For the EUROPEAN MAGAZINE. A AN ESSAY ON FREE-WILL. S the will and affection being not disposed according to moral rectitude, argues not that moral rectitude is impossible, but undeniably proves the depravity of human nature; so dissension among mankind, concerning truth, argues not that there is no truth, but exposes the weakness and fallacy of human understanding. We can as little doubt the reality of moral rectitude and truth, as of our own existence and the existence of God; for moral duties and moral natures are inseparable. Free-will makes a moral nature. God has endued mankind with free will, and a voluntary power in the exercise of many functious, but yet has limited them, perhaps more narrowly than some are willing to believe. He seems to have reserved a providential right over the most free faculties of soul and body, which he exerts occasionally, according to the good or bad use the creature makes of his freedom; or to promote those ends which his wisdom determines to accomplish. Hence it frequently happens, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; no, nor the wisdom of salvation to men of the most extensive learning and quickest thought. A gracious influence of the Almighty Spirit is necessary to preserve the tone and vigour of the muscles, bones, and sinews, in the prosecution of their uses; and no less to direct and quicken the mind in discerning truths, especially truths that conduce to true virtue and happiness. In this state of apostacy there broods á dubious' mist on the sacred way be tween us and happiness, which cannot be pierced by the acutest eye, without a due regard to God's glory. Making a good use of the freedom and faculties he has given already, conciliates God's favour, which infallibly guides the weak est soul to the knowledge of happiness and virtue; and the most vigorous understanding without that divine infuence, is but like the gigantic strength of a madman, which aggravates his own misery, and hastens his own destruction. I am sorry to think the world has known so many examples of the kind Jast mentioned. Have we not known many, too many, reputed highly for wit and sagacity, who have been abandoned to their own follies and impious de vices; condemned to a reprobate mine and so far lost, as even to deny the Creator? A truth which the weake degree of reason never fails to find ou Has not a celebrated genius, by plaus ble sophistry and artfully blendir falsehood with truth, seduced many int the error of his subtle and dangero opinions?-We are told man is perfec as he ought; so he is, considering th he is infected with original sin, ar justly suffers the consequences of i but he speaks not with relation to tha he means, man is absolutely perfect, he ought to be created; for he say that the degree of weakness we labo under is necessary to the order and was being of the universe; and that eve pride is the root of virtue, and mak the greatest part of a whimsical som thing, which he calls happiness. That just subordination of the creature necessary to the order and welfare the universe, nobody will deny; a consequently, one kind must be weak than another, in a descending gradatie from the greatest to the least; but th does not imply oppressive strength one, nor miserable weakness in anoth for then it would not be a just su ordination: but weakness (which may complain of without accusing He ven) is quite a different thing: t weakness we mean, is the inability nature to fill the circle it is plac in; i. e. want of power to sustain condition with pleasure, and to pr secute its true end and happiness wit out pain and error. This is emphatic weakness, so little necessary to t order of nature, that it is the ve substance of disorder and confusio it concludes all that we mean by patu evil; which indeed is a proper scour for wanton impiety, but never can re sonably be thought necessary to t order and existence of the univers as if it were not easy for God to mal his creatures perfect and happy. Prid when the word is used for zeal and res lution in the observance of our duty, is glorious temper; but pride, properly called, and which is his meaning, never in this world make any creatu happy, but many miserable. Indec for a while it may flatter imaginatio like a dream; but, at the approach truth, away vanishes the false enchan ing vision, and leaves nothing behit but a keener sense of misery. Prid like weakness in nature, was the or ginal cause of all moral evil, and th d reason of natural evil is still the main spring of rebellion, and the detestable author of that bloodshed and devas tation which nigh overwhelmed the world. Now let us make a reflection. We are endued with freedom, which yet is subject to the government of Divine Providence, to whose merciful assistance we must also be indebted for the recovery of its rectitude, and the continuance of integrity. This assistance (as we understand from plain facts, and the testimony of holy scrip tare) is only granted on condition that we make a good use of the talents first committed to our charge, to the glory of the Giver. Then how careful should we be to do our best towards that end, which is the only way to obtain divine favour, which alone must perfect our weak and miserable nature, which perfection is true happiness. It is evident, the only road to happiness is to glonify God. The right and natural em. ployment of reason is to execute the Divine will voluntarily; and the true happiness of a rational creature is to delight in that employment. about, as if in a whirl-pool, and that the clashing of the pieces of loose ice against each other on any extraordinary agita tion of the waves, is attended with a roaring so loud, that a man who is near it can hardly hear the sound of his own voice. They mention that at midnight, when the were in 78° 18' north lati tude, the sun was as bright as at noonday. July 13th, 1773, they anchored in Smearingburgh Harbour, at Spitsbergen, where they remained five or six days, to take in fresh water. The country is stoney, and, as far as can be seen, full of mountains, precipices, and rocks; between these are hills of ice, generated, as it should seem, by the torrents that flow from the melting of the snow on the sides of those towering elevations, which being once congealed, are continually increased by the snow in winter, and the rain in summer, which often freezes as soon as it falls. By looking on these hills, a stranger may fancy a thousand different shapes of trees, cas tles, churches, ruins, ships, whales, monsters, and all the various forms that T. HILL. fill the universe. Of the ice-hills there are seven that more particularly attract the notice of a stranger; these are known by the name of the Seven Iceburgs, and are thought to be the highest of the kind in that country. When the air is clear, and the sun shines full upon these mountains, the prospect is inconceivably brilliant. They sometimes put on the bright glow of the evening rays of the setting sun, when reflected upon glass, at his going down; sometimes they appear of a bright blue, like sapphire, and sometimes like the variable colours of a prism, exceeding in lustre the richest gems in the world, disposed in shapes wonderful to behold, all glittering with a lustre that dazzles the eye, and fills the air with astonishing brightness. Tothe Editor of the European Magazine. I Tis now nearly 45 years since any ships have been fitted out by government to explore the northern regions. The last expedition for that particular purpose was on the 4th June, 1778, when the Hon. Commodore Phipps (the eldest of Lord Mulgrave) in his Majesty's hip Racehorse, 350 tons burthen, accompanied by Captain Lutwych, in the Carcass doop, burthen 300 tons, sailed da a voyage for making discoveries towards the North Pole, and to find out a north-east passage into the Pacific Ocean. I do myself the pleasure of sending you a few extracts from an account of that voyage, whereby it does not appear that any thing particular happened till they arrived at Spitsbergen. On their a thither, they remarked- That the vicissitudes of heat and cold are more frequent in the northern, than in the more southerly latitudes, and that it often changes from temperate to extreme cold, and that very suddenly. Sometimes it was with difficulty they could keep any course, for the drifts of ice came so thick, as to whirl the ships Europ. Mag. Vol. LXXIII. Mar. 1818. 5 The ice-bird at Spitsbergen is a very beautiful little bird, but very rare; he is in size and shape like a turtle-dove, but his plumage, when the sun shines upon him, is of a bright yellow, like the golden ring in the peacock's tail, and almost dazzles the eye to look upon it. Most of the birds are water-fowl, and seek their food in the sea. The other inhabitants of this forlorn country are white bears, deer, and foxes; how these creatures can subsist in the winter, when the whole earth is covered with snow, 2 F and the sea locked up in ice, is hardly to be conceived. It has been said, indeed, that when the ocean is all frozen over, and no sustenance to be procured in this country, they travel southerly to the warmer climates, where food proper for them abounds in the immense forests of the northern continent; but whoever considers the vast distance between Spitsbergen, and the nearest parts of the northern continent, will be as much at a loss to account for the subsistence of these creatures in their journey, as in the desolate region where they undoubtedly remain. The bear is by far the best accommodated to the climate of which he is an inhabitant; he is equally at home on land and water, and hunts diligently for his prey in both; in summer he finds plenty of food from the refuse of the whales, sea-horses, and seals, which is thrown into the sea by the whalers, and cover the shores during the time of whaling; but the question will still recur, how the race of them subsisted before the whale fishery had existence, and before men found the way to this inhospitable shore. Disquisitions of this kind, as they are beyond the reach of human comprehension, serve only to raise our admiration of that omnipotent Being to whom nothing is impossible. But the most wonderful thing of all is, how the deer can survive an eight months' famine. Like ours, they feed upon nothing that can be perceived, but the vegetables which the earth spontaneously produces; and, yet, for eight months in the year, the earth at Spitsbergen produces neither plant, herb, shrub, or blade of any kind of grass whatever. The means of their subsistence must, therefore, remain among the secrets of nature. Amphibious creatures abound the most about the sounds and bays of Spitsbergen, and they seem best adapted to endure the cli mate. The plants that are most common in Spitsbergen are, scurvy-grass and crowsfoot; there are, besides, small house. leak, and a plant with aloe-leaves, an herb like stone crop, some small snakeweed, mouse-ear, wood-strawberry, periwinkle, and an herb peculiar to the country, which they call the rock-plant. The leaves of this plant are in shape like a man's tongue, about six feet long, of a dull yellow colour; the stalk is round and smooth, and of the same colour with the leaf; it rises tapering, and smells like muscles. It is an aquatic, and rises in height in proportion to the depth of water in which it is found. There are other plants and herbs, but these are the chief. Of flowers, the white poppy seems the principal They found no springs of fresh water in Spitsbergen; but in the valleys, between the mountains, are many little rills caused by the rain and melting of the snow in summer; and from these rills the ships are supplied. Some are of opinion that this water is unwholesome, but they are more nice than wise, for the whaling people have drank it for ages, and have found no ill effects from the use of it. Ice taken up in the middie of these seas, and thawed, yields also good fresh water. The air about Spitsbergen is never free from icicles. If you look through the sun-beams transversely as you sit in the shade, or where you see the rays confined in a body, instead of dark motes, as are seen here, you see myriads of shining parti cles, that sparkle like diamonds; and, when the sun shines hot, as it sometimes does, so as to melt the tar in the seams of the ships, when they lie sheltered from the wind, these shining atoms seem to melt away, and descend like dew. There is no difference between night. and day in the appearance of the atmosphere about Spitsbergen, one being as light as the other, only when the sun is to the northward, you may look at him with the naked eye, as at the moon, without dazzling. The fogs here come on so suddenly, that from bright sunshine, you are presently involved in such obscurity, that you can hardly see from one end of the ship to the other. It After experiencing many difficulties, they did not proceed further than 80° 47 north latitude, where both ships were completely enclosed in the ice, on every side, as far as they could see. was now thought adviseable to make one desperate attempt to extricate the ships, by cutting a channel to the westward into the open sea. Their ice-saws, axes, sledges, poles, and the whole group of sea tools, were, in an instant, all employed in facilitating the work; but, after cutting through blocks of solid ice, from eight to fifteen feet deep, and coming to others of many fathoms, that exceeded the powers of man to separate, that was laid aside, as a hopeless project; and another, more pro mising, though not less laborious, it adopted in its room. It was resolved to fit up the boats belonging to both the ships with such coverings as were most easy to be accommodated, and of lightest Conveyance; and, by scating them over the ice, endeavour to launch them in the open sea. Could this be effected, they hoped, that by sailing and rowing to the northernmost harbour of Spits bergen, they might arrive at that island before the departure of the last ships belonging to the fishery for Europe. The boats were all brought in readinews on the ice, fitted with weather clothes, about 13 inches above the guanels, in order to keep off the cold as much as possible, if, by good fortune, they should be enabled to launch them an open sea; for, at this time, they were in a very unpleasant situation, embayed in the very middle of the seven islands. They were, therefore, 20 chiefly employed in boiling proviNics to put in the boals for the intended Toyage homewards; in delivering out bags to the men to carry their bread, and in packing up such necessaries as every one could take along with him; for Bow every man was to be his own porter: the necessary provisions and biquors being found load enough for the boats, and twenty-five days' bread load enough for each man. This being adjusted, when night approached they were all ordered on board to sleep. The next day at six in the morning all hands were ordered to turn out, and a detachment of 50 men from each ship, headed by their respective officers, were appanted to begin the hard task of hang the launches along the ice. The bravest and gallautest actions performed in war, do not so strikingly mark the true character of a sea commander, as the readiness and alacrity with which his orders are obeyed in times of imminest danger. Every one now strove who should have the bonour to be listed in the hard of haulers, of whom the commodore took the direction, leaving Captain Lutwych to take care of both thesh, that if any favourable turn should happen, in the disposition of the ice, he might make use of the remain ng part of both the crews to improve it (pon a general consultation of officers, previous to this undertaking, it had been agreed, and an order issued accordingly, that no person on board, of whatever rank, should encumber himself with more clothes than what he wore upon his back. Upon this occa sion, therefore, the officers dressed themselves in flannels, and the common men put on the clothes which the officers had thrown off. It was inconceivably laughable to see these motley bands yoked in their new harness; and to say the truth, there was not one solemn face among the two companies. That headed by the commodore drew stoutly for the honour of their leader, and that headed by their lieutenants had their music to play to them, that they might dance it away, and keep pace with the commander-in-chief: indeed, the offi cers who headed them were deservedly beloved as well as their commanders. In six hours, with the utmost efforts of human labour, they had only proceeded a single mile, and now it was time for them to dine, and recruit their almost exhausted spirits, As the commodore had laboured with them, it was in character that he should also dine with them; and an accident happened that made it necessary for him so to do.-The cook, with his mates, (who were bringing the commodore and his officers their dinners under covers) to keep out the cold after coming from a warm fire-side, had made a little too free with the brandy bottle before they set out, and before they had got half way to the launches, the liquor began to operate; the cooks were sometimes very near boarding each other, sometimes they hauled off, and sometimes steered right a-head. At length, coming to a chasm, or parting of the ice, which they were obliged to leap, down came the master cook, with dish, cover, meat and all; and what was still worse, though it was not then thought of much value, the commodore's common service of plate, which the cook carried for the officers to dine on, fell in the chasm, and instantly sunk to the bottom. This accident brought the cook a little to himself, and he now stood pausing whether he should jump down the gulph after the plate, or proceed to the commodore to beg mercy and make his apology. His mates persuaded him to the latter, as the commodore was a kindhearted gemman, and would never take a man's life away for a slip on the ice. Besides it was a great jump for a fat man, and commodore, they were sure, had rather lose all the plate in the great cabin, than lose cookee. Comforted a little by this speech, the cook proceeded, but let his mates go on first with what remained, to carry the tidings of what befel the rest. When the commodore had heard the story, he judged how it was with them all:—But where is the cook? said he to the mates. He's cry ing behind, an' please your honour. In the mean time the cook came up.Cook, said the commodore, bring me your dinner; I will dine to-day with my comrades. My dinner! Ay, a pound of flesh next my heart, if your honour likes it. The promptness of the reply shewed the sincerity of the cook's good will, and pleased the commodore better than a feast upon turtle. He dismissed him with a smile, and partook with the officers in what was left, who made up their dinners with a mess from the common men. They had just begun to renew their labours, when word was brought, that the whole body of ice had changed its situation, and was moving to the west ward; that the ships were both a-float; and that the ice was parting. The joy which this news diffused through the two companies of haulers is easier to conceive than express. They instantly shook off their harness, ran to assist in working the ships, and once more to resume their proper employments. When they arrived at the ships, Captain Lutwych, who was no less beloved by his men than the commodore, had by his example and judicious directions done wonders. Both ships were not only a-float, with their sails set, but actually cut and warped through the ice near half a mile. This ray of hope, however, was soon darkened; the body of ice suddenly assumed its former direc tion to the eastward, and closed upon them again as fast as ever. While the ships remained in the ice dock, they were lashed together for their greater security, but now being launched and a-float, the ice pressed upon them with such weight, that it was every moment expected that the hawser would break that held them together: orders were, therefore, given, that the hawser should be slackened, and the ships released. in the very moment, when every hope m of deliverance from their own united u endeavour had relinquished them, inz terposed in their favour, and caused the winds to blow, and the ice to part in an astonishing manner, rending and crack. ing with a tremendous noise, surpassing that of the loudest thunder. At this very instant the whole continent of ice, which before was extended beyond the reach of sight from the highest mountains, moved together in various directions, splitting and dividing into vast bodies, and forming hills, and plains of various figures and dimensions. All hearts were now again revived, and the prospect of being once more released from the frozen chains of the north inspired the men with fresh vigour. Every officer and every idler on board laboured now for life. The sails were all spread, that the ships might have the full advantage of the breeze to force them through the channels that were already opened, and to help them, like wedges, to rend the clefts that were but just cracking. Soon afterwards they hoisted the launches on board the ships, and made all the sail they could, driving with the loosening ice, and parting it wherever it was moveable with their whole force; they soon lost sight of the seven islands, and in a very little while after, to their great joy, Spits bergen was seen again from the masthead. On their voyage from Spitsbergen to England the Racehorse and Carcass parted in a violent storm, but afterwards joined company, and arrived safe off Deptford, at one o'clock in the morning of the 1st October, 1773. Thus ended an unsuccessful voyage of about four months from the time of their departure, till their return to England. I cannot help mentioning that our immortal Nelson when a boy, sailed on this expedition, under the care of Captain Lutwych. Mr. Southey in his Life of Nelson, relates the following anecdote of his youthful intrepidity: For the remainder of the evening, and till two in the morning, the drift continued eastward, and all that while the ships were in danger of being crush ed by the closing of the channel in which they rode. They had now drifted two miles to the eastward; the men were worn out with fatigue in defending the ships with their ice-poles from being engulphed; and now nothing but scenes of horror and perdition appeared before their eyes. But the Omnipotent, expression in its countenance, so also is "Young as he was, Nelson was appointed to command one of the boats which were sent out to explore a passage into the open water. It was the means of saving a boat belonging to the Racehorse from a singular but immi nent danger. Some of the officers had fired at and wounded a Walrus. As no other animal has so human-like an * |