The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-11-27

/ again Nv children shall be orphaned, and
my wife shall be widowed, L am launch
ing now into eternity In two minutes |
/ shall meet my Godw
There were about $50 passengers in the
| steerage, and as the water rushed in and
| touched the furnaces, and began violently
/ to hiss, the poor creatures in the sJeerage
/ imagined that the boilers were giving way.
| Those passengers writhed in the water and
| 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. Oh, how they begged
! TO get out of the hold of the ship! One
woman with a child in her arms, rushed
up and caught hold OF one of the officers
and cried: do let me outl l will help
/ you! Do let me out. l cannot die here"
Some got down and prayed to
the Virgin Mary, saying 40,
blessed mother, keep us. Have mercy
on us!' Some stood with white lips and
fixed gaze, silent in their terror. Some
wrung their hands and cried out: 80 God
what shall / do? What shall do?' The
time came when the crew could no longer
stay on the deck, and the cry OF the officers
was: Below all hands beloww Our
brave and sympathetic Capt. Andrews
whose praise / shall not cease to speak
while 1 live-had been swept by the hurri-
cane from the bridge, and had escaped
very narrowly with his life. The cyclone
| seemed To stand on the deck, waving its
wing, CRYING: "This ship is mine! have
captured it! Hal ha. l will command
| it! If God will permit, will sink it here
and now! BY a thousand shipwrecks,
swear the doom of this vesselp There
was a lull in the storm, but only that it
might gain additional fury. Crash went
| the life-boat on one side. Crash went the
life boat on the other side. The great
booms got loose, and, as with the heft OF
| thunderbolt, pounded the deck and beat
the mast-the jib-boOm, studding-sail
boom, and square-sail boom, with their
strong arms, beating time to the awful
march and music of the hurricane.
Meanwhile the ocean became phos-
| phorescent The whole scene looked like
tre. The water dripping from the rigging,
| there were ropes OF fire; and there were
masts of fire, and there was deck on fire.
A ship of fire, sailing on a sea of fire,
through night of fire. May never see
anything like il again.
Everybody prayed. A lad of twelve
years OF age got down and prayed for his
mother. "If should give up," he said,
Il do not know what would become of
mother" There were men who, think,
had not prayed for thirty years, who then
| got down on their knees. When man
who has neglected God all his life feels
| that he has come to his last time il makes
a very busy night Al of our sins and
shortcomings pass through our minds.
| Ny own life seemed utterly unsatisfactory.
/ could only say: Here, Lord, take me
as / am. | cannot mend matters now.
Lord Jesus. thou di3st die for the chief OF
| sinners That's met 1t seems, Lord,
as if my work is done, and poorly
done, and upon thy infinite mercy /
| cast myself, and in this hour of shipwreck
aud darkness commit myself and her
whom | hold by the hand TO thee, O Lord
| Jesus! praying that il may be short strug-
| gle in the water, and that at the same in
slant we may both arrive in gloryw Oh!
| tell you a man prays straight TO the mark
| when he has a cyclone above him, an
ocean beneath him, and an 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 portfolios. 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 a billow, though it may
| be tossed up with might it goes down. He
| cried to the winds, Hush. 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: The earth shall be
| filled with the knowledge of God
as the waters cover the sea.
| The ocean Gained. The path OF
the steamer became more and more mild !;
until, on the last morning out. the sun
threw around about Us a glory such as
never witnessed before. God made a
pavement of mosaic, reaching from hori-
earth and heaven TO walk upon-a pave
ment bright enough for the foot Of a
seraph-bright enough for the wheels
| Of an archangel's chariot. AS a parent
| embraces a child, and kisses away its
/ grief, so over that sea, that had been
writhing in agony IN the tempest, the
morning threw its arms of beauty and of
benedicton, and the lips of earth and
heaven met.
As came on deck-it was very early
and we were nearing the shore-l saw
few sails against the sky. They seemed
like the spirits OF the night walking the
| pillows. / leaned over the tafral of the
vessel and said "Thy way, o God, is in
/ the Fed, ana my pain IN the great waters.
1t 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 fire cleft; and here a
| cloud, rent and tinged with light, seemed
| like a palace with flames bursting from
| the windows. The whole scene lighted up
until it seemed as if the angels OF God
were ascending and descending upon
stairs of fire, and the wave-crests, changed
into jasper, and crystal, and amethyst as
| they were flung toward the beach, made
me think of the crowns of heaven cast be-
| fore the throne of the great Jehovah.
/ leaned over the tahrail again and said,
with more emotion than before: Thy
way o God, is in the sea. and thy path in
i the great watersP
| So, thought, will be the going off of
the storm and night OF the Christian S
4 life The darkness will fold it's tents and
away 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
| 10Y. And so we come into the harbor.
! The cyclone behind us Our friends be-
fore rs. God, who is always good, all
around us. And If the roll OF the crew
and the passengers had been called 700
souls would have answered to their names.
"And so itcame to pass that We all ESCAPED