and tell us what he needs? See him now that his ship has struck, clinging to a broken spar, and borne high upon the furious wave, on which he hangs suspended over the abyss of hell, and tell us what he needs? What but the moralizing, sanctifying, comforting Gospel of the blessed God? And shall he live and toil, and agonize and die for you, O Christian Briton, and you neglect to send to him so cheap a boon? Your generous soul says, No! Then offer up your prayer, and lend us all your aid; so shall this prove to many a hardy seaman what we desire for you—a happy year! VOYAGES AND TRAVELS OF A BIBLE. (Continued from page 285.) SECOND VOYAGE TO THE WEST INDIES. Being released from my solitary confinement, in consequence of the death of my owner, I was seized by a captain of a West Indiaman, carried on board his ship, and placed at the head of his hammock, there to rest in silence during his pleasure. Indeed, when he brought me on board, he had no design of ever permitting me to speak a word; only supposing it was lucky to have such a companion in a ship, and that I should be useful for this purpose, though I lay as still as the ballast at the bottom of the vessel. How little did he know that his great Creator spoke through me to him, and to all on board! In this uncomfortable state I remained for some weeks, like Joseph in Pharaoh's prison, neglected and forgotten by all. Every one was busy in getting in and stowing the cargo, in receiving visits from their friends, whom they generally sent away intoxicated, and in making all things ready for their departure. At length we set sail with a favourable wind. I frequently overheard them thanking my master in an unmeaning way for the fine weather they enjoyed, which, if continued, they said, would in a few weeks bring them to their destined port. But suddenly their hopes were disappointed; a gloomy cloud appeared in the West, which indicated a dreadful storm. All hands mounted aloft and reefed the sails, and got every thing ready for weathering the storm. The wind rose, and continued rising, till it blew a perfect hurricane. Now they began to think of me. I was taken from my confinement, and placed on the captain's table; but the rolling of the vessel was such, that I could not remain steady, but was frequently thrown with violence upon the floor. About midnight, the captain allowed me to speak; when I gave him a faithful relation of the conduct of Jonah and the mariners, in similar circumstances; and how they called upon the gods whom they knew. The captain and others in the cabin perceived, from what I said, that storms were raised by the power of the God of heaven and earth; that He had some end in view by every such storm; and none but he who raised a storm could create a calm. On this the captain called all hands into the cabin who could be spared from managing the vessel. They knelt down, and the captain prayed to the God of heaven to have mercy upon them, and preserve them from foundering in the midst of the ocean. Any one acquainted with me could have easily perceived from his prayer, that he and I had had very little previous intercourse; for, notwithstanding the imminent danger in which we were, he could not say more than two or three sentences, and these he repeated several times for want of others. In the morning the clouds began to disperse, and the wind to fall; and consequently the sea became less tempestuous. This change occasioned my dismission from the cabin, and being thrown as useless lumber into my old hammock. Next evening, being found troublesome to the captain's head, when he laid it on the pillow, I was ordered into his chest under lock and key. I made no complaints, but silently submitted to these insults. There I lay almost smothered; for I had not a friend on board to intercede for me, nor even to say a word in my behalf; on the contrary, I overheard some of them laughing at their having allowed me to address them the former night, and still more at the impression my speech made upon their minds at the time. Is not the patience of my God wonderful with the rebellious sons of men? Is it not astonishing that he did not in ire plunge them into a watery grave? But he is slow to anger, and possesses great pity. For nearly a week there was hardly a breath of wind, and the vessel lay like a log in the water, moving neither one way nor another. The people on board hardly knew how to employ themselves. Sometimes they sung songs, and at other times they amused themselves with games; but they were so discouraged by the continuance of the calm, that these things lost their power to please. The captain one morning went to his chest, and opened it without knowing what he wanted. He stood motionless for some time looking down upon the articles which it contained, when, observing the corner of my red coat, he took me up, and brought me forth to the light. Now I had once more my liberty to speak, when I addressed to him the substance of the 107th Psalm. I saw he felt the force of what I said. He desired me to be silent till he considered what I had now stated. I greatly approved of his conduct. He soon remembered many deliverances God had wrought for him besides the last, for which he had never praised the Lord. He now began in good earnest to attend to my instructions, and sometimes would continue consulting me about various things till midnight. He made a rule that no one should swear an oath on board his ship; at the same time he endeavoured to convince all of the sinfulness thereof. This conduct in the captain made a wonderful change in my circumstances. I was locked up no more; indeed, most people on board professed a desire to hold a little converse with me every day. Being the only one of my nation on board, I had abundant employment for a while. A fine breeze springing up, we were soon wafted to our desired haven, which occasioned great joy to all on board. While all were busy unlading the cargo, I had a good deal of leisure; though now and then some one or other would turn aside for a few minutes, and speak with me. (To be continued.) The Bethel Pulpit.* "THE VOYAGE OF LIFE" SUCCESSFULLY MADE AND HAPPILY TERMINATED. A SERMON,† BY THOMAS RAffles, d.D., ll.D. Psalm cvii. 30.-"So he bringeth them unto their desired haven." MY SEAFARING FRIENDS, It has been announced that I would address my discourse this evening especially to you; and I can truly say, that with the greatest cheerfulness and pleasure I accede to this arrangement. There is no class of persons in whose welfare I feel a deeper interest, and there are none that yield to the ministers of the Gospel a more deep and serious attention. Favour me, then, 1 beseech you, with that attention, whilst I briefly, with the utmost plainness and simplicity, address myself to you this evening. The passage before us is one to which, if you are at all accustomed to attend the worship of God, you must frequently have listened, and if familiar with your Bible, often read; and if not, if there are any here who listen to it now for the first time, they must be forcibly impressed with the striking resemblance which the description contained in this Psalm, of the perils to which mariners are exposed, bears to what has frequently been their own condition. "They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; these see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit's end. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven." You have often left the port with a good ship, a valuable cargo, a skilful captain, a hardy crew, and a fair wind, and every thing has justified the expectation of a safe and prosperous voyage; but, long ere you reached the destined harbour, the scene has been completely changed. He who holds the winds in his fists, and the waters in the hollow of his hand, has commanded, and raised the stormy wind." A thousand graves have yawned on either hand, ready to engulph you, and all hope of escape has been utterly extinguished. Then, in your distress, you have cried unto the Lord, and he has heard your prayer-the wind has moderated-the fury of the storm has ceased-favouring breezes have again wafted you steadily along, and at length you have reached the destined port in safety. But did you then acknowledge and adore his hand? Did you, in that distant clime, consecrate yourself to the God of your mercies? Did you there erect your Ebenezer, and praise him for his goodness, and say, with adoring gratitude, "Hitherto the Lord hath helped me?" This is the end and design of * We purpose under this head to give a series of valuable discourses by eminent ministers, either addressed immediately to seamen or delivered on behalf of the seamen's cause.-ED. + Preached on behalf of the Liverpool Seamen's Friend Society. his kindness to you. "Knowest thou not, O man, tnat the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?" And that it behoves you, "constrained by the mercies of God, to dedicate yourselves to him, a living sacrifice?" Now, although I am this evening to address myself especially to mariners, I will nevertheless endeavour to do it in such a manner, as that all, both landsmen and seamen, shall be concerned and interested in what I say for we are all, in a most important sense, at sea-we are traversing the ocean of time, and bound for a dread eternity. Maintaining, then, this figurative representation of our circumstances, there are some most momentous questions which I am anxious to propose to each in the assembly, and, my seafaring friends, especially to you. I. WHO IS YOUR OWNER? -And, at once, I will answer for you-GOD! We are all the property of God. We do not think sufficiently of this. We none of us do; and sailors, I fear, in too many instances, never think of it at all. You take it for granted that you are your own property, and that you have a right to do as you please with all your faculties and powers of body and of mind. "Our lips are our own," you say; "with our tongues will we prevail: who is Lord`over us?" But suffer me to ask, Who made you, and gave you all these faculties and powers, over which you presume to exercise this usurped authority? Was it yourselves? No; you are the workmanship of God. It is he that hath made you, and not you yourselves." It is he that has fashioned you with such exquisite skill, and breathed into your nostrils the breath of life, and endowed you with an immortal soul, and made you a rational and intelligent creature, capable of knowing, and serving, and enjoying your Creator. And who is it that preserves you from day to day?-that feeds you with food convenient for you, and clothes you with suitable apparel, and cherishes and sustains you with more than a mother's tenderness, with more than a father's care? You know full well that it is God, and that but for the constancy and liberality with which he ministers to your necessities, you must perish! "'Tis to his care we owe our breath, And all our near escapes from death; He makes the saint and sinner prove If we, who live upon land, may use this language with propriety, how much more may you? for you literally "get your bread with the peril of your lives."' There is verily at any time "but a step betwixt you and death." A sudden squall-a sunken rock-a spark or a leak-may at any moment hurry you into the eternal world. Assuredly, then, it behoves seamen, above all others, to observe, acknowledge, and adore the providence of God, for you see his works and wonders, in a variety, and to an extent, and in a manner, far more impressive than that which usually falls to the lot of other men. Then your owner, your proprietor, is God; for he made you, and sustains you, and you are indebted to him for all that you possess and enjoy—“ in him, you live, and move, and have your being." But this is not all. You are not as he made you, neither do you do what he requires of you, He made man upright, pure, and holy; and this is the meaning of the expression, when it is said in Scripture that man was made "in the image and likeness of God." And he requires of us that we should love him supremely, and serve him perfectly. But, alas, we have apostatized from God-we have rebelled against him-we have lost his image, and are by nature sunk in moral degradation and pollution, children of wrath, and under the curse and condemnation of God's holy, but violated law. Now this is a melancholy and humiliating representation which the Scriptures give of the natural state and condition of man, and which observation and experience and all history confirms. "Behold," says the Psalmist, "I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me." "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and truth is not in us." "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." "But God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and gave his Son to be a propitiation for us." Behold, then, an additional claim on the part of God, the strongest claim of all. "Ye are not your own,' says the Apostle, "ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your bodies and spirits, which are his." Oh, that you felt the influence of this lovethe force of this all-powerful argument!-that each one, yielding himself this night to the Redeemer, and, through him, a living sacrifice to God, might say, "He loved me, and gave himself for me." This leads me to inquire, II. TO WHAT PORT DO YOU BELONG? I do not mean, do you belong to Liverpool or London? I do not mean, are you English or American-but do you belong to the church or the world? -to God or the devil?-to the powers of light or the powers of darkness? Perhaps you never seriously proposed to yourselves this question. But surely it is high time you did. You would think it very strange, if you spoke a ship at sea, and the people on board were unable to tell you to what port she belonged. Now, so far as you are concerned, the matter may be very soon and very easily decided. Only tell me the course you steer-your manner of life-your character and conduct, and that will determine the question to what port you belong. Are you a swearer-a sabbath-breaker-a drunkard-profane-licentious-impure-abandoned-thoughtless-living without the Bible -without prayer-with no fear of God before your eyes-without Christ and without hope in the world? Then the point is at once decided,-you are of your "father the devil, for his works you do:" you belong to the world. You have no part nor lot with Christ, or his disciples. And if you belong to the world, you must perish with the world. If you serve the devil, you must receive his wages. For he that "soweth to the flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption, while he that soweth to the spirit, shall of the spirit reap life everlasting." Now nothing can be plainer, or more obvious, than all this. If you serve sin, "the wages of sin is death." If you pursue the broad way of transgression, it will inevitably lead you to destruction. And if such should be the melancholy consequence in your case, if you should continue in sin, and die at last in your iniquity, you will have none but yourself to blame for the misery that must ensue for now you are warned and admonished, if you never were before, to flee from the wrath to come. "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and unto our God, for he will abundantly pardon. Turn you, turn you; for why will you die, O house of Israel?" Suffer me now to ask, |