Never did a company leave port in better spirits and with brighter prospects, than did the passengers of the San Francisco on the 22d of last December. When the tolling bell announced the hour of embarkation, and the pilot's signal gave motion to the ponderous wheels, and the proud vessel, like a swimming palace, took her course towards the sea, and the booming cannon sent its loud adieus over the broad bay, whitened with the glories of commercial enterprise -there were, perhaps, no serious apprehensions experienced by any in all that busy throng. But while loving hearts, yet sore with recent ruptures, yearned towards cherished ones behind, many hopeful eyes were turned towards the far off point of destination. The steamer was new, belonging to the "Pacific Mail Steam Ship Company," built at an expense of $340,000, measuring 3000 tons, loudly praised for her superior qualities, chartered by the United States Government, every comfort and luxury liberally provided, the company most inspiring and pleasant, and besides the gallant Captain and his able assistants in the ship, distinguished military and experienced naval officers were found in her gilded saloons, and all was cheerfulness and gaiety. When seated for the first time around those ample tables, plenteously supplied with the choicest delicacies and the richest viands, who thought that in so short a time a handful of parched corn and a mouthful of snow water, would be a welcome allowance? Ah! how little men know of the future! When passing through the "Narrows" - leading out to the broad Atlantic, and connecting the bay with the ocean, as time is connected with eternity -who in all that multitude supposed, that in the scenery around them, they had a striking emblem of that "narrow" passage through which, in a few hours, so many of their number must pass to return no more! Scarce two days had elapsed, and when only 150 miles from Sandy Hook, the sea gull's wail and the easily recognized signs of a gale, admonished the officers and crew to prepare for duty; and when the third morning dawned, though the sun never shone with richer effulgence, -on the Sabbath morning, when, perhaps, dear friends at home were offering early prayers, preparing to visit the sanctuary of God, the San Francisco had been driven by sweeping hurricanes many miles on her course, and within two hundred miles of Charleston, had been dismasted, her mighty engines rendered useless, and was tossed to and fro upon the furious main, as unresisting as the sea bird's feather, while more than one hundred of her passengers had found a watery grave, and the sighs and shrieks of consternation, the groans of the wounded and the sick, and the shivering of the drenched and chilled, mingled with the voice of prayer and the funeral dirge of the wailing wind. What a lesson is here taught of the blindness, impotence and dependence of men! "They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits end!" There were not only gallant officers on board that vessel, military and naval, beside those who had command of her, officers brave and experienced, but there were 600 well drilled solVOL. IV. No. 3. 9 diers (the "Third Regiment of the U. S. Artillery") - with sword and musket in hand. But vain is their power against hostile elements and assaulting foes. Col. Washington had won laurels upon the bloody field of Buena Vista, and had led an overland expedition to the shores of the Pacific, whither they were now bound, and had successfully combatted the treacherous Mexican and the ruthless Indian. Captain Field had distinguished himself by his heroism at the battle of Huamantla, in Mexico. Major Taylor, to whose arm now clung an affectionate wife, had shown himself a brave officer in the Indian wars of Florida. Lieutenant Smith was a young man, highly accomplished and of great promise. Yet titled as they were, a single wave vanquished them all, and with one hundred of their companions in arms, washed them, with all their glory, into that grave where no monumental marble will ever mark their resting place, and where no pilgrim mourners will ever hang the wreath of love or drop the warm tears of affectionate remembrance! How helpless and dependent are men! Verily-"Every man at his best estate is altogether vanity!" 3. Facts connected with this shipwreck furnish painful illustrations of the desperate depravity of human nature. The following statements, taken from the published reports, will be sufficient to illustrate this point: - "During the raging of the gale, in the San Francisco, many of the waiters, soldiers, and camp women became perfectly reckless of their situation and commenced robbing and stealing everything valuable they could lay hold of. Watches, jewelry, and indeed everything that could be obtained was stolen. Trunks were rifled, and some of the waiters, I am told, covered the rings on their fingers with pieces of rags, saying when asked, that their hands were injured." "We learn through one of the officers of the San Francisco that robbery was the order of the day, during the wreck, to an extent almost unparalleled in fiendish atrocity. The first panic appeared to be hailed as a welcome signal for the commencement of their villainy. Trunks were broken open, their contents stolen, and they thrown into the sea, under pretext of lightening the ship, while even the dying were set upon and robbed as if by so many wolves! "As several of the ship's crew and soldiers came ashore, at New York, they displayed a marvelous amount and style of baggage for their station." Comment upon the conduct here described, is altogether unnecessary. Surely "the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked." Another pen has furnished the following statement, showing the same horrid depravity:- "One of the most terrible features of this shocking disaster, was the outbreak of cholera, occasioned by the dissipation of a portion of the troops, and of the white and coloured waiters. While the ship was at the mercy of the waves, many of these individuals, as is too often the case at such seasons, determined since they had given up the idea of escaping, to enjoy themselves before the ship went down. In the confusion that prevailed, the store-room was left unfastened, and the contents were too tempting to be withstood. They accordingly indulged their appetites without restraint. They partook of preserves, cakes, sweetmeats, dainties of all kinds ad libitum, and then repaired to the spirit room, where they washed down their repasts with copious and undiluted draughts. The effects of this conduct unexpectedly manifested themselves in violent attacks of cramp and diarrhea. Some of the debauchees died in less than ten hours from the time of seizure; others laid a day or two, while some recovered altogether. We are informed by an officer that nearly sixty individuals perished in this manner, some dying on board the Three Bells, while on her way to this port; others were put on board the Antarctic, so much reduced by diarrhœa as to give but little prospect of recovery." Verily, unregenerate men are "earthly, sensual, and devilish." We dare not venture to dwell upon this revolting picture. We would, for the credit of humanity, be glad to blot it from the page of history. What awful disclosures will be made when "God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil." 4. Circumstances connected with this disaster illustrate the overruling and mysterious providence of God and the influence of prayer. All things are in the hands of God. Neither blind chance, nor necessity, determines the issue of events. Chance, luck, and fortune are words without meaning, when used in reference to human affairs. God is in history. Man is free but not independent; and all things depending upon human agency are under the control of God as well as the affairs of the material universe. He creates the storm and sends the succeeding calm; imperils human life and sends deliverance. He directed the wave that washed that multitude from the busy scenes of life, and by his unseen hand Southworth and Rankin were returned to the vessel after having been carried away with the flood. He placed a minister of the gospel, where his services were so much needed, and sent the rescuing vessels at the right time and to the right place. How came it to pass that the vessel which rendered the most important assistance was found in that latitude, in a passage from Glasgow to New York? Who sent the snow upon the deck of the "Kelby" (one of the rescuing vessels) when multitudes were famishing of thirst, and then caused the "Lucy Thomson" to draw near, with ample cabins and plenty of provisions, when want and famine stared them the second time in the face? And does it savour of superstition to suppose that God answered the prayers offered by that minister of Christ (the Rev. MR. COOPER) and others? Has he not promised to answer prayer? "Then they call upon the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven." Has not God answered prayer in thousands of instances? Did he not answer the prayers of Moses, and Samuel, Elijah and 1 Hezekiah, Daniel and others? Verily - "The fervent, effectual prayer of a righteous man availeth much." It is strange that any should ever doubt the power of prayer, or the overruling providence of God. * * * 5. An important lesson may be learned from the manner in which the services of the Captains of the rescuing vessels have been regarded, as contrasted with the manner in which men generally regard a much more important deliverance. The names of the commanders of the "Three Bells," the "Antarctic," and the "Kelby," are upon every tongue. One general expression of praise is heard in every direction. Large sums of money have been spontaneously contributed to reward them for their services. Public meetings have been held in several of our commercial cities, commendatory resolutions adopted, complimentary testimonials ordered, the most flattering congratulations presented, and even congressional action has been deemed proper. Let not a word be said in opposition to this; but the question will arise in many a feeling heart, whether it would not have been inhuman to have done less for the rescue of that perishing company than was done by those whose conduct is now deemed so meritorious? But the point we have in view is this: If men are so affected by generous and successful efforts to save human life, why are they so little moved, by the more generous and important redemption of our Lord Jesus Christ? He came not to rescue a few hundred persons from "peril by sea," but to deliver " a great multitude, whom no man can number," from the curse of a broken law, from the burning waves of Divine wrath, "the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." He came not merely to restore to friends and to a home, soon to be left again, but to secure a home in heaven, where the parting of friends is unknown. He did not merely risk his life for the salvation of others, but cheerfully "gave himself a ransom," and died the most ignominious death. He did not tarry "six days," waiting for an opportunity to rescue the imperilled, but spent a life of humiliation, of poverty, and suffering, "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." He did not toil and bleed to rescue his fellows and friends, crying for deliverance; but to redeem his enemies, rebels against his authority, refusing his gracious offers of life. Oh, why are not men more affected by the gracious interposition of Christ, when they are so ready to honour those whose services are infinitely less important? 6. The exultation of those who arrived safely in port after a few days of peril, may point us to the final triumph of God's people, when the storms which sweep over the tempestuous sea of life are all gone. It would be impossible to describe the scenes which transpired when the rescued passengers of the San Francisco were placed upon the wharf, and when hospitably entertained in the magnificent apartments of the Astor House, or when many met at the Church to return thanks to Almighty God, for their deliverance. Every heart was animated with joy and swelled with grateful feeling. Heaving bosoms, trembling lips, faltering tongues, streaming tears, attested the deep emotions within. Hand warmly grasped hand, heart bounded in unison with heart, friend congratulated friend, while many embraced each other in arms of affection. If deliverance from the dangers of the deep is so enrapturing, how superlatively glorious and ecstatic must be a final deliverance from the sins and sorrows of life's stormy ocean? The Apostle evidently regarded Christians as mariners upon a tempestuous sea, when speaking of their hope he exclaimed "which hope we have as an anchor to the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus." Hope is the anchor of the Christian voyager, and faith is the cable which enables him to outride the storm; and while thus secured, though the thunders roar and the billows foam, he has nothing to fear, but exultingly shouts, "I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day!" How great must be the joys of the ransomed, when they look back upon the adverse winds of life, the dangers and sufferings of the voyage! Then friends, who o'er the waste of life, By the same storms are driven, 7. The burial of so many human beings in the sea at one time turns our thoughts to the subject of the resurrection. There is something naturally gloomy in the thought of having our bodies, and the bodies of those whom we so tenderly love, let down into the dark grave, or deposited in the noisome vault; but much more repulsive is the thought of sleeping in the unfathomed caves of ocean, where monsters of the deep hold their festivals, and the hollow roar of heaving floods mingles with the requiem of the wailing winds. But how consoling the truth, that whether buried upon the land or in the sea, the dominion of death has been destroyed; and not only shall they "who are in their graves hear the voice of the Son of God and come forth," but the "sea shall give up its dead." How many of our fellow men have found a grave in the ocean, from the battle-ship, from the sick-bed, from shipwreck, and accident! And what scenes shall be witnessed in the morning of the resurrection, when the "angel standing upon the sea and upon the earth, and with hands lifted up to heaven," shall "swear by him that liveth for ever, who created heaven and the things that are therein, and the earth, and the sea, and the things which therein are that there shall be time no longer." How consoling to those, whose loved ones are sleeping in the vast deep, while they wander upon the sandy beach, and look out upon the wide expanse until the head becomes dizzy with long gazing, as their hearts melt within them, and they are turning away in despair-how consoling to hear the sweet voice of Jesus coming from the cloud, and sounding louder than the ocean's roar, “I am the resurrection and the life!" 8. Another lesson to be learned from the scenes of the San Fran |