Comfortably as any one need to do, or as I
wish, I am sure. What do we want more?"

"What do we want more?" said Uriah,
drawing up his legs suddenly, and clapping
his hands in a positive sort of a way on his
knees. " Why, I for one, want a great deal
more. We've children, you say, and a home,
and all that. Heaven be thanked, so we have!
but I want our children to have a home after
us. Three thousand pounds divided amongst
four, leaves about seven hundred and fifty
each. Is it worth while to fag a whole life,
and leave them that and a like prospect?
No," continued Uriah, in a considering
manner, and shaking his head. "No, I want
something more; more for myself; more for
them; more room, more scope, a wider horizon,
and a more proportionate result of a
whole human existence. And do you know
Maria what I have come to as the best
conclusion? To go out to Australia."

"To go out to Australia! " said Mrs.
Tattenhall, in astonishment. " My dear
Uriah, you are joking. You mean no such
thing."

"But that is just what I do mean," said
Uriah, taking his wife's hand affectionately;
"I have thought of it long, and the toad-in-
the-wall balance has determined me. And now
what I ask of you is to look at it calmly and
earnestly. You know the Smiths, the Browns,
and the Robinsons have gone out. They
report the climate delicious, and that wonders
are doing. A new country, if it be a good
country, is the place to grow and thrive in,
without doubt. Look at the trees in a wood.
They grow up and look very fine in the mass.
The wood, you say, is a very fine wood; but
when you have looked at the individual trees,
they are crowded and spindled up. They
cannot put out a single bough beyond a
certain distance; if they attempt it, their
presuming twigs are poked back again by
sturdy neighbours all round, that are all
struggling for light and space like them.
Look then at the tree on the open plain,—
how it spreads and hangs in grand amplitude
its unobstructed boughs and foliage: a
lordly object. Just so, this London. It is a
vast, a glorious, a most imposing London,
but thousands of its individuals in it are
pressed and circumscribed to a few square
yards and no more. Give me the open plain,
—the new country, and then see if I do not
put out a better head, and our children
too."

Mrs. Tattenhall, now she felt that her
husband was in earnest, sat motionless and
confounded. The shock had come too
suddenly upon her. Her husband, it is true,
had often told her that things did not move
as he wished; that they seemed fixed, and
stereotyped, and stagnant; but then, when
are merchants satisfied? She never had
entertained an idea but that they should go on
to the end of the chapter as they had been
going on ever since she was married. She
was bound up heart and soul with her own
country; she had her many friends and
relations, with whom she lived on the most
cordial terms; all her tastes, feelings, and ideas
were English and metropolitan. At the very
idea of quitting England, and for so new, and
so distant a country, she was seized with an
indescribable consternation.

" My dear Maria! " said her husband;
"mind, I don't ask you to go at first. You
and the children can remain here till I have
been and seen what the place and prospects
are like. My brother Sam will look after
business—he will soon be at home in it—and if
all is pleasant, why, you will come then, if
not I won't ask you. I'll work out a good
round sum myself if possible, or open up
some connection that will mend matters here.
What can I say more?"

"Nothing, dear Uriah, nothing. But those
poor children—-"

"Those poor children!" said Uriah. "Why
my dear Maria, if you were to ask them
whether they would like a voyage to
Australia, to go and see those evergreen woods,
and gallop about all amongst gay parrots,
and great kangaroos, they would jump off
their seats with joy. The spirits of the
young are ever on the wing for adventure
and new countries. It is the prompting of
that Great Power which has constructed all
this marvellous universe, and bade mankind
multiply and replenish the earth. Don't
trouble yourself about them. You saw how
they devoured the adventures at the Cape,
and you'll see how they will kindle up in a
wonderful enthusiasm at the promise of a
voyage to Australia. What are pantomimes
to that?"

"Poor things! " said Mrs. Tattenhall.
"They know nothing about the reality; all is
fairyland and poetry to them."

"The reality! the reality, Maria, will be
all fairyland and poetry to them."

Mrs. Tatteuhall shook her head, and
retired that night—not to sleep, but with a
very sad heart to ruminate over this
unexpected revelation. My brother's words were
realised at the first mention of the
project to the children. After the first shock of
surprise and doubt whether it were really
meant, they became unboundedly delighted.
The end of it was, that by the middle of February,
my brother Uriah, having had a handsome
offer for his business and stock, had wound
up all his affairs; and Mrs. Tattenhall having
concluded, like a good wife and mother, to go
with the whole family, they bade farewell to
England, Mrs. Tattenhall with many tears,
Uriah serious and thoughtful, the children
full of delight and wonder at everything in
the ship.

They had a fine voyage, though with very
few passengers, for the captain said there was
a temporary damp on the Australian
colonies. The order of the Government at home
to raise the upset price of land to one