quences, have been variously ascribed. The gentleman just referred to-W. M. Forster, Esq. of Regent's Park, London, who, together with his lady and servant, and carriage, was taken on board at nearly eleven o'clock, is said by some to have been the innocent cause of the delay in question; but I have now no doubt, if other passengers had not previously arrived, the vessel would have been far on her way before Mr. Forster could have reached the pier; so that the intervention of other circumstances was necessary, to which the unfortunate embarkation of that gentleman was subservient. The Rev. J. H. Stewart, however, in his truly excellent "Letters, to which is affixed a Sermon on the Loss of the Rothsay Castle," denies that Mr. Forster had any share in detaining the vessel; but the passage in which this declaration is made contains so many interesting particulars, having singularly strong tendency to establish the belief that an overruling Power was manifested in the impending fate of the amiable individuals referred to, that I take the liberty of transcribing it; not only, however, because it serves my purpose, but because, also, I feel great pleasure in affording so affecting a proof of the merits of the work from which it is extracted, and of the pure friendship and christian feeling which it so abundantly exhibits: "As soon as I arose and saw the state of the weather, I said to my dearest wife-'It is impossible that our friends can go to-day.' She felt this so sensibly, that she went to our beloved sister, and requested her not to think of leaving us. She then came to me, desiring me to intreat Mr. Forster to remain. He did not give a decisive answer. However, when we assembled for breakfast, and found that their plans were so arranged that they could not conveniently stay over another day, we insisted upon their not thinking of going by the steam-packet. The kind friend who had been with them on the preceding Saturday had * mentioned that Wednesday was the most unfavourable tide that they could have. We reminded him of this, and our brother said, 'Now it is decided; we shall go by land:' for not having engaged their passage, they were perfectly free to choose. Accordingly, the horse which was to have drawn down the empty carriage to the shore was sent back, and the coach in which they intended to go to the pier was also counter-ordered, and a pair of horses were directed to be sent ; our dear brother saying, that as they were only to cross over to Birkenhead, or Parkgate, and then proceed by land, they might take their own time, and go down to the waterside in their own carriage. So fixed was their determination not to go by sea. They remained, therefore, and breakfasted with us, without the haste that would otherwise have been required. When this repast was taken, we had our family worship; and then, for the last time on earth, we united together in praising God. * * * After this I read the 121st Psalm, to which the name of the traveller's psalm has frequently been given, as being so appropriate to one setting out on a journey. We had ourselves very frequently before read this psalm in different parts of England and Scotland, and on the Continent, when the state of my health obliged us to travel, and had found it like the 'pillar of the cloud,' a token of the Lord's presence. For we had passed, though strangers, thousands of miles, and not met with one casualty. But the Lord has different ways of dealing with his people. He' preserves their souls,' as this psalm promises, by taking them to himself, whilst He separates them from their present tabernacle, in fulfilment of his own designs; still making good the closing verse of the psalm—' The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in, from this time forth, and even for evermore.' After a few observations upon this portion of scripture, we then intreated God's blessing and gracious protection of our beloved friends. Whilst the arrangements were making for their departure, their faithful man servant, having by his exemplary behaviour merited our esteem, I wrote his name in one of our hymn-books, marking it as a 'memorial* of his master's visit to Liverpool.' This he received with many thanks; and, as if that memorial of his good conduct was not to be lost, it was afterwards washed on shore, and now remains as a small consolation to his friends. Every thing was now ready; but so determined were our beloved friends not to go by the steam-packet, that they did not drive off from our door till after the hour that was appointed for its departure. But, my dear friend, as I mentioned in my first letter, when the Lord intends any particular event to come to pass, the intervening links, though apparently very unlikely to unite, fall into their places. The number of passengers who had and were embarking on board the Rothsay Castle steamer caused her to delay her departure till much after her appointed time; and our beloved friends were, alas! there too soon. For seeing so many on board, and also seeing that the waters of the Mersey were smooth, they were induced to embark. Notwithstanding, it has been erroneously reported, that receiving their carriage was the cause of the detention of the vessel. So far was this from being the fact, that, when they arrived at the pier, the Rothsay Castle was still at anchor; and so quickly did they embark, * The memorial in question came under my notice in the Shire Hall of Beaumaris, amongst other remains of the property saved from the wreck. Upon the fly-leaf preceding the title was the following inscription ;· "Robert Mullett; presented by J. H. Stewart, in remembrance of his master's visit to Liverpool, August 17, 1831." The task of deciphering a portion of this was attended with some difficulty, the action of the water to which it had been exposed having produced the usual effect upon recent writing. Thus the date of the gift was destined to be coupled with "remembrances" which must prove afflictingly durable. that the person who accompanied them positively declares that twenty minutes did not elapse between their arrival on the pier and every thing being on board. They, alas! occasioned no delay. He who numbers our months, and has appointed our bounds that we cannot pass,' had fixed the time. * * * * * * "" The above version, it will be seen, is somewhat at variance with the Personal Narratives of the survivors, but both parties were no doubt partially misled by circumstances; the qualification, therefore, which I have before hazarded, appears to approach nearest to the real state of the case, namely, that previous delay must be taken into the fatal account. There was, it seems, one hundred individuals booked at the packet-office; and the total number on board, which would have been considerably augmented if the weather had been more inviting, was greater by far than on any other occasion during the season. Amongst the many who purposed going on this morning to Beaumaris, but were diverted from their intention either by accident or the falling out of some providential occurrence, I may place myself. I do this, however, with much diffidence, and am solely induced to name "myself" by the desire of establishing my claim to some knowledge of the incidents I shall attempt to describe. On the Monday preceding the 17th of August, two friends from Nottingham visited me in Manchester, and requested me to accompany them on an excursion to Liverpool and Beaumaris, as they were entirely unacquainted with the route; and it was soon arranged that we should proceed to Liverpool on the Tuesday morning, spend the remainder of the day in viewing that town, which my friends had not seen, and depart on Wednesday morning by the Rothsay Castle for Beaumaris. We accordingly left Manchester by the Railway carriages on the Tuesday morning, but reached Liverpool so early by that extraordi narily rapid conveyance, that we found we had sufficient time for breakfast, and also to secure our passage by the Llewellyn packet, which started at ten o'clock. After a short debate, therefore, we determined on proceeding at once to our destination, my friends purposing to devote a day to Liverpool on their return. This we put into execution, and I was consequently at Beaumaris when the living and the dead, so recently constituting portions of a numerous and cheerful company on board the Rothsay Castle, were landed; and I had been walking tranquilly out in the night, as will be seen hereafter, at the very hour in which they were engaged in mortal struggle with the wind and waves—when I must have distinctly seen or heard a signal of distress, if any calculated for that purpose had been made-and when such ample means of affording the most prompt and efficient assistance were so near! But "The ways of heaven are dark and intricate; The The following is another instance of the kind. mother and sister of Mr. Charles Faulkner, of Manchester, whose lady, two children, and female servant, all perished, accompanied Mrs. Charles Faulkner to the pier at Liverpool, with the full intention of going also on board the vessel; but the roughness of the water induced the elder lady to decline the voyage. Mrs. Charles Faulkner, in the cheerful buoyancy of the moment, strongly persuaded her to go, and enforced her arguments against so sudden and unexpected a change of mind by observing that there was nothing to apprehend but a little sea-sickness. Mrs. Faulkner was, however, inexorable, and intimated that, if even that were all, it was sufficient to deter her from going, as at her time of life the consequences of such indisposition would be too seriously distressing to be voluntarily incurred; |