So intense were their sufferings, so terrible the trial, that it will not greatly task the imagination to recognize in the preservation of the youth,--looking to his future usefulness--the agency of a special providence.

The boy was preserved for other times and fortunes; and, in returning to his mother, was perhaps better prepared to heed her entreaties that he should abandon all idea of an element, from which his escape had been so hazardous and narrow.

It was well for himself and country that he did so.

It can scarcely be conjectured that his achievements on the sea would have been half so fortunate, or half so honorable to himself and country, as those which are now coupled with his name.
Returning to his home and parents, young Marion sunk once more into the humble condition of the farmer.

His health and strength had continued to improve.