Edward Sylvester Ellis

“ A group of men on the wharf had been for some time looking at a ship nearing the harbor. They could not make her out, they said. She was a stranger in those waters, and yet bore the American flag. She seemed a man-of-war, and was evidently signalling for a pilot.
Fairport harbor, smooth and safe as it was, cradled among the overhanging cliffs, had a guard at its entrance which no stranger might defy. Its deep narrow channel went winding among hidden rocks, and woe betide the keel that ventured a dozen yards from its appointed path. ”

“ Suddenly there came to him the image of these rough bad men in their days of babyhood, ere yet this evil world had found its full response in the evil within their poor human hearts. He could fancy the loving eye of God on those little ones, following them along their dreary pathway, and grieving as thicker grew the crust of sin over all that had been pure and childlike, and more and more dark their coming doom. Blair realized for the first time the love of God, the pure and holy God, for those wicked transgressors of his law. ”

“ Poor Hal by turns wept and glowed with enthusiasm, as he dwelt on the praise of his friend, while the mother's heart welled with deep thankfulness at the mercy which had so spared and honored her boy.
Many and many a time was Hal Hutchings forced to tell over his story to auditors of all ages and conditions. The Fairport Guard, formally assembled, demanded the right of a relation especially for them. Every young heart beat high, and every eye flashed with kindling pride in their brave commander, and each one resolved to be, like him, an honor to his home and country. ”

“ Alas for him who postpones his day of repentance till face to face with the king of terrors. It is he only who is strong in his great Deliverer who can see that icy beckoning hand, and amid the shrinking of human nature find himself calm in the strength which only God supplies. If the agonies or the stupor of the sick-bed unfit the soul to seek peace with God in the dying hour, even so does the anguish of such fear as now bowed poor Hal to the earth. ”

“ Blair blushed for the honor of his country, to find such men among her avowed defenders. Oaths and obscenity made even more hateful the rough narratives in which each strove to prove himself more hardened and abandoned than the last speaker. Blair's soul recoiled with horror from the taint of such companionship; yet for him there was no escape. Among these coarse rovers he was forced to eat and sleep, to live and labor, while many weeks went by. ”

“ You have sent out a lover of his country to strive to do her honor in his closet on his knees, at his duty in the fight, and in his hammock when they drop him into the deep sea."
Derry wrung the hand of the young patriot, and then moved away with quick uncertain steps. A lonely man, yet not alone, there was a comfort and joy in the rough sailor's heart. His life of labor was to be a glad voyage to a better country, whose harbor lights would be ever leading him onward, and whose shining shore would ever glisten for him in the certain future beyond the grave. ”

“ These are times to think on these things, my boy, if we really love our country. No man liveth unto himself. His home, his state, his country is in a degree blessed or cursed for his sake. Dear Blair, you cannot be a true patriot without God's grace to help you rule your heart, guard your lips,23 and purify your life. May you this day begin, for your own sake as well as for that of your country, to serve the God of our fathers. He has mercifully spared you the bitter self-reproach to which you might have been doomed. Go in repentance to his footstool, and he will abundantly pardon. ”

“ We will strive to be a credit to our beloved home—true American citizens, who may dare to ask God to bless them in all their undertakings and prosper all they do. Boys, do you agree to these regulations? If so, I shall rejoice to be your captain. If not, I must sadly bid adieu to the Fairport Guard, and with this time-honored musket in my hand, stand alone on the threshold of my home in the hour of danger, trusting in God and in the strength of this single right-arm."
As Blair concluded, he grounded his musket, and stood silently awaiting the reply of his companions. ”

“ He gave an angry thrust at Blair, which the lad skilfully avoided, but without a shadow of fear in his fine face. "None of that talk," exclaimed Brimstone. "We say what we please and when we please on board the Molly. Mum's the right word for you. We want no parson just out of petticoats here."
Blair walked quietly away. His precious knife was gone, and he had perhaps but irritated and made more unfriendly one of the very men whom he so longed to influence for good. He had left himself without any defensive weapon among men who reckoned human life as of trifling value. ”

“ Shame and indignation that such men should profess to be defenders of the American flag had hitherto been a chill to the patriotism of Blair Robertson. Now the thought struck him, that if he could but win one of these hardy sailors to be a Christian servant of his country, an honor to the flag under which he sailed, not in vain would a young patriot have endured the trials and temptations of the "Molly." ”

“ The patriot had hitherto been sleeping in the heart of Derry Duck; but now he was to awake like a "strong man armed." There is not one kindly, pleasant, honorable feeling, but is strengthened and ennobled by the touch of divine grace. Nor only so: he who finds himself suddenly alive to his allegiance to God, has at the same time his vision cleared to see around him a thousand hitherto unknown or neglected ties, which bind him to his fellow-men. ”

“ She says she yearns after me when I'm gone, and would be so full of joy if she could once have a letter from me, all her own, to read over and over when she can't throw her arms round my neck and put her little loving face close up to mine. Will you write for me, boy, something for the dear girl to read over, and think the right kind of a father is talking to her, a man she wouldn't be ashamed of before the company her mother keeps up there? ”

“ Prayer seemed impossible for him, as in a kind of agonized waiting he met every plunge and reel of the storm-tossed ship.
Ah, the time of peril is not the best time to make one's peace with God. When heart and flesh fail, the soul shrinks in dismay before its coming doom. Even the wild prayers for deliverance which may burst from the affrighted soul, what will they avail at the judgment? Are they the cries of the contrite heart mourning for its sins against a holy, loving, and beneficent71 heavenly Father? ”

“ It was hard for Blair to understand the nervous fear of drowning which had taken possession of poor Hal. Fairport boys could swim almost as soon as they could walk. They knew nothing of the helpless feeling of one who has the great deep under him, and is powerless to struggle in its waves. ”

“ Captain Knox did not set off in pursuit of the British vessel from which Blair had so unexpectedly escaped. Our young sailor soon learned that the "Molly" was on the look-out for richer prey, in the shape of an East Indiaman, whose costly cargo was expected to prove a gold mine for captain and crew.
The love of adventure and the lust for gold seemed uppermost in the minds of Blair's new companions. The Fairport boy was not long in discovering that there was about as little Christian patriotism on board the Molly, as there is verdure in Sahara. ”

“ What a joy it was to be once more at home, once more in his native land. How delightful the thought that prayer had already gone up from many family altars, and already Christ's little ones were gathering to be taught of him and sing his praise. To dwell among the ungodly is indeed a bitter trial. The society of the unprincipled had been to Blair like a dark cloud overshadowing his pathway ”

“ Do you really believe it possible for God to raise to newness of life the dead in trespasses and sins? There is no soul so hardened that it cannot be melted to penitence by the touch of the mighty Spirit of God. Let this thought make us fervent, importunate, instant in prayer for the souls that are at death's door and hasting to destruction. ”

“ The true patriot, my boy, is willing to suffer for his country, though he win no glory from his sufferings. Are you equal to such a sacrifice?"77
"I own I should like to be known as one who had done something for his native land," said Blair; "but it will do me good, and make me the purer patriot, I trust, to have only my mother's praise, if we ever meet again."
"You shall be released at the earliest opportunity; but this your companion must stay with us. I wish he was of the stuff that you are. We would make a British tar of him, who would do us honor. ”

“ Our rights invaded; a man's ship no longer his castle; the free American forced to forsake his stars and stripes!14 The foot of the Briton pollutes our decks. His tyrannical arm takes captive our fathers, and dooms them to a servitude of which the world knows no equal. Shall we submit? We will not submit. We have protested. We have declared war to the death. Has Fairport a voice in this matter? Where are those whom we love best? ”

“ Blair had another purpose now than to hear himself talk. The short pause which preceded his opening sentence was not merely for effect. In those few seconds Blair was asking aid from his heavenly Father so to speak that he might have power to move his hearers and guide them aright.
"Boys," he began, "boys, I want to be your captain. I don't want to give up the Fairport Guard. We have had many a good time together, and I love you all; yes, every one. Our marching and drilling has hitherto been play, but now we ought to be in earnest. We should prepare to be really a guard to our native town. ”

“ I do not like to hear you say you hate any nation. We are all of one blood, made in God's image."
"Dear mother," said Blair, "you are right; you are always right. How thankful I ought to be to have such a guide, and such a help in keeping my new resolutions. I want to do my duty even when it is hard for me. You shall see what a friend I will be to Hal. I mean to go out as soon as I have done breakfast, and see if I can look him up some steady work. I heard Old Jock say on Saturday he wanted a strong boy to help him handle his nets. I'll try to get the place for Hal." ”

“ A man like me is not made into a saint in a minute, though he may read his pardon clear. 'Following hard after,' shall be my motto; 'following on to know the Lord.' I'm not the one to sit down at the chimney-side with a creature like her. No, Blair, I tell you no. Look here, my boy. Here's my path of duty. I've a God to glorify, I've a country to serve. Rough sailors wont think of my ways as she would. If I'm like a rock in what I know is right, and God177 will help me, I can do 'em good. I can set up the right banner among 'em. I can make the forecastle praise the great and holy name. ”

“ I believe I have found a friend."
"You have, you have," said Derry Duck, grasping the offered hand of the stripling in a gripe that would have made him wince with pain but for the bounding joy of his heart.
Derry Duck was called away at that moment by a summons from the captain, and Blair, unmolested, closed his letter and dropped it in the mail-bag. Prayer for the mate of the Molly was in the heart of Blair, even as his hands were busy with the melting wax, or loosing the rude entrance to the post-office on the sea. ”

“ Blair thought of his proud and hasty temper and of the many sins of his boyhood, and meekly owned that but for the loving hand of God which had hedged him round against temptation, and planted him in the garden of the Lord, he might have been even worse than these wild rovers of the sea. Earnestly he prayed that he might so live and love on board the Molly, that at least a faint image93 might be given of the great Example, who endured the contradiction of sinners, and for their sakes was willing to suffer even unto death. ”

“ Blair gently told the sufferer the awful truth, yet not from the lips of the lad would he believe such an158 announcement. It was not until Derry's blunt confirmation made sure the fearful tidings, that the dying man would believe that he stood on the brink of eternity.
We draw the curtain on the horrors of the scenes that followed. May it never be the reader's lot to hear the desperate cries of a ruined soul about to meet its God.
The transgressor must eat of the fruit of his choice, and sink into the pit towards which his face has been resolutely set. The wages of sin is death. ”

“ Blair went on in his own peculiar way; while Derry at once announced his position as a Christian mate, who would suffer no profanity in his hearing, and would see the crew of the Molly engage in no deeds on the high seas, not sanctioned by the letters of marque which were their warrant for their blows struck against the common foe.
Some outward change had been produced in the men of the privateer, when all thoughts were suddenly turned into a new channel. A fast sailing American merchant ship informed Captain Knox that the expected East Indiaman was not more than half a day behind her. ”

“ It is strange that the moon generally has all the blame for fickleness, when the sun quite as often hides his face without sufficient warning. The Fairport Guard had hardly made the circuit of the town, before the late smiling sky was overcast by dark hurrying clouds, and the weatherwise began to predict a coming storm, which was to be "no joke on sea or land." ”

“ Can any thing but the power of God make the moral man, once proud of his own uprightness, humble as the little child, leaning only on the cross of Christ for salvation? He who works this wonder can do yet more. ”