I will not attempt to depict the scene of horror and confusion which ensued:it may be imagined,but never described.The captain,to give him his due,displayed the utmost coolness and intrepidity,and he and the whole crew made the greatest exertions to repair the engine,and when they found their labour in vain,endeavoured by hoisting the sails and by practising all possible manoeuvres to preserve the ship from impending destruction.But all was of no use;we were hard on a lee shore,to which the howling tempest was impelling us.About this time I was standing near the helm,and I asked the steersman if there was any hope of saving the vessel or our lives;he replied,'Sir,it is a bad affair;no boat could for a minute live in this sea,and in less than an hour the ship will have her broadside on Finisterre,where the strongest man-of-war ever built must go to shivers instantly.
None of us will see the morning.'The captain likewise informed the other passengers in the cabin to the same effect,telling them to prepare themselves,and having done so he ordered the door to be fastened,and none to be permitted to come on deck.I,however,kept my station,though almost drowned with water,immense waves continually breaking over our windward side and flooding the ship;the water-casks broke from their lashings,and one of them struck me down,and crushed the foot of the unfortunate man at the helm,whose place was instantly taken by the captain.We were now close on the rocks,when a horrid convulsion of the elements took place;the lightning enveloped us as with a mantle,the thunders were louder than the roar of a million cannon,the dregs of the ocean seemed to be cast up,and in the midst of all this turmoil the wind,without the slightest intimation VEERED RIGHT ABOUT,and pushed us from the horrible coast faster than it had previously drawn us towards it.
The oldest sailors on board acknowledged that they had never witnessed so providential an escape.I said from the bottom of my heart,'Our Father:hallowed be Thy name.'The next day we were near foundering,for the sea was exceedingly high,and our vessel,which was not intended for sailing,laboured terribly,and leaked much.The pumps were continually working.She likewise took fire,but the flames were extinguished.In the evening the steam-engine was partially repaired,and we reached Lisbon on the 13th.Most of my clothes and other things are spoiled,for the hold was overflowed with the water from the boiler and the leak.
The vessel will be ready for sea in about a week,when I shall depart for Cadiz;but most of the passengers who intended going farther than Lisbon have abandoned her,as they say she is doomed.
But I have more trust in the Lord that governeth the winds,and in whose hands the seas are as a drop.He who preserved us at Finisterre can preserve elsewhere,and if it be His will that we perish,the firm ground is not more secure than the heaving sea.
I have seen our excellent friend Mr.Wilby,and delivered to him the parcel,with which I was entrusted.He has been doing everything in his power to further the sale of the sacred volume in Portuguese;indeed his zeal and devotedness are quite admirable,and the Society can never appreciate his efforts too highly.But since I was last at Lisbon the distracted state of the country has been a great obstacle to him;people's minds are so engrossed with politics that they find no time to think of their souls.Before this reaches you,you will doubtless have heard of the late affair at Belem,where poor Freire (I knew him well)one of the ex-Ministers lost his life,and which nearly ended in an affray between the English forces and the native.The opinions of the Portuguese seem to be decidedly democratic,and I have little doubt that were the English squadron withdrawn the unfortunate young Queen would lose her crown within a month,and be compelled with her no less unfortunate young husband to seek a refuge in another country.I repeat that I hope to write to you from Cadiz;I shall probably be soon in the allotted field of my labours,distracted,miserable Spain.The news from thence is at present particularly dismal;the ferocious Gomez,after having made an excursion into Estremadura,which he ravaged like a pestilence,has returned to Andalusia,the whole of which immense province seems to be prone at his feet.I shall probably find Seville occupied by his hordes,but I fear them not,and trust that the Lord will open the path for me to Madrid.One thing I am resolved upon:either to be the instrument of doing something for Spain,or never to appear again in my native land.
G.B.
