gone out in worse weather than this, mates; let us try again!" They signalled the vessel that they were coming off; and the signal revived the drooping courage of the captain. He called all his crew together, but two were found to be helplessly intoxicated. The remainder, however, instantly obeyed his orders, and they stood ready for the lifeboat, should she be able to reach them. As if the blessing of God rested upon their humane endeavours, there was a still further lull in the wind as the hardy crew entered the lifeboat. They waited for the exact moment, every man with his hand to his oar, ready to pull together. "Now!" cried their leader, and at the word the boat went bounding over a mighty wave, and sank almost out of sight in the dark green valley beyond. It was a sight to make the bravest hearts on shore quail as they watched the gallant crew dash through surging surf to save life at the risk of their The silence of the spectators was intense, especially when the boat became lost to view. Would they reach the vessel? And, if they succeeded, would those on board be able to descend in safety?

own.

Space will not admit of details respecting the dangers they encountered either in going or returning. One aged sailor, reverently uncovering his head, said, "But for the blessing of God, they could never have done what they have." Suffice it to say, that, with the exception of the two drunken sailors, captain, passengers, and crew all came safe to land. Next morning there was no trace of the vessel; she had broken up, and gone down a wreck. To the writer the scene suggested many reflections.

There is something most affecting in the sight of a noble vessel going down with many souls and much treasure on board. It is an apt illustration of a lost soul carrying with it into eternity a treasure of infinite value. Talents that might have been improved, all lost; bright hopes that might have been realized, all lost; heaven that might have been won, lost-eternally lost. Notwithstanding all the efforts that were made to save him-efforts as persevering as those

of the brave sailors who went out to the sinking shipnotwithstanding the warnings of ministers and friends, the voice of conscience, and the pleadings of the Holy Spirit, for a man to sink into eternal ruin by his own act is, surely, the saddest of all sad things. And this when, figuratively speaking, the lifeboat which saved others was within his reach, however desperate his condition!

As the passengers and crew who had been in such imminent peril stepped on shore, one could not help being reminded of the madness of those who, with the means of escape within their reach, nevertheless refuse to avail themselves of it. What would those who had made such sacrifices to reach the sinking ship have said, if, upon their reaching it, the passengers had said, "We don't want you; we had rather remain where we are!" What if they had said, further, "We do not thank you for your efforts, and they are worth nothing; so far as we are concerned you might as well have never left the shore." Can we imagine either an act of greater folly or of baser ingratitude?

And yet is not this just the way in which sinners treat the atoning sacrifice of the Son of God, by reliance on which alone they can obtain salvation? For them He came from heaven to earth, and their redemption was the goal to which He passed through sufferings and sacrifices of the most agonising character. He saved not Himself that He might save others. Yet, practically, and to his own eternal loss, the sinner spurns: the great price at which man's redemption was wrought out. He sets no value upon an act of love and condescension so profound in its depth that it is a mystery even to the angels. The 66 cross and passion, the precious death and burial, the glorious resurrection and ascension," he tramples upon, and turns away from the only means of escape. Devils themselves were never guilty of a sin like this; they will never have to remember that a Saviour was offered them, and that they rejected Him.

It was pleasant to look at the group of rescued ones, and to think of the varied characters saved by the gospel. The

mother and her little ones, the gallant captain, the wealthy merchant, the foreigners, the hardy sailors-how different their characters, how different their positions in social life; but they were all saved. And how varied have been the characters and positions who have been saved by faith in Jesus. There was not one of his apostles like his brother apostle. Amongst those who sought Him were fathers, mothers, children, sons, daughters, wealthy men and poor, masters and servants. He did not turn away from one of them, and they found in Him all they needed. People "afflicted with divers diseases" came unto Him, and "He healed them all." He wept with the distressed, He comforted the sorrowing, however guilty; He healed the leper, and made the lame man to leap as an hart; He opened the eyes of the blind, and unloosed the tongue of the dumb; He fed the multitude when they were famishing; He brought the dead back to life, and caused the hearts of the bereaved to sing for joy.

And why are these facts recorded? That they may be regarded just as so much interesting history? That we may think of the Saviour in the light of history, and as belonging to the past? No. "These things are written that ye may believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through his name." They are recorded that men, until the last hour of time, may know that what He was He is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever." The love which prompted Him to die on Calvary to save men from their sins is the love which He feels for sinners still; it has never changed; it is as tender now as when He cried, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." And his power is unchanged, for all power is given unto Him in heaven and on earth.

What, then, dear reader, is the relation in which you stand to a Being so exalted, so glorious and loving? Are you trusting in Him with all your heart as your Saviour? Whatever your character, you need not be afraid to exercise the most implicit faith in Him. The most confiding trust in a

fellow-creature may be misplaced.

Even the mother may

forsake her sucking child; and if maternal love cannot always be relied upon, how much less can human friendship! But no one who has ever trusted in Jesus, and in humble penitence laid upon Him the heavy burden of his sins, has had reason to say, "I thought I had at last found One in whom I could have the firmest confidence, but, alas! I am mistaken." Young men and maidens, old men and children, the refined and educated, the depraved and ignorant, persons of every type of character, and those of every grade in society, have found Him every day to be worthier of their faith. As they have approached the end of life they have said, with a tranquillity which neither sickness, pain, nor the infirmities of old age could for a moment disturb, "I know in whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day." Even when the tempter has been harassing them with doubts and fears, comforted by their Saviour's presence, they have been enabled to say, "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies."

In a dying hour people regret many things-a misspent life, talents unemployed, or wrongly employed, wasted hours in the pursuit of pleasure and the world's prizes. But no one has ever been known to have regretted believing in Jesus. If the Christian has had a regret, it has been that he has not more fully trusted Him who has so often borne with his infirmities and backslidings, who has restored his soul again and again, who now is taking away the sting from death, and opening the kingdom of heaven to his enraptured gaze.

Sad beyond expression it has been to listen to the last utterances of those who have had no Saviour to sustain them in a dying hour. Their chief regret has been that they might have been saved from the wreck of a sinful life, but that they would not. They were not in ignorance of their lost and sinful condition; conscience revealed it to them many times; they were not ignorant of the provision

which had been made for their salvation in the gospel of Christ. As they advanced in life, the voice of Divine providence warned them again and again; and now, here is the end of the journey reached, and they are not saved!

Can any one think of such a termination to a life without feeling the importance of the words, "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation?" None, will be rejected by Jesus; He will save unto the uttermost, for his blood cleanseth from all sin. Encouraged by such assurances, let every one seek the Lord while He may be found, and call upon Him while He is near.

Christ, who strengtheneth Me."

I can do all things through Christ
Every true Christian

T. PAUL says,
who strengtheneth me."
echoes the words of Paul.

He feels that when

Christ gives him might, he is sufficient for all the trials, burdens, temptations, and duties of life. Drawing his spiritual life from Christ, as the branch receives the sap that gives it vitality from the vine of which it is a part, the Christian believer feels that he is strong for all that is demanded of him. And the measure of his strength is just the measure with which Christ dwells in him. The triumph of Christian living is found when the child of God is "strengthened with all might according to His glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness."

Paul himself was an illustration of the fact. He had of course the same nature and temperament after his conversion as before. And yet Paul the Christian missionary was a very different man from Saul of Tarsus, the bigoted PhariWhen he was a Pharisee, he could not have said, as he does in connection with the words we are now considering, "I know how to be abased." Humility was not in the catalogue of Pharisaical virtues. It was Christ who

see.