THE RETROSPECT.

No. I.

"BLESS THE LORD, O MY SOUL, AND forget not all HIS BENEFITS."

THERE are few, perhaps none, of the followers of Christ, who may not find numerous occasions of lifting up their eyes and hearts to heaven, and saying, from time to time, "Hitherto the Lord hath helped." Indeed we may confidently ask, Who is there among the sons and daughters of Adam, that hath travelled the journey of life for twenty or thirty years, but may look back and remember numerous instances of divine goodness, manifesting itself in a way of providence and grace? And are "our days, as it were, but a span long?" Surely, then, it is our duty and privilege to improve them, and call in every auxiliary circumstance to help us to apply them to spiritual wisdom. To this end I would recommend my fellow Christians to make a point of recording in their minds such principal events as have marked, and still may mark, their course, while travellers and sojourners on

B

earth; that so they may be able to say, It was on this day the Lord delivered me from such a danger, from such a snare, from such a threatening storm-this was the day when the Almighty proved better to me than all my fears —that was the day whereon he stretched forth his hand and saved me, and set my feet upon a rock, and ordered my goings, and put a new song in my mouth. Thus every month may be registered, and a sort of calendar made out, to which the soul may occasionally refer, and find sweet matter for thanksgiving and praise. Some men's lives, it is true, are chequered with more extraordinary events and changes than those of others; yet the most tranquil course of the most retired Christian will not be without its interesting events and its memorable days; interesting and memorable at least to themselves, although the circumstances which made them so may not furnish any new or striking matter for the consideration of others. But when the reverse has been the case; when the Almighty has appeared for us in any peculiar way of providence or grace, then it becomes a positive duty not only to record his dealings on the tablet of our memory, and be thankful, but on all proper occasions to imitate the sweet singer of Israel, who exclaimed, "Come hither all ye that fear the Lord, and I will tell you what he

hath done for my soul." This I think may often be done in our own families, and among our more intimate Christian friends, to the edification of all present.

The return of the second of February has led me to these observations, because it was on this day the tender mercies of God were greatly extended towards me. It is now sixteen years past, when posting down the broad road of destruction, loud in blasphemy, and ever ready to burlesque and condemn the Holy Scriptures, that my life was spared, while several of my companions in sin perished! Ignorant of the world, and impatient of control, I had previously broken away from the constraint of social authority, and embarked on the great deep, in pursuit of honours and fancied happiness, where, like others, I had to contend with the storms and dangers of an element, emblematical of the sinner's mind, never at rest. How great the contrast between this and the day alluded to! Few seasons ever witnessed a more serene and delightful day than this has been; few ever beheld one more tempestuous and severe than that in which our ship was stranded amidst shoals of ice on a foreign coast.

Methinks I now see the wreck lying on its side, and hear the howling northern blast roar through the confused and mangled tackling;

methinks I now see the crew leaving this untenable abode, and betaking themselves to the rugged field of ice and snow with which we were surrounded! Memory again presents in full view all the dismal severities of that afternoon, when fifteen of my companions perished from the effects of cold in the space of three hours. It brings before me the gracious and visible interposition of Providence in preserving not only myself, but all the first party who quitted the wreck, from what would otherwise have been inevitable destruction. * As it was, I seem

* I shall observe, by way of note, that from the wreck we had a view of a building, at a considerable distance on the shore, and for this object we directed our course when we quitted the vessel. But we had not gone far ere a snow storm came on, and obscured our view; and as the wind and drift came from the very point on which we had to proceed, its severity was felt to the utmost, and caused us imperceptibly to edge off to the right hand, and travel in a direction which, if continued, would have carried us off the shoal and field of ice into the sea; or, at best, by the time we discovered our situation, it would have taken us so far from any place of shelter, as to have left us to perish on the ice and snow during the night. This dreadful calamity was however prevented, by one of our party having a pocket compass about him. He had taken the bearings of the above-mentioned object previous to leaving the wreck, and after some time travelling, was induced to examine the course we were actually pursuing. To our surprise it was discovered how widely we were, and had been, deviating from the right line.

again to look over the dreary waste, and behold the scattered travellers, some in little groups, others alone; some growing faint, others stumbling and falling on their slippery and deceitful road; some benumbed and expressing their misery; others endeavouring to cheer up their spirits; some taking their seats on massy pieces of ice, and others in vain endeavouring to urge them to the prosecution of their journey. Methinks I now see the gloom of that evening, and the departure of its early twilight, which just lighted my weary feet to the secure and friendly habitations of man; and I seem again to feel the toil and labour with which I mounted the sea-guard bank that had been thrown up around the walls and little domain of this timely and merciful refuge. Nor is this all which the same record brings before me: it calls on me to blush with shame and confusion of face at the

This, however, enabled all but one of the party to correct their march, though at the expence of many additional and laborious steps. The one who formed an exception was an exceedingly strong man, who had outstripped us all, and was too far in advance to notice our signals of recal, when we altered our course; and as the snow soon hid him from our view altogether, we had no doubt but he travelled on until he either fell into the sea, or found himself totally bewildered and out of all reach of shelter, and perished on the ice long before the light of another day.