Miss Atwood was united in marriage to Mr. Newell on the 9th of February,
1812; and on the 19th the Caravan set sail, as before stated. The voyage
to Calcutta, though attended with many things to render it unpleasant to a
feeble American woman, was not a severe one. The weather most of the time
was pleasant; and only occasionally did the waves sweep across the decks of
the vessel, or flow through the windows into the cabin. Mrs. Newell spent
her time in writing letters to her American friends and preparing herself
for her missionary work. She now had leisure to examine her own heart and
descend into the hidden mysteries of her soul; she had ample space to view
the past and form plans for the future; she could try her motives by the
unerring word of God, and, by humble prayer and careful meditation, be
enabled to acquire strength which should prove equal to her trials. The
cabin of a wave-tossed vessel, the loneliness of a voyage across the
deep-green ocean, a separation from earth's homes and earth's hearts,
were all calculated to lift up the pious mind, and centre the soul's best
affections upon pure and worthy objects. Whatever of care and sorrow she
might have had, however much or however little of anxiety might have filled
her bosom, such circumstances were sufficient to bring her faith to the
most severe test.

The voyage must have been severe but healthy discipline, and doubtless from
it was learned many a lesson of grace and duty. As the snow-covered hills
of her own dear home disappeared; as the tall chimney at the entrance of
the harbor, from which the nightly flame burned forth a beacon to the
mariner to guide him amid the storm, was lost in the distance; as the first
night came on and darkness gathered over the wide waste of waters; as deep
shadows fell upon the form of the plunging ship,--the missionary cause
must have presented itself in a new light, and, to some extent, have been
clothed with sombre hues. And as time rolled on and the distance from home
increased, that sacred call of God, that holy mission on which she was