engers; the old coachman lay a
corpse, mangled horribly by the heels of the horses, over which he had
been thrown, and not one of the passengers had escaped some severe
injury; while the poor guard had his arm broken, and his horn doubled up
under him.

I went into the house, and sat down. "Wife," said I, "you are right;
God watches over us at sea as well as on land, and accidents may occur
on shore as well as on the ocean. Why He has thought fit to preserve
us, while others have been allowed to perish, I know not; I can only
take the cup of blessing and be thankful. I will never again attempt to
escape out of His hand by endeavouring to avoid a possible danger."

The gentleman and his wife were very much interested in the account
Margaret and I gave of ourselves, and invited us to remain a whole day
with them, that she might recover from her fatigue. It is one of the
pleasantest things in life to thus receive unexpected kindness from
strangers, who can have no thought or hope of recompense. It is
satisfactory at the time, and makes one think better of the common human
nature which unites us to our fellow-beings. I told our new friend of
all the shipwrecks I had suffered.

"Ah! there are as many on shore, depend upon it, as on the ocean," he
answered. "On shore they are the worst, because they occur generally
through our own folly and ignorance and vice. How many a young man has
started fairly in life, and yet before many years have passed he has
made a complete shipwreck of all the bright promises on which his
friends trusted, with himself alone to blame, because he refused to
consult or to be guided by the only sure chart and compass which could
guide him aright! For what purpose did the wise King of Israel--the
wisest of the kings of the earth--write his proverbs, do you think? Not
for his own satisfaction or amusement, but because he felt it a sacred
duty he owed to posterity to give the result of his own meditations, of
his observations, and of his own bitter experience. Yet how few men,
comparatively, go to that book of books for counsel, for guidance, and
direction? Where can be found more ample directions for getting on in
life, as the phrase is, for making money, for becoming great in this
world even, than the Book of Solomon affords?"

I agreed with my kind and thoughtful host, and promised to study that
work more than I had ever before done. I ought to have said that I
would begin and study i