"No more than any man who wilfully keeps one sin, can continue safely to hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life. He but deceives himself if he ever tries to do so. I soon found out, as I was drawn upwards, what a fearful mistake I had made! I had not risen many feet above the sands when a horrible dread arose in my mind that I should never be able to hold on till I had reached the top of the cliff! The muscles of my arms ached terribly, my fingers could scarcely keep their grasp, and the string round my neck seemed to choke me, like the gripe of an iron hand!" "'Make haste!' I gasped out in agony, scarce able to bring out the words. 'Oh! be quick—be quick—or I shall be forced to let go!'" "'Hold fast, brother, hold fast!' shouted poor Sam in mortal terror at my danger. The men above were straining every nerve to pull us up before my strength should fail me; but oh, how fearfully slowly we seemed to ascend!" "The strain on my arms now was torture! My brain grew dizzy. I could scarcely breathe. I had but one thought—one maddening wish—to get rid of the fatal bag! It seemed to grow heavier every moment; it was as if some barbarous foe were pulling me down to destruction! I felt that unless I could be relieved of the weight, I must let go, and be dashed to pieces! I dared not attempt to cling by one weary hand, so as to use the other to untie the fatal string! I cried in despairing agony to God, for I was beyond all help from man. I know not to this day how his mercy wrought,—whether the weight on it snapped the string, or whether in my struggles the knot was untied; but never, till my dying hour shall I forget the sense of relief, when suddenly something gave way, I felt that the weight was gone; I heard a splash in the waters below, and in another minute was firmly grasped by a hand stretched out from above!" "Oh! grandfather, what a mercy!" exclaimed Rose, drawing a long breath. Her heart had beat fast at the account of such terrible danger. "A mercy, indeed!" said the old man solemnly, clasping his hands together, as memory recalled the awful scene. "Had that bag, instead of shells, contained all the wealth of the world, how thankful should I have been to have dropped it into the sea for ever! As that weight was to my body, so is sin to the soul! In vain do we grasp the hope of salvation, in vain do we seem to be raised from a state of danger by the mercy of Christ, if we resolve not to try to cast from us every sin that our God condemns! Without holiness no man shall see the Lord. We must cast away every weight, and the sin that doth so easily beset us; not in our own poor strength, but in the power of prayer, looking to God, trusting to God, ready to give up everything for God! Then will His love never fail us; He will never leave us to perish. By His grace shall we hold fast to the end, and rejoice for ever in His presence!"