of water in its channel,--frequently rising or falling from 6 to 12
feet in a few hours,--these snags are sometimes so deep in the water
that they can be passed over with safety; at other times, however, they
are but just covered. If a boat coming--especially down the
stream--with high pressure and at full speed, making between twenty and
thirty miles an hour, runs against one of these firmly-fixed,
immoveable snags, it sustains a fearful shock. Not unfrequently a large
hole is thus made in the bottom; and boat, cargo, crew, passengers, and
all, sink in an instant. The danger is greatly increased by fogs, often
so dense that the helmsman, though situated on the hurricane-deck and
over the fore part of the vessel, can see nothing before him. In such a
case, wise and cautious men "lie to," and wait till the mist has
cleared off.

May not these "snags" serve to remind us of certain characters and
circumstances with which we meet on the voyage of life? Who cannot call
to mind many snags--men, rugged, stubborn, and contentious,--snags by
all means to be avoided? D'Israeli was the snag of Peel--Russia was the
snag of Napoleon--Slavery is the snag of the Evangelical Alliance.

On board our steamer was a fine black young man, who acted as barber,
waiter, and man-of-all-work. Curious to know whether he was a slave or
not, I requested my friend from Maine to sound him. "To whom do you
belong?" said the Baptist. "I belong to myself, sir," was the prompt
and dignified reply. "That's right," I involuntarily exclaimed; "he is
free!" In answer to further questions, he told us that he was from New
Orleans, and had bought himself about two years before for 600 dollars.
He could therefore truly say, "I belong to myself, sir!" Oh! that every
slave in America could say the same! But how monstrous, that a man
should have to pay to one of his fellow-men upwards of 120_l._ sterling