A58039:5
A token for mariners
A token for mariners containing many famous and wonderful instances of God's providence in sea dangers and deliverances, in mercifully preserving the lives of his poor creatures, when, in humane probability, at the point of perishing by shipwreck, famine, or other accidents. much enlarged, with the addition of many new relations, one whereof happening this present year, and never before printed. Mostly attested by the persons themselves. Also The seaman's preacher, being a sermon on the right improvement of such mercies. And prayers for seamen on all occasions.A token for mariners containing many famous and wonderful instances of God's providence in sea dangers and deliverances, in mercifully preserving the lives of his poor creatures, when, in humane probability, at the point of perishing by shipwrack, famine, or other accidents. much enlarg'd, with the addition of many new relations, one whereof happening this present year, and never before printed. Mostly attested by the persons themselves. Also The seaman's preacher, being a sermon on the right improvement of such mercies. And prayers for seamen on all occasions.
London: printed by Hugh Newman, 1698
To the reader: THE Preface to the Reader. And Particularly to Mariners, and other Seafaring-Men.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
THE Preface to the Reader. And Particularly to Mariners, and other Seafaring-Men.
Though God's Wonders are every where visible, and his Mercies no where hid from the Eyes of Men; yet more particularly are they Evident to Sea-faring Men, whose Business is in the Great Waters, and their Lives Exposed more than others to Innumerable hazards and dangers, of Contending Winds and Seas, Rocks, Quicksands, and Inhospitable Shores: These, as it were, carry their Lives in their hands, and their best Security is Wholly to Rely on the Providence and Protection of him whose Power the Winds and Waves obey: Seeing there is so small a partition between them and Eternity, the Striking on a Treacherous Rock, over which, many times, the Flattering Water smoothly glides, gives them their ⟨image 4⟩Winding-sheet in a Rumpled Wave. Nor is this all their danger, the Springing of a Plank, a Leak not to be found, nor suddenly stopped, Running on a Shoal, or the Falling of a Water-spout, frequently carry with them the same Inevitable Fate, and often makes them at their Wits Ends before they end their Lives; for, a certain Prospect of Unavoidable Death must needs be Terrible to Flesh and Blood, and, in a great measure, remove that Constant Presence of Mind that should support their Spirits amidst all Dangers: From this there is no way to secure themselves, but by laying hold on him that is Mighty, and able to save to the utmost, on God, who is a present help at need, whose eyes are in all places, in Heaven and Earth, and in the Great Deep; and those that Cry to him in their Distress, he will surely hear them and Deliver them out of all their Troubles, if they are sincere in heart, and walk uprightly with him. For a Praying-Paul's sake, we find, though the Ship was broken, and perished on a Rock on the Coast of the Island, anciently Melita, now called Malta, all that were in it were saved, when they expected nothing less than to be swallowed up in that dangerous Ocean, as we find it in the Acts, Chap. 27. Therefore the best thing I can Recommend to Mariners, and others that Navigate