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ing as was possible; then they took their
places aboard, and bade a joyful adieu to
the deceitful beauties of Musquito Key.
For hours they sailed along the coast,
looking in vain for some place to stop,
and greatly delayed in their onward pro
gress by a broad sheet of water stretch
ing inland, studded with low hummocks,
covered with mangroves and sea-myrtles,
which it was necessary for them to ex
plore before passing.
The only incident of interest occurring
as they sailed this morning, was the cap
turing, or rather the self-deliverance, of a
number of flying fish. Quite a large school
of these timid little creatures, alarmed by
some object of terror in the water, arose
from their native element, and flying
frantically through the air, plunged into
the water about one hundred yards be
yond. Four or five of these struck the
sails of the barge and fell between the
gunwales. Their immense pectoral fins,
expanded into wings, were quite a curi
osity to those who were not already fa
miliar with their peculiarities.
About 11 o’clock, Sergeant Tomkins an
nounced to the men that as they had not
yet found a place on land suitable for the
purpose, the}" would have worship aboard.
Each man retained his accustomed seat,
and was ready to fulfil any duty that
might be necessary, while the boat was
under easy sail, and while every needless
labor was avoided; but the moment the
beginning of service was announced, the
head of each was uncovered in token of
reverence for that Presence which is al
ways recognized in the act of worship.
Before they commenced, however, and
while Dr. Gordon was making ready, one
of the men, possessed of a fine voice, be
gan a familiar hymn, set to solemn, wild
music, in which the others united, partic
ularly in the chorus. This voluntary,
well suited in sentiment and air to their
circumstances, floated softly over the wa
ters, and was an excellent preparation for
what came after. The voices of the men
were rich and strong, but, having no sur
rounding objects to cause reverberation,
they sounded weak and child-like on that
wild surface of water; thus illustrating
practically their lonely condition, and
causing them to realize more than other
wise was possible the fact of their depend
ence, as recognized in the words soon
after to be repeated, “Our Father who
art in Heaven.”
The exercises were few and simple.—
Without book of any sort, except the
Bible, Dr. Gordon repeated from memory
two suitable hymns, (leaving the tunes to
the taste of the men,) read several por
tions of Scripture in a style of unaffected
BURKE’S WEEKLY.
reverence, and offered prayer to the best
of his ability, in language suited to their
circumstances, then announced the ser
vices concluded. Brief and artless as they
Avere, they seemed to touch deep chords
in the hearts of the men, and to bring
out some of their best feelings. Magru
der, who was usually a man of few words,
but who had shown throughout the ser
vices a reverential spirit, took occasion,
as soon as the men had begun to talk
freely, to say, in a tone of great sincerity,
to Dr Gordon :
“ Captain, I do like that free-and-easy
way of yours in conducting our worship
to day. It made me feel at home.”
“ I am not sure that I understand you,”
returned Dr. Gordon.
“ What I mean is this,” Magruder said;
“that oftentimes when we attend Divine
service, the preacher or chaplain makes
us feel by his manner that the services
are his, not ours; but } t ou made us feel
to-day that the service was ours too.
Rough as I am, and little reason as I give
any one to suspect it, I do love to wor
ship sometimes.”
“It is pleasant to hear you say this,”
Dr. Gordon rejoined, “and no doubt oth
ers feel so at times, whose ordinary con
duct gives no sign of it.”
“ I do, for one,” said Wheeler.
“And I, for another,” said Jones.
And all the rest, (except Simpson,
Avhose dark, impassive countenance sel
dom gave token of sympathy,) looked as
if they were ready to say the same.
“ Worship,” continued Dr. Gordon, “ is
one of the noblest acts in which any crea
ture can engage, and in some form or
other it is suited to the capacity of every
right-minded being —simple enough fora
child, sublime enough for an angel.”
“You do not believe, then,” Sergeant
Tomkins interrogatively remarked, “that
the church and the pulpit are necessary
to it?”
“As much so as tables and chairs are
to our daily food,” replied Dr. Gordon.
“They are a part of the decencies , and
will be provided by all persons, according
to their means, who cultivate a proper
respect; but they may be dispensed with
in time of need, (as was the case just
now,) and, therefore, they are no part of
the essentials.”
“What is worship?” Tomkins asked,
and Dr. Gordon was about to reply, “The
homage of the heart,” when observing the
eye of the young Indian fixed on him in
eager gaze, he replied:
“It is the talking of the heart with the
Great Spirit , whom we are taught to call
‘Our Father in Heaven.’”
Then pausing a moment, and observing
that all were waiting as if for more he
went on to say :
“Any person who can come before God
in any place, and in any language, or even
without a word spoken by the lip. aiK j
say, with a loving and trustful heart
‘ Our Father who art in Heaven,’ is A
some sense, a worshipper. He may not
have attained a very high grade as such
but he has attained a grade —he has learn
ed the first letter in the alphabet of I)h
vine knowledge —he has begun to use the
language of heaven.”
“And beautiful language it is!” ejacu
lated Thompson, with strong emotion.
“ When I kneel down (for I do kneel
sometimes,) and say, ‘O, Lord !’ or ‘0
God Almighty!’ it scares me. I want to
get further off, for I doubt whether I know
Him; but when I say, ‘ Our Father in
Heaven !’ I feel somehow as I used to feel
when I was a boy, and was coming to one
that I knew, and that cared for me.”
“ You express yourself very naturally,”
said the Doctor, while his eye kindled
and his heart warmed towards the free
spoken man. “ I am no preacher, and
therefore cannot speak with authority,
but it is my opinion that of all the feel
ings which have come down to us from
the Garden of Eden, the least impaired
by the fall are those of the parent to the
child. They are those of the purest and
most perfect love known on earth—a love
that does not measure its gifts with a
cold and stingy hand, but which takes
pleasure in giving pleasure, and which
knows no limit except its own power and
the other’s good. Now, this is the feel
ing which Jesus Christ teaches us to re
cognize in God whenever avo can come to
Him as sincere worshippers, and say,
‘Our Father in Heaven !’ I confess,” he
continued, brightening with his theme,
and raising his voice with a gesture oi
earnestness, “that sometimes, when 1
catch a glimpse of what is implied in
those first words of the Lord’s Prayer, I
am almost ready to cry out, Ilalleluia!”
For a little while all were silent. They
seemed to be luxuriating in anew and
animating phase of thought. At last,
Tomkins, in a tone more subdued than
had ever been heard from him before, in
quired :
“But, Doctor, is it not very difficult
sometimes to use those words in that
spirit?”
“ Os course it is,” he replied, “ not only
difficult, but sometimes impossible; f° r
no one can so use them who does not
come in the spirit of a child, and no one
can come in the spirit of a child who is
not trying to do his duty.”
“ It seems to me,” said Tomkins, whose