“ Having heard that there was a fine vessel then loading for Surinam, I took a boat and went on board to see the captain, but I soon found my means were insufficient for such a long voyage, and returned from the ship quite low-spirited. This may seem strange, but it is a fact that whenever we are doing wrong wilfully, and pursuing any course which our conscience cannot approve, the slightest repulse is sufficient to cause us great uneasiness, and any little hindrance we may meet with, which at another time we should think nothing of, is then enough to make us quite unhappy. ”

“ Although I have passed through so much during my forty years' wandering about the world, have endured so many troubles, and received so many undeserved blessings, and although God has shown Himself so good and gracious, slow to anger and of great kindness towards me, and though, during these last few years, especially, His blessing has rested on all I have undertaken, still even yet I start with a secret terror at the sight of that portrait which brings before my mind so clearly the father whom I disobeyed. The recollection of his curse is never absent. ”

“ Here Willie interrupted the captain's story by asking, "Why, then, are we taught in the fable to blame the careless and improvident grasshopper for not laying up a store for the winter, when the birds are praised for living without troubling themselves about the future? I can't quite understand this."
His father answered him: "All animals, my dear boy, follow the instinct which God has implanted in them; it is not for us to blame them or to praise them. ”

“ In order to divert my mind from the harassing reflections which beset me, and made the solitude of my once happy home intolerable, instead of bowing to God's holy will, and recognising, as I can now do, the fact that all that had befallen me was sent in love to my soul by a heavenly Father, who is too wise to err, and too good to be unkind, I sought relief, where no one ever yet found it, by giving myself up to those bad habits which had been the cause of all my misery. ”

“ The weather was fair, and our voyage had been very successful, so that I was in good spirits. Suddenly the sailor at the masthead saw a suspicious-looking craft in the distance. I examined her attentively with the glass, and at length became convinced that we were chased by pirates. I felt at once that escape was impossible, and resistance seemed almost hopeless, as we numbered in all only seventeen hands and six passengers. Nevertheless, I resolved to fight to the death rather than suffer myself and all on board to be earned away into slavery. ”

“ I had no need to tell him I was hungry; my appearance sufficiently showed that, and he considerately spared me the shame and pain of asking him for relief, by taking me to an inn close by. Here a good dinner was quickly provided for me, and I need scarcely say I ate with the ravenous appetite of an almost starving man. As soon as I had satisfied my hunger, I told him some of my adventures. He saw at once that I was in need of further help, but as he was just about to join a ship to which he had been appointed surgeon, he had need of all his money, and was only able to give me a few shillings. ”

“ Since the time when in the prison I had received the assurance of the pardon of all my sins, I had been, it is true, quite satisfied as to the safety of my soul, knowing that God having received me into His fold, whatever might befall me, 'all things must work together for good.' Still I could not altogether overcome my apprehension at the thought of my father's curse, and of its influence on my temporal happiness and well-being. ”

“ Have you ever prayed earnestly for God's help to deliver you out of your troubles?' 'No, said I, 'I have never tried. I cannot do so! I am suffering beneath the weight of an unjust curse, while thousands of other men, who are worse than I am, never suffer any punishment at all, but prosper in all they undertake.' 'My answer to that,' said the good man, 'must be, that you who have studied for the ministry, as you told me, must know, on the authority of God's own word, that one single sin is sufficient for a man's condemnation ”

“ They see the berries and the corn, about the growth of which they have never troubled themselves, and there they find enough for their daily wants. Their free and joyous spirit seems to have no care for the future; they never "gather into barns." How many animals are otherwise! Look at the squirrel with his hoard of nuts, the bees with their rich provision of honey, the careful ants, and many others, whose foresight teaches them to provide against the season of scarcity. These, too, are all the creatures of God, and His "tender mercy is over all His works;" ”

“ Alas, how soon was I to know, by bitter experience, the terrible effects of a father's curse!
"However, I strove to dismiss all such thoughts from my mind, and went down to the quay with all my money, nearly £30, in my pocket, to look out for a ship about to sail either for North America or the Indies. I was not very particular which, my great desire being to get to sea as soon as possible, and then, I thought, my happiness will begin. ”

“ Oh how deeply has the experience of that time proved to me the truth of that saying of an old French writer, 'The being ashamed of what is right is the root and source of all our misery.'
"When my father saw that all his exhortations were without effect, and all my promises without any result, he tried the plan of refusing to send me any more money, hoping that the want of means to indulge my bad habits would bring me back to a better frame of mind. ”

“ In a retired country village like Dornbach, where everything went on from one week's end to another in the same quiet manner, it was rarely indeed that anything occurred to furnish the villagers with a new topic of conversation, and every traveller who stopped at the road-side inn, if it were only to bait his horse, created quite a sensation. ”

“ One day they had been reading the fable of the grasshopper and the ant, in which the grasshopper is represented as blaming the ant for working so hard during the fine summer weather, instead of enjoying the bright sunshine, and leaving the future to take care of itself. ”

“ If the stranger should happen to get into conversation with any one, for the next three days at least every one in the place would be talking about him. This was specially the case now when the report was spread that the captain of a ship had arrived at the parsonage, not for a passing visit, but with the intention of settling in the neighbourhood; and when it was further reported that this old captain was no other than the much talked-of son of the late Pastor Buchman, well remembered by the older inhabitants as the scapegrace, the excitement of the good people of Dornbach was immense. ”

“ Matthew vi. 26, 'Behold the fowls of the air.'—'Yes, consider them attentively, for even they can teach us a lesson. How beautiful they are! how lively and active in all their motions! They of all created things seem specially adapted to give delight to the eye of man by their brilliant plumage and graceful evolutions, and to charm his ears by their melodious songs. Their homes are in the tops of the highest trees; they wing their course far up above our heads, and indeed seem to belong more to heaven than to earth. ”

“ Had I but fully realised the meaning of the sermon I heard that day, I should have felt that something more than this was necessary—a real inward purification, and a complete renunciation, even in thought, of the sins which had led me astray. One part of the discourse ran thus:—'God regards not only those things which a man does, not only his outward actions; His eye can also see our inmost thoughts, and He knows the true motive of every action of our lives. He regards not the outward appearance, but the inner reality ”

“ From the ant, for instance, the idle may learn to work, and the careless to save. Do you remember who says, 'Go to the ant, thou sluggard, consider her ways and be wise?' So, on the other hand, from the birds the covetous and over-anxious may learn that it is possible to live, however scanty our store may be, if we only have faith in our heavenly Father's care. ”

“ I told him my history since our last meeting, and he in return told me his, which was almost as full of adventures as my own. He had, he said, been wrecked on a desert island in his last voyage, his ship and all the crew, except himself and two sailors, being lost. Having built themselves a hut, they supported themselves for some months on some edible roots and berries, which his knowledge of botany enabled him to discover on the island, and their fare was occasionally improved by the addition of a bird or animal, which they managed to shoot with roughly-made bows and arrows. ”

“ Honour thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise; that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth," (Eph. vi. 1-3) , and learn from this narrative that every act of wilful disobedience to a parent's commands is a sin against God, which He is sure to punish.
The good pastor's prayers that the captain might be relieved from his anxiety of mind were not in vain, and he himself was destined to be the happy instrument in God's hands of removing the burden that had so long oppressed his friend. ”

“ If he has brought down upon himself his father's curse, even this forgiveness will not alter its effects in this world, although in the hands of the Almighty the very sorrows and sufferings it brings upon him may become the means of securing his eternal salvation.
"Thus convinced as I was that for His dear Son's sake God had forgiven all my sins, I still remembered with alarm those words in my father's letter, 'My curse shall be upon you, and follow you always;' and this portrait, which I had always hanging up in my cabin, helped to keep me in mind of them. ”

“ And though, in my former troubles, I had not shrunk from upbraiding God's providence for oppressing an innocent man, as I called myself, I could not but feel that this new misfortune was the just consequence of my own folly and extravagance. ”

“ No life, indeed, could be less to my taste than that of a soldier, on account of the strict discipline which is always enforced in the army. It was, however, decreed that we should never reach our destination.
"Soon after we had crossed the Line, a sudden and violent gale drove our vessel out of her course, and for two days and nights we were driving at the mercy of the wind. No sooner had we succeeded in making some little way against this gale, than a violent tempest arose, and we were obliged to devote all our attention to saving the ship. ”

“ He sees the grain, and not the husk only; the treasure, not the box which contains it; the sword, and not the scabbard which hides it from our less penetrating view. What can it avail to have the scabbard ornamented with gold and jewels, if in the day of battle the sword is found edgeless, and covered with rust? Who would value a crop, however fine it might look as it stands in the field, if all the ears of corn were blighted and withered? Doubtless it is well that our outward actions should be of the highest and noblest character ”

“ The ant replies that she knows it is very pleasant to have nothing to do but to play and sing among the grass and the flowers, but instinct has taught her that the bright warm weather must in time be exchanged for cold gloomy days with frost and snow, when no food is to be got, and so she is seeking, while she has an opportunity, to lay up a store against a rainy day. The captain asked little Mary if she knew what was meant by the grasshopper in the fable. ”

“ And whatever His providence may send us, whether wealth or poverty, sickness or health, let us look up to Him with thankfulness for His mercy, and say, "Doubtless Thou art our Father."
"'Behold the fowls of the air;' their work, indeed, seems to be only singing and rejoicing; but what is yours? "Are ye not much better than they?" You, who are children of God, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ, who are strangers and pilgrims in this world of sorrow and suffering, but whose home is in heaven ”

“ I was glad to be once more a free man, but could not regret my imprisonment, inasmuch as it was in the prison that I had been led to a knowledge of Him 'whose service is perfect freedom.' The kind friends who had interested themselves in me provided me with a small sum of money, with which I took a little cottage by the sea-side; and having bought a small boat and some nets, I was able to get my living all through the summer as a fisherman, and supported myself during the winter by making baskets, which I sold in the neighbouring town. ”

“ After a favourable voyage we arrived at Portsmouth, to which port the ship was bound. I took leave of the captain to seek my fortune elsewhere. He wished me good luck, and paid me my wages for the homeward passage, which, however, did not last me long. Finding myself again penniless, and without any means of earning my living, I resolved to return to my father. Accordingly, I shipped as a common sailor on board a bark bound for Holland. We had beautiful weather, and after a very good passage I landed at Rotterdam. ”

“ I studied, however, with great diligence, and my natural aptitude for learning always left me plenty of time to devote to pleasure. Little by little I found my studies become irksome to me, and my desire for amusement increase, until at length I entirely gave up all serious occupations, and used to pass all my time either in pleasure-parties or in the public house. Before I left home my bad behaviour had gained for me the name of the Scapegrace, and at the University I did my best to show myself worthy of the title. ”