, because he knew that his wife and
children, and other Christian friends, would be praying for him and his
companions at sea.

Among the precepts which John Hadden found in his Bible was this:
"Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath-day. Six days shalt thou
labour, and do all that thou hast to do; but the seventh day is the
Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt do no manner of work."
Now John Hadden was a plain man, and he understood things plainly.
When, early in life, he first understood this commandment, he determined
that he would keep it; and so, while others cast out their nets on
Saturday night, as usual, John always kept his in. If he could, he ran
into harbour, and worshipped God with his fellow-men on shore; if not,
he and his sons and the rest of his crew united in prayer: he also read
to them from the Holy Scriptures, and often besides from some religious
book likely to feed their souls with spiritual food. John Hadden had
acted in this way for years. The masters of other boats had tried in
vain to make him give up this practice. They told him he would be
ruined; that he had a large family to bring up; that it was foolish, and
not required; that such commandments wore for shore-going people, and
not for poor fishermen. But John's answer was always the same: "I'll
tell you what, mates: God says, `Do no work on the Sabbath'--don't fish,
that means; and I'm very certain that what He says is right. So it is
not right to fish more than six days in the week. What I tell you,
mates, and what I tell my boys, is this: `_Do right whatever comes of
it_.'"

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note 1. This plant is the round-headed rush, or _Juncus conglomeratus_
of naturalists, and is cultivated with great care, especially on the
banks of the sea, in Holland, to prevent the water from washing away the
earth; for the roots of these rushes strike very deep in the ground, and
mat together near the surface so as to form a hold on the loose soil.
These rushes do not grow so strong in England as in the richer soil of
Holland.

Note 2. Sailors call the side on which the wind strikes, the weather or
windward side, and the opposite to it the lee side. A net is cast out
to windward, and the vessel drops slowly down from it till it is all
out, when she remains at the lee end. Sometimes the nets are left with
only a buoy to mark their position, and the vessel goes to