LETTER FROM REUBEN. 287 
Whether or not it is the will of God that I shall 
ever be permitted to leave this country, so far 
our prospects of procuring a passage home are 
very gloomy. The golden days when, through 
the condescending benevolence of an influential 
and untiring friend, a passage by a man-of-war 
might be procured, will, I fear, never be again 
renewed ! Happy days ! both for myself and 
the whole community of, I trust, still grateful 
islanders ! 
" There are several reasons for which I desire 
to lose neither time nor opportunity in returning 
home. Not merely that I think the voyage, if 
at all a pleasant one, with the balmy air of my 
native isle, will do much to restore me ; nor the 
natural desire to have my bones laid beside those 
of my relatives and friends. But one reason is, 
I cannot endure the thought of what Francis 
will suffer, if I am taken away, before he will 
be able to reach home in safety. Another reason 
is, the effect which I know the report of my 
having died in a foreign land will have upon 
the tender and too anxious feelings of my poor, 
dear mother. Still must I fervently say, ' Thy 
will, O Lord, be done ! Thou knowest best 
what to ordain concerning me ! ' 
" Should it please the Lord to restore me to 
my home, and even to a comparatively sound 
state of health, I shall endeavour, by His help 
and blessing, to improve the little talent en- 
trusted to my care, in assisting to further the 
intellectual, and in some respects the moral, 
improvement of my people. With many and 
T 
