if we become objects of displeasure to heaven. Awful are the operations of the Divine power, which we are constantly beholding in the moral as well as in the natural world. The Almighty rules among the nations as well as over individuals; on his pleasure depend all the great revolutions of the carth; the interpositions of his providence are frequently apparent to the world, in bringing down the mighty, and raising up the fallen. Both the law and the gospel, the works of nature and the conduct of Providence, unite in uttering that solemn voice which ought frequently to resound in our ears: "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the heathen; I will be exalted in the earth. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name. Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number." The more philosophy has enlarged our views of nature, the more it has been discovered that, throughout the whole creation, there is no useless profusion of magnificence, but that every thing has been rendered subservient to the welfare of the world. Insensible must that heart be which feels no gratitude to that Sublime Being who has brought him forth to enjoy this wonderful scene. In this vast system of the universe, there are many things beyond our comprehension. As yet, perhaps, we see no more than the rise of the Divine Government, the beginning of a great plan, which is not to be completed until the courses of ages shall end. Presume not, therefore, to exalt thy weak reason against the revelations of heaven. Think with awe, and speak with caution, of what is so much above thee. Wait till events are unfolded; submit and adore! Let no voice be heard from thee but this, "Thou hast made me, O God, and I am thine: for in thee I live, and move, and have my being. Wherever thou commandest me to go, I follow. Whatever thou appointest me to suffer, I bear without a murmur. It is my part to persevere in duty, the rest I leave to thee, whose wisdom I revere, whose goodness I have so often experienced, in whom, therefore, I repose implicit trust, that all shall end well, and the righteous be made finally happy." "The Thus all nature loudly proclaims the being of a God. heavens declare his glory, and the firmament sheweth his handy work." The African in his kraal, and the Indian in his desert, as well as the Grecian sage, and the Roman conqueror, adored each, after their own mode, a Sovereign of the Universe.Having thus taken a view of the Great Creator's works, and finding every part of them admirably contrived, and of exquisite workmanship, and all of them demonstrating his infinite wisdom and power, let them serve as so many arguments exciting us to the constant fear of God, and to a steady obedience to his laws. "Praise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps, fires and hail, snow and vapours, stormy wind fulfilling his word; mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars; beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl; kings of the earth, and all people; princes, andall the judges of the earth; both young men and maidens, old men and children: let them praise the name of the Lord; for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven." To the Editor of the Methodist Magazine. DEAR SIR, Whether we traverse the sandy deserts of Arabia, or the bleak and inhospitable mountains of Greenland, covered with eternal snow, we discover the footsteps of the Creator of all things. The astonishing variety and grandeur of his works, supply no mean proof of that wisdom, which, while it forms an abyss unfathomable, is apparent to the most superficial observer. Having in your useful Miscellany a department for the philosophy of nature, which is admirably calculated to excite the aloration of the pious reader, and lead him through nature up to nature's God, I have sent you some extracts from an inte resting work, which has lately fallen into my hands, entitled “Greenland;" being a journal kept in that country by Hans Egede Saabye, missionary. Praying that they may further your pious design, London, Nov. 11, 1818. SAMUEL TAYLOR. THE ISEFJORD IN DISCO BAY. This remarkable gulph extends between the tracts of land in which the colonies of Claushavn and Jakobshavn are situated. It is from five to six miles long, and from a quarter to half a mile in breadth. It is said that, in former times, it was free from icebergs, and was navigable; nay, old Greenlanders even relate, after a tradition of their forefathers, that at times it was possible to navigate upon it to the east side of the country, between the rows of mountains which are now covered with eternal ice. They even relate, that, in later times, a piece of square timber was driven down, between these mountains, from the east side, and that it was used as a beam in a house. If this were true, it would certainly prove that there was formerly a passage through the gulph, from the east to the west side, which has since been stopped up by icebergs. The ridge of mountains itself, which extends along the country, and divides the east side from the west, has been long since a boundless ocean of ice, which, at a distance, seems to blend with the clouds. The ice increases every year; but the large quantity of snow which falls in the winter is melted by the sun in summer, flows down in streams, and makes dangerous openings in the ice, in which the Greenlanders, in pursuit of the rein-deer, often find their grave. When this ice projects over the water, it breaks by its own weight, and falls into the bay; hence the terribly magnificent mass of icebergs which I attempt to describe. When such a piece of ice falls, the noise may be heard at the distance of many miles: it rebounds several times before it recovers its equilibrium, and frequently brings up prodigious stones with it from the bottom. The whole bay is in commotion; the water swells and roars; the mountains burst asunder, with a loud crash, and tumble about in a terrible manner, till they either obtain a firm footing, or roll farther. The sea is covered, to the distance of several miles, with drift ice, which impedes the navigation. On such occasions, the swelling of the water often lifts up the greater part of the icebergs, and carries them, with incredible rapidity, farther out into the bay, or even into the open sea. Here they often appear to us like ships, which approach the land under full sail: we are deceived, and deceived again, and yet, so great is the resemblance, we remain standing, with joyful expectation, till they change their course, and shew themselves, on another side, in their true shape. If a person who had never seen this bay were to exert his imagination to the utmost, he would not be able to form a just idea of it. Conceive a tract of so many miles in extent, full of icebergs, so large that they reach 200 or 300 fathoms below the surface of the sea. They look as if they would bid defiance to time, and yet they are deceitful as water. In sailing by, you see houses, castles, gates, windows, chimnies, &c. It is a very agreeable illusion, as long as we do not know how dangerous it is to approach them; but even when we know this danger, we take pleasure in looking at them. I saw, among other magnificent buildings, the great gate of the palace of Christianburg, with its pillars and side doors; and my eyes dwelt on the mezzanine story, which was astonishingly resembling. As these masses of ice, accordingly as they are formed of sweet or salt water, are white, blue, or green, this difference of colours heightens the illusion, particularly when it is assisted by the powerful beams of the sun. These masses of ice have an attractive power, to which the stream doubtless contributes in a great degree, so that even large ships are in danger of being driven against them, if they do not take care, in time, to keep at a proper distance. The Greenlanders are very familiar with them, though many lose their lives by their confidence; but as the seals like to be near them, the Greenlanders must follow them thither, and seek food or death. The echo is so very strong among the icebergs, that, not only when you speak as you sail by them, you hear your words plainly re-echoed from the top; but the latter, when it is rotten, as they call it there, is so shaken by the sound, that it falls down; and woe then to him who is near it! The following accident happened while I was in Greenland:-A woman's boat passed from my side of the bay to the other; the people in the boat exhorted each other, as usual, as they approached the icebergs, not to speak, and did not suffer the oars to make any noise; but a young lad wantonly struck with a piece of wood on the skin. stretched over the boat. The sound was propagated in a few moments to the top of a rotten iceberg; the latter fell down, and all the people in the boat, seven in number, were drowned.* In this gulph, they catch, in winter, a kind of turbots, which are indeed much smaller, but more delicate, and much fatter, A remark communicated to me, by a friend, which was occasioned by the above account, makes the following explanation necessary. * In Greenland, and particularly in Disco Bay, where the Isefjord lies, it is notorions, that every sound, whether of speaking or other noise, under an iceberg, is quickly propagated to its summit, from which it is returned with a loud echo. It is equally notorious, that when such a mountain, either by the effects of the sun, or by revolutions in the bay, has become brittle, or, as they call it in that country, rotten, the summit of it is broken off by the vibration of the sound, falls down, and dashes to pieces whatever is under or near it. I have, myself, frequently spoken under icebergs when they seemed sound, and admired the uncommonly loud echo. I always escaped happily; and though I saw such tops of icebergs fall down, I never saw them fall upon any body. But the case is unhappily not so rare. Not only the above-mentioned seven persons perished in this manner, but single Greenlanders also, who went there in pursuit of seals, and fired their guns under these icebergs, without first examining whether they seemed to be rotten: that the seven persons lost their lives by the above-mentioned sound, and the fall of the summit occasioned by it, was told us by a Greenlander who had accompanied the women's boat in his Kajak; and being in the neighbourhood, though not quite close to the women's boat, or under the iceberg itself, had been witness of the action of the boy, and of the misfortune that ensued. "When the Greenlanders travel in their women's boats, they generally have one or two attendants in Kajaks, partly because it does not become them as men to sit idle in a women's boat, and still less to row the boat, which is the women's business, and partly in order to catch a seal on the way, if an opportunity should offer. Only the master of the family is in the boat as steersman; the rest are, as already said, in their Kajaks. But if they make a voyage over the Isefjord, they have always a Kajak with them, the proper business of which is to reconnoitre the bays and the icebergs, to examine where there are openings in these icebergs, that is, shorter ways, and whether these are so broad that they may venture to row through them. It was in such an opening, or icy vault, that the above-mentioned women's boat perished, but solely by the imprudence committed; for, according to the report of the Kajak rower, the opening was broad enough to pass through. The pieces of ice floating in the bay often cut holes in the women's boat: we at first stop them up with fat, and row on; but the holes may become so numerous (I once had nine in my boat), that the water pours in, and then it is necessary to go on shore to sew up these holes. While this is doing, or when they go on shore in the evening to put up tents, the boat is turned upside down, yet not quite with the keel uppermost, but with one side a little raised from the ground, and supported by a kind of props cr forks, the pointed end of which is fixed in the ground: and the fork supports the edge of the boat, in order that, while they are sewing it, or by drying in the sun, it may not get out of shape (which might easily happen, as the boat is quite wet from the voyage:) three or four such preps support the boat, and they are as indispensible on the voyage in a women's boat, as fat, needles, and thread, and a kind of pitch, to strengthen the seams. It was with one of these props that the boy gave the blow upon the boat which produced such unhappy consequences," than the common ones. The Greenlanders catch them with lines, which they make of whalebone. The fishing place is always surrounded with icebergs, but sometimes the latter stand like lofty buildings round a market place. There a great many people assemble; those who live at a distance come to purchase, and the fishermen sell. It is quite a fair! Every iceberg threatens them with death, and yet they are as cheerful and secure as if no danger was near. I once visited their market. The fishing place was very large, the ice thick, and the number of people assembled very great. They had already been fishing above eight days in this place, and the surrounding icebergs did not seem rotten. I was delighted with their cheerfulness and activity, and at their trade. They fished and caught in my presence, that I might see how they proceeded. Some lent me their lines, with which I measured the depth, and I found it in several places, as mentioned above, from two to three hundred fathoms. After staying about two hours, I left them, because it grew late, and I had three quarters of a mile to go home. Not half an hour after I had left them, an iceberg near the fish market fell down, broke the ice to pieces, and deprived several fishermen of their lines and fish. Some fell into the water, were crushed between the pieces of ice, and severely injured. The greatest part of them escaped uninjured, although they departed with empty hands. I should scarcely have been saved had I been still there, because every one had enough to do to save himself. Besides, we Europeans are not so skilful as the Greenlanders in jumping from one piece of ice to another, or, when we fall into the water, in climbing up again. It may easily be supposed, that such a prodigious number of icebergs, by the cold which proceeds from them, must make the air near them much more raw, than it is, even much farther to the north. I lived half a mile from them: when a mountain feli in ruins, I heard the noise like loud peals of thunder: I daily saw these icebergs, and felt the effects of their neighbourhood. When I returned home from Christianshaab, which lies four miles more to the south, the tears flowed from my eyes for cold, even at Whitsuntide, when my back was in a perspiration. THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD ASSERTED. To the Editor of the Methodist Magazine. MY DEAR SIR, THE following Narrative of the intense suffering, and miraculous escape of a distinguished individual, (the Honourable Colonel Ponsonby) on the memorable day of Waterloo, is equally remarkable for its affecting simplicity and moral reflection; and |