THRILLING SCENES AT THE FORTH BRIDGE WORKS.
Two more fatal accidents were, some time since, reported from the Forth Bridge works, making thirty-four since the work began. One of the engineers of the bridge, Mr. Benjamin Baker, recently gave a lecture in Dundee, descriptive of the work, in the course of which he gave the following account of the dangers of the undertaking:—
Much of the work, he said, required men of exceptional hardiness, courage, and presence of mind. In August last, six men were standing on a few planks hanging by iron hooks, at a height of about 140 feet above sea level. One of the hooks gave way without any warning, and in a fraction of a second the planks slipped away from under the men's feet. Short as the time was, with the lightning quickness of thought, three of the six men saved themselves by springing at and clutching hold of pieces of the steel work. Another man plunged headlong down twice the height of the Tay bridge into the water. His hardiness was such that the terrible flight through mid-air and shock on striking the water—a shock which he had seen break planks like matches—did not incapacitate him from grasping the rope which was cast to him, or from resuming work after he had recovered from the immediate effects of the shock.
As regards courage, two of the men were left hanging by the arms with a clean drop of 140 feet below them. Although presumably unnerved by seeing their comrades take that terrible flight, the first man reached by the rescue party said, "I can hold on. Go to the other man; he is dazed." Such workmen upheld the best traditions of their fellow-craftsmen in the past.
OUR BIBLE CLASS.
"And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are One."—John xvii. 22.
"The glory of the Lord endureth for ever"; and in this sublime prayer Jesus speaks of the glory that He had with His Father before the world began, and asks that He may be glorified in finishing His saving work.
But what is the "glory" spoken of in our text? Two thoughts must guide us to its meaning—first, the Father had given it to His Son; secondly, Jesus had given it to His disciples.
Christ is God, and, as God, is, and ever must be, glorious. But this glory was not given Him; it was His own. Christ is the one Mediator between God and men—the only Way to heaven and happiness—the all-sufficient and only Saviour of sinners, who redeemed them by His blood, and saves them by His life. But His glory, as Mediator and Saviour, He will not give to another. He received it, and is crowned with it, alone.