DIVINE GUIDANCE.
In the life of Mary Pryor, well known among the Quakers a hundred years ago, the following incident occurred on the occasion of her visit to the Quakers in America.
She visited several of the best ships of the period, but did not feel easy to take her passage in any of them. At length, on sitting down in an inferior vessel, called the Fame, she said she felt "so comfortable" that she must go in that ship. Her friends endeavoured to dissuade her, one of them saying he would not trust his dog in it. But having sought the Lord's direction, she saw no light on any change of plan, and she set sail in the Fame. She was now sixty years of age.
The voyage occupied three months, and was miserable in the extreme. The old vessel sprang a leak, and for weeks crew and passengers had to work at the pumps to keep her afloat. At length, when all prospect of rescue seemed hopeless, and the men were on the point of giving up in despair, Mrs. Pryor, who had maintained her calmness and encouraged the sailors all along, came out of her cabin one morning, saying she had good news, for she had seen in a dream a vessel coming to their help that very day. She had forgotten the name of the ship, but if the female passengers would mention their maiden names, it would be recalled to her memory. One of them said her name had been "Archibald." "That," said Mrs. Pryor, "is the name of the ship that will save us." The men were cheered, and turned with new energy to the pumps; and that evening, just before the vessel foundered, they were rescued by a small Halifax schooner, named the Archibald.
The crew and passengers attributed their deliverance, under God, to the influence of Mrs. Pryor; and here was the explanation of the guidance she believed herself to have received to sail in the Fame, contrary to the wishes of her friends.
"The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord."—Lantern.
If Christ be not a refiner's fire in you, He will be a consuming fire to you.
God can give a pardon to the greatest sin, but He cannot give a patronage to the least sin.