THE EARLY LIFE OF E. J. PECK 15 



which swung from the ceiling, " And they shall be 

 as frontlets between thine eyes." " That is plainer 

 still, chums ; a fellow might lose his hands or hide 

 them in his pockets, but with God stamped on his 

 brow, I suppose everyone will know he is born 

 again." 



It will be seen from this faithful description of 

 this meeting, which is but a sample of many like it, 

 that though the men who were gathered together 

 may not have had much critical knowledge of the 

 Book of the Old Testament which they read, they 

 had nevertheless grasped the simple truth of God's 

 love, and realizing this they could give back love 

 and praise to Him who had made them new creatures 

 in Christ Jesus. 



Besides the sustaining of spiritual life there was 

 another result in the case of Edmund Peck and one 

 other member of this little society of godly men. 

 These two determined to improve themselves from 

 the educational point of view. Morning after 

 morning they were up and dressed and at their 

 studies by four o'clock. The first half hour or so 

 was spent in private devotion and Bible reading. 

 After that they would read and write for the cultiva- 

 tion of the mind and intellect. But just as the 

 meetings of the original four men for spiritual edifi- 

 cation found a wider expansion when they began to 

 invite their shipmates to join them, so there was a 

 similar result in this more secular matter. The two 



