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DEDICATION.

TO MY DIVINE MASTER AND LORD.

I come before Thee; my bountiful LORD; casting myself at Thy feet on the ground, with this little offering, the first sheaf of Thine own corn field of this year; the gatherings and first fruits of a nosegay collected from Thine own garden; a cluster of grapes plucked from Thine own vine. Condescend, My Divine Master, Thou Antetype of David, to accept from the hand of Abigail, "this blessing which Thine handmaid hath brought unto my Lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow My LORD. I pray Thee forgive the trespass of thine handmaid. The LORD will certainly make My LORD a sure house because My LORD fighteth the battles of the LORD JEHOVAH."

Yet a "Man of Sin" is risen to pursue Thee, and to seek Thee, in Thy people. But the Spirit of My LORD is bound in the bundle of life with the LORD my GOD: and the souls of Thine enemies, "them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of a sling," "for Thou must reign, till Thou hast put all enemies under Thy feet; and the last enemy Thou shalt destroy is Death ;” "and Death and Hell, Thou shalt cast into the lake of fire!"

Whatever may be the measure of ability with which this offering is produced and put together, Thou alone canst tell. Far be it from Thine handmaid, with mock humility, which is hateful in Thy sight, to aim at unconciousness in the possession of intellect which came alone from Thee: to deny the possession of talents, which Thou only, of Thy bounty, couldest bestow; and which, so feeling Thou hast given, causes the possessor to tremble lest of one she should not produce two; lest of two she should not make five: lest of five, she should not make ten talents. But on the other hand, whilst lying in the dust before Thee, let not man be ready to over-rate her capabilities of weaving a net to catch fish for Thy streams, or mixing a phial of wine and bark out of Thy laboratory, to form a tonic draught for Thy church. Our times are in Thine hand; our strength is Thine; our efforts made for Thee are Thine.

LORD, be pleased to accept of all in the ensuing pages which is Thy very own, and pardon all that is Thine handmaid's: for thy sweet complacent

smile I look, as it may be manifested, in Thine own dear people. If Thy righteous seed smite me, and point out, in Thy Spirit, an ambiguity or error, let him reprove; it shall be a kindness; an excellent oil which shall not break my head, but which shall, when opportunity offers, be acknowledged and borne in mind, and regarded. Bnt if this poor evil world, in which Thy people sojourn as pilgrims, should begin to rail on the pen they were wont, on so many former occasions, to applaud and highly esteem, while it was used in their service, why then, rail they may, it shall be a good sign, and shall shew that the offence of Thy cross hath not ceased; that, though Thine handmaid, with Thine own Holy Word close to her bosom for her guide, her lamp, her staff, her meat, her drink, her life, she is, notwithstanding, called a fanatic, an enthusiast, a visionary, yet that she has the honor and gratification to share in the opprobrium ever cast on those of Thy servants who are faithful, and who call this vain, lost world, what it is, and ever will be, according to Thine apostles and prophets, an Evil World, as Thou Thyself pronounced just before Thy precious blood was shed; a world that hated Thee, and a world that could not receive Thee. A world, to mention Thine own Holy Words, Thou prayest not for. "I pray not for the World!" John xvi. Thou prayest, for ever blessed be Thou, our High Priest, and Thou intercedest, for a people, chosen out of the world; and every day coming one by one out of it into Thy kingdom, but not for the World.

Go thy way, eat

And now, Lord, what wait I for? My hope is in Thee. Lift Thou up the light of Thy sweet countenance on thy handmaid and say, "Daughter be of good cheer. Go up in peace to thine house: see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person; be of good cheer. thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works. In the cluster thou hast brought, shall be found a blessing. Let thy garments be always white, and let thy head lack no ointment, keep thyself unspotted from the world." Serve thy generation.

Blessed LORD, Thy promise is my prayer. O keep Thou my soul! Hide me in the secret of Thy presence from the pride of man! Keep me secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues! Keep Thou my heart with all diligence! Keep the feet of Thy saints! O guide me with Thy counsel, and afterwards receive to glory,

Thy most unworthy Handmaid, Thy most unprofitable Servant,

Yet, Thy dearly bought, and consequently richly loved member of

Thine own Church,

E. L.

MAGDALENA'S

VOYAGES AND TRAVELS

THROUGH THE KINGDOM OF THIS WORLD INTO THE KINGDOM OF GRACE.

CHAPTER I.

Account of Magdalena's Family, and Marriage with Mr. Markwell—His Delicate Health-Travels-Journey to Conviction Land-Mr. M. wounded by an Arrow from_an_unseen hand—A Serious Accident occurs— Prefers going to Stifle Town rather than to Retrospection TownEntrance into the former.

I HAVE often and often wished to finish the travels I began long ago to write, and indeed I have been frequently pressed thereto by various friends, but one hindrance or other has come between the relation of my extraordinary history and myself, till I am now growing old, and my hair is turning grey, and my sight is not so good as it was in former days; however, I do now, by God's blessing, determine seriously to the work: and, I hope an account of what the LORD hath done for me in perils, dangers, escapes, and preservations in different lands, may be improved by writer and reader to the praise of His glory.

I was born of a very respectable family, my father being the seventh and youngest son of an eminent Barrister, who himself. followed no profession, but lived a short distance from the metropolis on his own small estate; cultivating his own land, and making, on its produce, with my mother's small funded property, amply sufficient to meet every expense incurred by his family and himself. I had one sister and two brothers; one of whom was brought up to the Church and no money spared to fit him for the

same; my younger brother David, at an early age, was sent into the navy, whilst I and my sister were educated by a governess at home till we were about fourteen, and then were finished, as it is called, at a fashionable boarding school. At sixteen I quitted this retreat, and paid a visit to an aunt of mine, and accompanied her in her rambles to various watering places; at one of which, the youngest son of an army officer of high rank, fell in love with me, and after a year's courtship we were married.

My husband, Mr. Markwell, and I, being very gay, desired to see the world before we settled in any particular town. We accordingly travelled as much for pleasure, as he afterwards did, poor creature, for the benefit of his health; so that by the time my age had numbered twenty-five, I had indeed gone over much ground, and well nigh seen more of the world than I wished.

My husband was never what is called a robust man; but, three years after I married him, he became exceedingly delicate, from having ruptured a blood vessel, through a fall from his horse in a stag chase. His physicians ordered him change of air, and thus were we constantly roving from place to place in search of life, happiness, and health; with what success will be shewn, I expect in my relation.

From my dear Josiah's state of sickness, and the tender age of my darling children, the management of the business of the road, paying the bills, choosing the Inns we would stop at, and the rate at which we would travel per diem, in a great measure, necessarily devolved upon me. Yet Josiah and I generally put our heads together in consultation on the route to be taken, and with the map spread out before him as he lay on the sofa, he would put his dear finger on this or that town, or watering place, and express a sort of choice, leaving it to me to state my reasons for or against the track, as I thought best. I seldom, however, did oppose him, unless I had cogent reasons for so doing; or unless I saw an uninteresting description of the place or road given in my Gazetteer of the World; and then I generally read the uninviting description aloud, which, however, instead of exciting his disgust, only provoked his curosity, and made him insist on going in that very direction, notwithstanding every argument that could be produced against such a procedure.

By referring to my map, which will be found, gentle reader, at the beginning of my travels, you will see on the north east of Con

viction Land, an inlet from the ocean, forming a gulf of very awful and solemn appearance. The waves are dark, heavy, and deep, and the hissing of the tremendous foam dashing against the rocks of the shores on this side, is heard at a very considerable distance; -not a bird or animal is seen on these rocks, and few persons ever like to reside long in the neighbourhood. (a) It so happened however, that my husband and family were obliged to take this spot in our route, and we lodged in a villiage close on the edge of the sandy part of the shore, and as we were there, and that some little repair was needful for our carriage, Josiah took the recreation of walking on the sands. The body of a man who had been struck dead by lightning the day before, when he was in the very act of swearing to a falsehood, floated by him, and greatly startled my poor husband, he trembled so much that he could walk no more, but was forced to sit down and then turned to go towards the little Inn where I and the children were staying. I think it must have been whilst he was putting his intention into execution, that a blow was aimed at him by an unseen hand. It was from an arrow; (b) it struck and wounded him on the top of his left shoulder, grazing his hat;-he put his hand to the spot, and not knowing what was the matter, in his haste struck off the end of the weapon which fell to the earth, and we never could find it, though my little boy Julian, and Kezia his eldest sister, long groped in the sand for the naughty arrow, as they called it, which had hurt their dear father.

It is not easy to describe the distress of mind I experienced when I saw my poor husband pale and dreadfully agitated, as he entered my chamber. I immediately helped him to take off his coat and slip his arm out of his sleeve. We examined the wound, but there was scarcely any blood; and the crevice was small, so that I could hardly imagine a barbed arrow was lodged therein;

-however, a wound there certainly was, and we none of us knew how to dress it, and there was no doctor to be had any where in these parts; and thus, in my ignorant way, I put a wash of Friar's balsam and a plaister of Pope's ointment on the top, and so binding it round with old rags of righteousness, (c) which Josiah's worn out shirts afforded us; I kissed his pale cheek, helped him to dress, put his arm in a sling, and told him all would soon be well.

(a) Jeremiah xlix. 18.

(b) Psalm vii. 13.

(c) Isaiah lxiv. 6.

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