128 
GREENLAND VOYAGE. 
knew and respected him, and were deeply interest¬ 
ed in his fate. The consciousness, that his fate 
might have been any of theirs, naturally led to 
the personal enquiry, whether they were prepared 
to meet their God. The consciences of some, 
no doubt, replied in the negative: they, perhaps, 
discovered, for the first time, that religion was not 
a mere name, or profession only, but an active in¬ 
ternal principle ; and that its general acknowledg¬ 
ment, or even the performance of its outward du¬ 
ties, could not benefit them, without their partak¬ 
ing of its personal influence. The solemn demean¬ 
our and striking attention of our little company, 
marked the interest which every one felt on the 
occasion. The eyes of many strongly indicated the 
deep emotions of their hearts ; and the weather¬ 
beaten cheeks of some were suffused with a copi¬ 
ous flow of tears, that forcibly displayed the 
powerful feelings of benevolence or devotion by 
which they v r ere impressed. 
A thick fog, which had prevailed for more than 
four-and-twenty hours, dispersed about 10 r. m ; 
on which we found ourselves surrounded by floes, 
and very nearly beset. We were unable to ex¬ 
tricate ourselves until next morning, when, a 
strong gale having put the ice in motion, we 
found a passage to the eastward. In the night, 
the weather became very bad, blowing excessively 
