TEMPTATION AND DESERTION. OH! help me, Lord! elfe Satan's power I can fuftain his rage no more, Ten thoufand woes he pours; Can yield me one delight; O could I find fome filent cave, There wou'd I make my darkfome grave, JUNIUS. PSALM 1Xxxv. S. NOW let my foul await thy word, -Thou God who hearest prayer; I'd liften to thy voice, my Lord, And caft on thee my care. Peace to thy people, and thy faints, Thou gracionfly wilt give; Thou art all ear to their complaints, And ready to forgive. Speak with efficacy (weet, And cheer my drooping fou! ; And let me feel thy power is great, And can my Gus controu From thee I wou'd no more backflide, No more to fin return; Left God his face again fhou'd hide, And I again thou'd mourn. Uphold me, Lord, or I fhall fall; Guide me, or I shall stray; Sooner than turn afide at all, May thorns hedge up my way. Ufe juft what means thou feeft best, Thy word, thy staff, thy rod; May 1, henceforth, be ever bleft With nearness to my God. R. ON BURNING PAIN'S " AGE OF At Eling Barracks, Aug. 3, 1798. Old companions, we must part! Once I joy'd to feek his face; Of his fufferings and grace. But too foon the power of evil Drew me from the narrow way; Led me more and more astray. And restored my wandering foul Shall to thy free-grace be paid. Now confume, thou book pernicious! Your destruction gives me joy; You can do no harm when athes, Better you should burn than I. JULIUS, S. D. Reg. LOVE OF CHRIST. I LOVE thee, Lord; but ah! how smal I love thee, Lord, in all thy ways, I fain would love thee, Lord, but I O could I love thee as I ought, Or love as God loves me ! G. M. N. TO THE Evangelical Magazine, FOR THE YEAR 1798. I LETTER FROM A SAILOR. Ship Bellerophon, Mediterranean, Sept. 14, 1798. DEAR SIR, HAVE now, with pleasure, taken up my pen to inform you of the Lord's goodness in faving my life, when fo many of my fellow-creatures have fell by the enemy's fhot. I fuppofe, before this time, you have heard of the engagement between the English and French fleets off Alexandria (Egypt). I fent to you from Syracufe, the 20th July laft, which letter I hope you have got, and now I wish to inform you of the Lord's mercy to me. We left Syracufe harbour July the 25th, after getting wine, water, and bullocks, for the fleet, and went again in fearch of the enemy, the 20th July. The 23d we received intelligence that they were feen off Alexandria, unto which place our fleet immédiately failed, and on the 1ft of Auguft inade the land of Egypt. At three o'clock in the afternoon we faw them at anchor and in order of battle, being 13 fail of the line and four frigates. Our Admiral made the fignal to prepare for battle at anchor, and our fhip cleared for action. At a quarter paft fix o'clock beat to quarters; the enemy at this time hoifted their colours. At half paft fix began to engage, and foon after the van fhip of the enemy's line was dismafted, our ships ftill engaging as they run down their line. At feven o'clock we let go our anchor alongfide and came within half piftol fhot of the L'Orient of 128 guns, the French Admiral's fhip. Now a very heavy fire commenced between that fhip and our's, they firing prodi gious quantities of grape and mufquetry thot, which wound. ed and destroyed a great number of our men. Now our VOL. VI. main 4 D main and mizen mafts were fhot away. At nine o'clock our antagonist began to flacken his fire, which encouraged us to double ours upon them, though a force fo greatly fuperior to us. At this time our Captain and Mafter were both wounded; the firft, fecond, and fifth lieutenants were killed, and moft of the feamen and mariners on the poop or quarter deck were either killed or wounded, befides a number on the main and lower gun decks. At ten o'clock, perceiving the L'Orient on fire in feveral places, we cut our cable and fet the fprit fail, the only remaining fail we had. Here I would with to declare the Lord's goodnefs, for at this time our wreck being part overboard, which prevented our way through the water, we muft have drifted down to fome of the French fhips, which at this time had not been in action, and to all appearance, we must have been fent to the bottom; but God was with us, for the wind at this very juncture came in our favour, fo that we were carried from them. I never was more refigned in my life, and can fay, unworthy as I am, the Lord was with me. Our foremaft at this time going over the larboard bow, the enemy in the mean time keeping a very heavy fire upon us from the rearmoft fhips, raked us very much, as the light from the L'Orient, which was now all in a blaze, gave them a full view of our difabled condition: but the wind being now favourable, we fet what fail we could upon the ftumps of our mafts, and cut the wreck away from the ship, as that prevented our way through the water. Our fhip had now caught fire in feveral places, by the enemy's fiting carcafe thot into us, which we happily got out without doing much damage. Ateleven o'clock, the L'Orient, which we had been engaging, was blown to atoms with a moft dreadful explosion. Two of her men we took out of the fea, and faved their lives, but we find that eight hundred men perifhed when'fhe blew up. At two o'clock on Thurfday morning, we came to anchor in feven fathoms water, and then buried our dead which were not thrown overboard in the time of the action. We were now fully employed in clearing our thip of the wreck of the mafts and boats which were all fhot to pieces. At eight o'clock this morning one of the enemy's frigates coming to us and féeing our difabled condition, we beat to quarters and cleared our main lower gun decks for action. The quarter deck gums were difabled by the engagement in the night, but one of our fhips came to our affiftance, upon which the frigate run back to the reft of her fhattered fleet. The two freets |