of an officious intruder; but will seek his own superior enjoyment in thought and reflection on what surrounds him. Leaning over the gangway, or quietly pacing and re-pacing the deck, he will converse with God, and with himself, in some such way as this: "Eternal Wisdom! thee we praise, Thee the creation sings: With thy lov'd name, rocks, hills, and seas, "There thou hast bid the globes of light, There the pale planet rules the night, "If down I turn my wond'ring eyes "Here the rough mountains of the deep Thy breath can raise the billows steep, "Thy glories blaze all nature round, Through skies, and seas, and solid ground But what are stars, or sun, or moon, or this earth, or yonder visible heavens, in comparison with one immortal soul?-There is an appointed time when these heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and these surrounding elements shall melt with fervent heat. But my immortal spirit cannot pass away! There is a day coming when the stars shall fall from heaven, as the fig-tree casteth her untimely leaves to the ground;—a day, when" this earth and all that it inherits shall dissolve;"-when this ocean shall give up its myriads of dead, and then be found no more: but my soul must still exist! O, most gracious Lord God, do thou help me, a poor worm, but still thy creature, and an immortal being, to think of thee as I ought, to love thee as thou deservest, to obey thee in all thy commands. Keep my soul while it is hovering over the gulph of eternity, pardon all its sins through the atoning blood of Christ, and sanctify all its faculties by thy Holy Spirit, before it quits this short and fleeting life, to receive its eternal portion. O, my God! ere that day arrives, do thou quell every sinful passion within my breast; suppress every unhallowed disposition of my will, as thy power bas quelled every angry storm, and subdued every raging motion of these surrounding waters. O! let my soul be steadily and rapidly urging on its way to thine everlasting kingdom, as our vessel is now pursuing her course to her port of destination; for, surely, compared with this, "Nothing is worth a thought beneath, But how I may escape the death That never, never dies! How make my own election sure, "Jesus, vouchsafe a pitying ray, Ah, write thy pardon on my heart, Let me depart in peace.” No. XVI. THE ANCHOR. "WHICH HOPE WE HAVE AS AN ANCHOR TO THE SOUL, BOTH SURE AND STEDFAST." Heb. vi. 19. So necessary are anchors to shipping, that they could not possibly be safe without them. On ten thousand occasions they are the security of every vessel. By their means the ship is held in safety, while the storm howls through the masts and rigging, and the breaking surge rolls by on either side. By them the vessel is prevented from drifting down with the current on some deadly shoal, and from being drawn in shore towards dangerous rocks, in calm weather. Often, when dismasted and driving as a log, helpless and almost without hope, towards some harbourless coast or wreck-covered beach, the anchor is the seaman's last and only refuge. Just before his bark drifts among the angry breakers, he lets it go; it plunges through the troubled ocean, drives through every restless wave, and, fastening on the firm bottom, rides his trembling, half-wrecked ship in safety through the storm. Hence it is, that in the Scriptures, our Lord Jesus Christ is called the Christian's anchor of hope (Heb. vi. 19), and said to be both sure and stedfast. The mariner's anchor may, and, indeed, does sometimes fail him; and in that failure his last fond hope is gone, and destruction quickly follows: but the Lord Jesus Christ never did, nor ever will, fail one soul who makes him his refuge and hope, his trust and confidence. Oh, how great is the blessing of having such an anchor as this to fly to!-how great is the calamity of being destitute of it when the day of trial or the hour of danger arrives! It is a blessing always needful to have at hand. The soul without it would be more forlorn and unsafe than a coasting vessel without ground tackling. We have seen how many perils surround and await the new launched bark; but these are really nothing in comparison with what encompass and way-lay the Christian; for, "Dangers of every shape and name, Who leave the world's deceitful shore, At one time the powerful stream of human corruptions, or the impetuous tide of vicious |