The Storm Made Calm

At a Sunday morning meeting at Repository Hall, January 25, 1874, a Christian brother, in illustration of the power and faithfulness of God, and his willingness to hear and answer prayer, related these facts in his own experience. An account of them was subsequently published in the _Christian_: "In 1839 I was a sailor on board the brig Pandora, Captain G——, bound from Savannah to Boston, with a cargo of cotton.

When off the coast of Virginia, some twenty-five miles distant from Chesapeake Bay, we encountered a heavy gale. Saturday evening, December 21st, the wind blew gently from the south. On sounding, we found ourselves in thirty fathoms of water. At midnight the wind veered to the eastward, gradually increasing until four o'clock Sunday morning, by which time the brig was under close-reefed topsails and foresail.

The wind still increasing, every stitch of canvas was taken in, and now the vessel lay helpless and unmanageable in the trough of the sea, not minding her helm at all, while the wind blew a perfect hurricane.

The vessel being very light, loaded with cotton, made much leeway, and though we had worn ship four times during the preceding night, hoping, if possible, to weather some shoals which the captain judged were near, and to make Chesapeake Bay, where we might have a clear beach before us in case the vessel should strand, yet at eight o'clock Sunday morning we were in but seventeen fathoms of water.

"The gale now increased with fearful violence, waves rising like mountains, and rain and sleet pouring from the dismal clouds.

At ten, A.M., being then in fifteen fathoms of water, and drifting rapidly towards the shore, the captain summoned all hands into the cabin to consult about throwing our deck-load overboard, in order to leave us a better chance to secure ourselves to the rigging, and thus save our lives when the vessel should strike, which he judged would be in about half an hour.

Not a gleam of hope appeared, and here our distress was increased by observing that the captain seemed under the influence of liquor, to which he had probably resorted in order to stifle his fears of approaching death.

"The order was given, and we went to work to throw the cotton over, while the captain, frightened and despairing, went into the cabin to drown his fears in drink.

Seeing the state of things, and believing that shipwreck was imminent, I found two of my shipmates who were Christians, and who had prayed daily with me in the forecastle, and I asked them if they had any faith in God now, that he would hear our prayers and deliver us? They both said they had; and I told them to pray, then, that the Lord might rebuke the winds and calm the waves.

"With an unspeakable mingling of fear and hope we applied ourselves to the task of casting the cotton into the sea, at the same time lifting up earnest and united prayers to God for deliverance from the threatened destruction, occasionally gliding in close contact with each other, and speaking words of hope in each other's ears, and feeling, as we toiled, a blessed confidence that our prayers were not in vain.

"It did not seem more than five minutes from the time we commenced to throw the cotton overboard, for we had scarcely tumbled twenty bales into the sea, when we heard a shout from the quarter deck: "'Avast heaving cotton overboard! _The wind is coming out from our lee!_ Avast there!'

"It was the captain's voice, bidding us stay our hands; we obeyed, and looking up we saw him clinging to the rigging, apparently so drunk that he could hardly stand, _while away over our lee-bow we could see blue sky and fair weather_, and _it seemed that in less than ten minutes from the time the hurricane was at its height, the wind had chopped around in shore, and was gently wafting us away from danger, and out into deep water again_.

"There were glad souls on board the Pandora that day, as she swung around in obedience to the helm, and we laid her course again for our destined port. And some who before had mocked at prayers and blasphemed the God we loved, admitted then that God had answered prayer, and that he had delivered us from death.

"And I love to repeat the story to the praise of the Lord, who yet lives to hear, and bless, and save his trusting children."