The  third  feature,  to  which  we  owed  much  of  pur  suc-
cess, was  the  organization  of  a  band  of  young  men,  who,
having  volunteered  for  the  work,  districted  those  portions
of  the  city  where  sailors  "  most  do  congregate,"  and  went
out  two  by  two,  as  did  the  evangelists  in  the  days  of  our
Lord,  for  the  purpose  of  inviting  men  to  the  house  of
God.  A  monthly  report  of  the  numbers  thus  brought  in
showed  that  in  the  course  of  a  year  an  average  of  four
thousand  persons  were  induced  to  attend  divine  service,
many  of  whom,  in  all  probability,  would  never  have
trodden  the  sacred  courts  but  for  their  self-denying  effort
Certain  it  is,  that  many  have  attributed  their  first  re-
ligious impressions  to  the  visits  made  in  accordance  with
those  invitations.  I  have  the  names  of  many  who  were
thus  allured  from  the  haunts  of  sin.  Some  of  these
rescued  ones  are  in  positions  of  honor,  and  trust,  an!
usefulness  to-day.  Some  are  in  the  ministry,  and  are  in*
no  wise  among  the  least  useful  of  their  class.
I  ought  to  mention  here  an  encouraging  fact,  which
serves  to  illustrate  how  God  sometimes

*  *  Creates  a  soul
Under  the  ribs  of  death."

In  other  words,  how  death  is  the  means  often  of


196  FIFTY   YEARS  AMONG   SAILORS.
