"'I did hasten. I know not how I got there. I rushed into his arms,
I threw myself on his neck, and felt as if I too must die. He was
too much exhausted to speak; but he placed his hand on my head, and,
slightly moving his lips, the expression of his features told, in
plain language, that his heart was engaged in prayer. He _was_
praying, and for me,--me, his unworthy son, and when I considered
that I could not comply with his wishes without being a hypocrite, I
thought my heart would burst. For several minutes, was my dear
father thus occupied; then, turning to my weeping mother, who was
kneeling by the bedside, he softly uttered her name. Alas! it was
with his parting breath, for gently, as an infant falls asleep on
the bosom of its nurse, did my revered parent fall asleep in the
arms of that Saviour who had been his guide and comforter through
life, and who accompanied him through the dark valley, and by his
presence made bright the narrow path which leads to the abode of the
redeemed.

"'The only earthly friend we had to look to, in our bereavement, was
Captain Hartly; and he could only promise to assist me if I would
enter the navy, or go on board a merchant-ship. My poor mother
objected to this, and I remained at home another twelvemonth, and
again mourned the loss of a dear relative. My sister Bertha fell a
victim to consumption, exactly nine months after the death of my
lamented father. It was cruel to leave my mother under such
circumstances, particularly as she remonstrated with me so earnestly
on my project of going to sea, and offered to make any sacrifice, if
I would consent to go to college, and follow out my father's plans.
But my heart was fixed; and every visit from my godfather tended to
inflame me still more with a longing for a sea-faring life; and, at
length, I told him I was willing to be bound apprentice to a captain