The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1840-02-11

VINO departed rom the tender clrcle OF WHe,
children and friends, and thought that after the
hrie! period of necessary absence, they would
return again to their sacred. homc.bred joys.
There were gathered together the Christian and
the sinner, the gid'iy and the gay, the lover Of
pleasure and the stricken in heart-there were
the humble aud The obscure, and there also were
the eminent " the honorable man, and the ccun-
sellor, and the cunning arfccr, and the eloquent
orator." and the enterprising merchant. My
hearers do you remember when, on The last
Sabbath, while attempting 10 dissuade you from
presumptuous confidence in regard to the future,
quoted the admonition of the apostle James
Doubtless it fell unheeded on many ears. To
others it seemed mere scripture commonplace,
to say, "Go to now, we that say, To-day or to-
morrow we will 80 into such city, and continue
there year, and buy and sell, and get gain,
whereas We know not what shall be on the NOR
row: For what is your life 1t is even va
pour, that vunisheih away. For that We ought
to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and DO
this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boast'
ings-all such rejoicing is evil" And again
sought TO impress you with the injunction OF the
wise man, Boast not myself Of to- morrow for
thou lnowest not what day may bring forth"
All! who believed, who felt, who of you refec-
ted on the truthful and solemn thought? Alas?
it would have seemed just as unmeaning, and
Just rs much like the gloomy croaking Ola dis
tempered zeal, had they heard it, to many of that
crew who embarked OH Monday, WHO never
reached the desired haven whNher they were
bound, who dreamed not Of peril of death,
who met the coming of the Of man in n
most unexpected WY, and-'in such an hour as
they thought not" Was there not fearful truth
in the warning! How is it confirmed 10y this
melancholy disaster!
But there were the mighty, and the prudent
and the wise the light.heared youth, uad the
delicate md helpless woman. With the eager
ness Of appeiiio they sat down 10 the evening
meal; and in the customary solicitu1e with
which all who travel have made acquaintance
in similar circumstances, they thought to pro-
cure comfortable berths for the repose of the
night But what fearful surprise dsturbs AMI
destroys their security What shocking forms
Of death burs, forth upon sudden, to are up
on their eyes and appal their interpreting hearts.
A devourng flame shot from the trusted sources
of their speed, ceases aid their progress through
the deep, and gathering its destructive power, it
bursts forth in the midst Of their company, as.
sumes the mastery of their vessel, and spreads
universal dismay with menaces Of frey ruin.
Driven to the decks, they rush with frantic des'
peration TO The lraii hopes OF escape furnished
hy the bouts. The safest Of these, the life boat,
is disabled and dashed away beyond their
Il. II,
The remaining boats are rapidly filled /; yet even
ere they arc lnunched they are overwhelmed Ivy
the pail. of escape, and the unhappy voyagers
are prccipirated into The freezing waters, on a
nigh, Wien even Ivy orr sheltered firesdes we
slivercd.
The voyage was ended Their earthly hopes
and feurs; their earthly joys and sorrows: aud
all that concern which, bnt the moment before
they bad in earthly things, were forever quash.
ed.
Thus pcrishvd, in that dreadful, unexpected
hour, sixty or seventy immortal beings the
whole ships c.tnpany-co and crew
aud passcnsers-save only some four or five,
who were spared by the remorsless pillows
who, with but slig ht chance of reaching any
Shore were, after many hours, thrown up fro.
zen and almost speechless-snalched by the
hund OF Providence from the common death, and
left almost alone TO tell the tale.-All the rest
persisted. What were their sefferings what
their thoughts what the emotions of their
hearts, ere they slept in icy death, and found
their winding sheet in the wntry wave And
to-day, there is mourning in many habitalions.
In such an hour as We think not the son of man
cometh.'
Which OF these dead-even of the pious and
thoughtful amoug theni-which OF them thought
one week ago that then was their last Sabbath
on earth Some OF them, it may be, worshipped
| God, and though they knew not of the desola-
tons of the coming morrow, they met them with
the preperat lion of faith and hope. But others,
perhaps, wasted in sin their last days of holy
time, and scorncd the sound OF the 'cburch. go.
ing bell'--and they knew not. us the sun of that
Sabbath went down, that their day of grace was
ended. Perhaps others sat in the house of God