A 
 
 CALL FROM THE OCEAN. 
 
 OR 
 
 AN APPEAL 
 
 TO THE 
 
 PATRIOT AND THE CHRISTIAN, 
 
 IN 
 
 BEHALF OF SEA^EH. 
 
 — ©©© — 
 
 Br JOHN TRUAIR, 
 
 Corresponding Secretary to the A ■ S. F. Society. 
 
 
 
 NEW-YORK: 
 
 PRINTED FOR “THE AMERICAN SEAMEN’S FRIEND SOCIETr.^' 
 John Gray & Co. Printers*- 
 
 1826. 
 
TO THE READER. 
 
 The design of this publication is to lay before the public, the real state of seamen, 
 and the reasons which should influence the benevolent, and even the lovers of their 
 country, immediately to do something to meliorate their moral condition, and to co-ope- 
 rate with those who have seen the evils, and set their hands to attempt a remedy. The 
 “ American Seamen’s Friend Society,” under whose auspices this appeal is given to the 
 world, have, under God, set their hands to this work ; and they are determined not to 
 abandon it, because they feel it to be the cause of their country, and the cause of God. 
 
 It is hoped, therefore, that the reader will give this call a very careful perusal, and not 
 lay it by on barely reading the title and the leading heads. A careful perusal will be 
 needful, in order that the reader may at all be in possession of the most important facts in 
 the case ; since, in a pamphlet of this size, nothing more can be given than a general 
 developement of facts connected with this great and important subject, as we hope 
 to make it appear in the sequel, 
 
AIN APPEAL., &c 
 
 ^"~2 
 
 “ 0 think on the mariner toss’d on the billow, 
 
 Afar from the home of his childhood and youth : 
 
 No mother to watch o’er his sleep-broken pillow, 
 
 No father to counsel, no sister to soothe.” 
 
 Christendom has long slumbered over the maritime world, and 
 been almost entirely regardless of the moral condition of seamen. 
 On this subject a slumber deep and lone; has rested upon the Chris- 
 tian world ; and seamen, generation after generation, have been 
 made the prey of vice in every form, with scarcely “ an eye ” to pity 
 or a hand to save. But God calls upon men to arise from this 
 slumber, and upon Christians to “ shine” upon this darkness, that 
 their light may be seen and felt among the nations. Then shall 
 the light of Zion “ break forth as the morning,” and the “ Gentiles 
 shall come” to her light ; and the “ abundance of the sea shall be 
 converted” unto her. It has, however, been said, that “ sailors, do 
 what you will for them, will be sailors still :” and also, that “ you 
 may as well labour with a main-mast, to produce a moral change, 
 as with a sailor.” Now, in opposition to this statement, we will 
 prove, if there be truth either in the Bible or in fact, that 
 
 SEAMEN CAN BE CONVERTED. 
 
 To prevent being misunderstood, we will explain. By seamen 
 vve mean, that class of men who “ do business in great .raters,” 
 and who thus become inhabitants of the world at large. We m^an 
 them as a class distinct from other men By their being converted. 
 we mean, that they can be changed from a life of sin to a life of 
 holiness ; from sinners to saints ; and from the enemies to the friends 
 of God. 
 
 That seamen can be converted, in the above senses, we prove, 
 from the facts that they are men, and that the Gospel of Christ is 
 designed to save men. Seamen are not only men, but they are, in 
 many things, men of a noble and generous .character, to be met with 
 in few other men. They are men of feeling, and that often of a 
 peculiarly tender kind. Even in matters of religion they often feel, 
 when it is clearly presented to them, to a degree that ought to 
 alarm and make ashamed many who, from their childhood, have 
 been blessed with all the means of grace, of which the sailor has 
 been totally deprived. The Gospel, being addressed to the feelings, 
 as well as to the understandings, of men, is as likely, and perhaps 
 
 
4 
 
 more so, if faithfully presented, to have its saving and renovating 
 effect upon seamen as upon any other class of men. 
 
 That seamen can be converted, is proved from the scriptures. 
 In Isa. lx. 5, it is declared, that “ The abundance of the sea shall 
 be converted ” unto the Church of God.* In the forty-second chap- 
 ter of this same prophet, it is also affirmed, not only that it is the 
 duty of seamen, but that they shall yet “ give glory to the Lord, 
 and declare his praise in the islands.” This they have not done ! 
 (We shall have occasion in another place to show what they have 
 done !) But as the word of the Lord is true, this must yet become 
 the work of sailors. In the hundred and seventh Psalm, sailors are 
 mentioned as a class of men who, when they behold the wonders 
 of God, fear him ; and in their distress call upon him ; and it is af- 
 firmed that he hears them, and in answer to their prayers, he deli- 
 vers them out of their troubles, and “ briugeth them to their desired 
 haven,” In the sixty-fifth Psalm also, God is said to be the con- 
 fidence, not only “ of all the ends of the earth,” but “ of them also 
 that are far off upon the sea.” On the first part of this prediction, 
 Christians have not allowed themselves to doubt; but the second 
 has been “ like a dead man, out of mind.” In the ninth verse of 
 the sixtieth chapter of Isaiah, sailors are recognized as the most 
 active and engaged in advancing the general cause of God in the 
 world. Even Jacob, by the spirit of prophecy, designated a branch 
 of his family who would, in future time, become mariners : Gen. 
 xlix. 13. and Moses, in Dent, xxxiii. 18, 19, determines the ends for 
 which they were to become so : that they might spread the know- 
 ledge of the true God, and advance the interests of his kingdom 
 
 * That the phrase, “The abundance of the sea,” in Isaiah Is. 5, means seamen, and 
 not the islands of the sea, seems sufficiently evident from the fact, that the islands are 
 made a distinct subject of prophecy, in the ninth verse ; and the ships of Tarshish, or 
 seamen, who are before supposed to have been converted, are mentioned as the most ac- 
 tive agents in the conversion of the islands. And besides, the inhabitants of the islands 
 must be included along with the Gentiles, who, in this fifth verse, are mentioned as dis- 
 tinct from “ the abundance of the sea.” To confine this passage to riches, as some have 
 done, seems to ascribe too much importance to them for the general style of the Bible. 
 *If, by ‘‘ the abundance of the sea” be meant “the riches of the sea,” it is not seen why 
 “ the forces of the Gentiles” must not mean about the same thing. But it must be abun- 
 dantly evident, that the riches and strength, either of the one or the other, can never be 
 Brought to serve the great interests of the church, until those who have the management 
 and control of them, are converted to the Christian faith. It seems, also, not very ap- 
 posite, to speak of riches being “ converted” unto the church. It is, indeed, true, that 
 the prophet goes on from this fifth verse, to speak of the silver, and gold, and beasts, and 
 wealth of the nations, and of the islands being brought to beautify the house of God’s 
 glory; buf he does not speak of their being “converted.” Such joy, exultation, en- 
 largement of heart, and union, or “ flowing together,” as are mentioned in this verse, 
 seem highly proper, and to accord with the general tenor of scripture, at a great increase 
 of numbers to the church, by the conversion of those who before had been strangers and 
 aliens; but not because she is rich. In converts she may make her boast in God, but 
 not in her riches. 
 
 These facts constitute a sufficient authority for applying the passage in question to sea- 
 men, or to those who do business in great waters : — and also for attaching to their con- 
 version all the importance which the God of heaven has attached, in his word, to the 
 conversion of “ The abundance of the sea.” 
 
'5 
 
 among the nations.* The seamen shall yet “ sing for the majesty 
 of the Lord, and cry aloud from the sea and then shall the Lord 
 God be glorified in the islands. Isaiah xxiv. 14, 15. Indeed, all 
 the predictions of the universal spread of the Gospel, have a direct 
 bearing on this subject; because that Gospel of salvation, anil that 
 kingdom of righteousness, can never fill the world till the seamen 
 are converted to Christ. 
 
 But, that seamen can be converted, is proved from fact. Reli- 
 gious effort has been more abundantly blessed among seamen than 
 among any other class of men whatever. The hopeful conversion 
 of ten thousand in less than ten years, with the very feeble and ineffi- 
 cient measures which have been adopted to accomplish the end, 
 should be a sufficient proof of this. Such, however, is but a par- 
 tial statement of the fact : for the real and exact number can never 
 be correctly ascertained. We have often seen this great change in 
 the sailor ! have heard his groanings under a sense of his sins ; his 
 rejoicings under a sense of sins forgiven ; his prayers for his ship- 
 mates, and for his own soul, and his songs of salvation to Him who 
 has redeemed him from death. And surely the songs of salvation 
 
 * The language of Jacob is, (Gen. xlix. 13) “Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of 
 the sea, and he shall be for an haven of ships.” And Moses, uniting Issachar with Zeb- 
 ulun, says, (Deut. xxxiii. 19) “They shall call the people unto the mountain; there they 
 shall offer sacrifices of righteousness : for they shall suck of the abundance of the seas, 
 and of treasures hid in the sand.” By the phrase mountain in the above passage, is doubt- 
 less meant the “mountain of the Lord,” or Mount Zion. Isa. ii. 3, Micah iv. 2. To 
 this mountain they would call, or invite “ the people,” or nations with whom they should 
 carry on commerce, there to join with them in the worship of the true God ; or to offer 
 “ sacrifices of righteousness,” instead of offering to dumb idols, the abomination of the 
 heathen. Here, then, we have a class of men spoken of, differing in their employment 
 from all other men , and who, by that very employment, would mingle with all the va- 
 rious tribes and kindreds of men who did not know the true God, for the purposes, as it 
 might first seem, of commerce and wealth alone ; but on a more close inspection, it 
 seems to be for a different purpose that they “ dwell at the haven of the sea :” — To “ call 
 the people to the mountain” of the Lord, or to teach the nations the religion, character, 
 and worship of the God of heaven. And this view of the subject appears to accord 
 with the general tenor of the scriptures, in regard to the higher and more important 
 ends of seamen. 
 
 In the days of Solomon commerce was carried on to a considerable extent by sea; 
 and it is pretty evident that the mariners of Zebulun had been somewhat faithful and 
 successful in spreading among the seamen of other nations the knowledge of Israel’s 
 God, and of calling them to “ the mountain of the Lord,” to offer there the “ sacrifices 
 of righteousness” and of praise. “ Solomon made a navy of ships at Ezion-geber, on 
 the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. And Hiram sent in the navy his ser- 
 vants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.” 1 Kings 
 ix. 26, 27. This Hiram was king of Tyre in the days of Solomon, and was a worshipper 
 of the God of Israel. 1 Kings v. 1, 7. Solomon and Hiram appear to have been the 
 most cordial friends ; and it is not very unlikely that the knowledge of Israel’s God was 
 first communicated to the Tyrians, by means of their maritime connexion with Zebulun, 
 whose “ border was upon the sea,” and who had a port at Zidon. Between Tyre and 
 Zidon there would, almost necessarily, be a constant communication; and if the mari- 
 ners of Zebulun were at all faithful to then - maritime friends, as it was predicted they 
 should be, it is not at all strange that we find such a close affinity to have existed between, 
 not only Solomon and Hiram, but also between their subjects. And if sailors, in every 
 age of the world, had been equally faithful to their God, and to their fellow mariners, 
 a very different moral aspect would have been thrown upon the world, and sailors 
 would have been a glory and a blessing unto all lands. 
 
0 
 
 sound most sweetly from tongues which have so long been used al- 
 most exclusively in blasphemy against God. Facts in abundance 
 have settled the question for ever, as to the practicability of the mo- 
 ral and religious improvement of seamen. They can as well be 
 improved in morals and religion as any other class of men ! But 
 “ some man will say,” 
 
 WHAT PROFIT WILL THERE BE IN IT? 
 
 We would answer, in the language of an apostle on another sub- 
 ject : “ Much every way.’’ But chiefly in the commercial, politi- 
 cal, moral, and religious influence which they have on the world. 
 Grant us but the principle, which even infidelity herself does grant, 
 that “ the principles of Bible morality , if lived up to, are better cal- 
 culated to make man happy in the present life than any other sys- 
 tem of morals and then, we say, the moral and religious improve- 
 ment of seamen must be of great and commanding importance, 
 even in the eyes of the mere man of the w r orld. 
 
 The conversion of which we speak is important in a commercial 
 point of view 7 . Commerce cau never be carried on without the aid 
 of seamen. In this view, it should seem that no commercial man, 
 who regards his own interest, could be indifferent to the moral im- 
 provement of sailors ; and if the subject were properly view ed, no 
 such man would be indifferent to it. Every man feels more safety, 
 and advances his own interest more surely, by committing his pro- 
 perty to the hands of honest men, than in committing it to the hands 
 of rogues and swindlers. Elevate seamen to the standard of mere 
 Bible morality, and you make them men of the strictest honesty, 
 who will regard your interest as they regard their own ; elevate 
 seamen to this standard, and you put an eud to all mutinies, in 
 which whole cargoes of property, and often many valuable lives, 
 are lost at once; elevate them to this standard, and you destroy 
 more effectually the appalling evils of piracies, than by all other 
 means combined. These we consider self-evident positions ; and 
 in view of them we may ask, what commercial man, who loves his 
 own interest, does not see it to be intimately connected w ith the moral 
 improvement of sailors ? And will he not, then, aid those who are 
 engaged to accomplish that improvement ? 
 
 The moral improvement of seamen is important in a political 
 point of light. It is a given principle, tested not only by the his- 
 tory of all ages, but by universal fact, that moral and religious 
 men make the best subjects in any government. It is also no less 
 evident, that sailors make a most important class of men in every 
 good government upon earth. In every case of a foreign invasion, 
 sailors are the first men to throw themselves between the invading 
 foe and their country’s liberties. Perhaps, wise politicians have 
 not been far from uttering the truth, when they have assured us, 
 that “ it is not saying too much to affirm, that both England and 
 
America, at this moment, owe their national existence to their sea- 
 men.” And, surely, if this be true, these nations are bound, as 
 nations, to aid at least in the elevation of the moral character of 
 their seamen. 
 
 It is important in a moral and social point of light. Many are 
 the instances in which the happiness and peace of the social and 
 domestic circle have been marred and broken up by the immorality 
 of seamen. And it will be evident, that the moral influence of sail- 
 ors on the world, must of necessity be very great, whether that in- 
 fluence be good or bad. They are with all classes of men, and all 
 sorts of men, and all nations of men under the whole heaven ; and 
 their influence must, therefore, be astonishingly great. It may, 
 indeed, be invisible to the partial observer in its operation ; but, like 
 leaven, it is silently, and at the same time most effectually, diflusing 
 itself into the entire morality of the world. Their influence, in a 
 Christian country, is more immediately felt in the cities, and thence 
 it is distributed through land, so that there is scarcely a 'town, or 
 village, or hamlet, in the whole country, where their influence is 
 not immediately or remotely felt. If is most likely true, that no 
 class of men in our world besides, have so wide and extended an 
 influence on its morals as the seamen. The weight of that influ- 
 ence at present is evil, “ only evil, and that continually.” In many 
 parts of the heathen world, it is absolutely dreadful ; and we shall 
 have occasion, in another place, to spread out a few appalling 
 facts concerning it. Once turn this influence in favour of morality 
 and virtue, and see how soon there would be an entirely different 
 moral aspect on the face of the world. This object should be 
 sought by every man, (with such means as he may possess to ac- 
 complish it,) in proportion to the value he puts on the virtue and 
 morality of his country. Heal the fountain, and you renovate the 
 streams. To do this is one of the main objects of “ The American 
 Seamen’s Friend Society,” in its efforts to reform the system of sailor 
 bearding— this being, in its estimation, the 11 mother sin ’’ in the 
 case, it being prolific of all others among these men, who send such 
 a current of sin and misery through the world. 
 
 But there are other motives which should bring every good man, 
 and every friend of man, to the work of reforming sailors. We 
 owe them much. We have before adverted to the fact of their be- 
 ing a bulwark of defence to the liberties of our country. It is also 
 most manifestly true, that we depend on them for most of our luxu- 
 ries, and for many of the necessaries of life. Look upon your 
 table ! and then into your wardrobe ! and see how many articles 
 you can discover there, which has been provided for your comfort, 
 or convenience, by the sailors’ toils, privations, and sufferings ? 
 Some of these very articles may have come to your convenience 
 at no less expense to some poor sailor than the loss of his life, 
 and to his family the loss of a husband and a father ! And can 
 
8 
 
 you set quietly down to the enjoyment of them, while as yet yotr 
 have done nothing to prepare the sailor for a happy immor- 
 tality ? You depend upon the seamen for a very great propor- 
 tion of your most invaluable information concerning other parts 
 of the world. Indeed, we had never been in possession of this 
 goodly land, but for the enterprise and hazard of seamen. We 
 all know that without the aid of these men, the ocean forms an im- 
 passable and eternal barrier between us and every other part of the 
 globe ; and to this little portion would our knowledge of it be 
 confined, were there no seamen to “ tempt the dangers of the sea,” 
 and bring us information from a quarter to which we must for ever 
 have been strangers without them. Gratitude, then, it should seem, 
 would prompt almost every man spontaneously to put forth his 
 helping hand to raise up the sailor from his degraded situation. 
 Now, in view of these facts alone, we do not know how a man can 
 be indifferent to the moral improvement of seamen, and at the same 
 time be a lover, either of his fellow-men or of his country. With- 
 out a knowledge of the subject, he may doubtless be indifferent to 
 the cause of seamen, and yet possess these virtues ; but when it is 
 once made known to him, even in its influence on the political and 
 civil concerns of man, we do feel that the love of man, and the love 
 of country, will impel every man possessing them, in some way at 
 least, to put his hand to the work of improving the morals and 
 saving the souls of sailors. 
 
 There is also a marked 
 
 RELIGIOUS IMPORTANCE 
 
 in the conversion of seamen, which must not be passed in silence. 
 It is intimately connected with the prosperity of missions abroad, 
 and the salvation of the heathen. No missionaries could be sent 
 to the “ islands of the sea,” or to the “ far distant coasts,” without 
 seamen ; nor could any supplies be sent to them, neither any re- 
 turns be received from them, without the same aid. Indeed, com- 
 munication of every kind, and on every subject, would be entirely 
 and for ever cut off between us and them, were there no seamen to 
 traverse the trackless ocean. It w ould, too, be some alleviation to 
 the sufferings of the missionaries, and soften many of the pangs 
 which they feel on leaving their friends, their homes, and their fire- 
 sides, to go to an unknown country, and among a people of an 
 unknow n tongue, to preach the salvation of Christ, could they once 
 find in every sailor a Christian brother, instead of a thoughtless, 
 blaspheming sinner. And how greatly would their burdens be 
 lightened, on their arrival among the heathen, could they find in 
 every seaman a helper in the work of the Lord, instead of an 
 enemy, to waste and destroy? It is certainly and obviously true, 
 that sailors, if generally pious, would be the most active and pow- 
 erful auxiliaries to foreign missions of almost any men in the world 
 
9 
 
 But, generally vicious and abandoned, as they now are, they ’throw 
 innumerable and constant hindrances in the way of their progress, 
 and do more to prejudice the minds of the heathen against the 
 Christian religion, than all other men besides. Is this doubted ? 
 Whence, then, let it be asked, has originated in the heathen’s mind, 
 that universal contempt and hatred of the Christian name ? Not 
 simply in the fact, that his “ heart is deceitful above all things, and 
 desperately wicked,” for that is equally true of every other sinner. 
 Nor yet is it because he has investigated the Christian revelation, 
 and found it only a system of imposition and falsehood ; for he has 
 had no opportunity to make this investigation ; certainly not, till 
 within a few years past. And as far as opportunity has been given, 
 and the investigation made, it has served greatly to soften the as- 
 perity of his feelings towards the Christian name and Christian na- 
 tions. No, no ! the heathen hates the Christian n$tme for other, 
 and better reasons than these ! He has been swindled and op- 
 pressed, robbed and spoiled evermore, of all that was dear to him, 
 by men bearing its name. 
 
 The heathen world, from days immemorial, has possessed little 
 or no knowledge of Christianity, or of Christians, save what they 
 have learned of wicked and abandoned seamen, or from traffickers 
 in merchandise, and in “ slaves and souls of men,” whom they have 
 borne along with them, more brutal and wicked than themselves. 
 In what light must the heathen have viewed the Christian religion 
 when, 
 
 “ Freighted with curses was the harque that bore 
 The sailors of the West to India’s shore.” 
 
 And when, before these Christians, their country was “ as the gar- 
 den of Eden,” and behind them a desolate wilderness ? What, 
 when they came among them but for purposes of plunder, ra- 
 pine, and death ! and seemed only to be governed by the principle 
 that “ power is right !” They have judged of the religion by 
 the character exhibited to them in the men who bore its name. 
 And why should they not, so long as they had no other data by 
 which to form a judgment f When urged to embrace the Christian 
 religion, they have often met the missionary man of God with some 
 terrible retort like the following : “ We have learned most of our 
 degrading vices from the Christians ! we never knew any thing about 
 ardent spirits and drunkenness till we learned it from the Christians ; 
 uncleanness, too, was almost unknown among us till we were visited 
 by Christian intriguers ; and we were united, and comparatively 
 happy, among ourselves, till these Christians came among us. 
 Would you, then, have us exchange a religion under whose influ- 
 ence we were comparatively happy, for one which has introduced 
 among us so many and such incalculable evils ?” What could the 
 man of God answer to an argument of this sort ? He could only 
 
 B 
 
10 
 
 tgil them that these, and all such men, were Christians only in name ; 
 and that the Christian religion condemns, in the strongest manner, 
 every such practice. But how was the heathen to know this ? He 
 had not been favoured with the better traits of the Christian cha- 
 racter ; and, above all, he had never seen the record of Christianity, 
 in which its doctrines and duties are delineated. He, therefore, 
 had no way to judge of the religion but by the lives and conduct 
 of the men who bore its name, and hence he had formed an inve- 
 terate and implacable hatred, even of the very name of a Christian, 
 and an abhorrence of the Christian religion. And for him there 
 was some shade of palliation ; but for men among ourselves, who 
 have opportunities to see some of the better traits of Christian cha- 
 racter, and to examine the Christian revelation for themselves ; for 
 such men to attribute the faults of Christian professors to Christianity 
 itself, is a disingenuousness, and a crime, for which there can be 
 no excuse, or even circumstance pleaded in extenuation. It is a 
 deliberate and known slander on the Christian religion. This, 
 however, cannot be said of the heathen. For aught that the } 7 knew, 
 these wicked men, bearing the Christian name, who were dealing 
 death both to their bodies and souls, and spreading desolation 
 through all their habitations, were acting according to the spirit of 
 the Christian religion ! and do you marvel that they abhor its 
 name? Turn the tables, then, and suppose that a class of men, 
 under a given name, had from time immemorial visited your shores, 
 pillaged your country, burned up your cities, robbed you of your 
 treasures by treachery and deceit, and had carried your sons and 
 vour daughters, your fathers and mothers, your brothers and sisters, 
 into a distant and unknown land, as bond men and bond women 
 tell me, I pray you, would you not abhor that name, and teach 
 your children, as soon as they could lisp it, to abhor it also ? Such, 
 however, to an alarming extent, has been the abhorred practice of 
 seamen, and men associated with them, bearing the Christian name, 
 among the heathen ! This has fixed a most deep-rooted and fatal 
 prejudice in heathen minds against Christianity And how is this 
 prejudice to be removed? Your missionaries can do but little to- 
 wards it at most ; and that little is greatly retarded by the destruc- 
 tive influence of wicked seamen at this moment. When the mis- 
 sionaries come to feel the fatal effects of this influence, it is no mar- 
 vel that they send back a cry from heathen lands to the Christian 
 churches : “ If you wish the Gospel extensively to prevail among 
 the heathen, convert your seamen ; for they now pull down nearly 
 as fast as all your missionaries can build up.” This admonition 
 from the missionaries of the cross, should be regarded and acted 
 upon by the Christian churches ; for it is an unquestionable truth, 
 that seamen from Christian lands are at this moment the greatest 
 and most fatal hindrances to the progress of civilization and Chris- 
 
11 
 
 tianity among Pagans in every part of the world.* So long, there- 
 fore, as sailors are in morals what they are at present, and so long 
 as their terrible example in the heathen world continues what it now 
 is, the progress of civilization and religion among them must, from 
 
 * The truth of this remark will at the first view be perfectly obvious to those who 
 have at all investigated, and are acquainted with the subject. There are many facts, 
 however, which might be brought to illustrate and confirm the truth of it ; a few only 
 of which can be mentioned in the small compass of a note. That this pernicious influ- 
 ence of seamen from Christian countries, has a most deleterious effect upon the entire 
 pagan world, is proved from almost every trait of history in relation to that subject. 
 There is scarcely an item in the whole catalogue of crime which has not marked their 
 course in every quarter of the globe. The traffickers in slaves alone, have done more .to 
 demoralize the world, and probably more to blunt the tenderer sensibilities of the hu- 
 man heart, than any other single class of men, who have ever disgraced the name of 
 man. Think of its natural efiect, and then ask, — where has not this effect been felt? — 
 But all this has been carried on by the aid of wicked unprincipled seamen, and without 
 them, it could never to any considerable extent, have existed. The generality of sea- 
 men from Christian lands, in all their journeyings find “no race of heatfien, so gross 
 and sensual, but that they gladly make one of their company, and proclaim in every 
 kingdom and in every climate they visit, that the maritime inhabitants of Christian coun- 
 tries are as much in need of christianizing, as ar.y heathen can be.” This is the testi- 
 mony of one who had long been accustomed to see and bear it all. The following fact, 
 related by a captain from the port of New-York, who was an eye witness to it, we have 
 been assured is but too frequent an occurrence in heathen lands. About two or three 
 years ago, in the port of Canton in China, a number of British and American seamen, 
 on a certain Sabbath got liberty to go on shore. In a little time they got about half drunk, 
 and became so excessively riotous, that the Chinese were obliged to set an extra guard, 
 and order an armed force, on the Christian Sabbath, to keep Christians in any thing like 
 decent order, according to the heathen’s views of order. What an influence such a fact 
 must have upon the mind of the heathen ! And what can they think of a religion, about 
 which they know little or nothing, but what they see in the lives of such men bearing 
 its name ? 
 
 In the Sandwich Islands a scene has but recently taken place, which it would seem 
 should open the eyes of a slumbering world on the importance of christianizing seamen. 
 In their joint letter, under date of Oct. 15, 1S25, the missionaries when they come to 
 speak on the subject of seamen, make the following statement. “ We are liable to be 
 insulted and persecuted by murderous mobs of unprincipled seamen, who hate the light, 
 and would gladly put it out, and through whose rage at the recent improvements, our 
 lives are in jeopardy. We have here touched on a point which will doubtless cause 
 some excitement in England and America. And it is now, perhaps, too late to attempt 
 to conceal the enormities among those who traverse the Pacific, which have filled us with 
 disgust and indignation, from the period of our arrival at these islands. Nor is it ne- 
 cessary to conceal names, lest there should not appear a proper distinction between the 
 precious and the vile. The riotous crew of the whale-ship Daniel, Capt. Buckle, having 
 the countenance and example of then - master, purchasing for a sum of money a female 
 slave, and carrying her as the inmate of his cabin during bis late cruise, were, on their 
 recent return to Lahaina. enraged at the tabu prohibiting females from visiting the ships, 
 and after repeated insults and threats to N 1 r. Richards. left the ship in a body, and land- 
 ed in three boat c under a black flag, and armed nith knives, surrounded the house of 
 Mr. Richards, with most abusive threats, and seemed determined to have his life, or his 
 consent for females to go on board — the former of which he would have surrendered 
 first. When one of the crew stabbed twice at a native who kept the gate, the chief im- 
 mediately called. out an armed force to resist them, and they are obliged to keep a strong 
 guard of armed natives around the house, by day and by night, to protect their mission- 
 ary from the murderous assaults of Christian Seamen. That the master of the ship 
 allowed this outrage, is to us evident, from his note to Mr. Richards the evening before ; 
 when Mr. R- requested him to come on shore, on account of bis apprehensions from 
 the craw, he replied that, “he could not control them on shore — that they left the ship 
 with a determination not to return without bringing women on board, and that Mr. R. 
 had better let them come off, and then all would be quietness.” About twenty' seamen re- 
 cently came to our doors, to demand the reason why they could not have women as for- 
 merly. We could only say, “it is forbidden by the word of God, and prohibited by the 
 
the very circumstances of the case, be exceedingly'slow. And’we 
 do think, taking things as they are. that the progress of the Gos- 
 pel in Pagan lands has been most astonishingly great ; and forms 
 no inconsiderable argument in favour of its divine original. Let 
 the infidel tell us what but its own intrinsic excellence and power, 
 has given it such an astonishing and transforming influence over 
 minds so strongly prejudiced against it, when at the same time that 
 prejudice had so many circumstantial facts to confirm and strengthen 
 it? How is this to be accounted for but upon the fact, that it is in 
 truth what it claims to be, “ the glorious Gospel of the blessed 
 God ?” That its progress has been what we have affirmed, is ma- 
 nifest from the truth, that within a very few years it has, notwith- 
 standing all its hindrances, gained an almost absolute ascendancy 
 over whole islands and provinces, and their dumb idols, which could 
 “ neither hear nor save,” have been thrown “ to the moles and the 
 bats,” and the God of heaven been acknowledged and worshipped 
 as the only saving God. And what are we to suppose would have 
 been its progress among the same class of men, had they seen 
 among the men who bore the Christian name, nothing but that spi- 
 rit of holiness and love which the Gospel requires ? Suppose that 
 all the seamen who have ever visited their shores from Christian 
 lands, instead of being profane, drinking, riotous and lewd men, 
 had been men of strict honesty and integrity, men of sober and in- 
 dustrious habits, men of chaste conversation and conduct, men of 
 clean lips and a pure heart, and men of prayer and holiness of life ; 
 what are we to suppose would have been the result ? God’s praise 
 would have been sung and his glorj 7 declared in the islands, and in 
 the far distant coasts ; the prejudices of the heathen against the 
 Christian religion would have been dissipated, and the world pro- 
 bably filled with the knowledge and glory of the Lord ; for such. 
 
 tabu of the chiefs.” Satan is making a great effort to oppose the progress of onr work, 
 and will not our friends make as vigorous an effort to support it ? Once we thought a 
 single couple would be exposed to insult from the natives ; now the natives are a defence 
 against lawless foreigners, to whose violence we are all exposed. \\ e are happy to repeat 
 here what Mr. It. says, that ‘ the American ships do not molest him,’ though some of 
 the Americans declare boldly against the tabu. Mr. R. says, in a hasty line written 
 about the time his house was attacked, ‘ We are alive, though an hour ago we expected 
 nothing but- immediate death.’ These are among our trials of the present day.” This nar- 
 rative reminds us of the testimony of the Rev. R. Marks, on the general character of sea- 
 men, both in heathen and in Christian lands , and his competency as to knowledge of facts 
 no man will question who knows his history. He says. “ profaneness and licentiousness, as 
 master sins, seize on and claim them for their prey, until every sense of virtue, if they 
 ever had any, every feeling of delicacy, every apprehension of judgment, every idea of 
 God, and of an accountableness to his divine majesty, are obliterated, or at least are 
 such that few heathen can excel in, for grossness and criminality. The oaths and exe- 
 crations of seamen are of such a degrading, satanic, and blaspheming kind, as no other 
 description of men have ever used. The heathen, I believe, have never invented such 
 expressions ; they are such as no moral and reflecting man can hear or recollect without 
 horror and trembling; — would to God I could forever lose all recollection of them!” 
 Who then destroy the heathen more rapidly and surely than the seamen by such exam- 
 ples? — And who can tell the extent of this moral pestilence in pagan lands : 
 
13 
 
 according to scripture prophecy, will be the fact, when the seamen 
 of our world shall be converted, and become the willing and active 
 servants of Jesus Christ. Surely, then, the conversion of “ the 
 abundance of the sea” is important for the prosperity of missions 
 and the salvation of the heathen. 
 
 The conversion of seamen is important, because their own salva- 
 tion depends upon it. That this is true is as certain as that the 
 word of God is true, when it declares that no man shall inherit his 
 kingdom unless he be converted. The salvation of the seaman, be 
 he ever so degraded and vile, is notwithstanding as important to 
 him as the salvation of the wealthy and honourable man is to him ; 
 and for aught that we can tell, Christ may be as much honoured by it. 
 Let any Christian ask himself, what he can see in the salvation of a 
 heathen more important than he can in the salvation of a seaman ? or 
 what more important to himself in his own salvation than to the sailor 
 in his salvation ? or yet again, let him ask whether he can see any rea- 
 on why the Saviour of mankind may not be as much honoured in the 
 kingdom of glory, by raising up the most degraded among the sailors 
 to a throne of glory in the heavens, as in raising him to that throne ? 
 And if he cannot, why is he not bound by the very principles of 
 that Christianity on which he rests his immortal hopes, to consider 
 the salvation of the seamen an object of as much importance in the 
 kingdom of God, as is his own salvation? What reason, then, can 
 he give to God and his own conscience, for devoting all his time, 
 and all his means, to other things, and leaving the sailors to perish 
 in their sins, without any alleviation from him ? And what a meet- 
 ing must such an one have with these men at the last judgment, 
 when the “ sea shall give up the dead that are in it ?” But, above 
 all, how can he meet a righteous judge in peace, when he has known 
 the case, and yet shut his hand and heart against the call, and re- 
 fused to make one effort to save the guilty sailor from the “ dam- 
 nation of hell ?” 
 
 The conversion of seamen is important for the ushering in of 
 the millennial day of glory to the Church. Prophets have predict- 
 ed, that all the nations of men shall adore the living God, and ho- 
 nour and serve his Church ; and that the nations that will not do it 
 shall be destroyed and utterly w'asted ; that the Church shall pos- 
 sess the riches and honours of the world ; and that she shall be 
 “ an eternal excellency that violence and destruction shall be 
 heard or known in her no more ; that her people shall be all righte- 
 ous, and that the days of her mourning shall be ended ; that she 
 shall have double joy for all her sorrows of former times ; that the 
 knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as the water covers the 
 sea ; that there shall be nothing in or about her to hurt or destroy ; 
 that Christ himself shall reign on the earth, and that his saints shall 
 reign with him a thousand years. From these words of inspiration;, 
 poets have caught the theme, and sung, 
 
14 
 
 “Jesus shall reign where’er the sun 
 Does his successive journeys run ; 
 
 His kingdom stretch from shore to shore, * 
 
 Till moons shall wax and wane no more.” — Watts. 
 
 “ One song employs all nations ; and all sing, 
 
 Worthy the Lamb, for he was slain for us.” 
 
 “ The dwellers in the vales and on the rocks 
 Shout to each other, and the mountain tops 
 From distant mountains catch the flying joy ; 
 
 Till nation after nation taught the strain, 
 
 Earth rolls the rapturous hosanna round.” — C owpew. 
 
 Not only have prophets and poets desired to see such a happv 
 state of things in this miserable world, but it has also been the song 
 of all the righteous in the house of their pilgrimage, and the theme 
 of their most constant and ardent prayers in all ages. Such a day, 
 then, will come, if the spirit of truth has not erred both in judg- 
 ment and in vision ; and if the expectations and hopes of the pious 
 in all ages have not deceived them. But it can never come, let 
 what will be done to effect it, until the seamen are converted. 
 Saints may pray for it, and expect its arrival from (lie progress of 
 the Gospel in the earth ; but still it must be manifest, that with mil- 
 lions of unprincipled and ungodly seamen in the -world, it can never 
 become “ an altar of universal praise to God and the Lamb.” In 
 proportion, then, as Christians desire that eventful day, let them 
 turn some of their thoughts and alms towards the conversion of 
 ei the abundance of the sea ;” and thus use the proper means to 
 raise up a set of the most efficient instruments to carry abroad the 
 salvation of God, and to fill the world with his glory. 
 
 The conversion of seamen is religiously important in the effects 
 it will have upon the Christian church. That it will have a happy 
 and extensive influence on the world at large, we think has been 
 sufficiently proved. That it will have an equally extensive and 
 happy influence on the church is quite as clear, if we do not mis- 
 understand the meaning of the prophet ; and this consideration 
 should form no inconsiderable argument in favour of extensive and 
 powerful efforts to effect it. In the prophet Isa. lx, 5, God says to 
 his church, “ Thou shralt see, and flow together, and thine heart 
 shall fear and be enlarged, because the abundance of the sea shall 
 be converted unto thee.” Four things here mentioned are pecu- 
 liarly to mark the glorious state of the Church ; and they are said 
 to be the result of the conversion of seamen. The first is, that the 
 church shall see many things in a different and more clear lieht 
 than she has ever done before. “ Thou shalt see as it she had 
 been comparatively blind on many important points of her duty : 
 or, at least, that she had not seen them clearly. The same idea is 
 expressed in another passage, in allusion to the same day. Isa. 
 xxxii, 3. “ The eyes of them that see shall not be dim as if they 
 
 had seen many important things but very indistinctly : and the im- 
 
15 
 
 portance of the influence of seamen is clearly one of those things. 
 Another effect of the conversion of seamen, will be an enlargement 
 of heart. “ Thine heart shall be enlarged, because, &c.” Chris- 
 tians have not been, and at this moment are not generally celebrated 
 for this virtue. The narrowness and selfishness of the views, plans,, 
 and feelings of most Christians on all objects of benevolence, are 
 a sufficient proof of it ; but when their heart is enlarged, they will 
 feel, and pray, and give, and act more for the cause of Christ, and 
 for the souls of their fellow men, than they have ever yet done. 
 The world will be viewed as it ought to be, and the kingdom of 
 God and his righteousness will be first and supremely sought by 
 them. Another effect will be an increase of the fear of God. 
 “ Thine heart shall fear,” 8cc. This fear will "be a fear to offend 
 God by a life of disobedience ; a fear to speculate when and w'here 
 they should be content with believing. Such fear will proportion- 
 ably increase the love of God : love to his person, law's, character, 
 and dispensations. These virtues perfected, constitutes the perfec- 
 tion of the Christian character ! humility perfected in the soul of 
 man. 
 
 The last effect on the church which we shall notice, as contained 
 in the above passage, is a union or flowing together. “ Thou shalt 
 see, and flow together, because the abundance of the sea shall be 
 converted unto thee.” In this light such a conversion must appear 
 immensely important : for it is lamentably true, that Christians, and 
 Christian churches, have been as little celebrated for union, fellow- 
 ship, and fellow feeling, as for any one virtue which belongs to the 
 Christian character. This is sufficiently proved by the terrible 
 divisions which have wasted the Church in all ages, and divided it 
 into various sects, differing and contending with each other. None 
 among them all have been contented with building up themselves 
 from those who were without God in the world, but have laboured 
 more abundantly to build themselves by the ruin of others; and to 
 accomplish this, art, intrigue, misrepresentation, falsehood, and even, 
 force, have been resorted to as fit instruments in their pious war- 
 fare. These contending Christians have often kindled the flames 
 of w ar, and wasted the w'orld with fire and sword ! Brother has 
 been divided against brother, father against son, and a man’s foes 
 of the worst sort, have often been those of his own household. 
 Now t , whatever will have a tendency to break down this spirit of 
 division, and present the whole church as one united, holy, and happy 
 family, must be of immense importance, not only to the Church 
 itself, but also to the world. This effect the spirit of inspiration 
 assures us the conversion of seamen will have ; and should, there- 
 fore, be sought by us with all the ardour which we feel for the peace 
 of the Church, or for the happiness of the world. That their con- 
 version would have this effect seems natural enough to suppose, 
 
 • 
 
from the marked character of the men themselves. The sailor is 
 naturally, or from habits of association, a noble, open-hearted, 
 frank, and friendly man, who in every sailor meets a brother ; and 
 the instances are rare in which the bigoted sectary is found to be a 
 sailor. It would seem difficult when he becomes a partaker of the 
 grace of God, to narrow his noble mind down to the littleness of 
 the sectator’s views. He is, by his employment, a citizen of the 
 world ; and now he has become a citizen of Zion in the world. 
 That the labours for the salvation of seamen have already had the 
 effect, to soften the asperity of party feeling among the individuals 
 who have been employed in it, must be manifest to every observer. 
 The very name of their signal for worship is “ Bethel Union;" and 
 union will mark the progress of their conversion, till in all the 
 world, and among all the saints there shall be a sweet and happy 
 “ flowing together till 
 
 “ The churches warm'd, they would no longer hold 
 Such frozen figures, stiff as they are cold ; 
 
 Relenting forms would lose their power, or cease ; 
 
 And e’en the dipp’d and sprinkl’d live in peace : 
 
 Each heart would quit its prison in the breast, 
 
 And flow in free communion with the rest.” — Cowper. 
 
 Such a state of things would present the religion of Jesus Christ 
 in its own pure light, and take away its reproach from the minds of 
 the heathen abroad, and infidels at home, more than all other things 
 combined. Then should Zion “ look forth as the morning, fair as 
 the moon, clear as the sun,’’ and to all her enemies and opposers 
 “ terrible as an army with banners.” And if the general conver- 
 sion of seamen will very greatly tend to these results, (and if there 
 be truth in the word of God, or in obvious matter of fact, who can 
 doubt it?) then it must surely be an object of paramount import- 
 ance, both to the patriot and the Christian, to make every effort 
 speedily to accomplish the conversion of seamen ? 
 
 In this place the natural inquiry seems to be, 
 
 WHAT MUST BE DONE TO EFFECT IT? 
 
 In general it may be replied, they must have the same means that 
 other men have to make them virtuous and holy. They are men, 
 and require much the same moulding and cultivation as other men. 
 But to be more particular : there is much instruction necessary to 
 be given in order extensively to effect their conversion. There is 
 among sailors generally, a most lamentable degree of ignorance on 
 almost every subject connected with their moral improvement and 
 highest destiny. There are many among them who cannot read at 
 all. For all such, and for many of their children, schools of ele- 
 mentary instruction should be established in every large sea-port 
 throughout the world. Most of those who can read have access to 
 few books but such as are calculated to destroy both their bodies 
 
17 
 
 and tlieir souls.* With all such, the place of the song and the jest 
 books should be supplied by such works of instruction and taste, 
 as would serve to enlighten the mind on man’s highest destinies 
 and most important duties, while at the same time they would serve 
 as amusement and recreation for their leisure hours. Sailors, in a 
 great measure, and for a long time, have been considered and treat- 
 ed as outcasts from reputable society; and they must be elevated 
 and raised, in the estimation and treatment of the community, to 
 that standing which their situation and importance demands, — and 
 that will appear not inconsiderable, when once an enlarged and 
 comprehensive view is taken of the subject. Sailors, unlike any 
 other class of men, have been sent forth, and have gone out into 
 the world, even to strangers in unknown lands, without any testi- 
 monial or commendation from those who knew them; and have 
 been forced to stand or fall, upon a general character, which is re- 
 probated in almost every land. Most other men who travel in fo- 
 reign parts, take letters of recommendation from their friends, and 
 of commendation to those into whose company they may fall; but 
 with the sailor it is not so. Now to remedy this evil, and bring the 
 sailor on a level with other men, Register Offices should be esta- 
 blished in every principal seaport throughout Christendom. In 
 these the name of every worthy seaman should be recorded, and 
 his place of boarding or residence designated ; and when he leaves 
 a port, he should take from it a letter of introduction to respecta- 
 ble people in the port to which he is bound. 
 
 The sailor is often swindled and robbed of his hard earned wa- 
 ges, and again and again sent out penniless on the world. f To 
 remedy this evil, there should always be some provision for him in 
 some savings bank, and he persuaded to deposit there something 
 for himself or for his family, against a day of sickness or other 
 time of need. 
 
 * The following picture is not highly drawn, and as a general fact, it applies, not to 
 British seamen alone, but to seamen in general. Would to God it were true only of 
 British seamen ; but any one who will take the trouble to investigate for himself, and 
 will go to the proper and only correct sources of information, will find that it is a most 
 terrible feature of the seaman’s character, in every part of the world. One who has 
 long been familiar with seamen, their manners, habits, and customs, both when in port, 
 and when at sea, remarks, — “As to any thing like correct and spiritual conceptions of 
 God, I affirm, with the coolest deliberation, that the Jew and the Turk are vastly better 
 informed than were thousands of our seamen when I was afloat : and as to any thing like 
 a scriptural knowledge of the Saviour, as made known in the gospel, the very savage 
 Hottentots in the wilds of Africa know as much as thousands of British seamen. Some, 
 indeed, could, and did read — but what did they read ? Books smuggled on board and sold 
 at enormous prices, and purchased with avidity — such as never dared to see the face of 
 day in our land ; — books of superlative abomination, and which seemed to be the finish- 
 ing stroke of Satan to debase and pollute the heart of the reader.” These books gene- 
 rally are of a character, that it would be improper even to name in this place , and in con- 
 nexion with other and kindred causes, conspire to make the sailor’s character and situa- 
 tion what they noware ; and give the Prince of darkness an almost uncontrolled sway 
 over them. 
 
 | See the note on page 19. 
 
 c 
 
IS 
 
 To bring the seamen within the influence of these means, there 
 'must be used with them much exhortation, warning and persuasion. 
 There are a great variety of motives connected with this world, as 
 w'ell as with the next, which should be often forcibly and most affec - 
 tionately presented to them. But to bring any of these motives 
 before them, they must, in general, be “ sought out.” There must 
 be me/i who will go into all their places of resort, and by every 
 power which they possess, persuade them “to forsake the ways of 
 the foolish, and go in the ways of understanding.” Sailors must 
 be urged to attend to the various means of grace which are holden 
 out to them, by showing them the advantages, profits, and even, 
 pleasures in this life, which a virtuous course has over a course of 
 sin and dissipation. Point them to the good citizen — to the honour- 
 able, the virtuous, and the happy man, and persuade them to imi- 
 tate him. Then they should be warned, and invited, and reproved, 
 in view of their last account, and the awards and destinies of eter- 
 nity. But this must all be done in a most tender and affectionate 
 manner; and the sailor should be convinced that love to his soul 
 prompts it, and that his good is really sought in it, and then he 
 will receive it with all the kindness of a brother. Men, therefore, 
 who go after seamen to their haunts of vice, need to be men of a 
 peculiar character, lest they should shut up the sailor’s heart against 
 the truth ; or dishonour Christ, by not faithfully and fearlessly re- 
 proving sin in some of its most hateful forms. If we do not mis- 
 judge, they should be men of knowledge — men of pleasant address 
 — fearless men — men “full of faith and of the Holy Ghost.’’ This 
 “Press-gang,”* should immediately be instituted in every great 
 seaport in the world, and should be kept up with unabating activity 
 and zeal, so long as the war between Immanuel and the Prince of 
 darkness, for the dominion of the sea, continues. There is one 
 strong reason for this measure; — the present enemies of seamen 
 are constantly active and vigilant to seduce and ruin them, and the 
 
 * The “ Press-gang” is an association of warm-hearted Christians, who have associa- 
 ted themselves for the purpose of going after seamen, and getting them under the means 
 of grace. Their times of labour are a little before the time of service on the Sabbath, 
 and before the Bethel meetings on the week day ; and their object is to bring sailors to 
 the meetings. They enter all their haunts of vice, and endeavour to persuade them to 
 leave these abodes of horror and of guilt, and go to the “place where prayer is wont to be 
 made.” The enemy will not wait for the sailors to come to him, although he has all the 
 lusts of the flesh on his side ; but he will go out and catch them by enticement, by persua- 
 sion, and almost by compulsion, and bring them into his snares. And should not the 
 Christian disciple be as active, as vigilant, and as persevering to stop them in their career 
 of sin and wo, and bringing them to the house of God : — There should be men as ex- 
 clusively devoted to this work, where there are meetings for seamen, as there are to col- 
 lect and superintend Sabbath Schools. The reason it is not done, is, not that the object 
 is not of paramount importance, but from some other cause, which we desire Christians in 
 seaport towns to investigate for themselves. W e know that it is in many respects a 
 most unpleasant service ; but still it is important, and it is unwise to neglect it. The 
 children of light will never be as wise and active in their cause, as the children of this 
 world are in theirs, till such an association is in most active and vigilant operation in even 
 important port, when seamen can have religious worship, in all parts of the world,. 
 
friends of the Redeemer and of the souls of these men. should. cer- 
 tainly be as active to undeceive and save them. 
 
 A GOOD AND PIOUS EXAMPLE 
 
 should be given to seamen at all times, but especially when they 
 are ashore. They should be convinced that Christians feel for them 
 and love them. When they do see Christians, they should see in 
 them something of the spirit which led Jesus to die for sinners, and 
 his disciples to endure all the indignities of a world for the honour 
 of his name. This the sailors should see in the disciples of Christ, 
 and a willingness to bear reproach, endure the self-denial, the scoffs 
 of a haughty world, and to spend and be spent for the sake of 
 bringing them home to hope and heaven. But this shining of a 
 Christian example sailors can never have in the present state of 
 things, and for the best of all reasons, that it does not exist. But 
 still, did it exist to any considerable extent in the Christian world, 
 it would be difficult to bring seamen under its influence, till it had 
 effected a material change in the present state of things with them. 
 While, however, the present system of boarding for sailors exists, 
 it will be impossible that a good and pious example should be given 
 them, especially while on shore. This system is, at present, nearly 
 as bad as it can be. The sailor boarding-houses, nearly without 
 an exception, are retailing dram-shops, which, of itself, is enough to 
 make them the nurseries of almost every species of vice. To an 
 alarming extent, they are the patrons of gambling, profane swear- 
 ing, dissipation, fraud and lewdness.* In the city of New-York 
 
 * On the subject referred to in this note, we have taken the trouble to collect the fol- 
 lowing facts, which apply to the state of the case, with more or less exactness, throughout 
 the world. That the system of boarding for sailors, is in this extreme wretched, and 
 superlatively calculated to ruin these men, is as evident as a noonday sun, to every man 
 who will take the trouble, and exercise the self-denial to investigate for himself; and it 
 is quite time that this extensive system of ruin was brought before the public eye, that 
 the importance of “The American Seamen’s Friend Society,” may be more deeply felt-. 
 “ There are,” says a correspondent, “ two customs now existing in the merchant service, 
 which are ruining sailors by hundreds and thousands ever) - year , they are the crimping 
 system, and the mode of paying sailors their wages. On pay-day the sailors have no 
 friend on board, but they are surrounded by the crimps (or landlords) who are waiting 
 with their bills, and after securing the money for them, others demand the money for 
 their guilty associates ; and if any money is left, the crew is invited to spend it jovially at 
 the public house, or at the brothel ?” The Rev. R. Marks, speaking of the sailor, and 
 the ways in which he is gulled and ruined, says, “ From the moment his vessel enters 
 into port, he is surrounded by a set of men called crimps, who keep public, lodging, 
 and boarding houses, of a description which would well suit the cities of Sodom and Go- 
 morrah. These wretches, with the vile women they bring in their train, carry the irre- 
 sistible bait of liquor and good cheer ; advance a little money for present use ; invite the 
 weather-beaten voyager to their quarters ; keep him in the commission of every sin and 
 every excess until he has received his hard-earned pay ; then stupify his every sense with 
 liquor, rob him of his wages, and often strip him of his only jacket, and cast him out of 
 doors, and leave him ruined in his circumstances, and half destroyed in his constitution, 
 to shift for himself as he can ; — to procure another ship, and again to encounter all the 
 dangers and privations of the sea, or to die with cold, and hunger, and disease, in the 
 street : and often, with his expiring breath, he implores a curse on his country and his 
 fellow-creatures.” Speaking of the same scenes of licentiousness in another place, he 
 
there are a number of carriages almost constantly employed 
 keeping up a communication between the sailor boarding-houses 
 and the brothels; and that not only at night, but in the face of 
 day. In such houses the sailor ordinarily must board, when on 
 
 says, “Particulars cannot be given to the public: the tale is too horrid, and the recital 
 too disgusting. I will, however, merely mention, that I have frequently known from 
 two to four hundred of the most abandoned females that ever polluted society, on board 
 of a seventy-four gun ship at one time ; and large quantities of spirits permitted by the 
 officer in command to be brought on board, under the name of liberty liquor, until such 
 a scene of drunkenness, such a yell of oaths and unclean speeches, and such riot and li- 
 centiousness filled the whole ship, as utterly beggars all description.' 1 The Rev. G. C. S, 
 giving an account of a visit in company with a friend, to one of the British ships of war, 
 walking around her, says, “The appearance and language of several most abandoned 
 creatures, from the shore, soon fixed our attention, and excited our deepest horror. The 
 lieutenant, observing this, said, ‘ These are very unpleasant scenes for you, gentlemen, 
 but we are obliged to permit them in a man-of-war ; we had about fou: hundred of these 
 unhappy creatures on board at Plymouth, but I suppose more than one hundred went on 
 shore before we sailed, and the rest you see on board are waiting until the ship is paid off, 
 when each one of them will get all she can from the sailor to whom she attaches herself.’ 
 We paused a moment to meditate on this truly awful circumstance — a whole ship’s com- 
 pany nearly ruined by this abominable practice ! We know that no beings on earth 
 abound in such horrid language and allusions as these persons do. It will probably be 
 thought that this practice cannot be very extensive, and must be confined to a few solita- 
 ry cases. But what will be thought when we find that the publishers of the pamphlet, 
 which first brought this indescribable evil to light, ‘challenge inquiry, and,’ as they say 
 themselves, ‘ are ready to prove, (if it should become necessary, by specifying the names 
 of ships and commanders,) that with the exception of one or two ships, the practice we 
 complain of has been, and at this moment actually is, general in all our ports, when ships 
 are either fitting for sea, or arrive from their stations.’ ’ This is certainly an alarming 
 fact, since it is so indubitably certain that sailors are, to such an amazing extent, cor- 
 rupters of each other, of whatever nation they are : but it is particularly so to both En- 
 gland and America, since their seamen are connected by so many strong ties. To the 
 good people of every country and community we would say, “Look at this dreadful pic- 
 ture again ! Do you not behold the gray-headed, as well as the more youthful sailor re- 
 clining on the bosom of the adultress and the harlot, wallowing in drunkenness, turning 
 their backs on the assemblies of God’s saints, opening their lips, not to speak the praises 
 of the Saviour’s love, or of a Father’s providence, but to dishonour these sacred names, 
 and thus corrupting society by their conspicuous and contagious example:” 
 
 In a letter from a London correspondent, under date of March 3d, 1S26, we are fur- 
 nished with the following statement. Speaking of the seamen, he says, “As soon as 
 they enter into harbour, they are paid their wages and left as a prey to the most abandoned 
 villains, prostitutes and publicans, who, in a few days, sometimes in a few hours, rob them 
 of their hard-earned wages, of a v oyage of one or two years. I have seen and heard so 
 much of it, that my heart sickens almost at the thought. Three weeks ago, in company 
 with the Rev. G. C Smith, I visited two frigates at Woolwich, which were just arrived, 
 one from the East-Indies the other from South America. The crew of the former, I 
 understood, had nearly four years pay to receive. There we witnessed a scene which 
 was disgraceful, but not uncommon, in a King’s ship. There were about one hundred 
 and fifty prostitutes in the ’tween decks, all of the lowest description, connected with a 
 set of beings, (I cannot call them men) denominated crimps ; who, under the pretence of 
 getting the sailor, ships, take them to their houses, where they make them drunk, and 
 the next morning they find themselves robbed of every sixpence : thus are these poor fel- 
 lows ruined body and soul, and turned out to shift for themselves. W hen the crimps 
 get a ship for a poor fellow, they undertake to find him in clothes, to be paid for out of 
 his month, or two months’ advance, before he leaves Gravesend. Here is poor Jack im- 
 posed upon again, by being charged three or four times as much for his jacket. &c. as he 
 could get them for of a fair tradesman. I have been an eye-witness to it Sometimes 
 his advance money is not sufficient to pay the bill, and the crimp gets an absent bond, on 
 which the owner pays one or two months’ wages while the ship is prosecuting her voyage, 
 so that when the poor fellow returns he has but little to receive, and this little he is again 
 plundered of by the same system of villainy.” We also have seen a little of the same 
 picture ourselves : and a lieutenant in the United States’ Navy informed us, but a few 
 
2.1 
 
 shore, because there are few of any other description into which 
 he can be admitted. Often have we been told by sailors, when 
 somewhat serious about their future destiny, that they could not 
 become religious in the boarding-houses. “Show us,” say they, 
 “ a house where we can go, and find pious shipmates and land- 
 lords who will care for us, and then we will attend to religion; but 
 as soon as we get home, our messmates, the landlord, and the girls, 
 are all ready to board us at once, and we cannot think seriously, 
 or even pray for the salvation of our souls.” It is therefore im- 
 portant and indispensable, if we wish to do these men good, and 
 make them virtuous, honourable and happy, that boarding-houses 
 of a different character be immediately provided for them — houses 
 where they may enjoy some of the common privileges of morality 
 and religion. 
 
 To effect the objects above specified, is the principal design of 
 “The American Seamen’s Friend Society,” although its efforts are 
 not to be confined to these, as may be seen by the second article of 
 its constitution ; but it may and will, as its means shall allow, at- 
 tend to any other branch in the great work of improving the moral 
 and religious character of seamen. Should it be asked, what can 
 the Society do to remedy the evils now existing in the present sys- 
 tem of sailor boarding-houses? it may be replied; it can patronise 
 men who will keep for seamen, good, moral, and orderly boarding- 
 houses ! and it can use all its own influence, and enlist the influence 
 of as many friends as possible, to convince seamen that it will be 
 for their interest and happiness to prefer these to other places of 
 boarding. Men enough of the right character may be found to 
 keep such houses, provided they can have the countenance of the 
 Society and the Christian community. By means of active auxilia- 
 ries or branches in all the important seaports, the same system of 
 measures, for the removal of this evil, may be entered into at once, 
 and vigorously acted upon, through the whole country. If the 
 present keepers of sailor boarding-houses, will come into the mea- 
 sures of the Society, let them, equally with any others, be patron- 
 ised by it. This will be a line of conduct unexceptionable and 
 just. Let then the Society have means, and prove her, if she will 
 not soon put a different aspect on this most deplorable part of the 
 subject. If it be hard, yet it must be done ! or the same system 
 will go on ; the seamen will still pollute the world with their crimes, 
 destroy the heathen, and plunge themselves in endless ruin. 
 
 months’ since, that he had seen one hundred and fifty of such wretches on board the 
 ship to which he was attached, at one time. 
 
 There are supposed to be about five thousand of these wretched females in the city of 
 New-York ! and about sixty thousand in London, and probably other cities in about the 
 same proportion. So long, therefore, as there is an interchange of communication be- 
 tween these and the boarding-houses, it is impossible that a moral and religious example 
 should be given to our seamen. 
 
22 
 
 Seamen must be provided with 
 
 A PLACE FOR DIVINE WORSHIP, 
 
 where they can be accommodated and feel at home. This measure 
 is rendered necessary from the very state of the case In all large 
 cities and seaports they could not be accommodated in the ordina- 
 ry churches, were they disposed to mingle with other congrega- 
 tions; but, from the long and habitual neglect which they have re- 
 ceived, they are not disposed to do it. Many have often made 
 the attempt, and failed, because, in most city congregations, it would 
 be considered disgraceful to suffer “Jack with his roundabout,” to 
 sit with polite and genteel people. This the sailor knows, and he 
 despises to intrude himself where he is not wanted. There is this 
 universal fact, with all the seamen’s peculiarities of habit, of dress, 
 of dialect, and even their modes of thinking, which makes it neces- 
 sary to furnish a place of worship for them. But aside from every 
 other consideration, their number requires it.* Their number is 
 
 * The city of New-York has belonging to it, including those who are regular traders, 
 above twenty thousand seamen. Suppose fifteen hundred out of these to be pious men, 
 (which is probably a very large estimate,) and it will then leave eighteen thousand five 
 hundred, who need the salvation of Christ, in order that they may best answer the great 
 end of their being, and die in peace. To see, however, the weight of responsibility ac- 
 tually lying on the Christian community, in regard to sailors, we must form an estimate 
 of the number constantly in port, to whom the streams of Christian kindness and love 
 ought unceasingly to flow. We give the following estimate from public documents. 
 During the last year, there were cleared at the custom-house, in the port of New-York, 
 1208 vessels for foreign ports, which would average at least ten men each ; and up to the 
 first of August of the present year, 629 vessels of the same description. So that last 
 year were employed on foreign voyages, in New-York alone, at least 12,000 seamen ; 
 and the present year, up to August, as above, 6,290. About the same number of men are 
 employed in the coasting trade, by vessels that clear at the custom-house, and at least 
 as great a number in those which do not clear at all. Deduct, however, one third for 
 the same men going at different times, and it will leave between 20 and 30 thousand. 
 About 3,000, then, will be a fair estimate for those actually in port. Then add 1,500 
 for superannuated seamen and along-shore men ; an 1,500 families with fivejn a family, 
 all of which are within bounds ; and we shall have at least 12,000 immortal beings in the 
 port of New-York, of seamen and those connected with them, who need constantly to 
 be fed with the bread of life : and yet we have but a single church for the whole. Ought 
 there not to be a floating- chapel also, and additional labourers? The United States 
 have at least 100,000 seamen ; then, their families, and those pursuing the same occu- 
 pation, and who are to be benefitted and moralized in the same way, will at the very 
 lowest estimation amount to as many more.* This fact alone is sufficient to show the 
 necessity of places of worship for seamen . but when it is remembered, that thousands 
 of foreigners annually visit us, some of whom at least would be glad to attend divine 
 worship, it appears more strikingly important. In Great-Britain they have at least 
 500,000 seamen ; and in the world probably not less than 3,000,000. Then taking their 
 families, and those so intimately connected with them, that if approached and benefitted 
 at all by the Gospel of salvation, it must be done in the same way as with seamen, and 
 
 (*) AU these are to be embraced in the labours of " The American Seamen’s Friend Society nor does 
 the great object at which it aims stop ei e It is designed to embrace the numerous class of river and 
 boat met , on our great rivers, lakes, and canals. The number of these men at present is very great, 
 and they are annually increasing. Their habits of life, take them as a body, are probably no better than 
 those-of seamen: manyT them are extremely licentious and pr fane. There are many places on the 
 Hudson, on the great (Janal, on the great Lakes, on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, as well a* on many 
 other rivers in our country, where meetings ought to be held every Sabbath day at least, for river 
 aad boat men: and among them Bibles and Tracts ought to be distributed. Such is the lield of labour 
 contemplated by the A. S. F. S. and towards which it wishes to turn the eye? ot the coinoiuiuty ; aiv.i 
 in the cultivation of which it asks the aid of all the friends of man. 
 
much greater than is generally imagined. The Jews are deemed 
 sufficiently numerous and important to excite the sympathies of 
 Christendom. But Christendom has many more seamen than she 
 has Jews, and they are hardly deemed of sufficient importance to 
 call forth a single sympathy. It may indeed be said, that “if sail- 
 ors were honest and provident, they might provide all these neces- 
 sary means, both for themselves and families.” This is unquestion- 
 ably true, but it is as true of the heathen, as of the sailor ; and yet 
 it is not deemed a sufficient reason for doing nothing to save them 
 from ruin. And after all, the truth is, that the Christian world 
 owes to her seamen ten thousand talents, when to the heathen she 
 does not owe fifty. Notwithstanding, thousands and hundreds of 
 thousands, are annually expended upon the heathen, yet seamen are 
 left to perish, with scarcely an eye to pity, or a hand to save ! — ■ 
 Brethren in Jesus Christ, what meaneth this? 
 
 Seamen should have a 
 
 PREACHED GOSPEL AND BIBLES. 
 
 These they should find in every important port in Christendom, 
 This must be plain to every reader who considers, that it has 
 “pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that 
 believe’’ — even seamen as well as others. Of this blessing they 
 have long been deprived, but the defect is beginning to be supplied, 
 both in England and America ; but still there is very much to be 
 done, even in this department. Bibles, also, and tracts should be 
 furnished for seamen, so that it could never again be said that sail- 
 ors from a Christian country go years without either the one or the 
 other. It is, however, no difficult task at this day to find sailors, 
 who for years have neither seen a Bible, nor a tract, nor even heard 
 the name of God mentioned, but to be blasphemed What do such 
 facts tell, but that we do not feel for our brethren “whose home is 
 on the deep ?” But it may be said, “ there are Marine Bible So- 
 cieties, why do they not supply these men with the word of life?” 
 Because the same deep sleep which has rested on the world for 
 ages, where the moral state of sailors is concerned, is still unbroken, 
 and they can procure neither funds nor labourers to accomplish 
 the work. The Bible might often be a very great comfort, as well 
 as an unspeakable benefit to the sailor in his various peregrinations 
 and trials. The history of its operations on such minds, furnishes 
 a multitude of facts to establish the truth of the above supposition. 
 When, for instance, a sailor values his Bible more than his life, — 
 will risk the latter to save the former, and will refuse to part with 
 it for money. One testimony like the following, of which there 
 
 we must more than double that number. We have not room in this note to bring 1 for- 
 ward data for all these conclusions. The one above, in relation to the city of New-York, 
 must suffice for this place, and we do think it quite sufficient to prove the point for 
 which it was intended. 
 
24 , 
 
 are many from shipmasters, will prove the utility of the Bible 
 among sailors more than a thousand arguments. “Every thing 
 goes as it ought, when the Bible is regarded by the crew ; the 
 duty is cheerlully done — the owners’ property is more safe, and all 
 is smooth and pleasant.” Sailors, then, should have Bibles! 
 
 There is one thing more, which we have not named, that must be 
 done for seamen. If, however, it be ever done, it must be done by 
 the disciples ot Christ alone. It has not been done ; and whether 
 there be not leanness in all the flock of God, on account of the ne- 
 glect of it, merits the serious consideration of every child of God. 
 It is this, — 
 
 SEAMEN MUST BE PRAYED FOR. 
 
 This is a duty which every Christian must confess to be of immense 
 importance to the salvation of seamen. It is a duty too, the per- 
 formance of which should have seemed easy. It would not have 
 cost money, nor yet much labour or time. But it is a duty which 
 has not been done. This is proved from observation and from 
 fact. We have made it a subject of inquiry for more than four 
 years past, and the result is the fullest conviction that there is not 
 one prayer in a thousand, in which seamen are either named or 
 thought of. Let no one attempt to quiet his conscience on this sub- 
 ject, by saying, that he has often prayed for all men; for such an 
 argument would be just as valid when applied to the heathen, to 
 his own nation, or family, and even to the church of God, as when 
 applied to seamen. Let every Christian ask himself, how many 
 prayers he can distinctly recollect either to have heard or made, in 
 which sailors, as a class of mankind, were made the subjects of them? 
 The Church has her concert of prayer, monthly, for the heathen, 
 whom she shall never see till the day of final adjudication, and to 
 whom she owes comparatively little, (and in it she has done nobly !) 
 but the seamen , to whom she owes so much — who are enriching her 
 with every breeze, and who are from the midst of her, bone of her 
 bone, and flesh of her flesh, have been forgotten, even in her most 
 solemn and fervent prayers. They have been little more remem- 
 bered than the congregation of the dead! Now what is the assign- 
 able reason for this almost universal neglect? Has it been from 
 ignorance and inattention to their real worth, character, and situa- 
 tion ; or is it to be attributed to a worse cause ? Certain it is that 
 they shared, both in the labours and prayers of the Saviour of man- 
 kind, and from among them he chose at least four of his most faith- 
 ful and efficient apostles. That seamen are prayed for but little, 
 we know from the fact, that as yet but little has been doue for them. 
 And it is a well known truth, that when men pray much for any ob- 
 ject, they' labour correspondingly to accomplish it. This remark 
 is most strikingly corroborated in the history of missions to the hea- 
 then. In this work it is manifest that the fervency and constancy 
 
of prayer, and active effort, have gone hand in hand. And the 
 same remark will probably hold equally good in regard to all the 
 great efforts of benevolence, which so peculiarly mark the history 
 of the age in which we live. Now could we once gain “the effec- 
 tual fervent prayer” of all the righteous, in behalf of the seamen, 
 we should expect soon to see an effort put forth in their behalf, that 
 would speedily rescue a great multitude of them from the hand of 
 the destroyer. We would, therefore, most affectionately say to “all 
 the holy brethren,” — Pray for the seamen! — Pray that “the abun- 
 dance of the sea” may speedily be converted, — Pray that God may 
 soon become the confidence of “ all them that are far off upon the 
 sea,” — Pray that sailors in every land may “sing a new song unto 
 the Lord, and declare his praise in the islands !’’ — Pray that they 
 may soon call the people or nations unto the mountain of the Lord; 
 and there with the multitude from every nation offer unto our God 
 the sacrifices of righteousness and of praise. 
 
 MOTIVES TO ACTION. 
 
 It now only remains for us to mention a few of the motives which 
 urge to the immediate performance of this work. The importance 
 of the work itself forms one motive, strong and various as are the 
 bearings of the conversion of seamen on the glory of the church, and 
 the happiness of the world. That conversion, it has already appear- 
 ed, will have a most powerful and happy influence on all the com- 
 mercial interests of the world, — on all the political interests of na- 
 tions, — on all the moral interests of society, and on all the religious 
 interests of the Church. These considerations alone, it should seem, 
 would form a motive strong enough to engage all the friends of 
 God and man, both in their individual and collective capacities, at 
 once to adopt measures, promptly to execute plans, and provide 
 ample means for the accomplishment of an end so important. There 
 can, we think, be little doubt, but that it would most effectually dry 
 up some of the principal streams of vice, which at this moment 
 deluge the world with pollution and crime; while at the same time 
 it would raise up a host of the best missionaries and auxiliaries to 
 the missionary cause, that could well be conceived. We hope soon 
 to see some abler hand take up this subject, and unfold in a strong 
 and powerful light, its various and important bearings on all the 
 great interests of man, both in regard to time and eternity. Such 
 a developement we are sure can be made, so as to form a motive to 
 immediate and powerful action in the cause, which cannot well be 
 resisted. 
 
 Another motive is found in the wisdom of the measure. That 
 it would be a wise measure, according to the wisdom of this world, 
 will appear in a strong light, when once an accurate estimate is 
 spread out to the eye of man, of all the depredations which unprin- 
 cipled seamen have committed on the rights of man, upon the high 
 seas, and in foreign realms ; and of the sums in treasure and in 
 
 D 
 
26 
 
 /• 
 
 blood, which these depredations have cost the nations. In such an 
 estimate, there must be taken, not only the actual plunders and 
 murders of all the pirates and mutineers ; the incalculable wretch- 
 edness of the slave trade, and many of the wars, professedly for 
 “sailors’ rights,” between Christian nations; — but also almost the 
 whole of the wars which have been waged by heathen nations 
 against Christians — these being nearly all kindled by the resentments 
 of an injured country, for wrongs practised upon them by strangers. 
 When such an estimate is fairly made and spread out before the 
 public eye, w r e do think the wisdom of the measure, to improve 
 the moral and religious character of seamen, will no longer be an 
 unsolved problem. But this is not all that might justly be taken 
 into such an estimate. The entire moral influence of all this wast- 
 ing desolation on the world, must be calculated, and spread out be- 
 fore us, before we shall be able to see the perfection of that w isdom 
 which marks the efforts to improve the morals of sailors, even in 
 their connexion with the happiness of this life. Neglect, then, of 
 the moral state of seamen has been unw ise, on the strictest princi- 
 ples of the wisdom of this world, and as men w ould be wise for them- 
 selves and their children, they should neglect it no longer. And 
 how strongly marked would be the wisdom of this measure in the 
 Church of Christ ! how much more extensively would she spread 
 abroad her saving health among the nations of the world ! how ex- 
 tensive would be her triumphs in the dark places of the earth ! and 
 how greatly would she be honoured in the eyes of the heathen, 
 could she once enlist the seamen heart and hand in her cause ! — 
 Then, indeed, had the islands w aited for the Lord ; and the ships 
 of maritime nations should have been first to bring her -ons from 
 far, for her children w’ould have been spread abroad among all the 
 nations. And silver and gold in abundance, for all her w ants, had 
 been brought as a present from the nations and their kings, to beau- 
 tify the place of God’s sanctuary, that he might be glorious in the 
 eyes of all the earth. Such are a few of the many happy results 
 of the conversion of the “ abundance of the sea,” according to the 
 sure word of prophecy ; and w ould it not be wise in the Church to 
 make it an object of paramount importance ? Surely it would be 
 her glory and honour, both in the eyes of God and man. 
 
 The criminality of neglecting this work, should be another mo- 
 tive. The guilt which Christian nations have contracted as na- 
 tions, in neglecting the moral state of their seamen, may, in the 
 sight of God, be immensely great; and there are few 7 things more 
 probable than such a supposition. And it is equally probable that 
 many of their heaviest calamities have come upon them in conse- 
 quence of this neglect : certain it is, that many of their most de- 
 structive wars, and the incalculable evils and disasters of the traflick 
 in slaves, have been the results of it. This fact simply, did it rest 
 on probability alone, should be a motive sufficiently strong to lead 
 
27 
 
 such nations immediately to adopt prompt and efficient measures to 
 remedy, as far as possible, the evil. The guilt and criminality of 
 the church in neglecting to make strong efforts for the moral reno- 
 vation of sailors, is still more apparent. The ascending command 
 of Jesus, “ Preach the gospel to every creature,’’ has been perse- 
 veringly disobeyed, in regard to an important and numerous class 
 of her fellow-creatures, which were in, and from the midst of her. 
 Sailors have been suffered to live and die, generation alter genera- 
 tion, without hope, without prayer, and even without warning of 
 their future and unalterabln destiny. — '• If thou dost not speak to 
 warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his 
 iniquity, but his blood will I require at thine hand,’’ is an an- 
 nouncement, not without its application, to seamen as well as to 
 other men. And whose duty has it been for ages past, and whose 
 duty is it still to warn these wicked men of their ways ? Has it 
 not always been, and is it not still the duty of the Church ? And 
 has she not then reason to conclude, that the blood of seamen is 
 even now found upon her, and that it crieth from the deep unto the 
 Lord, against her peace and prosperity, while this important duty 
 to the world is neglected? If the conversion of seamen, according 
 to prophecy, is to produce a happy “ flowing-together,” or union 
 in the church ; if it be greatly to increase her in numbers, in * 
 wealth, in respectability and honour among men, and in holiness 
 and righteousness before God — who can reasonably doubt but that 
 her present divisions and contentions, her fewness of numbers, her 
 poverty, her reproach and dishonour, and even her leanness of soul, 
 are all distinctive marks of a frowning providence, for this long and 
 cruel neglect of the perishing souls of the seamen ? On this sub- 
 ject, then, surely the church should go and sin no more ! This mo- 
 tive should lend her in all her branches, i unediately to arise and 
 put forth her strong energies for the sailor’s salvation, until this 
 deep stain is washed away, and this aggravated and protracted 
 guilt abundantly pardoned. 
 
 Another notive for the performan e of these works, is found in 
 the s uccess which has crowned the labours of the pious few who 
 have engaged in them. Special labours for the conversion of sea- 
 men are of recent date, it being only about nine years since tbe 
 first effort was made. Tiie first movers of this noble work of Chris- 
 tian charity, deserve well of mankind, and we regret that we have 
 not their names to give to the world : We are, however, at present, 
 only able t * say, th it they were a few pious seamen of Rotherheith, 
 a little to the east of London bridge. In A. D. 1817, they began 
 to hold praye meetings, specially for seamen, on board of ships 
 under a flag which lias since been denominated the “Bethel Flag,” 
 and is now known as a signal of religious worship for seamen, in 
 almost every quarter of the world. This effort of the seamen soon 
 awakened the attention of a number of pious men to the situation 
 and claims of seamen generally, and the result was, that in the 
 course of the next year, the “ Port of London,” and the “ Port of 
 
New-Yoik, ?> Societies for improving the moral and religious cha- 
 racter of seamen were both organized. We have not room here 
 to notice the rise and progress of the various societies which have 
 since been formed, to aid in this great and good work : but only 
 to remark that since that period, there have risen besides a goodly 
 number of local societies, two great national institutions to 
 carryforward this noble enterprise. “ The British and Foreign 
 Seamen’s Friend Society, and Bethel Union,” and “The Ameri< 
 can Seamen’s Friend Society,’’ with about one hundred smaller, 
 yet kindred institutions, show clearly to the attentive observer, that 
 there is a spirit gone out into the world, in relation to the moral 
 condition of seamen, that is not likely soon to be subdued. There 
 are, besides, in England and America, between thirty and forty 
 Marine Bible Societies ! But what are these among so many ? It 
 may be asked in this place, what have these societies done for sea- 
 men ? It is true, with their very limited means, and the difficulties 
 they have had to encounter, they have done but little; and yet 
 they have done something. Man}' thousand Bibles and Testa- 
 ments have been distributed among the “tempest-tossed’’ mariners, 
 to cheer them in trouble, in darkness and in death ; and the word 
 of God alone has proved the richest blessing to many a sailor. Be- 
 tween fifteen and twenty places of worship, including churches and 
 floating chapels, have been prepared for seamen, and preachers sup- 
 plying them, to give the words of eternal life to the long neglected 
 and weather-beaten mariner, which are able to save the soul 
 through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Thousands and tens of 
 thousands of Tracts have been set afloat among the sailors, to be- 
 come companions of their night-watches and leisure hours. Schools 
 have been instituted for sea-apprentices, and sea-boys, as well as 
 for adult seamen and their children. Register offices and savings 
 hanks have been opened in various places, for the benefit of sailors. 
 Small libraries of useful books have been provided, not only for 
 ships, but also for boarding-houses ; and, in connexion with them, 
 in some places, reading-rooms have been 'pened especially for sea- 
 men. These rooms will afford, at least, a profitable lounging place 
 for an hour on shore. But one of the most important things that 
 has been done, next to giving seamen the gospel, has been the pro- 
 vision of respectable and orderly boarding-houses. According to 
 accounts from England, there are at this time in the United King- 
 dom, not far from one hundred regular, moral boarding-houses for 
 sailors, under the direction and inspection of their societies. Would 
 to God, we could say, there are any in the United States ! We 
 hope, however, before long, to be able to report a number. More- 
 over, there have been Bethel prayer-meetings holden in almost 
 every part of the world ; and in a number of important sea-ports, 
 men have associated for the purpose of getting sailors to attend 
 their meetings'; of visiting their schools and boarding-houses ; 
 and for boarding vessels on their arrival in po t, and thus of en- 
 listing both seamen and landsmen, as far as possible, in the good 
 
29 
 
 cause of reforming sailors. There is, we believe, in addition, one 
 or two sea-missionaries, whose object is to visit various parts of 
 the world, without regard to kindred or tongue, and stir them up 
 to the sailor’s cause. Sailors’ and Mariners’ Magazines have been 
 set on foot, for the purpose of giving general and extensive infor- 
 mation on every subject connected with the objects of these socie- 
 ties, and of keeping the public mind alive to their importance and 
 their interests. 
 
 The result of these labours has been the fact, that a flood of 
 light has been thrown on the world in regard to the character, situ- 
 ation and prospects of seamen; and also on their important con- 
 nexion with the various interests of man in this world, and the 
 destinies of thousands in the next. More knowledge has probably 
 been diffused in the world, on the subject of seamen, within ten 
 years past, than in as many centuries before. But knowledge is 
 not all that has been gained by these efforts. The soul of many a 
 poor sailor has been saved by them ! It is not possible to ascertain 
 the entire results of these efforts on the moral character of seamen, 
 nor yet the number who have been savingly benefited by them. 
 Five thousand seamen, however, have been reported as having 
 passed “ from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto 
 God,” by means of them, and about the same number of boat and 
 river men. in Great Britain alone. But these are probably not all 
 who have been so benefited ; although there may be reckoned 
 among them some who may draw back unto perdition. We have, 
 at present, no data by which to ascertain the number in America ; 
 it is, however, confidently believed that some hundreds have been 
 savingly benefited by the labours of these institutions. We con- 
 fidently expect that the efforts of “The American Seamen’s Friend 
 Society,’’ will soon enable us to ascertain this fact with some de- 
 gree of probability, as well as a number of other items in relation 
 to seamen, and those connected with them. There is, also, an ac- 
 knowledged and striking difference in the moral sensibilities and 
 conduct of sailors for the better, since the commencement of these 
 operations. There are many pious, praying men. not only in the 
 merchant service, but also in the navy, both in England and Ame- 
 rica. It is, on the whole, questionable, whether any religious in- 
 stitution, according to its efforts and the number of its friends, has 
 received more striking testimonials of the approbation of God, 
 than has the seaman’s institution. Such facts as these should form 
 a motive sufficiently strong to induce all the saints of the Most 
 High to come up to this “ help of the Lord against the mighty” 
 foes of seamen at once, and thus rescue many a poor sailor from 
 sin and condemnation. 
 
 There is one other motive which we will urge. It is d- rived from 
 the shortness and uncertainty of human life, and from the destruc- 
 tions which are almost constantly coming upon the sailor. Human 
 lif , atbest, is but “ a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and 
 then vanisheth away.” Our days, in our best estate, pass away 
 
•“ like the swift ships,’ 7 and are gone like “tile weaver’s shuttle.” 
 So frail is man, that true it is 
 
 “ The spider’s most attenuated thread, 
 
 Is cord, is cable, to man’s tender tie 
 
 On earthly bliss ; it breaks at every breeze.’’ — Young. 
 
 This fact should stir up a spirit of holy emulation in all the chil- 
 dren of God, not only in the work of self-preparation for their last 
 account, but also of doing good to their fellow-men, and spreading 
 abroad the saving health of Christ’s salvation, among the children 
 of this sinning world. It should also awaken a slumbering world 
 to the long arrears of obligation to her seamen, which yet remains 
 uncancelled. If the life of other men be short and uncertain, much 
 more may this be said of the sailor’s life. By the various ills and 
 disasters which they experience, they are generally swept off either 
 in youth or in middle age. It is a marked and striking fact, that 
 we rarely see an old sailor. They are swept away in multitudes 
 by their courses of dissipation and vice : and, as if these were not 
 enough, to their aid comes in the pestileuce, the sword, and the 
 storm. The latter of which, alone, is almost constantly sounding 
 the funeral requiem of the poor neglected mariner. “From a 
 ship of war of the first class, carrying above a thousand tr.e 1, down 
 to the little fishing-boat, with but two or three hands on board, 
 how often does the sea ingulph the whole! Death carries off the 
 heathen, as it removes our neighbours on land, by a few at a time 
 in one place, and by a few in another, and that by a gradual pro- 
 cess. But at sea, the storm howls the death-knell of multitudes at 
 once; and sometimes the battle, in a few short hours, sends into 
 eternity more of our seamen than would people several of our mid- 
 dle sized towns;” — and most of them more unprepared for death, if 
 possible, than the very heathen themselves, and yet there has been 
 little or no persevering effort to prepare them for so sudden and un- 
 expected a change. When the sailor is sick, and dying in a fo- 
 reign land, it is at this moment too lamentably true, that “ no man 
 cares for his soul. When he is pouring out his life-blood on the 
 deck of a ship of war, or is in an instant despatched by a cannon 
 ball into an eternal world, he has no time to learn what he must do 
 to be saved! Or when sinking in the deep waters, (he waves his 
 winding siieet, and the howl of the storm the last sound that breaks 
 on his ear, he can receive no consolation from attendant friends ! 
 In his sickness, on a foreign shore, he looks in vain for even the 
 comforts of a parish poor-house. In his death, in most cases, he 
 in vain asks for some kind neighbour to read or pray for his edifi- 
 cation ; and never can he direct them to call in the minister of the 
 gospel of Christ for his comfort.’’ The number who are thus depri- 
 ved, and who die in some such way. is incalculably great, probably 
 not less than tens of thousands annually from Christian lands. And 
 is it possible that such a sum of human wo. in so interesting and use- 
 ful a class ofour fellow-men, can be suffered longer to remain unas- 
 stiaged ? Shall not the benevolent individuals and societies who 
 
31 
 
 have taken in hand to alleviate this suffering, and to reform the 
 vices of these men, be promptly and liberally supportedjin their un- 
 dertaking ? Will not our country arise from her slumbers over the 
 miseries of her seamen, and pour a little of her abundant consola- 
 tions into the hearts of her suffering tars ? And will not the Chris- 
 tian community make one united and speedy effort to bring the sea- 
 men out of this state of oppression and cruel bondage, “ into the 
 glorious liberty of the children of God ?” Will not the ministers 
 of the Lord Jesus immediately sound an alarm on this subject, and 
 both by argument and persuasion, awaken as deep an interest in 
 their congregations, and stir up as active efforts for the salvation of 
 seamen as for the heathen ? Will they not do it for the very hea- 
 then’s sake? We would affectionately invite them, and most 
 earnestly intreat them to do it, for the love they bear to the Sa- 
 viour’s cause on earth ! — for the interest they feel in the peace and 
 happiness of their country and of the world ! — and for the solici- 
 tude they have for the eternal salvation of immortal souls, a single 
 one of which is of more real value than all the wealth of the uni- 
 verse ! Look again at the sailor’s influence and importance in the 
 destinies of the world ! — Look at the important aid which they 
 might, and would render to the church of God, if they were all ho- 
 ly men! Look at the frowns of heaven which rest on the church 
 and on the world for their long and cruel neglect of them ! — Look 
 at the solemn adjudications of the last day ! — And from that day 
 look at each single sailor’s soul in its endless progression in bliss or 
 in wo ! — And then, with it all in your eye, ask, whether it be possi- 
 ble, with all the apathy of the Priest and the Levite, longer to pass 
 the seamen by without binding up their wounds — pouring in the 
 consolations of the gospel, and endeavouring to save their souls ?— * 
 I turn mine eye on the stormy deep and say — 
 
 “I’ve seen the dark ship proudly braving, 
 
 With high sail set, and streamers waving, 
 
 The tempest roar, and battle pride ; 
 
 I’ve seen those floating streamers shrinking— 
 
 The high sail rent— the proud ship sinking 
 Beneath the ocean tide : 
 
 And heard the seaman farewell sighing, 
 
 His body on the dark sea lying, — 
 
 His death-prayer to the wind ! 
 
 But sadder sight the eye can know, 
 
 Than proud barque lost, and seaman’s wo,— 
 
 Or battle fire, or tempest cloud, — 
 
 Or prey birds’ shriek, and ocean’s shroud ! — 
 
 The shipwreck op the soul.” 
 
 To prevent the painfulness, and the crime of such a shipwreck, 
 O ! my country, this appeal is made to. thee ! — O let it not pass 
 away from thee unheeded, lest there be many more cries to heaven 
 for vengeance on thee, from the souls of thy seamen, who have en- 
 riched and blessed thee, by toils and suffering, by tears and blood ! 
 Pity! Pity! O pity the sailor’s dying soul, and make him once 
 happy in the thought that he has Christian friends, and a gratgfijl 
 country ! 
 
CONSTITUTION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 AMERICAN SEAESKSI’S FKIEKD SOCIETY. 
 
 Art. 1 . The name of this Society shall be “The American Seamen's 
 Friend Society.” 
 
 Art. 2. The object of this Society shall be to meliorate the condition, 
 and to improve the moral and religious character of seamen, by the esta- 
 blishment of well-regulated boarding-houses, and suitable libraries and read- 
 ing-rooms, when practicable ; savings banks, register offices, schools of ele- 
 mentary and nautical instruction ; by the employment of agents for carrying 
 into effect the operations of the Society in different parts of the United 
 States, and by the use of such other means as may seem calculated to pro- 
 mote the designs of the Institution. 
 
 Art. 3. The officers of this Society shall be a President, 15 Vice-Presi- 
 dents, not more than two of whom shall be residents of the city of New- 
 York ; 30 directors, not less than 13 of whom shall be residents of New- 
 York; a Treasurer, a Corresponding Secretary, and a Recording Secretary, 
 who shall be annually chosen by the Society, and who shall form a Board for 
 the transaction of the business of the Society. They shall enact their own 
 by-laws, supply their own vacancies during the year, and appoint honorary 
 officers and directors. Seven members of the Board shall constitute a quo- 
 rum for the transaction of any business. 
 
 Art. 4. The officers and directors, or a quorum thereof, shall appoint an 
 executive committee of nine (including the Treasurer and two Secretaries) 
 residing in the city of New-York, or its vicinity, to continue at the pleasure 
 of the Board during the year. Five of the Executive Committee shall con- 
 stitute a quorum at any regularly convened meeting : they shall have the 
 power to dispose of the funds of the Society, to appoint agents, and pre- 
 scribe their field of labour, and in every other respect to carry into effect the 
 designs of the Institution ; they shall make quarter-yearly reports of their 
 proceedings to the Board, and a special report at any intermediate term, when 
 requested by a vote of the Board. 
 
 Art. 5. The Board of Officers and Directors shall meet at least once in 
 three months, and a special meeting shall at any time be called at the re- 
 quest, in writing, of any three members of the Board. 
 
 Art. 6. The Treasurer shall give bonds, annually, to such amount as the 
 Executive Committee shall think necessary. 
 
 Art. 7. Any charitable, or religious society, having for its object an atten- 
 tion to the welfare of seamen, may become auxiliary to this Society on the 
 payment of twenty-five dollars, and by the engagement to pay over, annually, 
 its surplus funds into the Treasury of the Parent Institution. 
 
 Art. 8. Every auxiliary association shall be entitled to send a delegate 
 to attend the meetings of the Society, and to vote at the annual election of 
 officers and directors. And every auxiliary association contributing one 
 hundred dollars per annum to the funds of the Society, shall be entitled to 
 send a delegate to attend the meetings of the Board of Managers. 
 
 Art. 9. The commissions of all agents shall be signed by the President 
 or Vice-President, and countersigned by the Chairman and Secretary of the 
 Executive Committee. 
 
 Art. 10. No person who is employed by the society for a pecuniary conb 
 peijsation, shall be a member of the Board of Directors. 
 
33 
 
 Art. 11. Every person paying annually into the Treasury not less than 
 two dollars, shall be a member of this Society, and each subscriber of twenty 
 dollars at one time, shall be a member for life, and any subscriber paying 
 fifty dollars at one time shall become a director for life. 
 
 Art. 12. The Society shall meet annually in the city of New-York. on 
 the Monday preceding the second Thursday in May, and any special meeting 
 may be called by order of the President, or, in his absence, by one of the 
 Vice-Presidents, at the request, in writing, often of its members. 
 
 Art. 13. This constitution shall not be altered without a vote of two- 
 thirds of the members present at an annual meeting ; or at a special meeting 
 notified for this purpose ; and notice of all meetings of this society shall be 
 given in at least three of the daily papers of the city of New-York, and one 
 of the daily papers of at least three of the other principal Sea Ports of the 
 United States. 
 
 Art. 14. Nineteen members shall constitute a quorum at any meeting of 
 the Society. 
 
 The following is a list of the officers of the Society : 
 
 President. 
 
 Hon. SMITH THOMPSON, New-York- 
 Vice-Presidents. 
 
 Hon. PHILIP HONE, Mayor of the City of New-York. 
 
 JAMES H. McCULLOCH, Esq. Baltimore. 
 
 ROBERT RALSTON, Esq. Philadelphia. 
 
 WILLIAM ROPES, Esq. Boston. 
 
 BEVERLY CHEtV, Esq. New-Orleans. 
 
 Hon. STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER, Albany. 
 
 NATHANIEL SILSBEE, Esq. Salem, Mass. 
 
 JEREMIAH DAY, D. D. Net o-Haven, Conn. 
 
 THOMAS NAPIER, Esq. Charleston, S. C. 
 
 JOSEPH CUMMING, Esq. Savannah, Geo. 
 
 CHRISTOPHER FRY, Esq. Norfolk, Fa, 
 
 Gen. C. DUDLEY, Wilmington, N. C. 
 
 THOMAS R. IVES, Esq. Providence , R. I. 
 
 ARTHUR McCLELLAN, Esq. Portland, Me. 
 
 Mr. SHEAFE, Portsmouth , N. H. 
 
 Francis Olmstead, Esq. New-York, Treasurer; Rev. John Truair, New-York. 
 Cor. Secretary ; R. M. Blatchford, Esq. New-York, Rec. Secretary. 
 
 — *«&<>&>■>»— 
 
 Will not those gentlemen in our country, who have been enriched by com- 
 merce and the labours of seamen, contribute liberally to the funds of “ The 
 American Seamen’s Friend Society ?” — Were they all to become life mem- 
 bers or directors, would it not be honourable to them ? 
 
 Will not the clergymen of the different congregations in our country, lay 
 this subject before their people, and as soon as may betake up a collection to 
 aid the funds of the A. S. F. S.? 
 
 Cannot most of them form auxiliaries to the A. S. F. S. in their con- 
 gregations ? Are there not a number of active laymen, who would most 
 gladly aid a minister in such a work of mercy ? 
 
 Will not the Ladies throughout our country, when they think of the sea- 
 men, make their ministers members or directors for life, of the A. S. F. S. ? 
 
 Can there not be obtained a number of subscribers to the Mariners’ Maga- 
 zine, which will be printed with fair type, on fine paper, in 3emi-monthly 
 numbers of 16 octavo pages each, and be delivered to city subscribers, by 
 carriers, at their houses, at 82 00 per annum. 
 
 Country subscribers who receive their numbers by mail, shall receive the 
 work for $\ 50, if paid in advance. Any Bethel Society, company of indi- 
 viduals, or agent, who will take 20 copies or more, and pay in advance, shall 
 have the Magazine at 81 00 per copy. 
 
 E 
 
34 
 
 The following gentlemen are agents for “ The American Sea- 
 men’s Friend Society,’’ for the time being, with whom collections, 
 donations and subscriptions to its funds, may be deposited, and by 
 whom they will be remitted to the Treasurer, F. Olmstead, Esq. 
 New-York : 
 
 City of New- York. 
 
 Rev. John Truair, Cor. Secretary. 
 Francis Olmstead, Esq. Treasurer. 
 Maine. 
 
 Rev. Ed. Payson, D. D. Portland. 
 New-Hampshi rc. 
 
 Rev. Professor ShirtlifF, Hanover. 
 Mr. Putnam, Portsmouth, 
 
 J. W. Shepherd, Esq. Concord. 
 Vermont. 
 
 Rev. Chester Wright, Montpelier. 
 Josiali Hopkins, New-Haven. 
 Daniel A. Clark, Bennington. 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 Wm. Ropes, Esq. Boston. 
 
 Nathaniel Silsbee, Esq. Salem. 
 .Josiah Hussey, Esq. Nantucket. 
 
 Hon. John Bannister, Newburyport. 
 Rev. Mark Tucker, Northampton. 
 Mr. Osgood, Springfield. 
 
 E. D. Griffin, D.D. Williamstown 
 Rhodc-Island. 
 
 Thos. R. Ives, Esq. Providence. 
 Connecticut. 
 
 Rev. S. S. Jocelyn, New-Haven. 
 
 E. Averill, Esq. Hartford. 
 
 T. H. Hubbard, Esq. Middletown. 
 Rev. Alfred Mitchell, Norwich. 
 
 New- York. 
 
 Samuel M. Hopkins, Esq. Albany. 
 John Braddish, Esq. Utica. 
 
 James Vandusen, Esq. Hudson. 
 
 Rev. John Johnston, Newburgh. 
 
 Dr. Corning, Troy. 
 
 Josiah Bissell, Esq. Rochester. 
 
 Rev. D. C. Lansing, Auburn. 
 
 G- Crawford, Buffalo. 
 
 Gen. Moores, Plattsburg. 
 
 Eliphalet Wickes, Jamaica. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Gardiner, Sag-Harbour. 
 New-Jersey. 
 
 Rev. J. T. Russell, Newark. 
 
 D. Fenton, Esq. Trenton. 
 
 R. Nelson, Esq. New-Brunswick. 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 R. Ralston, Esq. Philadelphia. 
 
 Rey. F. Herron, D. D. Pittsburgh. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Duffield, Carlisle. 
 
 Wm. Kirkpatrick. Esq. Lancaster, 
 Delaware. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Gilbert, Wilmington. 
 Maryland. 
 
 J. II. M’Cullock, Esq. ) „ , ■ 
 
 Samuel Young, Esq 5 B:lltlmore - i 
 George Shaw, Esq. Annapolis. 
 
 Rev. John Johns, Frederickstown. 
 George Lemon, Hagerstown. - 
 District of Columbia. 
 
 Andrew Coyle, Esq. Wash. City. | 
 F. S- Key, Esq. Georgetown. 
 
 T. Vowel 1, Esq. Alexandria. 
 
 Virginia. 
 
 Wm. Maxwell, Esq. Norfolk. 
 
 Benj. Brand, Esq. Richmond. 
 
 John P. Little, Esq. Fredericksburgh. 
 North Carolina. 
 
 Thomas Watson, Esq. Newhern. 
 Rev. Adam Empie. Wilmington. 
 
 T. B. Lippit, Esq. Fayetteville. 
 Rev.Wm. McPheeters, D.D. Raleigh. 
 South Carolina. 
 
 Thomas Napier, Esq. Charleston. 
 Aaron Marvin, Esq. Georgetown. 
 Georgia. 
 
 Geo. W. Coe, Esq. Savannah. 
 
 Rev. S. S. Davis, Augusta. 
 
 Anson Kimberly, Esq. Darien. 
 
 II. W. Malone, Milledgeville. 
 Louisiana. 
 
 Beverly Chew, Esq. New-Orleans. 
 Ohio. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Root, Cincinnatti. 
 
 Alabama. 
 
 Brazillia Ames, Esq. Mobile. 
 Mississippi. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Potts, Natchez. 
 
 Missouri. 
 
 Rev. Salmon Giddings, St. Louis. 
 Tennessee. 
 
 Dr. R. P. Hays, Nashville. 
 
 Kentucky. 
 
 T. II. Skillman. Esq. Lexington. 
 
 Michigan Territory. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Welles, Detroit.