“One evening, when I was about twelve years old, a message came from the only publie-house the village boasted, to say that a sick stranger had arrived and was most anxious to see a clergyman. The summons was obeyed; and my father was introduced to an elderly man, who seemed to be dangerously ill, and greatly exhausted by his journey. He announced himself a lieutenant of a man-of-war; he had been for several years on the West-India station; was now on leave of absence for bad health; and was endeavouring to reach a town at a considerable distance from our hamlet, to try whether native air might not yet effect a cure. The exertion, however, had been too much for him; and on arriving at the public-house, he found himself unable to proceed farther. “The parson was a kind-hearted being, and as hospitable as he was poor. The ale-house was noisy and uncomfortable, and he therefore pressed the stranger to take up his residence at our cottage, where, with quiet and care, it was probable that he might speedily come round again. My father’s invitation was accepted; and in a few days the invalid was so far restored as to be enabled to resume his journey. He took his leave accordingly, gratefully acknowledging the kindness and attention of my parents, to which he attributed his recovery. “A year passed--the stranger was forgotten; and our lonely villagers had no events to excite them beyond every-day occupations. They were removed from the cares and anxieties of busier life; but, as events proved, they were not secure from its common calamities. “Typhus fever broke out in a neighbouring sea-port; the crew of a fishing-boat caught the infection, and introduced the terrible disease into our crowded hamlet. Numbers became its victims; and in the same week both my parents died, and I was left upon the world without any natural protector. “On the evening of my father’s funeral I was sent for to the public-house, and there, to my surprise, I found the stranger who had been my father’s guest a year before. The sick lieutenant had been restored to health, and was about to resume his professional duties. He had been appointed to a ship; but before he left the kingdom, he made our village his line of route, that he might have an opportunity of thanking my parents once more for past kindnesses. He found those who succoured him in the grave,--their only child an orphan, and without a relative who could afford him protection or a home. “A tear trickled down the cheek of the rough old sailor, as he listened to the story of my destitution. “‘And has he no friends, poor boy?’ inquired the lieutenant. “‘None,’ said the landlord, in reply. ‘I believe he has not one relative who could give him a second meal, nor a friend who--” “‘False, by Heaven!’ exclaimed the tar. ‘He has a friend who will divide his last guinea with him; and from this hour, I am the orphan’s father!’