ed forth.'

After this his narrative has a different ring: Master Fowler was no
longer going about his ship with eyes cast down and hanging head and a
heart full of fear. He had straightened his back and was a stalwart
mariner again. Perhaps this was partly owing to the great pleasure
that came to him before they actually set sail, when, as he tells,
William Dewsbury came on board to visit the travellers. 'Dear William
Dewsbury' was the one Friend of all others Robert Fowler must have
wished to see once more before leaving England, for it was William
Dewsbury's preaching that had 'convinced' Robert Fowler and made him
become a Friend a few years before. It was William Dewsbury's teaching
about the blessedness of following the inner Voice, the inner
guidance, that had led him to offer himself and the _Woodhouse_ for
the service of Truth.

Perhaps he said, half in joke, half in earnest, 'O William Dewsbury! O
William Dewsbury! thou hast much to answer for! If I had never met
thee I should never have undertaken this voyage in my little boat!' If
he said this, I think a very tender, thankful light came into William
Dewsbury's face, as he answered, 'Let us give thanks then together,
brother, that the message did reach thee through me; since without
this voyage thou could'st not fully have known the power and the
wonder of the Lord.'

Quakers do not have priests to baptize them, or bishops to confirm or
ordain them, as Church people do. Yet God's actual presence in the
heart is often revealed first through the message of one of His
messengers. Therefore there is a special bond of tender fellowship and
friendship between those who are truly fathers and children in God,
even in a Society where all are friends. In this relation William
Dewsbury stood to Robert Fowler.

Reason and fear raised their heads once again, even after William
Dewsbury's visit. Robert Fowler thought of going to the Admiral in the
Downs to complain of the loss of his servants, and to ask that a
convoy might be sent with them. But he did not go, because, as he
says, 'From which thing I was withholden by that Hand which was my
Helper.'

The south wind began to blow, and they were obliged to put in at
Portsmouth, and there there were plenty of men waiting to be engaged,
but when they heard that this tiny vessel was actually venturing to
cross the Atlantic, not one would sail in her, and this happened again
at South Yarmouth, where they put in a few day