before you this day, a blessing and a curse; a blessing if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, and a curse if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God."*

* Deuteronomy xi. 26-28.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE RETURN.

"Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day."-Acts xxvi. 22.

Boundless goodness, and mercy vast,
Have followed me in time that's past;
To thee, great God, I'll give the praise,
And in thy service spend my days.

ONCE more I behold the happy country which gave me birth; once more I feast on a sight of thee, blest England! The most delightful sensations steal through my frame; my bosom expands with rapture, my heart beats with joy, and I feel as I never felt before. May fervent love and gratitude to God, mark

whatever I do through my remaining pilgrimage!

A return to our native land after a long absence, is a return to new associations, to new delights, and new pleasures. It is a period when the tide of happiness flows in all its fulness. Scenes oft endeared to the soul before our departure, appear on our return more charming, happier, and delightful. Friends we have long loved then seem to pour forth the genial current of friendship in a more gratifying and welcome manner; and at our homes we are encircled with the highest joys. A return to our native shores, is a return to many pleasures, but a return to our homes, is a return to the greatest sublunary bliss. There we participate the tender devoted affection of a wife; the enrapturing fond embraces of children; the systematic

undiminished attachment of parents, and the glad proud smiles of brothers and sisters. A part of these are high pleasures, but all of them are unspeakable joys, which must be fully experienced to be really known.

A love of country predominates in every breast, and while it is a very natural, it is also a very delightful feeling. No one however can doubt, but what this principle has a much stronger influence over persons of different countries; and if any one feels it in a great degree, it is an Englishman. If he be proud of his country, he certainly has abundant cause, "for who so blest as

he?"

England! with all thy faults I love thee still,
My country and while yet a nook is left,
Where English minds and manners may be
found,

Shall be constrained to love thee."

Exclusive of what I have mentioned above respecting friends and relatives, there are peculiar circumstances in the return of an Englishman to the happy land of his birth, calculated to inspire his soul with the greatest satisfaction, and pleasure.

England is the country where liberty exists, not nominally, but really. The king's throne is established on the sure foundation of absolute freedom. It is freedom which gives security to his person, weight to his power, and brilliancy to his crown. He is a king descended from a line of monarchs in whose bosoms the glorious flame of liberty always glowed; and he is a sovereign, as deeply concerned for the freedom of his people, as they nobly determined to maintain it. Ours is a king well acquainted with the genuine principles of freedom, and well versed