But that did not altogether press me so much as the possibility that there might be yet some living creature on board, whose life I might not only save, but might, by saving that life, comfort my own to the last degree; and this thought clung so to my heart that I could not be quiet night or day, but I must venture out in my boat on board this wreck; and committing the rest to God’s providence, I thought the impression was so strong upon my mind that it could not be resisted—that it must come from some invisible direction, and that I should be wanting to myself if I did not go.
Cette pensée me tenait tellement au cœur, que je n'avais de repos ni jour ni nuit, et qu'il fallut que je me risquasse à aller à bord de ce vaisseau. Je m'abandonnai donc à la providence de Dieu, persuadé que j'étais qu'une impulsion si forte, à laquelle je ne pouvais résister, devait venir d'une invisible direction, et que je serais coupable envers moi si je ne le faisais point.