his interest at court. 'Wouldst thou,' said he, 'be spoken
for to the king, or to the captain of the host?'--What
an offer was that, to gratify her ambition or flatter
her pride!--'I dwell,' said she, 'among mine own people.'
What a characteristic answer! all history furnishes no
parallel to it.

"I too dwell 'among my own people:' my affections are
there, and there also is the sphere of my duties; and if
I am depressed by the thoughts of parting from 'my people,'
I will do you the justice to believe, that you would
rather bear with its effects, than witness the absence
of such natural affection.

"But this is not the sole cause: independently of some
afflictions of a clerical nature in my late parish, to
which it is not necessary to allude, the contemplation
of this vast and fathomless ocean, both from its novelty
and its grandeur, overwhelms me. At home I am fond of
tracing the Creator in his works. From the erratic comet
in the firmament, to the flower that blossoms in the
field; in all animate, and inanimate matter; in all that
is animal, vegetable or mineral, I see His infinite
wisdom, almighty power, and everlasting glory.

"But that Home is inland; I have not beheld the sea now
for many years. I never saw it without emotion; I now
view it with awe. What an emblem of eternity!--Its dominion
is alone reserved to Him, who made it. Changing yet
changeless--ever varying, yet always the same. How weak