Show THE SEAMEN there are more than seamen in the world with of families directly connected with them the commerce of the united states employs sailors in deep sea vessels and american born seamen are members of christian churches on more than vessels christian services are held each week more than saloons in the ports of civilized nations are wide open for their destruction while in i n all the world there are hardly bethels berthels for their salvation more than during the last eight years in our country have been induced tr tia sign the temperance pledge nearly sailors arrived at and departed from the ports of the united states the last year mostly of foreign birth the origin of the best known sailors hymns is interesting most of them being produced after perilous experiences at sea perhaps no hymn is more sung on the water than charles wesleye We beginning jesus lover of my soul it was written in in 1740 shortly after wesleye We return from america to england and during the first stormy scents of b his is itinerant preaching whether the figures in in the first stanza were suggested by the storms of the atlantic which the writer had but recently encountered or by the storms of human passion we cannot say but most of the sea hymns of charles wesley were but the un of actual experiences bishop aebers matchless hymn beginning when through the torn sail the ile wild tempest is streaming was written after similar experiences the bishop took an affectionate interest in the humblest sailors during his va voyages I 1 only to think said a grateful grateful sea seaman man bof of such a great man as the bishop bsh op coming ca ming between deck to pray wit with h such poor fellows as we about years ago there wandered among the palm paim groves of sierra leone a young englishman who had fallen so low as to be shunned even by the rude traders on the coasts coast and by y the african slaves he had little clothing he went hungry and often was obliged to subsist upon roots his life was not only stained with vice but with viciousness in its most disgusting forms he had a pious mother and the memory of her counsels and prayers like good angels followed him in all of his wanderings escaping at last from the coast he secured a passage for england during the hy homeward voyage the ship encountered a terrible ler storm 1 I began to braf pray he said 1 I could not utter the prayer of faith my prayer was like ravens lord does not disdain to hear the storm subsided but the young man sick at last of sin continued to pray god revealed his salvation to him on the ocean and out of this deep experience came the sailors hymn beginning 1 I hear the tempests awful sound I 1 feel the vessels quick rebound and fear might now my bosom fill but jesus tells me I 1 peace be still 1 I in this dread hour I 1 cung cling to thee my savioier crucified for me if that oat I 1 perish be thy will in death lord whisper 11 peace eacel be still that young man was john newton Ne viton the rector of st Wool noth london the friend of cowper and the writer of a part of the olney hymns the gospel hymns of bliss sankey relate in part to the lives and experiences of seamen pull for the shore also by P P bliss is a popular hymn on the sea it was suggested by the following incident in things new and old we watched the wreck with great anxiety the lifeboat had been out some hours but could no not reach the vessel through the great abrl breakers akers that raged and foamed on the sandbank sand bank the boat appeared to be leaving the crew to perish but in a few minutes the captain and 16 sailors were taken off and the vessel went down when the lifeboat came to you did you expect it had brought some tools to repair your old ship I 1 said oh no she was a total wreck two of her masts were gone and if we had stayed mending eer tier only a few minutes we must gave have gone down sir 11 when once off the old wreck and safe in the lifeboat what remains for you to do nothing sir but just to pull for the shore still another mariners marinero ma hymn among the gospel hymns is let the lower lights be burning also by P P bliss on a dark stormy night when the waves rolled like mountains and not a star was to be seen a boat rocking and plunging neared the cleveland harbor are you sure this is cleveland asked the captain seeing only one quite sure I 1 sir I 1 replied the pilot where are the lower lights gone out sir can you make the ae harbor we must or perish sir and with a strong hand and a brave heart the old pilot turned the wheel but alas in the darkness he missed the channel and with a crash upon the rocks the boat was shivered and many a life lost in a watery grave still another marinero mariners ma manners hymn of the gospel songs is is suggested if you cannot on the ocean by philip phillips it was a favorite hymn of president lincoln the words are by mrs ellen H gates she says the lines were written upon my slate one snowy afternoon in the winter ot of 1860 I 1 knew as I 1 know now that the poem was only a simple little thing but somehow I 1 bad a presentiment that it had wings |