Help For The Shipwrecked.


Admiral Sir Thomas Williams, a straight-forward and excellent man, was

in command of a ship crossing the Atlantic Ocean. His course brought him

in sight of the Island of Ascension, at that time uninhabited, and

_never visited by any ship_, except for the purpose of collecting

turtles, which abound on the coast. The island was barely descried on

the horizon, and was not to be noticed at all; but as Sir Thomas looked

at
t, he was _seized by an unaccountable desire to steer toward it_.



He felt how strange such a wish would appear to his crew, and _tried to

disregard it; but in vain_. His desire became more and more urgent and

distressing, and foreseeing that it would soon be more difficult to

gratify it, he told his lieutenant to prepare to "_put about ship_" and

steer for Ascension. _The officer to whom he spoke ventured to

respectfully represent that changing their course would greatly delay

them_--that just at that moment the men were going to their dinner--that

at least some delay might be allowed.



But these arguments seemed, to increase Captain Williams' anxiety, and

the ship was steered toward the uninteresting little island. All eyes

and spy-glasses were now fixed upon it, and soon something was perceived

on the shore. "It is white--it is a flag--it must be a signal!" And when

they neared the shore, it was ascertained that sixteen men, wrecked on

the coast many days before, and suffering the extremity of hunger, had

set up a signal, though almost without hope of relief. What made the

captain steer his ship in the very opposite direction to what he and his

crew wanted to go, but the _superhuman Spirit of God_.



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