AND DISMISS THE PILOT. 19 must bid adieu to our country and our homes, till the circuit of the globe should be measured by our keel. I watched the well manned barge, as it plunged and buffeted its way to the little schooner, fluttering like a gay bird on the crestings of the sea, in seeming eagerness to welcome its master. Our noble ship looked like some "living thing," conscious of the power and majesty with which she rested on her wings, in this act of condescension and kindness. The St. Louis, a bright and beautiful vessel close in our wake, was in a similar manner discharging her temporary guide; while the white sand bluff forming Cape Henry, surmounted with its light-house, and flanked on either side by a stretch of low, cedar covered shore, with the bellying sails of a coaster here and there gleaming brightly in the morning sun, made up the sketch. There was scarce time, however, for the eye to glance on its different objects, before the landsmen in their bark, with kind tossings of the hat and hand towards us, were hastening to their homes, and the frigate and her consort with squared yards, were heaping sail upon sail to catch all the freshness of the breeze now bearing us far away. At eleven o'clock, with a strong northwester and an unclouded sky, we took our departure from Cape Henry, the light-house due west twelve miles. Shortly afterwards we lost sight of it, the few stretches of coast still looming here and there in the distance, appearing only like lines of haze on the horizon; and quickly becoming, as the ship rose and fell with the swellings of the deep, entirely indistinguishable from the distant heavings of the sea. I have, more than once, known what it is to see a 20 CLEAR CAPE HENRY AND PUT TO SEA. friend of the heart hurried away upon the ocean to distant and uncertain scenes; but now, for the first time, felt what it was to be myself the wanderer, launching forth comparatively alone, while all most dear were far behind. I recollect in one of the former instances, to have watched the receding sail till reduced to a wavering and scarce visible speck on the horizon; in another, I lost sight of her, while yet a tall spire on the water, in the haze of approaching night; and in a third, beheld her, still seemingly within hail, suddenly cut from the view by the scud and blackness of a driving storm: and in each case, as the eager eye failed in again securing its object, and I was compelled to exclaim, "She is gone!" I found relief from the oppression within only by fervent prayer to that Being, who not only "commands the winds and the waves and they obey," but who guards and sanctifies by his grace all who put their trust in him. The rapid and involuntary ejaculation has been," Almighty and most merciful God, let thy Spirit be with him! preserve him from the power of the tempest and from the destruction of the deep! Keep him, O keep him from the evil there is in the world, and in the world to come crown him with life everlasting!" while "God bless him!" "God bless him!" were the long echoings of the heart. And now, as I stood, gazing still on the west, while nothing but the undulating line of a watery horizon was marked against its clear blue sky, I insensibly looked, at thoughts of those I love best, to the same consolatory and sure refuge; and in prayer and in tears left for them a memorial before God. It is at times such as this, that the imagination de SPECIAL PROVIDENCE. 21 lights to be busy, and at which she often plays the tyrant over the affections, by throwing the charm of a double fascination around the objects and scenes from which we are torn. As with rapid pencil she now sketches in vivid coloring all I have left behind, I keenly feel the reality of my departure, and am almost ready to wonder that I could voluntarily have undertaken, at such a sacrifice, a voyage attended with much uncertainty, and necessarily involving many a hazard. But in my better judgment I cannot, and do not regret it. The duty has been pointed out too plainly by the dispensations of Him who directs the destinies alike of angels and of men, not to be followed with unshaken confidence and good cheer. You are aware of my firm belief in a particular providence: in that governance of the world which regulates, not only the larger affairs of men and of nations, but which extends to the minutest concerns of the creatures of God, till, "without Him, not even a sparrow falleth to the ground." Next to those truths which assure us of the remission of sin through the shedding of blood, and which bring the life and im mortality of the gospel to light, the Bible unfolds no one in my view more precious or more consolatory than this. I delight to believe, not only that a particular guidance, by providential dispensations, is granted to all who sincerely wish to do the will of their Maker, but that special paths of duty are often made so plain, that there can scarce be a mistake in entering upon and pursuing them. This belief, with the persuasion-from a chain of circumstances well known to you that my present situation is one of unquestioned duty, keeps my mind 22 EFFICACY OF PRAYER. in perfect peace; and even emboldens me to appropriate to myself the assurance, "Behold I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again to this land, for I will not leave thee nor forsake thee." An additional cause of quietude springs from another truth of inspiration, to which I yield the most implicit credence the declaration that "the fervent effectual prayer of the righteous man availeth much." Sensible of the responsibility of the station I hold, and aware of all that is needful for a right discharge of its duties, I sought and received a pledge of constant remembrance before a throne of grace, from many whom I know to be no strangers there; and now, as my thoughts hasten through the numerous circles of my best and most loved friends, a vision of light and blessedness-a vision which, I am persuaded, is no 'fancy's sketch,"-rises sweetly on the sight. Instead of the clouds and sadness of an uncheered separation, light and peace encircle every brow, while supplications for all needed grace to myself and the ship in which I sail, like accepted offerings, ascend gloriously unto God. Presented on the altar of a living faith, they cannot-they will not ascend in vain. And as we are hurried away on the very wings of the wind, the persuasion steals cheeringly upon my soul, that high and holy influences, like the dews of Hermon, are already returning and resting upon us. 66 O, my dear H, what a glorious religion is that which the Christian possesses-how unsearchable are its riches of wisdom and of grace ! A religion rescuing us not only from the guilt and condemnation of sin-cheering us with hope and fitting us for immor BOISTEROUS WEATHER. 23 tality—but guiding and guarding us also in all our ways, and yielding consolation and joy in every circumstance in which we can be placed. If the religion of the cross be a cunning fable, as some would persuade us to believe, O how wise the intellect that devised it, and how happy the heart that is deceived! If all its promises and its hopes, its fears and its joys, its impressions and its prayers are but a dream, it is a dream of enchantment from which I would most devoutly plead never to be awakened; and of which, to all who sleep, I would most importunately say— "Sleep-O, sleep on !" LETTER III. OCCUPATION AND AMUSEMENTS. U. S. ship Guerriere, at Sea, The North Atlantic proved rude and boisterous as usual in the wintry season, and for more than a fortnight we suffered much from the coldness of the temperature, the wetness of every part of the ship, and an unceasingly rough sea. With wind constantly fair, we were so heavily rocked by it without a moment's respite from morning to night and from night to morning, that our heads seemed ready to drop from our shoulders in keeping the weary motion; while the ship, almost deluged with water, labored excessively, and every timber |