The case of Mrs. Paddock and her grandsons is undoubtedly not common, either in the circumstances, or in such energy of character as that of the old woman. Of all those who have hitherto consulted me—no very wise proceeding on their part, when it is considered that I can have had no practical experience whatever on the subject— she has interested me the most.

We have agreed that she and her family shall take their passage in the same ship. Perhaps I ought to add, that her resolution and feeling make her enterprise to me almost sublime. Her old age, her saintly countenance, the sentiment by which she is actuated, the youthful pride of the boys, the hazards to be encountered, and the object in view, are each and all affecting topics; and when I say so, the sympathy which they have excited in my wife shows how strongly they are calculated to awaken the benevolence of the heart; for Mrs. Corbet is not a person much disposed to enthusiastic sensibility; domestic and practical in all her ways, she yet feels not less excited, I verily believe, than I do myself.

I have engaged for the voyage the cabin of the Mirimachi, Captain Binnacle, and Mrs. Corbet finds that besides our own family, Mrs Paddock may be accommodated also in the cabin. Her grandsons must rough it in the steerage—no great hardship to them, for since their mother's death they have lived with the old woman, and their lot has been severe enough, but they are already prepared with a gallant stock of young cheerfulness for the voyage. It augurs well of their destiny.