guidance of Him, who was touched with a feeling and compassionate sense of our manifold weakness and infirmities, may be favoured to administer, according to the ability given, to the wants and necessities of those about him, entering into their feelings, and sharing in whatever conflicts may be allotted to them.

I wish to make a grateful return to all those kind friends in Petersburg, who have lent their aid in any shape in the day of your distress. I am indeed one of those who owe much unto their Lord, both in these respects, and in things more nearly connected with eternal consequences; and having nothing to pay with, I do humbly trust, that as he that administereth a cup of cold water only to a disciple, in the name of a disciple, shall in no wise lose his reward; so also that all who have administered to the necessities of these little ones that believe on Him, will witness the Divine blessing to rest upon them; inasmuch as they, however unconsciously, "have done it unto me," was the declaration of our Lord himself.

As to myself, I have truly little to communicate, for since it has pleased our heavenly Father to magnify his power in the midst of our long unbroken and highly favoured circle, but little has transpired with me. I told the Committee under whose care I move along, at their last meeting, that in consideration of the state of my family, I should be best satisfied to lie upon my oars at present, until these calamities are overpast; of which I think approval was expressed. I have attended the meetings in and about this metropolis, in all of which, I have had to proclaim the spirituality of the dear Redeemer's kingdom, and to direct the people to the Holy Spirit in their own hearts, of a crucified, risen, and glorified Lord. It is indeed a day of lamentation, mourning, and woe, -for the expectation of the people is almost altogether outward, from man, although vital Christianity was never more talked of.

CHAPTER XV.

JOURNEY TO RUSSIA IN 1833-HIS RETURN, AND PREPARATIONS FOR HIS LONG VOYAGE-SAILS FROM THE THAMES THE 13TH OF ELEVENTH MONTH, 1833-DETENTION OFF THE ISLE OF WIGHT FROM ADVERSE GALES-LETTERS, AND EXTRACTS FROM HIS JOURNAL.

[Several circumstances having combined to delay the projected voyage to the South Seas till the succeeding autumn; our beloved father felt himself at liberty to employ a part of the interval thus occasioned, in visiting his family at Shoosharry.

The following letter describes some of the hardships of travelling between Holland and Russia in that day since that time, however, macadamized roads and good post-houses have been constructed along the whole line from Hamburgh to Petersburg.]

TO ONE OF HIS SONS.

MY DEAR JOSHUA,

Memel, Fourth Month 1st, 1833.

I was favoured to reach Hamburgh in safety, after a cold rough passage. There was only a small number of passengers; but amongst these was a German family, consisting of a mother and two little girls, and her brother, on their way to Memel, where they reside. We soon formed an acquaintance, and it afterwards appeared, that we had almost from the first kept an eye on each other, as likely to continue companions in travel; this has now been fully and agreeably realized, confirming a belief which had fastened on my mind. previously to setting out, that I should be provided for on my long and weary way. Though Germans, they speak English so well, that I have had no difficulty as to language, as we have passed along. We purchased a carriage in Hamburgh

for about £20 sterling, which when divided was easy; and our expenses have amounted to little more than they would have done by diligence, of which there are none running at this time of the year between Hamburgh and Berlin. It is a britchka with a good head, and a leather covering from the head, fastened to iron stanchions in front. The mother and children were of course placed under the head, as the most comfortable and secure place, whilst J. J. F. and myself occupied the front seat the whole way on it, however, the man must be weary indeed who could get much sleep. The roads through the Mecklenburgh district cannot easily be described; but I can tell thee, that many articles of clothing were actually chafed into holes. I ought however with thankfulness to add, that we were not once overturned, though we frequently expected it. We reached Berlin after thirtynine hours travelling, and were accommodated at the King of Portugal hotel. The falls of sleet now seemed over; but the cold was still very piercing. We started the next day, and, with the exception of two intervals of four hours each, travelled on for five days and four nights. Two stations on this side of Friedeburgh we seemed again to overtake the winter, and have kept possession of it ever since. Even to this day, those parts of Prussia which anciently belonged to Poland are distinguishable: the people still look different from their neighbours, and their houses and modes of living are quite peculiar. At one place they gave us the flesh of the wild boar; but hunger reconciled us to it pretty well, though otherwise it would have gone slowly down.

At Custrin, we passed the Oder, which was free from ice, but some huge blocks were lying about the shores of the Vistula; and we were informed, that the bridge had only been passable one day, so that had we reached it earlier, we must have been detained. We crossed the Nogatt at Marienburgh, and the Vistula at Dirschau, where in 1825, I crossed it with dear Thomas Shillitoe; and the mercies of the Lord so compassionately bestowed upon us at that time, were renewedly brought to my remembrance. From the advanced stage of the season, and the state of the roads, it seemed dangerous

to attempt going round by Tilsit, as the river (Niemen) generally overflows the surrounding flat country, to the prevention of travelling in the spring. The only alternative was, to travel along the Courish Nerung, a strip of land separated from the main land of East Prussia by the Haafe, a navigable bay or arm of the Baltic.

On returning to England in 1825, I promised thy dear mother, that I would not go over this sand on that journey, and the recollection of this was trying to me; but the advantages in the present case were so great, that at length I agreed to venture. No sooner had we left the regular post road, than the roads became heavy, and were at last so bad, as to make it doubtful whether we should be able to proceed by this route. As night came on, our situation became more critical, and the carriage seemed every few minutes in danger of being dashed to pieces against tree-roots, stones, or frozen masses of mud and snow. On reaching the next station, a fifth horse was yoked, unasked for by us, and uncharged by the keeper, but a fearful omen of the road to come. Having now additional strength of horses, the carriage seemed the more certain to be destroyed, having to pass through a forest amongst many obstructions; frequently we were thrown almost from our seats, and the shock so violent as to produce pain in the head. Sometimes we hove down on one side, then on the other; and again for short intervals, rumbling with great rapidity over a frozen level surface, which generally concluded with a violent concussion against some hard substance. As we had only one driver to our five horses, his principal business seemed to consist in cracking his long whip, which, performed with great dexterity, made the forest echo and re-echo with the sound. Late in the night we reached a lonely dwelling, and, to our surprise, without any damage done to the carriage. Here we waited till day dawned, and after a comfortless repast of coffee and black bread, again proceeded. From the nature of the quicksand of this part of the Nerung, we could only travel close to the margin of the sea, where it is the most solid. On our right hand were masses of ice, thrown into piles higher than the top of the carriage, by the force of

the sea during the late gales. At first the sea was pretty smooth; but the wind soon shifted dead upon the shore, and as the gale increased, the surf broke violently on the beach, occasionally forcing itself many yards higher up the shore than our carriage, so that we seemed at times to be travelling actually in the sea, until it again recoiled and shewed the naked strand. In this manner several hours passed, until at length we began to edge away from the cutting blast, amidst a heavy fall of snow, until we finally reached the Niemen or Memel river. We were favoured to land in perfect safety on the quay of Memel,-though such was the fury of the gale, that the carriage, after it had been lashed in its chucks, had to be lowered to the bottom of the boat, for fear of being upset in crossing.

Thus have loving-kindness and tender mercy still followed me; and I actually feel better in health than when I left London, though my legs and hands are somewhat swelled, probably with the cold.

[He returned to this country in the Sixth Month following, where he was shortly afterwards joined by our brother Charles, who had believed it his duty to offer himself as a companion to his father, and was finally accepted in that capacity by the Meeting for Sufferings. In a letter written on this subject, dated the 2nd of Sixth Month, 1833, Charles Wheeler says, Though by no means unconscious of my incapacity to act in a concern of such importance, and however inexpedient to the eye of mere reason such a step may be in a temporal point of view; yet I cannot omit offering my assistance in any way which shall be deemed best to promote the object, allowing that it shall ultimately be deemed proper. Nature, as might be expected, shrinks from a step which involves such important consequences, and which in itself simply considered, is by no means such as I should have chosen; yet my only wish in the case is, I trust, to act faithfully the part designed for me by that gracious Being, who has an undoubted right to dispose of his creatures according to the good pleasure of His will; and keeping my obligation to do so in view, I do not see