e horrible tempest
that ensued. The Lord had his eye on Jonah, for the prophet had not yet
reached the safe refuge of Tarshish; and he "sent out a great wind into
the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was
likely to be broken." The mariners "cast forth the wares that were in
the ship" to lighten her, and toiled hard to keep afloat; but their
efforts were apparently fruitless, and nothing lay before them but the
certain prospect of a watery grave. The reader will be able to imagine
the tumult of the scene; the dash of ravening waves, the fierce howling
of the wind, the creaking of masts and the straining of cordage, the
rolling and pitching of the good ship and the shifting of her cargo,
the captain's hoarse shouts of command and the sailors' loud replies,
alternated with frenzied appeals to their gods for help. Yet amidst all
the uproar Jonah still slept, as though the vessel were gaily skimming
the waters before a pleasant breeze.

Let us pause here to interpose a question. Did the "great wind sent
out into the sea" by the Lord confine its attentions to the immediate
vicinity of Jonah's ship, or did it cause a general tempest and perhaps
send some other vessels to Davy Jones's locker? As no restrictions are
mentioned, we presume that the tempest was general, and that the Lord's
wind, like the Lord's rain referred to by Jesus, fell alike upon the
just and the unjust. This circumstance very naturally heightens our
previous conception of his righteousness.

That the Lord, or some other supernatural power, caused the tempest, the
mariners of Jonah's ship and their captain never once doubted. Living
as they did, and as we do not, under a miraculous dispensation, they
attributed every unusual, and especially every unpleasant, occurrence
to the agency of a god. The idea of predicting storms, with which the
civilised world is now familiar, they would doubtless have regarded as
blasphemous and absurd. It is, therefore, by no means wonderful that
every man on board (except Jonah, who was fast asleep) "called unto
his god." Ignorant of what god was afflicting them, they appealed
impartially all round, in the hope of hitting the right one. But the
circle of their deities did not include the one which sent the wind; so
the tempest continued to prevail, despite their prayers.

In this extremity a happy thought occurred to the "ship-master." It
struck him that the strange passenger down below might kno