The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-11-18

tlur III Win suCu roar, there went
up from the cabin a shriek OF horror which
pray God may never hear again. Ihave
dreamed the whole scene over again, but
God has mercifully kept me from hearing
that one cry. Into it seemed to be com
pressed the agony of expected ship wreck
1t seemed to say: ~ shall never get home
againl Ny children shall be orphaned, and
my wife shall be widowed! am launching
now into eternity In two minutes shall
meet my Godl"
There we're about $50 passengers 10 the
Storage, and as the water ru he'd in aud
touched the furnaces, aud began violently
to hiss, the poor creatures in the steerage
nainged that the boilers were giving away.
Those passengers writhed In the water aud
in the mud, some praying, some crying, all
terrified. They made a rush for the deck.
An officer stood on deck and beat them
back with blow after blow. 1t was neces-
sary. They could not have stood an in
slant on the deck. Oil how they
the ship! One woman, with a child in
her arms, rushed up, and caught hold of
one of the officers and cried: "Do let ma
outl | will help youl Do let me outi
cannot die hsreln Some got down and
prayed to the Virgin Marv, saying: 80
blessed motheri keep usl Have mercy on
u.s." Some stood with white lips aud fixed
gaze, silent in their terror. Some wrung
their hands and criad out: 20 God
what shall l dol What shall 1 doT'
The time came when the crew could
no longer stay on the deck, and
the cry of tho officers was; "Be-
lowl all hands below" Our brave and
sympathetic Capt. Andre ws-whose praise
| shall not cease to speak while l live-had
been swept by the hurricane from his
bridge, and had escaped very narrowly with
his life. The cyclone seemed to stand on the
deck, waving its wing, crying: "This ship
is minel have captured it'll Hal hal will
commald It'll If God will permit,
will sink it here and nowl BY
thousand shipwrecks, swear the
doom Of this vesselp There was a lul
in the storm, but on ly that it might gain
additional fury. Crash went tine lifeboat
on one side. Crashl went the lifeboat on
the other side. The great booms got loose,
and, as with the heft of thunderbolt,
pounded the deck and beat the mast-the
jibboom, studding sailboom, and square
sailboom, with their strong arms, beating
time to the awful march and music of the
hurricane.
Mean while the ocean became phosphores-
cent. The whole scene looked like fire. The
water dripping from the rigging, there
we're ropes of fire; and there were masts of
fire; and there was deck of fire. A ship
of fire, sailing on sea of fire, through
night of fire. May l never see anything
like it againl
Everybody prayed. A lad of 10 years Of
age got down and prayed for his mother
IF should give up" he said, 'T do not
know what would become of mother.n
There we're men, who, / think, had not
prayed for thirty years, who then got down
on their knees. When a man who has
neglected God all his life feels that he has
come to his last time, it makes very busy
night All of our sins and shortcomings
passed through our minds Ny
own life seemed utterly unsatisfactory,
I could only say, "Here, Lord, take
me as 1 am. cannot mend matters
now. Lord Jesus, thou didst die for
the chief of sinners. That's mel 1t seems,
Lord, as if my work is done, and poorly
done, and upon thy iaflnite mercy cast
myself, and in this hour of shipwreck and
darkness commit myself and her whom /
hold by the hand to thee. 0 Lord Jesusl
praying that it may be short struggle in
the water, and that at the same instant we
may both arrive in gloryp OIL tell you
man prays straight to the mark when he
has a cyclone above him, an ocean beneath
him, and eternity so close to him that he
can feel its breath on his cheek.
The night was long. At last we saw the
dawn looking through the port holes. As
in the olden time, in the fourth watch of
the night, Jesus came walking on the sea,
from wave cliff to wave cliff; and when he
puts his foot upon billow, though it may
be tossed up with might, it goes down. He
cried to the winds. Hushl They knew his
voice. The waves knew his foot. They
died away. And in the shining track Of his
feet read these letters on scrolls of foam
and fire, "Ihe earth shall be filed with the
knowledge of God as the waters cover
the sea-" The ocean calmed. The
path of the steamer became more
and more mild, until, on the last morning
out tue sun threw round about US a glory
such as / never witnessed before. God
made pavement of mosaic, reaching from
horizon to horiz IN, for all the splendors of
eartl and heaven to walk upon--a pave
ment bright enough for the foot of seraph
bright enou III for the wheels of the
archangel's chariot. As parent embraces
a child, and kisses away its grief. 30 over
that sea, that had been writhing in agony
in the tempest, the morning threw its arms
of beauty and of benediction, and the lips
of earth and heaven met.
AS came on deok-it was very early,
and we were nearing the shore-I saw a
few sails against the sky. They seemed
like the spirits Of the night walking the
pillows. / leaned over the taffrail Of the
vessel, and said, "Thy way. o God, is in the
sea, and thy path in the great waters"
II grew lighter The clouds were hung
In purple clusters along the sky; and, as If
those purple clusters were pressed into red
wine and poured out upon the sea- every
wave turned into crimson. Yonder, fire
cleft stood opposite to firecleft; aud here, a
cloud, rent and tinged with light, seemed
like palace, with flames bursting from
the windo vs.. The whole scene lighted
up until it seemed as il the angels
of God were ascending and descending
upon stairs of fire, and the wave-crests,
changed into jasper, and crystal, and anne
thyst, as they we're flung toward the beach,
made me think of the crowns of heaven
cast before the throne of the great Jehovah.
| leaned over the tafPrail again, and said,
with more emotion than before: "Thy way,
o God, is in the sea, and thy path in the
great watersV
SO, thought, will be the going OFF of
tie storm and night Of the christians life.
The dark rkness will fold its tents and awayl
The golden feet OF the rising morn will come
skipping upon the mountains. and all the
wrathful pillows of the worlds woe break
into the splendor Of eternal joy. And 80 we
come into the harbor. The cyclone behind
us. Our friends before US. God, who is
always good, all around us. And if the roll
of the crew and the passengers bad been
called, TOO souls would have answered to
their names. "And so it came to pass that
we all escaped safe to land" And may
God grant that, when all our Sabbaths on
earth are ended, we may find that, through
the rich mercy Of our Lord Jesus Christ, we
all have weathered the galel
Into the harhor of heaven now we pIide