me of my liberty, and have driven me through the punishment due to a deserter, which I never could have borne. I may well hate a covetous person, for what will he not do? Cutting off all family ties is nothing in his way. Yet this person was not in needy circumstances. He was a Custom-house officer, and his family were well-to-do; but, thank God, he was defeated in the way I have now described. Moreover, he brought the reflection of the whole town upon himself, his own family could not bear him, and for a long time after he durst not show his face, for people were constantly asking him if he had got his guinea. I am thankful that I kept my hands off him, but I saw that his punishment was severe enough, and he did not long survive." Thus ends his own story of these remarkable incidents. There is no colouring here. The facts are given just as they occurred. But the trials through which our hero passed awakened, as they well might, the deepest interest throughout the neighbourhood, and for some time he was in danger of being idolised for his cleverness and perseverance. He knew, however, that it was to the providence of God he owed his liberty, and to Him he gave the honour and the praise. His adventures taught him many valuable lessons which he did not forget in after life, and trying as these cir cumstances were, he did not regret them, for he believed that they fitted him, to a great extent, to brave the hardships of a sailor's life. He was not required to enter the naval service, for he wrote to the Lords of the Admiralty, as also did Captain Miles, on his behalf, giving them an account of his leaving the man-of-war, when, specially on the ground that he was a sea-fencible at the time of his impressment, he received a full pardon for what might be considered by many an act of indiscretion. George Smith had several brothers, all of whom went to sea, and in one way or other lost their lives. He was, therefore, the main support of his father and mother, and to provide for their necessities was his great delight. He continued in the service of his uncle, and became at length captain of a ship. This was his highest ambition, and he was now able to support his aged parents in such a way as to render their declining days comfortable, until at length they both entered into rest. Captain Smith traded to the port of Bristol, and there, according to a letter in his own handwriting, "set out for the kingdom," as he expressed it, and met in class with an excellent female, who resided at Kingswood. The Rev. Samuel Bradburn was at that time stationed in Bristol, and on one occasion preached a sermon on Covetousness-"such a sermon," says Capt. Smith, "as I never heard in my life." He adds, "Mr. Bradburn's kindness to me I shall never forget. He used to come on board my ship, and take me to his house three or four times a week." The sermon made such an impression on the captain's mind that he became liberal almost to a fault, and no one ever asked him for assistance and was refused if he had it in his power to give it. On one occasion he was in London, when to some poor applicant he gave the last twopence he had; "But," he says, "two hours after I had £25 given me," which sum came from a most unexpected quarter. Some, no doubt, will say that this was merely accidental, but Captain Smith did not look upon it in this light, but as a gift of Divine Providence, in whom he had now learnt to place implicit trust. And that God does ofttimes reward His servants who confide in Him, by putting it into the hearts of others to help them when in difficulties, who can doubt? His hand is conspicuous in little things as well as in greater ones, if we will but see it, and to acknowledge this is at once a duty, a privilege, and a joy. "He," says Charnock, "that denies providence, denies most of the attributes of God, or denies at least the exercise of them. He denies His omniscience, which is the eye of providence; mercy and justice, which are the arms of it; power, which is the life and motion of providence; wisdom, which is the rudder of providence, whereby it is steered; and holiness, which is the compass and rule of the motion of providence." Yes; and in doing this he robs himself of the one great source of consolation in trouble, of strength in weakness, of succour in perplexity, and of rest and satisfaction amidst the trials of this present life. |