; so good-bye, Betty, good-bye!" and he hurried away.

Hannah had entertained hopes of inducing her father's young mate,
Leonard Champion, to listen to the subject which occupied her thoughts.
He had been a frequent visitor at the house while the ship was
undergoing repairs in the dockyard, for he was an especial favourite of
her father.

He was a young man of superior attainments, not having gone to sea till
he had completed his education at school and had entered college. At
that time, his father, who was a merchant, dying just as his firm, by
unforeseen circumstances, had become bankrupt, Leonard was left
destitute. He had always had a predilection for the sea, and Captain
Graybrook, an old friend of his father, at once offered, in the most
liberal way, to give him an outfit and to receive him on board his ship.

Leonard thankfully accepted the offer, and, devoting all his energies
and talents to acquire a knowledge of the profession he had entered,
soon became an excellent navigator and a first-rate seaman. Delighting
in his new calling, generous and good-natured as he was cool and daring
in danger, he won the confidence of his captain, and was beloved and
willingly obeyed by the crew.

He had not seen the captain's daughter till the last time the ship
returned home, and had not expected to find her so engaging and refined
a girl. He was, in her sight, superior to any one she had ever met, and
her affections were engaged before she was aware of the state of her own
feelings. He did not conceal his, and, little versed in the ways of the
world, while utterly free from deceit, he expressed his opinions with a
freedom which many persons under the circumstances would not have done.
Hannah, though admiring his many fine qualities, could not forget that
he was destitute of the most important of all things--sound religious
princ