a desire of this change one hour before it took place. I embarked with him, and in a few hours lost sight of Kittam.

How much is their blindness to be pitied, who can see nothing but chance in events of this sort! So blind and stupid was I at that time! I made no reflection, I sought no direction in what had happened: like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind, and tossed, I was governed by present appearances, and looked no farther. But he who is eyes to the blind, was leading me in a way that I knew not.

Now I am in some measure enlightened; I can easily perceive, that it is in the adjustment and concurrence of these seemingly fortuitous circumstances, that the ruling power and wisdom of God is most evidently displayed in human affairs. How many such casual events may we remark in the history of Joseph, which had each a necessary influence on his ensuing promotion! If he had not dreamed, or if he had not told his dream; if the Midianites had passed by a day sooner or a day later; if they had sold him to any person but Potiphar; if his mistress had been a better woman; if Pharaoh's officers had not displeased their lord; or if any, or all these things had fallen out in any other manner or time than they did, all that followed had been prevented, the promises and purposes of God concerning Israel, their bondage, deliverance, polity, and settlement, must have failed; and as all these things tended to, and centred in Christ, the promised Saviour, the Desire of all nations would not have appearedmankind had been still in their sins, without hope, and the counsels of God's eternal love in favour of sinners defeated. Thus, we may see a connection between Joseph's first dream, and the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, with all its glorious consequences.

So strong, though secret, is the concatenation between the greatest and the smallest events. What

a comfortable thought is this to a believer, to know, that amidst all the various interfering designs of men, the Lord has one constant design which he cannot, will not miss, namely, his own glory in the complete salvation of his people; and that he is wise, and strong, and faithful, to make even those things which seem contrary to this design, subservient to promote it!

The ship I was now on board as a passenger, was on a trading voyage for gold, ivory, dyers' wood, and bees' wax. It requires much longer time to collect a cargo of this sort than of slaves. The captain began his trade at Gambia, had been already four or five months in Africa, and continued there a year, or thereabouts, after I was with him; in which time we ranged the whole coast, as far as Cape Lopez; which lies about a degree south of the equinoctial, and more than 1000 miles farther from England than the place where I embarked. I have little to offer worthy of your notice, in the course of this tedious voyage. I had no business to employ my thoughts, but sometimes amused myself with mathematics. Excepting this, my whole life, when awake, was a course of most horrid impiety and profaneness. I know not that I have ever since met so daring a blasphemer: Not content with common oaths and imprecations, I daily invented new ones; so that I was often seriously reproved by the captain, who was himself a very passionate man, and not at all circumspect in his expressions. From the relation I at times made him of my past adventures, and what he saw of my conduct, and especially towards the close of the voyage, when we met with many disasters, he would

often tell me, that, to his great grief, he had a Jonah on board; that a curse attended me wherever I went, and that all the troubles he met with in the voyage, were owing to his having taken me into the vessel. I shall omit any further particulars, and, after mentioning an instance or two of the Lord's mercy to me, while I was thus defying his power and patience, I shall proceed to something more worthy your perusal. Although I lived long in the excess of almost every other extravagance, I never was fond of drinking; and my father has often been heard to say, that while I avoided drunkenness, he should still entertain hopes of my recovery. But sometimes I would promote a drinking-bout, for a frolic's sake, as I termed it; for though I did not love the liquor, I was sold to do iniquity, and delighted in mischief. The last abominable frolic of this sort I engaged in, was in the river Gabon; the proposal and expense were my own. Four or five of us one evening sat down upon deck, to see who could hold out longest in drinking geneva and rum alternately; a large sea-shell supplied the place of a glass. I was very unfit for a challenge of this sort, for my head was always incapable of bearing much strong drink. However, I began, and proposed the first toast, which, I well remember, was some imprecation against the person who should start first. This proved to be myself. My brain was soon fired; I arose, and danced about the deck like a madman; and while I was thus diverting my companions, my hat went overboard. By the light of the moon I saw the ship's boat, and eagerly threw myself over the side to get into her, that I might recover my hat. My sight in that circumstance deceived me, for the boat was not within my reach, as I thought, but perhaps twenty feet from the ship's

side. I was, however, half overboard, and should in one moment more have plunged myself into the water, when somebody catched hold of my clothes behind, and pulled me back. This was an amazing escape, for I could not swim if I had been sober; the tide ran very strong, my companions were too much intoxicated to save me, and the rest of the ship's company were asleep. So near was I, to appearance, of perishing in that dreadful condition, and sinking into eternity under the weight of my

own curse.

Another time, at Cape Lopez, some of us had been in the woods, and shot a buffalo, or wild cow. We brought a part of it on board, and carefully marked the place (as I thought) where we left the remainder. In the evening we returned to fetch it, but we set out too late. I undertook to be the guide; but night coming on before we could reach the place, we lost our way. Sometimes we were in swamps, up to the middle in water; and when we recovered dry land, we could not tell whether we were walking towards the ship, or wandering farther from her. Every step increased our uncertainty. The night grew darker, and we were entangled in inextricable woods, where perhaps the foot of man had never trod before. That part of the country is entirely abandoned to wild beasts, with which it prodigiously abounds. We were indeed in a terrible case, having neither light, food, nor arms, and expecting a tiger to rush from behind every tree. The stars were clouded, and we had no compass to form a judgment which way we were going. Had things continued thus, we had probably perished; but, it pleased God, no beast came near us; and, after some hours perplexity, the moon arose, and pointed out the eastern quarter. It appeared then,

as we had expected, that, instead of drawing nearer to the sea side, we had been penetrating into the country; but, by the guidance of the moon, we at length came to the water-side, a considerable distance from the ship. We got safe on board, without any other inconvenience than what we suffered from fear and fatigue.

These, and many other deliverances, were all at that time entirely lost upon me. The admonitions of conscience, which, from successive repulses, had grown weaker and weaker, at length entirely ceased; and for a space of many months, if not for some years, I cannot recollect that I had a single check of that sort. At times, I have been visited with sickness, and have believed myself near to death; but I had not the least concern about the consequences. In a word, I seemed to have every mark of final impenitence and rejection; neither judgments nor mercies made the least impression on me.

At length, our business finished, we left Cape Lopez, and after a few days stay at the island of Annabona, to lay in provisions, we sailed homewards about the beginning of January 1748. From Annabona to England, without touching at any intermediate port, is a very long navigation, perhaps more than seven thousand miles, if we include the circuit necessary to be made on account of the trade winds. We sailed first westward, till near the coast of Brazil, then northwards to the banks of Newfoundland, with the usual variations of wind and weather, and without meeting any thing extraordinary. On these banks we stopped half a day to fish for cod; this was then chiefly for diversion, we had provisions enough, and little expected those fish (as it afterwards proved) would be all we should have to subsist on. We left the banks, March 1,