Sir Edward Belcher came close to
an immense iceberg near the coast of Newfoundland, and great streams
of muddy water were running down the sides into the sea. It had
probably broken away from some part of the coast of Norway, and
brought away a large quantity of earth, gravel, and sand, which
as the iceberg melted was deposited at the bottom of the sea.
In some parts of England and Scotland masses of rock are found
many miles away from any rock of the same kind, and we can only
suppose that in ancient times the glaciers did it.
Let us never despise small things. A little kind action, a kind
look or word instead of a frown, a smile with an outstretched
arm to shake by the hand, what would this produce in one year,
if all was in place of the contrary? We should hardly know it,
so great would be the change, that it would be like throwing a
stone into a pond, which sunk to the bottom, but left a round
ring in the water where it sunk, that would be succeeded by ring
after ring until they reached the outer edge of the pond.
"Who can stand before His cold?" How sadly this
was illustrated in Napoleon's invasion of Russia. His army of
upwards of half a million of soldiers advanced irresistibly, notwithstanding
the determined opposition of the Russian soldiers, who seemed
powerless before him. He took Moscow, the ancient capital of Russia,
and installed himself in the Kremlin, the ancient palace of the
Russian Czars. But God sent two of His generals against him, General
Frost and General Snow, with their immense army, against the Corsican.
General Frost advanced from the north, and stopped all the rivers
from running, so that no provisions could be moved, and General
Snow followed, covering the whole country with a white mantle
of snowflakes. He was stopped, and this gave time for the Russian
army to gather round him and harass him in every direction. They
also set fire to Moscow, making it hardly habitable; and because
he could not get his supplies to the front he was at length obliged
to retreat. In crossing the Barizina river the bridge was blocked
up with baggage, and the Russian cossacks fired and charged the
French, who, not able to get over the bridge, were driven into
the freezing river, and the next year when the river thawed thirty-six
thousand bodies were taken out. Hundreds and thousands, fatigued
and wearied, sat down to rest by the roadside, and dropped into
a slumber from which they never woke, being frozen to death. "Who
can stand before His cold? "
The untimely fate of Sir John Franklin and his one hundred and
thirty-seven brave companions from cold and hunger, is touching
in the extreme.
