contending for the remains of existence with that cruel element which menaced to swallow us up: such was our situation till break of day: horrible situation! how shall we convey an idea of it, which shall not fall far short of the reality?"-p. 171.

It is not our intention to pursue the details of this dreadful event, in which human nature appears in its worst and most hideous features. We have shewn the situation in which so many unhappy people were placed, by the most culpable negligence of those to whom their safety had been entrusted; we have seen them abandoned to their fate by those persons in the most dastardly manner, and we must come to the conclusion, that these men must have been devoid of every degree of religious as well as of humane feeling; that none but confirmed infidels and atheists could have acted so diabolical a part. A very striking contrast is drawn by the Quarterly Reviewer at the conclusion of the soul-harrowing tale, between the conduct of the officers and crew of the Medusa, and those of the

R

Alceste, lost about the same time, in the Straits of Sonda, in the Indian seas.

"The two frigates were wrecked about the same time; the distance from the nearest friendly port pretty nearly the same: in the one case all the people were kept together, in a perfect state of discipline and subordination, and brought safely home from the opposite side of the globe. In the other, every one seems to have been left to shift for himself, and the greater part perished in the way we have just seen. In the one case the representative of his Majesty (Lord Amherst) voluntarily put himself on the same stinted allowance, and most cheerfully shared the same fate with the meanest of the crew. In the other, the representative of his Most Christian Majesty was the first to take care of himself: but we will not pursue the parallel."-p. 176.

We do not offer this comparison with a view of holding up the rival nation in an

* A British_frigate, commanded by the late Sir Murray Maxwell, returning from China, with Lord Amherst.

odious light, and throwing a stigma upon it; but to illustrate the argument and establish the position we have laid down, that the absence of religion in any class of the subjects of any country, must be detrimental to its best interests, and the cause of the most fearful disasters. France long felt downfall of her

the direful effects of the best institutions-of the overthrow of her altars, and destruction of all those bonds which held together the various classes of which nations are composed. It is true she rose with unexampled rapidity to a high state of military power; but many of her successes may be justly attributed to the very same cause to which her moral degradation was owing to the entire absence of any religious principle-to an utter defiance of all laws, sacred and profane—to the pillage of the wealth, and the destruction of the property and resources of every nation which had the misfortune to fall into her power. This wealth, poured into the coffers. of their unprincipled Directory, enabled them to prosecute the most gigantic designs, by

turning the whole population of France into one immense army, whilst unrestrained plunder being allowed to their troops, both officers and soldiers were enriched and excited to deeds and exertions hitherto unparalleled in their history. But this was not a wholesome state, and could promise neither happiness nor stability: hence the perpetual wars in which she was continually plunged by her ambitious ruler, who was well aware that the immense military establishment, which he had called into being, could never be supported by the resources of France alone. Universal Empire became indispensable to his existence; in grasping at this the Colossus was overthrown, and peace at length given to the agitated world. France can never fully appreciate the blessed change she has made; and proud as she naturally is of the achievements of her soldiers and the splendour of her victories, she will readily acknowledge the incalculable superiority of her present state, in the restoration of the blessings of peace, social order, commerce, and agriculture.

CHAPTER VI.

Recapitulation.

WE sincerely hope that in what has been said upon the all-important subject of maintaining religious observances, and inculcating the great and awful truths of vital Christianity to the thoughtless, and too generally, ignorant seamen, there will be found nothing calculated to excite one angry or unpleasant feeling in the minds of any individual; the great and sole object has been to point out, in the first instance, the fact that religion has been greatly neglected in the profession in which we have passed our life, and deeply do we deplore