The World of Waters | Page 6

lad is a fine noble-hearted lad, but he is not strong; and it is my
opinion that the master wants to get rid of him to have the fee for
nothing, and he's trying what hard living, hard work, and hard usage
will do towards making him go the faster. But he had better mind what
he is about. There's many a man on board that can speak a good word
for Frederic when he gets ashore; and, if all comes out, it will go hard
with the master. The poor lad cries himself to sleep every night, and
when he is asleep he has no rest, for in his dreams he talks of his
mother and sister, and often sobs loud enough to wake the men whose
hammocks swing near him. I am very sorry to see all this, for he is a
fine boy, as I said before, and we are all fond of him; but he's not fit for
this kind of work, leastwise not yet. I am glad you have taken notice of
him, madam; for, though you cannot do any good while we're at sea,
may be when you come ashore you won't forget poor Frederic
Hamilton.'
"When the boatswain left me, I walked up and down the deck
pondering on these things, and contriving all sorts of schemes for the
relief of my young friend, and wondering how I could manage to have
some conversation with him on the subject; when a circumstance
occurred, which at once enabled me not only to learn all I was anxious
to know, but also in a great measure to improve his condition on board
the 'Neptune.'
"I knew that Frederic must have been trained up in the fear of the Lord,
for his daily conduct testified that he not only knew what was right, but
tried to perform it also; and notwithstanding the severe trials he had to
undergo, while with us on the voyage to Jamaica, yet I never heard a
harsh or disrespectful expression fall from his lips; but he would
attribute all the captain's unkind treatment of him to something wrong
in himself, and he every day tried beyond his strength to obtain a look
of approbation from his stern master. But, alas! he knew not to whom
he looked; although he was cuffed and kicked about whenever he tried
to be brisk in the task allotted to him, he was always the same patient,
melancholy little fellow, throughout the voyage.

"Sometimes during the night watch, I have caught the musical tones of
his voice, as he walked the quarter-deck; when, the captain being in his
berth fast asleep, the boy was comparatively happy; and as the ship
sailed quietly along in the pale moonlight, his thoughts would wander
back to the home of his beloved mother and sister, and, the buoyancy
of youthful spirits gaining the ascendency over more melancholy
musings, he would for a while forget his present sorrows, and almost
involuntarily break out in singing some of the sweet hymns in which he
had been accustomed to join when the little family assembled for
devotional exercises.
"It was then I used to open my cabin window, and breathlessly listen to
the clear voice of my gentle protégé; and not unfrequently could even
distinguish the words he sang; now loud--now soft, as he approached or
retreated. One hymn in particular seemed to be a special favorite, and
was so applicable to his situation, that I have remembered several of the
verses.
"'Jesus, I my cross have taken, All to leave and follow thee: Destitute,
despised, forsaken, Thou from hence my all shall be. Perish every fond
ambition, All I've sought, and hoped, and known; Yet how rich is my
condition,-- God and heaven are still my own!
"'Man may trouble and distress me; 'Twill but drive me to thy breast.
Life with trials hard may press me; Heaven will bring me sweeter rest.
Oh! 'tis not in grief to harm me, While thy love is left to me! Oh! 'twere
not in joy to charm me, Were that joy unmixed with Thee.
"'Take, my soul, thy full salvation; Rise o'er sin, and fear, and care; Joy
to find in every station Something still to do or bear! Think what Spirit
dwells within thee; What a Father's smile is thine; What thy Saviour did
to win thee,-- Child of Heav'n, should'st thou repine?
"'Haste then on from grace to glory, Armed by faith, and winged by
prayer; Heaven's eternal day's before thee; Heaven's own hand shall
guide thee there. Soon shall close thy earthly mission; Swift shall pass
thy pilgrim days; Hope soon change to glad fruition, Faith to sight, and
prayer to praise.'"

EMMA. "What a beautiful hymn, grandmamma. I should like to learn