282 THE WHALEMAN'S ADVENTURES. 



soon be as close to the port of heaven as we 

 now were to our desired haven in Massachusetts 

 Bay, it has seemed to my mind that the pro- 

 mises are to the Christian voyager what " life- 

 lines" are to the sailor, for him to hold by to the 

 yard when reefing or taking in sail, and to keep 

 him from falling off. Yet, strange to say, many 

 ships' yards are left without this protection for 

 the exposed sailor, by reason of which many a 

 poor fellow in a storm is shaken off that might 

 have clung to the " life-line" had it been in its 

 place at hand. 



So Christians sometimes attempt the course 

 of a Christian, and go to sailing over the 

 troubled sea of life without being provided with 

 the promises, without having learned how, or 

 having them at hand, hidden in their hearts, to 

 use and cling to in a storm. In good weather 

 and ordinary times they get along without them, 

 and do not feel the want ; but let a storm arise, 

 the wind blow fiercely, the sails be flapping, 

 then it is they want the "life-lines," and are 

 distressed and lost without them. Yea, it is 

 not possible for the oldest and most experienced 



