“It will be no consolation, will it, to be condemned in company?"

“No, no; I feel like as if all would be mocking me, for I might have known better."

"Well, will you try now?

He said, Whosoever will, let him come;' and 'him that cometh I will in no wise cast out."" "But the example, sir. I deserve to be refused, as a warning to others."

“So did the thief, yet the Lord did not say so. There is no other way, Willis; you must call to the Saviour, trust yourself to him for forgiveness and salvation, or be a wretched wanderer in storm and darkness for ever."

"It's true, sir. I'll try him; I can but perish holding on to his cross.'

وو

"None ever perished there," exclaimed the soldier. And the poor old sinner cried for mercy, and found it. The Holy Spirit of God, ever ready to help that cry and bring back with joy, on the conviction of sin, the conviction of a loving living Saviour pardoning the guilty, brought comfort to the troubled spirit of old Willis, and gave him hope that when the last shock swept down his earthly tent, his place was prepared in heaven.

With peace of mind humility and a measure of health returned to the shaken body, and Willis eagerly asked if the captain thought he might yet do an hour's work in his Lord's vineyard. And the only thing he could do, and the best too, was "to proclaim to all around what a dear Saviour he had found."

This was joyfully done for awhile, and then one day a hasty message summoned the captain to his bedside. The old man's face lighted up with a beautiful smile.

"I'm going soon, dear Master Alfred, but I've got my wish; I've lived to be able to say as you do, and it's been a good while coming, though I knew somehow I'd be safe with Jesus; but I see it all now clear and plain: ‘I know in whom I have believed, and that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day.' And 'if my earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, I have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.' 'And it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.' Precious Saviour, precious blood, precious hope! I shall be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness."

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Then the old man, a babe in Christ," and the young man, a brave soldier of the cross, clasped hands in the faith of the gospel, and parted for a "little while;" the babe to sleep, the soldier to fight a few battles more.

¡A SPECIAL PROVIDENCE.

SEVERAL years ago, I resided in one of the West India islands, the principal of a group in which my father was a missionary.

Upon many of the neighbouring islands out-stations had been formed, each of which required periodical visitation. But they were at times exceedingly difficult of access. The voyages were made in small vessels, often ill-commanded and ill-manned, and seldom or never containing any accommodation for passengers. The master and crew were mostly negroes; and it was the rule to find the master wholly ignorant of the science of navigation, like the ancient mariners, shaping his course by his knowledge of the various headlands, or by certain signs which long experience had enabled him easily to identify. It sometimes happened that he lost his reckoning, and it was well if the passenger had by any means acquired a modicum of nautical skill, by which he was enabled to assist in correcting the course.

The seas of the archipelago abound in dangerous reefs, shoals, and sand-banks, and the risk is greatly increased by the prevalence of sudden and severe storms. It was during one of these storms that the striking interposition of Providence took place which I now relate.

The visitation of the islands at the period in which the incident occurred had been much hindered by unusual obstacles. Hearing that a small schooner was going in ballast to an island which he wished particularly to visit, my father at once engaged a passage for himself and for me. On going aboard the vessel, we felt certain misgivings, which were only suppressed on account of the urgency of the case, and the fact that the sailing seemed so opportune, as to indicate that Divine wisdom had ordained it.

When we had got fairly out to sea, a closer inspection of the schooner's condition changed our misgivings into positive alarm. She was old, short of provisions, and entirely deficient in the most necessary ship's stores. But the weather was fine, and the time of the year favourable; and

in two days with a fair wind we had made such progress, that we hoped our voyage would end without any casualty. Such, however, was not God's will.

The wind, which had been blowing freshly, suddenly fell on the afternoon of the third day; and on a sky which had hitherto been cloudless the captain pointed out "a cloud no bigger than a man's hand." This he considered to be

a sure presage of bad weather.

To an inexperienced eye, there appeared no cause for apprehension. As evening drew on, the sun set with unwonted splendour. The sea was tranquil as a lake, and through the transparent water we could see the white sandy bottom, covered with the teeming productions of a tropical clime. Graceful sea feathers bent their heads as the current passed over them; branches of red and white coral spread in all directions; around the massy madrepore were scattered long-spiked, many-coloured sea-urchins; shells of all sizes and varieties from the tiniest bivalve to the magnificent conch were strewn about in profusion; and fish of divers hues and forms glided swiftly about us. As the sun sank below the horizon, night (for there is no twilight in the tropics) fell instantly upon us; but irradiated above by moon-like stars, which shed down on the shadowy sea a brilliant silver haze, never seen in the temperate zone. Below, the waters seemed alive with the light emitted by myriads of phosphorescent insects that illuminated the depths. A solemn stillness pervaded all things; unbroken save by a gentle ripple, as our little bark now and then felt the last breath of the dying wind, or by the flap of the mainsail, as it hung lazily upon the mast. But the hush was soon disturbed by ominous murmurs, foretelling the approaching storm; the wind began to blow in fitful gusts, and the flashing lightning betokened a near outbreak of elemental strife. These warnings were not disregarded, and everything was made as "snug" as possible.

The seas in which we were sailing are full of bare rocks, called " keys," varying from a few feet to several hundred in length; some washed over by the waves, others rising to a considerable height above the surface of the water. It was proposed that we should anchor for the night under the lee of one of these keys. But our state of mind may be imagined when the master told us that he dared not trust to his cable in a gale for a quarter of an hour, for it was not only very rusty, but the only anchor on

board was three times too large for it. There was no possible alternative but to make, at all risks, for a large island, which, after a careful study of my father's chart, was reckoned to be about thirty miles distant.

By the time this decision had been formed the wind was blowing a perfect hurricane. The sea was in a tumult, and the boiling waters began to break over our deck, surging along its whole length. The dense gloom was relieved only by the fierce glare of the lightning. The howling of the blast, and the terrific thunder-peals, which almost stunned the senses, made up a scene which I shall not soon forget. We were scudding along before the gale at a fearful rate, unable to see a yard a-head, in momentary danger of losing the channel, and of being shattered to pieces upon a sunken reef, or on one of the shoals with which these waters literally bristle. The timbers of our little vessel groaned and strained dismally, as she mounted up to the heavens, and went down again to the depths; and as we became conscious that the storm was still increasing in fury, we were indeed at our wit's end; for it seemed impossible that the schooner could live in such weather. To add to our distress, we found that she was leaking fast, and that constant work at the pumps would be requisite to keep the water down. The negro sailors, at this discovery, gave themselves up for lost; and it needed all the presence of mind, and the authority, which long experience had enabled my father to exercise, to recall them to a sense of their duty. After a run of two hours in dreadful uncertainty, we noticed a decided abatement in the force of the hurricane and the turbulence of the sea; so marked indeed, that the captain at once concluded we had reached the island under shelter of which we were to anchor. It was only conjecture; but we had committed our lives to our Creator, and we believed he would help us. With much difficulty we got the anchor over the side of the vessel.

The moments that now passed were those of terrible suspense, for we did not know whether we could ride out the storm; or, as was far from improbable, by the parting of the cable be driven again out to sea. To such a catastrophe there could be only one termination.

By the light of a lantern, we watched with a painful intentness the chain run out. As the schooner heaved round with the tide not a word was spoken, but, breathless, we awaited the moment when the chain should come to the

tether. It came, almost too tardily for our anxiety ;there was a straining-a harsh grating of iron against iron ; and, to our infinite joy, the vessel began to pitch with the regularity of one held by her anchor. Our respite was short; but we had time to go into the cabin, and take some refreshment; after which my father read the 107th Psalm, every one appearing deeply impressed with the psalmist's graphic description of those who go down to the sea in ships, and do business in the great waters. A short but fervent prayer, that the Lord would deliver us out of our distresses, had been scarcely offered, when we were summoned to the deck by a fresh outburst of the storm, the direction of which had evidently changed. Our whole attention was now given to the cable, for we found to our dismay that it was "flaking away" from rust; and should it now part, we must inevitably be dashed to pieces upon the rocks which lined the coast of the island.

Oh! how we longed for the dawn; while we tried to buoy up one another with the hope that deliverance would come with it. And God in his mercy did not suffer us to hope in vain. About six o'clock the morning came; and none but those who have passed through a night of terror can tell how we blessed the first rays of the sun's light, as they struggled through the dense masses of cloud which rolled tumultuously above us. The wind and the turmoil of the waters abated; and ere long the storm was made a calm.

We descried the land, about a mile distant from where we lay, and found that we had been carried by the wind through the dark and stormy night, through narrow and intricate channels, into the safest possible position which we could have selected. Signals of distress were made, and in a short time we had the pleasure of seeing them answered. Soon after, a large boat put off, while a crowd of people gathered upon the shore to receive us on her return. As the boat neared the schooner, our feelings, which had been pent up so long, and during a period of such extreme peril, gave way, and I saw strong men weeping like children.

Our rescuers on boarding us expressed their surprise that we should have lived through the hurricane, for one so violent had not been known for many years; and their surprise was increased to a sort of incredulous amazement, when we pointed out the anchor-chain which had held us for six hours. Indeed till this moment we did not our