THE SAILOR'S MERRY AND BRAVE HEART. 383 



Bhip passes over him ! — Jack has furled his last sail, 

 and dies far from home and friends, without a tomb- 

 Btone to mark his resting-place : his body at the 

 mercy of the wave, whilst his spirit, we hope, ascends 

 to a better and happier state of existence, where he 

 anchors in a bright haven of peace, in vivid contrast 

 with his life on earth, or rather on the sea. 



God help the sailor! is the prayer of all who wish 

 him well. And God does help him, or else his would 

 indeed be a comfortless existence. The Creator gives 

 him a merry heart, and a brave one too. The former 

 enables him to meet cheerfully the many discomforts 

 incident to his profession, whilst the latter prevents 

 him from perceiving danger and destruction in every 

 blast that SAveeps the ocean : together, they incite 

 him to hope almost against hope, and continue hie 

 exertions in the storm, until absolute destruction 

 overwhelms him. Who ever heard of a seaman's 

 giving up in despair, even when the merest thread 

 of hope only remained? None. No, they are manly 

 to the last; and they always have at least the proud 

 satisfaction of having performed their duty, even 

 though their exertions were all in vain. The pleas- 

 ant poetess. Miss Eliza Cook, has done them but jus- 

 tice, when she says, 



" The dark-blue jacket that enfolds the sailor's manly breast 

 Bears more of real honor than the star and ermine vest. 

 The tithe of folly in his head may wake the landsman's mirth 

 But Nature proudly owns him as her child of sterling worth." 



Some persons ashore may think that I have allowed 

 my feelings to carry me away, and that in writing of a 

 class of men, endeared to me by association and a par- 



