HOW LITTLE did the children think that bright stormy day, as they sat around the dinner table in their home by the sea, that one of their number, then full of life and health, would never more take his place among them.
Yet so it was! When supper time came, the eldest brother, the one who used to cut the bread and set the chairs and see that everyone was helped, was absent. They might call ‘Clement! Clement!” but no Clement came, and it was not till his body was brought home, cold and dripping as it had been found cast up by the sea, that they knew his end.
“How did it happen?” they asked; but no one could answer. He had been noticed walking along the sands, watching the waves roll in, for it was a spring tide, and very grand they looked; after this no one saw him alive.
His parents knew their boy’s love for the sea, and how often he would sit for hours on the shore, busy with book, little heeding how quickly time passed. He must have been thus engaged the stormy April day of which we speak. Clement had not noticed, in his sheltered nook, the flowing tide, ever coming nearer and nearer, till, when too late, the water locked him in, and all hope of escape was gone.
There was nothing left for Clement but to wait till death should roll in upon him. We know that the same Lord Jesus who came to His disciples walking across the dark waters, and who stilled their hearts with His word, “It is I; be not afraid,” was present; for Clement loved the Lord Jesus as His Saviour, and He has said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Heb. 13:55Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. (Hebrews 13:5).
While the water was gathering around Clement, the Lord gave him courage and calmness to think of those who loved him, and he wrote for them words more precious than I can tell.
His parents went mournfully along the shore the evening of their boy’s death, searching for anything that might have belonged to him, and their search was not in vain, for they picked up a Bible and one or two of his books, all soaked with the salt water. It was not till the next day that they noticed some pencil writing on the fly-leaf of the Bible; it was like a message from heaven to their hearts as they read, “In danger, I now declare that I do trust in Jesus my own Saviour.”
Dear children, see how safe and happy in the storm and “in danger” was this dear boy whom Jesus loved.
ML-12/09/1962