Hence there was much insubordination on the part of the latter during the whole of this melancholy event, the evil of which was severely felt; particularly when the boats, from time to time, came for more men: numbers rushing into them not only obstructed the commander in executing the regular duty, but even endangered their own lives, and actually prevented many more from getting away in the same time.

Not willing to add to these scenes of confusion and disorder, I kept back until night began to set in, and the weather had much changed for the worse. Two boats were now coming alongside, evidently for the last time. The remaining half of the crew, more than ever anxious to escape the dangers of another night on board the wreck, were hanging over the side, if possible, to gain a place. Few of them, indeed, could be received into two small boats, yet every man hoped to be amongst those few. When I saw things in this state, I not only considered it my duty to make the attempt, in common with others, but regretted I had not done it earlier. That God, however, whose

blessing I did not implore, was pleased to favour me; for, while numbers failed, I succeeded in leaping from the deck into the last of them, and by that means got on board the brig.

They who remained on the wreck passed such a night as none can form any idea of but those who have experienced similar calamities. The sea continued to beat over them till nearly daylight; and though they had lashed themselves to the highest and most sheltered parts, yet many were swept away into the sea, and many were drowned in the wreck. But it pleased the Lord to send a fine morning, and in the course of the succeeding day the survivors were taken from their miserable situation, and conveyed on board our fleet in the Texel.

As to the state of my mind while in the N, it was such as I know not how to explain. It was a mixture of something like morality, with much of the reprobate and blasphemous description. Having a little turn for making verses, I might be found one hour writing in a moral strain, and the next giving a loose to all manner of profaneness. The only part of my poetic moral productions which I

now recollect, is what I called "The Sailor's Prayer." It consisted of a few petitions to the God of the universe, to give me wisdom and courage under all the varieties of naval duty. It ran thus:

May he who rules the boundless whole
Instruct my mind, enlarge my soul,
And teach to shape the trackless course,
O'er distant seas, through current's force.
In night's dark gloom, and tempest's howl,
With steady courage arm my soul,
Not deaf to danger, but resign'd,
Whate'er his will, in hope to find
A helper in that solemn hour,
When death o'er tars usurps his power.
Should sudden squalls our bark assail,

And spring a mast, or split a sail,
May thy kind hand direct me still

To act my part and do thy will !
If launch'd o'erboard in stormy day,
Thy goodness still to me display,
As on the briny wave I float,

To gain some friendly spar or boat.

Should lab'ring pumps employ our care,

Far, far from me, O keep despair!
But should thy wisdom so decree,

That we our bark no more should free,
As down with her I sink below,

A better world my spirit show!

Such were the strains of my rude muse at

times when conscience struggled with sensuality. But as I had not the smallest idea of Christianity, all my religious notions amounted to nothing more than pure heathen morality, as distinct from the doctrines of the Gospel as error is from truth, Little did I expect the calamities of a second shipwreck were so near at hand when I formed the above lines.

Perhaps on examining the latter part of this production the reader will say, the Lord had put a prayer into my heart, and words into my mouth, to be brought forth in the time of approaching trouble. No, my goodness was like the morning cloud, and all my serious thoughts as the early dew, or the writing on the sea shore. The first wave of temptation swept them all away. I can assure him, although not more than three months could have elapsed between the writing the above prayer and my being actually called to attend the chain-pumps, until they choked and the ship was filled, yet I do not remember that I once thought of it, or offered up a single line of its petitions throughout that sad catastrophe! On the contrary, when daylight appeared, and our real

situation was known, I felt such a state of mind as bordered on despair. The gloomy sky over our heads, the trembling wreck under our feet, and the roar of the tempestuous surf breaking around us, were but faint pictures of the agitation of my soul when I thought on death.

In the heat of battle it is not only possible, but easy, to forget death, and cease to shrink; but in the cool and protracted hours of a shipwreck, where there is often nothing to engage the mind but the recollection of tried and unsuccessful labours, and the sight of unavoidable and increasing harbingers of destruction, it is not easy or possible to forget ourselves or a future state. With all my might I strove to shake off the terrors of a guilty conscience, but could not. In my distress I viewed the Almighty as a dreadful being; and could I have sunk into a state of nothingness, I should have preferred it to living in his presence. I did not love him; I did not think I had any claim or pretensions to his favour; and I could not but wish to escape his wrath.

At length the fear of that God, whom I could neither forget nor escape, compelled me to open