sooner.

HONOUR GOD AND GOD WILL HONOUR YOU.

66

165

arrived at Calcutta in twenty-nine days. The pilot expressing his surprise at our quick passage, I said, yes, we had a good passage, but we lay twenty-four hours at Port Said, else we had been a day "No," said he, you have not lost an hour, you will be at the jetty to-day, just as soon as you would have been had you arrived here yesterday. So we lost nothing by waiting on the Lord. This is not a solitary case. God's children can tell "strange tales," of what they get that wait for Him. On the passage home, we called to coal at Malta, it was Sunday forenoon. Agent came off, saying our coals were on the way off. I said to him, go home and go to church, and send the coals here after midnight. We coaled before morning and left at daylight. Owners nor I have not been beggared by it, and we had this conscious satisfaction that we pleased God.

This author

On page 12

The Mission to Seamen Society, offered a prize a year and half ago for the best Essay on, "Lay work in the Merchant Navy." The prize was awarded to Captain F. B. Hopkins, of the s.s. "Enmore." This little Manual should be in every ship. It is neat and methodical, written with the ring of a sailor about it, and with as real a ring of the true Christian. By it some faltering brother may take heart to make a stand, honour more the Lord'sday, and perhaps begin to do a little more for Him. served his apprenticeship at sea under my command. of his work he remarks of his master; "His example of respecting the Lord's-day has had its effect on some who sailed with him, who are now masters themselves. The services and Bible-class in his ship are fresh in the memory of the writer although sixteen years have passed since he attended them." And under a pious God-fearing Christian master was I brought to the knowledge of Jesus as my Saviour, on the high seas. And his observance of the Lord's-day and his Sabbath-school, and Sabbath meetings are fresh in the memory, although thirty-eight years have passed away. These early impressions, and that early example had its effect in moulding me into the same school. Then it descends to others, and the spiritual species propagate and multiply. He shall see His seed. (Isaiah liii. 10.) His seed shall endure for ever. (Psalms lxxxix. 36.)

Lately I was at Cardiff with a steamer, we did not get coaled as I hoped for tide time on Saturday; it was 10 p.m. before we were finished. The dock master said, you will get out in the morning. I replied if we don't get out this evening, we don't go to-morrow; we will wait till Monday. He said, "You are a good fellow. I wish there were more like you."

Help, ye men of the sea, who do business in great waters! Help, ye Shipmasters, who know and love the Saviour's name! Help, ye Shipowners who get your wealth by trading on the sea! Help! that the Sabbath chartered to man, may be preserved as much as possible to the sailor both on sea and land.

Glasgow, 30th April, 1881.

JNO. SMITH.

SAILORS' INSTITUTE, LONDON.

(Headquarters of the British and Foreign Sailors' Society.) ONWARD is the motto of our great Mercantile Marine. Its progress has been accelerated by the application of three factors, (1) Iron for ships, (2) Screw for steamers, and (3) Steam for propulsion. Now steel is about to work still greater wonders, while Science is daily perfecting England's magnificent Marine. Colonization has separated the British races, but to-day our fleets of sail and steam unite them as never before. Trans-atlantic voyages which were once so formidable have become comparatively short and pleasant trips. The same forces which cut off a Continent, and made a pathway at Suez for British ships to British possessions, are now at work to divide a larger Continent, so that by the Panama Canal route, not only the western sides of America, north and south, but Oceania and China will be brought near to us by our shipping.

The whole tendency of civilization is to make nations dependent on each other. Formerly our ships brought the luxuries of our tables, but now they bring the essentials of our life. The Standard recently said that were it not for the "New World and steam navigation, the year 1879 would have witnessed a European famine as dire as any that ever afflicted our Continent in the Middle Ages." While the Times in one of its articles on our Marine, said that "After an austere and discouraging infancy, amid ill auguries and wishes not always friendly, the ocean steamer has taken its place in the grander conditions of hum an existence." While "the number of lives, and the amount of property afloat at any one time, constitute a large part of the population, and the wealth of the world."

Lord Ravensworth in his admirable address to the Institution of Naval Architects, “stated There is invested in the shipping interest of this country alone a sum of £100,000,000. There are employed 200,000, who earn £10,000,000 in

ANNUAL REPORT, 1880-1.

176

wages annually. (His lordship does not reckon fishermen and boatmen all around our coast.) And besides this 100,000 more men are employed in ship-building, and it was recently estimated that the tonnage of the vessels on the stocks in the north-eastern ports, reached a total of 800,000 tons." These bare facts will convey some faint idea, both from a national and international point of view, of the growing importance of the Mercantile Marine. To it, is therefore given this unique mission, that it is to supply the temporal wants of nations, and in so doing to make them feel that they belong to one family; and the more this is done, the more will it be realized that men, irrespective of nations or creed, are brothers.

The philanthropist and all those interested in the morality and religious character of our seamen have also some other things to remember. The past ten years have witnessed an awakened thought and sympathy for the sailor of a most practical character. The Parliament in its legislative, and the Government in its executive functions, have done much for his safety and succour. "By a Parliamentary return just issued, it is seen that since the passing of the Merchant Shipping Act of 1876, no less than 412 ships were detained as unseaworthy, and all, save fourteen, were proved upon examination to be unsafe, while 149 more, every one of which was either over or improperly loaded." All this means a great deal to the safety and comfort of poor Jack. The laws regulating the shipping, paying, and lodging of seamen will doubtless prove to them also of great value. Perhaps, the greatest enemy to the sailor during the greater part of the century has been the "Advance Note" system. What was, in its origin, intended for his good, has been his unmitigated curse. In every port it has perpetuated those who have fattened upon his vices. But on the 1st of August of the present year, this system will be by law abolished. The United States and other countries, it is hoped, will follow in the same legislative track.

While the attention of the nation by its Parliament and the Press has been directed towards the improved condition of seamen, this Society, by its varied agencies, has played no mean part in their moral and spiritual elevation. They have combined the solidity of the past with the aggressiveness of the present. Increased activities on the part of many Christian ladies and gentlemen are worthy of all praise. It is to be feared that in the past the great work of evangelizing seamen has been too much left to the appointed missionary, and that it has not received the assistance it might have done from the warm hearts and ready hands of willing helpers. The Directors believe this volunteer movement is capable of great extension, and they will rejoice to see all their stations greatly strengthened by free local, spontaneous workers.

WORK ON THE THAMES.

SIXTY-THREE years ago, the 4th inst., Rowland Hill preached the opening sermon on board the Society's Floating Chapel on the Thames, called by the sailors "The Ark." It is appropriate that the anniversary sermon should be preached this year (on the same date) in Christ Church, which now contains the mortal remains of this once celebrated clergyman. He loved the sailor; understood him thoroughly, and saw clearly his virtues, while others could see nothing but his vices. He was present at the birth of this Society, watched its progress with deep solicitude, and lived to 1833 to see it start on its wider mission under its present title.

This "Ark" was the first floating vessel ever wholly set apart for Divine worship for the use of seamen in Britain, and probably in the world. The Society not only began this work on the Thames, but has continued it, in great vigour even

THE "ARK," OPENED BY ROWLAND HILL, MAY 1818. unto this day. After the old ship had done its work, suitable buildings were obtained on the banks of the river. And subsequently a large central Institute, situate at Shadwell, near the London Docks, was opened in 1853, by Sir Francis Graham Moon, Bart., then Lord Mayor, and under the distinguished patronage of the late Prince Consort. During the past year the Reading-rooms of this building have been visited by 39,180 readers, and 3,820 letters have been received, while almost daily Religious or Temperance meetings have been held. But the Directors would impress upon the Conservators of the Thames, and the Merchants of London, that the traffic of this wonderful river has never been abandoned by this Society. The river Thames, when you consider the City upon its banks, and the ships upon its bosom, their political and commercial importance, is certainly the most magnificent and wonderful river in the world. There entered this Port of London in 1880, 49,904 vessels, with a tonnage of 10,454,171 tons. All this to say nothing of what left during the same period, and river boats, barges, &c., &c., and you are presented with a scene unparalled, either in fact or fiction. Not only on shore, but on board the shipping from London Bridge to Gravesend, at least something is attempted. A waterman is engaged by the year, and two of the missionaries take turns to go daily to the river. The senior missionary has spent some thirty-three years of his life in this work on the river. At Gravesend, in addition to the Bethel on shore, the missionary whose work is well known, is continually afloat, and last year distributed in troop-ships, emigrant ships, ocean liners, both sail and steam, no less than 2,700 New Testaments in 14 languages; 150 Bibles in 4, and 4,789 Gospels in 12; also 10,000 packets of books sent from all parts of England and Scotland. The Directors are sorry to acknowledge that they spend more of the Society's monies on the Institute and their eight agents, boats and watermen in London, than they receive from it. The Directors sincerely hope they may not have to abandon any part of this agency, which is already too small, on account of such small local support. A Society which began the work on the Thames, and for sixty-three years has, amid all the changes, persistently followed it up, ought, now that the Thames Bill is before the people and Parliament, to be especially remembered by those who should render some adequate

return.

ENGLAND.-The Directors are unable to refer to all these ports in detail. They are pleased to report that the Dover, Falmouth, and Lowestoft Missions have been characterised by a most gracious revival; while at Chatham, Newcastle-onTyne, Ramsgate, Southampton, and Yarmouth, earnest religious work, either afloat or ashore, has in many ways been carried on with many proofs of Divine blessing. Efforts are being made at the rising port of Barrow to erect a Sailor's Bethel. James Ramsden, Esq., has given the land, while the Duke of Devonshire has promised £50; Miss Hodgson, who takes a deep interest in the missionary and his work, has also promised £50. To Whitehaven the Directors have made an appropriation to encourage work among the sailors in that port.

SCOTLAND.-Aberdeen forms on the north-east coast a suitable centre for the Society's operations. The Scotch Fisheries, with the single exception of the Norwegian, is the most important in Europe. The Aberdeenshire stations have boats manned by some 12,000 men and boys, while the value of the fish caught exceeds the value of the rental of the whole county. Here Bethel services at the Institute, and the regular ship-visitations, have been vigorously prosecuted by the missionary, under the superintendence of the treasurer, Mr. James Harvey. One pleasing feature of the year's work was, that the Rev. A. Campbell, of Montrose, held forty-eight services for foreign seamen, in five different languages. On the south-west coast several ports have been visited by the Society's Evangelist, including Troon, Irvine, Androssan, Ayr, Givan, and Stranrear. These are great fishing centres, and fishermen come from Peel and Castleton, in the Isle of Man, also from Buckhaven, Pitterween, Callardyke, St. Monance, Berwick-on-Tweed, etc., etc. During the past winter there has been a great religious awakening among these fishermen, and the local workers, as Messrs. Logan, Anderson, and Jeffery, have been encouraged and assisted by your Agent.

IRELAND. Most interesting reports have been received from Dublin, Belfast, and Cork. They will duly appear in the Sailors' Magazine. During the year the Directors have made small appropriations to Waterford and Limerick. The historic Londonderry, which claims relationship (and is proud of it) to the Lord Mayor, is the fourth port in Ireland. The Directors are sorry that the funds will