January, 1866, will long be remembered. During the first week there called at Plymouth for passengers and letters, a magnificent full-rigged iron ship of 2,000 tons. Her captain was a man of skill and experience, the officers and crew being picked men. On the 6th, "The London" sailed for Melbourne, with a cargo valued at £120,000, and having also a freight of living souls, of untold value, to the number of 239, amongst them being my young friend Alexander. Scarcely was the gallant ship out of sight of land than she experienced a succession of gales, which culminated on the night of the 10th in a hurricane, which many will remember cast numerous vessels ashore in Torbay. Before the fury of this blast in the Bay of Biscay she succumbed. Tremendous seas at once stove in her stern ports, smashed her boats, carried away her engine-room hatches, extinguished the fires, and rapidly filled the hold with water. By vigorous pumping she was kept above water till daylight of the 11th. Then the brave captain called all into the saloon and plainly said there was no hope of escape. This intimation was quietly received, because expected.
In the saloon the Revelation Mr. Draper prayed aloud, and exhorted the unhappy creatures by whom he was surrounded. Dismay was present to many hearts, disorder to none. 11 others were seen weeping sadly over their little ones, about with them to be engulfed, and the children, ignorant of their coming death, were pitifully inquiring the cause of so much woe. Friends were taking leave of friends, as if preparing for a long journey. Others crouched down with Bibles in their hands, were endeavoring to snatch consolation from passages long known, or long neglected. At 2 p.m. a pinnace was got out, into which 16 of the crew and 3 passengers stepped, and scarcely was the boat clear of " The London," than, stern foremost she sank, carrying to a watery grave 220 precious souls, amongst them my beloved young friend and brother in the Lord, Alexander U——.
When this heart-rending tale reached me, I was deeply grieved at having been the promoter of the Australian voyage; so, knowing his father and only sister were alive, I sat down and wrote to the old man a letter of comfort, telling of the Lord's grace to his son while in the Infirmary, and the firm conviction I had that his son was now with the Lord. The first mail from the place where he dwelt brought a beautiful letter in reply. It was full of sadness and resignation. I give the substance: " I have had six sons. Four died of Consumption, the fifth I heard of six months ago as lying ill in an hospital in China, and I fear he is gone; and now Alexander, my youngest, is taken; but 'the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.' I believe you have been the means of leading my boy to the Savior. He wrote many times to his only sister, beseeching her to give her heart to the Lord, and when his vessel touched at Plymouth he would be so happy to receive a letter which she wrote him, saying she too had sought and found the Savior. So I am comforted, though it is hard to bear."
The ways of God are wondrous, and in nothing more sweetly seen than in the channels of blessing He uses, and the way the circle of blessing widens. The brother is converted in the Infirmary; through his letters the sister is led to the Lord; he goes home to be with Christ in the way described (and what a blessing he may have been too many awakened souls on board that vessel God only knows, and the day of the Lord alone will declare); while the sister holds on her way rejoicing for a brief year or two, and then joins her brother in the Lord's presence, as I have since learned from another source.
And now, dear reader, I must have just one word with you as to the state of your own soul. Whereabouts are you? Have you received Christ yet? If not do not delay a single day. Let the history above recorded be both a warning and an example. Could there be a greater similarity, and yet a greater contrast? Both had the same name, lay in the same ward, were suffering from the same disease, were nearly the same age, heard the same glad tidings, and each on a Saturday night. One delays, and within nine hours is in eternity, I fear without Christ; the other decides, and in less than nine hours is in the full possession of joy and peace through simple faith in Christ. True, he too is in eternity, but I am persuaded it is "with Christ;" and often as I picture to myself the stricken vessel, and her fated freight, methinks high above the roar of the wind, the lash of the waves, and the wail of sorrow, I hear, soft and sweet, the words of the young believer, "I am very happy as regards my soul's salvation."
Could you, beloved reader, say the same were you in similar circumstances? Now, do be persuaded. If you have halted till now, halt no longer. Begin this new year with Christ. Let those that have rolled by suffice for rejecting Min. Receive Him now, by faith in H is name, and start " in Christ a new creature."
Let not Satan lure you into saying. " I'll think about it," lest you be like the first Alexander in his end; hut, the rather, may your language truly be, "I'll not sleep till its settled;" then, surely, whether living or dying, your testimony shall be as clear and distinct as that of the second, " It's all right," and "I am very happy as regards my soul's salvation."
Edinburgh, Jan. 7, 1873. W. T. P. W
Courtesy of BibleTruthPublishers.com. Most likely this text has not been proofread. Any suggestions for spelling or punctuation corrections would be warmly received. Please email them to: BTPmail@bibletruthpublishers.com.