of
these. "I used my brother ill," was a secret thought of most powerful
influence. It kept him waking upon his safe and commodious bed; was sure
to recur with every misfortune by which he was threatened to make his
fears still stronger, and came with invidious stabs, upon every
successful event, to take from him a part of his joy. In a word, it was
_conscience_ which made Henry's years pass happier than William's.

But though, comparatively with his brother, William was the less happy
man, yet his self-reproach was not of such magnitude, for an offence of
that atrocious nature as to banish from his breast a certain degree of
happiness, a sensibility to the smiles of fortune; nor was Henry's self-
acquittal of such exquisite kind as to chase away the feeling of his
desolate condition.

As he fished or hunted for his daily dinner, many a time in full view of
his prey, a sudden burst of sorrow at his fate, a sudden longing for some
dear associate, for some friend to share his thoughts, for some kind
shoulder on which to lean his head, for some companion to partake of his
repast, would make him instantaneously desist from his pursuit, cast him
on the ground in a fit of anguish, till a shower of tears and his
_conscience_ came to his relief.

It was, after an exile of more than twenty-three years, when, on one
sultry morning, after pleasant dreams during the night, Henry had waked
with more than usual perception of his misery, that, sitting upon the
beach, his wishes and his looks all bent on the sea towards his native
land, he thought he saw a sail swelling before an unexpected breeze.

"Sure I am dreaming still!" he cried. "This is the very vessel I last
night saw in my sleep! Oh! what cruel mockery that my eyes should so
deceive me!"

Yet, though he doubted, he leaped upon his feet in transport, held up his
hands, stretched at their length, in a kind of ecstatic joy, and, as the
glorious sight approached, was near rushing into the sea to hail and meet
it.

For awhile hope and fear kept him in a state bordering on distraction.

Now he saw the ship making for the shore, and tears flowed for the
grateful prospect. Now it made for another point, and he vented shrieks
and groans from the disappointment.

It was at those moments, while hope and fear thus possessed him, that the
horrors of his abode appeared more than ever frightful. Inevitable
afflictions must be borne; but that calamity which admits the expec