e point, even
to the calculation of hope, whether he would fetch the extreme point of
the islet. Newton redoubled his exertions, when, within thirty yards of
the shore an eddy assisted him, and he made sure of success; but when
within ten yards, a counter current again caught him, and swept him
down. He was now abreast of the very extreme point of the islet; a bush
that hung over the water was his only hope; with three or four desperate
strokes he exhausted his remaining strength, at the same time that he
seized hold of a small bough, It was decayed--snapped asunder, and
Newton was whirled away by the current into the broad ocean.

How constantly do we find people running into real danger to avoid
imaginary evil! A mother will not permit her child to go to sea, lest
it should be drowned, and a few days afterwards it is kicked to death by
a horse. Had the child been permitted to go afloat, he might have lived
and run through the usual term of existence. Wherever we are, or
wherever we may go, there is death awaiting us in some shape or another,
sooner or later; and there is as much danger in walking through the
streets of London as in ploughing the foaming ocean. Every tile over
our heads contains a death within it, as certain if it were to fall upon
us, as that occasioned by the angry surge, which swallows us up in its
wrath. I believe, after all, that as many sailors in proportion, run
out their allotted span as the rest of the world that are engaged in
other apparently less dangerous professions; although it must be
acknowledged that occasionally we do become food for fishes. "There is
a tide in the affairs of men," says Shakespeare; but certainly, of all
the tides that ever interfered in a man's prospects, that which swept
away Newton Forster appeared to be the least likely to "lead to
fortune." Such however was the case. Had Newton gained the islet which
he coveted, he would have perished miserably; whereas it will soon
appear, that although his sufferings are not yet ended, his being
carried away was the most fortunate circumstance which could have
occurred, and proved the means of his ultimate preservation.

Newton had resigned himself to his fate. He ceased from further
exertion, except such as was necessary to keep him above water a little
longer. Throwing himself on his back, he appealed to Heaven for pardon,
as he floated away with the stream. That Newton had as few errors and
follies to answer f