crown of glory, the palms of victory, the ever delightful worship, the hallelujahs which shall resound through the mansions of heaven; and there is to be seen the object of incomparable wonder, to whom this praise belongs, the Man Jesus Christ, on his throne, high and lifted up-and all this blessedness has been provided by infinite love!

What think you, O reader, of such things? What think you of Christ?-of what he has done to save sinners?—of what he has gone to prepare for those who love him? Say, hath not his love a depth and a height, a length and a breadth, which passeth all knowledge? Surely there is nothing but Christ and his cause worth living for!

There is a reality in religion, whatever scoffers may say. A present reward is experienced in the keeping of God's commands. "Wisdom's ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." This peace passeth all understanding; it must be enjoyed to be perfectly understood. The world can neither give it nor take it away. You are capable now of hoping for, and at last partaking of this infinite blessedness. Be entreated to accept of the Saviour, to give yourself up entirely to him, and undoubtedly you will say, you never knew happiness, real happiness, till you became a possessor of real religion. Come to Christ as you are, wretched, miserable, blind, naked. In him all fulness dwells. Trust alone in his blood and

righteousness. He has done all that is necessary for your

salvation.

Once more; if you are still disposed to remain careless about your soul and eternity, I must cease addressing you, or attempting to describe your fearful state. Time is given to prepare for eternity; miss this, and you are lost for ever. O kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish for Escape for your life-look not behind. Death is approaching-Judgment is approaching-Eternity is ap

ever.

proaching.

London: Printed by WILLIAM CLOWES and SONS, Duke-street, Lambeth, for THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY; and sold at the Depository, 56, Paternoster-row; by J. NISBET and Co., 21, Berners street, Oxford-street; and by other Booksellers.

[Price 1s. 2d. per 100.]

Considerable Allowance & Subscribers and Booksellers.

THERE are few persons who witness greater displays of the power and glory of God, in nature and providence, than sailors. It is, however, painful to reflect that they too frequently forget their daily Preserver and Friend, though they are surrounded by his wonderful works. "They

THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY, INSTITUTED 1799;
DEPOSITORY, 56, PATERNOSTER-ROW.

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," Psa. cvii. 23-28. It is, however, to be feared that many sailors call upon God only in the storm, and altogether forget Him when the time of danger is over.

he

Jerry Creed was a remarkable character, both before and after his conversion to God. He was born at or near the town of Gravesend, in Kent, about the year 1753. His parents appear to have been strangers to the power of religion, and therefore they did not "train up their child in the way should go," Prov. xxii. 6. His moral and religious welfare was altogether neglected. The consequences of this negli gence were peculiarly awful. He did that which was right iin his own eyes, and his habits became altogether vicious.

Early in life the determined to become a sailor. He cobtained a berth on board "The Marquis of Rockingham," and proceeded in that wessel tto India. He was taught, by the awful dispensations of God, that "there is no peace to the wicked." Sinuers may flee from parents and friends-they may forsake their native shores, but they cannot escape from God. "He knows their downsitting and their uprising. He understandeth their thoughts afar off. He is acquainted with all their ways," Psa. cxxxix. During Creed's first voyage he experienced the "perils of the sea." The vessel was cast away on the Malabar coast, when he lost every article that had belonged to him, and was left in a most destitute and forlorn condition he was obliged to beg his way about 400 miles across the country, when he reached a port, where he entered the king's service.

Increased dangers now attended his course. During the time he served in the navy he was in several severe engagements; yet though in the storming of towns and in close conflicts with the enemy, he was exposed to the greatest perils, his life was mercifully preserved by the providence of that God, whom poor Jerry never sought by prayer. On many of these occasions his comrades fell in great

numbers around him, but his heart was unmoved with one grateful feeling for his own preservation. His "good luck," and "good fortune," were the only subjects that occupied his thoughts, while, like other sailors, he talked of the narrow escapes he had from the balls which flew thickly

about him.

He continued many years in the sea service, and met with a variety of striking instances of the providential goodness of God, but his mind was dark, and he regarded not his deliverer. On one occasion he had a very narrow escape from a watery grave. During a violent storm off the coast

of France, he and another seaman were washed overboard. In this perilous situation they made many fruitless attempts to reach the vessel. Just when their strength was exhausted, and they were giving up all for lost, one of the sails of the vessel, by the violence of the wind, was blown into the sea, and drifted within the reach of poor Jerry. He eagerly caught it. His comrade, at the same instant, laid hold on his jacket, and in this manner they were safely drawn on board again. After this merciful preservation from death, he was subsequently exposed to similar perils. He was three times in imminent danger of losing his life, but was, as he afterwards remarked, "miraculously saved."

May not the means by which Jerry Creed's life was preserved teach the reader an important lesson? One of the sails drifted towards him, he seized' it, and it became the means of temporal salvation. He felt he was in danger; he found he was sinking; he had no hope in himself; he then seized the sail, and thus he found safety. The Bible says, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.' bgt Now, what is it to believe? It is for a sinner to feel his danger as a guilty creature, and to lay hold on Christ as his only Saviour. Faith leads a sinner to see his ruin without Christ, as clearly as Jerry Creed saw that he was a lost man without the sail. He clung to it, and his life was saved. Thus believing in Christ, our souls are delivered from death.

Creed continued a stranger to religion during the whole period of his seafaring life. He at length became tired of his occupation, and left the service:: He returned to

For many

Gravesend, where he married and settled. years he obtained his living as a waterman; "but he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.”

THE BLASPHEMER AND PERSECUTOR.

When Creed settled at Gravesend, he became the terror of the town and neighbourhood. His character was always bad, but he now became notoriously depraved. He was a proverb among the people. Hence it has been remarked that poor parents would sometimes say to their children, "If you do not behave better, wicked Jerry Creed shall have you." He commonly used the most blasphemous language, and frequently did "the swearer's prayer" proceed from his lips. It was a mercy for poor Creed that his heavenly Father was long-suffering towards him, not willing that he should perish, but that he should be brought to repentance. If God were to answer the prayers of profane swearers, what vast numbers would daily rush into hell!

When Creed was overcome with liquor, he became an ungovernable madman, and the peaceable inhabitants of the town frequently had their midnight repose disturbed by his noisy conduct in the streets.

The heart of Creed was enmity against God. He displayed this enmity by taking every opportunity of speaking against religious people. The following incident will show how greatly he despised them. He was once in a passage-boat, where several of the persons on board, who were fond of singing, began a hymn of praise to God. This was more than Jerry could bear. All the vile corruptions of his heart were immediately roused. He was like one possessed of an evil spirit. He endeavoured to overpower the voices of the singers by invoking the most horrid judgments from God upon them and upon himself. He found, however, that he was not regarded by the people, when he called a sculler, and left the passage-boat, declaring, "the psalm-singing gentry shall have no more of my company."

We find that in this world there is no agreement between "light and darkness." There is a decided hatred in the minds of sinners against the children of God. But is not this strange? Is it not marvellous? It would not he strange to speak reproachfully of them if they were the liars, the seducers, and the drunkards of this world; but these depraved creatures are the very persons that oppose the righteous. Who are the visitors of the sick, the distressed, and the dying? Who are the teachers of the ignorant young? Who