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AUGUSTUS NORDENSKÖLD . 643
We conclude our notice of Augustus Nordensköld, with the
account given of him by his brother C. F. Nordensköld20 in his
“ Autobiography," contained in the confiscated work " Considérations
Générales,” &c., to which we had occasion to allude before. This
autobiography was written by the latter for the benefit of his chil.
dren, as may appear from the following introduction to it at p. 270:
“The kind reader will no doubt pardon us for adding here the sum
mary of the life of a father, written by him in order to encourage
his children in the path of virtue. This faithful recital, the truth
of which we warrant, will prove how much Divine Providence inter
poses itself in order to save a mortal who trusts in God, and who
tries his utmost to suffer himself to be guided by His will.” On
page 283 he continues, “God speaks sometimes to us feeble mortals
in occurrences which thwart our projects, in order by this means to
act on our reason, and save us from misfortunes; and when any one
suffers himself to be directed by reason, this is not superstition.
Superstition is incompatible with true religion, and on that account
it was prohibited so severely by Moses." On p. 284 he introduces
the life of his brother Augustus, in order to exhibit to his children
the sad results which arise, when any one insists on following his
own ways, and refuses to be guided by the Divine Providence. He
introduces his brother anonymously, calling him one of his friends:
“I had a friend who, during the latter years of his life, told me,
that he never engaged in any enterprise in which he thought his
own welfare was concerned, without meeting with so many obstacles,
that it was like forcing a way through thick walls. He observed
also that when he actually succeeded in any of his undertakings, he
never made the happier. Nevertheless, he would not allow
himself to be corrected. It seemed even as if these obstacles
doubled the energy of his will. He undertook a voyage where he
would be exposed to great dangers. All his friends dissuaded him
from it, but neither their entreaties, nor the affection of his wife
* and children, nor his poor health, nor all the reverses and ob
stacles which he encountered before starting, could shake his
resolution. It was to be commenced by sea, which he called his
hell. He sailed from England, but the captain was very soon
obliged to put into an Irish port, to take shelter from the storm,
and wait for a favourable wind. My friend wrote from that
sea -port, that he was seriously ill, and was obliged to borrow
money to meet his expenses; he wrote also that he suffered so many
pains and experienced such ennui, that he was often on the point
of giving up his journey, and returning to London with a view of
abandoning his great enterprise.
was
41 *
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