It is a time of new and thrilling interest in a family circle, when one or more in the family prepare to start on a strange and long journey for the first time. Maps are studied, railway and steamship guide books are diligently consulted, and the various routes of travel, and the places to be visited, are compared and re-compared. The study of geography is revived by every member of the family, and far away rivers, and mountains, and seas, and islands, and cities, in which there has never been any personal interest taken by the family, are suddenly invested with attraction for every member in the home. Oh! what a time it is; the buying of new strong trunks, and sorting out what will be needed, and then packing them full, it may be with many things that will never be needed, and leaving out some essential article that will be in demand before the journey ends. And then what a glowing fondness of special affection and interest is called forth for the particular ones who are going on the journey. They become all at once the centres of domestic devotion, and they are fairly drowned with affectionate attentiveness, and "God bless you" and wishes for a happy voyage. There is another voyage, far more thrilling in interest, upon a journey much longer, and across moral and spiritual mountains, and plains, and rivers, and seas, far vaster than the little surface of this earth, and to a distant port, brighter and more tranquil than any crystal harbor of tropic islands, and into a city whose magnitude and unfading splendor surpasses the dream of all the tower builders of this world; and upon this journey souls are constantly being urged by a sweet pleading voice that is evermore sounding over land and sea. Could we but draw aside the vail of time and sense, and watch the deep interest that angels and heavenly saints take in the conversion of a soul, and getting it embarked on a voyage for immortal glory; and could we hear the soft rustling of their wings, and catch the low whisper of their musical words, and see the sweet burning flashes in their love-lit eyes, it would infinitely out-do the packing of trunks, and the social interest of starting on any earthly journey. After all, is not everything on earth and in human life, a shadowing forth of things of a higher order, and of an age to come? We propose in this little book, to trace out a spiritual sea voyage, the journey of a soul from sin and self, through various stages, till it reaches its eternal home, in the capacious and unruffled harbor of the bosom of God's spotless love. Who will join us in our journey? We do not expect to return to the old Adamic homestead any more; as we are not only travelers, but emigrants as well, we shall sell out the old place back in the country, and leave all the old garments and rubbish behind us, and pack only a light luggage of essential things; and though for the first few stages in our voyage, our unweaned hearts may suffer a little natural home sickness for the old home of self, yet we will press on, till brighter and more ennobling scenes begin to satisfy the home instincts of our nature, and we not only get weaned from the past, but come to abhor what we once loved, and be drawn on with ever increasing fascination with the things of God. We will start from some plain, rugged country home, away back in the hills, where the people know nothing of ships, or of the great sea upon which they sail; for how true it is that man in his natural sinful state knows nothing of the ocean of God's nature, or of that spiritual commerce in heavenly things, which is carried on by devoted saints in the Holy Ghost. We shall first take a humble canal boat which is towed by a mule, till we come to navigable water. This canal boat represents the lowest state of legality in religion, of a soul that has no propelling power on board itself, bat is drawn along by the persuasion or the authority of some friend, or church, or social law. When we reach the terminus of the canal, we will get into a row boat, and seize the paddle, or the oar, and try the strength of our muscle and skill in crossing the river or the harbor. This row boat represents the second stage of legality in religion, where the soul is awakened more personally about the things of God and eternity, and begins to exert all its strength and knowledge to be good, to break away from sin, and keep the commandments. This row boat state is higher than the canal boat, because the moving energy is on board, in the form of an awakened conscience, and a decision in the will for righteousness. In the next place, having exhausted our strength in rowing, we get on board of a small sail vessel, that is wafted along by the Creator's energy in the wind. This represents a tired soul, after struggling to get right, and exhausting itself, giving itself up in simple faith to Jesus; to be born again by the blowing of the wind of the Holy Spirit, for Jesus says, "as the wind bloweth where it listeth, and we know not from whence it cometh, or whither it goeth, so is every one that is born of the Spirit." In every place in Scripture where the Holy Spirit is compared to the wind, it is in connection with imparting life, and so our sail vessel is a type of the regenerated state in our voyage. After coasting in the bay, and along the shore, in a small sail boat, which represents the youthful experience in justification, we then board a great sail ship, and go out on the high seas, which represents the strong and established experience of the believer in the justified life. This stage in our pilgrimage furnishes us with some beautiful studies in spiritual navigation, and we have occasion to find our latitude and longitude in the things of God, and how to use the compass of God's Word, and the log of inward experience. Then after finding the great invention of steam, and of how ships can have their sailing apparatus transferred from the outside down into the heart of the vessel, in the form of engine, and fire, and water, and steam, developing a new and mightier force for propelling us along, we take passage on the steamboat, which in our allegory sets forth the sanctified life, the hidden fire of the Holy Ghost working in the heart, and pushing the soul onward with amazing zeal. And as the steamboat is a new creation, and not the mere development out of a sail vessel, so our entrance into the sanctified state, is a specific work of grace, and not a gradual evolution from pardon. After taking a steamboat, we linger awhile with some side wheelers and coast steamers, and make a detour into some rivers and bays, and along coast lines, in order to accommodate some timid souls that are afraid, or have no calling to go beyond the sight of land; which fitly corresponds with a class of sanctified people, who in their feelings and service for God, keep under the shelter of their particular sectarian doctrine or leaders. We next transfer to a staunch little steam tug, that is built for marvelous strength and utility in helping other ships, which beautifully agrees with those sturdy, great hearted saints, that have special gifts and calling for pulling souls off the rocks, and out of storms, and into harbor. In the next place we take voyage on a great iron ocean liner, and have occasion to witness the true grandeur of a steamship at sea, in storm and calm, which sets forth the strong and manifold experiences under the guiding power of the Holy Spirit.

We then board a great man-of-war, a floating fortress, the special property and instrument of the government, and find an opportunity for fighting some battles, which typifies those conditions of extraordinary heroism and conflict in the lives of great reformers and spiritual leaders, who are God's chosen agents to pioneer His work, to head new religious movements, and open up new realms of Bible truth, or missionary operations. By this time we have got into the confidence of ship builders, and government officials, and are quietly taken on board of a sub-marine ship, run by electricity, and sink entirely out of sight in the depths of the sea, and explore that vast, tranquil, hidden world of wonders, which blessedly sets forth the ultimate stage in the sanctified life on this earth, of sinking down deep into God, in a life of marvelous prayer, and unearthly stillness, where the vast silent waters of the divine perfections are explored, and studied, and admired with ever increasing delight, and the soul is lost in a sea of love, and prayer, and divine contemplation. Come, are you ready to start? The time is up, I hear the horn of the canal driver blowing for the locks to open and let down the boat, as it takes its first step towards the sea. All aboard for the river of grace, for the ocean of love, for the City of God, whose white glittering towers and sweet voiced inhabitants, are inviting us far away across the ocean.