was inwrapped, and not to God, with whom are the issues of life and death. What is more; had he survived that day he might have journeyed on through a long life of sin and wretchedness, and in the end been eternally lost! But this early summons was a sure and gracious removal from the evil to come. Henceforth that tongue will certainly be employed in the alleluias of heaven, which otherwise might have been exercised through eternal ages in these fruitless and self-condemning words, "My harvest is past, my summer is ended, and I am not saved." We know the same God of providence could have thus dealt with the parent, ere she knew the distinction between mother and child; but it was his good pleasure to act otherwise, and for more than thirty years to say unto her, Live. Whether, therefore, she had given these years unto him, or to the world and the flesh-whether she had laid up a treasure in heaven, or was still cleaving to the earth; he in whose hands are the spirits of all flesh, had an undoubted right to call hers into his presence, to give, as at this time, an account of the things done in the body.

Those happy, holy, ethereal spirits who minister to man on earth, did unquestionably notice the flight of these two souls to the tribunal of their Judge. But whether they saw them both seated on high, or whether they beheld them conducted to different habitations, we are not informed. All we know in this particular, and all that concerns us to know is, that the Lord ever hath judged righteous judgment, and that He ever will do so; although in this instance it should hereafter appear that one was taken and the other left."

CHAPTER IV.

"I WAS A STRANGER AND THEY TOOK ME IN."

MATT. XXV. 35.

I PERCEIVE the retrospective view of past days has opened a wide field of matter for my mind to reflect on, and for my pen to describe; "and now I am in a strait.” If I allow it to proceed, I may possibly incur the charge of egotism and vanity; if I throw it by, I bury many instances of the Almighty's goodness and mercy in eternal oblivion. Perhaps it is not either prudent or safe for men to say much about themselves. At all events they should be well satisfied as to their motives for so doing; and these motives undoubtedly ought to be, the glory of God and the edification of man.—Now, as, on the whole, I trust they are mine, I am encouraged to proceed. The Lord knows I have nothing to be vain of. I make no pretensions to literary distinction; but while I cheerfully honour those to whom honour in this respect is due, I would endeavour to improve my own smaller talent, and, as a plain man, attempt the edification of plain minds. My short papers are not intended for, nor will they be calculated to please the light and trifling reader, or to delight a refined and critical taste. They will be plain and serious essays, uniformly exhibiting the boundless goodness, and the long forbear

ance of God on the one hand, and my own sad spiritual stupidity and rebellion on the other. A review of the former may, through grace, arouse the dormant feelings of my soul, ever prone to cleave unto the dust; while the latter may induce some portion of real selfabasement.—If so, my little memorials will be useful to myself, although they should not edify others-my own soul will be profited, and God will in the result be glorified through Jesus Christ. To this end I must once more refer to the wreck noticed in the second chapter, and call the reader's attention to another series of mercies and sufferings connected with that event.

It was on a Saturday we quitted the vessel, and fled (as the only possible shelter) to the small island of distant from the shoal on which our ship was stranded about six miles; this we were enabled to do by the ice forming a mass from the wreck to the embankment of the island. Within this bank five families dwelt, as the sole inhabitants. The island itself was separated from the main by a shallow channel, whose depth in water, and extent of breadth, varied according to the time of tide and the state of the weather. Now, as it frequently happened, that, for several weeks during winter, all intercourse between the islanders and their opposite neighbours on the continent was impracticable; the former always laid in a stock of provisions before that season commenced. They had done so this year, and appeared amply supplied for themselves until the severe weather should break up. But as our arrival had added more than a hundred and fifty consumers, no one will be surprised that a serious alarm was felt as to

the consequence.

In short, it became absolutely necessary for all who were capable of travelling to endeavour, by every means, to gain the opposite shore, from whence the large town of Cwas not far distant.

On Sunday a company of men, composed of the islanders and our crew, were sent to explore a passage; these returned with a very favourable report, assuring us that we could walk on the ice nearly the whole way, and that the part of the channel which still continued open might be forded in the shallow depth of two feet water. Arrangements were accordingly made to set off by moonlight at four o'clock next morning; and had we not delayed two hours, I think we should have found things as reported. But it was six o'clock before we began our march, and by that time the flood tide had considerably set in, and broken up much ice, which, two hours ago, was solid and stationary. We of course soon got into the water, and finding it about the depth described by our guides, thought ourselves in the middle of the channel, and expected very soon to tread the firm soil. But a quarter of an hour's walking, or rather fording, without being yet in sight of the termination of the water, sadly convinced us of our mistake, and half an hour saw us literally surrounded by the sea on all sides, our guides bewildered, and the main land undistinguishable, from the snow and ice which floated about us.—This was a dreary morning indeed! The recollection of it, at this distance of time, throws a sort of chill into my blood. Few people are aware of the excessive toil of walking for any length of time in water which is too deep to admit the feet above its surface;

with us it sometimes was not more than up to the knees, at others nearly breast high, but in general about two feet deep. Much time had been expended before we in reality came to the middle or deepest part of the channel; here the stream ran with great violence, and had I not been most providentially furnished with a strong stick, I must have been carried off my feet, and rolled down with the current. But by setting my staff firmly to the right, I was enabled to resist the pressure of the stream on my left; yet when I got out of this place into shallower water, I found my strength and spirits so nearly exhausted, that I began to revolve in my mind what must (as I thought) shortly follow, namely, a miserable death in a foreign land. Nor was I the only one whose thoughts foreboded evil. Some would absolutely have given up all further exertion, had it not been for the encouraging view we soon obtained of some cottages, peeping as it were through the snow, at the distance of about a mile from us.

stood more detached than the

There was one which

others; it was nearest

to me, and thither I directed my course, and in half an hour's time was once more in safety beneath the roof of a family dwelling. It consisted of two distinct parts; the one for the residence of the household, the other for housing and threshing of grain. It was the latter I entered, where the owner was beating out some

corn.

By this time nature was so far exhausted, that at the instant in which exertion for life ceased to be necessary, in that instant I sunk under my fatigue and cold, and fell on the straw the poor man was threshing. Astonished as he must have been at the appearance of a