The raging wind our tackling breaks, To sail above the skies. Opprest with danger and with fear, Who doth vouchsafe our cries to hear, From death and wreck, He plucks us back, Our hope almost, We safe are brought to land. For thy protection, Lord, therefore, Let me not break The vows I make, While times of danger last; And new begin My course in sin As soon as fears are past. For he, who taketh no regard What in distress he vow'd, Shall cry at length, and not be heard, Nor find compassion show'd; When wave nor storm Can us reform, Nor mercy daily shown, God's wrath prepares, To bring presumption down. NAUTICAL INFORMATION. MR. MURRAY'S INVENTIONS. Is it true, that the safety or loss of the mariner is a question that never enters into the calculation of commercial enterprise; and that the lives of British seamen are as little regarded as those of inferior animals? So it is asserted. Nor can it be denied "that the provision of protection, and the means to secure the safety of the shipwrecked, along the coasts of the British isles, are truly contemptible, and rest a stigma and disgrace on a great maritime nation like ours. We have therefore great pleasure in calling the attention of our readers in general, and of Merchants, Ship-owners, and Masters of vessels in particular, to Mr. Murray's inventions, and his improvements on former apparatus, designed to afford prompt succour, or preserve life, in the event of shipwreck. We have brought before us in a pamphlet which Mr. Murray has published, three contrivances, which all promise greatly to benefit the Sailor. THE LIFE-PRESERVING GUN, which, it is ascertained by recent experiments, will carry an arrow attached to a line, one hundred and fifty yards with the wind, and one hundred against it. It is to be used on board the vessel whose safety is endangered; may be fired from the shoulder without the least danger to the individual, and may enable those who are usually called to witness a wreck, to save a number of their fellow-creatures, devoted, to all appearance, to destruction. The gun is portable, and may be fired from the mast, or from the deck, and will secure a communication with the shore from any vessel that is driven within 150 or 200 yards of it. Every master of a ship should possess one of these guns. Ꮓ THE SHIPWRECK ARROW. This instrument is so constructed as to take advantage of the wind, when fired from the ship on a lee-shore; its very form diminishing the resistance which is opposed to its flight through the atmosphere. This arrow transports not immediately the cable or rope, which is to form the line of communication between the wreck and the shore, but a cord or hempen line, of sufficient strength to pull the required rope on board from the shore, or to the shore from the wreck. It would thus, according to the judgment of the enlightened and ingenious inventor, serve to exchange communications between vessels in storms;-to project a float to a person having fallen overboard ;—to project a line from the ship to the shore, or from the shore to the ship;—to send on shore a bag of letters in a storm, being secured in water-tight envelope;-to warn of danger, by projecting a message from the pier or the shore on board;—to communicate with a cable, and prevent drifting to leeward, as from the Pier-head at Whitby; -to establish a line of communication across a river, and in cases of inundation, when bridges are carried away by the debaile or the land-flood;-to save from accidents on ice;—and, finally, to establish an instantaneous fire-escape, in cases of fire, by projecting a line connected with a metallic cord or chain, over the roof. THE LIFE-BOAT. Mr. Murray conceives there are great and important desiderata in the construction of Life-boats as now in use, and for which provision must be made before they can be regarded as worthy of such a designation. A properly constructed life-boat, if upset, should of itself recover its original position, but the very upsetting of it, not only disconcerts the crew, it endangers life. And therefore the great improvement introduced by Mr. Murray, is, that by certain appendages or adjustments, the life-boat may not be overturned; -the required equilibrium is maintained; and having, by lowering the centre of gravity, a firmer hold of the sea, the boat successfully opposes a more firm resistance to its momentum or shock. MONTHLY CHRONICLE, OF THE British and Foreign Sailors' Society. AGENTS' MEETING, JULY 13th, 1838 Mr. HOLFORD in the chair. Rev. T. TIMPSON, J. T. ROWLAND, T. MUSCUTT, W. BENSON, J. PALMER; Messrs. JOYCE, EDWARDS, MADDOX, ABBOTT; Capt. PRYNN, Mr. WELCH, and the Secretary; Mr. BENSON offered prayer, In another place we have given an article on the present "Aspect of the Society's Stations on the River," and deem it unnecessary to extend our observations on this point. Much might be said on our present position. There is a general impression pervading the British Christian community that something must be attempted and done for the sailor. And we feel persuaded, that the more his claims are considered, the deeper and more powerful will be the conviction, that the debt which we have to discharge to our sea-faring population is greater and more pressing than to any other class of the community. We beg to call special attention to the contents of of our Monthly Chronicle, as presenting a brief outline what is being effected, and that the challenge to noble deeds may be taken up with heart and hand by he whole church of the redeemed. The convening of the Agents regularly every month, affords a fine opportunity for fraternal intercourse, and powerfully tends to unite in heart those that are already connected in service. Soul meets soul, and all the more kindly feelings of Christian charity and affection are drawn forth, and made to operate on each other. This has been visible in these monthly conventions; nor can the influence thus felt on each mind fail to effect the ultimate accomplishment of our high design. After the reports were read, the Secretary gave his second Lecture on the Doctrine of the Trinity. The subject which it embraced was the Supreme Divinity of Christ;-and exhibited, that the question at issue is not whether Christ was truly and properly man; for as to the reality of his manhood there can be no dispute, but whether he be not more than man,-superior to any species of created intelligence;-whether he be not, in the most perfect and absolute sense, DIVINE? In support of his supreme divinity it was stated, that the very language which describes his humanity is expressive of previous existence and superior dignity,that he is every where, throughout the inspired volume, spoken of in terms which, under no circumstances whatever, are applied to any order of created beings,-that the names, properties, and attributes of God are ascribed to him;-above all, that there is frequently given to him the incommunicable name of Jehovah,-a name which includes properties and peculiarities that can be communicated to no creature; and such as no creature, from his very nature, can possess. It is to be hoped that these lectures will be found useful to our brethren in the prosecution of their sacred duties. |