Quick in thought and action, my Peter-like disposition often brought me into much discord, from which I had frequently to suffer; yet the same quickness of thought and action under God's guidance, have as often been the means of saving me from destruction.
From Boston I shipped as second mate on board ship bound for Brazil, thence to Valparaiso. When off the river Plata, in my hastiness I had some trouble with the sailors. One evening after the decks were cleared I went my customary rounds, to see that all was in good order before nightfall. As I stood by the mainmast inspecting the pumps, one of the sailors, exclaiming to his shipmates "I am going to kill that second mate," with an iron-headed gipsey-bar dealt me a violent blow on the head from behind, with all intent to kill. The head was fractured, the bar sinking well into the skull; and the next five days I was wholly unconscious. For weeks thereafter, wild in delirium, I seemed in great danger; in fact was barely able to go on deck when we reached Valparaiso.
The would-be murderer, who of course had been securely kept in irons, was sent to the Valparaiso prison to await trial. Our captain wished me to carry the law to its fullest extent; but I begged so hard for him, of both captain and consul, that they finally relented and agreed to meet the matter quietly. He was held confined until we made ready for sea again, however, to prevent all possibility of his running away. When he was finally brought on board, I armed myself to meet future treachery, but it proved needless. Never was human being more truly repentant than he. All that I myself had suffered was as nothing compared to the sorrow and fear of that man; and I am as grateful to God to-day for filling my thought with justice and mercy toward him, as for prolonging my own days on this plane.
