i TREASURED MOMENTS-. BEHTQ A COMPILATION OP LETTERS ON VARIOUS TOPICS, WRITTEN AT DIFFERENT TIMES, AND IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. TOGETHER WITH NOTES, INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL, AND REMINISCENCES OF MEN AND THINGS. REV. E. N. SAWTELL, D.D, AUTHOB OF "CHTTBCH MANtTAl," " PLEA FOE FEMALE EDUCATION," ETC., CHAPLAIH TO BBITISH AUD AMEBICAN SEAMEN AT 1HB POET OF HAVBE, FBAKCE. LONDON : EOBEET K. BUET, HOLBOEN HILL, CITY. GLASGOW: DAVID BBYCE, BUCHANAN STEEET. 1860. Stack Annex r- PREFACE. A THOUSAND years before the Christian era, the wise man said, " Of 'making many books, there is no end." ' Did he speak historically, or prophetically ? If as an historian, would not his ideas on the subject of making books be vastly enlarged, were he living at the present day ? If as a pro- phet, who can doubt the truth of his prophecy, or that we are living in the day of its fulfilment? Again, when he facetiously adds, " Much study is a weariness of the flesh" to which of the twain did he refer to the book-maker, or to the book-reader? Perhaps he designedly left this an open question. Be that as it may, certain it is, most books are intentionally and professionally made. Not so with this ; like Horace's poets, this book was " born," not made. Its birth- place, the sunny hearts of personal friends ; its contents, the offspring of circumstances ; thrown off, often in haste, and always under the pressure of the most arduous and responsi- ble duties ; and where, too, the saloon of a noisy steamer, or the public parlour of a crowded hotel, has been my only sanctum. Amid crowds of uncongenial minds, my own often became restless and impatient of restraint, and then sought repose in action, and found rest in the use of the pen. Such were the circumstances that gave birth to these fugitive pieces here collected, and without the slightest idea of their ever assuming the present form. Whether these IV PREFACE. facts shall disarm the critic of his poisoned shafts, as to style and language, or serve as an antidote to the qualms of the fasti- dious reader, are matters of little importance. In a compila- tion of such fragmentary articles, culled from portfolios, whose dates run through a period of thirty-five years' ministry, in which opinions have been advanced touching a variety of sub- jects, moral and religious, viewed at different periods and from different points of observation, it would be strange indeed if the writer shall not be found to have advanced opinions " whereby some weak conscience shall be offended/' Sure I am of having touched one sensitive chord, which, for the last quarter of a century, has discoursed all manner of music, from the wildest yells of an Indian war-song down to the melting strains of an Eolian harp. But being no theorist, and having no theories to bolster up, and always inclined to take a practical rather than a visionary view of such subjects; and acknowledging no authority but the Bible ; and believing in no remedy for the ills and woes of men and nations, save the pure gospel of the blessed God our Saviour, I have written what I -have written, without the fear or favour of men ; and what I con- scientiously believe to be in accordance with the word of God. It was a common saying of the late lamented Jay, of Bath, that "the truth generally lies in the middle, and he is com- monly nearest to it who is abused by both the opposite parties." It is not improbable that the views herein expressed on the vexed question of slavery, and of our duties to the slave, may place me between two fires, thus furnishing the gratifying testimony of being nearest the truth. Whatever apology may be due to the public for allowing these disjointed scraps to go forth into the world in the shape of a book, that apology must be found, as has been intimated, in the hearts of personal friends, as expressed in the following Prospectus : PREFACE. V "TREASURED MOMENTS." BY DR. SAWTELL. Through a varied and laborious ministry, the Rev. Dr. SAWTELL, Chaplain to British and American Seamen, Havre, France, has seized upon odd moments for throwing out his thoughts upon many great questions that have agitated the church and the world. Some of his letters have been widely circulated and extensively read, quoted and commented upon ; and many have been the expressed wishes of his friends, both in Europe and America, to see them collected in a more per- manent form. No movement, however, had been made toward the accomplishment of their wishes till recently his friends in Havre, becoming alarmed at the prospect of his being driven from among them for want of support, drew up and sent to him the following petition : "To THE BKV. E. N. SAWTELL, D.D. DEAB SIB, " Memorials of departed worth possess a charm that finds an echo in every human breast ; and none touch a more tender chord, or make a stronger appeal to all the finer feelings of our nature, than those associated with Christian beneficence and self-sacrificing effort for the salvation of men. Considering, therefore, the uncertainty of life, and the precarious circumstances of your residence among us, your numerous friends in France and England concur in the ardent wish to possess some memorial of your abundant ministrations during your sojourn in Eurf pe ; and, as an expression of the prevailing desire, we earnestly solicit a compilation of such of your publications as have attracted general attention, and which, it is believed, would form a volume, not only of permanent value to the public, but of deep and lasting interest to your per- sonal friends on both sides of the Atlantic. " Confidently trusting, Dear Sir, that no feelings of delicacy on your part will cause you to shrink from a compliance with our wishes, and with assurances of our high esteem and ?ympathy in your great work, and of our united prayers for God's continual blessing upon it, we subscribe our names, &c. "JOHN SJLNSOM, "EDWARD MOXOD, "Eo. DE COHIKCK, "FEED. DE CONINCK, " HENBI MONOD, " WM. BBOOMHBAD." And many other Citizens and Friends. yi PKEFACE. In compliance with this petition, Dr. SAWTELL committed his papers and letters to the perusal and decision of friends in London, on condition, however, that in case of issuing a com- pilation THE PBOFITS OP THE WOBK SHAM BE SECUBBD TO THE SUSTAINING OP THE HATBE MISSION. After perusal of a portion of the published Letters and Manuscripts, and with the deep interest we feel in the Havre cause, we do most heartily and cordially unite in the prayer of our friends, and propose to publish, by sub- scription, a neat octavo volume of about five hundred pages, with a Steel Engraving of the Author. WILLIAM FEBGUSON, Treasurer of the London Committee for the Havre Mission. Many private letters have also been received, warmly ox- pressing the same sentiment on the subject ; a sample of which may be seen in the following extract from a letter just received from the Countess of Aldborough : " MY DEAB FBIEND, " It gives me sincere pleasure to learn that you have at length yielded to the ardent wishes of your friends, in allowing a compilation of such of your published letters, addresses, Ac., as treat of subjects of general interest. It will give to them a wider circulation, and a more permanent form ; and to your numerous friends, on both sides the Atlantic, the book will be invaluable ; but to no one can it be more so than to myself, as it will recall to mind those happy days spent under your ministry many years ago. Those were not only k a PP7> but profitable years to me, and greatly blessed to my spiritual welfare. " Whatever, therefore, brings to remembrance those sweet seasons of com- munion and fellowship with that little circle of Christian friends at Havre, will be very dear to my heart. " With devout thanksgiving to God for your spared life, and for bringing you back to the field of your former labours, and with fervent prayer for his richest blessings to rest upon you and yours, " I remain, Dear Sir, " Tours in the bonds of Christian affection, " To the Eev. Dr. Sawtell. " COBNELIA AU>BOBOTTGH." To God I commit and commend this book. If it shall please HIM to bless it, make it in any way a comfort to any dear friend, or cause it to emit one ray of light on any subject on which it treats, to HIM be all the glory. THE AUTHOR. ffavre, France, Jan. 20, 1860. CONTENTS. BOOK I. TE!J LETTERS TO THE COUNTESS OP ALDBOROUGH. LETTER I. PAG I Opportunities of understanding the subject "Watching tho diversity of gifts in pastors Their success and failure Knowing only books Nothing of the world The shoals Resolved to escape them The study of the world as it is Travels on horseback Visit to the Indians The missionaries The Heimitage Banks of the Mississippi Tho Gulf of Mexico Face to tho North The Waddells Tomb of "Washington A Sabbath in tho City Baltimore Philadelphia General Assembly Leave of absence . . i LETTER II. A jaded horse Arrival at home Eight years' absence Excitement and joy Again in the world As teacher and learner A wide field Sitting at the feet of good men Drs. Nott and Emmons Graves of Payson, Brainerd, and Whitfield Sudden call to preach Dr. Wisner Preached at Saratoga- Bonaparte's opinion Andover Seminary Intellect and soul Great revival at Portsmouth They need aid Start to their assistance . . . .10 LETTER IH- Arrival in Portsmouth Church and pulpit Inquiring meetitig Solemn scene Great work Not able to return to Andover Revival spreads Wade through deep snows, to meet appointments Beloved pastors Rev. Henry Smith His labours Return home Ripening for Heaven A visit to his house Walk to a grove His prayer parting death . . . .19 VJii CONTENTS. LETTEE IV. PAGE Fruits of the Revival- Bos ton Anniversaries-Cars to New Hampshire Recognised by a young minister Met him in the field fourteen years before -The results of that meeting-The train stops We part- Fifteen years after In a New England city At an hotel Iteading^wm Youn- gentleman enters-A spiritual father-A rector-Lessons learned-Revival ministers always men of prayer-They abound in charity are not noisy move softly, and speak gently 2 LETTER V. Itinerant school closing Adieu to New England -Revisiting the churches- Passing through Virginia Tennessee Rev. Dr. Anderson Revival in Kentucky Hasten to] it Dr. David Nelson His preaching His lenevo- l ence His weak pointe Call to the First Presbyterian church, Louisville Starting a second church It* success No detriment to the first A great blessing to the city 31 LETTER VI. Revival in Second church State of the church The influence of the world Lectures, -preaching Family in St. Louis Icebound Solemn vows to God Pastoral visits Preaching from house to house In the streetsIn dens of pollution No fear of man Shut up with Christ Study a Bethel Prayer- meetings Exhaustion Care and good nursing of friends Close of the old year First Sabbath of the new A memorable Sabbath State of mind The sermon Its influence and power over the audience Calling out the members of the church Their covenant with God The impenitent The whole scene Its happy results 35 LETTER VII. Fruits of the Revival Examination of young converts Little things arrest attention, when God's Spirit accompanies them The merchant His con- victions Conversion The first arrow The human face an eloquent preacher This Revival unique Extraordinary circumstances Lying pas- sive in God's hand No faith in machinery for "getting up Revivals" Results proved this to be a real work of God .42 LETTER VIII. Experience in Revivals If unable to judge of them, a dull scholar Opinions of Europeans The opinions of scoffing infidels How they account for "American Revivals " -Their pride-The secret of their hatred Hideous features not partial to a mirror Those living in sin hate the Bible A blind man not a good judge of colour" American Revivals " the work of the Holy Spirit Man's imperfections no proof against God's perfections Wheat and tares grow together until the harvest . . 4G CONTENTS. ix LETTER IX. PAGE Why not such a succession of Revivals in other countriea? God works by certain inherent laws la not the truth preached in England and Scotland? The gentle dew Showers Silent streams produce the same effect The old country homogeneous The new heterogeneous The origin of that infant nation Especially New England Hearing the great preachers of the old world Contrast with the American pulpit Great difference between the righteous and the wicked Doctrines preached and blest in American Revivals No church establishments An open Bible Free to sp3ak Free to act Better soil for Revivals than the old world Darkness of European minds on the subject of the great salvation Ignorance of the power of prayer Chinese feet Arid sands of the deserts Illinois prairie Priests, Bibles, magic lantern ........... 51 LETTER X. Religious establishments Union of church and state A great question Random thoughts Quiver of straws Seeing is believing God's great laboratory Mountain peak Lovely village Its site beautiful Its moral beauty Self-propelling power A walk to the church Look to the right Look to the left Bubbling springs The village encompassed No wells No cisterns The springs all-sufficient Man attempts to improve them Builds a dam A second Then a third The few are made rich The many are made poor Sickness and death ensue A picture to be studied The pure springs The running brook The pure gospel The free and open Bible The three dams are three church establishments All tend to the same end Some move faster, some slower All on the same track Bound to Rome Those who prefer going to Geneva had better change cars . . 57 BOOK II. Stamtn, Seamen's cause at Havre in 1836 Tattered flag-^Jack's chapel What has God wrought ? Sailors have gratitude Jack no longer forgotten Return- ing thanks Written expressions The ship Switzerland, of Boston Tem- perance ship Every man his Bible Renting a 'shed Sailors' boarding- house Sailors good missionaries Loss of the ship Eliza, of London The Yankee boy Sailors need our prayers Sailor washed overboard John Wilson's prayer ............ 69 The prodigal son returning to his father ........ 74 Say your prayers in fair weather ......... 80 Seamen's cause at Havre continued Origin of the seamen's chapel How came I a chaplain to seamen ? The way of man not in himself Out of health Travels prove ineffectual Voyage to China proposed Declined Something x CONTENTS. PAGE to do-Havre open-Leave Louisville-Sickness in New York-Embark for Liverpool- Arrival at Havre-Health improves-Labours increase-Larger accommodations-Appeal of ship-masters and officers-Appointment as Financial Secretary-Remonstrance-Embark for America -Labours in stirring up the churches-Eesults-Return to Havre-Seamen's chapel to be built-Nearly a year's delay-Breaking ground -Estimates -Filthy lucre a troublesome companion Small debt- English hearts respond Dedication Settled for life-New troubles Pressed into another field- Will not take the responsibility of deciding Friends decide for me Against my inclination Another remonstrance Submit and obey Embark for America Enter a new field Seven years' labour Strength failing- Establish a female seminary Providence points again to Havre The orphan child The reappointment to France 84 Forty days amid ocean gales 95 FOUR LETTERS, ON THE CHARACTER OF AMERICAN SEAMEN, AND THE TREMENDOUS EVILS OF THE SYSTEM OF ADVANCED WAGES. LETTER I. Great changes in twenty years Sailors not now what they were then Foreigners not the sons of New England Do not understand the English language Know nothing of the Bible The school in which they have been educated Variety in a crew The farmer sailor Been round the Horn Loss of life and property Lack of interest on the subject of reforming the system 98 LETTER II. Cruelty on shipboard Terrible effects of the system of advanced wages Charles P kidnapped Beaten almost to death Arrives in Havre In the hospital Mind unhinged Partial recovery Crew of twenty coloured sailors Three murders on the voyage Eight others nratilated Numbers in the hospital Condition of sailors contrasted with that of slaves Reasons for the illustration Different effects upon the public mind Apathy in the one all excitement in the other The golden rule reversed The effect of working by the rule as Christ gave it Postscript 108 LETTER III. Evidences of a deterioration in the character of seamen What shipmasters were What many of them now are Captain C making his last voyage A captain's wife A third straw Are chaplains doing their duty ? A supposed case Impure water Casks examined Stevedore Stagnant pool Stevedore arrested Case argued Pleads his own cause Lawyer replies Contrast with the system of advanced wages Don't eat sailors CONTENTS. xi PAGE What the Bible teaches What is the body to the soul ? A moral cesspool is the forecastle of a ship No marvel Sowing to the wind A Websterian speech Return to Captain C Old-fashioned shipmasters Solemn ques- tion A national disgrace American sailors in the streets The police Fragments of ears and lips Our representatives Surgeon A bloody fight Nothing more common The crimsoned cheek 124 LETTEE IV. The remedy ! the remedy ! What can be done ? Much, if the public mind can be awakened Education necessary All other classes thought of 500,000 sailors Taste, money, and skill expended on the ship Nothing on the sailor To cleanse the forecastle Maritime schools Not on land, but the sea Comparison Reform school Westfield The word of God No right education without it What is the chief end of man? Objections Too expensive Means of lessening expense Advantages Early mental disci- plineHabits of cleanliness Religious training Employment of pious sea-captains Saving thousands of our youth Self-interest requires it Marine losses Insurance, twenty-six millions annually Our national pride requires it Conclusion Uniform dress Boston blue The chapel a place for choosing a good crew .......... 134 Notes from my Diary The Hospital Convalescent Faith strengthened by sight A mother's heart made glad Hugh Thomas A runaway boy Trip to England Edinburgh, No. 1, Market-place A mother's faith and prayer Instructive providence Blind Bartimeus A sermon The results . . 147 Notes and Incidents continued 152 The grave of Alonzo C. Marshall An only son His sudden death The city of Havre High table-land around The quiet unique spot Surrounding scenery Roman Catholic and Protestant grounds The grave-stone The epitaph Drop a tear "Be ye also ready" Singular incident Another only son, John Marshall 1G6 BOOK III. FOUR LETTERS WRITTEN IN 1846. LETTEE I. Motto Jefferson Maryland editor Facts respecting slavery at the South Character of the age Opportunities of understanding the subject Erro- neous impressions atthe North Southern characters not understood Slaves happy and cheerful Kindly feelings between masters and slaves The coloured matron Seventeen children Her affection for her master and mistress No freer than I am Slaves not over-worked Runaway slaves Their desire to return to their master The slave steadily emerging from barbarism to a state of Christian civilisation ....... 176 xii CONTENTS. LETTER II. PAGE The morning cometh Changes in public sentiment Slavery an evil The slave beside his master In the counting-room A preacher Slaves may learn The law a dead letter Slaves made pets Inherit their master's property White people driving out the slaves Changes in plantations Slavery no economy Hope for the slave Hope for Africa -Hope for our country Increased attention to the Christian education of slaves Large churches of slaves Schools for the children taught by the mistress Sabbath school instruction Christian ladies slaves to their slaves .... 182 LETTEE III. Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands to God More kind sympathy and real benevolence at the South shown to the slaves than can be found at the North They better understand it The wealthy planter A Sabbath with him His church His own slave the preacher Master present Singing and weeping Educating his slaves for Liberia Many have gone Letters from them Manner of teaching Discipline Motives What he was, and what he is . . . . . . . . . . LETTER IV. ' My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord " Emigration of whites to the United States Supplanting the slaves Papal slaves taking the place of African slaves The one coming to learn what liberty is, the other going to Africa, to teach what they have learned United States Umpire between two continents of slaves God never in a hurry Let us learn wisdom Both North and South need to learn Both are guilty Liberia with the gospel, the hope of Africa . . 194 THREE LETTERS, ADDRESSED TO AN ABOLITIONIST OF THE GARRISON SCHOOL. LETTER I. Can an Abolitionist err? Keystone of the arch drops out Important advice Cease to do evil Vindictive spirit Narrow views Quarrelling with God's providence God can govern the world Humility Paul's advice- Different kinds of slavery Bondage to sin and Satan Abolition meetings in Boston and New York Frightful picture Contrast with Christian slaves Liberty worth having Interchange of scenes between the North and South- -Forming Abolition societies South to liberate Northern slaves . 199 CONTENTS. xiii LETTEE II. PAGE All men have something to do To find the proper field Always in reach Paul a model missionary Brainerd and Stoddard Preaching to, not against, people The Saviour came into the world not to condemn, but redeem No evidence of courage in standing at a distance to scold and denounce Desecration of the pulpit Felix Neff A change in the temper and spirit of Abolitionists much needed When that change takes place, there will be hope for the slave and hope for the country .... 206 LETTEE III. Young America boiled down Experience in slave states Always enough to do within my own bounds United with an anti-slavery society Rebound of Northern fanaticism School of slaves when settled in Louisville School broken up Young America has no time for education A foreign field New kind of slavery Interlaced with commerce Grapple with it Better fight an enemy hand to hand Some prefer being at a distance, as it is more safe Paper bullets quite harmless Young pastor Like priest, like people Preach the whole gospel Christ the centre Obey God The world is the field Too large for one man Select the spot Pack your trunk-Be off 212 Coloured schools in Louisville resuscitated Letter from the agent of the American Bible Society 220 APHOEISMS. 1. The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever 2. God's purposes formed in infinite benevolence 3. God's law, not his decrees, the rule of action 4. God's law of love ; the golden rule 5. The law of love acted upon ; the salvation of our country 6. A vindictive spirit always prolific of evil 7. The heart is deceitful ; none but God can know it 8. Slavery a bad thing ; God will bring a good thing out of it 9. Slavery not to be removed by incendiary movements 10. God can and will do it through his own ap- pointed means ....... i .... 224 LETTEE SUPPLEMENTAEY. Modern Reformers Their spirit not the spirit of Christ Their plan of re- forming the world not God's plan Their weapons not of God's choosing Their lax views of God's truth leads to infidelity Drawing a picture of what the world ought to be Chalking out their plan Study the Bible, not to learn their duty, but to bend it into the support of their measures They seethe it and stretch it It speaks the same truth still Now under the anvil, now into the vice The result the same Here begins the terrible contest with God and the Bible Both are discarded The pride of their heart has deceived them Peter and Paul When men's thoughts and ways XIV CONTENTS. PAGE are in harmony with God's, they can afford to be amiable The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God More than one side to the slavery question The malignant spirit in discussing the subject of slavery has kept the whole country like a ship in a storm Appeal to Christians, not to politicians A supposed case What then? Masters and slaves both have souls The gospel method None of men's nostrums Modern sciolists Missions Their proclamation Universal equality and brotherhood Mis- sionaries sent to England, Eussia, Germany Scotland, pitch into House of Old John Knox Type of fogeyism It is demolished Log cabin erected Their-Bible Tom Fame Atlantic Monthly Calvin Wycliffe Huss Scotland receiving new light Reformation nearly complete Dr. C. sent to the South Takes the bull by the horns Dies a martyr These are man's ways Young America The world emptied, swept, and garnished Christ and his gospel virtually repudiated The contrast God's ways not man's God's proclamation Go ye into all the world Preach the gospel Paul the missionary His text His sermon Its happy results Holy Spirit The work spreads All is love, peace, joy Christ honoured The gospel honoured Paul's life and usefulness prolonged The abstract question of slavery practically settled before it is discussed The difference between God's ways and man's ways Man works at the branches, God lays the axe at the root Man looks upon the outward appearance God looketh upon the heart Man's gospel is a gospel of wrath God's gospel is one of love A refiner's fire, and fuller's soap 233 Muttum in Parvo; or, comforting thoughts ....... 245 Present Lnqpressjons and convictions ........ 247 Bright prospects opening to the African race 249 SKETCHES OF THE BEPUBLIC OP LIBEEIA. BY J. "W. LUGENBEEL. CHAPTER I. Geography Soil Rivers Settlements Monrovia New Georgia Caldwell Virginia Kentucky Millsburg Marshall Edina Buchanan Bexley Greenville Readsville Lexington Louisiana Maryland in Liberia . . . . .'.-.'. . . .251 CHAPTER H. Climate and seasons t f * t t t t . . 261 CHAPTER in. Productions 268 CHAPTER IV. Productions (continued) . . ^ . . . . 278 CHAPTER .V. Productions (continued) 286 Native Africans in Liberia their customs and superstitions .... 293 Constitution of the republic of Liberia ........ 304 Flag and seal of the republic of Liberia 318 Colonisation its principles and aims . . . . . . . 318 American Colonisation Society . . . ... . . . 335 Constitution of the American Colonisation Society . * 350 Twenty reasons for the success of Liberia . . '.'... . . 352 Common sense inference 354 Population of Liberia . . . : '. . ... . . . .355 BOOK I. TEJN" LETTEES TO THE COUNTESS OF ALDBOEOUGH, TTPON THE SUBJECT OF " By whom shall Jacob arise ? " Amos vii. 2. " O Lord, revive thy work." HabakTcuk iii. 2. " I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel." Ezefc. xxxvi. 37. " Your heavenly Father giveth the Holy Spirit to them that ask him." Luke xi. 13. LETTER I. ENTERING A NEW SCHOOL. SEEING THE WORLD AS IT IS. MY DEAR FRIEND, In our first conversation upon " American Revivals," my tongue cheerfully responded to the questions your ladyship propounded ; but when subsequently you ask my views, in writing, and what have been my opportu- nities of forming a judgment of their character and in- fluence, and what of my personal experience, and of the part I have taken in them, I confess my judgment recoils at narrating what my heart loves to dwell upon. For though, with gratitude to God, I acknowledge that my acquaintance with revivals, and with distinguished ministers and pastors whom God hath delighted to honour in promoting them, has been peculiar, and my opportunities for participating in them have been neither few nor small, yet so exceedingly difficult is it to speak of one's own experience without giving to the narration, at least, the semblance of egotism, that for months I have been shrinking from the attempt, and now yield only under the conviction that, in your importunities, you are moved by a sincere love to your Master's cause, and my prayer is, that the same love may guide my pen in so delicate an under- taking. To begin then at the beginning : During my academical, collegiate, and theological course of studies, I was much in the habit of studying the character and watching closely the habits of ministers of the gospel, espe- A 2 4 TREASURED MOMENTS. cially settled pastors, noting carefully their diversity of gifts, their peculiar talents and tact for reaching and influencing different classes of mind, the ease with which some could adapt themselves to circumstances, as much at home in the Sabbath school as in the hall of science, before a congrega- tion of slaves as before an assembly of the elite and savans of the land, and could so modify their language and simplify their illustrations, that the heart of the child and the sage would be made to throb and thrill together under the power of their eloquence. Thus, under the administrations of such pastors, I discovered that the ignorant became enlightened, the wise became wiser, and God's truth found a lodgment in the darkest minds, as it did in those of the highest culture In perfect contrast with this, I remarked others of acknow- ledged piety and talents, clear, logical minds, stored with rich and varied learning, who utterly failed in making their piety or talents tell upon a community : they left behind them no deep traces of either. After much study and watchfulness, deep reflections and many comparisons, I was brought to the conclusion that their failure was to be attributed mainly, if not solely, to their ignorance of everything but books. Sent, perhaps, at an early age, from an obscure neighbour- hood to an academy, thence to a college, from college to a theological seminary, and from the seminary straight into the pulpit, a pastor and shepherd, to watch for souls, where every class and description of mind and character are to be met and dealt with the force of early education in one, the power of habit in another, old and deep-rooted prejudices in a third, and all with tempers diverse one from another how shall they deal with these minds, and give ho unhandy touch ? How can they become a Paul at once ? " be made all things to all men" ? " To the Jews, become as a Jew, to the weak become as weak "? Ah ! they find all their learning at fault. They can quote the classics with exactness, can scatter to the winds the sophistry and subleties of vain philosophers and learned infi- dels ; but these are neither the one nor the other ; they are AMERICAN REVIVALS. 5 plain unlettered men, belonging to the mighty masses, to whom the gospel is to be preached, and from among whom her most illustrious trophies are to be gathered. Now, where are we to look for their defect, their utter inability to meet and deal with these cases ? They are ripe scholars : their Latin, Greek, and Hebrew are at their fingers' ends, their minds richly stored. Yes ; but alas ! of man in his everyday life, and of the ceaseless workings and operations of his mind, and of the heaving throes and surging billows of the great world around them, and how to cast in the gospel net, that they might by all means save some, they know nothing at all, consequently are too dogmatical and self-opinioned in everything pertaining to books, but credulous and easily imposed upon in all the practical duties of their office, and in the common affairs of life ; and what increased the evil in many cases was, that during their academical studies they became affianced to some blooming maiden, and the day of their induction into the ministry found them at the Hymeneal altar, as if to cut off the last hope of seeing the world as it is. Whether this may account in part for the frequent changes of pastors we will not decide ; but it is a melancholy fact, that not a few of those who have by four steps leaped from the plough to the pulpit, have been compelled by one step to leap from the pulpit back to the plough. Discovering, as I thought, the shoals on which so many vessels had foundered, "earthen vessels," to whom was committed the sacred treasure, I marked them early upon my chart, and resolved to give them a wide berth. On being licensed, therefore, to preach the gospel, and receiving ordination as an evangelist, I was as free and untrammelled as the uncaged bird. No alliance with church or maiden, I entered at once into another school another department of learning, and prosecuted studies not found in the course of our best seminaries : the study of the world as it is, not as we find it in books ; the study of men as we find them in active, every -day life ; and of pastors and missionaries as seen in their respective fields, with their armour on and burnished. 6 TREASURED MOMENTS. Turning a deaf ear to all appeals for a settlement, I mounted a horse, and from 1824 to 1828 inclusive, I travelled over the length and breadth of our almost boundless country. And with such ardour did I enter this new field of study, that at the close of the first year I was not a little surprised to find that, exclusive of the territories of three Indian tribes and the district of Columbia, I had traversed fourteen states of the Union, amounting in the aggregate to over seven thousand miles. Starting south from Tennessee, through Alabama ; then into the wild, unbroken forests of the Chickasaws and Choctaws ; visiting missionary stations ; forcing my way through cane- brakes, so thick and interlaced as to be obliged often to dis- mount, and with my knife cut a path for my horse ; then along the banks of the Mississippi, crossing bayous and swollen streams ; foundering in the quicksands ; then over the plains of Louisiana ; and from the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, turning my horse northward, before the expiration of the year found myself on the banks of the Merrimac, among the granite hills of New Hampshire. Some of the most thrilling incidents and hair-breadth escapes of my life occurred during this first year's mission, but which may not incumber this letter ; and instead thereof, will, with gratitude, record the goodness and loving-kindness of God in bringing my heart into contact and sweet communion with some of the noblest specimens of renovated man and Christian beneficence that it has ever been my privilege to meet : such as Father Kingsburg, that apostle to the Indians, and his co-labourer, Byington ; Colonel Fulsome, the Christian Indian, the scholar, and statesman. O what a lesson I received ! nnd what a privilege I felt it to be, to preach, though by an interpreter, to those children of the forest, assembled on the Sabbath, neatly clad, their countenances beaming with intel- ligence, and lighted up with hope, joy, and gratitude, as the stranger pointed them to the crucified and glorified ONE, who is soon to have the heathen for his inheritance, and the utter- most parts of the earth for his possession. Mayhew proved AMERICAN REVIVALS. 7 indeed a Bethel to me ; my soul was refreshed, and I went on my way rejoicing. On this tour, too, I spent a memorable Sabbath at the Hermitage, in the family of General Jackson ; preached in his own chapel, where he and his wife and coloured people, and his neighbours from the surrounding country, gathered together, forming an assembly of peculiar interest ; some were moved to tears. The remainder of the Sabbath was spent principally in the study of the Word of God. The old veteran seemed to think that no other book was worthy of the day ; and in occasional remarks upon some of its glorious fundamental doctrines, and of Christ and the great salvation, the tears coursed down his furrowed cheeks. Morning and evening the family assembled in the drawing-room, with their domestics, where the Scriptures were read, a hymn of praise sung, and we all bowed together around the family altar to worship the God of the Bible. After two days and two nights of more than ordinary interest and pleasure, I departed, giving glory to God. This, too, was the year that I first felt the warm beatings of those noble Christian hearts, the Waddells of Virginia. Stood in the pulpit, and preached in the same little log church, standing in that same shady grove where the eloquent Dr. Waddell so long preached after he became blind ; and whom Wirt so beautifully and graphically describes, when once addressing communicants at the Lord's table, " Turning his sightless balls to heaven, and in the tenderest and most impassioned tones, exclaimed, * Socrates died like a philosopher, but Jesus like a God.' " From this sacred spot to the capital, I, for the first time, enjoyed the luxury of letting fall a tear upon the grave of Washington ; a tear of gratitude to God, that in this dark world of oppression and sorrow, we behold, occasionally, a man endowed with peculiar gifts and virtues, looming up above his fellows, and standing as a beacon light to future generations. While in the capital, I sat at the feet of that earnest, laborious servant of Christ, Rev. Daniel Baker, D.D., now in heaven. He insisted on my sharing the 8 TREASURED MOMENTS. labours of the Sabbath with him, promising, that when I became a pastor he would (D.V.) return the favour. He did return it with interest, some ten years after ; after listen- ing to some of the speeches of the most eloquent members of Congress, such as the eccentric Randolph, Webster, Clay, Calhoun, and others, all of whom have passed to their final account, I left for the city of Baltimore, where I mingled in the society of warm-hearted pastors and Christians, and where, on the Sabbath, I enjoyed the privilege of both hearing and preaching the word. The following week found me quartered in Philadelphia, a delegate from Union Presbytery to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. Here opened an exciting chapter in my new department of learning, which, to an ardent, youthful mind, bent upon studying men as we find them in church and in state, was one of deep and thrilling interest ; and for some ten days that body, in all its varied phases and exciting debates, composed, as it was, of some of the best and greatest men -of the nation, was, to my mind, one pro- longed and enchanting drama. I was, to be sure, but a pupil, but felt confident of being in a good school. My natural diffidence and distrust of my own powers held me back from that too common error of young members, that of attempting by their maiden speeches to enlighten the fathers in Israel, whose mental optics they imagine have become dimmed by age ; hence, before these pregnant youth are all safely delivered and laid in the straw, much precious time runs to waste. So sensitive was I to this error, I scarcely allowed my voice to be heard upon that floor through all its sessions, save in the yeas and nays, which gave the finale to exciting questions, and a quietus to the more exciting debates ; and but for one little circumstance I might have escaped notoriety altogether, which, as a young man, I was anxious to do. This circumstance grew out of certain rules of the house requiring members, who desired leave of absence, to send up their request to the Moderator in writing, stating their reasons. These requests being read, a vote of the Assembly was taken, and if, AMERICAN REVIVALS. 9 in the minds of the house, the reasons were of sufficient weight to sustain the request, that member was set free from the remaining sessions. And as all the important business before the house had been disposed of, and as I had not seen my parents during the entire course of my education, I ventured to send up my request for leave of absence, and in the simpli- city of my heart stated as the only reason, " That I had been absent from my family more than eight years" This announcement was like an electric shock, and before the Moderator had time to put the question, the spontaneous cry of the whole Assembly was, " Yes, yes, yes, let him have leave, he deserves it." Being a perfect stranger to most of the members who had just voted, without knowing or thinking of the kind of family to which allusion had been made, and having now carried the house by acclamation upon the only question with which I had ever troubled them, when the youthful victor arose, with these laurels fresh upon his brow, to bow himself out of the house, it was like opening another electric battery, every eye was upon him ; intense excitement, wonder, and astonishment followed, as if every member had jumped to the sudden conclusion that that modest, retiring youth must have had the most indulgent of parents, to have allowed him to marry at so early an age. The two succeeding years, in which it was my privilege to have a seat in that body placed me upon different and, at at times, upon more responsible ground. My personal knowledge of the country, of ministers, and churches having greatly extended, I did not find it so easy to sequester myself ; felt more at home, and took a more active and prominent part in the business and deliberations of that distinguished eccle- siastical court. But more anon. Yours, &c. 10 LETTER II. LEARNER AND TEACHER. MY DEAR FRIEND, We must bear in mind the difference between a jaded horse and a steam-engine, to account for the fact, that, anxious as I was to see " my family," three Sabbaths intervened from the time I bowed myself out of that assembly in Philadelphia to the time I lighted at my father's door ; a distance of some 500 miles. But these were memorable Sabbaths spent in Brooklyn, New York, New Haven, Con- necticut, and Providence, R I., in Christian families deeply interested in the cause of missions among the Indians ; and my recent visit among them, the incidents and facts gathered from personal observation, the hymns I could sing in their native language all gave a peculiar zest to our Christian intercourse. I also preached each Sabbath ; and never having learned the art of reading sermons, and being now in a part of the country where the practice was universal, gave to my preaching an air of novelty, which to the masses was not a little exciting : nor can I cease to praise God for guiding me into those families, and awakening in them and others the kindness and Christian sympathy that everywhere awaited me ; and though the parents have long since passed to their reward, their children are among my dearest and most cherished friends, with whom, by the aid of the pen, I have held sweet converse from that day to this. Of the joys and delights of the few subsequent weeks shel- AMERICAN REVIVALS. 11 tered beneath the paternal roof, in the society of loved parents, brothers and sisters, friends and neighbours, preaching on Sabbaths to crowded assemblies, in which I could recognise the companions of my childhood, the associates of my boyish days, my teachers and my school-fellows, all hanging upon my lips. Ah ! of these things I will not speak ; they are among the sacred treasures of the heart, of which a stranger meddleth not. But at the expiration of these jubilant hours, I sallied forth once more from my father's house and re-entered the world in the double capacity of teacher and learner.* My field and school ground were sufficiently large and rich in resources to satisfy the loftiest ambition, extending from the shores of the Atlantic to the lakes, and from the banks of the Potomac to the Keimebeck. Wherever the Lord was pouring out his Holy Spirit, there I wished and aimed to be. I longed to learn the holy art of winning souls to Christ ; and where could I better learn it than to go where Christ himself was at work by the power of the Holy Spirit whom he pro- mised to send into the world? And in what better school, and under what better teaching, could I have been placed than sitting at the feet of those great and holy men pastors and evangelists whom Christ delighted to honour in these glorious revivals such as Nevins, Baker, Wilson, Livingstone, Patter- son, Nettleton, Finney, Cox, Griffin, Beecher, Wisner, Cor- nelius, and the Danas ; not to mention others, all of whom it was my privilege not only to hear, but with some of them to labour for weeks and even months ? Then in passing from place to place I often found it convenient to slip into the lecture-rooms of some of our best seminaries, and have my soul stirred within me under the impassioned eloquence. of such men as Professor Alexander, Miller, and others. Then * In addition to this double capacity, I had also volunteered my services to collect funds and books for an infant seminary in Tennessee, which occupied all my. spare moments, and resulted in putting many hundreds of dollars into its treasury, and adding many hundreds of volumes to its library. I was, there- fore, never iu want of something to do. 12 TREASURED MOMENTS. again it was my delight to get among the patriarchs, whose silvered locks carry you back a century, holding on to their three-cornered hats, short clothes, silk stockings, and silver- plated shoe-buckles. Miles have I gone out of my way just to spend a night with such venerable fathers in Israel as Dr. Nott, of Connecticut, bordering upon his hundredth year; and old Dr. Emmons, of Massachusetts, not many years behind. What a treat to be trundled back fourscore years and ten, and through the optics of such antiquaries take a peep at the church and the world as they then stood ! My visit to the latter of these patriarchs was a never-to-be-forgotten one. The evening was spent in conversation at once delightful, instructive, and impressive. My sleep was sweet and invigo- rating. Morning prayers and breakfast refreshed both soul and body. My horse was at the door, the words " farewell " and " God bless you," were on the tip of my tongue, when this venerable theological giant threw his piercing eye upon me and said, " Be seated ; I want you to read to me one of your sermons/' This was like a clap of thunder from a clear sky ; and from his tone and manner I knew there was no retreat. It so happened, however, that while I had a full supply of skeletons, I had with me but one sermon fully written out, and that was my trial sermon before Presbytery, on the subject of the Atonement. " That is the very one," said he, " I want to hear." As I read, he would occasionally throw in a kind and just criticism ; and at the close, he ex- claimed, "That will do," and walked straight to his bureau, selected two of his own sermons upon Eph. i. 10, Is. i. ]8, both written within that year, 1826. "There," said he, " please accept these, with many thanks for your sermon and your visit." I did accept them, gratefully, and keep them still as remarkable specimens of chirography, to say nothing of the .logical powers exhibited in their composition by this Nestor of one of the phases of New England theology. Written upon the large-sized sheets of letter-paper no in- terlineation not a crooked line not an undotted i, nor an AMERICAN REVIVALS. 13 uncrossed t all plain as the printed page ; and so carefully punctuated, that were they sent to the press as they are, the compositor would not find a word or point to alter. A beau- tiful type, thought I, of the character of his mind, and the perspicuity with which it perceived and unfolded divine truth. As a biblical scholar, sermoniser, and profound logical reasoner, he had few, if any, superiors ; yet as a successful preacher, to win souls and gather them into the fold of Christ, he was no more to be compared with such men as Kevins, Patterson, and Nettleton, than was Franklin's angler, exulting over "one glorious nibble" to be compared with the fishermen of Galilee, who, in obedience to their Lord, cast their net on " the right side of the ship, and drew it to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three." In a word, in passing from city to city, and from town to town, I aimed to see and hear whatever was calculated to move my heart, and make it better. My veneration for good and great men, dead or alive, amounted to a passion. Hence on my first visit to Portland, the standing in the pulpit and preaching where Payson preached, and to gaze upon the green sod that hid from my weeping eyes his clayey tabernacle, were to me scenes of tender and thrilling interest ; and when in North Hampton, to gaze upon the house of Edwards, and kneel at the grave of Brainerd ; or in Newburyport, to enter the vault where are deposited the ashes of Whitfield, open his coffin, and lay my hand upon the skull of that prince of preachers ; these these were the luxuries I indulged in, and for anything beyond these, in the way of recreation, I had neither taste nor time. Being at all times, and in all places, a learner, and at the same time holding myself in readiness to take the place of a teacher at any call of Providence, that call was sometimes so sudden as to make it a severe trial of my faith to obey. For example, when once in Philadelphia, Dr. Patterson's immense church was filled, on a Sabbath morning, to its utmost capacity, with people attracted from all parts of the city and country by the fame of the great Mr. Finney, who 14 TREASURED MOMENTS. was to have preached, but providentially prevented. The pastor was ill ; the hour of service had arrived, and no one to preach. I was sent for in haste ; my very heart seemed to leap into my mouth. I saw clearly God's finger in it, and did not dare to say no. When I ascended that pulpit, I saw in every look the chagrin and disappointment that filled every mind and vexed every soul. Oh, what a time, and what an occasion for lifting up one's heart to God ! For a stripling to face such an audience, whose very look showed how much they disdained him, was anything but gratifying to human pride. If ever I prayed, I prayed then ; if ever I lost confidence in the arm of flesh and leaned solely on God's arm, I did it then. Not the scrape of a pen had I with me, and felt perfectly assured that, if God did not help me, I must utterly fail. But God did help me, to rise superior to all the outward manifesta- tions and the inward misgivings. Never did I preach with more ease to myself ; never, apparently, with more power ; and to God be all the glory. Before that week ended I had the satisfaction of knowing that under that sermon more than one poor soul was brought low and humble at the foot of the cross, and found peace in believing in Christ. And I trust I shall be excused if I here mention, to the honour of my Master, a little incident connected with that day's sermon, which humbled me, and served ever afterwards to cheer and encourage me under similar trials. Rev. Dr. Wisner, of Boston, had arrived in Philadelphia the previous Saturday, and like other strangers anxious to hear Mr. Finney, was in that crowded assembly, though I knew it not. The following Monday he attended a meeting of the Philadelphia Presbytery, convened to consider a call which one of its members had received from a church in Boston. I was providentially present. Dr. Wisner recognising me, crossed the aisle into the pew where I was seated, and in a manner so kind and affectionate as to draw tears from my eyes, took my hand, pressed it warmly, and said, " I noticed your embarrassment yesterday morning, and felt deeply for you, and though AMERICAN REVIVALS. 15 partaking of the general disappointment, I did pray for you, and, as you are young and timid, I wish to say this for your encouragement : " I consider one of your illustrations yester- day, in showing the inexcusable guilt of the sinner before God, and the necessity of God's sovereign grace and power to save him, worth coming all the way from Boston to Philadelphia to hear, to know, and to remember" This, coming from such a man and such a divine as Dr. Wisner, so overpowered and crushed my heart that I with- drew myself, entered my chamber, humbled myself before God, and wept bitterly to think I should have so distrusted him and manifested such a cowardly, man-fearing spirit. But that providence was greatly blessed to me, as was also other providences very dissimilar criticisms which were anything but flattering, and served to keep me humble. The previous summer I was, for a little season, resting at Saratoga Springs ; was invited to preach. Among the audi- tors were Joseph Bonaparte, ex-King of Spain, his daughter, with other members of his family, and friends. My subject was " The Folly and Madness of Sinners" founded upon the text, " How long halt ye between two opinions ? If the Lord be God, serve him." The place and the circumstances in which so much folly was daily seen might have served, perhaps, to give peculiar poignancy to the truth. Be that as it may, Bonaparte, on his way home, was overheard, in exclaim- ing to his family and friends, rather angrily, " Well, you see, by going there this evening we have got nothing but a tremendous threshing" Such remarks set me to thinking. I reflected much and seriously upon my manner of presenting God's revealed truth. Did I speak the truth in love ? Might not my manner and language be so changed, or modified, as more beautifully to harmonise with the spirit of the gospel, which is the very essence of love " good news" " glad tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people" ? I strove hard for the mastery over a natural disposition, which I discovered in myself, of severity against sin and sinners, and I think the 16 TREASURED MOMENTS. victory partially won. Thus preaching and hearing, and coming in contact with all classes and descriptions of men, and the practical workings of truth upon the heart, I was daily learning what I might never have learned had I settled at once over a church in some obscure neighbourhood, or even in a populous city. But seeking, as I did, to throw myself into places where the Holy Spirit was at work in convincing and converting sinners, often in the prayer-meetings and among the anxious, weeping with those that wept, and rejoicing with those that rejoiced, I discovered that the warm impulses of my young heart were becoming too much like the waters of a swollen stream, liable to overflow its banks. I preached and prayed as if I would take heaven by violence, and I appeared to myself, as well as to others, to be .bearing constantly upon my heart the weight and responsibility of thousands of anxious souls, for whom I must give an account to God. In view of my impaired health, and the importance of preserving a proper balance between the impulses of the heart and a sound judgment, and a well- disciplined discriminating mind, I resolved to suspend for a while my work as a teacher, and once more resume my place as a scholar solely. For this purpose I turned aside, and sheltered myself within the walls of Andover Seminary. But oh, what a change from a field of active, heart-moving, and soul-stirring labours into a little room ten by twelve, the very ceiling and walls of which seemed intellectual, full of eyes and theological diagrams ! Cold enough almost to take away one's breath. The first contact with students was like the touch of a corpse, their conversation exact as geometrical figures, they seemed even to pray upon a straight line, as if aware of being watched, to see if they could toe the mark with their eyes shut. All intellect and no soul ! Really, thought I, this is a leap from the tropics to the polar snows ; from a burning ship to the summit of an iceberg. These first impressions, however, gradually yielded to more correct and favourable views, though for days I seemed like a miner in AMERICAN REVIVALS. 17 the trenches, pecking his way through one artificial barrier after another, to get at the magazine. But I found, to my joy, that magazines were here, and that they could be reached, taking one by one ; a short prayer, a word fitly spoken, a startling fact of some new-born soul, was like striking a rich vein, the heart leaped out. The fact is, in all seminaries of learning, it is the tyranny of the intellect over the soul, over all its finer sensibilities and sympathies. The heart is kept a prisoner, and if ever allowed to show itself, it is only by look- ing through its prison gates, or oozing out through the tiny artificial tubes which its despotic master occasionally permits. And never, never, till the student enters "the wide, wide world," and begins to deal with hearts, is he able to disinthral the captive, and restore the soul to its proper supremacy. Then, not till then, will the warm sympathies of the soul, like the swollen Mississippi, gush forth, sweeping into oblivion all the artificial barriers that have been thrown around it. With such reflections I was able to make the allowance, and to see more clearly than ever how important to take into considera- tion all the circumstances in which men are placed, before passing a hasty judgment. I further reflected upon my own peculiar state of mind and feelings, and finally came, as I thought, to the very logical conclusion, " that a man who had been labouring under the scorching heat of a tropical sun, with an intermittent fever, may not be the safest judge of the changes in the state and temperature of the atmosphere, and should the mercury chance to fall suddenly, from 110 down to 60, he will be very likely to think it has gone down to zero. The ice once broken, I drank, and was refreshed, and soon felt that it was good to be there. I listened with intense delight and, I trust, profit to the lectures of Professors Wood, Stewart, Porter, and others, who now " rest from their labours, and their works do follow them." This was in the autumn of 1826. It was my purpose to remain a year in this school of the prophets ; but the Lord purposed otherwise. " It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps : " man proposes ; God B 18 TREASURED MOMENTS. disposes. In the ensuing winter it pleased God to visit the city of Portsmouth, N. H., with a remarkable outpouring of his Holy Spirit a revival which extended to the adjacent towns of Dover, Rye, Newington, and others. The worn-out pastors of those churches wrote to the professors of this seminary for assistance ; the lot fell, of course, upon the irregular student, who had joined no class, had not entered the seminary through the regular door, but climbed up some other way ; and having also some experience in revivals, the voice was unanimous, that the finger of God pointed to me, and his providence loudly proclaimed, " Thou art the man" Being a child of providence from my birth, I inwardly exclaimed, " What was I, that I could withstand God ? " And, however strong my inclination to remain, I walked softly to my room, committed myself once more to the guidance of Him, who had never forsaken me in the darkest hour, packed my trunk, and in the midst of one of the most terrific snow- storms entered a stage-coach for Portsmouth, not knowing the things that should befall me there. LETTER III. A GREAT REVIVAL. MY DEAR FRIEND, After being whirled through a drifting snow-storm for ten hours, I reached Portsmouth just in time to be told, that their faithful pastor, Dr. Putman, was absent ; that an appointment for preaching had been made for that evening, for whomsoever the Lord might send from Andover ; and that the hour of service had arrived ; that the people were gathering, and there was no time to be lost in repairing to the house of God. I had never been in that city before. I followed the multitude to the church, but oh, what a church ! Rightly had it been termed the "minister's slaughter-house," from the wear and tear of lungs in attempting to fill it. The first glance of my eye was to that Satanic pinnacle, upon which I was to be placed, to address that vast assembly. I say Satanic, for who but the enemy of souls could ever have suggested the idea of placing God's ambassadors at such a distance from his auditors ? Need he ascend into heaven to bring Christ down from above ? The first thought was to take my stand on the floor before the pulpit, but another glance of the eye showed me one gallery towering above another, and that people were actually flocking into the third region. No alternative was left but to wend my way up the pulpit-stairs ; but for every step upward, my heart sunk two backward. From this pulpit I surveyed the audience. What a change, thought I, a few hours have produced ! The dawn B 2 20 TREASURED MOMENTS. of day found me in a quiet room, breathing an intellectual atmosphere, surrounded by men whose faces were all set Zion-ward ; now, before this vast, promiscuous assembly, some walking one way and some another ; some halting between two opinions ; believers and unbelievers ; the broken-hearted and the hard-hearted ; the anxious, trembling sinner, and the scoffing infidel ! Oh, how can I, a perfect stranger, address them ? Who is sufficient for these things ? I selected two rather lengthy hymns, to afford me the more time for collecting my thoughts, and in trying to calm down and reconcile my feelings to this new and extraordinary position of being at such a distance, and such a height, as to be cut off from all sympathy with my hearers. I selected for my text these words, " Choose ye this day whom ye will serve." I had hardly opened my subject before I felt quite at home, not- withstanding the elevation to which I had to raise my voice in order to be heard. And there was something, too, in the very atmosphere that assured me God was of a truth in that place ; not in his ordinary providence only, but in the power of the Holy Ghost moving upon the great deep of hearts quickening the conscience enlightening the understanding- taking of the things of Christ, and showing them to sinners. The fixed attention the death-like silence the steady, anxious look and the frequent application of the handker- chief to the eyes all bespoke the presence and power of Him, who is the resurrection and the life. At the close of the service, I invited all those who wished to converse with me personally on the subject of their souls' salvation, to retire at once to their pastor's house ; and let all Christians go to their homes, and retire to their closets. The scene that ensued was a very tender and melting one ; room after room became filled ; a few praying Christians accompanied their anxious relations and friends. All was quiet and solemn as the house of mourning; but the feeling was deep, and, in some instances, of intense agony. No pen can describe such a meeting. I conversed with each one separately, giving a few words of AMERICAN REVIVALS. 21 counsel as I thought suited to each individual case ; and, before offering prayer, made a short address, with some general remarks and advice suited to all, as God gave me utterance. And though more than thirty years have passed since that memorable night, the spirit of that meeting, the tone, manner, and even language of that address, are all as fresh in my mind, and as deeply engraven upon the tablet of my heart, as if the scene had transpired but yesterday, owing probably to the fact, that it was the first meeting of the kind I had ever conducted without having the pastor present to guide, sanction, and share the responsibilities. From this hour I found myself once more afloat upon a flood-tide, over which I had no control, and borne upon its wave to such a distance, that I was never able more to reach the harbour, or moor my mortal bark again in the quiet haven of Andover. Greek verbs, Hebrew roots, and theological technicalities, all lost their interest amid the more tender soul-stirring scenes of guiding anxious sinners to the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world. Through the winter, I laboured in Portsmouth and other adjacent towns referred to in my last. The snow was unusually deep, and often so drifted that a horse could not be used ; and to meet my appointments, I took a little valise in my hand, pushed my way through drifts, over fences, and across fields ; preaching in churches, in school-houses, in private dwellings, yea in all places and at all times, where and when the people could be assembled ; and never was I disappointed in having an audience. So eager were the people to hear, so intent upon " the one thing needful." Ah, it is easy for a minister to speak, when God speaks through him ; easy to gain the ear, when the voice of the Lord is heard ; easy to pour truth into the understanding, when the Holy Spirit illumines it ; easy even to enter the heart, if the Lord has opened it. Is it not, then, a fair logical inference, that if ministers of the gospel were to spend more time on their knees in humble prayer to God for the influences of his Holy Spirit, the fruits of their 22 TREASURED MOMENTS. preaching might be increased "some ten, some sixty, and some an hundredfold "? Of those dear, worn-out brethren, with whom it was my privilege to labour that winter, I will not take time to speak, except just to say, that they will ever retain a warm place in my affections. Indeed, with one exception, they have all gone to their reward, and " their works do follow them." It may not be amiss, however, nor can it be any disparage- ment to the pastors of those churches, to state a fact or two, as a just tribute to the memory of one whose name, as con- nected with this revival, all delighted to honour. Rev. Henry Smith, fresh from the great revivals in western New York, being on a visit to his relatives in this part of his native State, was the acknowledged instrument in God's hand of awakening Christians to a spirit of self-examination and prayer for this glorious work ; and none acquainted with his Christian character, his faithfulness, and the zeal and fervency with which he strove with sinners, to become reconciled to God, and the agonising, heart-moving prayers he offered up for them, can doubt for a moment, that many souls from this revival will be found in his crown of rejoicing, when God comes to make up his jewels. For one, I shall never cease to be grateful to God, that my heart was ever brought so closely in contact with his. Though not intellectually great, in spiritual gifts and graces he had few equals, and perhaps no superior. His name may never figure in history, but it will have no mean place in the records on high. Though in the prime and vigour of life, and in his usual health, it was apparent, at least to myself, that he breathed too much the spirit of heaven, to be allowed long to labour on earth. Early that spring he left Portsmouth, returning to his family and charge in the w r est. The ensuing summer I was travelling from Albany to Buffalo, and must needs pass through Rome near to which this holy man resided. My heart yearned for one more precious season of sweet converse and communion with him. In haste though I was, I could AMERICAN REVIVALS. 23 not pass him by, and in a few hours, I was bowing with him around his own family altar. It was good to be there. The following morning after breakfast, he invited me to a walk. In coming to a sweet retired spot in a grove, a spot evidently sacred and familiar to him, we sat down upon a shelving rock, his heart glowing with a heavenly flame ; and as we reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment, and talked of God's work in the recent revival of the great salvation, the value of the soul and its redemption "which ceaseth for ever," he drew from his pocket a little Bible, opened it, and read a few of those sparkling gems and brilliants that glitter upon every page of that holy book, and then in a tone and with an expression I shall never forget, said " Our next meeting will probably be before the great white throne ; it is fit and proper that we spend our last hour together in prayer and converse with Him who is seated upon it ; will you please, pray? and I will follow." And such a prayer as he made, such wrestling, such a holy importunity I never heard from mortal lips. I thought of the " garden, the tears, and the sweat;" I thought of "Bethel, the ladder, and the angels ;" I thought of " Peniel ;" I thought of heaven. In retiring from this " Beulah," we parted. I continued my journey, hearing nothing more from this loved brother, till some weeks after, on taking up a morning paper, among the first things that met my eye was " that the Rev. Henry Smith had departed this life, &c." " He was not, for God took him." "One shall be taken, and another left." But why the Lord should take from this world such a ser- vant in the prime of life one so pre-eminently qualified for usefulness and leave another so inferior to labour and struggle on, is among the unsolved mysteries of his provi- dence ; and all we can say is, " Even so, Father, for so it seemeth good in thy sight." LETTER IV. SPECIMENS OF ITS FRUITS. MY DEAR FRIEND, To speak of the fruits of that glorious revival would extend these letters beyond their proposed limits. Pages might be filled with little incidents and re- miniscences that have been from time to time passing in review before me, showing how blessed it is " to sow beside all waters." The following will serve as samples ; " In the spring of 1840, having attended the anniversary meetings in Boston, and being rather overworked from the fact that I had just arrived from my field of labour in France, I took a train for New Hampshire, to seek a few days of quiet rest. A young gentleman entered the same car, and seizing my hand said, " I am so glad to see you I" I have seen and heard you at the Boston meetings, but could not get near you. Do you remember entering a field in the town of L., some fourteen years ago, to talk with a young man about his soul, and the importance of giving himself soul and body to Christ, and go and prepare to preach the gospel ?" In giving him an affirmative answer, he continued " I am that young man, and we shall soon be in sight of the village where I am settled. There .'" said he, as he pointed to a beautiful new building with its spire pointing heavenward, " / am pastor of that church." The train stopped, he grasped my hand once more to say " good-bye, ," I had only time to respond, "God bless you, my brother." AMERICAN REVIVALS. 25 When, some fifteen years later, in one of the cities of New "England, I entered an hotel, registered my name, stepped in the reading-room, and while looking over the papers, in came a young gentleman of pleasing address, reached me his hand, saying, "I think, from your name on the book, you must be the minister who laboured in the great revival in Portsmouth and Rye in the winter of 1826-7 ; and if so, you are my spiritual father." On assuring him he was not mistaken in the person, he continued "You will recollect, no doubt, preaching a funeral sermon at a private house in the town of Rye, and that the crowd was so great, you stood upon a bench to speak ; and in describing the falling of the clods upon the coffin, you raised your hand to the ceiling, and with your fingers rattling against it, so exactly depicted to the mind the falling of gravel upon the lid of a coffin, as to startle the audience. That was the moment when an arrow was sent to my heart. I seemed to see my own grave, and my own coffin in it, and to hear the earth falling upon it. I cried out within me 'Where is my soul?' nor had I from that hour a moment's peace, till I found it in Christ And now," added he, as he led me to a window overlooking a place of worship, " I am rector of that church, where it is my privilege to preach to others the same glorious gospel." I gave him my right hand, warmly and heartily ; yes ! " the right hand of fellowship/' praying God to bless him, notwith- standing he called himself a "rector" instead of a pastor. But, my dear friend, it is quite time to bring to a close this part of my narrative, and in doing so, will briefly allude to a few things 'of general interest, which to some may be con- sidered worth remembering. Bear in mind that I was a learner, and that in all my travels over the country, my exten- sive intercourse and acquaintance with ministers of the gospel, and men of all professions, grades, and employments, I was careful to note down certain peculiarities of great and good men which influenced them in all they did, and which have deeply affected my own mind and acts through all my public life, 26 TREASURED MOMENTS. and may perhaps, if here recorded, affect the hearts and lives of others. 1. That the most eminent preachers and successful pastors, .of all whom I have known, are emphatically " MEN OF PRAYER/' who spend much time on their knees over their sermons ; and that an evangelist, travelling and preaching through the country, whatever may be his powers to excite the mind, or draw crowds in his train, will prove a blessing only, and in the degree, as he proves himself to be pre- eminently A MAN OF PRAYER. We have met with those whom the world calls "great preachers/' who flare up and blaze out like a meteor on extraordinary occasions, whose prayers may have been, "like angels' visits, few and far between ; " but these are not the eminent men of the Church, by no means. " The salt of the earth/' " the light of the world/' is to be found in the lives and labours of those, whose study is a " little sanctuary," " a Bethel/' " a Peniel," and whose very atmosphere has in it something of the fragrance of heaven. Call on such pastors, and they seem always in tune always ready for a little season of prayer ; for they " pray without ceasing," and, with all the simplicity of a little child, they fall upon their knees, asking you to lead or to follow, as the case may be ; and you see at once that it is not a mere form, or a sanctimonious pretence, but the deep yearnings of the heart after Christ, and for a more perfect transformation into his glorious likeness. With such pastors, the name of Christ is above every name, and his kingdom ruleth over all their thoughts, words, and acts. The heart being full, out of its abundance the mouth speaketh. If, through necessity, their conversation be diverted for a moment to a secular subject, no sooner has that necessity passed, than, true as the needle to the pole, does it revert back to their loved theme Christ and his great salvation. 2. Another peculiarity I noted was, that they abounded in charity that charity " which thinketh no evil," and is not "easily provoked" in taking up an evil report against a .AMERICAN REVIVALS. 27 brother ; and this beautiful trait of character became the more impressive, as it was often presented to iny view in specific cases, and by marked and striking contrasts. For example : A young man starts up from obscurity, somewhere on the outskirts of Zion, who is evidently " a man of God," a chosen " vessel of mercy," to bear the gospel to thousands ready to perish. He is endowed with extraordinary gifts and talents, and full of faith and prayer. Crowds flock to hear him, and there is joy on earth, and in the presence of the angels, over sinners repenting and turning to God. But, un- fortunately, he is not perfect, but possesses all the infirmities of our fallen nature. Some oddities and eccentricities have been discovered by the fastidious hearer. His Christian ex- perience has been quite limited. His researches after truth have scarcely extended beyond the Bible. Of what Calvin, Luther, or Wesley taught, he knows but little ; hence some of his crude opinions and original sayings do not square exactly with some of the scholastic dogmas of the day. Nor has he learned to pronounce the " Shibboleth " of any party, whether of " Paul or Apollos." He has learned the story of the cross at the feet of his Master. Hence he knows nothing, and cares for nothing among men, " save Jesus Christ and him crucified/' His burning zeal and ardour to save souls render him dead to the world, and indifferent to the opinions of men. Now mark the line of division among pastors and ministers, as they gradually divide off, taking their stand, as the warm friends, or the bitter opponents, of this " Boanerges." The staid, dignified pastor, oftener seen in the hall of science than in the prayer-meeting ; better known as a literai-y than as a praying man, and who would rather row one soul into heaven upon his own little narrow craft, through a smooth unruffled sea, than to be instrumental in saving the whole " two hundred threescore and sixteen souls " from Paul's wreck, if so be they were to be saved in that irregular, unsailor-like manner of swimming through the breakers, " some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship." 28 TREASUKED MOMENTS. Such a pastor stands aloof; he will not know this young man, nor recognise him as a minister ; but takes his pen, and without ever seeing or hearing him, writes and publishes all the vague rumours and evil reports he can lay his hand upon, in order to put him down. A few young, ambitious pastors, too, perhaps a little jealous in having the wind taken out of their sails, follow in the wake. While those pastors who have laid themselves " as a whole burnt offering upon God's altar," who remember and love Zion above their chief joy, whose daily cry is, " O Lord, send by whom thou wilt send," in a word, men of prayer, full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, abounding in that charity " that hopeth and belie veth all things," such pastors say one to another, " Let us see and know this young man, talk and pray with him ; for that many notable conversions have taken place under his ministry, we cannot deny. Let us not be found fighting against God." A few meetings of sweet and faithful converse and prayer between them, and their hearts beat in unison ; the oddities and eccentricities of " Timothy " gradually disappear under the kind teachings of the more experienced Pauls and Peters, while their own hearts are warmed into a holier and purer zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of men. In this way we may all be mutually instructed, and may rejoice together "in the diversity of gifts" which God has bestowed upon his servants, and which he is pleased to employ in building up the waste places of Zion. If a Finney cannot fill the pulpit of a Wilson or a Barnes, no more can they do the work which God has allotted to him. Ought we not to love all the members of Christ's body ? And, though not of equal honour, can the head say to the feet, " I have no need of thee " ? " If they were all one member, where were the body ? " May not the prolific source of that narrow-minded bigotry so prevalent among Christians, and which so mars the beauty and symmetry of Christ's body, be traced to the un- willingness, and often the absolute refusal, to know and recog- nise each other as members of the same body, mutually AMEKFCAN REVIVALS. 29 dependent and necessary to each other? The eye says to the ear, " I have no need of thee." The ear retaliates, " I have no need of thee." The pride of both are wounded. One shuts his eyes the other stops his ears ; and here a quarrel begins which drives them farther and farther apart ; crimina- tion and recrimination follow condemning each other before their hearts have ever been brought in close contact. Real Christians can never be known, or know each other, till the heart is reached. Once in the citadel, we see what grace has done ; and, however uncouth the exterior, we ' love what we there find, and rejoice and praise God for that new creation that inner temple, prepared as the dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit. Another peculiar chai-acteristic of these most eminent pastors and evangelists, which I remarked as worthy of note, was, that in great and extraordinary revivals, where the spirit and power of God were too clearly manifested in the conver- sion of sinners for even the sceptic to remain undisturbed, there was the greater disposition to speak low, to move about in a quite, noiseless manner to avoid everything that could cause confusion, or divert the mind, as if afraid of grieving the Spirit, or of giving an unhandy touch to the ark of God. They walked softly before the Lord, as if in view of the " burning bush ;" and their whole tone and manner in the house of God seemed to say, " How dreadful is this place ! " And if they discovered any tendency in their congregations towards undue excitement or noise, they would often take such subjects as the following : " What doest thou here, Elijah ? ... Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord ; btit the Lord was not in the wind : and after the wind an earthquake ; but the Lord was not in the earthquake : and after the earthquake a fire ; but the Lord was not in the fire : and after the fire a still small voice." Ah, with what beauty and power have I 30 TREASURED MOMENTS. heard the sainted Nettleton unfold the truth on the subject of God's work of grace upon the heart, as it lies wrapped up in this passage ! In concluding this part of my personal experience, I would take the liberty of suggesting to all young ministers, and even strongly advising them, to acquaint themselves a little more with the world, by personal observation, before settling down as a pastor, to assume the tremendous responsibilities connected with that office. Enter that practical school, where you can act the pupil and the missionary; where your mind will be daily coming in contact with greater and more experi- enced minds ; and where, in one year, you may acquire more practical knowledge than in a lifetime over an obscure church. And should any brother be disposed to think lightly of this advice, from the poor specimen furnished by the adviser him- self, with all humility will I receive the just retort, only asking that brother to tell me, if he can, how much poorer a specimen the adviser might have beenj had he never enjoyed these advantages. 31 LETTER V. RETIRING FROM THIS NEW SCHOOL. MY DEAR FRIEND, As the term of studies in this itinerant school was drawing near its close, I once more bade adieu to my dear native New England, her beautiful villages, churches, schools, and quiet Sabbaths ; her granite hills and smiling valleys gradually disappearing in the dim distance, as I again turned my face westward and southward, passing through New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washing- ton city, revisiting the churches, taking leave of dear bre- thren and Christian friends whom I loved, and with whom I so long enjoyed the sweetest intercourse ; then through Virginia, sitting once more at the feet of such fathers in Israel as Drs. Rice, Hill, Baxter, and others ; thence into Tennessee, where for two weeks I rested under the roof of that revered, loved father, Dr. Anderson, near whom I had intended to fix my habitation, had it been God's will. While in his family, however, there arrived students from Kentucky, to enter the seminary ; giving such an account of the recent revivals in their State, and of the great want of labourers, that, though my heart clung to East Tennessee, as the Switzerland of America, and to my many well-tried friends there, I could not resist the temptation of entering once more the wide, wide world, especially as a field so white to the harvest now pre- sented itself. Purchasing a fresh horse, and crossing the Cumberland Mountains, within ten days I lighted down in the 32 TREASURED MOMENTS. beautiful city of Lexington, the very centre of the " garden spot of the world," as it then appeared to my ravished eyes. This was in the autumn of 1828. Never, never, had I beheld such soil, so rich, so undulating and beautiful ; such wood- lands, grass-plats, and deer-parks, as might have tempted even an English nobleman to break the tenth commandment. But all this beauty of scenery and magnificence of wealth sunk into insignificance before the moral beauty and glory, that God had wrought in so many hearts and families throughout the State. During the winter I preached in many churches and towns, and assisted broken-down pastors, forming the acquaintance of most of the ministers of the State, among whom was the Rev. D. Nelson, author of " The Cause and Cure of Infidelity," acknowledged by all to be one of the chief instruments in this revival. It was my privilege, and one for which I shall never cease to be grateful, to have my heart brought into very close intimacy and sweet commu- nion with his. We laboured much together ; travelled into Tennessee together ; prayed much together, not in the pulpit only, but at the family altar, in the study, the closet, the grove. And after years of more than fraternal intercourse, I do not hesitate to record here, as my firm and settled convic- tion, that, whether viewed in the light of a simple-hearted Christian man, full of faith and prayer, moving in the humble walks of life, or as a public speaker, with his towering intel- lect, the amazing reach and grasp of his mind, and the tremendous power of his unstudied and unconscious eloquence, by which he held his audience in breathless silence, DR. DAVID NELSON was the most extraordinary man that ever graced the .American pulpit; and that some of his sermons, in point of originality of construction, and the condensation of startling, massive thought, have never had a parallel out of the Bible. His language so simple and natural, his style sententious, and his sentences so short and artlessly formed, that the plain unlettered farmer had no more difficulty in understanding him, than the sage or the philosopher; and, AMERICAN REVIVALS. 33 perhaps, no language can convey a more correct idea of his preaching, as contrasted with most other men, than that used by one of these plain farmers, who, on being asked which of the two preachers he liked best, Dr. Nelson or Dr. R ? " Oh," said he, " Dr. R is good at splitting hairs, but Dr. Nelson hurls millstones ; he is my preacher." Exactly so ; while other preachers would be holding their auditors for an hour upon the point of a cambric needle, on some mooted point in theology, or entering into a most elaborate argument, to prove that Gideon's pitchers were made of porcelain, Dr. Nelson, with his millstones, would "chase a thousand, and put ten thousand to flight." This wonderful man was an eminent physician and a scoffing infidel before his conversion, but, like another Paul, the moment God touched his heart, he gave up everything for Christ, and became one of the most self-sacrificing, transparent characters I ever knew ; yet was not without his weak points. The kindness of his heart, and his unbounded benevolence, often got the better of his judgment, even to the impoverishing of his family, and the uncomeliness and scarcely decent appearance of his person. If a friend gave him a five-dollar bill to buy him a beaver, he would purchase a wool hat for fifty cents, that he might enjoy the luxury of giving the four dollars and a half to some benevolent object, or, perhaps, to a poor widow. This was certainly erring on the safe side, and if this was his besetting sin, it surely was not a common one ; so that he was as peculiar and extraordinary in his sins, as he was in his gifts and graces. That he is now wearing a bright crown, and very near the throne, I have not a doubt. After preaching nearly a year in different parts of the State, I accepted a call to the first, at that time the only Presbyterian church in the city of Louisville ; its pastor, Dr. Blackburn, having been appointed president of Danville College. The change from an itinerant pupil, to the pastorate of a large church in a growing city, and as successor to such a man, I felt to be a great one. I had, also, imbibed the idea c 34 TREASURED MOMENTS. so prevalent in Boston and other large towns in New Eng- land, that churches planted in a growing city should colonise as rapidly as their strength and numbers would authorise. Instead, therefore, of becoming installed over this first church as its pastor, I preached only some eight months, just long enough to learn her strength, and to survey the ground for starting a new enterprise. Then with twelve members, four males and eight females, we organised on the 17th of April, 1830, the Second Presbyterian Church of Louisville. The importance of this step soon became apparent to all. The First Church called immediately another pastor, thus strengthening our hands, and adding greatly to the efficiency and power of Christian effort throughout the city. We both found an ample field, and mutually rejoiced in the success with which* it pleased God to crown our labours. Instead of weakening, the First Church increased in strength and vigour, while our little band of twelve soon became a host. Instead of a school- house, in which we began to worship, the Lord enabled us, within three years, to build a commodious brick church, with a regular congregation of hearers, from seven to eight hun- dred, and increasing the church members from twelve to a hundred and sixty, with week-day schools for little children, and Sabbath schools, so prosperous and vigorous, as to attract the attention even of the passing stranger, and excited the admiration of all good people in the city. But as "American "Revivals" is the subject, above all others, your ladyship wishes to hear about and to understand, I will, in my next letter, give a brief sketch of one of those remarkable seasons "of refreshing from the presence of the Lord," with which it pleased God to visit this infant church, which lengthened her cords, and strengthened her stakes, adding immensely to her moral power and influence for in that rapidly growing city. 35 LETTER VI. REVIVAL IN SECOND CHURCH, LOUISVILLE. MY DEAR FRIEND, The summer of 1833 was noted in the city of Louisville as one of more than usual activity in every department of human enterprise. The opening of a canal around the " Falls," the rush of commerce, the rapid expan- sion and growth of the city, with all their collaterals, absorbed and engrossed to an alarming degree the mind and energies of the church, without manifesting itself, however, in any open violation of Christian principles, or the neglect of Chris- tian duties. The house of God was crowded, as usual, on the Sabbath, and prayer-meetings were attended ; and yet it was but too apparent that the spirit of the world, and not the Spirit of God, had possession of the inner man. Their daily walk and conversation were not as in former days, their prayers cold and formal ; the spirit of humble devotion and earnest prayer seemed to have nearly died out, and the only song we could sing, or which seemed befitting us in our low spiritual condition, was that prayer expressed by the poet, " Dear Lord, and shall we ever lire At this poor dying rate ? Our love so faint, so cold to Thee, And Thine to us so great !" In the ensuing autumn, I commenced a course of weekly evening lectures, adapted, as I thought, to this state of the church ; and, finally, in my Sabbath discourses began to give c 2 36 TREASURED MOMENTS. more directness and point, touching the dangers of a worldly spirit and the love of mammon, which seemed then gnawing at our vitals, as a Christian church ; the most subtle and deadly foe that Satan ever brought to his aid, in opposing the progress of Christ's kingdom ; my own mind becoming more and more deeply affected every day by this state of things, till the burden so pressed upon my heart, as to become almost insup- portable. As a severe winter set in, an all- wise Providence so ordered it, that my family, then on a visit to St. Louis, should become icebound, shut up in that city for the winter, leaving me the sole occupant of my house. Thus, perfectly free from all domestic cares, and taking my meals among my parishioners, I entered into a solemn covenant with God, that if HE would be my helper, I would know nothing among my people, save " Jesus Christ, and him crucified ;" and into what- soever family I entered to break bread, or to pay a pastoral visit, I would allow no subject to take possession of my heart, and no language to proceed out of my mouth, that were not in accordance with such a covenant. The searching and probing of the hearts of God's people, by the aid of his word and Spirit, the warning of the impenitent, the instructing of the children, endeavouring to lead them gently into Christ's fold, became my daily employment ; and a delightful one I found it to be. All fear of man vanished. I could warn the wicked in the streets, enter the vilest dens of pollution, and pour the thunders of God's holy, violated law into the asto- nished ears of the most abandoned, and then point them to the cross and to the blood of a crucified Saviour, with the same ease, and with as little fear, as I could enter a prayer-meeting. The world, with its fashions and maxims, was perfectly out of view. I appeared to myself as one encased in a kind of impregnable lattice-work, shut up with Christ ; and while the people were all visible to me, and in reach of my warning voice, I was secure from their rage and malice, because " see- ing Him," and walking with " Him," who is invisible ; and that it was not I that spake, but Christ speaking by rne. In this AMERICAN REVIVALS. 37 state of mind I walked the streets of Louisville, calling upon families, visiting the abodes of wretchedness, entering gam- bling and drinking-saloons ; then returned to my untenanted house ; and though no human smile was there to greet me, no human voice to salute me, it seemed vocal with God's praises. My study became a Bethel, luminous even in the night watches, which, like David, " my eyes prevented ;" for the dawn of day often found me on my knees. The fruits of these ministrations soon became apparent in families, in the public services of God's house, and more especially in the prayer-meetings, which were often held at private houses, and at the close of which, it not unfrequently occurred, that such was the exhaustion of my strength, from the excess of labours through the day, and in that peculiar state of mind, that friends were obliged to lead me home to their own dwellings and nurse me through the night, that I might acquire strength for the morrow. Thus things went on to the close of the year. The first Sabbath of 1834 was one never to be forgotten by those in attendance upon the worship of God in that Second Church. The day was most propitious all sunshine ; everything as calm and clear as a " sea of glass," as if heaven and earth had met for the first time, to embrace and kiss each other. I repaired early to the church, took my seat in the pulpit, so low that, with the gentle slope of the floor towards the pulpit, I had a perfect view of every countenance, as they entered either of the three front doors. Never did the house of God appear so transcendently beautiful the fit dwelling-place of the Most High ! yet, withal, so fearfully solemn. " How dreadful is this place ! This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven," was the deep feeling of my heart as I took my seat. Never had God appeared so sensibly near, I may almost say, visible. So ethereal and transparent seemed the very atmosphere, that the least shade of difference in the counte- nances of those entering the house seemed to stand out in 38 TREASURED MOMENTS. such bold relief that I could read their very hearts. The elders, and such members as had been in attendance upon the weekly prayer-meetings, and were beginning to " awake out of sleep," seemed to participate, more or less, in the awe, the deep sense of the Divine presence, and those indescribable yearnings that pervaded my own breast. But as I beheld the stranger, or the thoughtless, sauntering into the house, with a careless, indifferent look, oh, how it pierced my heart ! They seemed like so many maniacs trifling with eternal realities, under the eye and in the presence of God, and dancing on the very brink of hell ; and if by chance a nod of the head, or a smile of recognition from one friend to another, caught my eye, it was as if they laughed right in God's face. For the sermon, I had selected as the subject, " THE BARREN FIG-TREE ; " addressing myself first, and principally, to the members of the church. No extracts that I might give could convey the least idea of the sermon ; simple in its language, direct and pointed in its aim, delivered not in a loud, boisterous tone or manner, but with deep feeling, and in all the tender- ness and pathos of a broken and crushed heart. The effect was indescribable. I think I am safe in saying there was not a dry eye, an indifferent look, or an unfeeling heart in the assembly. It was a place of " WEEPING," and the house was a "BoCHlM" (Judges ii. 5). In drawing my sermon to a close, it flashed upon my mind, with the conviction of a revela- tion, that this church ought to renew her covenant with God, and publicly acknowledge and confess to God, and to one another, their backslidings, and worldly-mindedness, and short- comings in duty ; and at this very time and place to take upon themselves new obligations, and pay their vows unto the Lord, solemnly promising, if he would not cut them down, but " let them alone this year," they would, by the help of his grace and Spirit, bring forth the fruits of an active, holy life. No sooner was this conviction wrought upon my mind, than I acted upon it, and called upon the elders and every member of the church who felt determined to strive for higher attain- AMERICAN REVIVALS. 39 merits in the divine life, and to enter upon more active, self- denying, self-sacrificing efforts for the salvation of souls ; in a word, all who had made up their minds to continue no longer as " barren fig-trees " in the Lord's vineyard, to come forth from their pews, take their stand before the pulpit, and along the different aisles, while I would propound to them the solemn questions involved in their covenant vows.* I paused, when some hundred and fifty members, with the half-dozen elders, were seen slowly rising from their seats, and with streaming eyes, coming out of their pews from all parts of the house ; parents separating from their children, and children leaving their parents ; husbands from wives, and wives from husbands ; brothers leaving behind them their sisters, and sisters their brothers. One male member only remained in his pew, weeping and trembling with emotion, as he said afterwards, " too much overpowered to move." A more impressive sight I never witnessed. The scenes of the future judgment seemed passing in review before me. For some fifteen minutes I addressed them in the tenderest language and manner, reminding them of their " first love," their first joys of pardoned sin, the bright hopes they entertained " when first they knew the Lord ; " then held up the types and figures in the New Testament, by which their Divine Master, when on earth, symbolised them : " Ye are the salt of the earth, the light of the world, &c." I then propounded a few questions, giving shape and distinctness to the solemn vows they were now taking upon them, to which they assented by a gentle move of the head forward. I observed, too, that individuals who previously had not been upon the most friendly terms, were now seeking to grasp and press each other's hands, whispering, " Forgive me ! forgive me !" each acknowledging his own sins " con- * This is the mode very generally adopted in the United States among evangelical churches, of receiving new members to their communion ; and in seasons of great revivals, it is no uncommon sight to see the aisles quite filled with young converts on making a public profession of their faith. 40 ' TREASURED MOMENTS. fessing one to another," and esteeming "others better than themselves/' All hearts seemed melted under the power of divine love. On resuming their seats, and seeing how deeply the whole congregation were moved, I proposed to the impenitent, the non-professors, that if there were any among them so impressed with the solemnities of the present hour, that they were no longer willing to conceal their feelings, or any who had made resolutions to begin a new life on this first Sabbath of a new year, and desired the counsels and prayers of God's people, they might come forward and receive a few words of instruction ; and by so doing, these penitent, weeping Christians would know whom to make the subjects of special prayer. One arose, then another ; then in all parts of the house they were seen leaving their pews coming forward, trembling and weeping. Every Christian was now seen to move his handkerchief from his own eyes, just to see who were among them ; the mother hoping to see her giddy daughter ; the wife, her prayerless husband. Some were filled with joy and hope ; others were disappointed, and filled with grief and sorrow. I addressed to this company very few words, pointing them to Christ, whose blood alone cleanseth from all sin ; reminded them of the fearful crisis of the present moment, the solemn and critical ground on which they had voluntarily placed themselves by this public manifestation of their feelings, and which might prove the pivot on which would turn their eternal destiny. Then turning once more to the Christians, I said, " Remember now the prayer and pledge of David ' Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free Spirit ; then will I teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto tliee! " A few words to the whole assembly, with a short pcayer and benediction, closed the services of this memorable morning ; scenes never to be forgotten, and the most solemn and heart-moving of anything I have ever witnessed in or out of the house of God. Throughout the whole, the most perfect silence and order were preserved ; not the least noise, no outburst of passion ; AMERICAN REVIVALS. ' 41 but deep indescribable feelings, and inward " groanings which cannot be uttered," pervaded the entire assembly. This was the beginning of one of those precious seasons we call "revivals" which resulted in the conversion of many souls, adding numbers and strength to our infant church ; and which none ever doubted of being a genuine work of the Holy Spirit. To God be all the glory. 42 LETTER VII. FRUITS OF THE REVIVAL. MY DEAR FRIEND, A few additional words on the subject of my last, and I will pass to another branch of this prolific subject. As months passed away, and we began to examine young converts for admission into the church, gathering into the fold the fruits of this revival, I was deeply affected with the experience of many ; and often filled with wonder and admiration at the condescension and rnercy of God, in making use of the feeblest instrument, and sometimes the most trivial circumstance, to arrest attention, and awaken the soul to a sense of its lost condition, thus verifying the truth of the Scriptures "God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, &c." The following is an instance : A merchant of no ordinary standing and influence became overwhelmed with his lost condition as a sinner ; his convictions, deep and pungent ; and the terrors of the divine law had such entire possession of his soul, that, to use his own language, " it seemed as if the pains of hell had got hold of him/' Unable to rest, eat, or sleep, he sent for me ; often did I talk and pray with him. After some weeks he was brought to a cheerful surrender of himself to Christ ; lying low and humble at the foot of the cross, he found sweet peace in believing ; and his exulting cry ever after was, " Whom AMERICAN REVIVALS. 43 have I in heaven but Christ ? and there is none on the earth I desire beside him." Long after this in subsequent conversa- tion on the subject, in reply to the question, " What first arrested your attention?" "It was," said he, " the first glimpse I had of your face on that memorable Sabbath morning as I entered the church. The agony, the anguish of soul, expressed in your countenance that morning, came like a barbed arrow into my heart. I was a wounded, trembling sinner, crying for mercy, before you had opened your mouth." From that day to the present, I have found in this simple fact much food for deep reflection and solemn inquiry ; and have often asked myself the question, whether it may not be possible for a minister of the gospel to live so near to God, hold such daily converse with Him, and exercise such a spirit of faith and prayer, in a word, to " so walk with God/' that his very face shall shine like the face of Moses in descending from the mount, so that a look upon him, or from him, shall preach a sermon more impressive and heart-moving than the most eloquent tongue ? In giving to your ladyship this rather minute and detailed account, I wish it to be clearly and most emphatically under- stood, that it is with no design of holding up this revival as a pattern of American revivals generally : I mean, in the details of its origin and progress. In its precious fruits it may be considered a fair sample. But the deeds and doings, for example, of that " memorable Sabbath" were all perfectly unique, and probably has not its parallel in the whole history of American revivals. Nor do I hold up my own acts in this revival, especially on that " Sabbath/' as acts to be imitated ; but, on the contrary, as extraordinary acts forced upon me by extraordinary cir- cumstances ; acts which I never performed before, nor have I ever attempted to repeat, because circumstances have never returned to justify them ; and all the facts connected with that memorable hour only go to show how perfectly a min- ister of the gospel, labouring in a revival, must learn to lie low and passive in God's hand, and have no will of his own, 44 TREASURED MOMENTS. but be guided solely by the word, the Spirit, and the pro- vidence of God. Had I of my own will, and under ordinary circumstances, attempted to have " got up an excitement" by calling out the church members, or any other out-of-the-way movement, it would have produced only disgust, and my dismissal from the pastorate of that church would have been the consequence. But it was apparent to the most superficial observer, that I was not acting myself, nor for myself; but that it was God acting by me and through me. Therefore all, not only acquiesced, but approved, and thought no more of blaming me, than they would of blaming a " saw in the hands of him that shaketh it." All felt that it was the Lord's doings "and marvellous in their eyes/' I desire, therefore-, particularly, that your ladyship should discriminate very carefully between this narrative and those accounts which have pained many Christian hearts on both sides of the Atlantic, in which there appears so much of man, and so little of God, such a vast amount of machinery put in motion for the purpose of " getting up a revival." I have no faith in these mechanical, spasmodic efforts. But I have faith in God, and in the guidance of his Spirit. Please also notice the fact, that there was no plan or pre-concert for calling out the church. Such a thought had never entered my mind when I entered that pulpit, and it would have been a fearful experiment under other circumstances. The attempt would have proved fatal to the standing and reputation of any pastor. But it was not of man's device, nor of man's wisdom. Man had nothing to do with it, but to yield himself a servant to whom he would obey, and to speak and move as the Spirit of God moved him. The results, too, proved that the work was not of man but of God. The gleanings of that precious revival, for successive years, were better than the vintage of those hot-house clus- ters/ forced to maturity by artificial heat. So manifest were the happy results as seen in the church, and in the ingathering of souls from year to year, that I never heard a doubt AMERICAN REVIVALS. 45 expressed by any member of that church, nor by any one out of the church, as to the propriety and wisdom of all that was said and done on that memorable day ; the like of which I never saw before, I never expect to see again. LETTER VIII. REVIVALS THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. MY DEAR FRIEND, From my previous letters, your ladyship will be able to judge of my opportunities of knowing the churches, the ministry, and of my personal experience in "American revivals;" and if, with such experience, my judgment of their character and influence shall be found at fault, I shall no doubt be pronounced "a dull scholar." Are these revivals, then, the work of God, or the work of man ? I am not surprised at the question ; for all Europe is full of infidelity and scepticism on this subject. Even with many serious-minded Protestants, the terms " revival," "fanaticism," " go-ahead," " Young America," and "filibuster," are but so many synonyms, or parts of the same programme, conveying to the mind different phases of the same dramatic performance, suited to an impulsive, ex- citable people, fond of novelty. It is not a little instructive to hear vain philosophers and scoffing infidels attempt gravely to explain the cause of what they call these " periodical excitements " as being only the mental and physical development of a free and progressive people. Their warm Saxon blood, as the basis, crossing and mingling with the blood of all other nations, driven from the old world under the excitement of religious fanaticism, and having their origin in the power of puritanical dogmas ; to- gether with their peculiar circumstances, the excitement and AMERICAN REVIVALS. 47 energy that naturally attend the subjugation of a new and almost boundless continent ; these, with their collaterals and concomitants, are sufficient to explain the whole phenomena of what are called "American revivals." Indeed, to one who has never visited the western world, to hear these wise men of the " East " talk on this subject, he would imagine that America was but a huge, mystical panorama, exhibiting an infinite variety of reflecting surfaces and brilliant colours, shifting their position to opposite extremes, to make the con- trast the more striking. Hence say they, " One year you will see the federal government quarrelling over mints of money they know not what to do with ; the next year the wheels of government are likely to stop for the want of it. One month they boast of their princely merchants, and of untold wealth locked up in their coffers ; the next month their banks are closed, and every man a bankrupt. One week all is life and activity, the world uppermost in every man's heart and mouth ; speculation is rife, a*nd making money 'the chief end of man.' Theatres and ball-rooms crowded with the gay and fashionable ; jewels and diamonds sparkle upon the head, neck, and fingers of the lady, the sempstress, and the servant ; and the language of all is, ' Let us eat, drink, and be merry ; for to-morrow we die.' The next week all are dying of ennui; they want a change. What shall it be ? All earthly good has been tried ; every spring drunk dry. What next ? They vote a ' revival ;' one more turn of the kaleidoscope, and there they have it in full blast. Ball-rooms are now emptied ; crowded theatres converted into prayer-meetings ; their jewellery exchanged for Bibles and prayer-books ; in place of the lewd songs of ribaldry, the singing of hymns and spiritual songs becomes the order of the day. 'An American revival, therefore, is nothing more or less than a part of their great national panoramic drama' " Thus reasons the scoffing infidel, and thus does he exultingly pro- claim it, as he turns up his eyes with a very wise and knowing look, shifting his cigar from the corner to the centre of his mouth, expecting everybody to cry out, " Amen." No, no, 48 TREASURED MOMENTS. Monsieur Infidel ; as God says of you, in his Holy Bible, "The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee" . . " though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars," God will bring thee down. Those "American revivals" at which you scoff, are as much the work of God as the creation of the sun that shines in the heavens. So was the great revival of the sixteenth century ; God was its author, Luther but an instrument : and that you scoff at both is no marvel. More than twenty-five hundred years ago, God revealed the fact that you would do it. No one, therefore, acquainted with the Bible is taken by surprise ; and Paul, more than eighteen hundred years ago, gave as a reason why you would scoff, " that the carnal mind is enmity against God," and " receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God ; for they are foolishness unto him : neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." A blind man may scoff at colours, but the colours remain a reality notwithstanding. A man born and brought up in a coal-pit a thousand feet under ground, and who never saw any other light but Davy's lamp, may talk very learnedly against the possibility of there being any other luminary, and may even ridicule the idea of a shining sun ; but neither his arguments nor his ridicule will have weight with those who have seen the sun, and felt its warmth and power. Just so is it with those who live in sin, " and who love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil," and will not come to the light, lest their deeds should be reproved. Every phase of the infidel heart is so clearly and fearfully depicted in the Holy Bible, that when he looks into it, he is startled and terrified at his own likeness. This is the reason he hates it. A man of hideous features and a wolfish visage detests a mirror ; so with the infidel, when he sees in that holy book his own wicked heart so vividly portrayed, and then reads that " the wicked shall be turned into hell, with all the nations that forget God," how is it possible for him to love that book or its divine Author, till his heart be changed ? But while the sneers and AMERICAN REVIVALS. 49 scoffs of the infidel do not surprise us, we may indeed be surprised at the apathy and insensibility of those who profess to be enlightened by the Spirit of God, and have tasted of the powers of the world to come, and who profess to believe that Christ is one day to rule and reign God-blessed among the nations : for such to doubt, or even show an indifference on the subject, is past comprehension, especially when we consider that the history of the church in all her aggressive movements in every age and in all places of her spiritual conquests, and in the renovation of each and every heart, is but the history of one continuous revival. Instead, therefore, of exciting wonder at such displays of God's converting grace, it should excite the greater wonder, and the deepest sorrow and heart-searching, when God withholds his Spirit, especially as he has promised it in answer to prayer. Christians who understand the power of faith, and the privilege and power of prayer, and have laboured for the personal salvation of sinners, are never taken by surprise when souls are converted ; it is just what they expect, because just what they have prayed for ; and when they see many souls converted simultaneously^ and a great turning unto the Lord in any given place, so far from standing aghast with wonder, they rejoice and are exceeding glad in the fulfilment of God's gracious promises in hearing and answering prayer ; and they call this a " revival," in which all their Christian graces receive a new and heavenly impulse, a great increase of faith, hope, and charity. On this point, therefore, touching what are termed "American revivals," I answer most emphatically that, beyond all controversy, " THEY ARE THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT/' and that there should turn up in these revivals an occasional fanatic to cause reproach and grieve the children of God, is no more to be wondered at than that there should have been a " Korah, Dathan, and Abiram," in the days of Moses, or an "Ananias and Sapphira" in the days of Paul How slow we are to learn the lessons so beautifully and graphically drawn out upon the sacred page by our divine Lord ! Why should D 50 TREASURED MOMENTS. we, after all his divine teachings, persevere in throwing a whole netful of fishes away because there happens to be bad ones among them ? or pull up a whole field of wheat because of the" tares? Suppose we can discriminate clearly one from the other, the greater is our sin for throwing all away. If God, whose piercing eye can detect every tare, can bear with them till the harvest, ought we to be impatient ? It would greatly swell the tide of charity over the world, and among Christians of every name, if all would bear in mind that there is no such thing as perfection in this world, but that there is a mixture of sin in all we do, and in our best performances a tinge of our fallen nature. God's own work is always perfect ; but the purest revivals, mixed as they are more or less with human weakness, only approximate, and that too but faintly, as the first dawn of light to the meridian sun, the glories of the latter day. Let European Christians, then, learn to give glory to God for these rich and wonderful blessings showered upon the American churches, notwithstanding the mixture of man's imperfections. .51 LETTER IX. WHY NOT SUCH EEVIVALS OVER CHRISTENDOM? MY DEAR FRIEND, I now come to the question so often asked, " Why is it that we do not behold, in other countries, such a succession of 'REVIVALS' as have blessed the American churches from their very existence ? " Upon a question covering so broad a field of inquiry, it will be quite impossible, within the proposed limits of this letter, to give my views in full. A few suggestions are all I shall attempt. To say that God acts as a sovereign, would be to beg the question. And, besides, it is undoubtedly true, that God works in his moral and spiritual kingdom by laws as inherent and immutable as those by which he governs the vegetable king- dom. Sowing tares never produces wheat, neither will an uncultivated field yield a rich harvest. " Good seed upon good ground," is nature's law and requirement for securing a good harvest. God's moral law is like unto it "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap : he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption ; but he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting." This law applies with equal force to all expositors and teachers of the Holy Scriptures. The preaching of error does not bring forth the fruits of righteousness ; Christ never prayed for a blessing upon error. " Sanctify them through Thy truth" was his prayer. Truth, not error, becomes the sword in the hands of the Holy Spirit ; and the Holy Spirit is the author of all " genuine revivals." But this rather increases than alleviates D2 52 TREASURED MOMENTS. the difficulty of answering the question ; inasmuch as it will be asked, where in all Christendom is the truth more clearly presented, and better understood, than in England and Scot- land ? True ; I admit the force of the question ; and I ask in turn, do we not recognise, in some degree at least, the same precious fruits in these highly - cultivated fields, though unaccompanied by those remarkable showers of divine in- fluences that descend upon our American Zion ? We recog- nise the same difference in the kingdom of nature. A rich, . golden harvest often waves over fields on which showers have never descended, and where the gentle dews, and noiseless stream from the flowing fountain or river, have supplied equally the demand of nature's law. So God has, for infinitely wise reasons, and perhaps in accordance with certain inherent laws unknown to us, seen fit to water the American churches with wonderful showers heavenly showers, that have strengthened and beautified Zion, and made her like a well- watered garden ; while in England and Scotland the gentle dews and silent streams have answered the same end. But if we scrutinise a little further into these peculiar phenomena, we may be able to discover much in the different circumstances and structure of society, that will help to explain or, in part, account for, what to many seems so un- accountable. For example, the homogeneous character of the one contrasts strikingly with that of the other. In 'England and Scotland, families are more like gardens hedged about with impregnable walls, where children, like olive plants, are trained in the religion of their fathers, with less danger of foreign influences, and where God seems to delight "in showing mercy unto thousands of generations of them that love him and keep his commandments." Hence the piety of their children, wherever it exists, has more the semblance of a spontaneous production than would be possible under other circumstances. In perfect contrast, and directly opposite to all this, is the state of things in America, growing out of the heterogeneous character of her population. AMERICAN REVIVALS. 53 Congregated there from all nations under heaven, possessing few, if any, religious opinions or sympathies in common, might we not expect, if God visited us at all in mercy, it would be with some such striking manifestations of his con- verting power and grace, proportionate to our peculiar exigen- cies ? And so it comes to pass, to the praise of the riches of God's grace and glory. And for aught we know, this may be necessary, as one of the means of preserving and propagating true piety and godliness in a nation so peculiarly flooded with counter currents, and foreign influences, and opposing elements. Let us bear in mind, also, the origin of that infant nation, and the first seed sown upon its virgin soil, taking deep root in the valleys and among the granite hills of New England. Our old Puritan fathers, whose hearts the Lord had opened, and on account of which they were expelled from their native land, did not fail to discriminate very clearly between the righteous and the wicked, between the converted and the un- converted ; and to draw a broad line of demarcation between these two classes became a fundamental principle in planting the colonial churches of New England. And these churches have furnished the salt, in a great measure, that has given shape and character to most of the churches in North America. And if there be any one distinctive feature, which more than anything else, marks the difference between the evangelical churches of America and those of England and Scotland, it is in the broad distinction that is made, and perpetually and vividly held up to view, between the children of God and the children of the wicked one. And it is here, I think, if any- where, that the American pulpit looms up with peculiar lustre, above all others in Christendom. It has been my good fortune, during my residence in Europe, to listen to many of the most eminent divines of the present century, such as the great Drs. Chalmers, Duff, Candlish, Guthrie, McNiel, Raffles, Binney, Hamilton, dimming, Melville, Noel, down to the youthful Spurgeon ; and while I have, with most of them, 54 TREASURED MOMENTS. been charmed, instructed, and deeply impressed by their rich and elaborate productions, and my heart moved by their eloquence and pathos ; yet, in the simple delineation of cha- racter, holding up the friends and the enemies of God, by way of contrast, portraying the difference between them, and depicting the impassable gulf that must for ever separate them, and the vividness with which Christ is held up, and presented as the only door, through which the sinner must pass from the world into the church, if he would pass from the church into heaven, ah, it is here, in these and like dis- criminations, that I consider our American divines excel all others whom it has been my privilege to hear. How far this may go to explain American revivals, I will not pretend to say. I will simply add, that the great fundamental doctrines of the gospel, as embodied in the larger and shorter Catechism of the Westminster Assembly, and such as were taught by Edwards, Bellamy, and Dwight, are the doctrines insisted upon, and most blessed, in the American revivals. Then, again, it is not easy to say how far that perfect freedom of the whole man, so fully enjoyed in America, may tend to promote the germina- tion of truth, once planted in the mind. No church establish- ments, no old conventionalities, no priestly usurpation, to strangle to death every new-born thought ; but an open Bible presents itself to every inquiring mind anxious to find the way of life ; which becomes the Book of books, and its pure light is let into the understanding without the least fear of fines or imprisonment ; free to think, and free to act, on every subject pertaining to his salvation. Where there are tens of thousands annually pouring into America from under despotic governments, many of whom are brought suddenly to a know- ledge of the truth, and into that liberty wherewith Christ makes the sinner free, it is not surprising that, under the influence of this double freedom, the new-born soul should leap for joy, and in the exuberance of its disinthralled affec- tions, with its untrammelled physical and mental powers, manifest a zeal which can know no bounds. Such a state of AMERICAN REVIVALS. 55 things, the new condition and waking up of so many minds, so differently and variously impressed with new truths and new light, may, for aught I know, be a more favourable soil for revivals than the mental and spiritual stagnation every- where seen in the old world. With the exception of a few evangelical Protestants, Egyptian darkness broods over the whole continent of Europe, on the subject of God and the Bible. A total absence of an enlightened conscience, with no recognition of God's claims upon them, either in the observ- ance of the Sabbath or any other law or command found in the Bible ; and the only visible evidence of recognition even of God's existence is in the heathenish customs, ceremonies, and manipulations that are everywhere to be seen, but which convey not one ray of light to the understanding, respecting the purity, holiness, and justice of that God, whose Bible is so carefully concealed from the people. Nothing strikes the mind of an intelligent Christian with more pain, than to behold here the swarming multitudes of immortal beings, who, from the kings and emperors on their thrones, down through all grades of society, are as ignorant of the "great salvation," " the redemption of the soul by the blood of Christ," as the most degraded pagan ; " and grope in the dark like the blind, though at noon-day." Inasmuch then as it is God's truth received into the mind, and which the Holy Spirit uses in " revivals," as the sword to pierce and break the heart, how can we expect anything here like the "American revivals "? It would be to expect a harvest of wheat where only a few grains had been scattered along the highways and hedges, and among thorns and briars. Such would not be in accord- ance with the laws by which God governs the natural, moral, or spiritual world. Again, the Holy Spirit is sent down in answer to prayer ; prayer offered to God threugh the merits and intercession of Jesus Christ. But what do they know here of prayer ? What do they know of the one God, and one Mediator between God and man the man Christ Jesus ? What has been their experience of the efficacy of his precious 56 TREASURED MOMENTS. blood in cleansing them from sin and guilt, and making them "partakers of the Divine nature " ? Nothing, absolutely nothing at all ; and to attempt to unfold and spread out, before a European audience, whether of the Latin or the Greek Church, the great and glorious doctrines of the gospel, and plan of salva- tion through Christ, with any hope of their understanding them, would be like the attempt to fit an English shoe to a Chinese foot a foot that, from infancy, had been^ tightly bound up in swaddling-clothes till it had neither form, nor comeliness, nor the power of expansion. Upon the simple, yet momentous, question " What must I do to be saved ? " a Sabbath-school child, six years old, taught from a free and open Bible, could put to the blush all the crowned heads of Europe. Such is the European mind, viewed simply in its religious aspect. As a field, therefore, to be cultivated, with any ex- pectation of " revivals " as an immediate result, the continent of Europe is no more to be compared to the United States, than the arid sands of the desert are to be compared to the rich virgin soil of an Illinois prairie. How can it be other- wise ? when the masses know nothing of the Bible, and few have ever heard of one, save as a kind of dark magic lantern to teach the priests how to carry on their jugglery, make flesh of bread, blood of wine, and create holy water " ad libitum" with many other lying wonders. Indeed, in my travels upon the continent, and visiting the dark places of Papal super- stition, it has appeared to me that the whole political and ecclesiastical powers of Europe have been engaged in little else than racking their brains in discovering ways and means by which to shut out God's truth and light from the people : then, as a substitute, and with a view to appease them, just as foolish parents do their disappointed, fretful children, they give them holidays, toys, and sugar-plums. From these sugges- tions, I trust your ladyship will perceive some of the reasons " why we do not behold on this continent such ' revivals ' as have blest the American churches/'' 57 LETTER X. CHURCH ESTABLISHMENTS. DO THEY PROMOTE OR HINDER REVIVALS ? MY DEAR FRIEND, One more question remains to be con- sidered, " What are your opinions of Established National Churches ? " or, as others express it, " Union of Church and State." Do they promote or hinder revivals ? It will be quite impossible, in one short letter, to express my whole heart upon so momentous a question, a question that strikes at the root of long-cherished habits, forms, customs, and usages, and the deepest prejudices known to the human heart. The mere expression of an opinion, with a few random thoughts, upon such a bulwark of strength, would be like an attack upon Gibraltar with a quiver of straws. But as " seeing is believing," and as the mind often receives the most vivid impressions of a simple truth when exhibited upon canvas, your ladyship will please accompany me into one of the departments of God's great laboratory, where hangs a picture so powerfully symbolising my views on this subject a picture, too, with such inimitable blending of nature and art, and such bold outlines, that once seen the impress becomes so indelibly imprinted upon the tablet of the heart, as never to be effaced by the ravages of time. Let us light down then upon the southern peak of the Appalachian Mountains, in North America, and turn our eyes northward and westward, and scan the great basin of the Tennessee. What a stu- 58 TREASURED MOMENTS. pendous picture-gallery opens to our view ! Let us now descend to the base, and I will show to your ladyship what was once the most lovely village that ever dazzled the eye of woman ; resting upon a gentle declivity of table land, peeping out upon a smiling valley of forests and vines, of fruit- ful fields and running brooks, undulating as the swells of the ocean ; and, what was more, isolated from the great world and its pollutions, and having enjoyed a pure gospel frornJnfancy, her moral and religious character was as remarkable as her isolation, and as lovely and attractive as were the charms of her physical conformation, and as unique as the wild and picturesque scenery that surrounds her. Here, between the Cumberland and the Alleghanies, and under the very shadow of the latter, quietly nestled this mountain gem, queen of all she surveyed, none to dispute her claims, none to disturb, molest, or make her afraid. The site of this village, too, was as unique as it was beauti- ful, not unlike an oblong promontory, or tongue of land, running into the sea, just wide enough for three parallel streets lengthwise ; the central, or main street, occupying the ridge, formed, what may be called, the spine of the village, from which all the water descending from the clouds to wash her streets ran off in three different directions, so that a particle of mud upon her gravelled walks would have been as great an anomaly as if found in a parlour ; so that she was as proverbial for her external cleanliness as for the purity of her morals. Then, again, as if struggling to produce another Eden, nature had provided a self-propelling and a self- perpetuating power to carry into the sea every particle of impurity that should be washed from her streets, or which might in anywise infect the air, impair health, or impede her prosperity. That we may the better understand this power, and see the working of this beautiful machinery just such as God only can make, let us take a promenade up the main street a gentle and easy ascent, at the head of which stands, like a strong fortress, the great Presbyterian church, built of AMERICAN REVIVALS. 59 stone, the only church ever erected in the place. From this eminence we turn round, facing the village, and the gem is under our eye. Look now to the right, and count the springs of pure limpid waters gushing from the earth, and flowing onward and downward the entire length of the village, lapping up the straws and leaves, and every impurity that could pollute the ground or the air ; then watch it sweeping round in a gr^eful curve, till now, look on the left, and there it re-appears, rushing back on the other side as if unwilling to depart till the whole village had been blest with its cleansing and purifying influences. And now, having completed its benevolent mission, it turns abruptly from the village, bear- ing far away all the refuse and feculent substances that it had gathered in its course. But we have not yet seen all of this beautiful machinery a wheel within a wheel. How wonder- ful everything God has made ! Follow this stream from its hydra head through its entire sweep, almost encircling the village ; and at every few rods, on either side, are new springs bursting forth, increasing its momentum and power for good, as if determined that each and every family should be supplied with an independent fountain, that there be no strife among them as to who should have the upper or the nether springs. And so completely did these waters encircle the entire village, that of the half-dozen roads leading into it, one only enters without crossing this stream. And so fully did these waters meet the entire wants of the inhabitants, that a well or cistern was never thought of. If a horse in the stable wanted water, he was led to the stream ; if a carriage needed washing, it was rolled into this stream ; if a dairywoman needed a cool place for her milk, there was a little house built at one of the springs, where the cooling waters gurgled around her pans ; and when the cream came to the surface there was the churn, washed and scoured in the same fountain, ready to convert it into butter ; and there, too, the butter and meat were kept sweet and cool in the hottest weather ; and when the laundress engaged in her important duties, the cook was never discon- 60 TEEASUKED MOMENTS. certed the large wash-kettle stood as a fixture at the spring, to which she repaired with her week's washing, where her work was performed with neatness and dispatch ; and if a man became thirsty in a hot summer's night, he need not call a servant, but slip on his morning-gown, take a pitcher in his hand, walk to the nearest spring, and slake his thirst at the pure fountain. Was ever a people more blest, or more happy ? For hours I have gazed in rapt sile^^ upon those perennial fountains, so pure, so sparkling, so afrandant ; and at eventide have strolled along the banks of that incom- parable stream, and viewed the variety of those springs, which iiad the appearance of keeping up a perpetual holy strife, to see which could send out from the bowels of the earth the p-eatest amount of blessings. And then, too, it was all done with such a hearty goodwill, as if to luork and to bless were all their delight. And as the springs leaped from the opposite banks, and embraced and kissed each other, away they rushed, tinkling, sparkling, dancing, whirling over rock and pebble, as if in raptures at the blessings they scattered around them. Then taking my stand at the point of their departure, where they have bestowed their last favours, I have watched them leaping into the beautiful valley below, where they seemed to pause, as if to reflect whether anything more could be done ; and as they began to glide softly through the meadows below, in their silent unobtrusive course, when the last rays of the setting sun were playing upon their mirrored bosom, they seemed to look back with sparkling, laughing eyes, and cry to that village, " O ye inhabitants of JVt , mark well your privileges and the blessings we have lavished upon you. We have cleansed your houses, washed your streets and carriages, made clean your garments, preserved pure and cool your meat and your milk, have slaked the thirst of man and beast, and every attribute with which God has endowed us we have put forth to bless you, and all without money and without price; and now are we bearing upon our bosom all the impurities we have received from you, that we may carry them far, far away, AMERICAN REVIVALS. 61 and bury them in the depths of the sea, where they shall never more harm you ; and this will we continue to do annually, daily, hourly, momentarily, summer and winter, day and night, in time of drought and times of plenty, to you and to your children after you unto, thousands of generations. We are never weary of blessing you ; only be careful, keep our course clear, suffer no obstacles to be thrown in our way, no barrierMacross our path." How reasonable the conditions upon wmch this village might have been blessed through all future time ! But alas ! alas ! for poor short-sighted man, so fond of tinkering and trying to improve God's works. What did man do, what could he do to improve these waters, to render them a richer blessing ? Shall it be told in Gath, or published in the streets of Askelon ? Yes, it shall be told for the instructive lesson it imparts. One of the wealthy citizens became alarmed at the liberty these waters enjoyed, and the improper use they once made of such liberty, when under the excitement of a thunder-shower, the back water rushed into his spring-house, upset his pans of milk, and committed other depredations, quite unworthy the privileges and freedom they enjoyed. He was of opinion that such errors should be nipped in the bud, and that there was no time to be lost ; and if the citizens would but grant him the privilege, he would, at his own expense, put a stop to such freaks. The privilege once granted, he threw a dam, No. 1, across the stream, and dug a race for the waters, so as perfectly to secure his object ; and in doing so he discovered he had created a water-power that might be turned to a good account ; he erected a mill, and extended this race to an over-shot wheel, which these waters turned to so much profit, and put money so rapidly into his pocket, that others caught the idea, and now a second dam is thrown across, then a third. So that instead of a beautiful stream of running waters to bless the whole popula- tion, the poor as well as the rich, there were now three stagnant, dirty ponds ; all to make rich three families. These ponds became the depositories of every unclean thing ; all the 62 TREASURED MOMENTS. dead dogs and cats, all the filth of the streets, the wash of the kitchens and stables, and finally, the veriest puddles for swine to wallow in. Next ascended a miasma that poisoned the atmosphere ; noxious vapours, like the plagues of Egypt, entered their dwellings, cutting down their first-born ; a wail goes up to heaven, weeping and lamentation are heard in their streets ; and on my last visit, thirty years ago, their once beautiful village was hardly to be recognised : faMities had been decimated, houses deserted, and falling piecemeW to the ground ; and this once miniature of Geneva had, within ten years, sunk into a dilapidated Rome. My dear Lady Aid- borough, this is a true picture, a picture to be studied ; and in the study of which your ladyship cannot fail to discern my views on the question propounded. Those pure, sparkling waters, gushing out of God's earth, flowing unob- structed and in such abundance, and scattering blessings in so rich profusion wherever they ran, were, to the inhabit- ants of that highly favoured village, just what an open, free Bible, a free church, and a free a.nd pure gospel are to the inhabitants of all countries wherever enjoyed ; and, secondly, those three dams, thrown across that stream to turn the waters out of their natural free channel, to be guided and controlled by erring men, and for their own selfish purposes, became to the inhabitants of that same village just what every church establishment has become to the masses of the people in every country where they have existed since the Christian era, without a single exception. No matter whether it be the Papal Church of Rome, the Episcopal Church of England, or the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, the principle is the same ; they have been but so many dams thrown across that " river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God," but not till these dams be removed, that the word of God may have free course and be glorified. True, some of these stagnant waters are less noxious than others, and contain less of the poisonous effluvia so fatal to the spiritual growth of God's people ; but it is only because the AMERICAN REVIVALS. 63 dams have been more recently built : that they will become equally corrupt, is simply a question of time. Before the Anglican Church is as old as her mother, with the strides she is now making, unless God interpose to sweep away the dam, she will be astride the " scarlet coloured beast," with "a golden cup in her hand, full of abominations." The corruptions and horrible wickedness of the Papal Church are as much the natural inductions of these stagnant waters stagnant because of the dam thrown across them as are the poisonous effluvia from the deadly upas ; and every church establishment tends to the same fruit and the same end. Pride, avarice, arrogance, love of the world, of power, pomp, show, oppression, despot- ism just the opposite to the fruits of the Spirit axe seen among the first-fruits of an established church ; and the ten- dency is always from bad to worse. The docks here, at Havre, are all artificial ; water is let in, and there confined, to float the ships ; but very soon it becomes so putrid, and sends up such a stench, that they are obliged to provide waste gates, and at ebb-tide let these poisonous waters out, and let in the fresh and pure from God's great ocean. Now, the Bible is God's great ocean of truth ; but church establishments never provide waste gates never let out their putrid waters never suffer fresh water to come in. Such is the boast of the Papal Church. " No change ; always the same." "You Protestants dissenters, with no established religion love change." Yes, we do ; we love to receive fresh supplies every day from God's great fountain of light and truth. We are not fond of paying tithes to lave in a puddle, when we have an ocean of pure water always at our command, without money and without price. But, says the objector, Are you not unfortunate in selecting the ocean as an emblem of the Bible, when Isaiah says, " The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt" ? Yes, exactly so ; and this is just what is needed. Mark well : the " mire and dirt " come not from the ocean, but from the filthy earth, with which it is brought in 64 TREASURED MOMENTS. contact ; just so with the Holy Bible, when brought in con- tact with a wicked heart. Paul " had not known sin but by the law ; but when the commandment came, sin revived ;" and it wrought in him all manner of concupiscence, casting up to his view, and to his utter dismay, the " mire and dirt" that had been so long concealed in his heart. This is the reason why we so strenuously contend for a free and open Bible that it may come in contact with every human heart, stjj^ng it to its lowest depths. Notice, also, another point of resemblance. They are both endowed by God with an inherent principle of self-preservation against all impurities and corruptions, when left free, as God made them. All the rivers that pour their filth into the. sea, the wash of great cities, and of all the ships afloat, and the thousands that perish in her waters, do not affect her purity : just so with the Bible. It may come in contact with the vilest hearts, and by God's Spirit purify and cleanse them, while its own purity remains intact. It is just so with the atmosphere that surrounds this globe. Who would think of building air-tight rooms for the purpose of preserving a little pure air for the benefit of the sick, when its purity depends upon its freedom ? God has made the ocean, the air, the sun, and the Bible ; and endowed them all with the same great principle of self-preservation and self-purification, when left to act free. They were made for action ; it is their nature to act ; their life, their purity, their power for good, depends upon the freedom of their action. They were made, not only to act, but to be acted upon ; to agitate, and to be agitated ; but never to be confined. We may shut out the rays of the sun from our dwelling ; but let us not veil the sun that it shall not shine upon others, under the pretext of keep- ing it pure, or because some reckless man has had his eyes injured by it. We may shut the light of God's Bible out of our own hearts, but let us not dare to chain that Bible, that others may not behold its light, and feel its power ; nor hide it under a bushel, lest somebody may corrupt it. It is kept from corruption when it is kept in action. What pity and AMERICAN REVIVALS. 65 contempt would be felt over the world for a set of monks to be spending their energies, and all the poor people's money they could lay their hands on, in digging out great basins by the seaside, in order to preserve a little sea- water pure, undis- turbed, untouched by the impurities of earth, and cursing and persecuting all those who chose to take it fresh from the ocean! And so with the air and the light those great elementsjtfhich God has given to the world, to all classes, and for all concutions of men to be brought under the control of a few stupid, besotted monks ! Who would not arise in his indignation, and assert his right to receive these elements pure from God's hand ? So is it with that great fountain of light, and of the pure waters of life. And who so blind as not to perceive the contrast among the nations ; and the difference between a people who have for centuries been sipping at the puddles and dirty ditches of monks under a church establish- ment, and those communities where the people drink from the fountain ? Look at Italy, Austria, and Spain, with their armies of corrupt priests and monks, backed by the whole mili- tary power of those kingdoms, with pointed bayonets, to keep the people from the fountain of life, and compel them to drink muddy water. Then compare them with those bright spots of earth, with a free church, an open Bible, and a pure gospel. Would that civil governments could be made to feel that the Holy Bible is of itself an impregnable tower of strength ; that it is of age, and can speak for itself ; that it needs no legisla- tive body as godfather to stand sponsor, nor any human legis- lation to unseal the fountain, or to guide and control its waters : it asks nothing more, nor does it need anything more from any government under heaven, but just to be let alone. " Hands off !" pollute not this holy book by a touch of legis- lation ; only keep the track clear ; throw no obstacle in its way, no dam across its pure stream. So long as those waters encircling that village were left free from the touch of man in attempting to control them, so long they imparted nothing but blessings ; but the moment man's polluted hand was seen 66 TREASURED MOMENTS. tinkering with those pure waters to improve them ; they became a curse to the people. I am aware of being met with the question, " Has not the English Church been a blessing to the world ?" I reply, " individuals " in that church have blessed the world ; and all Christendom has reason to bless God that such men as Scott, Henry, and Legh Richmond have lived to let their light shine. But none can tell how many more such men might have risen to bless the world, had England been free^rom the blight and mildew of a church establishment. If England has sent out so many good men, and proved such a blessing to the world, with such a millstone around her neck, what might she not have done with a free Bible and a free church ? Inas- much, then, as all dams thrown across the pure running waters of the river of life tend to corruption, so do they all tend directly towards Rome ; for the principle in all is the same. In some churches, to be sure, the process of corruption is slower than in others, because meeting with stronger counter- currents, but is none the less certain in its final results. One engine may propel a train much faster than another, but if upon the same track, and leading the same way, they are equally sure to reach the same destination. If, then, we are on that track, with our faces toward Rome, whether on the slow or the fast train, and if we do not really wish to go there, but prefer to go to Geneva, we had better change cars at the first station. And now, in conclusion, my earnest prayer is, that God may in mercy hasten the day when every obstacle shall be removed, every artificial dam be swept away, that the pure waters of life may flow freely from pole to pole, " till the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose." BOOK II. " There is sorrow on the sea." Jer. xlix. 23. "Sing unto the Lord a new song, ye that go down to the sea." Isa. xlii. 10. " The ahundance of the sea shall be converted." Isa. Ix. 5. 69 BOOK II, AMERICAN SEAMEN. INCIDENTS AND FACTS AT HAVRE. ON arriving at Havre, in 1836, a little, tattered flag from an upper window in a narrow, dirty alley, was the only index of a place where sailors could meet for prayer and worship. It was on the second floor. A few books and papers on a long table in the centre, a few scattered benches for auditors, and a little, plain box in one corner for the speaker, composed its entire furniture. Although the most decent place in the neighbourhood, it was not considered inappropriate to convert it into a smoking-room, for Jack's accommodation, as soon as religious services were closed. In looking back to that period from the present standpoint, we may indeed exclaim, " What hath God wrought \" Notwithstanding these unpropitious circumstances, God was often pleased to vouchsafe his presence, and display his power and grace, in the midst of the few that assembled there for worship. From the " Sailor's Magazine," published at that time in New York, we make the following extracts : "We are repeatedly cheered with the accounts received from time to time of the onward progress of the seamen's cause at Havre. The labours of our chaplain, Mr. Sawtell, appear to be blessed abundantly. A new and more commo- dious place of worship has been prepared, of which they hoped to take possession on the first of the present month. Under the date of January 30th, Mr. Sawtell writes thus : " ' The bearer of this can tell you how we are crowded in the chapel, and I hope soon to be crowded out of it. I 70 TREASURED MOMENTS. have also reason to believe that the Lord is among us for good/ " The following deeply interesting notices are from his pen, under date of December 24th : " ' There are many little incidents occurring almost every day that encourage me in my work, and should cheer the hearts of all who contribute to the funds, or are in any way engaged in promoting the welfare of seamen. " SAILORS HAVE GRATITUDE. " 'Tell the dear people of America that we bless them in God's name for providing us with a good anchorage, and such rich provisions for the soul, while in Havre/ cries an old, weather-beaten tar, as he seized my hand to-day, giving it a grip that one might suppose he had mistaken it for a helm in a storm, and which drew tears from my eyes, from more causes than one. ' Yes/ continued he, ' I bless the Lord that I have lived to see the day when poor Jack is no longer forgotten in the prayers of the church/ " ' I called, sir/ says another, ' in the name of all the crew, to thank you for the kind words and faithful warnings you have given us since we have been in Havre. I trust, sir, we shall not forget them. For once, I am determined in the strength of Jesus that sin shall never get the weather-gauge of me again/ " A third exclaimed, as he bowed the knee in prayer, ' O Jesus, I thank thee that thou hast put it into the hearts of thy dear ones in America to erect this lighthouse in Havre, that our poor shipwrecked souls may be guided safely into port/ " These are the kind of parting salutations and prayers which daily drop from the lips of grateful sailors. When any- thing occurs which prevents my seeing them as they are leaving port, they often send me a written expression of their grati- tude. The following is a specimen : AMERICAN SEAMEN. 71 " ' The crew of the brig Hero, of Scarborough, desire to return sincere thanks to the minister of the Mariners' church, for the kind instructions they have received during their stay at Havre ; also for the privilege of the reading-room ; and desire the prayers of the minister and congregation for their safe arrival at their native land. (Signed) John Matthews, John Olliver, Robert Horn, Robert Jackson, Samuel Simmons, Stephen Otterbourn, John Richards/ "Now, who, on hearing such expression of gratitude and such prayers, could not exclaim from the heart, ' It is more blessed to give than to receive ' ? "THE SHIP 'SWITZERLAND.' " This ship, of Boston, arrived in this port about two weeks since, when the crew, as might be expected of a temperance vessel, soon found their way to the chapel. She is certainly a fine ship, and manned with a noble set of men. Every man has his Bible, and a good supply of tracts and temperance almanacks for distribution ; together with a library of useful books. On their arrival here, true to their principles, and resolving to keep out of the way of temptation, they traversed the streets of Havre in hopes of finding a Sailors' Home where the accursed poison was not permitted to enter, and where they could take their Bibles and books, and spend their leisure hours like rational men ; but to the shame of the Chris- tian world be it told, no such place in Havre could be found. They finally rented a little shed in an obscure place, where they hoped to remain undisturbed ; but the rain coming down in torrents drove them out. They had no alternative, therefore, but to seek shelter in one of those misnomers called ' Sailors' boarding-houses, 3 selecting, of course, the most decent, if it be not a paradox to speak of decency keeping company with rum, gin, and brandy. But they have manfully resisted every temptation thus far, honoured their profession, and have been active in doing good ; and with all my heart shall I welcome 72 TREASURED MOMENTS. them back to this port. The Lord increase the number of such men and such vessels. " SAILORS MAKE GOOD MISSIONARIES. "Last Thursday evening, being our stated evening for preaching, I was met at the door of the chapel by a lady, who informed me that a crew of twenty-five sailors were in the house, just brought into port by the American ship, Austerlitz, from the wreck of an English vessel. She observed, that on meeting them in the street, on her way to meeting, she inquired of them where they were going. ' We are going to the chapel/ replied one, 'to return thanks to God for our deliverance/ On entering the house, it was truly an affecting sight to see them all seated in a body, with solemn counte- nances and emaciated looks, there to raise their Ebenezers to God for delivering mercy. After preaching, during which I endeavoured to take advantage of this providence of God to give efficacy and power to his word, and shape my remarks to suit their condition, I expressed a desire to hear from some one of them an account of their perils and deliverance ; upon which, John Wilson, the second mate and a pious man, gave a brief but affecting statement of the entire loss of the ship Eliza, of London, with her cargo, in a tremendous gale, twenty days out from Quebec, homeward bound, with a crew of twenty- five men and one passenger ; who, after remaining four days and five nights on the wreck, with but little to sustain life, were all providentially taken off by the Austerlitz, just as the vessel was going to pieces and going down. I have seen and conversed with most of them since Thursday. Some are deeply impressed, and resolved, in their own language, ' to cut cable and swing clear of every vice, and suffer no more poison to go down their hatches/ We furnished each one with a Testament, which they promised faithfully and prayer- fully to read ; and last night I distributed among them one hundred francs, put into my hand? by a benevolent individual AMERICAN SEAMEN. 73 for their benefit, with the stipulation that not one sous was to be laid out for strong drink. On asking one of them how they found their way to the chapel so soon, they having never been in this port before, he pointed to one of the tars of the Switzerland ; ' That Yankee boy/ said he, ' was hunting about for poor sailors to bring to the house of God, and met us just as we landed ; and I bless God and thank him that he has led us to this house to-night/ Truly, thought I, a Christian sailor makes a good missionary. Let every vessel that floats be supplied with Bibles, and tracts, and useful books, and every sailor a Christian, and it's an entering wedge to all nations under heaven ; the highway of the Lord is then prepared for the speedy redemption of the world. Who, then, that loves the prosperity of Zion, and prays, ' Thy kingdom come/ can look with indifference upon the cause of seamen ? "Sailors desire and need our prayers; and there are some who can pray for us. " In entering the chapel on Monday evening, the evening of our stated prayer-meetings, in which pious sailors take a part, I discovered the crew of the unfortunate ship Eliza, all seated in their places, and among them many new faces. The object for especial prayer this evening was, the blessing of God upon afflicted and distressed seamen. On entering the pulpit I found upon the Bible a note addressed to myself, which I read to the congregation as follows : " ' The crew of the ship New Orleans desire the prayers of Christians in their afflictions, having lost at sea a respected shipmate, Samuel Purrinton, who, while at the helm, was washed overboard in a heavy gale on the 6th instant, as the ship was lying to. By complying with this request, you will greatly oblige the crew, and we will return you our many and hearty thanks. In behalf of the crew and myself, Yours, &c., H. POPELL/ " Surely, thought I, sailors do need our prayers, for they are 74) TREASURED MOMENTS. in jeopardy, soul and body, every hour. Adding a few remarks, I called upon John Wilson, the pious mate of the lost ship, to pray. I had never heard him, and felt no little anxiety about the result, for the house was unusually solemn, and I dreaded anything that would divert the attention ; but a few words convinced all that he was no stranger at the throne of grace, or to that book that guides sinners there. His manner was grave and dignified ; his language good, but not studied ; his voice low and solemn. A breathless silence pervaded the whole assembly, and never have I witnessed such an impres- sion left on the minds of an audience as when he arose from his knees. ' It is no wonder/ said a young man of the world in a whispering tone, as he passed me at the close of the meeting, ' it is no wonder that the crew of the unfortunate Eliza could not be lost, when she had on board a man that prays like John Wilson. ' " THE PRODIGAL SAILOR RETURNING TO HIS FATHER'S " HOUSE. "Havre, July 22nd, 1841. "DEAR SIR, When in the United States, I was urged by many friends to write more frequently for the 'Sailor's Magazine ; ' particularly to furnish from time to time such narratives and facts as might have a tendency to awaken deeper sympathy in the minds of Christians in behalf of seamen, and to incite them to greater efforts and more importunate prayers for their salvation. " The following is a brief sketch of the life and character of a sailor, and of his recent conversion to God, the account of which I had from his own lips ; and, while it strikingly exhibits the patience and long-suffering of God towards the sinner, it no less magnifies the exceeding riches of his grace in his salvation. "Should you think it worthy a place in your Magazine, you . AMERICAN SEAMEN. 75 arc at liberty to insert it, reserving only the name of the individual, who, for many obvious reasons, requests that it may not at this time be given to the public. "William P., the subject of this memoir, was born in Wales, June 28th, 1816, of very respectable and pious parents. When quite a lad, his father removed to one of the large commercial seaports in England, where his children were necessarily exposed to many of the temptations and vices peculiar to large cities, the effects of which soon be- came too apparent in the disposition and conduct of young William. At a very early age he became associated with wicked and profligate boys, and though often restrained and reproved, he hardened his neck, and became every day more and more deaf to the voice of parental authority, until, throw- ing off all restraint, he became the leader of the most reckless and abandoned youth in the city. Often did his father talk, and reason, and plead with him, follow him into the streets, and cry after him with many tears, but all to no purpose. His peaceful and quiet home was exchanged for the gin-shops ; the viands of his father's table for such food as he could steal or beg in the streets ; the sweets of home, the society of affectionate brothers and sisters, the caresses of parental love, the privilege of bowing with them at the family altar, were all, all abandoned for the revellings and midnight carousals of the brothel. Such was his precocity in all manner of wickedness, and so rapid were his strides towards ruin, that before he had reached the age of fifteen, entire weeks would elapse without his ever sleeping under the paternal roof. " Thirteen times had he been imprisoned in Bridewell for drunkenness, petty larceny, and disorderly conduct, and three times in the common gaol, awaiting the assizes. Once, in the street, he cut from a lady's arm her reticule, and ran off with its contents. At another time, on returning from one of his bacchanalian riots, he offered his father a piece of gold coin ; but he, bursting into tears, exclaimed, ' No, Billy, I can't take 76 TREASURED MOMENTS. it ; I know you did not come honestly by it/ At another time, in searching for him among the haunts of vice, his father found him with his bosom full of silver spoons, when struggling to break away, saying, ' Let me go/ ' No, my dear son/ exclaimed the almost frantic father, 'I cannot let you go ; you have a soul to be saved/ Thus did this poor broken- hearted father spend many days in crying in the streets after this prodigal son, and much of the night in crying to God to have mercy on his soul. But it all seemed like ploughing on a rock. " When he had arrived at the age of sixteen, and becoming every day more restive under the repeated admonitions of his anxious father, as well as the more stern rebukes of the civil authorities, he determined to seek refuge on the high seas, as a sailor before the mast. His first voyage was to South America. But to follow him through all the details of his wayward and wicked life, for the many years he has been a sailor, would extend this article beyond its proposed limits. Suffice it to say that, to use his own language, he rarely ever made a whole voyage agreeably to contract, but would leave the ship, and run away the first opportunity, seeking in every city the deepest and darkest dens of pollution in which to spend his time and his money. Whenever his voyage or inclination led him home, he was supplied with religious books and a Bible, but he never returned with them, nor did he ever read them. And whenever his father could hear of him in distant lands, he would write him the most affecting letters, directing his mind to some striking passages of Scripture, and beseeching him, with many tears, to be reconciled to God, and take the Bible as his guide. Some of these letters I read with my own eyes, and the persuasive language, and melting tones that dilated every sentence, evinced the yearnings of a fond father over the living ruins of an almost hopeless son. ' But, for all this, he sinned still/ " For seven long years was he a vagabond in the United States, or prowling about her shores ; sometimes in a fishing- AMERICAN SEAMEN. 77 smack, on the banks of Newfoundland ; then in a coaster, fleeing from justice ; or wending his way, in by-paths, from one city to another. At one time he enlisted as a sailor on board a revenue cutter, but while lying at Charleston, South Caro- lina, during the ' nullification excitement/ he made his escape into the country ; but hunger and famine soon brought him out of his lurking-places, and he sought shelter once more in the purlieus of a city. But, like the troubled sea that cannot rest, he was soon afloat again, bound for New Orleans. There he again left his ship, and ascended the Mississippi to the mouth of the Red River, where he became associated with a gang of those lawless desperadoes that infest the southern and western waters. After roving about for some time in search of booty, seeking rest and finding none, and being destitute of every lawful means of sustenance, ' he began to be in want/ and, like another prodigal, 'went and joined himself to a citizen of that country / not, however, to feed swine, but to cut wood, to feed the many steamboats that ply on that river. And it was on the banks of that sluggish stream, in the deep forests of that lonely land, far from his country, his kindred, or his home, that he began to reflect seriously upon his past life. His thoughts, as if propelled by some irresistible power, carried him back to the scenes of his childhood : he remem- bered the caresses of a doting mother, the prayers of a much- injured father, and the deep anguish with which his impiety 'had wrung their hearts. He thought, too, of the blessings and privileges of a peaceful and quiet home, which he had so long and so wantonly abused ; nor did his conscience allow him to forget, that for all these things God would bring him into judgment. And though his convictions of sin, as com- mitted against a pure and holy God, seemed as yet to be neither clear nor strong, yet was he often compelled to fall on his knees in secret, and ask God what he must do to be saved. Thus it was, by this train of reflections, that he ' came to him- self ; ' and remembering that in his father's house there was ' bread enough and to spare/ he said, ' I will arise and go to 78 TREASURED MOMENTS. my father/ Laying aside his axe, and taking, for once, an honourable leave of his employer, he returned to New Orleans, where he shipped to Baltimore ; here sickness confined him for some weeks in the hospital, during which time he was visited, in common with others, by the seamen's chaplain, the Rev. J. Smith ; and though he paid a respectful attention to his religious instructions, yet so little did he feel his guilt and danger as a sinner, and his need of a Saviour, that he suffered these opportunities to pass away without opening his heart to the minister, or even asking an interest in his prayers. " On his recovery, his mind seemed more unsettled, and his resolution to return home evidently weakened. He finally went east, and determined on one more fishing expedition to the banks of Newfoundland. Before sailing, however, from Marblehead, he met there with a Mrs. Berry, a pious woman, who talked to him about his soul, and gave him some tracts and much kind and motherly advice. In passing through the streets one day, making preparations to embark, he discovered, among some rubbish from a cellar, an old Bible, which, as he stopped to pick up, he said to his companions, in half-jest, ' I believe I'll take this Bible to sea/ little realising that within the lids of that book was contained the perfect law ' that con- verteth the soul/ and in which lay concealed the very ' sword of the Spirit/ by which he was to be slain. With this Bible and a few tracts in his chest, he entered upon his second voyage to Newfoundland. When but a few days at sea, his attention to eternal realities was once more arrested by the reading of a tract entitled 'The Sinner is his own Destroyer/ But though his mind became somewhat impressed, and his conscience evidently awakened, from the perusal of this tract, yet it was left for a passage from that old Bible to perform the great work of bringing him low and submissive at the foot of the cross. ' Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way' was the arrow selected from the Almighty's quiver. This was the word of God that made him tremble ; the hammer that broke the rock, and the sword of the Spirit that slew the man. Being AMERICAN SEAMEN. 79 thus wounded and slain by the law, and, like Paul, trembling and astonished, he began, like him, to cry, ' Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ? ' And though there was no Ananias on board to teach him, yet God, who had made this man a chosen vessel unto himself, had in his mercy provided a substitute ; for, strange to tell, on that vessel he found ' Doddridge's Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul/ which, of all uninspired books, was the one he needed the very Ananias that could lead him to the fountain of living waters ; and it was when reading this book that there seemed to fall from his eyes as it had been scales. The way to be saved seemed now plain and easy : old things passed away, and all things became new. Christ, who but yesterday had no form or comeliness, appeared now the chief of ten thousand, and altogether lovely. And now did he say, with full purpose of heart, ' I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee/ And no sooner does he return to Marblehead than he is seen, with a quick step and a light and joyous heart, on his way to Boston, where he hopes to find a vessel bound to his native shore. Disappointed, how- ever, in this, he shipped on board the William and John for Apalachicola, and from thence he came to Havre, where he arrived on the 22nd of last June. During the few days he remained in this city he spent much of his time in the chapel and reading-room, with his Bible and Christian friends; and where, in the several interviews I had with him, he narrated, with tearful eyes and becoming modesty, this simple and touching story of his past life. After leaving this city, and since he arrived at home, he has written me an affecting letter, in which he attempts to describe the joys of a father's heart, and the tears that rolled down the furrowed cheeks of the poor old man, as he fell upon the neck and embraced this his son, who ' was dead and is alive again, was lost and now is found.' 80 TREASURED MOMENTS. " SAY YOUR PRAYERS IN FAIR WEATHER. "Havre, May 5th, 1842. " DEAR SIR, In preaching, last Sabbath, on the subject of prayer, I incidentally remarked, that as there were certain birds that never made a noise, except at the approach of bad weather, so there were many nominal Christians who never prayed, unless at the approach or in the midst of some tem- poral calamity, or, in other words, they were only foul-weather Christians. After dismissing the audience, a lady came for- ward, taking from her reticule a letter from a pious clergyman in Ireland, remarking that it contained a very remarkable incident illustrative of the sermon which I had just preached, and requested me to read it ; in doing so, I was so struck with the thrilling incident, and the singular coincidence, that I begged an extract for your Magazine ; and if it interests you as it has me, I am sure you will give it a place in its columns. " EXTRACT. " Returning by the Belfast night-coach from the Dublin clerical meetings to my distant parish in the north, I found myself placed opposite to a gentlemnn, whose appearance engrossed rather than attracted my most profound attention. His age, as he afterwards told me, was sixty, and perhaps I should have conjectured as much, although exposure to weather, cares, anxieties, and dangers, with a certain air of seriousness, which seemed as it were to preside over all, spoke more than the effects of time the progress of my fellow- traveller's earthly pilgrimage. In truth, his countenance was such as no observant physiognomist could contemplate with- out interest, nor mark its amiable and diversified expression without respect and love. The coach in which we sat had scarcely cleared the pavement, and was rolling along the silent highway, when my companion addressed me with great ease AMERICAN SEAMEN. 81 and politeness. A few minutes suffice*! to show that the predominating sentiment of his heart was religion. His con- versation was almost exclusively of that character ; and as he poured out the rich stores of gospel truth and experience from the exhaustless treasury of a converted soul, the night insen- sibly wore away, and the sun was long risen, as we changed horses at the last stage. Little more than an hour remained, and I must part, probably for ever, from the man by whose conversation I had been inexpressibly captivated. I felt, as may be easily conceived, a strong desire to learn his history, and thus fix more permanently on my mind the impression he had made. He had already told me that he had com- manded a vessel between Liverpool and America. Accord- ingly I asked him whether the turning of his heart to God had been caused by any sudden danger, or was of gradual growth ? My question seemed to please him, and he replied to it with the utmost courtesy. " ' Near the close of the late war/ said he, ' I was waiting in port with a fleet of other merchantmen, tih 1 a convoy should arrive, it being unsafe to sail without such protection. My habits/ observed he, ' had always been exceedingly irregular to give them no stronger term, and I passed the period of detention in practices that I cannot look back upon without shame and sorrow. At length the signal to weigh anchor was made. My ship, like many others, was so short of hands, that I was glad to accept of any man that offered, however inexperienced. At the moment of departure a boat came alongside, out of which a tall robust man climbed actively upon the deck, and gave himself in as a seaman willing to engage for the voyage. The wind was blowing almost a gale, and under such circumstances I was glad to get even the addition of one equivocal hand to my scanty crew. This pleasure, however, was of short duration. This new- comer was soon found to be of a most quarrelsome, untractable disposition, a furious blasphemer, and when opportunity offered a drunkard. Besides all these disqualifications he 82 TREASURED MOMENTS. was wholly ignorant of nautical affairs, or, if not, feigned him- self so in order to escape duty. In short, he was the curse arid plague of the vessel, and refused obstinately to give any account of himself, his family, or his past life. At length a violent storm arose, all hands were called on deck, and too few, as I thought, to save the ship. When the men were all mustered to their quarters, behold, the sturdy blasphemer was missing ; and on going below to seek him, what was my surprise at finding him on his knees repeating the Lord's Prayer, with wonderful rapidity, over and over again, as if he had bound himself to countless recitations. Vexed at what I believed hypocrisy or cowardice, I shook him roughly by the collar, exclaiming, " Say your prayers in fair weather ! " He rose up, observing in a low voice, " God grant I may ever see fair weather to say them/' In a few hours the storm abated, and another week brought us into port. I immediately paid this man off, and he disappeared ; and the incidents of the voyage, so trivial in their nature, were soon effaced from my recol- lection. Four years passed away, during which time I was twice shipwrecked, and once badly hurt by the falling of a spar, yet I persevered in a life of profligacy and contempt of G*od. At the end of this period I sailed from England for the port of New York, and after a very heavy and tedious voyage entered that port on a Sabbath morning. The streets were thronged with multitudes on their way to the many churches with which that city abounds. But I was bent on a very different occupation ; detennining to drown the recollection of perils and deliverances in a celebrated tavern, which I had too long and too often frequented. As I was walking leisurely toward this haunt, I was met by a very dear friend, the quondam associate of many a thoughtless hour. After our greetings and salutations were over, I seized him by the arm, saying, " You shall come along with me to the tavern ! " " I will do so/' replied he, " on condition that you come with me first, for a single hour, into this house (pointing to a church), and thank God for all his mercies to you on the deep." I was AMERICAN SEAMEN. 83 ashamed to refuse, so we both entered the church together ; a dense crowd filled the seats, and even the aisles ; after much difficulty we succeeded in reaching a position right in front of the pulpit, and about five, yards distant from the preacher. My attention was soon riveted, as was all that vast assembly ; and the features and voice of the preacher, though I could assign no time or place of previous meeting, yet seemed not wholly unknown, particularly when he spoke with animation. At length the preacher's eyes fell upon the spot where we stood. He suddenly paused, still gazing upon me, as if to make himself sure that he laboured under no optical delusion, and then, with a voice that seemed to shake the building, he cried out, "Say your prayers in fair weather!" The whole audience seemed lost in amazement, and considerable time elapsed before the preacher himself sufficiently recovered self- possession to recount the incidents that had led to this thrilling scene. He at length told the whole story ; and remarked, with deep emotion, "that the words which his captain had uttered in the storm four years ago, and who now stood before him, had clung to him by day and by night after his landing, as if an angel had been charged with the duty of repeating them in his ears ; and feeling the holy call as coming directly from above, to do the work of his Master, he immediately entered upon the study of the ministry ; and that he now was, through grace, such as they saw and heard." At the conclusion of this affecting address, he called on the audience to join him in prayer, that the same words might be blessed in turn to him who had first used them. But (continued this captain in his narration) God had outrun their petitions; for, before the preacher had finished the recital of the story, I felt my hard heart melting under the mighty workings of God's Spirit, bringing down high looks and lofty imaginations, and subduing within me everything that exalteth itself against God. So that when the assembly was dismissed I willingly exchanged the tavern for the house of the preacher, where I tarried six weeks, and then parted with my spiritual father and spiritual 84 TBEASURED MOMENTS. son, and with a heart which has ever since sought and found its pleasures only in the service of my Saviour ; and have, for the most part, enjoyed those holy and happy assurances which advancing years have only hallowed, and strengthened, and sanctified/ " The above is an extract, and it needs no comment of mine. I would only say to all who are living in the sunshine of prosperity, to all who are calculating upon a deathbed repent- ance, to the youth who are waiting for a more convenient season, to the rich who fare sumptuously every day, and to all who are now sailing on a smooth unruffled sea, Say your prayers in fair weather ! "ORIGIN OF THE SEAMEN'S CHAPEL, AT HAVRE. " On entering public life, nothing was more foreign to my purpose than that of labouring among seamen ; and, so far as human foresight and calculation could go, the probabilities of an open door to such a field lessened as time rolled on. Happily settled over a church that had grown up from infancy under my ministry, where mutual affection and attachment had something of the nature and strength of family ties why should these ties be broken? What could ever sunder the cords that bound us together ? But man seeth not as God seeth ; ' The way of man is not in himself/ " Being a child of providence from my birth, and so accus- tomed to be led, that I was scarcely able to walk alone, and always so kindly cared for, that I hardly needed to care for myself, while in vigorous health and the pastor of a loved and loving people, to have spoken of a separation would have shocked my sensibilities about as much as to speak of the separation of husband and wife. But to prepare me for such a trial, and as if to familiarise my mind to the event, God laid his hand upon me, first gently, then more heavily ; till in language not to be mistaken, the command came, 'Arise, depart, for this is not your rest/ Extensive travels had been ENGLISH AND ASIEBICAX SEAMEN'S CHAPEL, HAVBE, FKAXCE. AMERICAN SEAMEN. 87 resorted to, and every means used, by my dear people, to restore my wasted energies, and lift me up to a working con- dition ; but all in vain. Relatives, friends, and physicians were brought, however reluctantly, to one and the same con- clusion that if health was ever found, it must be sought in a foreign clime. A voyage to China was proposed, the church furnishing supplies, and holding the pulpit in reserve for me on my return ; but this was declined ; for experience had already taught me, that my restless disposition required some- thing to do, and that the idea of wandering about in idleness, in search of health, a mere blank in the world, was so repugnant to my nature as to counteract all the good that could be hoped for from long voyages. This was not the path in which I could ever find health ; ' Give me something to do/ was my cry ; ' if not strength enough to lif} a Bible, can I not lift a tract ? If too weak to preach to the great congregation, may I not tell the story of the cross in some small room ? ' " While debating these questions, intelligence came that the Seamen's Friend Society, at New York, were in search of a chaplain for the port of Havre, France. May not that be the hospital appointed of God, in which health may be found ? was the question that thrilled many a heart. Prayers and sup- plication for guidance were daily offered up, till the twilight became a meridian sun, and the finger of God pointed almost visibly to Havre. Packing trunks and boxing books became now the order of the day, and in the spring of 1836 I left Louisville, Kentucky, with my family, for France. The excitement and fatigue attendant upon such a move were too much for my worn-out frame and shattered nerves. Scarcely had I reached New York and greeted my friends some of whom were scared almost into fits, at meeting the ghost of one whose obituary they had just read,* when I was seized with a * It is a singular fact, that in one of my last attacks of illness, at Louisville, under the influence of Croton oil, I was thought to be dying ; Sabbath school children, who were calling to inquire for me, reported it. Steamers took the intelligence to Cincinnati, the papers reported me dead ; then the obituary followed, in a Tennessee newspaper. 88 TREASURED MOMENTS. violent fever, and for twenty-seven days my life hung in doubt ; two physicians were in attendance ; and, through the mercy of the great Physician, was once more raised up, taken on board a ship bound to Liverpool, then by land to Southampton, arriving in Havre the last of July. On the voyage was taken with an intermittent fever, which so shook the flesh from my bones, that the few friends of sailors at Havre were quite crest-fallen, and exclaimed, ' They have sent us a man to bury' But ' God's ways are not our ways/ Throwing away my lancet and vial of calomel, which had been my constant companions for years, with proper diet and exercise, and a little French ordinaire, in the course of eighteen months I was brought out as good as new ; nor has there been a lancet in my arm since, nor a grain of calomel in my mouth. Under God, I owe my life to this transfer from Louisville to Havre. My labours multiplied as my strength increased ; and from a little room in a narrow alley, where I began my work, I was soon driven to the most commodious that could be obtained ; and, in less than two years more, still larger accommodations were needed, as will be seen by the following extract taken from a magazine, published in 1838 : " ' It was stated in our last Annual Report, that a new chapel-room, larger and more commodious than that formerly occupied, had been provided, and a larger congregation than ever assembling from Sabbath to Sabbath. These anticipa- tions have been more than realised. The place has been thronged, and become literally too strait for the multitudes who have crowded there to hear the word of God in a language they could understand. Nor has the preached word been ineffectual, for there is reason to believe that God has merci- fully set his seal to the word dispensed, and fruit has been found which will endure to everlasting life. The necessity of better accommodation for seamen at Havre was adverted to in our last Report, and this subject is now pressing upon us with renewed weight. In February last the shipmasters and mates of the vessels then at Havre voluntarily put into the AMERICAN SEAMEN. 89 hands of Mr. Sawtell a paper signed by twenty-eight ship- masters and fifty mates, on the subject of a larger and better chapel for seamen at that port ; in the course of which they make the following remarks : " ' We appeal to the sympathies of the philanthropist, the patriot, and, above all, to the Christian. Father, mother, brother, or sister, will you sacrifice a few pence to the cause of seamen, your own children, and brethren, and friends, or will you sacrifice seamen to the god of this world? Having seen the little room, now occupied as a chapel, filled to overflowing always on the Sabbath, and well attended on other occasions, we are of opinion that this station should not only be maintained, but a chapel should be immediately built sufficiently large to accommodate from six hundred to one thousand persons. " ' Nor are sailors alone benefited by the labours of our chaplain at Havre, for while he is dispensing the " word of the kingdom " to seamen, a multitude of residents understand- ing the English language flock around him, and catch the truth from his lips ; and the estimation in which these privileges are held by the people, may be seen from the con- sideration of a few facts. The depressed state of our finances had led the Committee to believe it necessary to appoint some person to the office of Financial Secretary of the Society, who should become a permanent officer in the board, and devote his whole time to the work of raising funds. After much consideration on the subject, the Rev. Mr. Sawtell, our chaplain at Havre, was appointed to that office last November, and measures were immediately adopted to procure a successor for him at Havre. But as soon as the thing became known there, the residents, alarmed at the prospect of parting with a minister to whom they had become attached, and whose ministry was not only acceptable, but had been signally blessed among them, rose up, to the number of more than one hundred, and signed a remonstrance, beseeching the Committee to allow Mr. Sawtell to remain with them. Under such circum- stances the Committee could not but consent to relinquish 90 TREASURED MOMENTS. their claim upon him for his permanent services in this country ; requesting only that he should spend a few months with us to aid us in overcoming our present embarrassments. This arrangement was very readily acceded to on their part, and from this time it is expected that the residents at Havre will regularly assist in the support of a chaplain at that place/ " Agreeable to the above arrangement, I embarked with my family for America early in the spring of 1840 ; spending a year in incessant travel and toil, endeavouring to stir up the churches on the subject of the seamen's cause. To say nothing of the gleanings or more remote results of that year's work, its immediate fruits were the bringing away ten thousand dollars (2,000/.) for building an American and English Seamen's Chapel at Havre. "The following letter, written at the time of breaking ground for this chapel, may not be uninteresting to some. It is dated Havre, April 26th, 1842 : " 'My dear Sir, I am now happy in being able to inform you and, through you, the public, that after almost a year's painful suspense and delay, we have at length broken ground for our new chapel ; and I doubt if Herschel himself ever gazed with more exquisite delight upon a newly-discovered planet, than I did to-day upon some half-dozen men, with spades and mattocks, and their sleeves rolled up to their elbows, digging and spading up the soil of Louis Philippe's domains, preparing to lay the foundation of the American Seamen's Chapel. This chapel is to form quite an era in the Evangelical Protestant cause here in Havre. It finds favour in the eyes of many whom I little expected, and has produced no small stir, even among those " who make silver shrines for Diana." " ' The building is to be completed the 31st day of October next ; the contractor forfeiting 100 dollars per day after that time. This includes everything but pulpit and pews, which will also be ready for putting up immediately after the com- AMERICAN SEAMEN. 91 pletion of the building. We had hoped to have limited the contractor to four months ; but, on binding him over " to keep the Sabbath-day holy," and that not so much as the sound of a hammer must be heard upon the chapel-walls on that holy day, he seemed determined to lengthen out the time as far as possible, by way of showing the great loss we sustain in keeping the Sabbath. " ' Knowing the difficulty of pleasing everybody in locating a house for public worship, particularly with limited means that forbid the selection of the most central position, the Committee have endeavoured to seek and to aim only at the general good, particularly of that class for which it is more especially designed ; having an eye, at the same time, to the prospective changes and enlargement of the city. Hence, we have spared no pains in consulting the views of American shipmasters, and other intelligent men, who have manifested an interest in the object, on the subject of locating this chapel ; and the opinion has been unanimous, that a more eligible site could not be had anywhere in or about Havre, than the one we have obtained. It is a little way out of the walls of the city, in a still, quiet spot ; and one only needs to witness for a single Sabbath the noise, and bustle, and distraction of this Sabbath-breaking city, to know how to appreciate such a spot, where we can worship God without distraction. We also design to reserve and keep open our present reading-room, which is directly on the wharf, as a comfortable place of resort for the evenings, and for holding prayer-meetings through the week ; thus doing away the only possible objection that anyone could make to the new chapel, that of being too far for the sailor to attend the reading-room after a hard day's work. Our sexton, also, who is a pious young man, and capable of con- ducting religious meetings, will continue to live at the old reading-room, to visit boarding-houses and ships, distribute Bibles and tracts, collect sailors into the evening prayer- meetings through the week, and lead them forth to the new and more commodious house on the Sabbath ; thus instead of 92 TREASURED MOMENTS. one we shall have two lights shining in a dark place. I have been thus particular and minute, because I think it due to my American friends who have so generously contributed to this object. I would further remark, that the whole building is planned upon principles of the most rigid economy, uniting the essentials of durability, convenience, and extreme plain- ness, forming a perfect contrast with the sculptured marble, the painted canvas, and gorgeous tinsel that dazzle the eye on entering a temple of image worship. Stone being but a little more expensive than brick, we build the front of the former, and the remainder of the latter material. We build it without galleries, but upon a plan that will admit them whenever they become necessary. From our present estimates, we shall not be much over one thousand dollars in debt when everything is completed that is, after what we shall be able to collect here ; and I have no fear but that the friends of seamen will cheer- fully meet such a debt. And now, in conclusion, I cannot refrain from acknowledging the great relief my own mind has experienced in the commencement of this work. Never have I spent a year of such unmitigated anxiety as the past. The responsibility of having such an amount of public funds in my hands, and in such critical times, too, that no one could divine when or where it was safe, and the unexpected difficulties that have been thrown in the way of commencing the work altogether, has held my mind under a pressure more crushing and overwhelming than any similar thing I have ever ex- perienced ; but now I begin to breathe more freely, and will only add, that if the actual possession of money produces a hundredth part the anxiety of mind that the mere care of it does, I can easily conceive that a hump-backed camel will find no more difficulty in passing through the eye of a needle than a rich man in entering the kingdom of heaven ; and that there would be as much wisdom in binding bags of sand about one's ankles to speed his flight in a race, as in attempting to win heaven with bags of gold, crushing him to the ground like a beast of burden ; and those who have their eye upon AMERICAN SEAMEN. 93 the celestial crown, instead of waiting to be begged, I do indeed wonder that they do not beg every man they meet just to take as much of the filthy stuff off their backs as can be converted to any good use. " ' I shall inform you from time to time of the progress of tilings at Havre. " ' Yours truly, etc/ " Ground being very expensive, it was found, on completing the chapel, that a debt of nearly 1,500 dollars (^3 00) remained upon it. I at once repaired to London, stated the case from several pulpits to British Christians. Their hearts kindled into a flame : pounds, shillings, and pence passed so rapidly from their pockets to mine, that in a few weeks I was able to return and wipe out the debt ; and on the 27th of November, 1842, preached tRe Dedication Sermon, consecrating this chapel to the service and worship of the ONE LIVING AND TRUE GOD, FATHER, SON, AND HOLY GHOST. As at Louis- ville, so I thought now 'I AM SETTLED FOR LIFE.' But, alas ! new and unlooked-for trials awaited me. The ease with which the money for building this chapel seemed to have been collected, drew upon me the eyes of some of our national societies, causing me to be pressed on all sides to enter into what was considered a wider field. They reasoned thus, If 10,000 dollars can be gathered up in so short a time, for a mere local object, what amount could he not raise for a society, whose field was the world ! For a year or so I staved off these appeals, resolving not to be moved ; but being sorely pressed, and fearing to take the entire responsibility of deciding the question, I threw it upon Christian friends and members of the different boards to decide for me. It was decided against me, or rather, against my inclination. I had promised to obey; and on the 16th of October, 1843, passed through another fiery ordeal in tearing myself from a loved and weeping people, and from spiritual children, who refused to be comforted, and once more afloat for the New World, to 94 TREASURED MOMENTS. become co-secretary with Rev. Dr. Baird in the Foreign Evangelical Society, now called FOREIGN CHRISTIAN UNION. "This separation was the more trying, as it was in the midst of a most interesting reviving spirit that seemed to have commenced at the very time the chapel was dedicated. " The following extract taken from a magazine published that year will show the state of mind and anguish of soul that this separation cost. I trust I shall be excused for quoting this little item of the much, that was then written and said on the subject : " ' The chapel for seamen was completed and dedicated to divine worship November 27. The presence of God seemed at once to descend and fill the place. Seamen and citizens crowded to worship, and the Holy Spirit accom- panied the preaching with his converting power. At this time Mr. Sawtell received a call to another department of labour; and through fear that he would leave them, the members of his congregation addressed a letter to the Board, an extract of which will show the character of this work, and the estimation in which he was held in that city : " ' But now that the erection of the American church is the occasion of an unhoped-for revival, such as your country has often witnessed, but which hitherto has been unknown in this place ; now that we see not only seamen of all classes, but numerous citizens of every rank in society crowding to the church, anxious to hear the Word of God expounded ; now that numbers of Mr. Sawtell's hearers, whose piety had till then laid dormant, suddenly awakened, to arise and set to work in the Lord's vineyard with an energy which can only be the gift of the Holy Spirit; when, gentlemen, we witness such effects of Mr. S/s labours, how can we remain silent ? Oh, that you could but see the changes produced in this place by the means of the man you have sent hither!' " On this, my second return to America, I entered upon a field of labour that taxed all iny powers for some AMERICAN SEAMEN. 95 seven years. When I began again to fail in strength, and my voice giving unmistakable indications of being over- worked, I was induced to enter another field, in which it was thought both my 'strength and voice might be improved, and my life prolonged the establishment of Normal Schools for Female Education.* " While putting one seminary into successful operation, this Havre child was deserted and left in a state of orphanage. The yearnings of a father for a loved child took possession of my heart ; and my health once more requiring the invigorating air of France, and my love for preaching the gospel, all seemed as so many indices pointing in the same direction. The question was finally settled that I return to my former field ; and on the 25th of December, 1854, sailed once more for Europe. The following letter was written and published in February, immediately on our arrival : " ' FORTY DAYS AMID OCEAN GALES. BOISTEROUS VOYAGE ACROSS THE ATLANTIC. " 'Havre, France, Feb. I0th, 1855. " ' DEAR BR., On the morning of the 25th of December last, I embarked at New York on board the new and splendid ship, Francis A. Palmer, with my family, bound to this port, and with every prospect of a short and pleasant passage. The day seemed propitious, the air soft and balmy as the zephyrs of spring ; the sun shone bright, and smiled benignantly upon us. Everything indicated comfort, cheerful- ness, and happiness, save the unbidden tears that in despite of resolves would steal from their sealed fountains and moisten the eye, as one dear friend after another would seize the hand, and struggle hard to utter that unutterable word, farewell ! " ' On reaching Sandy Hook, the noble ship was absolved from all connection with steam power, and thrown solely upon * See the address on the establishment of a Female Seminary at Cleveland, Ohio, in Book IV. 96 TREASURED MOMENTS. her own resources for locomotion and the power to advance ; her canvas unfurled, she began to battle it fiercely with every opposing element; and for forty days and forty nights, struggled manfully with contrary winds, squalls and gales, storms of rain and hail, and thunder and lightning ; all of which were brought into requisition in this terrible strife for the mastery, and as if to test her courage, her strength, and her powers of endurance. " ' On reaching the mouth of the British Channel, it was an interesting sight, as we ascended on deck one morning, to behold some thirty or more vessels, nestled together, as if to sympathise with each other in the terrible struggle through which they had just passed, and to form some alliance for mutual safety, or for further aggressive operations ; but it was all in vain. The winds, which had partially lulled to sleep, apparently vanquished, were like a jaded enemy, retiring from an open field-fight, into some deep gorge of the mountains, to secure a more advantageous position, gain strength, and renew the assault. The next morning, not a sail was in sight, the contrary winds had risen in their might, and like a giant, drunk with new wine, had scattered these frail barks hither and thither, driving them back to sea like a thing of naught. Left once more alone, our noble ship, for some ten days, con- tested ever inch of the way, up the channel, and even after taking on a pilot, and coming in sight of Havre. We were some five days before we could make the port. A steamer was sent out to tow us in, but impossible she offered to take the passengers, but such was the pitching and tossing of the vessel, we could not be transferred to the steamer. Packages of letters and papers, however, were exchanged, in which we received the assurances of the many prayers that were going up to heaven on our behalf, and the warm congratulations and greetings that awaited us on shore ; and begging us, on reaching the city, to accept their hospitality, without going to any hotel. On Saturday morning, another steamer is seen nearing our ship, and the gale having spent its strength, we were taken in tow, and as we were gliding gently into the AMERICAN SEAMEN, 97 Havre docks, the sun suddenly broke forth from the clouds and smiled with as much warmth and benignity on us, as it had just forty days before, when gliding out of the beautiful bay of New York. " ' Amid the crowds of human beings that lined the wharfs, the uncovering of heads and the waving of handkerchiefs pointed out to us those warm-hearted Christian friends who have so long been pleading and praying for our return. Soon we feel the warm beatings of their great hearts, and tears of mutual joy begin to flow. " ' From the ship we are transferred to carriages provided for us, taken to a large mansion of one of my spiritual chil- dren, where ample provisions were made for my entire family, ten in number, and though others begged for a share, the reply was, " No, it is better that we all remain together under one and the same roof. " " ' Such briefly has been our voyage, and such our re- ception here in Havre. Though long and boisterous, we have abundant reason for thanksgiving and praise to God no loss of life or limb. Vessels that sailed from New York weeks before us, and some on the very day, have not yet been heard of. " Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits." Though our arrival was on a Saturday, and late in the day before our baggage could pass through the custom- house, and still later before I could pass through all the greetings and congratulations of friends still I could not resist the temptation to preach on the Sabbath ; but time has proven " that it was a zeal without knowledge/' I was not aware how much of my physical strength I had lost on the voyage, nor how much of that strength I should need to sus- tain me under the excitement of standing once more before a church and people from whom I had been separated, lo ! these dozen years, and in a chapel and pulpit, every brick of which was so familiar, and which had cost me so many tears and prayers, so much anxiety and toil ; but the Lord carried me through, and, as one remarked after leaving the house, G 98 TREASURED MOMENTS. " it was a tender and touching scene to more hearts than one." Nor was my physical weakness all the inconvenience I expe- rienced ; I had forgotten that it required a little time to regain one's equilibrium upon terra firma. My sea-legs, which had served me faithfully for forty days, and which I fully intended to leave on board, I found to my great chagrin, had actually accompanied me into the chapel, ascended with me into the pulpit, and ere I was aware, the whole building, pulpit, and Bible were swinging and reeling before me like a frail bark on the mountain wave. When I write again, I trust I shall have more leisure, and things will have become more settled. " 'Yours in haste, but truly/ " On resuming my labours in Havre, the society at New York desired me to write a series of letters upon the present state and character of American seamen, and to point out such evils in the system of manning our ships as needed to be reformed. The four following letters are the response to that request : LETTER I. " SAILORS IN AMERICAN SHIPS. " Havre, Oct. 26, 1 855. " It is now about twenty years since I made my first voyage to Europe, as chaplain to American and British seamen in this port. Since which time I have been no careless observer of the progress of human events, nor have I watched with indifference the ever-varying phases of society consequent thereon. " So great and rapid have been the changes within that time, in some of the mutable things of earth, that it is not a little AMERICAN SEAMEX. 99 difficult at times for one to recognise his own identity, and not to feel that lie belongs to another race ; or that he is a kind of connecting link between this and some other world. But in 110 department of human affairs has there been a greater change than is to be found in the character of American sailors, or rather the SAILORS that man our American ships. A merican sailors, and sailors of American ships, are no longer synony- mous or convertible terms : once they were. The time was when our ships were manned by the hardy sons of New England, who had been nurtured and trained in the nursery of pious, praying mothers had been taught whilst young to bow their necks to the yoke, and to submit, without a murmur, to the solemn rebukes and inflexible laws of a just, though stern, inexorable father ; and, however they may have broken these bands asunder, and cast these cords from them, there were still to be found unmistakable traces of their early training. There were the whisperings of an enlightened conscience that could not be hushed ; the perpetual ringing in the ears of a father's counsels, that could never be silenced, and the indentations made upon their hearts by the continual droppings of a mother's tears, were too deep ever to be effaced. s This made them an interesting, hopeful class of men ; there was soil to work upon the Christian and the Christian minister could then labour and pray in faith and hope they could sow, it may be in tears, but could also reap in joy. But now, what are the facts on this subject ? What the changes which the lapse of twenty years have wrought in our marine merchant service ? I have taken no little pains, since my return here, to collect facts on this subject, and the result of my painstaking is the settled conviction, that not more than one in twenty of the sailors that man our American ships to foreign ports are native-born Americans. Irish, Germans, Spaniards, Italians, indeed a mixture of almost all other nations and languages, make up the balance ; in fact, many of our ships are like floating Babels the confusion of tongues. On our last voyage from New York to Havre out of a crew of twenty-four men and boys G 2 100 TREASURED MOMENTS. that manned our noble ship only one was found to be an American by birth, and he born in Virginia ; and out of the whole number, only six proved to be sailors by profession. The others were the mere dregs, raked up from the ditches and sewers of New York, and shipped as sailors to answer some sinister end, of which we will more fully speak hereafter. " I visit the sailors' boarding-houses I go on board the ships I address myself to sailors ; the first does not under- stand a word I say ; the second understands a little, but can answer only in monosyllables ; the third is a little further advanced, speaks and understands better, but his brogue and accent betray his origin. From the boarding-houses and ships, I go to the hospital that receptacle of the sick and the dying. On entering the ward, I speak to the first sailor I come to ; he shakes his head, I understand him and pass on. I address the next in English, then in French ; I receive the same answer a shake of the head. A poor fellow upon the third couch then raises himself up, leans upon his elbow, and tells me that ' neither of them understands English.' But ' are they not from American ships ? J I inquire. ' O yes, we are all from the same ship.' ' But how is it that they can perform their duties as sailors, without understanding our language ? ' 'Oh, by following us, and doing as we do,' was the reply. Now, I could fill pages with just such facts, all illustrative of the changes which have taken place in the character and language of our marine population. As to the causes which have operated to produce these changes, I need not speak ; they are probably numerous and varied : the rapid and extraordinary increase of our commerce, the opening of gold mines, and other fields of enterprise, have doubtless been among the most fruitful. But of one thing there can be no doubt that chaplains to American seamen in foreign ports have a very different work to perform, and very different materials to work upon, than they had in former years. The very A B (J of gospel truth has to be taught ; these dark minds have to receive the first ray of spiritual light, and as AMERICAN SEAMEN. 101 to conscience, none can be found it has to be created anew. Well may we ask, ' Who is sufficient for these things ? ' It is like the beginning of a mission in a pagan land, with this disadvantage, that the missionary there may safely calculate upon the same pupils from day to day, and thus ' give them line upon line/ while we are like sportsmen amid flocks of birds ; if we obtain a good shot to-day, to-morrow they are beyond our reach. Nor is their foreign origin, foreign language, or their migratory habits, the only or even the worst evils which we find interlaced with this class of our population. " Whence come the swarms of pretended sailors that now man our ships ? In what schools have they been educated ? Where were they taught their perilous and responsible duties ? We have already hinted to the gutters and sewers of New York city, but the six thousand grog-shops, will, undoubtedly, claim the honour of giving them their first lessons ; these are but the preparatory schools ; they graduate and receive their diplomas in the ditches, the polluted dens and brothels of the city. Since taking up my pen, Captain B., one of our old friends, formerly in the Havre trade, but now commanding one of the largest ships in the Liverpool line, has called to see me, and, in conversation with him on this subject, he declared to me, 'that for years, so multiform have been the evils, and so various the arts of deception in the shipping of crews, that in getting fairly out to sea, if he found, on trial, that one-half of his crew were true men, in reality sailors, he always felt like returning thanks to God for his good for- tune ; if only a moiety of the whole proved to be the mere refuse, the sweepings of European prisons, thieves, and robbers, making a voyage simply to plunder, he thought himself indeed a lucky man;' and then added, 'that on his last recent voyage, out of a crew of twenty-five, not a single American could be found all of foreign birth and some half-dozen no better than pirates, one of whom made an attempt upon his life with a slung shot.' 102 TREASURED MOMENTS. " Sometimes a crew is composed of more pliable and less dangerous stuff, though equally inefficient, manufactured out of a kind of general assortment, resembling the old-fashioned country stores, that included everything, from a darning needle to a hand-saw, a cotton handkerchief to a hogshead of New England rum ; farmers, tailors, shoemakers, blacksmiths, and what not, have, from various motives and causes, been suddenly worked up from the raw materials into something superfine for ship service. A single instance must serve as an illustration. " Just as one of the Havre packets, this last summer, was getting ready for sea, and at a time when the price of a sailor was at a premium, there was seen walking in the streets of New York a plain, simple-hearted farmer, fresh from his plough, and but a few hours from his home on Staten Island, where he had a snug little property and an amiable family ; stepping into one of those preparatory schools, intending, no doubt, to take only the first lesson, he proved such an apt scholar, and made such prodigious strides in all the essential qualifications of a modern patent Jack, that, ere he was aware, he had doffed his plain farmer-suit, and was metamor- phosed into a regular-bred sailor, with enormous trowsers, covered with grease and tar, and jacket to match ; a tarpaulin hat had taken the place of his beaver, and, in a belt, he sported a big knife at his side. With so significant a cos- tume, who could forbid Ins being hoisted into the ship like a bale of cotton, and his name enrolled upon the ship's list of able seamen ? To be sure, he was ignorant of his own trans- mutation, but what of that ? What need he care, so long as his factor, or rather his manufacturer, was on hand to make all his bargains, receive his advanced wages, pay his little et ceteras, his grog bills, his new suit of old clothes, his lodgings, and other things too numerous to mention ? And besides, who can be better qualified to testify to his seamanship than the man who made him ? But the time for his return to con- sciousness was hastening on ; the few noble sailors, made in AMERICAN SEAMEN. 103 the old-fashioned way, had been able to manage the ship as she quietly glided out of the harbour, while the newly manu- factured ones were lying about the ship unconscious of what was going on around them, till at length, as the liquid fires with which they had been drugged began to die out, and the ship began to heave and toss upon the angry waves ; then, like so many reptiles, feeling the first warmth of returning spring, they began to crawl about the decks and awake to consciousness ; and among them is this simple-hearted farmer. From this drunken debauch he awakes just in time to espy, in the dim distance, his beautiful island, on which was his little farm, his family, and his all, dwindling slowly into a little speck upon the horizon. At first, he is bewildered ; at length his true position flashes like a sunbeam upon his soul. He looks despairingly around him ; not a familiar object meets his eye ; no smiling face to greet his : he bursts into tears ; he weeps like a child. The cogitations of his heart now trouble him ; he thinks of his distressed family, that need to be comforted ; his ripening harvest that needs to be gathered ; but what could he do ? Submission seems impossible ; to escape is equally so. Despair and desperation settle down upon his troubled soul ; his thoughts ran back, and he broods over the past trials of his life : they are all as nothing to the present. He had been from home before, but it was of his own choosing ; he had toiled hard before, but he was his own master, and master of his own work ; he had ploughed many an acre of ground without pain or weariness, but the thought of ploughing six thousand miles of salt water before he could again see his family was too intolerable to be borne. On his own little farm he was at home and at ease ; he knew the use of the rake, the hoe, and the spade ; but in this new field of labour, what could he do ? He knew not a spanker from a mainsail a flying jib from a topgallant. He wept, he sighed, he groaned, but all in vain ; the winds and the seas would not obey him ; every heaving surge bore him farther and farther from his home and every object dear to his heart. Fortunately, lOi TREASURED MOMENTS. on his arrival here, a steamer was just leaving for New York ; the kind-hearted captain releasing him from his involuntary servitude, he brushed away a grateful unbidden tear, doffed his tarpaulin for a new beaver, and was soon seen a smiling, good-natured looking passenger on board the steamer, home- ward bound, to soothe his distressed family, gather his ripened harvest, and to become, we trust, a wiser if not a better man. "Another mode adopted in these New York schools for manufacturing sailors out of raw materials is said to be on this wise : A half-dozen more or less loafers, gamblers, pickpockets, old convicts from penitentiaries, and what not, with nothing in their pockets, save the grog bills, which they cannot pay, unanimously resolve to make known to their cre- ditor, the grog dealer, the hopeless condition of their finances; their ardent desire to return to their fatherland ; the impossi- bility of doing so, or even paying him for their grog, unless he can put them upon a new tack. ' ' Pshaw ! ' says this knowing pimp, drumming on the counter with his fingers, ' you want to see your mammas, do you ? Well, keep a stiff upper lip ; here, take another glass, never mind the pay. And now, let me tell you listen to me ; look at me ; do you believe in me ? Well, then, come up to the scratch, and do just as I say, and in a little less than no time you'll pay for your grog, be on your way to your mammas, and have tin in your pocket when you get there. Here, just step with me into this room d'ye see ? Why, I could fit out a regiment. Here, Burk, is a lusty pair that will just fit your quarters, and they are hardly cold from old laughing Tom, as he was called ; you remember him ? ah, he was a whole brick, poor jolly old soul ; he kicked the bucket a few days ago, and these trowsers are all that remain of him. Now, here is a pair that will make a tight fit to a barber's pole ; here, Reynolds, they'll just suit your spindle shanks ; on with them. You know, we must have everything look natural, as though it was made for you that's the advantage of having a large stock AMERICAN SEAMEN. 105 to choose from and these, having seen good service, are the more natural, and less likely to excite suspicion. There, you are now all rigged out jackets, trousers, tarpaulins, belts, and knives yes, look in the glass ; by the Holy Virgin, if you don't all pass muster, I'll treat yes, I'll bet a dozen cock- tails, that Neptune himself would be willing to swear, upon the highest wave, that you were all 'real old sea dogs.' 'But/ says one, a little more thoughtful and timid than the rest, ' what would be the consequence in case of being questioned as to our knowledge of a sailor's life and duties ? ' ' Ah, hah, give yourselves no trouble ; we know how to come it over them on that tack. In the hurry and bustle of getting out to sea, you will only be put through the shorter catechism ; and now, if you want to learn that, follow me into the back yard ; let us walk round that circular plat of grass do you see that horn sticking out of the ground in the centre? well, that's the answer to the shorter catechism : now don't forget your lesson when you are examined.' The last touch of the artist's pencil having now been applied, a tumultuous jollification, over cocktails and whiskey punch, follows, as the concluding act in the play, in the midst of which, the shipping master perhaps a secret partner in the concern hurries into the room, bidding high for a half-dozen able seamen, for a ship just leaving for Liverpool. What is his surprise and joy at finding just that number finished, as if made to order, and that, too, on so short a notice. A bargain is soon struck, and one hundred and twenty dollars paid down as advanced wages ; and what is remarkable, this sum comes within three cents of meeting the entire expenses of their lessons in navi- gation, their outfit, and grog bills, and all the et ceteras. The rum-seller, with his accustomed generosity to the unfortunate, and in consideration of their having given him the job, swore positively he would never trouble them about the balance, but would just throw it in and square accounts. And nowjhey separate, very much like so many crocodiles, leaping from the bank into the turbid waters of the Mississippi, without know- 106 TEEASUKED MOMENTS. ing whether they shall ever meet again on land. They follow their new master to the ship, where he receives two dollars per head, as his part and portion of the wages of unright- eousness. " The ship now swings from her mooring, and anchors in the middle of the stream, lest these amphibious animals may jump ashore. The roll is called, each answers to his name, all is confusion on deck, the examinatio'n goes on Tom, Dick, Harry, what do you know of a sailor's duty? have you ever made a long voyage ? ' Aye, aye, sir/ answers Bufk, ' we six old salts have been round the Horn/ In the hurry and bustle of the moment, such an answer is perfectly satisfactory, nor is it disproved till fairly out at sea, when perhaps a northwester begins to blow, and the entire strength of the crew is brought into requisition : then to the great chagrin of master and officers, it is found that these six newly-made sailors, who had paced round a cow's horn in the back yard of a rum-seller, did not know a rope in the ship. " Now, with such facts staring us in the face, can it be any longer a matter of wonder that there should be such a fright- ful loss of life and property on the seas ? Can we wonder at such facts as the following, which I clip from a Boston journal : ' The losses paid by fourteen stock insurance offices, in State Street, Boston, during the last five years, almost reach the large sum of 10,000,000 dollars; of this amount 7,675,424-86 dollars were paid on marine losses. And but a few days since a gentleman said to me, that the value of property on the sea had fallen 50 per cent, in con- sequence of the increased danger, and the terrific losses of the few last years. But upon whom do these losses and accumu- lated evils fall ? Not upon Insurance Companies alone ; nor upon shipowners, nor upon shipping merchants ; but heaviest of all upon the responsible masters commanding these ships, the officers, and the few noble and faithful seamen, who often enter port exhausted, worn out and broken down, by their excessive labours, toils, watchings, anxieties, and almost super- AMERICAN SEAMEN. J07 human efforts to save life and property, and all this brought upon them by this most nefarious system of shipping, for able seamen, nothing but the veriest dregs and outlaws of society. On entering the hospital here last spring, and finding five sailors from a single ship, I inquired into the cause. Have you been abused ? Have you had a hard and cruel master ? ' Oh, 110, we have had the kindest of masters, and have been kindly treated by the officers ; but there were so few of the crew that understood their duty, we were obliged to be overworked to save the ship/ Yes, the few faithful able sailors experience the bitter fruits of this cruel, this accursed system. So it was with the noble ship in which we made our voyage last winter a passage of forty days, that might have been made in two- thirds of the time with an efficient crew ; and we, no doubt, owe our lives to the skill, the vigilance, and the prudence of the master and officers, who understood too well the danger of crowding on sail in- midwinter, when they discovered that out of a crew of twenty-four ah 1 told, only six were able, experienced seamen. But there are no limits to the evils glowing out of this unrighteous, perfidious system ; they are incalculable, and affect the whole community. And, if amid all the systems of evil known in civilised society, or that has ever afflicted the human family, this stands above, and without a parallel in its enormity, so is it equally without the shadow of an excuse, or the least vestige of an apology. And yet, who thinks of a reform ? A few perhaps who read the ' Sailor's Magazine/ They lift their feeble voices amid the yells, the screams, and clamour of the multitude for reforming some imaginary evil, or, it may be, some real one, if perchance it be far enough off to be beyond our reach ; we can so graduate our optics as to see clearly the beam in our neighbour's eye, however remote, and can lash the whole country into a tem- pestuous sea, for what we cannot help, and have no right to touch, while more than the curse of Ham rests upon the sailor and the sailor's cause at our own door, and under our own eye. But is there not a cause ? Yes, verily, we know the cause ; 108 TREASURED MOMENTS. but what is the remedy ? On this question we will offer a few thoughts in our next. p. g. We had an unusual full house last Sabbath, and in the evening especially a great number of seamen, but all English and Scotch I think there was but one sailor from an American ship ; so also at the weekly prayer-meeting at the reading-room." LETTER II. "Havre, Aug. 20, 1857. " Your January number, ]856, contains my letter upon the depreciation of American sailors, with some allusions to the evils connected with our present ' system of advanced wages/ which, by the way, is such a hydra-headed monster, present- ing so many new phases in its long catalogue of crimes, that although I intended to speak of the ' remedy ' in my next, I hardly know how to let this monster off till I have given you one more specimen of his bloody work. I hold it up only as a specimen just as an artist or a mechanic hangs out at his door or window a sample of his work ; with this difference, he does it to draw in customers I do it from the motives and feelings of the terrified man, who stands beside the railroad track waving his red flag, to warn the rushing train that death and destruction are in their path. " Charles P , a young man born and brought up in Renssalaer County, New York, about sixteen miles west of Troy, having taken the western fever, went to St. Louis ; but the severity of the winter, and the misfortune of getting his feet frost-bitten, inclined him to seek a warmer climate, and he took a steamer for New Orleans. On landing in that city, and while standing upon the Levee, looking around, and gazing at the novelties that presented themselves to his inex- perienced eyes, he was immediately accosted by one of those AMERICAN SEAMEN. 109 crimps, which, like vultures, prey upon the carcasses of the slain, and in honeyed tones, and manners as bland as the zephyrs that fanned his brow, inquired if he was seeking employment. ' Yes, I want something to do/ was the reply, ' Then you are just the man I am seeking. My brother is just getting his ship ready to run down upon the coast of Texas for a cargo of hay ; it will be a pretty little trip for a stranger, who naturally wants to see something of the country/ ' But/ says P., ' I am but a farmer, was never on a ship in my life, and know nothing of the business/ 'No matter for that/ replied the crimp, ' we have hands enough to work the ship ; all we want is a man to scrub the deck, and help load the hay. Come, stranger, go home with me and take some dinner, and we'll talk it all over/ On their way to dinner this vulture kept eyeing his victim from head to foot, as if calcu- lating the amount of flesh upon his bones, till suddenly halting at the door of a slop-shop, he said to him in tones of the most tender and paternal kindness, ' I see, you need a pair of shoes, and you'll want a wider, looser pair of pants to move easily about the deck just step in here with me. Here, old boss, let us see some of your prime articles, none of your wishy-washy stuff ; there, now, fit this stranger to a pair of shoes and pants, and charge them to me. Now for some dinner here, upstairs with you, and remember my house is to be your home while you remain in the city/ What a lucky fellow I am, thought poor P., as he ascended those stairs, to fall into such good hands ! And his heart began prematurely to swell with gratitude. " The next evening about dusk, he followed this old serpent to the ship. Here everything was new, bustling, and exciting, but seemed full of promise 'of a good time coming/ and though in an untried field, P. resolved to do his best, especially as it was but for a few days. " The ship was soon under way, with some half-dozen others, all fastened to a steam-tug that kept up an incessant, unearthly groaning, and belching and bellowing, as if on purpose, and in 110 TREASURED MOMENTS. mercy to forewarn every living soul on board those ships that they had a devil among them, and to keep a sharp look out. And the old fellow seemed to take the hint, for as soon as he received his forty dollars advance wages he glides down the side of the ship into a little skiff, and, serpent-like, returns to his hole, there to watch for another victim. " Next morning, on reaching the Balieze, P., not seeing his patron friend, ventures to ask some of the crew what time they expected to reach the coast of Texas, where they were to take the hay ? A tremendous roar of laughter and ridicule now followed. 'You old fool ! You fresh- water lobster! You are as green as a bullfrog ! Why, you are sold and used up ! Now, let me tell you a little bit of news that will interest you very much, says one of the mates. ' You have shipped for Havre, and have got to live on salt water for at least four months before you see your mamma ; and if you don't open your eyes and step about this ship, and obey orders in quick time, well show you something better than Texas, you d d fool ! ' " This sudden shock, so rudely given by a set of unfeeling, heartless tigers, and to one too so naturally artless and con- fiding, was more than this unsophisticated youth could bear ; his mind became perfectly unhinged. He had never before seen anything of the rough side of this world. Tenderly brought up by pious parents of the Methodist church, per- fectly temperate in all things, and with a heart naturally kind and keenly sensitive to all wrong, and to every species of cruelty, the very thought of being shut up a third of a year in what he now saw to be a floating hell perfectly paralyzed him. Aware, too, of his own deficiency, of his absolute disqualification to discharge his duties, his consternation was increased, dethroning his reason and overwhelming him in utter darkness and despair. ' The middle passage' was before him, for here commenced forthwith a studied system of the most unheard-of cruelties, with ropes 3 ends, clenched fists, and kicks, beating him with marlin-spikes and hand-spikes, and inventing tortures that might put to the blush any inquisitorial AMERICAN SEAMEN. Ill tribunal of the dark ages. He lived through it, but none that saw him as he was borne from the ship to the hospital believed that he could long survive. I visited him from day to day; a frightful sight to look upon, hardly to be recognised as a human being ; beaten to a jelly, head swollen, face and eyes blackened, able to see but a little out of one eye ; his body, legs, and arms so lacerated and bruised as to make it difficult to move or turn him. After weeks of incessant watching and nursing, we began to entertain hopes of at least a partial recovery. His reason seemed slowly returning ; lucid intervals became more frequent and of longer duration, which I improved in drawing out of him a full and minute history of the savage cruelties and tortures he had endured. " On happening to hear one day that his ship still lingered in port, he was seized with fearful forebodings, lest he should be compelled to return to it, and begged me to intercede for him ; ' for/ said he, ' I can never live through another such voyage ;' and so terribly did this prey upon his mind, that when his lucid moments had passed away, and given place to a wild delirium, his every act and look bespoke the terror and consternation that were raging within. Often, in springing from his bed, he would attempt to throw himself out of the window, with shrieks and cries, 'that men were seizing him to take his life/ " I did however interpose, and saved him from the terrible fate he so much dreaded ; and in communicating the fact that his ship had actually sailed without him, he seemed like one whose crushed heart had received a new impulse. New hopes took possession of his mind, he became more calm and com- posed, and at the end of another month he was so far restored as to be able to leave in company with friends, whose sympa- thies he secured while emerging from these deep waters of affliction, into which he had been so treacherously plunged by one of those sharks that are kept, fed, and petted by our beautiful system of advanced wages. " Yes, this subaltern to the prince of darkness, for a coarse 112 TREASURED MOMENTS. pair of trousers and slippers, a night's lodging* and a little coarse fare, pockets his forty dollars; while an honest man, after two months of severest toil, and four months of intolerable suffering, is left in a foreign land without friends, destitute of clothing, not a red cent in his pocket, and nothing to show for his toils and his pains, save the bruises upon his back, and his mind shattered and beclouded, if not irretrievably lost. A half century has not passed away since our government pro- claimed Avar against Great Britain, summoned the nation to arouse, expended millions of the public treasure, and sacrificed tens of thousands of lives, to avenge just such wrongs com- mitted against the personal rights and liberties of our citizens. Yet, here is one of our own citizens, protected by our laws, lurking in his den at New Orleans, carrying on a perpetual guerrilla war against the personal liberty and rights of his fellow-citizens, and committing depredations daily, which, if committed and authorised by any government or constituted power on earth, would set the country and the world in a blaze. Our government would not bear for a single day, from any despotic power under heaven, the outrages against our citizens which are committed every day in the year by these bandits and outlaws that burrow in our seaports. " But let us turn this monster round as you would a porcu- pine upon a spit, and take another view of his bloody work. The sufferings of innocent, unwary youth, that are so often decoyed within reach of his lasso, constitute but a small item in the terrible evils that follow in their train. " This monster system is converting our once-noble ships into pandemoniums, floating slaughter-houses, 'that are bring- ing down upon us, as a nation, the scorn and contempt of the world, and over which the righteous judgments of Heaven cannot long slumber. " Take the following fact : The ship R A , to which I have in former letters alluded, arrived in this port, January, 1856. Her papers showed a crew's list of twenty coloured men, only seventeen of whom lived to reach the port, AMERICAN SEAMKN. 113 and eight of those so terribly bruised and mangled, as to be sent at once to the hospital, where, for weeks, their lives hung in doubt. So shocking was the condition of this ship, as to excite general suspicion, and create a profound sensation throughout the city. An ex-parte examination was held, at which the master, officers, and carpenter gave their testimony, while the dead that lay in the bottom of the sea, the bleeding victims groaning in the hospital, and the remaining nine, who, on their arrival in port, were but too happy in making their escape from this charnel-house, were willingly excused for their non-appearance. Hence the whole thing for the present has been smothered and hushed up. But I was careful to send you the names of this crew, and to procure a free passage for several of them to New York, to be held in readiness to give testimony in this case. Please keep the names on file, and not lose sight of the subject or of the men ; for if this cage can ever be brought into a court of justice, where those men can bear their testimony, they will prove beyond the shadow of a doubt, that the three missing men that were thrown into the sea like so many dead dogs, were literally beaten to death, cruelly and brutally murdered. The unanimous testimony of the eight mutilated ones at the hospital, with whom I daily conversed, was, that scarcely a day passed on that voyage that they had not puddles of human gore to wash from the deck of their ship ; and with a crew, too, every soul of whom was anxious to please and to do his duty to the utmost of his ability. There was not an obstinate or rebellious one in the whole crew. " The first officer was a notorious English bully, by the name of Perry, who gloried in being first and foremost in this bloody work ; it is reported that, becoming a little alarmed, he has fled to England ; but should he ever be seen again in the United States or on board any American ship, let him be narrowly watched and cared for. " Deaths among the crews of our American ships are by no means an uncommon occurrence, and often give rise to low murmurs and vague rumours among the sailors, of terrible H 114 TREASURED MOMENTS. assaults and savage cruelties ; but where there is but a single death upon any given ship it excites but little suspicion, and calls forth no other expression from the French authorities than a significant shrug of the shoulders, which, translated into English, means 'American-like.' " The number of sailors admitted to the French hospital in this port from American ships range from ninety to one hundred and thirty annually ; and from the most reliable information I have been able to obtain from attending physicians and nurses, as well as from my own observation, one-fifth of the whole are the victims of barbarous cruelties on shipboard. Nor does this by any means represent the aggre- gate of human sufferings on our ships. It includes only the actually disabled. Thousands of others suffer the most excru- ciating tortures, while their bones remain unbroken. But to sum up the whole in few words, after ten years' labours among seamen, and the most careful and patient examination I have been able to give to the subject, it is my solemn conviction, in which there remains not the shadow of a doubt, that there is more suffering, more savage cruelty, more heart-rending agony, and a greater number of brutal murders on board our American ships that freight our cotton to European ports, than can be found on all the plantations on which that cotton is grown. Nor has my judgment been formed hastily, or from a partial view of the subject, but after a residence of more than twenty years in different slave states, and travelling exten- sively through every slave state in the Union, with northern feelings and northern prejudices, and with a heart ever anxious and eyes ever open to scan the evils of the system, which are neither few nor small. "I believe further, that were our sailors on board those cotton-freighting ships to exchange places with the slaves of the cotton plantations for one year, they would find their condi- tion vastly improved socially and morally, have a higher respect for themselves, be farther removed from demoralising influ- ences that ruin soul and body, better secured from temptations AMERICAN SEAMEN. 115 to vice, enjoy better opportunities for the observance of the Sabbath, for intellectual and moral improvement, better fed, better clothed, better cared for when sick, and at the end of the year, have fewer bruises and broken bones, and more money in their pockets. "And furthermore, were the slaves themselves, after this one year's experience, to be allowed to make their choice be- tween the two evils, that of remaining for life as sailors before the mast, or of returning to the plantations as slaves to their masters, I do not believe one in a hundred would remain on the ship ; and with my present knowledge and views, I should commend them for their choice yea, were I myself doomed to the same terrible alternative, I should not hesitate a moment in making the same choice. Slavery on board our ships is more absolute, more despotic and tyrannical, than is possible for it to be on any southern plantation ; with this additional disadvantage, that ship-slaves are bought, sold, and worked by the month, and not for life ; thus destroying all motive to clemency, and all interest in their future well-being. "What would be the condition, I ask, of our domestic animals, if put upon the same footing as our sailors ? " Take, for example, the noble horse. Suppose our Govern- ment were to pass a law declaring all horses free, not allowed to be owned, as property, by any citizen ; at the same time, giving to every man a right to catch and work them by the month: 'And be it further enacted, that between each month, the poor horses should have a week's holiday, be turned out into the highways, to enjoy themselves, ad libitum.' "And as rum-holes and prostitutes afford no special attrac- tion to horses, they resolve upon spending their vacation in the country, and very naturally choose clover and corn fields for their play-grounds. A glorious jollification seems opening be- fore them when lo ! and behold ! all the boys and dogs in the neighbourhood are soon yelling and yelping at their heels ; and at the end of their week's holiday, the loss of eyes and ears, of. broken hoofs, shorn tails, and limping gaits, tell a sad story of 1 1 G TREASURED MOMENTS. their unrestricted and unrestrained freedom. Nevertheless, they are now all caught up again, each man seizing the best horse he can lay his hand upon not to feed, pamper, and curry, to prepare him for his next master no, no, but to put him under the lash, and, by the nicest calculation, see how much hard work he can get out of the poor animal, at the least possible expense for his keeping. Now, under such laws, how long, I ask, would horse-flesh remain at par? What would be the average life of horses ? Ah, give them a tongue to speak, and how eloquently would they plead for the repeal of such laws, and beg to be owned by somebody who would have interest enough in them to feed and protect them. Such is human nature, and such is the condition of our sailors under the present system, and such is the difference between the black slaves of the south, that grow our cotton, and the white slaves at the north, that man our ships, and freight it to Europe. Had the infamous mate, spoken of above, owned that crew of twenty coloured men, with the certainty that every man he laid dead at his feet was taking a cool 2,000 dollars out of his pocket, his blows would have been fewer and lighter ; nor would it have required the lives of three men to have slaked his thirst for blood. "But I imagine, by this time, the reader is beginning to shudder, and exclaim with horror, 'O wretched man that he is! to advocate slavery ! ' Not a bit of it, I am advocating no such thing. I took my pen, not to paint slavery, but to depict the horrors of the ship. I have chosen slavery as an illustration, and for drawing a contrast, for the very reason that all the world profess to know all about it ; the better suited, there- fore, to my purpose. For more than twenty years the people of our country have been sleeping over this subject. " By seizing a battery, therefore, that is always surcharged, and applying it to wires that, like net-work, circumvent and incase the whole northern mind, throwing off scintillations that permeate the secret chambers of every soul, may we not hope to awaken some monomaniacs to the important discovery, AMERICAN SEAMEN. 117 that there is mare than one evil in our lost and wretched world ? and that such is the weakness of our fallen nature, and so perverted our faculties, that a mote in our brother's eye, a thousand miles off, looks much larger than a beam in ^our own? " The buying and selling of men, far away, on the banks of the Mississippi, though under the sanction of law, has a dread- fully wicked look in the eyes of a New York or Boston audi- ence ; but to be told that men are kidnapped and sold every day in the year, in their own streets, and by their own citizens, and that, too, in violation of all law, does not sound so harshly ' upon ears polite ' nor is there anything in it that looks so very ugly. ' Distance lends enchantment to the view/ " A slave sold in New Orleans for 2,000 dollars, to pass from one family to another, puts a thousand presses into motion, to announce and denounce the revolting fact ; while one of our own citizens, artless and innocent as a child, having just arrived in that same city, is immediately kidnapped by a northern shark, agent for northern ships, is sold into bondage for forty dollars cash, carried off from the land of his birth, and in the first two months of his servitude is whipped and beaten almost to death, and left penniless in a foreign land, and yet see how perfectly quiet and mum everybody remains, thinking, no doubt, that a forty-dollar white man, especially as he was, like Paul, free-born, is hardly worth making a fuss about. An overseer on a plantation cruelly shoots down a refractory slave the whole country stands aghast, and with fixed, upturned eyes, like the profane swearer over his empty cart, solemnly declare that no mere newspaper article ' can do justice to the subject/ Tomes of fiction now teem from the press, till the inhabitants of the land gloat on blood; the pulpit and the stage vie with each other in exciting the popular mind, and fanning the flame to a conflagration ; indignation- meetings are called to lend a helping hand in rolling up the angry billows ; the Declaration of Independence is held in the lurid flames, and burned to ashes, amid the groans and hisses 118 TREASURED MOMENTS. of a frenzied mob ; cries and yells for the dissolution of the Union are loud and long, till England catches the note, and echoes back the sound But hark ! let the 'reader hold his breath for a moment, till we transfer this tragic scene from a southern plantation to the deck of a northern ship. Look at that merciless slave-driver, as he walks the quarter-deck, with knives and revolvers in his belt, and a marline-spike in his hand, and his deck every day besmeared with human gore, and in the short space of a month, a seventh part of his crew lie dead at his feet, and he hurls them into the sea, as if in contempt of God's image stamped upon them. And now, where are the novel-writers ? Where are the tragedians and the dramatists? Where the editors, the poets, the orators, the stages, the pulpits, that will speak out on this subject? Nowhere to be found. The whole country remains as calm and quiet as a weaned child ; nothing is heard, save the low whisper of congratulation in the long-suffering, patience, and uncomplaining pious resignation with which the people bear the outrage ; even the newspapers choose to preserve an oblivious silence. Verily, it makes quite a difference 'whether your bull gores my ox, or my ox your bull.' " ' But/ says the New York and Boston merchant, ' to work out an entire reformation on this subject would require great sacrifices. In the transition from the present to a better sys- tem, our ships would be rotting in the harbour/ Exactly so : this is the tender point, and is just the plea the slaveholder makes : ' To carry out your northern views here in the south, our cotton would rot on the ground/ " For more than eighteen hundred years, efforts have been making to reform the world, by reversing the rule which the Saviour laid down every man attempting to reform his neigh- bour before he reforms himself ; pulling at his brother's eyes for motes, while he carries a beam in his own ; thus working in the dark, and to little purpose. Hence, neighbour against neighbour, state against state, nation against nation, all to make our neighbours better. This certainly is a much easier AMERICAN SEAMEN. 119 work than to begin at the other end. To keep up a perpetual scolding, fretting, and denouncing of others, requires far less sacrifice, and much less of the spirit of self-denial, than to sit down quietly and submit to a painful surgical operation upon our own eyes, and a deep and thorough probing of our own. hearts ; and besides, this has none of the attractions of romance about it ; nothing of lofty patriotism, or a show of zeal for the glory of God ; in fine, home reform is a very homely business. The blessed Saviour, therefore, who knew what was in man, and how the pride of his heart deceives him, and how utterly powerless all his attempts to reform others, so long as he car- ries a beam in his own eyes, has in infinite wisdom commanded us to begin the work of reform at home ; and in the sacrifices, the conflicts, the terrible struggles, the startling discoveries we make of our own hearts, the tears and groans, and cries for mercy, would all serve to humble us, and make us very meek and lowly in spirit, and give to us such rich and varied expe- rience in the work of reform, as to know just how to sympa- thise and feel for those for whose reformation we would labour. Hence the Saviour's rule ' Cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote tliat is in thy brother's eye,' is simple, easy to be understood, infinitely wise, and eminently practical. Let us see, then, how it would work in the present case. Suppose every Christian inNewYork and Boston were to become deeply impressed with the wrongs and sufferings of seamen, and the necessity of a thorough reform, and all were to set about the work in good earnest. O, what personal conflicts would we now behold ! what unforeseen obstacles would meet them at every step ! what new developments of the selfishness of the human heart ! See pastors, deacons, and elders on their knees, before God, in counting-houses, pleading with mer- chants and ship-owners^with tears to make the sacrifices neces- sary to carry out the reform ; follow them to sailors' boarding- houses, and into the rum-holes and beer-shops, among the sharks and crimps, talking, and praying, and warning them J20 TREASURED MOMENTS. to turn from their evil ways and live ; then follow them to their houses, and into their closets, worn out and almost in despair and 0, what cries and groans that cannot be uttered ! Now see these pastors in their study : how the pen moves ! what sermons upon human depravity ! upon man's lost condi- tion ! the crying sins of the city ! the necessity of God's help ; never did they understand so well before the desperate wicked- ness and shocking crimes pervading their own city. Day after day this work is followed up, and each day some new develop- ment of sin and new difficulties arise ; the heart is more sad, and more frequently do they bow before the mercy-seat and cry to God. Weeks have passed, and apparently but little has been done. A meeting for prayer and consultation is ap- pointed, and now, after another hard day's toil of preaching from house to house, with many personal encounters and struggles with opposition, on their way to the prayer-meeting methinks I hear brother C. say to brother B., as he wipes the perspiration from his brow, ' This thing of fighting an enemy hand-to-hand in our own streets, and before our own doors, is quite a different thing from that of shooting paper bullets at him a thousand miles off, or denouncing him in our pulpits. I never knew before what tremendous power there is accu- mulated in these social, organic evils. They are like cancers upon the human body, shooting their little fibrous roots into every part of the system. These few weeks of grappling with this giant evil has afforded me a vast deal of rich experience. I feel my own weakness as I never did before my heart is broken, humbled, crushed. My charity and sympathies will ever after flow out warm and full toward all Christians en- gaged in personal conflicts with such an enemy ; but this beam must and shall be cast out- the Lord being my helper for I now see the wisdom and beauty of our Saviour's rule as I never saw it before.' Now the experience of, C. would be the expe- rience of every Christian that worked by the Saviour's rule ; humility would clothe him as with a garment ; and what a sifting it would make between the chaff and the wheat ! be- AMERICAN SEAMEN. 121 tween the Georges and the Theodores. The latter class, finding the rule directly opposed to their instincts, and to their unholy ambition, discard it altogether, as of no authority ; and ' becom- ing vain in their imaginations, and wise in their own conceit, they become fools; clouds without water; raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame ; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.' But through the personal efforts and self-sacrificing spirit of real Christians the work is accomplished the beam is cast out the sailors' cause is placed upon an entirely new basis, to be worked hereafter upon truly Christian principles. But oh, the glorious results of this work ! Not confined to sailors, but every Christian heart feels its warm, heavenly, radiating influence. It is impossible it should be otherwise. The heart-searchings, the deep probings, the awful struggles, the personal conflicts, the agony of submitting to such an operation, the loathing and self-abasement before God, at the discovery that such an opera- tion was necessary, or that they had ever such a beam in their eyes all, all become as ' fire in the bones, as a sword piercing to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow/ No marvel, therefore, that a glorious revival of pure religion, undefiled before God, has been the result of such labours in those two cities. " And now that the beam is cast out of their eyes their spiritual vision becoming clear their hearts melted into holy love with profound sorrow and humility do they look back upon their past errors. The pious physician exclaims within himself : ' What madness hath hitherto filled my heart ! Here I have been standing in Boston, lo ! these twenty years, try- ing to extract a tumour from the breast of a poor suffering woman in New Orleans, who is nothing bettered, but rather grew worse ; and looking at my practice with my new eyes, how can I wonder? for I have pointed out no remedy, showed no sympathy ; in fact, done nothing all this time but to abuse the patient. I will go to her by the first steamer, and on my knees confess my error. I will examine the case personally, that I 122 TREASURED MOMENTS. may know the better how, in meekness and love, to apply the remedy.' So says another and another ; yea, Pauls and Peters, and Johns and Marthas, and Marys and Tabithas, pour into the south now, as if to vie with each other in showing kind- ness and doing good. They humbly and meekly confess their errors in offering so much strange fire upon God's altar ; and now, dear brethren and sisters, they say, 'We have come to you in the name of the Lord, and in the meekness and spirit of our Divine Master, and to tell you what the Lord hath done for us, and how he has enabled us to cast the beam out of our own eyes ; in a word, we have come to bless, and not to curse ; to toil and labour with you, pray and weep with you, until the Lord shall be pleased to bless you, as he has blessed us/ And now, behold, how good and how pleasant a thing it is to see these brethren and sisters, all labouring together in unity and love for the elevation of the whole coloured race. Ah ! and before another half century has passed away, Christians throughout the land north and south, east and west might be calling to each other in acclamations of joy : ' Behold what God hath wrought ! Behold the power of love over all other powers, for the accomplishment of good in our world ! ' " My dear brethren and sisters in New York and Boston, would not this be a more excellent way ? But, as we have not yet tried it in this case, what objection can there be in giving it a fair trial now ? Let the Saviour's rule be tested, and see if there be not infinite wisdom in it. Let us lay aside all malice and evil speaking that gendereth strife, and give our- selves to this work till it be accomplished ; and when this beam, the everlasting shame of the north, shall be cast out, who can tell what God may enable us to do for others ? I speak not as a politician, but as a Christian to a Christian people : 'I speak as unto wise men ; judge ye what I say.' " P. S. On writing the last line of the foregoing letter, I threw aside my pen, and said to myself, I must have a little run for exercise, and as usual was brought up standing at the gate of the hospital. I entered just in time to see a French- AMERICAN SEAMEN. 123 man brought in shockingly mangled and bruised. I soon learned he was from an American ship, K P , just arrived from New Orleans, and that such was the heart- sickening account of the cruelties on board that ship during the voyage, that the French were taking the matter in hand. I hastened to the city to gather up the facts, which are briefly these. The ship left New Orleans with a crew of eighteen able-bodied men, all having been shipped for experienced sailors eight only of whom proved to be sailors the other ten had never been to sea before, and did not know a rope in the ship ; and for whom they had paid thirty-five dollars each, advanced wages, 350 dollars in all. They had been kidnapped and sold just as was poor P. No wonder that the master and officers, that had the responsibility of saving that ship and cargo, felt indignant at this treachery and imposition ; no marvel that in times of danger, that required the united skill and force of the entire crew to save the ship, that the lash should be applied; such is human nature. But oh! I ask again, and I ask it from the depths of my aching heart, is there no REMEDY for these tremendous evils, that are so shock- ing to humanity, and are such a disgrace, such an everlasting shame, to a great Christian nation? In my next I shall endeavour to make a few suggestions on that point ; but if, after all, it shall appear that there is no remedy for this evil, for one, I shall ask to be recalled, and recommend to the society to convert their chapels and bethels into hospitals, and in place of chaplains, send out surgeons, nurses, and lawyers. If Chris- tians, I verily believe they would do more good ; they could minister to both soul and body, besides making quite a lucra- tive business of it. Vice, and all kinds of wickedness, gene- rally have to pay well. What I do. as a chaplain, is well known to be gratuitous, while lawyers and surgeons grow fat, and nurses are by no means stinted in their pay for if the pocket of the patient fails, they fall back upon the ship and where the ship is not responsible, Uncle Sam foots the bill and as he is always complaining of plethora, and of fulness about the " chest," they do not fail to bleed him freely." LETTER III. "Havre, Sept. 1, 1857. " A FEW more facts respecting the evils of our present system, before we speak of the remedy. " Not many months since, Capt. C., of Boston, a very intel- ligent Christian man, said to me, with tears in his eyes, ' I am making my last voyage ; I am going to abandon the seas. I can no longer endure the society to which I am exposed at hotels and boarding-houses when in foreign ports. I was once proud of my profession and of my associates I hailed them with joy wherever I met them. The command of an American ship, twenty years ago, was considered a passport into the best society, an endorsement for all that was high-minded, frank, generous, and honourable among men ; but such a change has been wrought within the few last years, that I am isolated, and no longer feel at home among them so low and vulgar, so awfully profane and boastful of bloody deeds, that I can no longer associate with them. And, however I love my profession, rather than do violence to my conscience and moral sense any longer, I quit the seas/ In exact harmony with this, a captain's wife said to me, ' I accompany my husband wherever he goes ; indeed, he is unwilling to take a voyage without me ; he says it furnishes him with an excellent excuse for keeping out of the way of this new set of masters that is coming up in these days ; for you must know,' added she, ' that we do not consider this new type of sailor character to be just what it was when my husband first went to sea.' "A third straw, pointing in the same direction, was seen, in the language of a gentleman who came passenger from New Orleans to this port, on one of our cotton-freighting ships. AMERICAN SEAMEN. 125 ' What horrible oaths/ said he, ' your American captains make use of ! What can be the cause of the amazing increase of profanity, rowdyism, and vulgarity on board your ships ? For the last thirty years I have been in the habit of crossing from here to New Orleans about once every two years, partly for business and partly for health. I used to think your American shipmasters were a noble specimen of humanity, too well-bred to be vulgar and profane ; but really there is a great falling off, or else I have been extremely unfortunate in the few last voyages,' and then playfully added 'lam afraid you chaplains don't do your duty.' Now, by putting this, that, and the other together, I find in the concrete much food for profound reflection. These facts are worthy of being pon- dered by all who love the sailor and the sailor's cause ; they contain a problem that ought to be solved. We cannot pass over it lightly and be guiltless. There is blame somewhere. Is it to be charged to the gospel ? has it become powerless for good ? Is it to be laid at the door of the chaplain ? is he neglectful of his duty, and daubing with un tempered mortar ? Or, are we to seek its solution in some cause lying back, and far deeper than that which appears upon the surface, and which alone strikes the mind of the superficial observer ? Let us see and that we may see it the clearer, we will suppose a case : " Suppose Capt. C., instead of the statement he made, had addressed me as follows : ' For forty years I have been sail- ing out of Boston was always successful in having sweet and pure water in my casks and tanks till within the last ten or fifteen years, during which time it has been so utterly filthy as seriously to affect the health of all on board : the tea, coffee, bread all, have been affected by it. I have tried all possible means to remedy it, but in vain. I blamed the steward and blamed the cook. I carefully examined the casks, to see if it were possible for rats to get in and be drowned. I could discover nothing. I then had the casks taken all apart, and made over new but it made no difference. I finally threw them all away, and had new casks made, but the water remained just the 126 TREASURED MOMENTS. same too wretchedly filthy to be used. I can stand it no longer, I am making my last voyage I abandon the sea.' In reply to this little bit of personal history, I ask him but a sin- gle question : ' Are you sure, Captain C., that your casks are filled with the same pure water as in former years ?' He seems startled at the question, and after some moments' reflection, says : 'While I cannot doubt, yet I have no positive proof, but on my return I will make trial of this very fact.' In a few months his ship is lying at Long Wharf, in Boston, taking in her freight ; her casks are all put in first-rate order. The stevedore agrees to have them filled ready to sail the next day. The captain takes his station at a window near by, but secure from observation. The darkness of night settles down upon the city, but by the light of the lamps the stevedore is seen running out the hose from the ship to a stagnant pool of slimy, filthy water ; the pool so constructed as to receive the entire wash of the city. On connecting the hose to this pool, he runs back to the ship, guiding the hose from cask to cask, and from tank to tank, till all are filled and made ready for sea. The next morning he presents his bill, but, instead of his money, is arrested and brought to trial. The captain employs a sharp, witty lawyer. The stevedore chooses to save the fee, and plead his own cause. A venerable jurist occupies the judgment-seat. The court-house is crowded with specta- tors ; the lawyer states the case ; the stevedore is called to show reason why he should not be convicted of fraud, and here follows some sharp shooting between these two com- batants. Greek meets Greek. " The stevedore rises, and with great coolness and apparent confidence, says, ' May it please your honour, in filling those casks from that pool, I did but follow well-known precedents, that have for many years been recognised and acknowledged lawful and proper in the shipping business of this and other cities in the Union. I may hope, therefore, that my case will not be made an exception to the general rules of commercial transactions. It so happens, that that pool is surrounded by AMERICAN SEAMEN. 127 very poor helpless families, whose subsistence partly depends upon selling the water, it is therefore a charity to help them dispose of it ; and, besides, I am myself deeply indebted to them for board, lodgings, grog bills, &c. &c., and, as they allow me a per-centage, I think it but fair to avail myself of such an opportunity of paying my honest debts/ The lawyer replies : ' May it please your honour, the defendant has made to this court a gratuitous assertion : we call upon him to state specifically, where, in the whole range of shipping- business or commercial transactions, he finds a precedent for such a detestable fraud. He cannot do it. And as to his whining sympathy for those poor families he talks about, we trust this court fully understands the character of that neigh- bourhood. Why, please your honour, they are the very dregs, the offscourings of the city rum-holes, beer-shops, and pros- titutes, tell the whole story. Have they a claim upon our sympathies ? Let them go to work and make an honest living, and not sell filthy water to supply our noble ships. No, we challenge him to show a precedent for his conduct.' The stevedore replies : ' May it please your honour, the twenty sailors in the forecastle of that very ship were taken from the same neighbourhood from which I took the water, for which the ship paid 400 dollars advanced wages, and forty dollars more to the shipping-master, all of which goes to support that very neighbourhood those "rum-holes, beer- shops, and prostitutes," about which the learned counsel for the prosecution has displayed so much eloquence. Here then I find a precedent : the only difference is, that while the shipping-master received his forty dollars commission, I re- ceived but five dollars, and while the ship paid 400 dollars for the sailors, it paid but twenty dollars for the water. " ' My case therefore rests exactly upon the principle of " advanced wages." If my act be unlawful, so is that of the shipping-master ; if mine be a crime, his is only about four hundred times greater ; if my system be condemned, the system of advanced wages cannot be justified/ 123 TREASURED MOMENTS. " Lawyer. ' May It please your honour, the case is very different : the water from that pool was impure, wretchedly filthy, it smelt bad, it was enough to make one sick to look at it/ " Stevedore. ' May it please your honour, the sailors were very filthy too, ragged and dirty, and their breath smelt bad ; " it was enough to make one sick to look at them." ' " The lawyer angrily retorts : ' May it please your honour, I would have that man, if man he can be called (pointing to the stevedore), understand, if he is capable of understanding, that the water with which he filled those casks was for the table, and for all culinary purposes for making tea, coffee, bread, and the like. And we would have him understand farther, if he be capable of understanding it, that in this country we don't eat sailors.' The lawyer takes his seat amid roars of laughter and applause. " The stevedore arises, and with great calmness and dignity replies : ' May it please your honour, my Bible teaches me, " that it is not that which goeth into the mouth that defileth a man, but that which Cometh out of the mouth that defileth the man ; for from within, out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetous- ness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness ; all these evil things come from within, and defile the man." And please your honour, I would have that counsellor (pointing to the lawyer) understand, if he be capa- ble of understanding, that this defilement is found in the twenty sailors, and not in the water-casks. This defilement, that is seen oozing out of the forecastle of every American ship, does something worse than to render unpalatable your tea and coffee. It creates and sends forth a pestilential miasma that has reached the quarter-deck, pervades the entire ship, and carries its infectious and contaminating stench into every port into which our ships enter/ (Here the stevedore becomes quite eloquent.) ' Yes,' continues he, ' may it please your honour, that pool from which I drew the AMERICAN SEAMEN. 129 water may be condemned as furnishing unpalatable or even unwholesome water ; but what is the body to the soul ? That system of advanced wages which has furnished those twenty sailors is the great cesspool of the city, sending abroad over the world a moral pestilence, more to be dreaded, and more fatal, than the small-pox or the yellow fever, because against this terrible scourge no quarantine laws can ever be brought to bear. The learned counsel for the prosecution has spoken of this water-pool as " receiving the wash of the city." But I would ask this court, what is the wash of this moral cesspool from whence the twenty sailors have been drawn ? Why, may it please your honour, it allures within its vile embrace, as by one common power of gravitation, the filthiest and lowest dregs of all creation ; the sweepings of prisons, escaped convicts and pirates, drunkards and burglars, bullies and debauchees, with all the floating wrecks of human hopes, of broken-hearted wives and mothers, that come within the circle, are drawn into this maelstrom to be drilled and drugged, then sold in companies to suit purchasers, then driven like swine into the forecastle. And now what is the first fruit of this system ? It is this : the promotion of men as officers who have few other qualities to recommend them than their strong muscular powers and bullying propensities. The master of the ship, if he be a respectable man, will naturally desire officers under him possessing some of the not very rare qualities of the infamous Bishop Bonner, " a superabundance of g ts, but no bowels." The court will pardon me, I quote the exact language of his biographer. These officers must stand between the decent captain and his filthy crew, and have sufficient nerve and power to perform all the dirty, bloody work neces- sary to secure obedience. The second fruit is found in the fact that, as fast as these old-fashioned, decent captains retire from the seas, these bullies come into command of the ships. Let no one marvel, then, that the depreciation which is so clearly seen in the character of sailors should begin to mani- fest itself on the quarter-deck. Sailors are the materials out 130 TREASURED MOMENTS. of which masters and officers are made. You would not expect the artisan at Lowell to manufacture fine and delicate fabrics out of course Kentucky hemp ; nor do you expect streams of water to be purer or to rise higher than the foun- tain from whence they flow. As is the quality of the water with which you fill your casks, so will be your tea and coffee. As is the quality and character of the sailors with which you fill the forecastle, so will be the character of officers and masters. "If you sow to the wind, you must reap the whirl- wind." " We cannot gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles/' ' "After such a Websterian speech from the stevedore, the reader can judge of the verdict that ought to be rendered. " But let us return to Captain C., for the simple purpose of remarking, that he is not the only master that is withdrawing himself from the seas, and that too for the same reason. One of the most painful facts connected with this subject is, that those noble specimens of the good old-fashioned American ship-masters, that were once the pride of our country, are fast retiring from the ships. A few still remain, especially in the Old Line of Packets, such as Captains Cheever, Bailey, Funk, Wood, Lines, and the like, whom we are in the habit of calling ' gentlemen of the old school/ There are also a few of the younger ones, who are seen walking in their steps, ' but, like angels' visits, they are few and far between/ To my mind it is a pertinent and a very solemn question Where is this growing evil to stop when and how can it be arrested ?* * It is curious and instructive to notice the different effects which these letters have produced upon different minds, among ship-masters. From one, I am commended, and, though not a pious man, he thanks me, and rejoices that I have had the courage to speak out boldly on a subject that is filling the world with the cries of " Shame ! shame ! " to a nation professing to be Christian. Another one professes to be so terribly mad, that, though he was never known to enter a chapel in Havre before, now, whenever in this port, he bolts off to the English church taking great pains to proclaim it AMERICAN SEAMEN. 131 "No gentleman from the United States, who has made himself at all acquainted with the unenviable notoriety of our sailors in such ports as Liverpool, London, and Havre, if he has one spark of patriotism or national pride, will not feel that something ought to be done, and that speedily, to change the character of our seafaring men. They cannot but feel, that their present character is a national disgrace. They must, they do blush for their country as they walk the streets of these cities, and listen to the oaths and curses, and horrible impre- cations, the bacchanalian songs and frightful bowlings in the streets, and in their drunken orgies, and then be told sar- castically, ' These are your American sailors' Ah, there is here in Havre a terrible significancy in those very words ; they grate harshly upon the ear they are frightful sounds ; the very utterance of those two words, ' American sailors' makes the stoutest heart quail, and decent women and children shud- der ; and all move cautiously and warily, as if amid pitfalls ; yea, as if hovering around the very pit of hell. " You see a bloody row, a fierce tiger-fight in the streets, in a neighbourhood where drugged liquor and prostitutes are the staple commodity ; see the rabble rushing from all quarters, blocking up the streets, the windows thrown open and cram- aloud, that he goes there, not from preference, but because he will never listen to a man that has so abused them. Now, if Paul could rejoice that Christ was preached, " even of envy and strife," may I not rejoice when sinners hear Christ preached, though from no better motive ? I am almost tempted to write another letter, to see if more of them cannot be driven into some place of worship, and act less like a set of barbarians. But why should any decent ship- master take offence at what has been stated in these letters ? He knows it is nothing but the truth. If the coat does not fit him, why does he wear it ? I have put it upon no man's back ; if any man is wearing it, he has chosen to put it on himself, and he certainly would never have done so, if he had not been tempted by its exact fit. Every decent man that has a particle of moral courage or patriotism, or any ambition to retrieve the character of seamen, and restore ship-masters to their once high and noble standing where numbers of them are still to be found can find no cause of offence in these letters, but rather of rejoicing that these vices are exposed, with the hope of reformation, ere it become too late. I 2 132 TREASURED MOMENTS. med with bloated faces, and squalid forms of men, women, and children, clapping their hands, and fanning the flame. See the brandishing of knives, the smiting of fists, the blackened eyes and bloody noses, and listen for a moment to the terrific oaths and imprecations that roll out from their midst. See the police-officers standing aloof and aghast, like so many fire- men, with their engines, watching the fury of the flames, that have ascended beyond their control, hoping only to keep the fire within its present bounds ; and hear these same officers contemptuously remark to the passers-by, in reply to their inquiries, ' What is the matter ? ' ' Oh, nothing but American sailors ; let them fight it out.' And as the raging fires of their poisoned liquor die out, and their frenzied brains begin to cool, and their passions have spent their fury, so that they dare venture upon this field of blood and dirt, they rush upon them, seize the ringleaders, and, if able to walk, lead them off to the calaboose, while the maimed and the mutilated are placed upon litters, with all the broken fragments of ears, noses, and lips, and borne away to the hospital, there to be mended and patched up for future service. This is no fancy sketch, but a true picture of real life, as I have seen it here in Havre. Only last week, just such a scene occurred, in which one sailor drew his knife and stabbed another to the heart ; he dropped dead instantly. " These sailors are our representatives sent abroad, over all the earth, to represent a great Christian nation, ' our epistles, read and known of all men/ Some ten days ago, on entering the hospital, and observing the surgeon (an Englishman) per- forming, as I thought, a curious operation upon a man's under- lip, while the man's glaring eyeballs looked as though they would leap from their sockets, I said to the surgeon, ' Why, what is the matter ? ' ' Oh, another bloody fight, for which your sailors are so famous. And,' continued he, 'what is rather against me is, that the beastly fellow that bit off his lip never thought of saving it, but spat it out of his mouth, as he would a quid of tobacco, and it cannot be found. When AMERICAN SEAMEN. 133 they bring me the lip fresh, or, as it sometimes happens, when it hangs at one corner, I can sew it on, and make quite a good job of it : but here (pointing to the bloody mouth), after losing the entire lip, and then trimming away the ragged edges, I have to stretch the corners, as a bootmaker stretches his leather over the last, to make them meet ; and then there is always such a strain, there is constant danger of the sewing giving way before it heals. Nevertheless, if I can keep the rascal still long enough, I shall make a decent job of this after all ; but I much prefer their saving the pieces.' ' But,' in- quired I, ' do you often have such cases ?' ' Nothing is more common/ said he. ' Oh, your American sailors are terrible fellows, a constant terror to the police-officers themselves, biting, tearing, and devouring each other, like so many wild beasts, keeping me half of my time mending and patching them up. Why don't you man your noble ships with a dif- ferent and better class of men ? You Americans are justly proud of your ships, and proud of keeping them neat and in fine trim ; how does it happen, then, that as a nation you do not take more pride in the appearance and character of the men that work them ? ' " So thought I, but what could I say ? What reply could I make ? Oh, with what poignancy and bitterness of soul do we have to take such humiliating and scathing interrogatories ! How does the blush of shame crimson the cheek of every true American, as he sees with his own eyes herds of these filthy, ragged, swearing rowdies emerging from the dark dens and brothels of the city, howling about the streets, a terror to all decent people, and then notice the curling lip of scorn and contempt, as the passing stranger is informed, that they are nothing more than ' AMERICAN SAILORS ' a phrase expres- sive of the very essence of all that is degrading, loathing, and frightfully wicked in man ! What a blot, what an everlasting stigma upon our national character ! Is there any cure ? Can there be found a remedy for this plague-spot upon our national escutcheon ? Upon this question we will endeavour to present a few thoughts in our next." LETTER IV. THE EEMEDY ! THE KEMEDY ! "Havre, Sept. 29th, 1857. "WHAT can be done to reform, or rather to remodel, our entire system of maritiirie service? I mean that motive power, or moral machinery, composed of flesh and blood, and the souls of men employed in commerce, in navigating the seas ? Can any means be devised by which the whole thing can be elevated and placed upon a new and nobler basis, more worthy of a great Christian nation, and more in accordance with the amazing increase of our commerce and our national wealth ? Yes, much may be done, if the public mind can be duly awakened to the subject. But at this very point a chill seizes me, and the very ink seems to congeal in my pen. Here my faith staggers, and the cause looks hopeless. I am not so vain as to suppose that, in any suggestions I may make on the subject, I shall hit the exact thing to be done, by no means ; but one thought may lead to another, and that to a third, and so on till the right ball be touched then let it be set rolling. Hence, 'he that hath a dream, let him tell a dream/ " Of all nations upon the earth, our great American Union should be the most thoroughly awake to the proper education of the masses. Their moral, religious, and intellectual culture should be an object toward which the whole national heart should warmly beat ; for among the masses will be found many pearls of great price, which, if left to grow in the mire, AMERICAN SEAMEN. 13-5 will erelong become the very swine that will turn and rend the nation. " It is, to be sure, not a little gratifying to notice that, within the last quarter of a century, this subject has taken a deeper and firmer hold than formerly upon the public mind : many and able have been the advocates of so adapting our school system to the wants of the country, that no class of men should be excluded. Hence our Normal and Polytechnic schools, our Farmers' Colleges and Mechanics' Institutes, with other kindred institutions, serve as an index of the public sentiment, and an implied acknowledgment that all classes of men, whatever be their calling, need some kind of mental and moral culture, to qualify them for the proper discharge of their respective duties. " Yet, strange as it may appear, while every other depart- ment of human enterprise has been thought of, and to some extent provided for, no one seems ever to have thought of a school, or the establishment of any institution into which boys could be gathered, educated, and properly trained for that most responsible and perilous of all departments of labour the navigating safely across the seas of our noble ships, freighted with the nation's wealth, and tens of thousands of lives more precious than gold. How marvellouly strange this strikes the mind ! A great commercial Christian nation, with five millions of tonnage of ships, employing Jive hundred thousand men to work them and yet no system of schools no well-digested plan for educating and qualifying this ever- increasing army for their unique and hazardous work ? Nor is our wonder at all lessened, when we reflect that, of all pro- fessions and classes of men, none are so perfectly cut off from all means of improvement, intellectual and moral, after enter- ing upon their calling, as sailors. Farmers and mechanics, artists and artisans, may enjoy the sweets of home, the ele- vating and refining influences of mothers and sisters, together with Sabbaths and sanctuary privileges, concerts and lectures, and a thousand other things well adapted to their moral, 136 TREASURED MOMENTS. intellectual, and religious improvement ; but the sailor, from the moment he enters the forecastle, becomes severed from all these holy, magnetic influences. Hence, if they are ever brought to bear upon his moral and intellectual nature, how assiduously and vigorously should they be applied in early boyhood, before all that is tender and wax-like in his nature be transmuted into marble. Not only so, but from the very nature of their employment, so hazardous, so fearfully responsible, requiring often such wisdom, skill, and ingenuity in sudden and unforeseen emergencies, one might have supposed that, instead of being the last, sailors would have been the very first class of men in the nation, to attract the attention of statesmen and philanthropists, not to say Christians, as their advocates for a proper and early educa- tion ; and especially when we reflect upon the additional fact, that sailors are a kind of embodiment of our national character, sent to all parts of the civilized world, as samples of our manners, refinement, religion, our social habits, moral and intellectual culture -just as our ships are taken as an index of our taste and skih 1 in naval architecture. But how sad to reflect, that the entire energy, skill, and wealth of our great and growing nation, so far as commerce is concerned, have hitherto been expended upon the ships, attracting the admira- tion of the world, by converting them into floating palaces, while the men working these ships, bearing the image of God their Maker, and destined to live, when 'there shall bo no more sea/ have been so utterly disregarded, so neglected and uncared for, as to become a hissing and a byword of reproach among all people and nations. Millions have been expended in adorning and fitting up the cabins with every possible luxury, exhibiting taste and refinement, while the forecastle has been left to become the very cesspool, receiving the refuse and filth of all the nations under heaven. This ought not so to be. " And in reply to the question, ' What can be done to purify and cleanse the forecastle, and elevate the sailor ? ' my own AMERICAN SEAMEN. 137 mind has been led to the following reflections and con- clusions. " 1. That no remedy whatever can reach or correct the evils of which we complain, that does not embrace in its far- reaching plans the establishment and endowment of mari- time schools, for the especial purpose of properly educating and training boys for this already vast and ever-increasing field of human enterprise ; and no longer depend upon the schools of vice, to debase and demoralize a sufficient number of youth to man our ships. " 2. That these schools, to answer their legitimate ends, should be established on the very element on ivhich sailors live, 'move, and have their being. " Perhaps I cannot convey my ideas to the minds of your readers more clearly, than to make the following supposition : " Take old Massachusetts, whose enlightened views and far- reaching legislative acts, on the subject of education and reform, have in many respects been considered as models : and suppose, when legislating for that noble institution, the Reform School at Westfield, they had enlarged their plans, divided or doubled their appropriations, and instead of one, established two schools upon the same principle, to be under the same strict discipline, the same moral and religious instruc- tion, only that one should be established on the land, the other on the sea. Then, as the little urchins were caught about the streets, or in any part of the state, and found to be lawful candidates for the Reform School, give them a choice put the question to them : ' Will you be educated and trained for the land or the sea service ? which do you prefer ? ' and those whose inclinations and instincts were all amphibious, send on board the floating school, and let them be trained and educated SAILORS. But by no means limit the school to that class of pupils, but let its doors be wide open to all boys who have an inkling for the sea ; and let the school be of such character that no parent could object, or hesitate for a 138 TREASURED MOMENTS. moment in placing his son under its wholesome laws, and its moral and religious instructions. "And when Massachusetts shall have set the example, let every maritime state in the Union follow. New York should have a half dozen such schools ; and in the present depressed state of commerce, with so many ships lying idle in the har- bour, why not make the experiment ? Who among the New York merchants will offer the first ship, and have it fitted up for such a noble enterprise ? Are there not a few more Grinnels and Coopers, who will lead off in such a work? Would not the legislatures of many of the states make appropriations for such an object, if it were properly presented to them ? There can hardly be a doubt, if a sufficient amount of public interest can be awakened on the subject. But in case of such appropriations, let Christians be vigilant, and see to it that they are not made under such restrictions as to exclude the great moral and religious element so absolutely needed in training youth for any profession, but especially for the seas. I have not one particle of confidence in any system of education or reform that does not recognise in its theory, and practically embrace in its teachings, and in all its moral and intellectual instruction, the Word of God as the only rule of faith and practice and to be received, too, in all its richness and fulness, its purity and sublimity, unmixed and unadulterated by any of the modern nostrums of the day, come from what source they may, from common or uncommon sense, from white-washed pelagianism, or semi-infidelity. Let the Bible, the book of books, stand forth in its native strength, and speak for itself, with all its sharp evangelical corners, just as God has given it, and just as our old Puritan fathers received and taught it. The importance of this has often been most strikingly illustrated here in Havre. In the hospital, I pass from cot to cot, feeling the moral pulse, probing the con- science, trying to grope my way through the dark passage of the understanding to the heart. Oh, what dreary arid deserts ! Stumbling over dead men's bones, and the bones of all the AMERICAN SEAMEN. 139 saints in the calendar, till I come to one of the real old- fashioned sons of New England, reared in some secluded spot in the mountains of New Hampshire or Vermont, but where the Bible and the New England Primer had found their way, and where a pious mother had taught him, while lying in her arms, to lisp out an answer to the question ' What is the chief end of man ?' and there I find an under- standing more enlightened, a conscience more quickened, and a soil better prepared for the seed of the kingdom, than can be found under the teachings and vagaries of all the virgins that have lived and dreamed from the days of Mary the first, down to Catherine the last. Tares may have sprung up, but wheat from the Lord's garner could be clearly distinguished, sown there by a mother's hand, watered by a mother's tears, preserved and vegetating by the Spirit of God, in answer to a mother's prayers. Let these schools, therefore, be officered by, and be in charge and under the control of, evangelical Christian men. Without this, their education would but increase the power of evil. Shut out from these floating schools the blessed Bible, with its heart-searching evangelical teachings, and you may at once begin ' to lighten the ship, cast out the wheat into the sea, take up her anchors, loose her rudder-bands, hoist up the main-sail to the wind, and let her drive ; ' for destruction and misery are in her path, and the way of safety and peace she cannot know. " As to all the details in conducting such schools, I leave them to wiser and more experienced heads. I do, however, an- ticipate objections, and among them, perhaps the most serious will be, that of the expenses of keeping up such schools. Ee- form schools on land are, to some extent, self-supporting schools. " But could not these floating schools be placed upon such a footing, and be conducted upon such a system, as greatly to diminish expenses? The boys would, of course, be taught to make, wash, and mend their own clothes, and do their own cooking ; and many other kinds of handicraft would no doubt be thought of, which might greatly aid in lessening the 140 TREASURED MOMENTS. expense. In the winter season they could float off to the sunny south, anchor in some safe harbour, and thereby make a saving in fuel ; and if provided with Collins's axes, they could spend a week's holiday in the beautiful pine woods of North Carolina, Georgia, or Florida, where the rich pines lie so thick upon the ground, that the owners would be thank- ful to have them out of the way ; and while it might not be a profitable business for merchants in Boston or New York to charter a ship, and hire men to cut and split that wood for a northern market, it might afford a very profitable and pleasant pastime to 200 boys at school, each of whom might lay his two cords of wood on the wharf of either of those cities, with no other expense or inconvenience than that of giving a jubilee to the boys. Another pleasant and not unprofitable holiday could be spent on the Banks of Newfoundland, catch- ing fish. But I will not enlarge ; others may think of far wiser and more lucrative plans. Let us, on the other hand, look at some of the many advantages that would accrue from the organisation of such schools. " 1. The boys in these schools would receive an early mental discipline, exactly suited to their profession ; they would become accustomed to regular habits, and acquire a just appreciation of law and order two words that have become almost obsolete in our fast age and progressive country. "2. They would acquire habits of cleanliness, which Wesley said, ' was next to godliness/ and which at present is so wofully neglected by our sailors, as to be a disgrace to the nation. Sailors will never learn to respect themselves or anybody else, so long as they are allowed to go ragged and filthy both on the ship and on shore. " 3. They would receive that 'moral and religious train- ing, and that Biblical instruction, which more than all other classes and professions the sailor needs, for the reason before stated, that after entering upon his work, he becomes in a measure severed from God's appointed means. " 4. Such schools would furnish employment for many of AMERICAN SEAMEN. 141 our good pious sea captains, some of whom have been driven from the sea by the terrible wickedness of their compeers, and who, with their pious wives, would like just such labours of love, and be pre-eminently qualified for their work. There are other teachers also, male and female, who have become worn out, whose lives and usefulness would be prolonged by a transfer from land-schools to those floating upon salt water. Also, worn-out pastors, whose strength and vigour would revive by becoming chaplains and religious teachers in these floating schools. And in most cases we should hope that commanders, officers, chaplains, and teachers would not only be married men, but have their wives with them ; for, next to the Bible, I should consider the importance of securing in these schools the gentle, softening, elevating, and refining influences of godly women. The absence of that influence is one of the banes of commerce. "5. Though last, not least, such schools would be the means of saving tliousands and tens of thousands of our youth throughout the country, sons of wealthy, respectable families, and of widows, who have an inkling for the sea, or have become wild and intractable at home. These parents refuse their consent to a seafaring life, because of the desperate character of sailors, until at length these reckless boys run away, plunge into the forecastle, and are lost to their parents and to the world ; when, if these floating schools were estab- lished upon a truly moral and religious basis, under the control and guidance of good religious men, the anxious mother would pack her son's chest, and send him on board with a glad and hopeful heart. Hence, these schools would become as nets or life-boats, to catch and save alive the wild and reckless youth of our country, that are now rushing headlong to destruction ; or like the cities of refuge in Israel, into which they could run and be saved. " Now, if self-interest were not so blind, so short-sighted, we might hope that, from mere motives of economy, these schools would be at once established and liberally endowed. 142 TREASURED MOMENTS. " Let us look at a few facts, and then make our calculations The New York Courier and Inquirer says : ' During the seven months of the present year, the American vessels lost number 386. Total value is 10,943,200 dollars.' In the Sea Bird, under the head of ' Marine Losses/ is the following : ' The loss by marine insurance companies in 1856 was esti- mated at 26,000,000 dollars ; two-thirds of this amount fell upon New York City.' Now, contrast the above with the following, clipped from the Christian Observer : ' Of the 1 30 vessels sent out from the United States to Liberia, by the Colonisation Society, since 1 820, all ha,ve arrived safe, without having to make any claim on the insurance offices for damages/ Here are facts for New York merchants and insurance com- panies to look at ' and inwardly digest.' Can this startling contrast be rationally accounted for ? Nothing is more easy nothing more legitimate or philosophical. The Colonisation Society, with a duly enlightened conscience, feeling a proper degree of responsibility to God and to the world for the precious lives committed to their trust, and remembering also that they were handling charity funds, exercised great care and vigilance in selecting wise, prudent, sober, discreet, well- trained, and conscientious men, masters, officers, and crews, to navigate their ships to Liberia. That is the whole secret. In a word, they employed just such men as we propose to educate and train up in these floating schools. And the proposition we make to New York merchants and insurance companies is this, instead of sinking twenty-six millions of dollars an- nually in the seas, in consequence of having to employ worthless, drunken, inexperienced men, let them just take a small part of that sum, say a twentieth, and begin the estab- lishment of these floating schools, and thus educate and train up a class of men who will navigate their ships safely ; and in a few years they will find their twenty-six millions gradually returning to their pockets. We may, therefore, strongly urge the claims of these schools upon the simple ground of economy ; and there surely can be found, in Wall Street, men sufficiently versed in figures, to cipher this out. AMERICAN SEAMEN. 143 " But there is another ground another law of our nature, that we might hope to bring to our aid in pleading this cause, were we writing upon any other subject. " We are proud of our wide domain, our inland seas, noble rivers, boundless prairies, inexhaustible soil, and mineral re- sources ; yea, proud of our navy and naval ships ; ay, and our merchant ships too. Yes, we look with an eye of proud self- complacence upon everything over which our national flag floats, till we come down into the forecastle, and behold there a nest of filthy, squalid bipeds, covered with dirt and rags, from whom the stranger turns away with loathing, and sarcas- tically inquires, ' whether these are a specimen of American citizens ? ' Oh, how it makes the true American blush for his country ! And methinks, our very flag, had it but the in- stincts of life, would wrap itself tight around the mast, and refuse to let her stripes and stars be seen, till something be done to lift the sailor from the level of the brute into some- thing that approximates a 'rational, civilised being. " Why should we not, as a Christian nation, feel as much pride in the intelligence, virtue, refinement, and noble bearing of our sailors, who work the ship, as we do in the ship itself ? " Where is the ship-master, that would not at once be dis- placed, as unfit to command, were he to enter port with his ship all covered with filth and dirt, and everything helter- skelter about the deck ? Yet, this is invariably the condition of his crew when they enter port, while they are in it, and when they leave it. " Again, why is it that we, as a people emphatically com- mercial 'and peaceful, take such an interest in the character and respectability of the men connected with our naval ser- vice, while those employed in our merchant service, numbering fifty to one of the former, and on whom our national pros- perity and wealth more directly depend, and whose influence for good or for evil is more widely diffused why is it, I ask, that these 500,000 citizens, in our peaceful merchant service, fail to excite any general interest or any laudable pride for ]44 TREASURED MOMENTS. their appearance or well-being, either at home or abroad ? Is there not here a radical error, or something worse, that needs to be looked after and corrected ? IN CONCLUSION, I wish to make one or two suggestions, and I will do it in the shape of questions. " First. Could not crews be shipped upon such terms or conditions, as to be as perfectly under the control and direc- tion of the masters and officers while in port, as when at sea ? Many and great would be the blessings following such a system : and I suggest this as one of the important means of reform. It is a question that has recently been put to me several times by a wealthy shipping-merchant of this city, and under very interesting cirsumstances. In the improve- ments going on in Havre, the old Banking-house of France an enormous building, standing just where a sailors' boarding- house ought to stand is thrown into market. This Christian gentleman, who is deeply interested in the improvement of sailors, has his eye upon it for that purpose ; hence his repeated questions to me : Whether, in case of his fitting it up as a first-rate respectable boarding-house, with libraries, reading-rooms, &c., our American ship-masters could so con- trol the sailors, as to secure their patronage ? Oh, if such a thing could be done, how many would 'be saved from prison, and from an untimely ignominious death ! " Second. Is it not desirable, and would it not be practicable, for the merchants of our large commercial cities to adopt some simple rules, requiring a uniform dress for our sailors ? If they had but a decent dress to put on, when in foreign ports, it would do much to give them a sense of self- respect. " They often make their filth and rags an excuse for not coming to chapel, and their slovenly, rowdy-like appearance is certainly a reproach to any people. I do not suppose it possible, nor may it be desirable, to nationalise any one style AMERICAN SEAMEN. 145 of uniform for sailors : but let each city, like independent militia companies, adopt their own rules, and designate their own style of dress ; and all the better, if some kind of emula- tion could be excited between the different cities, as to which turned out the finest sailors, with the neatest and most becoming and appropriate uniforms. Then, as we beheld them in a foreign port like this, passing through the streets, we could recognise them : ' There goes a Boston blue, there a New York gray, and there a Philadelphia drab.' Aye, and as they crowd into the chapel, and divide off in companies, a Boston crew filling up this corner ; a Baltimore crew entering that door, and taking the middle block ; Charlestown and New Orleans crews coming in by another door, and filling the entire house all known and recognised by their respective uniforms all educated and trained in the new floating school s so thoroughly disciplined that their very step is like the tread of a soldier all so neat, so clean, and what is more, so well taught in the Scriptures, that the chaplain rises with tears of joy, full of hope and faith, and scatters broad-cast the seed of the kingdom, in the full assurance that much of it is falling upon good ground, that will spring up, and bear fruit to the praise and glory of God's grace ; then would chaplains begin to reap a harvest and report to the Society such rich blessings upon their labours, as clearly to indicate the dawn of a better day, even that day, ' when the abundance of the sea shall be converted to God.' " A few Sabbaths ago, the chapel was quite filled with English sailors, a homogeneous set, all neatly clad in uniform dress, with clean wide and open collars, thrown back over the shoulders. With their brawny hands they seized the Bible and Hymn-book, joined heartily in the singing, followed the reading of the Scriptures, listened with intense interest to the sermon, while the big tears would occasionally course down their sun-burnt cheeks ; and at the close of the service, as they with slow and measured steps withdrew from the house an American captain said to me, as I descended from the K 146 TREASURED MOMENTS. pulpit, ' What would I not give to select a crew for my ship out of the sailors you had here to-night/ Yes, no matter what may be the character of a ship-master, or what may be his infidel principles, when he wants a good crew for his ship, he will at any time give a premium for such sailors as have the fear of God before their eyes and the love of God in their hearts. And why may we not have such sailors to man our ships ? Where does the blame lie ? Who will be found responsible when the sea shall give up its dead ? For one, I am anxious, the Lord being my helper, to clear my own skirts of blood ; and let every man connected with our commerce, look to his own garments in this matter. If no change, no improvement, no reform can be expected, I beg to be recalled, and transferred to another field. If all these terrible vices, cruelties, and brutal murders ; all this low vulgarity, ignorance and wretchedness, are to be considered inseparable to the business, a part and parcel of commerce, then God speed the day, when ' there shall be no more sea/ '* 147 NOTES FROM MY DIARY. MY DEAR SIR, Do not think for a moment that I have lost sight of the subject of my last communication. My heart is still burdened with it the theme is fruitful and frightful ; but my labours here have become so multiform and extended, so con- suming to time and strength, that I can make no calculation of a single quiet hour in advance. I seize my pen at this moment with more than usual confidence, because the watch- man's midnight cry assures me that "all is well;" of course I am included, and if the whole city can sleep in peace, why may I not hope to write in peace ? I will try. In the most difficult fields of labour, and amid the darkest hours, when discouragements thicken, and faith begins to waver, our covenant-keeping God often rebukes our unbelief, and revives our drooping spirits by some sudden manifestation of his love and power to save. For months I had been labouring hard and spending much of my time and strength at the hospital, among the maimed, the sick, and the dying ; as numbers would increase, I would increase my visits. I tried to be faithful, as one who must give an account. In my instructions and in the distribution of tracts, I aimed to adapt them to the variety of character and conditions of mind pointing the dying to the Lamb of God ; the thoughtless and the hardened to the thunder of the Divine law, as a school- master ; and the unclean and polluted, to that Fountain opened in the house of David, for the cleansing of all sin ; but with all the preaching, praying, and the reading of Bibles K 2 148 TREASURED MOMENTS. and tracts, I have often to leave those halls of misery and wailing with a sad heart, exclaiming with the prophet, " Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed ?" To be sure they would all listen respectfully, some with apparent feeling and tearful eyes, but there was wanting that deep contrition of soul, that godly sorrow of sin, that loathing of self, which are so manifestly the fruits of the Holy Spirit ; and, what was still more painful, I noticed in many cases, as they became convalescent, they became less docile and less susceptible to religious impressions ; or, in other words, the brighter the prospects of restoration to health, the weaker became the power of truth upon their hearts and con- sciences and then, as soon as they are out, like birds of passage, they are off beyond our reach. O, what faith and patience, and long-suffering are necessary to labour in such a field, and among such a people 1 Nevertheless, while we are casting forth seed to be scattered beside all waters, our Heavenly Father, the great husbandman, permits it sometimes to germinate under our own eye, that our faith may not fail. FAITH STRENGTHENED BY SIGHT. The following is an instance of this kind : it came upon me like an electric spark, or one of those scintillations that sometimes dart athwart your path, from the darkest cloud, shedding light and inspiring hope amid the surrounding gloom. In one of my strolls among the ships, a few days since, at flood-tide, just as they were opening the gates for the egress of such vessels as were outward bound and ready for sea, and just as I had stepped from a ship upon the wharf, an old sailor dropped his bundle of clothes, and seizing me with both hands, burst into tears, exclaiming, " O, how glad I am to meet you, I was afraid I should never see you again, for my ship is just going out ; I've not a moment to spare, but I must tell you what the Lord has done for my soul since I saw you, and to beg you to continue your visits to the hospital. You don't know how many will bless you." AMERICAN SEAMEN. 149 Perceiving that I did not readily bring him to my mind, he continued, " Why, don't you know me ? Don't you remember how you talked to me about my wicked ways, and gave me the two tracts one to warn me against the spirit that kills the body ; and the other begging me to receive the Spirit that saves the soul ! and O, the Lord has blessed them both to me. I have dashed the one for ever from my lips, and have opened my heart to the other. Yes, and he has entered, and he dwells there, ' to will and to do of his own good pleasure/ Yes, I feel him working in me now. For twenty years I have been a curse to my family, now I am going home to bless them but my ship is moving, I must run, good-bye, God bless you, don't forget the hospital.'* A MOTHER'S HEART GLAD. Another little incident which has made one mother's heart glad, and may perhaps cheer others in like circumstances, increase their hope and trust in God, and incite them to more earnest prayers for their absent sons, and for those who are labouring to save them. On my last visit to the hospital before leaving for England, I espied a young lad, some 13 or 14? years of age, seated beside the couch of a sick sailor. I at first took him to be a waiting boy of the establishment, and addressed him in French ; perceiving he did not understand me, and discovering at the same time his right hand bound up, I said to him, " You are not a patient here, are you ?" " Yes, sir," " What, and a sailor too ?" " Yes, sir." Looking at him steadily in the eye for some seconds, I said to him, "You ran away from your mother, did you not?" His head dropped as though a bullet had passed through it ; soon tears began to flow upon his bandaged hand, as it lay upon his breast, and then came the answer eking out slowly, " Yes, sir, I did." " What is your name ?" " Hugh Thomas, sir/' "Where does your mother live?" "In Scotland, sir." " What part of Scotland ? " " Edinburgh, sir." " Does your mother know where you are?" "No, sir." "Well, I anv 150 TREASURED MOMENTS. going to England to-morrow, and may go to Edinburgh. Are you willing to give me your mother's name and address, and have me call on her ?" " Yes, sir : my mother's name is Mary Reed Thomas, and lives at No. 1, Market Place." Enter- ing this in my memorandum book, and after a few words of wholesome advice to the lad, and a parting address to those whom I no more expected to see this side of the grave, I left the hospital, returned home, packed my trunk, and at eleven o'clock that night was on my way to London, and in some two weeks after, I was threading my way through the narrow lanes and alleys of Edinburgh in search of " No. 1 , Market Place" That number was at last found, but those acquainted with the old parts of Edinburgh know full well, that there is a very wide difference between the horizontal No. 1 , and the perpendicular No. 10. Courage and strength are often equal to the attainment of the first, and then utterly fail in reaching the last. I cast one despairing look up those interminable spiral stairs ; I thought of Bunker Hill monument; I thought of steam power and almost all kinds of power ; but none coming to my relief, I commenced slowly the formidable ascent, and soon found the object of my pursuit, the mother of Hugh Thomas, with her thirteenth living child in her arms. I was almost ready to forgive poor Thomas. The moment I announced my name, and where I was from, she gave a shriek, and then found relief in a flood of tears. At first I was at a loss to understand this, for as yet I had not mentioned her son's name ; but as soon as she was able to speak, she revealed the. secret, by saying, "My poor boy, as soon as you left the hospital, though unable to write himself, on account of his injured hand, procured the assistance of another sailor, and informed me of your expected visit, and of the good advice you gave him, and his resolution to follow it : and O, how thankful I am that the Lord directed you to my dear child : I don't think he would have had the courage to let us know where he was if you had not found him out, for he says your talking to him did him good, and he means to follow your AMERICAN SEAMEN. 151 advice : he is a good boy, and has a kind heart ; he knows the Bible well. I am sure he will be a Christian, for I pray for him every day." After a few words of consolation, and a short prayer, I took leave of the Christian mother, somewhat inspired with her assurance that her prayers would prevail, and that her dear sailor boy would become a Christian. O, the power of a mother's love, and when sanctified by religion how does it strengthen the cords that bind a wayward child to her bleeding heart ! INSTRUCTIVE INCIDENT. One other incident illustrative of God's especial providence. A few Sabbaths ago, I was unable to fix my mind upon any other subject than that of "blind Bartimeus," and the obstacles he met with in coming to the Saviour. To whatever other text I turned, however rich in thought, my mind refused to act, and seemed utterly incapable of bringing anything new or old out of it. As turns the needle to the pole, so would my mind revert to the poor blind man, sitting by the wayside in his tattered garments, crying to Jesus for mercy. I went into the pulpit with my soul burdened with the difficulties which sinners meet with in coming to the Lord Jesus Christ, both from the world and from the church ; and in specifying them, I held up Bartimeus as an example worthy of imitation : instead of yielding to the difficulties, do as he did, " cry a great deal the more, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy upon me," &c., &c. On my way home, a lady said to me, "Did you notice how deeply affected that young man was who sat in the pew near me how continually he wept ; he seemed in great distress, and I think the sermon must have touched his heart." The next day a gentleman said to me, " When you have time to spare, I want to take you and introduce you to a very in- teresting young man, who wishes to make your acquaintance. His parents are Roman Catholics ; and on sending him to London to acquire a knowledge of the English language, he 152 TREASURED MOMENTS. stepped into a Methodist chapel one Sabbath, and became deeply interested in the truth ; and on writing to his parents on the subject, they became alarmed, and ordered him home ; and yesterday, by accident or design, he stumbled into your chapel, and was so wrought upon by what he heard, and went home with his heart so set upon being a Christian, that his parents have reluctantly yielded, and said to him this morning, 'Well, if you will be a heretic, be a heretic, and take the consequences.' "* After listening to this, I thought I could see the reason why my mind refused to act upon any other subject than one that should pourtray the difficulties in the way of coming to Jesus, the absolute necessity in the sinner's case of overcoming them, and the equal necessity of his seeking and securing Divine aid to give him the victory. Truly the Lord worketh in man, " both to will and to do of his own good pleasure ;" and happy the man who lieth passive in his hand, and can say at all times, "Not my will, but thine, O Lord, be done I" NOTES AND INCIDENTS (continued.} HAVRE. The importance of this port as a station for missionary labours for seamen, will be seen from the fact, that 5,454! vessels in the foreign trade arrived in the port of Havre in 1852, having 927,950 tons, manned by at least 56,000 seamen. The number engaged in the coasting trade is probably as great. Of the foreign vessels, 196 were American, measuring 153,170 tons, and having some 5,000 men. * This young man became hopefully converted, and in about a year from the time of his conversion he fell into a decline, and died a happy death. Though opposed by his parents, he would see me, and with a sweet smile told me how the love of Christ filled his soul, and what perfect confidence he felt in com- mitting his soul and body, and all he had, into his hands. AMERICAN SEAMEN. 153 In the abundance and variety of my labours here, I find none more important, and none that has yielded more hopeful fruit, than my daily visitations to the hospital. Here I meet poor sailors from almost all climes and countries, and lan- guages and religions, arid of every variety of character and experience, and of all ages, from the little flaxen-headed boy that has run away from his parents, up to the old veteran who has spent a half-century on the seas, and has a wife and half-a-dozen children, in some distant part of the world. During the last week, the following cases occurred, which will give you an idea of the faith, patience, and nerves a man needs in labouring in such a field : One poor fellow, perfectly crazy at times, his head swollen and his limbs bruised, brought in from a ship from New Orleans. In his lucid moments I have drawn out his history. He was in New Orleans on a visit, ignorant of the ways of the world ; was invited on board a ship by one who pretended to be his friend, and who wished to give him a little pleasure-trip. He at length missed his friend, and, reaching the mouth of the river, he found, to his great dismay, that he had been sold as a sailor, and was bound to Havre. Not knowing a rope in the ship, was beaten almost to death by the officers of the ship. To the shame of Americans be it said, such cases are of frequent occurrence. The poor fellow is still in the hospital, and it is doubtful whether he will ever be restored to his right mind. While talking to this marff another is brought in who had just fallen from the yard-arm upon the anchor lying on the deck. He remained in awful agony for a few hours, and died. I buried him the next day. A third one, brought in with a leg so mangled he had to have it amputated ; he is recovering. Another, who has the small-pox, a very bad case, and his recovery is doubtful. I go to a cot in the corner ; there lies an old Norwegian, who has followed the seas thirty-nine years. When I spoke to him about his soul, the way of salvation through Christ, and of the precious Bible, he wept like a child. " Oh/' said he, " I have forgotten all about that book ; 15-i TREASURED MOMENTS. my poor mother taught me to read it, but I have not seen a Bible since I first went to sea." Oh ! thought I, what a comment upon a seafaring life. Thirty-nine years ivithout a Bible ! He has nearly recovered, and I trust he never will go to sea again without his Bible. I now turn to another part of the ward, and there are three lads the oldest sixteen, the other two only fourteen years of age ; all these are from British ships. The eldest is very ill with the dysentery; I think he cannot live. I have conversed much with him ; he seems to understand the way of salvation through Christ ; and I cannot but hope has been brought, by the Holy Spirit, to embrace Christ as his Saviour. I saw him yesterday ; I thought it doubtful if he lived through the night : he is from the north of England. Of the two younger, one is from Scotland ; and when I discovered that he could not read, I expressed my surprise that a boy from Scotland could not read. He then frankly told me it was nobody's fault but his own. His mother wanted him to go to a Sabbath school, and rather than do it he ran away. He has, however, promised, as soon as he is able to be out, to come to the chapel and attend our Sabbath school, and learn to read. The other little fellow is from the north of England, can read, and loves to receive tracts, and seems to be well-informed on religious subjects. My congregation fluctuates sometimes large and hopeful ; then the ships go out, and a different class comes in, so that an abiding trust in God is my only source of hope and comfort, Yet never were my labours more abundant, and never have I seen a fairer prospect of reaping an abundant harvest. My congregation has more than doubled within the last six months. A great increase of young men French, German, Swiss regularly attend, especially our Sabbath-evening ser- vice. It may be that some attend from no higher motive than to improve their knowledge of the English language ; be that as it may, they certainly give the most profound attention to the word preached ; and while their motives may be low, God's motives may be as high and as holy as heaven itself, AMERICAN SEAMEN. 155 and like another Delamare, instead of the English language, the Holy Spirit may be teaching them the "language of Canaan." My hope and daily prayer is, that many Timothies may yet be found among them, and who may some day preach the glorious gospel of God our Saviour, when the tongue to which they now listen shall be silent in the grave. We have also an interesting Sabbath school, into which we are gathering the outcasts ; and a Bible class, with some serious minds ; one of whom, a young English girl, gives pleasing evidence of a change of heart. She has visited me at my study once a week, for the last two months, anxiously inquiring to know, " What she shall do to be saved ?" My visits at the hospital are frequent, and at times of thrilling interest. Occasionally I meet with rebuffs from sailors, which, together with the precarious state of my support here, causes me almost to sink in despair ; and at times, when I have apparently reached the lowest ebb, the Lord in mercy sends me some drop of comfort. I then feel ashamed of my distrust and unbelief, and, like Peter, "go out and weep bitterly." A few Sabbaths ago, I entered my study in the morning, much dejected, having had my faith severely tried through the week in meeting the annual bills, that pressed sorely upon me. I tried to cast my burden upon Him who careth for UP, but I could not cast it off. I tried to pray, but my prayers were but a "chattering noise." I could not lay hold of the promises all was dark ; and I was tempted to doubt whether I was doing any good, and whether I ought not at once to leave Havre. While in this agony of mind, I heard a tap at my door. I opened it ; a boy handed me a letter, which I broke open, and read as follows : " DEAR BROTHER IN CHRIST, I hope the Lord will con- tinue to bless your labours in this city. Sure I am that many of my countrymen will, in the great day of judgment, bless God that they ever came to Havre, and have heard the gospel 156 TREASURED MOMENTS. from your lips. Many a good minister of Christ in that day will no doubt be surprised at the harvest gathered from seed which he sowed in tears while on earth. And now, as there are some praying sailors in port, who believe that God hears and answers prayer, and who love to hold up the hands of their minister, will you have the kindness to appoint an extra prayer-meeting this evening, immediately after divine service, and oblige many friends ? May the Lord bless and prosper you in your great work in this dark land, and to God be all the glory. (Signed) " AN ENGLISH CAPTAIN." Had a voice from heaven called audibly to me, I do not think it would have taken me more on surprise than did this letter. The prayer-meeting was appointed, and a precious meeting it was. The next day I received another letter from a pastor in the south of France, giving a most interesting account of how the Lord was blessing the preaching of the Word in his congregation, and of God's great mercies to him and to his aged parents ; and finally concluded his letter by breaking forth into the most rapturous strains of praise and heartfelt gratitude to God, for having led him, when a young man a clerk in a counting-house, and a bigoted Roman Catholic into the English and American chapel, where he heard that glorious gospel preached which led him first to Christ, then into the ministry ; and closed his letter by subscribing himself, " Your most grateful and affectionate son in the faith, "Louis DELAMARE." I scarcely need add, that these two letters crimsoned my cheeks with shame, that I should ever become so faithless and unbelieving, Avhen God is pleased so often to cheer me with tokens of his love and covenant mercies. " O Lord, I would believe, help thou mine unbelief," is my daily prayer. But AMERICAN SEAMEN. my letter is already too long. Pray for me, and for God's blessing upon my labours, without which " I labour in vain, and spend my strength for naught." "Havre, May 21, 1858. "My DEAR FRIEND, " I do indeed wish to remain here at my post and see the salvation of God, in the conversion of souls, for I verily believe the Lord is among us, doing that work. A fact or two I will give you : " For several Sabbaths, my own mind seemed disposed to hover around the few first chapters of the Acts of the Apostles. You will at once perceive the train of thought that must have been suggested. The temper, spirit, faith, and prayer of primitive Christians the wonderful pouring out of God's Spirit the establishment of the first Christian Church in the midst of a 'glorious revival' the scriptural authority for praying for, and expecting 'revivals' in every age the reasons why the Church of Christ has not been blessed more fre- quently with 'revivals,' &c., &c. Of course, my sermons, to be consistent with such awakening themes, must haVe been more or less searching, and upon some hearts they seemed to act 'as a refiners fire, and like fuller's soap! At the same time I was receiving, from week to week, letters and papers giving details of that ' Great Awakening' in America, some- times referring to it and stating facts, such as I thought calcu- lated to give confidence, and increase the faith of God's children in these wonderful seasons of the 'outpouring of God's Spirit.' General solemnity, some deep feeling, tearful eyes, a few anxious inquirers, and two or three hopeful con- versions have been the results up to last Saturday. I had been praying and hoping that God in his providence would send along some brother, fresh from under the cloud, who had received a new baptism, and who had been an eye-witness of 158 ' TREASURED MOMENTS. the melting scenes in New York, Philadelphia, and other places, and who would remain long enough with us to give his own testimony. But though several arrived on the different steamers, all were in too great a hurry to tarry even for a night, until last Friday the 'Arago' came into port, bringing Rev. Dr. Fred. Monod, his new-bo son, with other converts, and in these have my hopes and prayers been answered. " On Saturday evening, Dr. Monod met his relatives and friends at a prayer-meeting, at his brother's house, in which he gave a thrilling account of what his own eyes had seen of God's wonderful work, now going on in the United States. At the close of his remarks, his son, some twenty years of age, who had been with his father in all his travels had been educated for the law had never given his attention much to religious subjects but the ardour of his new-born soul must have vent, and he began very humbly and modestly to give his own views, and to tell what the Lord had done for his soul, till every heart was moved, and eyes unaccustomed to weep were bathed in tears. At the close of the meeting, after much persuasion, Dr. Monod consented to address my congregation on Sabbath morning insisting, however, upon my preaching my regular sermon, and he following it .up by narrating facts respecting the ' Great Awakening.' Last Sabbath, therefore, was a day long to be remembered here in Havre. An unusually large assembly. I read the fifteenth chapter of Luke, took the tenth verse for my text, cut my sermon very short ; but the impression upon the audience was marked and visible to all. Dr. Monod began by stating his own former doubts in the genuineness of what had been called ' American Revivals;' then stated, that whatever might have been the character of former revivals, it seemed impossible to doubt but that this was a real, genuine work, wrought in the hearts of men by the power of the Holy Spirit ; and, to use the language of one of their own divines, ' It was a revival not got up, but brouyltt down from heaven.' He then remarked, AMERICAN SEAMEN. 159 how solemn, silent, and calm, yet tender and impressive, were all their meetings ; and that a man speaking five minutes in their prayer-meetings, with such tenderness in his heart, and such an unction upon his lips, as at once to melt a congrega- tion of 4,000 people into tears. 'O/ said he, 'it was good to be there ; I went for the purpose of bringing back gold, as you all know ; but I have/ added he, ' brought back that which is infinitely better/ In the afternoon, he addressed the French congregation in our chapel on the same subject, and I trust many a Christian heart has been quickened into new life, their faith increased and strengthened, and that we shall behold some blessed results. And my own faith in the results has been a little strengthened by the following inci- dents, which have occurred since the Sabbath. "You will bear in mind, that all this foregoing narrative is designed to convey this simple idea, that the people of Havre, as in ah 1 France, know little, and believe nothing in 'revivals,' and not many of them believe in the necessity of regeneration by the Holy Spirit ; hence my great aim for months has been by the help of the Lord to root out this unbelief, this infidelity, even among professed Cliristians, respecting this glorious work of the Holy Spirit ; but to the facts. INCIDENTS. " On Tuesday of this week, the servant tapped at my door, informing me that two ladies had called wishing to see me. I told her to invite them up into my study. I saw at once they were troubled in spirit, as their tremulous words soon proved. For more than three months they had attended the chapel ; living near to each other, they had walked back and forward together, and would talk over the subject of the sermon. Their knowledge of the Bible was very limited ; but they were convinced of the operations of the Holy Spirit, from what they had felt the last few days ; that such was the burden of sin upon their consciences, that they could not find rest or peace ; and they had now walked nearly three miles this morning, to have me explain to them more perfectly the 160 TREASURED MOMENTS. nature of that change of heart, or new birth, of which they had heard so much the last Sabbath, &c., &c. I spent an hour in conversation and prayer with them, and they promised to return shortly. " While engaged with them, however, another lady had called, the wife of a gentleman who was formerly an officer in the army of India. Learning that I was engaged, she with- drew, leaving an urgent request that I would call on her at my earliest convenience. Knowing that her husband was absent in London, and that she had rather a troublesome landlord, I suspected that it was some domestic trouble for which she sought my aid and counsel. I called immediately, found her in the parlour with her eldest child, some three years old ; she rang for the nurse to come and take the child, and took a seat near me, very much agitated. She tried to utter a word, but failed ; her lips quivered tears began to fall her heart was too full for utterance. I tried to soothe her, by telling her she might confide fully in me, and to unburden her heart freely. ' It is,' said she, ' this load of sin and guilt that overwhelms me ; for several weeks I have wanted to tell you how I felt, but I could not summon up courage ; and on Sabbath, while you were reading of the prodigal son, and where it says, he came to himself, I said, that is my case exactly ; I have come to myself ; I must return to my Father's house ; and now I wish you to tell me how I can do it/ This fully opened the subject, and I spent some two hours in trying to guide her into the right way then prayed with her. As I parted with her, she begged the privilege of coming to my study for frequent conversation and prayer, as being less liable to noise and interruption. To me, this is a very interesting case ; she is a lady of the highest order of mind the best education that London could afford the Bible all at her fingers' ends ; and yet had never felt the power of God's truth and Spirit upon her heart ; and, as she expressed herself, ' living literally without God, and without hope in the world.' AMERICAN SEAMEN. 161 " Saturday, 22rid. I have had another long and interesting interview with Mrs. . She came to my study in a hurried and agitated manner ; joy and grief seemed blended, and struggling for mastery in her every look, and thrusting her hand into her pocket, drew forth a letter just received from her husband, saying, ' I do think the Lord must be working by his Holy Spirit in the heart of my husband ; let me read you a sentence.' She read as follows : 7 have just paid a visit to our old friend General T , who is on his dying bed ; he cannot live long. I fear he is not prepared to die. Will you call on Mr. Sawtell, and ask an interest in his prayers ? ' Now,' said she, ' I never knew my husband to make such a request before it must be that the Lord is at work in his heart do pray for my husband also.' After a half hour's conversation about her own state of mind, in which I discovered deep and pungent conviction, I took from my library James's Anxious Inquirer, and put it into her hand ; then we knelt down and poured out our prayers to God for General T , herself, and husband. She is to be in is evening again, at our family worship. And as evidence of the earnestness with which she is seeking salvation, and the intensity of her feelings, she inquired with great simplicity, as she was leaving, whether there would be any impropriety in my asking an interest in the prayers of Christians on Sabbath morning on her behalf ; then bursting into tears, said, ' If I should be left to grieve auay the Holy Spirit now, I could never again hope for mercy.' " "HAVBE, Dec. 24, 1858. "MY DEAR SlR, " The fourth year of my labours here, at Havre, since my return, being now near its close, I hasten to give you briefly such information respecting this mission as you may desire. France, and the Continent generally, have, for the last year, remained in a state of quietude, with but few excep- 162 TREASURED MOMENTS. tions worthy of note. Occasionally, and in certain localities, just complaints have been made of the oppressive acts and designs of a designing and crafty priesthood towards Protest- ants ; but generally their persecutions have been foiled, and been made to recoil upon their own heads ; and in many cases a reaction has taken place, that resulted triumphantly ' to the furtherance of the gospel.' " In Havre, the vast amount of English and American com- merce brings the Roman Catholic mind in so close a contact with nominal Protestants, and often with real Christians, as greatly to neutralise the power of Romanism, and hold in abeyance the cunning craftiness of man. Since the last attempt, however, upon the Emperor's life, we have all been more narrowly watched, and kept under strict surveillance, even to the sending spies to the chapel. But all who know me, know that I never dabble in politics, in the pulpit or out, believing fully that a minister of the gospel should have ' a single eye and a single heart! Nor has any one heard from my lips in the pulpit, touching Napoleon III., anything more than an earnest prayer to God ' to preserve his life, shield him from the deadly blow of the assassin, and give to him a new heart and a right spirit, and endow him with that wisdom that cometh from above/ Surely, if he had any faith in prayer, or even if he had none, he could hardly be troubled about it. Nevertheless, not long since, the mayor of Havre received an order from the throne, demanding to know, instanter, ' Where I was born ? ' ' When I was born ? ' and ' Where and when I received holy orders ? ' all of which questions I answered with as much gravity as, under the cir- cumstances, I was able to command ; for I saw at a glance that his Imperial Majesty was simply acting upon the old adage, 'an ounce of prevention is wortli a pound of cure,' or, in other words, he wished to let me know that his ubiquit- ous eye was upon me, therefore ' be cautious what you say.' This admonition was quite unnecessary, for the kingdom about which I preach, and which I was sent here to promote and AMERICAN SEAMEN. 163 build up, is a ' kingdom not of this world ; ' to the interest and welfare of this kingdom I have consecrated my all, soul, body mind, and strength ; therefore ' let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth ; but woe unto him that striveth with his Maker/ in opposing the kingdom of Christ in the earth. " I have never had more encouragement to labour here than at the present time, and never were my labours more abund- ant. Ships are filling the docks, and sailors the hospital, while the prisons receive their proportion, and all receive attention from me. But what has cheered my heart for the last few weeks has been to witness the greatly increased numbers flock- ing to the chapel and the reading-room, and among them are found anxious, inquiring souls. Some of our assemblies have been marked by a peculiar solemnity and deep feeling. A few Sabbath evenings ago, at the close of the service, quite a num- ber of sailors remained to speak to me ; and while in conver- sation with them, an old man, in true sailor garb, rushed into the circle and said, ' I want to know the way to the reading- room/ On handing him a printed card, on which were direc- tions how to find it, I laid my hand kindly on his shoulder, saying, ' You are an old man, and I hope a praying man.' He brushed away a tear, as he said, ' I am beginning to try, sir/ ' Then/ said I, ' do not fail to meet me at the prayer-meeting on Wednesday evening/ and, sure enough, he was among the first there. He seemed much agitated, as if in deep distress and anguish of mind. After prayers, and some general re- marks, and before dismissing the company, I discovered so much solemnity and seriousness, I thought it best to have a personal conversation with each present. I began with the ' old man/ ' How long have you followed the seas ? ' ' More than thirty years/ ' And all this time/ said I, ' without God, and without hope in the world?' 'I don't profess to be a Christian/ said he. ' And are you determined now to seek the Lord while he may be found, and to call upon him while he is near ? ' ' Since coming to Havre/ said he, ' I am beginning to pray ; ' and, while I was solemnly warning him of the 164 TREASURED MOMENTS. danger of delay, and urging upon him the importance of giving his heart at once to God, and making his calling and election sure, I discovered a young man in the corner of the room, with his face buried in his hands, leaning upon the table, and his body shaking as if convulsed with laughter. I expected an unpleasant scene when I should reach that corner, for I had no other thought than that he was making sport of the solemn warning I was giving to the old man ; but, just as I was leav- ing him, I said, ' I would like to have your name, and to know where you are from/ ' Robert Dewar, from Shields, England/ was the answer. ' Have you a family ? ' I asked. Yes/ said he ; ' I have a wife and eight children, and that is my son sitting in the corner/ pointing to that aforesaid young man. I immediately repaired to that corner, and, instead of finding him, as I supposed, laughing, I found him bathed in tears, and in deep distress of mind, on listening to what I had been say- ing to his father. My own heart was deeply moved at this, and I exclaimed to myself, 'Of a truth the Lord is in this place ; it is good to be here ; and may it prove the house of God and the gate of heaven to these precious souls.' Before leaving the room, the father and son both expressed their determination that, ' the Lord being their helper, they would give their hearts to him, and return home giving glory to God, and to praise him for what they had heard and expe- rienced in this place/ Let this aged man and his family be made the subjects of unceasing prayer by all who believe that the prayer of faith prevaileth with God. One of the most dis- couraging features in the character of my congregation is seen in the fact that it is composed of seafaring or wayfaring men who are here to-da,y and off to-morrow T . I am continually drawing a bow at a venture, and, if one be wounded and his heart bleeding, I am not often permitted to know the result; or to gather in harvest of seed that hath been sown in tears. At the hospital there are some half-dozen or more who are more or less anxious ; some two or three that give evidence of a saving change ; also a number of residents who call weekly AMERICAN SEAMEN. 165 at my study to receive instruction and counsel in the way of salvation, and with whom I pray ; altogether some fifteen souls under my instruction, that give me hope that they are not far from the kingdom, and who will soon be seen on the Lord's side. "While the work of preaching the gospel and directing souls to Christ is a very pleasant duty, there are scenes in the course of my labours here through which I have to pass that are exceedingly painful, and tax heavily my sympathies and ner- vous sensibility. To-day, December 27th, I am called to bury a sailor, who was instantly killed on board a ship just leaving port, his legs cut off, and his head split open, by a sad mishap, in clearing her from the wharf. On Saturday last I accom- panied a poor weeping mother, young and beautiful, with an infant in her arms, to the prison, there to meet her hus- band, who, a week before, had shot dead an American sailor, on board an American ship, in which he was first officer. The wife resides in her native city, Liverpool, mother of two chil- dren. He had written to her to meet him here. She arrived without ever hearing what had happened, and for many hours could learn nothing of her husband, no one having the courage to broach the subject to her. Their meeting in prison I will not attempt to describe, but most earnestly do I pray that I may never be called to witness another such a scene. To-day I have been to see the British and American consuls, to see if anything can be done for him, for the sake of his poor wife and children ; but his case appears hopeless." 166 THE GRAVE OF ALONZO C. MARSHALL. " HAVRE, Jan. 27, 1857. " ' And they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born.' Zech . xii. 10. " ' My heart is smitten, and withered like grass : so that I forget to eat my bread.' Ps. cii. 4. " ' Would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son ! ' 2 Sam. xviii. 33. " Such were the words of Holy Writ forced upon my mind, as I followed to the grave the remains of an only son, reflect- ing upon his untimely death, and upon fond and doting parents, whose house was made desolate, and whose hearts were so soon to be riven by the terrible tidings that awaited them. And as those heart^stricken parents may never enjoy the luxury of planting a rose on his grave, or mingling their tears with his ashes, I have wished, if it were possible, to give them such an idea of his resting-place, that they may, at least in imagination, hover and linger around so cherished a spot of earth as that of the grave of an only son. " The city of Havre, with her immense docks, quays, and basins, is built upon a delta, or rather an oblong plain of level alluvial soil, scarcely raised above high-water mark, formed of deposits, the spoils of two contending forces ocean and river, bounded by the former on the west, and by the latter on the south ; while a high precipitous ridge, running parallel AMERICAN SEAMEN. 167 with the river, forms her northern boundary. The summit of this ridge marks the elevation of the high table-land of the surrounding country. But its western terminus, instead of uniting with the high bluffs on the sea-coast, breaks sud- denly off, so that between the ridge and the bluffs there are deep gorges, ravines, and winding valleys, presenting to the eye every variety of wild and picturesque scenery. Through these gorges beautiful serpentine roads are made, leading to the country. At the very end or break of this ridge, -and about midway from the bed of the valley to its summit, there is formed, as by some sudden freak of nature, a kind of bench or shelf of almost level and singularly diversified grounds, just hid from the gaze of the city, and yet overlooking the waters of the bay ; these grounds have been set apart and consecrated as the resting-place of the dead. A slight fence of frail lattice-work marks the boundary between the Roman Catholic and Protestant part. From every nook and corner of these grounds, and to whatever point of the compass you turn, variety, beauty, and unwonted loveliness greet the eye ; and in some unique spots it would seem as if nature and art had long vied for supremacy. To the north-west, and from the summit of a high precipitous hill, frowns a line of double bastions, backed by impenetrable walls of solid masonry, forming a mighty fortress, and commanding the entrance to the harbour. On the north-east nestles the little coquettish village of San vie, looking as fresh and smiling as a new-blown rose ; and, unlike most French towns, the houses all look neat, and with soft cream-coloured fronts, and a warm southern view, with the sunbeams dancing upon her windows, and pouring forth showers of such dazzling diamonds, that she seems like a con- voy of guardian angels keeping vigilant watch over the sepul- chres of the dead. While to the south-east are the stately mansions and palaces of merchant-princes, embosomed in shady groves, with their flower-gardens, green lawns, and gravelled walks, sparkling fountains, and jets of limpid waters, and carriages rowing noiselessly over smooth macadamised 168 TREASURED MOMENTS. streets, drawn by well-trained steeds, prancing and champing upon the bit under the tight rein of liveried coachmen. " Turn now to the south-west, and the eye, piercing through foliage of overhanging trees, rests with undiminished rapture upon the expanded waters, stretching far into the dim distance, till the gentle swell breaks into foam on the opposite shore of the beautiful Seine ; then to the west, till water and sky blend in one indefinable line of misty vapour. " And here, in the calm twilight of a summer's eve, as you scan this sheet of water, you see it dotted with every descrip- tion of vessel waiting for the tide, nestled into groups, and lying as motionless as the sleeping infant, and, at times, wrapped in sheets of livid fire, as the last rays of the setting sun are reflected from the surrounding mirrored waters. O what an hour, and what a place, while here among the dead, for reflection, prayer, and converse with God ! How still, how solemn ! The mechanic has thrown aside his hammer for the night ; the twittering of the swallow has ceased ; the hum of a busy population has died away upon the ear ; no noise on the land, none on the sea, save, perhaps, the slow and measured dip of the fisherman's oar, returning weary with the fruits of his precarious and hard day's toil. Then let us turn from the living world, and, for awhile, move silently among the dead, and behold the end of all flesh ! But, first, through the Catholic department ; and to the stranger there is here much novelty to awaken curiosity, but more of superstition to excite his pity. Sitting upon the heads of almost all the graves are little miniature houses, like dovecots, of every form and description, with glass fronts, filled with all sorts of devices peculiar to their worship. Images of saints and the Virgin, candles, beads, crucifixes, &c., and, if it be the grave of a child, all kinds of trinkets and toys. A great variety is observable, and each one seems fitted up according to the age of the dead or the taste of the living. Here and there may be seen a perfect mimic church, made entirely of glass, with chancel, altar, chan- deliers, confessional boxes, candlesticks, wax candles and AMERICAN SEAMEN. 169 pictures, statuary, drapery and crosses, indeed every con- ceivable thing which the imagination of man has been able to weave into that idolatrous system ; added to all this is a wooden cross, some six feet high, standing at the head of each grave, hung with wreaths of flowers, either natural or artificial, according to the season of the year ; and as these graves are very close and compact, and interspersed with running vines, flowers, shrubs, and evergreens, it gives to the whole a very peculiar and unique appearance. " But now let us pass through the little wicket-gate into the Protestant ground, and what a contrast ! With few exceptions they are plain, unadorned graves, each marked by a single post, some three inches square, and four to five high, neatly planed and painted black, with its number in white figures, so that by reference to the records kept by the sexton, as to name and profession, place and circumstances of death, &c., sur- viving relations cannot mistake, in case of any change in the subsequent disposal of the body. This Protestant department, therefore, presents to the eye of the stranger little more than a dense forest of black posts. But stop, let us pause a moment, look around, look up. The firmament is beginning to hold out her lights ; one twinkling brilliant after another peers through the azure heights ; and now the broad face of a full-orbed moon is coming laughing over the hills, throwing her pale beams askance a slab of snow-white marble, lying horizontally upon stone pillars some five feet in length and two feet and a half in breadth in the very heart and centre of this forest of black posts. The stranger is attracted to the spot, and, by the soft light of the moon, reads this brief but affecting and impressive memoir : " ' Alonzo C. Marshall, only child of Frederick H. and Anna R. Marshall, of Easton, Washington County, New York, who was instantly killed, by falling from aloft on board the ship Louisiana, from New Orleans to Havre, on the 18th of December, 1855, aged 22 years, 9 months, and 3 days! 170 TREASURED MOMENTS. " The stranger now withdraws himself slowly and pensively from these sad yet attractive grounds, reflecting upon the uncertainty of life, and of all earthly good, and, we would fain hope, with a heart softened and a conscience quickened by this hour's silent converse with the dead. It is just one year to-day since I stood over the open grave of this young man to address the living masters, officers, and sailors, who had followed his remains to his narrow house and to offer up prayer for them, and the distant parents who, as yet, were unconscious of this awful visitation that had left them childless and their house desolate. An earlier notice of this sad event would have been given, but for the belief that I should receive some communication relative to the final dis- posal of the body. And on the 24th September last, Captain Abeel and lady, relatives of the deceased, arrived from Liver- pool to inquire into the expediency of removing the remains to the United States ; but after much reflection and consulta- tion, and ascertaining the difficulties attending it, it was determined to erect the monument described above, and, accordingly, they placed in my hands the funds to do it. The monument being now completed in accordance to their wishes, I have thought it due to the afflicted parents and surviving relatives, to give this detailed account of it. I may add that he was no common sailor, but had risen as first officer, and was expecting the next voyage to command a ship. His death was sudden, and he died respected and beloved by all who knew him. Let every sailor, and every American that comes to. Havre, visit the grave of Alonzo C. Marshall, read the simple record of his death, drop a tear for the heart-stricken parents, and then retire reflecting upon the solemn truth, ' It is appointed unto all men once to die, and after death the judgment.' Therefore, ' Be ye also ready : for in such an hour as you think not the Son of man cometh' "A SINGULAR INCIDENT. " P.S. A little over three years after the death and burial AMERICAN SEAMEN. 171 of this Alonzo C. Marshall, an only son, an only child, the hope and pride of his loved and loving parents, I was called to bury, in this same beautiful spot, another only son, an only child, the child of many prayers, greatly beloved by all who knew him for his humble, fervent piety, and followed to the grave by his numerous friends, and his praying, weeping, dis- consolate parents ; and his name, too, was JOHN MARSHALL/' BOOK III. %mtritnn " A servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren." Gftn. k. 25. " Kemember them that are in bonds." Seb. xiii. 3. "Undo the heavy burdens. Let the oppressed go free. Break every oke." Jsa. Iviii. 6. " Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God." Ps. Ixviii, 31. 175 BOOK III. AMERICAN SLAVERY. " Nothing is more clearly written in the Book of Destiny, than the Eman- cipation of the Blacks ; and it is equally certain that the two races will never live in a state of equal freedom under the same government, so insurmountable are the barriers which nature, habit, and opinion have established between them." JEFFEBSON. AFRICAN SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES. THE four first of the following letters were written and published in many of the leading papers of the Union, some thirteen years ago ; since which time I have found no reason for changing the opinions therein expressed, but every year's experience confirms me in their correctness. On their being published in the Maryland Colonization Journal, the editor makes the following remarks : " We are happy to be able to lay before our readers a series of letters published in the Christian Observer, from the pen of the Rev. E. N. Sawtell. Of the opportunities of Mr. Sawtell to inform himself in regard to the subjects on which he writes, his first letter very properly speaks, and of his ability to improve his opportunity, a careful perusal of the whole of them cannot fail to convince any one. Their object and tendency is to conciliate, to pour oil on the troubled waters, and their general publication throughout the land must effect good/' 176 TREASURED MOMENTS. LETTER I. FACTS RESPECTING SLAVERY AT THE SOUTH. " ' Watchman ! what of the night ?' is the cry of many a throbbing heart respecting the character and developments of slavery, and the prospect of its final extinction ; and while a few are possessing their souls in patience, calmly waiting an answer, believing that God will, in his own good time, send deliverance, others are giving wings to fancy, and indulging in the most extravagant anticipations of evil, and that con- tinually. " Amid these diversified and conflicting opinions, and the never-ceasing commotion of such elements as are brought to bear on this subject, it behoves every friend of humanity to communicate whatever facts may tend to emit or elicit light, or in any way act as oil on the troubled waves ; not more the subject, than does the peculiarity of the times demand this. In an impulsive and spirit-stirring age like this, mind becomes adventurous and impatient of restraint. It seeks to move in excited and ever-accumulating masses, where it can ; yet dares to move individually and alone, where it must. In the wildest tempests of heated passion, it is ready to break away from its once firm and stable moorings, and to dash forth into deep and unexplored seas, in quest of something new ; and though often mistaking a meteor for a fixed star, a rush- light for the noonday sun, it abates nought of self-confidence : there still remains that undying ardour ; that panting for novelty ; that struggle ' to break the bands asunder ' and ' cast away the cords ;' that death grapple with great principles, which so emphatically mark the present age, evincing the whole world of thought to be launched upon a new sea of wonders, where truth, not fiction, facts, not theories, are needed, as beacon-lights and burning suns, to guide this chaos of mind into a haven of enlightened, sanctified, and undisturbed repose. AMERICAN SLAVERY. 177 " On a question of such magnitude as slavei^y involving as it does, the interests of millions, and, it may be, the destiny of two continents, I should not presume to lift a pen, were it not that my opportunities of a personal and intimate acquaint- ance with the subject have been somewhat peculiar. " Being a native of New England, and imbibing as I did at an early age, an utter aversion of the system residing after- wards nearly twenty years in different slave-holding States travelling frequently and extensively in every State in the Union where slavery exists addressing large and popular assemblies of both colours aiding in the promotion of Sabbath schools and Bible classes among the blacks conversing freely with master and slave, respecting the relation they sustain to each other, and the feelings of mutual dependence and attach- ments between them together with seven years' residence abroad, listening to the most exciting debates on the subject in Exeter Hall, London, and elsewhere and now a resident of New York, where every variety of opinion is freely discussed and, though last not least, never having had any pecuniary interests whatever involved in the question, may perhaps entitle my remarks to as much consideration as those of many others, who have never travelled south of Mason and Dixon's line. " The object of this letter is simply to correct some erro- neous impressions, as to the real character of slavery in this country. " The prevailing impression at the North is, that the cruel treatment of the slave, and his consequent sufferings, are such as to demand his immediate and unconditional emancipation. This is one of the most cogent reasons urged why we should take no time to consult the future good and interests, either of the master or the slave. And to deepen the impres- sion, the most frightful pictures of sufferings and cruelty have been drawn, and held up to the imagination till the heart has become sick, and the very name of slave is associated in the mind with all the horrors of the ' middle passage ' and the M 178 TREASURED MOMENTS. racks and tortures of the inquisition. Now, with all due respect to the opinions of others, I do know that such im- pressions are not in accordance with facts.* " On this subject the Southern character is either not understood, or grossly, though I would hope unintentionally, misrepresented. Bold and chivalrous as is a Southern man in contest with his equals, nothing is more despicable in his eyes than a petty tyrant, who exhibits his prowess only in inflicting wrongs and injuries upon the helpless and unprotected. Naturally high-minded, noble and generous in feelings and sentiments, he is found magnanimous and kind in spirit towards his dependents. " As a general fact, I doubt whether there can be found a * AN ENGLISH OPINION. G. P. E. James, the well-known and popular English novelist, who has been a resident of Virginia for several years past, contributes to the Knickerbocker a very interesting article on " Life in Virginia ; " and as the views expressed are so entirely at variance with those of all former British writers on the subject, we give a brief extract on " the Negro Life of Virginia," which, says Mr. James, " differs very little, I believe, from the negro life all through the South. In return for food, clothing, house-room, medical-attendance, and support in old age, about one-third of the labour which is required of the white man in most countries is demanded of the black. He performs it badly, and would not perform it at all if he were not compelled. The rest of his time is spent in singing, dancing, laughing, chattering, and bringing up pigs and chickens. That negroes are the worst servants in the world, every man, I believe, but a thoroughbred Southern man, will admit ; but the Southerner has been reared amongst them from his childhood, and in general has a tenderness and affec- tion for them of which Northern men can have no conception. Great care is taken by the law to guard them against oppression and wrong ; and after six years' residence in the State, I can safely say, I never saw more than one instance of cruelty toward a negro, and that was perpetrated by a foreigner. That there may still be evils in the system which might be removed by law, and that there may be individual instances of oppression and even bad treat- ment, 1 do not deny ; but those instances are not so frequent as those of cruelty to a wife or child in Northern lands, as displayed every day by the newspapers ; and in point of general happiness, it would not be amiss to alter an old adage, and say : ' As merry as a negro slave.' I must not pursue this branch of the subject farther, for I can pretend to no great love for Dr. Livingstone's friends, the Makololos. There are, beyond all doubt, some very excellent people among them ; but, as a race, the more I see of them the less do I think them capable of civilisation, or even fitted to take care of themselves." AMERICAN SLAVERY. 179 class of people in the world that suffer less, mentally or physi- cally, than the coloured population of the South. None, who have fewer cares and troubles ; who wear happier faces ; are more jovial and merry and who sing louder and sweeter than they. For the truth of this I appeal to every man who has visited the South, and examined this subject for himself with an unprejudiced and impartial mind. Exceptions I know there are, but these no more prove the general truth on this subject, than do the convicts in the penitentiaries of New England prove that all the old Puritans of that land of steady habits are grinding in the prison-house. Hence, when a Northern man enters the Southern States for the first time, and witnesses the familiarity and kindness between master and servant, he exclaims with wonder, 'Where are the long whips, the scourges, the groans and tears, of which I have heard so much ?' And often have I seen the tear start in the stranger's eye at beholding the ecstacy of joy with which the dependents gather around their master on his return from a long absence, seizing his hand and seeming to vie with each other in manifesting their love and attachment to him. And while writing the foregoing sentence, I have had to lay aside my pen to listen to a touching incident that illustrates the strength of this attachment, and has drawn tears from my own eyes. " An old coloured matron, the mother of seventeen children, on learning my name, and remembering that I was a warm friend to the coloured people, came to see me, and wished to know, ' if I had not been to her old master's house, more than twenty years ago ?' On reminding me who he was, I answered in the affirmative, and then inquired of his health, and that of her mistress ; she burst into tears, and after struggling with her feelings for some time, she replied, ' My dear old master and mistress are both in heaven, and it is only about three months since my poor mistress died and oh ! I shall never forget the day she was buried; when I returned from the grave, I thought my heart would break. Yes/ said she, 'for M 2 180 TREASURED MOMENTS. more than thirty years we had bowed the knee together in prayer every day, but we shall pray no more together on earth but, thank the Lord,' she exclaimed, 'I shall meet them in heaven.' On inquiring who her present mistress was, ' Oh, I live with my young mistress now, and, dear creature, she is like one of my own children,' added she, ' for I have nursed her from an infant, and, bless God, she is a Christian too. Y - continued she, ' the Lord be praised, I think all my own children are Christians too ; one of my sons is a preacher, and we are all trying to follow the good advice of our dear old master and mistress, that we may meet them in heaven/ In order to test the strength of her attachment to the family, I asked her if she would not like to be free? ' No freer than I am,' said she ; ' it is my mistress's pleasure to please me, and my pleasure to please her I stay with her in the city in the winter, and go out to the plantation, and stay with my children in the summer and hear my son preach, and do as I please and what more can I want in this world ?' When this old Christian mother left me, I asked myself, whether it would be a kindness to tear her away from all her attach- ments and early associations, and run her off to Canada to die in want and penury under the mistaken idea that the enjoy- ment of unrestrained liberty would be an ample compensa- tion for all the food and raiment, the care and affection, she now enjoys, and in which she is so perfectly contented and happy ? And whatever may be the opinions of others, I was satisfied in giving to her Paul's advice, ' Obey your master in the Lord, for that is right ; persevere in well doing ; pray for your children, that God may prepare them for still richer bles- sings, which I believe he has in store for your nation and your people.' " Another erroneous impression at the North is, that the Southern slaves are pushed, and driven, and overworked: but the truth is, that one white labourer at the North performs more labour than any two slaves at the South. And this accounts for the fact, that runaway slaves are never known to AMERICAN SLAVERY. 181 enter the field, and work shoulder to shoulder with the white man ; he knows full well that the amount of labour that satisfied his Southern master will never satisfy the close calcu- lating man of the North. Hence, the shoals of these idlers that swarm about the outskirts of our Northern cities, a few of whom become ostlers, barbers, hack-drivers, and the like, while the majority plunge into the deepest dens of pollution and vice, become vagrants, and live and die a corse to them- selves and society. The purlieus of New York, and of Moyamensing, Philadelphia, furnish ample testimony to this fact. And the plain, incontrovertible truth on this subject is, that the slaves of the South, as a class, are better provided for, enjoy more comforts, are more temperate and virtuous, come more in contact with religious truth, are more susceptible of its influences, and more contented and happy, than the free coloured population in any part of our country. And many are the instances known to me of runaway slaves writing and begging permission of their masters to return home, declaring they had been deceived ; and in some cases, where their seducers have left them to utter destitution and wretchedness, their masters, rather than receive them back, send them money to supply their wants. Now, this by no means proves slavery to be right ; it only proves that immediate, indiscriminate, and unconditional emancipation, without any regard to the future good of the slave, is radically wrong it is an injustice to the slave. But if in sympathising with the suffering slave, our minds can find any relief by contrasts, we challenge a com- parison of his condition in this land of ease and plenty, with that of the ignorant, vicious, famishing millions of the lower class all over the papal world ; in every point of view, whether we regard their temporal comforts, their religious instruction, or the standard of morality among them, our slaves are vastly their superiors. And if we go still farther, and draw a com- parison between the Africans here, though slaves, and their brethren in their native land, in all their cruel barbarism and beastly degradation, we see almost an infinite advance in their 182 TREASURED MOMENTS. character and condition and, to the eye of faith, it is the harbinger of still richer blessings. " In a word, the history of the world does not furnish an instance of a people that have emerged from a state of perfect barbarism into that of comparative civilisation more steadily and rapidly than have the African slaves that have been transported to this country ; and their present condition, whether it relates to the comforts of this life, or to the hopes of that which is to come, is infinitely better, more tolerable, and more desirable, than that of three-fourths of the popula- tion of the globe. But what does all this prove ? that slavery is right? Not at all it only proves that many a tender heart has been made to bleed over miseries that have no existence ; they have been weeping in despair, while they should rejoice in hope. They have been ready to curse God and die, while they should bless him and live, trust him and pray. It proves, that in this wretched world there is misery enough to satisfy the most morbid appetite, without the aid of the imagination, and that the true friend of the slave is he who regards his future good, and by patient perseverance is endeavouring to prepare him for freedom, and prepare him a place to enjoy it. In further confirmation of this, we shall furnish a few facts in our next." LETTER II. THE MORNING COMETH. " In this letter I wish to call the attention of my Northern friends to a few facts, in which, I am sure, they will recognise the finger of God as pointing to some luminous spots upon that dark cloud that lowers upon our horizon. "No man who has been in the habit of visiting the South for the last twenty years, and accustomed himself to note AMERfCAN SLAVERY. 183 the changes, and watch the progress of events, but must have perceived that on no subject has there been wrought a more visible and marked change in public sentiment than on that of slavery. We will briefly glance at a few of them. "1. The time has been, when Southern minds with the exception of such men as Washington and Jefferson were unaccustomed to think of slavery as an evil in any sense, and much less, as a system that must come to an end ; but now they speak of these things as not only probable but certain* " 2. It was once a law of Louisiana, and is still upon her statute books, 'that no black man should presume upon an equality with the whites.' But now you see them together in the same church, counting-room, and stage-coach, shaking hands, and conversing familiarly, and with more ease and kindness than is ever seen at the North, unless on extraordinary occasions, where there is a desire to make a show of great con- descension. It is but a little while since a coloured man, just freed from bondage, preached in the first Presbyterian church of this city, to as large and refined an audience as can be assembled in New York or Boston. Frequently have I met the coloured man here in ecclesiastical bodies, taking part in their deliberations, and seated with his brethren at the same domestic table circumstances which, twenty years ago, would have produced a mob, but now looked upon with approbation. * For many years after we became an independent nation, the discussion of slavery was confined very much to public men in Legislative halls. The masses, too busy in subduing their wild lands, took but little interest in it ; but as the gospel gradually spread over the South, more enlightened Christian views were entertained on the subject of educating and preparing their slaves for freedom, and all laws prohibiting the teaching of slaves to read were a dead letter. Any master could teach his slave who saw fit to do it, without let or hindrance. Everything was progressing propitiously and hopefully up to the time when Northern fanatics attempted to seize the reins and take slavery into their own hands, which placed Southern masters in the attitude of self-defence. The noble work of educating the slave for freedom stopped, and the whole moral power of the nation has since been divided into two hostile conflicting parties. 184 TREASURED MOMENTS. " 3. At one time it was never supposed possible to make anything more of a black man than one of the lowest menials, but it is now no uncommon thing to find him in the shop, employed in the most curious and difficult branches of the mechanic arts, or standing at the desk beside his master, keeping his books and carrying on his correspondence. " 4. There was a time when public sentiment united with the law in prohibiting the education of the slave, but though the letter of the law stands, public sentiment says, ' Let every man do as he pleases' and when either his sense of duty or his interest inclines him to do it, there are few who dare say aught against it. In visiting a family but yesterday, and noticing the intelligence and familiarity of the servants, and their love for reading books and newspapers, the gentle- man remarked, ' You must not think strange of the familiarity of my servants ; having no children of my own, I have made pets of them all, and as they are to inherit my property, I want to educate them, and fit them for enjoying it. I tell them that they don't know but there is a judge or a president among them, or a successor of Governor Roberts, and they must bestir themselves, and prepare for the responsibilities.' And I said, 'Amen' nor did I feel the least disposition to steal them away, or run them off to Canada. " 5. Twenty years ago it was the settled conviction, here at the South, that white labourers could never endure this climate ; hence the plea for slavery. But the thousands and tens of thousands of the Irish and German emigrants that have poured in here from the old world, and which are seen everywhere rolling cotton bales or hogsheads of sugar, driving hacks or drays, or firing their engines, and actually supplanting the blacks in many departments of labour, is settling the question beyond all controversy, that slavery is not only an unnecessary evil, but white free labour being better performed and more profitable, it is a pecuniary evil. " Thus God in his own good time and way, and without any of man's wisdom, is opening the eyes of thousands, and weak- AMERICAN SLAVERY. 185 cning the bands every year that have so long bound together the master and the slave. " 6. Once more. Till lately, it has been thought by the large sugar and cotton growers of the South, that even were it possible for white labour to endure the climate, still the vast number of hands necessary to carry on their heavy opera- tions rendered the slave system absolutely indispensable, and to hire the number of hands they needed, in certain seasons of the year, was quite out of the question. But in a recent conversation on this subject with one of the largest sugar planters in Louisiana, he said to me, ' I can make more money off my plantation, by cutting it up into small farms, erecting little cottages, and renting them to these families of emigrants, they bringing to my sugar-house so much cane annually for the rent, thus relieving me from all the vexations, respon- sibilities, and expenses of providing for a hundred and fifty slaves, that must be fed and clothed, and taken care of when sick, whether the crop fails or not. And the time is not far distant/ added he, ' when these experiments will be made, to the entire satisfaction of every Southern man, thereby ren- dering slavery a pecuniary burden too grievous to be borne and which must be thrown off/ " These are but specimens of the changes going on here in the public mind ; only let them progress silently and steadily a little longer, and let things take their natural course, under the guidance of God's superintending providence, and ere long, the anxious cry will be heard from the South, not, ' How shall we keep ?' but, ' How shall we get rid of our slaves ? Who will take them off our hands ? Where is there a place provided for them ?' And, wonderful as it may seem, while God has been working these changes in the South, he has, at the same time, been working in the hearts of Christians and philanthropists, inciting them to prepare for the slave a home in the land of his fathers, and paving the way of his return to it. How delightful to recognise the hand of God in all this ! 186 TREASURED MOMENTS. " With the eye turned to Liberia, and the heart lifted up to God, we are ready to exclaim, ' There is hope for the slave ! ' ' There is hope for Africa ! ' ' There is hope for our own country !' " But let us advert briefly to a few other facts that mark the signs of the times on this subject. "In no former period since the existence of slavery has there been such attention paid to the religious instruction of the slaves as in the last ten years ; and in no parts of the world have there been gathered richer fruits to encourage the labourer. It is also worthy of especial notice, that while our country generally has been suffering a spiritual dearth, and many mourning the absence of revivals and the declension of piety, the Southern States have been sharing more largely in the gracious influences of God's converting Spirit than any other portion of our country, and emphatically is this true of the coloured population. Now if we connect these facts with the foregoing, and mark their coincidence, the changes here wrought in the public mind ; the various causes that are operating to render slave labour less and less produc- tive, thereby gradually loosing the bonds of the slave ; the instruction that is now being given them ; the outpouring of the Spirit, and converting them to God ; together with the brightening prospects of Liberia ; what other interpretation can be given to all this, but that God, in his own way and in his own time, is raising up and preparing missionaries, school-teachers, and statesmen, for that infant but growing republic, that is beginning to attract the attention and ad- miration of the civilised world ! During my present tour, I have taken especial pains to obtain information respecting the amount and extent of religious instruction among the slaves ; and it is truly surprising and cheering to witness the almost universal feeling and interest on this subject, and the extent to which they have carried out their plans, in estab- lishing schools and churches, and obtaining missionaries and teachers for the sole benefit of the coloured people. Some of AMERICAN SLAVERY. 187 the church edifices that are neat and costly, are owned by the slares themselves, with regularly organised churches, large and orderly congregations, where they enact their own laws, manage their own finances, take up collections for benevolent objects, and would think themselves slighted to be passed by without giving them the privilege of doing their part. One of these very churches raised between fifty and a hundred dollars to send to the poor Irish. Some of their churches are very large, numbering from one to two thousand communicants. It is very common in the country for several planters to unite in the erection of a house of worship for their coloured people ; and, though exclusively for them, the masters and mistresses, feeling a real pride in the elevation and good conduct of their servants, occasionally attend, to manifest their approbation, and encourage them in well-doing ; and feeling themselves rather as intruders, they of course take the lowest seat ; but it is curious to witness the effect of their presence. The natural pride of character is at once on the alert, and manifests itself in the erect posture they assume, adjusting their dresses, breast-pins, and bracelets (for without seeing the face, we should class many of them among the ' upper ten thousand '), and then the rolling of eyes upon each other, as much as to say, ' Let each one do his prettiest/ This is all as perfectly natural as it would be to children who were anxious to please their parents. Then at the closing of the service, when they get into their happiest mood, like the Methodists, they begin to walk around, shaking hands with all, and singing in the most melodious strains ; and with no respect of person, they seize their master's and mistress' hands, shout- ing to the top of their voice, ' We are bound for the kingdom/ till tears flow from every eye, and myself left in momentary doubt whether I was in the kingdom above or below. " If then we turn our eyes to the Sabbath schools, we see the same to encourage the heart and call forth our gratitude to God. I have preached in churches where are schools of from one to two hundred coloured children, all learning to 188 TREASURED MOMENTS. read the Bible, the laws against it notwithstanding. I have seen the delicate Christian female that would grace any parlour in New York, and the owner of a hundred slaves, sitting in the school-room from morning till night, .spending her strength in teaching her young slaves, and endeavouring to prepare them for the enjoyment of freedom ; and this she does month after month, herself the most perfect slave of all ; and she lives among them, not of choice, but because she dare not run away from a duty which she feels that God, in his mysterious providence, has imposed upon her. "Now, is it not hard, that when this Christian lady visits the North for a little relaxation from her duties, and needing the sympathies and prayers of Christians, she should find herself debarred from the communion of saints, and her name cast out as evil, because she had the misfortune to be born south of the Potomac, and cannot see it her duty to cast off these poor, ignorant, and helpless beings upon the cold charities of the world ? " Another lady similarly situated, said to me, ' I am living here, an exile from my home, on account of my slaves, which have been entailed upon me, and which I cannot part with, for they will not consent to be separated from me/ " But it may be said, these are extreme cases : be it so, but they are multiplying every day ; and if we, at the North, will but let them alone, ' and cease to do evil ;' if we will but fall in with the leadings of God's providence, seek to know his will, and mark the significant signs that are pointing to the ulti- mate good and glorious results which God designs to bring out of this evil; and instead of abusing our brethren at the South, and throwing obstacles in their way, seek to encourage and aid them by our prayers and sympathies ; then may this work continue to progress, until every son and daughter of Ham be blessed, not with freedom only, but with that light and liberty wherewith Christ makes his people free." AMERICAN SLAVERY. J89 LETTER III. " Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands to God." " In listening to speeches and remarks at the North on the subject of slavery, one would be led to suppose that all the sympathy ever felt for the slave, and all that has ever been done, or is now doing, to ameliorate his condition, were con- fined to Northern people or non-slaveholding States and that Southern men cannot possibly have any fellow-feeling or sympathy with the slave, or even do anything for his eleva- tion or freedom. Hence the cries and groans of these noisy speech-making men at the North as if the whole burden of this great work rested upon their shoulders, and that if they were to cease to cry aloud, the whole world would go to sleep. " Now, the good people at the North, who really desire to know the truth on this subject, ought not to be kept in ignorance. They ought to know that there is more genuine kindness felt, more enlightened benevolence exercised, more sacrifices made, and more practical ways and means adopted for the education, religious instruction, and final elevation of the slaves by people here at the South, than ever was dreamed of at the North. But here they do not make a world of noise about it. Aiming at no impossibilities taking hold of the evil as they find it, not as they would have it their work is a practical one ; they are ' laying the axe at the root of the tree ;' and though unostentatious and silent in its operations, is sure and progressive, and, like leaven, destined to leaven the whole lump. A single instance will illustrate what I mean, and will exhibit, also, that far-reaching, enlightened philanthropy that is rapidly pervading the South on this subject. " In compliance with previous engagement, and in company with two other gentlemen, I attended divine service, last Sab- 190 TREASURED MOMENTS. bath, at what may be called the 'negro quarters ' of one of the wealthiest gentlemen in Louisiana, who was one among the first settlers of the State. On entering the immense enclosure, surrounded by a high fence, and seeing houses of all sizes and descriptions, it reminded me of an Italian villa, in the midst of which stood the mansion of the old master, but little superior to those of his slaves. The largest and most prominent building, however, was a commodious brick church, erected exclusively for the accommodation of his coloured people. " The old veteran received us with that cordial hospitality so universal in the South ; and no sooner seated, than the con- versation began upon the all-important subject of slavery, its moral and pecuniary curse, the certainty of its final abolition, and the importance of educating the mind, elevating the character, and preparing the slave for that liberty, which he felt sure God designed he should one day enjoy topics which Northern people suppose are never broached here at the South, but .which in fact are discussed more freely, more sensibly, and with far more enlightened Christian views than at the North and for this very good reason, that they here better understand the subject. He had hardly began, how- ever, to give his own views on the subject, before one of his servants entered and announced that it was ' meeting-time/ " ' Gentlemen/ said he, as he arose, ' will you accompany me to church ? ' " Of course, we wished to do nothing else. On entering the church door, there was seated one of the most orderly, well- dressed, and well-behaved congregations that one will find anywhere composed solely of his own coloured people, and one of his own slaves in the pulpit giving out the hymn ; after singing and prayer, he delivered a most sensible and appropriate sermon. At the close of the services, they began singing one of their soul-stirring hymns ; and soon getting into their happiest mood, they began to move about, shaking hands with each other, till finally coming into our corner, where we happened to be seated, they seized first their old master's AMERICAN SLAVERY. 191 hand, then mine, and so on, singing in the most melodious strains ' Oh, who will come and go with us ? We are bound for the promised land.' Tears rolled down the furrowed cheeks of their old master, as they held his hand, and we all wept together. " On returning to the house, and anxious to hear more of his views on the great subject of preparing these immortal beings for liberty in this world, and happiness in the next, he began, ' Why/ said he, 'we must educate them, we owe it to our slaves, and we now have the power to do it ; we must instruct them in the Christian religion, in the mechanic arts, in the principles of free government, or their freedom would prove a curse, instead of a blessing. " ' I speak not,' said he, ' theoretically, but from experience. I have already educated about one hundred of mine, and who have, of their own choice, gone to Liberia ; some of them are merchants, some farmers, and others mechanics. I gave two of them a collegiate education, and the rest I educated myself ; and I have the satisfaction of knowing that they are all doing well, are useful and happy ; one of them is a mis- sionary, and he writes me, that he has nearly two hundred native African children in his school ; teaching them our language, our religion, and our laws ; and/ said he, ' that you may see for yourselves, read these letters ; ' here he handed a number of letters, received from the colony of Liberia, from those that were once his own ignorant slaves; and to say nothing of the eloquence of diction and penmanship, they were so filled with expressions of joy and rejoicing, of love and gratitude to their master, as to make it utterly impossible to read them without weeping ; addressing him with such endear- ing appellations as ' dear father, ' ' dear parent, ' ' dear benefactor/ and declaring at the close, that they had but one single wish for ever visiting the United States again, and that was, ' that they might see, once more, their dear old father before he died/ ' Now/ said this old gentleman, ' this is 192 TREASURED MOMENTS my idea of our duty and obligations to the slaves, and of God's purposes in sending them here, and what I have done for those in Liberia I am going to do for all.' " On asking him how he managed to teach so many him- self ? he replied, ' I have them divided into four classes : at day-light, on Sabbath morning, I call the first class, and drill them in reading and spelling till breakfast. After breakfast, the second class is called, and they go through the Shorter Catechism and the Ten Commandments ; then comes the hour for public worship, when one of the servants, who is a minister, becomes the teacher and I the learner. After public service the other two classes, more advanced, are carried through their respective lessons in the same way as those in the morning. This is the way/ said he, ' I spend all my Sabbaths ; nor do I suffer any intrusion from my neighbours, unless it be one who is desirous of learning the art of doing good, and of train- ing up his slaves for the high purposes and destiny for which God designs them.' "And I could not but reflect myself, how much more evidently was this man in the path of his duty than those who think their Sabbaths well spent in denouncing slave- holders as man-stealers, and anathematising every one who will not consent to turn his slaves loose into the woods, all at once, and ^ith none to care for their souls or bodies. " But another peculiarity in this man's system of training his slaves for freemen is, that he allows of no arbitrary control or punishment. In fact, his slaves are organised into a perfect republic, possessing all the elements of a free legislative government. Their trials for any misdemeanor or crime are by jury ; witnesses examined, and especial pleadings with all the solemnities of a court. In important and difficult cases, the old master is sometimes called in to preside as judge, and decide upon some difficult points of law ; but the verdict, the sentence, and its execution are all in their own hands. " Thus it is in this way they are learning important and practical lessons in the principles of civil polity and jurispru- AMERICAN SLAVERY. 193 dence. And if we ask this benevolent man for his motive in all this, his answer is worthy of being recorded in golden capitals. ' Why/ said he, ' intelligence, virtue, and religion constitute the only sure basis of a republic. I believe Africa is to be a republic, and receive our language, laws, and institu- tions ; and I believe the cupidity of England in first introducing slaves upon this continent is to be overruled for the further- ance of this cause ; and so many of these instruments as God in his providence has placed in my hands, I want to prepare and get them ready to meet their high responsibilities when the time for action shall come.' I responded a long and loud AMEN, sincerely believing that this man is in the path of his duty.* " But should it be thought that this man must be made an exception, as a simple-hearted, weak-minded, religious fanatic, whose example goes for nothing, let me say, it is a great mistake. He is one of the shrewdest of men ; far-seeing in his plans. Nor is he a member of any church ; but he believes in the Bible, and that education is just as necessary for the blacks as for the whites, to constitute them good and happy citizens of a free government. " But another interesting fact in this man's history is, that he was one of the first commission merchants of New Orleans, to whom were consigned ships containing cargoes of slaves for sale ; and for many years was engaged in this unrighteous traffic, like Newton, without ever thinking of its being a sin. Now, mark the changes in the life of one and the same man. He, who in his youth was engaged in importing and filling the land with the most ignorant and degraded barbarians, is now * These forty-two negroes spoken of in this article, clipped from the New York paper, are a part of the same spoken of in this letter, written thirteen years ago : " The New York Picayune of April 28th, 1859, says : The ship Rebecca, Captain William Carter, left Government Wharf yesterday, direct for Liberia, cleared by Messrs. Prats, Pujol, &Co., and having on board forty-two negroes, belonging to the McDonogh estate. They go provided with money, clothes, household implements, and agricultural instruments of every descrip- tion. A physician on board will look to their health during the voyage, and when they land the Liberia Emigration Society will take charge of them during six months, and help them to establish themselves." N 194 TREASURED MOMENTS. engaged in educating them, teaching them the principles of our holy religion, and sending them back, civilised and Chris- tianised, to bless and save the land of their fathers. If such be the changes in the life of one man, what may not this century do, in converting the curse and shame of this country into the richest blessing for Africa ? I confess in this view of the sub- ject there is in my own mind a sublimity and glory sur- rounding this subject, surpassing that of any and all others that the church or the world has ever conceived/' LETTER IV. " For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord." " IN the foregoing letters I have adverted to a few of the many facts that have fallen under my own observation, which I have thought calculated to give encouragement and hope to intelligent Christians and philanthropists, who are capable of taking enlarged and comprehensive views of this exciting sub- ject, and who are labouring with a sincere desire to accomplish the highest good of the slave, in his intellectual and moral elevation, as preparatory to his final redemption and, ulti- mately, the salvation of his race ; and, though the subject and the facts are alike exhaustless, I shall conclude what I have to say for the present, by reverting to a few general facts con- nected with the providences of God, and seeming to have a direct bearing on this subject. " And now, if we will but break away from our own little- ness, and view the grand scale upon which God accomplishes his plans and purposes in reforming and elevating the nations of the earth, may not the Christian find, even amid the dark- ness and forebodings that have so long enveloped this subject, something to cheer his spirits and animate his hopes ? How AMERICAN SLAVERY. 195 wonderful and comprehensive are God's purposes, as now being developed on this very subject ! To our shores is the tide of emigration setting in from the papal world with a strength and power unparalleled ; augmented every year by famine and pestilence and other causes, on the other side of the water : thus pouring in upon us millions of vassals from the old world, to obtain a knowledge of our language, our laws, of true liberty, and a pure Christianity'; and, at the same time, supplanting our own slaves, rendering their services less and less valuable every year, thereby weakening and cutting the cords that have so long bound them to their masters, thus creating another tide that is setting back towards Africa ; carrying out to that dark land, filled with the habitations of cruelty, those who came here slaves, but now redeemed, enlightened Christian freemen ; going back to pro- claim in our language, light and liberty to all Africa ; hereby giving a prominency and importance to our country, our lan- guage, and laws, and institutions, that no other country in the world possesses. " It is in fact elevating this great republic into a kind of umpire between two continents of slaves, to decide upon their destiny ; making it the very centre of power and influence, to instruct, elevate, and Christianise the population of half the globe the slaves of papal Europe, and the slaves of pagan Africa. What fearful responsibilities rest upon our country and the church ! responsibilities, too, which God has seen fit to impose upon us, and of which we cannot rid our- selves, if we would ! What wisdom and virtue will be needed in the councils of the nation ! What holiness, faith, and prayer in the church, if we would be prepared to meet them ! Three millions of instruments placed in our hands, to sharpen, polish, and prepare for the subjugation of a continent to the Prince of Peace ! how overwhelming the thought ! ' Who is sufficient for these things ?' Nor let us suppose that this is the work of a day or a year. In working out his stupendous problems for the 'redemption of men arid nations, God takes N 2 ]96 TREASURED MOMENTS. his own time ; nor must we become impatient and restive, though his chariot wheels may seem to move slow. ' A thousand years with the Lord is as one day/ Had we been permitted, at the dawn of creation, to look out upon that wild, unsightly chaos, 'without form and void,' we might have become impatient for God to relieve our nice sensibilities, by doing up his work in a single day ; but he took six, and the morning stars sang just as sweetly as though he had finished it in the twinkling of an eye. " For four thousand years God was preparing his people by severe discipline, and the world by heavy judgments, for the coming of the Redeemer ; and nearly two thousand more have passed away before Africa is seen stretching out her hands to God. Had this work been committed to us, with powers to accomplish it, but no additional wisdom, we no doubt would have hurried it through in a much shorter time ; but the probability is, that it would not have been perfect before God : a screw would have fallen out somewhere, and he whole thing have to be done over again. "Like the impetuous young man, on entering the work of the holy ministry. With ardent spirit and buoyant hopes, he has no idea of waiting the slow movements of his elder brethren, in converting this world to God ; they are behind the age they are wanting in faith, zeal, and courage ; he is going to do up the thing in his own way, and in his own lifetime ; he has no thought of leaving anything else for the next genera- tion to do, but to chant the triumphs of his victorious arm. But by the time he has left Jericho, and fought a few battles with the beasts of Ephesus, and contended with principalities and powers, and wickedness in high places, and where he had looked for an unconditional surrender at the flourishing of his infant blade, he has had the mortification to receive from the enemy ' forty stripes save one.' Then, indeed, does he begin to find that sin is something more than an error of judgment, and something more powerful than moral suasion is necessary to convert a soul to God. And when convinced of his own AMERICAN SLAVERY. 197 irnpotency, he comes finally to the same conclusion that Paul did, ' Of myself I can do nothing/ and thinks it wiser and better to fall in with the leadings of Divine Providence, and become a co-worker with Christ, than attempt to wrest the reins from his hand ; that it is wiser and better to remain in the ship and obey orders, and pull at the ropes, than attempt to seize the helm and rule the storm. " Thus it is, when God is working these great changes and revolutions among men and nations, carrying out his glorious and eternal purposes of mercy, as now being developed to- wards the African race ; there are no short cuts, or patent rights, by which to hasten the work, or to turn it out of its legitimate channel. All the Christian graces are to be brought into requisition and constant exercise ; faith, hope, charity, prayer and supplication, patient discussion and laborious efforts, are all, all needed for the conflict. Yes, this very subject of slavery has got to be discussed ; but the weapons of this warfare must be changed, and the discussion conducted in that spirit of love and Christian forbearance, that our Southern brethren can take a part in it, and be made to feel that we are all one. " The eyes of the North, and the South too, have undoubtedly to be opened by argumentation, to behold many points and facts connected with this subject which they now see only 'as through a glass darkly.' England and the North have yet to feel that they are not guiltless in the sin of slavery, and that it ill becomes them, after employing their ships and their capital in filling the whole Southern country with slaves, just to pocket the money, wash the blood from the decks of their ships, turn round and anathematise every Southern man for the awful sin of slavery ; as if a man who tied a millstone around his fellow's neck, and pushed him into the sea, had an undoubted right to curse him, because he could not swim as buoyant as himself ; or the man who would besmear his guest with filth, and then shut the door in his face, as being quite unworthy a seat at his table. No, let this subject be J98 TREASURED MOMENTS. discussed till the world shall understand on whom the sin of slavery rests ; and then ' let him who is without sin cast the first stone.' Let it be discussed, too, till the whole South are made to see, as some of them begin to see, that by educating and Christianising their slaves, they can turn this seeming curse into a blessing to the slave and to Africa, and cause it to redound to the honour and glory of all the South. Yes, they have here in the South the grand lever for raising Africa ; let the foot of it be placed at Liberia ; let Christians, and patriots, and philanthropists throw their weight upon this end of it, making the Bible the fulcrum, and ere long Africa, with her sable millions, will be seen emerging from the long night of cruel tyranny and barbarism into the pure sunlight of Christian civilisation ; annexing herself by indissoluble bonds of grate- ful affection to this, her sister, patron-republic ; and with her churches and schools, her colleges and legislative halls, her poets and her orators, take a proud and enviable position among the enlightened and civilised nations of the earth. The Lord hasten it in his time, and to him be the glory." 199 THREE LETTERS, ADDRESSED TO AN ABOLITIONIST OF THE GARRISON SCHOOL. LETTER I. DEAR SIR, You will undoubtedly remember, that at the close of our discussion, last evening, on the subject of .slavery, you left my room abruptly, giving utterance to the following very significant language : " Well, if we are not doing right, pray tell us what we ought to do," which language I consider tantamount to an admission that it is possible for abolitionists to err. How to reconcile this with Solomon's declaration, " that there is nothing new under the sun," I leave to abler divines ; but to my own mind such an admission is like knocking out the key-stone of an arch. Let abolitionists once admit that they are fallible, possessing all the weakness and infirmities of other men, and it will no longer be considered primd facie evidence that the man who dares to differ from them is either a knave or a fool. In the outburst of this new joy, therefore, at such an admission, I will briefly suggest a few things, which, in my humble opinion, you, as abolitionists, "ought to do": 1. Cease to do evil. It is often as much our duty to stand still as it is to go forward. There is a time for all things a time for man to work, and a time for God to work ; and it was as much the duty of Moses " to stand still, and see the 200 TREASURED MOMENTS. salvation of the Lord," as it was to go forward when the Lord had opened the way. Cease therefore to do evil, by working in the dark, and running before you are sent. 2. Cease from nurturing and fostering a censorious, vindictive spirit toward men who differ from you, remember- ing that "the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God/' " Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord." Cease therefore from anger, and forsake wrath. Fret not thyself in anywise to do evil. 3. Cease from those narrow, contracted views on the subject of poor suffering humanity, which cramp and confine your sympathies to a single class of the human family, and give a wider range to your benevolence. Do not forget " that God made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth." Therefore, in the exuberance of your love for your coloured brother, remember that the white man and the red man are your brothers also. Bo not love the black man simply because he is black, nor the white man because he is white ; neither love the black man because he is a slave, nor hate the white man because he is a master ; but love them all, and do good to all, because they are all your brethren, created in the image of God, and bearing the same stamp of immortality; bound to the same eternity, under the same condemnation, and, if ever saved, must be saved through the same sovereign mercy of God abounding through Jesus Christ, our common Saviour. Therefore, seeing that there is but one way to be saved ; one and the same door into the fold, through which master and slave can enter ; one and the same exercise of faith in Christ, as terms of admission, why not exercise the same interest, pity, and compassion for the one as for the other, and let your heart flow out in the same generous acts toward all ? 4. Cease to quarrel with the providences of God, and learn to " rejoice in the Lord always/' This is a Divine command, and when heartily and cheerfully obeyed, it is like removing mountains from a depressed spirit, and casting them into the AMERICAN SLAVERY. 201 depths of the sea. Reflect, too, upon the countless blessings you have to rejoice over. Suppose, for a moment, that God were to surrender the government of this world into the hands of such a man as Loyd Garrison, or even Dr. Cheever, render- ing it absolutely certain " that peace on earth and good will toward men" would take their everlasting flight from the abodes of men, and that nothing would remain on earth but tyranny and oppression, violence and wrath, bitter curses and denunciations, and an endless struggle for power ; then, indeed, there would be some excuse for flying into a passion : you could be " angry, and sin not, " and possess an undoubted right to cultivate a most pugnacious spirit, and become an Ishmaelite at once raising your hand against every man, knowing that every man's hand would be raised against you. Then, too, there would be some reason for keeping up a perpetual scolding, worrying, and fretting about every man and every thing, because you would be only following in the footsteps of your illustrious sovereign. And should any of us poor fellows be ever so much disposed for peace and quiet, our pent-up feelings could find vent only in the plaintive strains of the prophet, " We roar like bears, and mourn sore like doves." Now, what a source of joy and everlasting rejoicing it is, that instead of a poor, fallible, weak-minded, fallen man, " the Lord God omnipotent reigneth," and that he can bring light out of darkness, order out of confusion, peace out of war, liberty out of oppression, and make the wrath of man to praise him, and the remainder of wrath he can and will restrain ; rejoice then, and be exceeding glad. 5. Cease from vexing thy righteous soul, because God does not choose to govern, the world exactly according to the plan you have prescribed for him ; and console yourself with the thought that God did make out to govern this world after a fashion, nearly six thousand years, without your aid furnishing a strong probability that he will be able to keep things moving after the term of your service has expired. 202 TREASURED MOMENTS. Such reflections cannot but afford comfort and consolation to an anxious mind. 6. Cease from a proud, haughty, ambitious spirit, and walk humbly with thy God. When Luther, the great reformer of the sixteenth century, was asked, " What was the first step in religion?" He replied, "HUMILITY!" and what the second? " HUMILITY ! " and the third ? " HUMILITY ! " And Peter also admonishes Christians " to be clothed with humility." 7. Cease from bitter denunciations against those whom you think to be in an error ; and as Paul, after his conversion, was a great and successful reformer, study carefully his life, doctrines, and counsels, such as the following : " Put on bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long- suffering ; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another : even as Christ forgave you. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness." Again he says, " Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: and be kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Now, I am well aware that such authorities as Peter and Paul are at a great discount with many of our modern reformers ; but, as I am so much in the habit of quoting them, I trust I may be excused. 8. Cease from the assumption that African slavery is the only or the worst form of bondage known to the world. To be in bondage to sin and Satan ; to be slaves to lust the lust of power, of riches, revenge, and notoriety ; to be under the lash of vile and ungovernable passions anger, wrath, malice, or, as Paul so graphically describes it, "filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, mali- ciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, back-biters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful :" this, this is the most AMERICAN SLAVERY. 203 terrific form of despotism known to mortals or immortals. And here is a picture of slavery, sketched by an inspired apostle, such as has never been found in any "log cabin " north or south built or written, real or fictitious. And, my dear sir, when I have occasionally looked in upon one of those frightful scenes called an "abolition meeting," in Boston and New York, and have seen and heard you and scores of others, men and women, promiscuously mingled together on the platform, yell and scream, and shriek and rave, and bawl and foam, and curse and swear against Wash- ington, and against all the great and good men of the country, dead or alive, who failed to have pronounced the " shibbo- leth" of your party and all under the scorpion lash of these cruel masters I have wondered whether, with your knowledge of the Scriptures, it ever occurred to you that Paul had his prophetic eye upon those very scenes when he drew this frightful picture ! And in turning away from these demoniacal ravings, and walking with slow and muffled steps to my hotel, I have contrasted them with the hallowed scenes I have witnessed in the sunny South, and with the sweet strains of vocal music wafted to my ravished ears from two and three thousand Christian slaves their countenances lighted up, and their eyes moistened with tears of gratitude, and beaming with a joy that no earthly freedom could give or take away ; shaking hands with each other, and with their masters and mistresses, as their hearts flowed out in the following language of Christian conflict : " Am I a soldier of tli e Cross, A follower of the Lamb, And shall I fear to own his cause, Or blush to speak his name ? Must I be carried to the skies On flowery beds of ease, "While others fought to win the prize, And sailed through bloody seas ?" Ah : when I have listened to this, I have said to myself, " Here is a liberty worth fighting for ; a liberty worth singing 20i TREASURED MOMENTS. and shouting over ; a liberty which no human government, no human power, can take away." And as I have contrasted these two assemblies, and these two kinds of slavery the slavery of the soul to sin and Satan, and that of the body to man I have asked myself, Which is the greatest curse, and the most to be deprecated ? Without stopping to decide the question, I will make a suggestion that has just struck my own mind, and which I think would tend to place this subject in its true light before the public: Let there be an interchange of these exhibitions between the North and the South. My dear sir, what do you think of such a pro- position ? Could such an arrangement be made ? For ex- ample, let the Garrisons, Parkers, Phillipses, Pilsburies, and Fosters, with all the Abbies and Fannies, and Mademoiselle Mott, with all the little Motlies, with hosts of sponsors, take a tour South ; let the Southern States enact laws securing them against harm, affording them ample accommodations, with full powers to gender and let off steam ad libitum, and with permission to heat their furnaces, as did their illustrious pre- decessor, seven times hotter than they were wont to be heated. Then let all masters attend these exhibitions, not fearing or failing to take their servants with them ; affording all an opportunity to behold a spectacle that might make angels wee p a herd of human bodies, congregated together, hateful and hating one another, and despising all the world besides, with no restraints upon the licentiousness of the tongue, and with unlimited powers to speak and to act, while their precious, undying souls, which God breathed into these bodies, lie manacled, as so many raving maniacs, surging and writhing under the lash of the most inexorable of all tyrants PASSION, MALICE, and REVENGE converting the whole scene into the horrors of a pandemonium. Then, in turn, let a congregation of these Southern Christians, whose bodies may be in bonds, as were many of the apostles' converts before them, but whose souls have been liberated by the spirit and power of God, take a tour North. Of course AMERICAN SLAVERY. 205 they would demand security against being kidnapped ; and let them hold meetings through all the Northern States ; let their preachers and exhorters enjoy equal privileges of firing up, as often as the spirit moved them, to tell the people " what a dear Saviour they have found/' and what he had done for their souls ; what liberty they enjoy in prayer, praise, and communion with God ; and how far this spiritual liberty in Christ excelled all earthly blessing. And then let them break forth into one of their sweetest strains, and sing, as none but Africans can sing, in one united chorus " None but Jesus none but Jesus Can do helpless sinners good." Then let the multitudes decide which of these two kinds of slavery are the greater curse to the world, THE SLAVERY OF THE SOUL TO SlN AND SATAN OR THE SLAVERY OF THE BODY TO MAN. This idea suggests one other thought : whether it may not be a charitable act, if not an imperative duty, for these Southern Christians to form themselves into Abolition Societies for the liberation of Northern Slaves. Our coloured brethren at the South are noted for their liberality, and often take up collections in their churches for benevolent objects, especially for the relief of the oppressed. It is a matter of history that they took a lively interest in the Greek struggle, and contributed largely towards sending them relief* I * 1. There is a coloured congregation in Mobile, of the Methodist denomina- tion, that pay their pastor an annual salary of 1,200 dollars, besides giving liberally to charitable purposes, as was shown by a collection taken recently for Domestic Missions, which amounted to 120 dollars. A parting gift of as handsome a suit of clothes as could be purchased was presented to their last pastor, when sent by Conference to another field of labour. There are several other churches of the same stamp, but this is rather the largest. It is called the " coloured charge," and is located in State Street, Mobile. 2. There is a coloured congregation in Georgia, whose pastor was himself a slave ; but the church being large, and needing the entire services of their faithful shepherd, and being able and willing to support him, they started the proposition of purchasing him. Making their wishes known to their masters, 206 TREASURED MOMENTS. would, therefore, seriously and candidly suggest this subject as worthy of their earnest and prayerful consideration. And when they shall have reflected how much more intolerable and terrific is the slavery of the soul over that of the body, and how infinitely better off are they at the South, who, by the grace of God, have been brought from under the bondage of sin into the glorious " light and liberty of the sons of God," I am sure they will sympathise deeply with their Northern white brethren who are still in bonds, and be ready to adopt any measures, and contribute any amount of means, that shall afford the least prospect or hope of working a speedy deliver- ance of the souls of Northern slaves from the power of sin and Satan, and bringing them into " that liberty wherewith Christ makes his people free." Reflect seriously, my dear sir, upon these suggestions, and in your next give me your views as to the possibility of carry- ing them into execution. LETTER II. MY DEAR SIR, If you have carefully read and " inwardly digested "the few hints thrown out in a former letter, your mind may be prepared to receive kindly further suggestions in answer to your appeal, " Pray tell us what we ought to do ! " Surely every good man has something to do, to make this world better; and your language implies a willingness on your part to do something, if you can only find out what it is a discovery which some men never make ; even Paul " verily thought he ought to do many things," which, after his conver- sion, he found were not only wicked, but subversive of the very and obtaining their consent, the money was raised, and this church of slaves DOW own their pastor. The fact is as significant of the real condition of Southern slaves as that of any fictitious character like that of Logree. AMERICAN SLAVERY. 207 kingdom that he blindly imagined he was trying to build up. In our endeavours to ascertain the proper sphere and field of our labours, and the special duties we owe to God and the world, there are a few maxims or self-evident truths wo should ever bear in mind. For example : God has not endowed us with the attributes of omnipotence, omniscience, or omni- presence ; hence it is very clear that our duties, whatever they may be, must lie within the limits and scope of finite beings, and never beyond our reach. And were it ever so clearly revealed to you, that there was a great work for you to perform in a foreign field, then, either that field must come to you, or you must go to it, or the work will never be accomplished. And, as you may rest assured it will never come to you, so you may be equally assured that if there be no open door through which you can pass to it, that revelation was not from God, and your commission will prove in the end to have been a forged or spurious one. Paul recognised this principle when he received his com- mission to preach the gospel to the Gentiles ; and he had faith and self-denial enough to act upon it. He saw " a great and effectual door" open before him ; and saw too that " bonds and afflictions awaited him in every city/' Yet he would have scorned the idea of shrinking from his work, or of attempting to fulfil his high commission by barri- cading himself in Jerusalem, and trying to conciliate the Jews by gathering them together every Sabbath in the synagogue, and there haranguing them upon the terrible wickedness of the Gentiles denouncing them as idolaters, slaveholders, man-stealers, and the like. No doubt it would have tickled tho Jews vastly, and more than ever would they have felt elated at their own superiority. And could Paul have been mean enough to have settled down in their own city as a pastor, w T ith a good fat salary, pretending at the same time to be playing the missionary to the Gentiles, by abusing them, they would have been almost willing to forgive him for becoming a Christian. But, no ; Paul had not so learned 208 TREASURED MOMENTS. Christ : he did not so interpret his commission ; and, as he knew the Gentiles would not come to him, he would go to them ; though " his bodily presence was weak," and his speech con- temptible, he would show himself among them, preach to them, not about them ; at them, not against them ; and speak the truth in love, not in bitterness and wrath. Yes ; he would grapple with their idolatry and wickedness hand to hand, and if need be, fight with the beasts of Ephesus ; and, though " stoned," whipped, and beaten with rods, and in prisons more frequent, and deaths oft, " none of these things moved him, neither counted he his life dear, if so be he could testify to the Gentiles the gospel of tlie grace of God/' He well understood the power and influence of personal contact and intercourse, and that, to do a people good, he must show himself among them talk with them pray with them sympathise and weep with them. Paul was a model missionary, and the best missionaries of our day have followed his example. Had Martyn, Brainerd, Judson, Stoddard, and a host of others, who have finished their course and won the crown, manifested their concern for the heathen by first securing the pastorate of a wealthy church, getting their nests comfortably feathered, and then spent their whole time and strength in exposing the dreadful condition of the poor Nestorians, the shameless vices and abominations of India and the Indians, and then pouring out their abuse and the vials of their wrath against all such workers of iniquity, would not some 'cute minds among their auditors have been very likely just to have intimated to them, " That if they felt so very bad about the poor heathen, they had better obtain a dismission, and be off among them, that they might have a pastor who would preach to them the gospel " ? But no, these holy men did no such thing. The moment they began to feel those yearnings of soul for the salvation of the heathen, that moment they began to sever the ties that bound them to their kindred and their " sweet homes ;" and, like another Paul, were willing "to suffer the loss of all things" for the glorious AMERICAN SLAVERY. 209 privilege of preaching the blessed gospel to those " ready to perish." Some men, wearing the livery of God's ambassadors, as soon as they are intrenched in some secure place where they will not have to take joyfully the " spoiling of their goods/' take infinite delight in preaching what they call the gospel against every creature, and to quarrel with every creature who does not come up to their standard. And had God promised to bless such preaching, this wilderness-world would, no doubt, long ere this, have "blossomed as the rose/'* But, unfortunately for men who love their ease, our com- mission reads, " Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." What a pity that that little monosyllable, to, should be permitted to interfere so much with a selfish man's ease and comfort ! But " the disciple is not above his Master, nor the servant above his Lord." That Holy One, whom all heaven adores, could have remained upon his great white throne, and issued his com- mands, and uttered his denunciations against this rebel world ; but this was not his plan of mercy. He came to our relief, assumed our nature, took our guilt, bore our grief, carried our sorrows, and purchased us with his own precious blood ; and if he, " who thought it not robbery to be equal with God," could thus humble himself, and make himself of no reputation, what manner of persons ought we to be ! And * The following aphorism, which is ascribed to Bishop Home, in the biography of that excellent prelate, is not inapplicable to such men : " Many persons spend so much time in criticising and disputing about the gospel, that they have none left for practising it. As if two sick men should quarrel about the phraseology of their physician's prescription, and forget to take the medicine." The application is good, but the sentiment had been previously expressed more forcibly by Bishop Butler : " The inanities of religious people would never rise to such a height were it not for their mistake, that God is better, served with their opinions than their practices ; opinions beirg very inconsiderable further than they have influence upon actions." O 210 TREASURED MOMENTS. who are we, that we should withstand God, or attempt to reform and save the world by standing afar off, uttering our anathemas against sin and sinners ? And, my dear sir, per- mit me to disabuse your own mind, and the minds of all who work with you, in keeping up such a perpetual howling and clamour, as if you expected the whole world to applaud you for your extraordinary courage and heroic deeds. Be not deceived, neither be too much elated, when you hear the boys in the streets cry, " Bravo I" A few ignorant people at a dis- tance may imagine that where there is so much smoke, there must be some fire ; where dogs are perpetually barking up one tree, there must be game ; so, by parity of reason, where there is so much loud declamation, and such an exhibition of anger and wrath, and bitter cursings and denunciations, there must be danger, consequently, there must be courage to meet it. Not one bit of it ; and every intelligent man knows that, in all this hue-and-cry at the North about slavery, there is not one particle of true courage in it. And you, ministers and pastors, who choose to desecrate your pulpits on the Sabbath, by pouring out upon the South the vials of your wrath, know full well that you are as safe as was Napoleon the Great, sur- rounded by his marshals. Not a hair of your head will be touched. You may groan, and scream, and yell, and cry aloud, like the prophets of Baal, from morning even until noon ; and while there might be a few Elijahs, who inwardly would mock you, your persons would be as secure as so many asses bray- ing upon the summit of the Andes. No, there is neither natural nor moral courage in it. There is notoriety, and, as one shrewdly remarked, " that is better than nothing/' I do not deny but that you may possess the courage of a Csesar, but I do say, there is no evidence of it, nor can it ever manifest itself, in keeping up this perpetual tempest on a subject that can do the slaves no good, and, so far as your own personal safety is concerned, is the most harmless and innocent of all amusements. No, no ; when I see you, as abolitionists, or hear of you, groaning inwardly, with groanings that cannot be AMERICAN SLAVERY. 211 uttered, and mourning and weeping over your inbred lusts and innate corruptions, feeling and acknowledging that you are sinners before God, in common with other men, and in the deep contrition of your souls cry out with Paul, " O wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me from the body of this death ? " and when I shall behold you abandoning your posts, and your present tactics, throwing away your carnal weapons, and girding yourselves with gospel armour, no longer desirous of vain-glory, but filled with the fruit of the Spirit, " love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance," and, with tearful eyes and melting hearts, begin to pack your trunks for the South, willing to forsake houses and lands, large salaries, large con- gregations, cushioned pulpits, and cushioned pews, all for the glorious privilege of proclaiming the gospel in the South to masters and to slaves, and, like another Felix Neff, live in their log cabins, and gather these poor outcasts, around the family altar, morning and evening, read to them, pray with them, and with streaming eyes tell them the story of the cross, while those of you who remain at home shall turn your attention to the crying sins at your own doors, uttering no more denunciations against your brethren at the South, remembering them only in your prayers, then, and not till then, will the world believe that you are the sincere and real friends of the slave, and possess true courage in meeting their wants. Ah, when these things shall begin to come to pass, then "look up," and lift up your heads, for the redemption of poor down- trodden Africa, and of her sable sons throughout the world, draweth nigh. Then shall we hear the voice of the Lord proclaiming, " Fear not, I am with thee ; I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west ; I will say to the north, Give up ; and to the south, Keep not back : bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth." Then, " when Ethiopia shall stretch out her hands unto God, the kingdoms of the earth shall sing praises unto the Lord." O 2 212 TREASURED MOMENTS. LETTER III. MY DEAR SIR, You profess to have been so much instructed in the perusal of my two former letters, that you now desire more specific instructions, applicable to your own case, as a young pastor, settled as you are among a people of the most ultra views on all subjects of modern reform ; or, if I may judge from your language, you are astride of what may be called " YOUNG AMERICA, BOILED DOWN." You also ask, if I cannot give you a sketch of my own history, or personal experience, when settled as a pastor in a Slave State. As to the latter of these requests, I cannot suppose that my own experience differs essentially from hundreds of other pastors, who would do good as they have oppor- tunity. My opportunities for doing good, and that, too, in my own proper sphere and parish, have always been abundant, far exceeding my ability to improve. So much so, that I never found time to travel into another man's field to pick a quarrel with him, even if I had had the disposition. My own part of the vineyard always appeared, in my own eye, so badly cultivated, that I had no heart to find fault with my neighbour's ; and I have been too short-sighted, and carried too many beams in my own eyes, to see clearly how to pull out the mote that is in my brother's eye, especially if he happened to be a thousand miles off. Moreover, my Bible confirms what my experience has long taught me, that to act efficiently against any gigantic evil, we must throw ourselves into the midst of it, and that it is folly for a man to spend his time, and waste his strength, in keeping up a perpetual growl- ing; grumbling, and scolding about evils over which he can exercise no control, keeping himself at so safe and respectful a distance, that all his mighty thunder becomes powerless for good. For myself, I have never been so fortunate as to settle AMERICAN SLAVERY. 213 in any city, or among any people, that I did not find an abundance to do right around me. I could read of evils at a distance, mourn over them, and pray the Lord to rear up a standard against them ; but to attempt to be that standard myself, and still cultivate my own field, I never laid claim to such divine attributes. Hence, when pastor of a church in a Slave State, the great evil of slavery moved my heart, my tongue, and my pen ; it was right before my eyes : I felt that I had a right to speak, that I knew how to speak ; and I did speak, and write too. I, then and there, united with an Anti-Slavery Society not of the modern type to denounce masters, and set them and their slaves by the ears nor to circulate incendiary papers and tracts to excite the slaves to an insurrection but to stir up the pure minds of Christians on the subject of their duty in preparing their slaves for freedom, and to awaken the con- sciences of all to a sense of their obligations and their respon- sibilities to God, in elevating and Christianising those souls, which, in the providence of God, had been committed to their trust, and to hold up, to both master and slave, the " golden rule," and to make known God's requirements in so educating and raising the slave from his degradation, that his prospective freedom should prove a blessing. For at that time, the blighting curse of northern fanaticism had not produced its legitimate fruit ; the southern mind was open to reason, so that any scriptural, well-devised scheme for the elevation of the blacks, proposed by ministers of the gospel settled among them, might be sure of a favourable response. All the intelligent people at the South, at that time, were looking forward to a period when slavery would be among the things that were ; no one ever thought of advocating slavery as an institution to be perpetuated. This, together with the quasi revival of the slave trade, and much bad legislation, with ten thousand other evils, are but the rebound of that abolition frenzy at the North ; undertaking to do a work, and remove from the country an evil, that does not come within the^ limits 214 TKEASURED MOMENTS. either of their knowledge or their power an evil that never will, and never can, be removed but by the spirit and power of the gospel a spirit and power which those modern refor- mers repudiate. It is an evil belonging solely to southern Christians, which they alone can understand, and which they had begun in earnest to remedy, and would have accomplished, through God, a great work ere this, if they could have been let alone by those meddlers in other men's matters, who find it so much easier to contend with evils a thousand miles off, than to grapple with them at their own door. When settled as a pastor in the South, I did not shun to declare the whole truth to all classes, and to establish schools for the slaves, not for oral instruction simply, but to teach them to read the Scriptures. In my own church, I had a school of over two hundred slaves, including adults and child- ren, all learning to read, and many of them had become fine readers. One old man, of fifty years, walked every Saturday night fourteen miles, that he might be early at the school on Sabbath morning, that he might learn to read the Scriptures ; and, in addition to my three other services, I made it a point to address this school, and sow the seed of the kingdom upon what I considered the most precious and promising soil of any part of the field which I was endeavouring to cultivate ; thus laying, as I believed, and still believe, the axe at the root of this gigantic evil. And what I was doing at Louisville, Kentucky, thousands of other Christians and Christian minis- ters were beginning to do all over the South. But alas ! this thing of educating anpl preparing slaves to enjoy liberty is of too low and humble a character, and works too slowly, to suit the " fast men " of the present day, who are trying to reform the world, not only outside of the Bible and the church, but in opposition to, and contempt of both. Young America, ambitious of notoriety, and very courageous when the enemy is at a distance, cannot wait the slow process of educating the slave. He, who leaped from his mother's breast right into boots and spurs, can have but little sympathy AMERICAN SLAVERY. 215 with education, or any other training that requires time, labour, and patient endurance. Hence, the watchword of this Quixotic leader has ever been, " Cut the slaves loose from their 'masters; we'll take the responsibility. No matter whether it be a blessing or a curse to both masters and slaves : that is not our look-out." Fine material this, for thunder ; but there is no lightning in it no common sense, no wisdom, no gospel, no voice of God, as seen either in his word or in his providence. But, while the rumbling of this distant thunder at the north was beginning faintly to be heard at the south, under the pressure of the ever-accumulating duties, my constitution and strength gave way, and, being compelled to seek health in a foreign clime, the ties that had so long bound me to a loved and loving people had now to be severed ; and when the trying hour came, I found no cords more delicate and difficult to sunder than those which bound me to the coloured portion of my flock. For them I had laboured, prayed, and wept ; and for them I continued to pray after my feet were resting upon a foreign soil, hoping and trusting that my successor would be able, as I knew he was willing, to carry on the good work which had been commenced among them. But alas ! alas ! almost the first intelligence I received from America was the breaking up of this school, by northern fanatics scattering among this simple-hearted, confiding people incendiary billets and papers, compelling the masters, for their own safety, to do what they were reluctant to do, and what they never would have thought of doing, but for this northern thunder, which strikes in the dark, and, like the serpent's tooth, poisons and blights everything it touches.* But my experience stops not here. No sooner had God in mercy raised me up from the grave's brink, so that I could survey my new field, than I found myself in close contact with a new form of slavery, and a despotism more cruel and terrific than * See a letter on the subject of coloured schools in Louisville, Kentucky, at the end of this letter. 216 TREASURED MOMENTS. anything I had ever witnessed in the Southern States. Man- stealing and kidnapping with a vengeance ! Marline-spikes, brass-knuckles, blood, and murder, all associated with our merchant ships, and interlaced with American commerce ; and carried on in the streets of those very cities, and on board the ships owned and controlled by men connected with congregations whose pastors were haranguing them every Sabbath upon the dreadful sin of Southern slavery ! What was I now to do ? Could I shut my eyes to these outrages ; and then, to show my zeal for the Lord, keep up a mighty hue-and-cry about slavery away off in Kentucky ? Had I consulted my popularity, or my pocket, this would have been my course. My larder might have been kept stored with fine American hams, smoked beef, and preserved fruits, and my purse replenished with gold, no doubt, had I consented to wink at these terrible abuses and unheard cruelties on board our ships, moored at our very door ; and expended all my strength in preaching against evils and tyranny four thousand miles distant ; making these ship-masters and officers believe that, not they, but Southern slave-holders, " were sinners above all the Galileans." Such daubing with untempered mortar would no doubt have been a very soothing opiate to these sea-monsters. But, as God had brought me into a position where my eyes and my ears affected my heart, and where I could speak from personal knowledge, and preach, not about, nor against, but to the guilty, I did not keep silence. I grappled with these evils. To the full extent of my ability, and with all the powers I possessed, and all the gospel weapons I could wield, in the pulpit and in the street, on the ship and on shore, with my tongue and with my pen, right and left, I exposed these bloody deeds, and did what I could to ameliorate the condition of the sailor, to convince masters and officers of their great wrong, and to wipe out this foul blot from our national escutcheon ; and I have reason to know, that my labours have not been altogether in vain in the Lord. AMERICAN SLAVERY. 217 Now, suppose I had reversed the order of my work, and followed the example of your modern reformers ; and when settled in Kentucky, a thousand miles from any ships, with the Allegany Mountains between me and all danger, I had drawn my sword, and waged a terrible war with ship-masters and officers, exposing their cruelties, overlooking altogether the duties I owed to masters and slaves right around me ; and then, when the proper time came, and God in his providence brings me in contact with these very masters and officers, where I might speak and act efficiently, I became like the prophet's dumb dog nothing to say, no fault to find, speak- ing only of their good qualities, currying favour with them, and reserving all my thunder to pour forth against Southern slavery ; because, forsooth, I have three thousand miles of salt water between me and all danger. What would be thought of such a minister of the gospel, and of such ministrations ? I should feel that I deserved the contempt and execration of the world ; and I should expect to receive my deserts in due time. But I hasten to the more specific suggestions which, as a young pastor, you feel might be applicable to your case : and here I shall be very brief ; indeed, they suggest themselves from the remarks already made. " A young pastor settled over a congregation of rabid abolitionists, and ultra on all subjects of reform." One can scarcely conceive a more unenviable position. Surely, no sensible Christian minister could ever desire such a settlement. Nevertheless, it may be that you are more to be blamed than pitied ; and if you were an older man, I should be tempted to throw the old proverb into your teeth, " Like priest, like people." A pastor, who, from whatever cause or motive, neglects to preach the whole truth, and to bring forth from the sacred treasury things new and old, but mounts some popular hobby, is certain to create a storm that he cannot control. To know nothing among a people, "save Jesus Christ and him crucified," embraces a very wide, yea, I may say, the whole circle of revealed truth; but, ilS TREASURED MOMENTS. like the sun in the solar system, Christ is the centre aroiiud which all revolves, toward which all point, and from which all derive their power for good ; and whoever breaks from that orbit, turning his back upon the centre, no matter how many Bible truths he carries with him, he is flying off in a tangent towards some other centre, and, unless God interpose, will become a wandering star, " to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever." Ton say, " My people demand abolition preaching, and are never tired of that excitement attendant upon the discus- sion of all subjects connected with it" My reply is, God demands something else, and that is, preach the gospel, the entire gospel, and do not shun to declare the whole counsel of God, whether they will hear or forbear ; and answer your adversaries as did Peter and the other apostles under similar circumstances " We ought to obey God rather than men." Slavery existed among the Gentiles in the days of Christ and the apostles; but if they had preached nothing but aboli- tionism, we should have had a dry gospel, and to this day the whole world would have been "like the mountains of Gilboa/' and the church " like & heath in the desert" Preach the gospel in all its fulness and richness, speaking the truth in love. Be instant in season and out of season, holding up a Christ as the way, the truth, and the life," And if your people still rebel, and refuse to receive the sincere milk of the word, but prefer the busks that swine do eat* rest assured yon are among the wild asses of the desert, and the sooner you leave the better : seek another field. But you say, " The world is the field." True, but you are not Ing enough to occupy it all ; therefore, select a part ; and, by prayer and supplication, seek direction and guidance from God. Lean not to your own understanding. Lay yourself "a whole burnt-offering upon God's altar," keeping back no part of the price. And when the Spirit and providence of God shall point you to the little spot you are to AMERICAN SLAVERY. 219 cultivate, whether in China, Persia, Africa, or the islands of the sea, do not attempt to kindle a false fire, by reading fictitious nonsense about the dreadful condition of that people among whom you are to labour ; but ply yourself more intently than ever to the study of your Bible, in which is drawn, by the hand and pencil of the Great Architect, the only true portraiture of the human heart, the world over : " As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man/' In that same precious book, too, you will find God's feelings towards sin and every form of wickedness portrayed to the life. You will need no microscope, no telescope, no kaleidos- cope, no fancy sketch drawn by man or woman. Only secure by prayer the teachings of the Holy Spirit, as you read, and " the secret of the Lord is with you." Nor need you waste your time and strength, and wear out your throat, in raving against the dreadful wickedness of that people among whom you are going to labour ; but go at once, pack your trunk, and be off on the first ship that sails. " Or if, instead of a foreign field, your soul by prayer and God's Spirit has become stirred to its deepest depths for poor, bleeding Africa, and her enslaved sons at the South, do not go to peeping into " log-cabins" for light ; nor play the coward by loitering about the streets of Boston and New York, holding abolition meetings to abuse slaveholders. Neither mount Bunker Hill monument, nor secrete yourself in any other fortress, to open your batteries of curses and denuncia- tions against the South, as though that was any part of God's appointed means for reforming the world. But pack your trunk instanter, and be off South ; and when there, do not consort with the wicked, nor seek advice from scheming, wily politicians, but go directly to God's praying people, and tell them how your soul has been stirred on the sub- ject, and that you have come to pray, weep, and labour with them, in removing that curse from our land, by turning it into the richest blessing to both masters and slaves. And when on the way to your new field, should you meet with churches 220 TREASURED MOMENTS. afflicted with pastors who are in labour on this subject, as a woman in travail, entreat such churches to lose no time in shipping them South. It is the only hope of a safe deliverance, both for the pastor and the people. Yours, &c. The following letter will show, that in despite of Northern abolitionism, which, like a tornado, swept away the first schools among the slaves at Louisville, the true friends of the slave have rallied again, determined that the slave shall be blest with the gospel, whatever be the efforts of foreign incendiaries to prevent it COLOURED SABBATH SCHOOLS IN LOUISVILLE. Letter from, the Eev. H. W. Pierson, ageiti to the American Bible Society for Southern Kentucky, to the Editor of the Society's "Record" " MR. EDITOR, " Some weeks ago, I received an application from one of the Coloured Sabbath Schools in this city for a grant of Bibles and Testaments. This determined me to ascertain the condition of all the Coloured Sabbath Schools in the city, and learn what could be done in circulating the Word of God among them. I have accordingly visited all the Coloured Churches in the city seven in number have preached in five of them, and explained to them the character and operations of the American Bible Society, and have visited the Sabbath Schools, and shall soon preach in the other two. From these personal investigations, I am able to make the following statements in regard to these churches and schools : "1. The Fifth Street Baptist Church has about seven AMERICAN SLAVERY. 221 hundred members. Sabbath School, in good weather, averages about one hundred and fifty ; four-fifths slaves, and one-fifth free. " 2. Centre Street Methodist Church has about four hundred and seventy-five members. Sabbath School, in good weather, averages about one hundred and thirty ; more than nineteen- twentieths are slaves. Only a very few free persons belong to this congregation ; probably, less than fifty. " 3. Green Street Baptist Church has about four hundred members. Sabbath School, in good weather, averages about one hundred ; three-fourths slaves, and one-fourth free. "4 Ashbury Chapel, Methodist Church, has about two hundred members. Sabbath School, in good weather, averages about seventy-five; three-fourths slaves, and one-fourth free. "5. Harper's Chapel, Methodist Church, has about two hundred and fifty members. Sabbath School averages, in good weather, about forty; three-fourths slaves, and one-fourth free. " 6. Quinn's Chapel, Methodist Church, has about eighty- five members. Sabbath School, in good weather, averages about fifty ; two-thirds slaves, and one-third free. "7. Jackson Street, Methodist Church, has about eighty members. Sabbath School, in good weather, averages about thirty; one-half slaves, and one-half free. "Each one of these churches has a coloured pastor, to whom they give a comfortable support I have taken the estimates of the pastors and superintendents, in regard to the number of slaves and free persons in these congregations and schools. Some of the best people in the city are superin- tendents and teachers in these schools ; but the great majority of the teachers are coloured. All, both slaves and free, old and young, have the fullest liberty to attend these schools, learn to read, and receive instruction from the Bible ; and there is no hindrance to increasing these schools, but that which is everywhere felt, the want of teachers. During the last 222 TREASURED MOMENTS. summer, they have established the ' Sabbath School Monthly Concert for Prayer,' and now meet regularly on the second Monday evening of each month. I attended one of these concerts, when the parents and children came together, filling the church. It was the largest Sabbath School Monthly Con- cert I ever attended. I think there was not less than three hundred present. At that meeting a committee was appointed from their number, to request the Rev. Dr. Halsey, pastor of the Chestnut Presbyterian Church, to preach them a sermon on the subject of Sabbath Schools, which invitation he has recently complied with, preaching to a large and delighted coloured congregation of parents and children. At the same meeting they took measures for establishing Bible Classes for the teachers, and all others who were disposed to attend, for the purpose of studying the lessons they would teach on the Sabbath. Two of these ' Teachers' Meetings/ or Bible Classes, are already in successful operation, and others will soon be formed. These schools are now more flourishing, and their prospects for enlarged usefulness are greater than ever before. They want a grant of Bibles and Testaments for these Sabbath Schools and Bible Classes. But each of these churches has promised to take up a collection for the American Bible Society, the amount of which I will report to you. One coloured woman, in pouring out her gratitude to me for the interest I had taken in this subject, said she would give ten dollars when the collection for the Bible Society was taken up in her church. I explained to her that that might be in part payment to constitute her a life member of the society. She did not seem to be anxious for that, but said she ' would be a life giver to the Bible Society ; ' that would be pleasure enough for her ; that would be all she wanted. I have told all these churches, that while we should be very happy to give to them, to help them, we wished them to help others, to aid us in giving to the destitute of our own and other lands ; to which they responded a hearty ' Amen/ ' That's right ; ' and I doubt if there are any churches that will, hereafter be more cheerful AMERICAN SLAVERY. 223 and liberal in their annual collections to the Bible cause than these seven African churches. " After consultation with superintendents and other friends of these schools, I have concluded to ask for a grant of one hundred " Bibles (brevier, roan embossed, No. 30) and one hundred and fifty School Testaments (sheep, No. 61).* I. will see that these are distributed among these several schools according to their respective wants." * The grant herein requested was very cheerfully made by the Board. Editor of " Eecord" 22-fe APHORISM S. 1. "THE counsel of the Lord stand eth for ever;" "every purpose of the Lord shall be performed," no less with regard to the descendants of Ham, than with regard to any other purpose God has formed. Every believer in the Bible, therefore, must believe that the descendants of Ham are to be bondmen, or "a servant of servants" to some nation or people, till God's purposes regarding them are fully accom- plished. 2. God's purposes are all formed in infinite benevolence, and their final accomplishment will be the salvation of that race. In the execution of his purposes, God leads men and nations in paths they know not, " for his own name's sake ; " and though the wicked rave and rage at God's onward march in the perfect fulfilment of his glorious and eternal purposes, yet they cannot thwart them, nor break away from his sovereign control over them ; He will hold them fast, and make their very wrath to praise him. But 3. God's revealed law, and not his decrees, must ever be the rule of our action ; therefore, no man has a right to catch a son of Ham, and make him a slave for his own selfish pur- pose, and then attempt to screen himself behind God's decrees : his sin will surely find him out, and God will not hold him guiltless. Woe, woe betide the men who send their ships to the shores of Africa, and, for filthy lucre, make merchandise of the bodies and souls of men ! Verily, as they love these wages of unrighteousness, so for this very transgression and AMERICA^ SLAVERY. 225 disobedience shall they receive " a just recompense of reward," " for the wages of sin is death." But 4. Were I to awake in the morning, and find a poor depen- dent pagan at my door, or secreted in my stable, whether he were a son of Shem, Ham, or Japhet, instead of thrusting him from me, or handing him over to the cold charities of a selfish world, I should rather be disposed to take him in, and try to Christianise him, and while I was teaching him, and giving him food and raiment, I should probably set him to work, and, as a part of his Christian education, teach him the value of time, and the importance of acquiring industrious habits ; and, in doing all this for him, I should expect, for the time being, he would thereby be content. I should be likely to do all this without ever thinking of God's decrees, but only of his great law of love, " the golden rule." And should I, by chance, find out that this pagan was a descendant of Ham, I might feel increased pleasure in drawing him still closer to my heart, that I might instruct him more perfectly, enlarge his views, and elevate him more and more ; and as I saw him rising into the perfect stature of a man in Christ Jesus, I might console and comfort him, and both of us rejoice together, that God's mysterious decrees, in his personal dependence and bondage, were to redound so much to God's glory, and this seeming curse be turned into the richest blessing to his own soul. " God's ways are not our ways." Hence, we may learn 5. What were the duties of American Christians on the subject of slavery, when we first began to breathe the breath, and to feel the warm pulsations, of an independent nation ? We say Christians, not legislative bodies. We have no more faith in politics, or politicians, in removing moral evil, than we have in the wild beasts of Daniel's vision. Those beasts were God's chosen symbols of political powers f and whenever God's ministers are found astride of any one of them, with the expectation of driving any prevailing evil out of a land, no matter whether it be the " lion with eagle's wings/' or the non- descript with great iron teeth, or a " ram with two horns," p 226 TREASURED MOMENTS. or a "he-goat with a notable horn between his eyes," they will all be doomed to meet what Balaam's ass saw " the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand/' In my boyhood, I looked upon a Christian statesman with nearly as much veneration as I now look with contempt upon the crafty, unprincipled politician. But, to return : when our fathers awoke from that dark, tempestuous night of the revo- lution, to behold the thirteen sister colonies, which could be neither severed nor conquered, now linked together by solemn compact and compromise, a united confederate sovereignty, drawn toward each other by one common bond of sympathy and affinity of interests, now in possession of liberty, purchased by their mutual treasures, and cemented by mutual blood ; and as they beheld the rays of the morning sun first smile and play upon the face of this new-born sovereign this giant in embryo and remembered that a million and a half of poor pagans were then lying at their doors, forced upon them in their minority, during their colonial weakness, against their most solemn protestations and remonstrances ; what was the duty of Christians then ? What would have been more beautiful and Christlike than to have seen the whole church of Christ at the North arise, in all her strength, love, and mag- nanimity, and to have proclaimed to their Southern brethren, in all the fulness of their hearts, " This great burden of slavery rests heavier upon your shoulders than upon ours ; and as we have, in the days of our ignorance, and by our ships and money, shared with England in the sin and shame of laying this burden upon you, we are now willing to share ivith you the toils and hardships, the labours of love and of duty, in teaching and Christianising these poor heathen, and thus prepare them for the enjoyment of those blessings we have so dearly purchased for ourselves " ? Had this been done, what a different spectacle would our glorious Union now present to the eyes of all Christendom ! What would have been beautiful and Christlike then would be beautiful now. What was our duty then is our AMERICAN SLAVERY. 227 duty now. How sad to reflect, that just the opposite of all this began early to manifest itself in the Northern States. As one State after another freed itself from the shackles, its tone and manner to the others was, " Stand by, we are holier than thou." Until now, many Northern men imagine they have performed their whole duty on this subject, whenever they mount the platform, and can get a chance to pour out the vials of their wrath upon their Southern brethren, without ever proposing one practical thing to be done. 6. This unchristian, vindictive spirit, so rife at the North, and so totally unworthy an enlightened Christian people, has been prolific of evil, unmixed and unmitigated, both at the North and at the South. It has nourished and fostered a spirit and temper, all over the country, as wide from the spirit and temper of Christ and his teachings as is the gulf that divides the two coming worlds. Its tendency is to destroy everything that is lovely and of good report. Like a tornado it sweeps over the land, breaking up societies, churches, and schools, whose object has been to instruct and elevate the coloured race, thus putting further and further off the day of their final deliverance. During a residence of eight years in East Tennessee, I taught many coloured slaves to read, without the least opposition. Nor had I any personal knowledge of the buying or selling of but one slave during that time, and he was bought by a few Christian gentlemen, to educate for the ministry. And he was educated, and an eminently useful and eloquent minister of the gospel he proved to be. Often did I sit down with him both at the social and the communion table ; often was I with him in the pulpit, taking part in the services ; often did I listen to sermons from his lips, so tender, so heart-searching, and so truly eloquent, as to melt into tears a mixed congregation of three thousand souls, two-thirds of whom were slaves of his own colour. Now, one such case as this GEORGE ERSKIN, taken from bondage, educated, and elevated to the pulpit, to take his stand among Christ's ministers, to preach p2 228 TREASURED MOMENTS. the gospel to mixed audiences in the very heart of a Slave State has more power in it for good, and can do more in a single year to loosen the bonds of slavery, than all the yelling and raving of abolitionists in a lifetime ; the one is of unmixed good, the other of unmixed and unmitigated evil. And so visibly were the evils of slavery modified in East Tennessee by the power of the gospel, and so anxiously and hopefully were the people looking forward to the time when the curse would be removed, and so openly and freely did they speak on the subject, that one could scarcely realise he was in a Slave State at alL But aroused by this northern thunder, rumbling through their beautiful valleys, and reverberating from their mountain peaks, they have been compelled, for their own safety, as in other States, to take steps backward. So with Kentucky. Judge Jay speaks truly of the change in the opinions of their great statesman, Henry Clay, between the years 1797 and 1838,* once the advocate of emancipation, then impelled to retreat from that position ; and why ? It lias been fallaciously termed "a triumph which slavery achieved, and which attests its withering power over exalted genius and high and generous aspirations." No, no, slavery can boast of no such triumphs. These are the laurels won by Northern fanatics, and entwine the brows of ultra-abolitionists, of whom Clay truly and eloquently said, " With them civil war is nothing ; the dissolution of the Union is nothing ; the over- throw of a government, in which are concentrated the fondest hopes of the civilised world, is nothing." Judge Jay also bears testimony to the boldness with which the Presbyterian Synod of Kentucky spoke out on the subject of slavery in 1835. Yes, they were then not afraid to speak out. From 1828 to 1836, 1 laboured in that State, and was a member of that Synod. We could all speak, and did speak, and act too, on the subject of slavery ; and why does not that Synod speak and act now, as they did then ? For the very reason that a prudent man, with a magazine under his dwelling, would not fill it with * See Jay's " View of the Action of Government." AMERICAN SLAVERY. 229 powder so long as he saw an enemy prowling around in the dark, with a lighted torch in his hand. Could Southern Christians and Christian ministers have been left to them- selves, to carry out their own benevolent plans, in educating and Christianising the coloured people, receiving from the North nothing but kindness and encouragement, and the prayers of God's people, in a word, if modern abolitionism had never had an existence or a name, ere this, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky would have been either Free States, or would have enacted such laws as should have a prospective bearing upon the emancipation of their slaves. Of this there remains not the shadow of a doubt in my mind. But no, these wiseacres at the North declare " they shall not take time to prepare their slaves for freedom \" " immediate, unconditional emancipation that or nothing" How absurd ! how cruel ! a more preposterous demand can hardly be conceived of, nor can we conceive of a greater calamity befalling the poor slaves : truly, they have need to call mightily upon God to deliver them from their friends. But who are their real friends ? So far as a finite mind can detect any definite object in abolitionists, that object is impracticable, unmerciful, inhuman, and seems to savour far more of vindictiveness toward the masters, than of love and compassion toward the slaves. What man, pos- sessing a sound mind and a benevolent heart, could wish for a moment to see three millions and a half of poor, helpless beings torn from their homes and protectors, and thrown out upon the cold charities of this selfish world ? The poverty and crime, and the loathing, heart-sickening vices, that abound in the outskirts of our northern cities, exhibit but a faint type of what would be the bitter fruits of such an insane act. 7. " The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked ; who can know it ?" The following may serve as illus- trations : A quiet, peaceable citizen is suddenly converted into a red-hot abolitionist, destroying the peace of families, breaking up schools and churches, and scattering firebrands 230 TREASURED MOMENTS. and desolation all around him. Everybody wonders at the change from a lamb into a tiger; it is even against nature, and just the opposite to the work of grace in the heart. God's Spirit and truth could never work such a change : it is not the fruit of the Spirit ; for " by their fruit ye shall know them/'' If the power be not from above, it is from beneath. Or, can any one imagine any earthly power commensurate with such a change? All are in the dark, till at length it ekes out that, a week prior to this man's conversion, he had offered his hand to a young widow from the South, possessing the comfortable dowry of three hundred slaves, with cotton plantations to match ; which hand was indig- nantly rejected. Hence, that sudden volcanic eruption of wrath and fiery indignation against Southern slavery. But where is the philosopher who would undertake to determine precisely what amount of this burning lava was hurled at slavery in general, and what proportion was aimed at the widow in particular ? Did the widow, in this case> receive more than her thirds ? Then, again, his sympathy and heart-rending agony for the poor slave ! Did the widow's three hundred receive more than the other three million ? Then, again, the nature and character of that sympathy and deep agony Was it because these three hundred were slaves in common with others ; or was it because he had failed in his attempt to become their owner. and master? Oh, ye Lockes and Newtons ; what a field for your mighty minds to revel in ! Often have I turned away from listening to the abuse of these newly-fledged lecturers ; wondering to myself, " What poor widow at the South is getting it now /" Another specimen : a Northern man, of loud professions, loans a sum of money to a Southern planter ; the planter dies. This Northern professor of religion hastens South, finds that his only available means of securing his debt was in the negroes ; he seized them, had them all sold to the highest bidder. A small deficit still remained, to meet which he could find nothing. Sorely vexed at Ids loss, he returned Lome, AMERICAN SLAVERY. 231 mounted the platform, and from that day to the day of his death, was the most violent of all the abusers of Southern slavery. There are plenty more of just such specimens, but these may suffice to show what deductions we are compelled to make, in sifting and analysing the ingredients that enter into this furor on this* subject. What proportion of this Northern steam has been gendered by this kind of fuel, we will not undertake to say. 8. Slavery is a bad thing, but God intends to bring a good thing out of it, and will do it in his own way and time ; and it is much safer for man to fall in with the providences of God, and work by the gospel rule, than to seize the reins, and attempt to force God into our own speculations. And inasmuch as ultra-abolitionism has as yet accomplished no good, but an incalculable amount of evil, would it not be wiser for its abettors to pause and consider what manner of spirit they are of, "and to give glory to the Lord their God, before he cause darkness, and before their feet stumble upon the dark mountains," where so many of them have already fallen? fallen, because too proud to submit their will to God's will, their standard to God's standard ; their method of dealing with moral evil, with God's method. Therefore, "when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful ; but became vain in their imagina- tions, and their foolish heart was darkened : professing them- selves to be wise, they became fools."* 9. American slavery is never to be removed by any outside influences, incendiary movements, or political or ecclesiastical chicanery. And as God intends to convert slavery in the United States into the richest blessings, both to the slaves and to Africa, so 10. God only can and will remove the curse from the * The numbers in the United States who have made shipwreck of their faith, in this very contest with God, is truly frightful. They erect, first, their own standards ; and when they find that neither God nor his word will bend to them, they cast both away. 232 TREASURED MOMENTS. American Union through and by his own appointed means that glorious but despised gospel, held forth and proclaimed by men of a self-sacrificing spirit, and who have self-denial enough to live and labour on the ground where the evil exists. Then will its removal redound to the glory of God, and of his gospel, and be crowned with blessings to masters and slaves, to America and Africa, to the church and to the world. 233 LETTER SUPPLEMENTARY. MODERN REFORMERS THEIR SPIRIT NOT THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST THEIR PLAN OF REFORMING THE WORLD NOT GOD'S PLAN THEIR WEAPONS NOT OF GOD'S CHOOSING REFORMERS NEED REFORMING. 11 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my waysj &aith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts^" MORE than twenty-five hundred years ago, God made this proclamation to the world. Yet poor fallen man, be he Jew or Gentile, is just as ready to contest this point with his Maker, and insist upon his own thoughts and his own ways with as much effrontery, as though God had never spoken on the subject. Happy would it be for the church and the world, if this terrible sin of contending with God could be laid only at the door of unbelievers. But, sad and painful as is the sight, we cannot close our eyes to the fact, that a mighty army of these modern theorisers and would-be reformers, " who once witnessed a good confession," and bade fair to "run well," are now drifting towards a lee shore, already strewed with the bones of thousands, who first made shipwreck of their faith in this very contest with God. Bold, daring, and ambitious of distinction, they first draw a vivid picture of what the world is, then of what it ought to be, and losing sight of the fact that all sin has its stronghold in the 234 TREASURED MOMENTS. human heart, and is committed against God, and looking only at some of the grosser manifestations of it, as detrimental to man's welfare in this life, such as war, slavery, drunkenness, and the like, they mount them as hobbies, determined to ride them to death. And now, after chalking out their plan for the campaign, erecting their own standards, choosing their own weapons, measuring themselves by themselves, which Paul says " is not wise," thus equipped and harnessed for the combat, they seize the Bible, not to learn the path of duty that is already known, laid down in their chart, and clearly denned in their programme but to twist and torture it into the support of their own ambitious designs. They put it into their crucible, seethe it, pommel it, stretch it, and trim it ; but it utters the same language still, "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord." Into the furnace it goes again, heated seven times hotter than it was wont to be heated. Now on the anvil, now into the vice, then under the rasp and the file, but all to no purpose ; it comes forth unscathed, and without the smell of fire upon its sacred pages ; and, louder than seven thunders, it reiterates this same proclamation of Jehovah, " AS THE HEAVENS ARE HIGHER THAN THE EARTH, SO ARE MY WAYS HIGHER THAN TOUR WAYS, AND MY THOUGHTS THAN YOUR THOUGHTS." And just here commences that terrible conflict between God and the sinner one whose conscience has been partially enlightened, has tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, but has never submitted himself to the righteousness of God ; nor has his self-will been brought low, that the Lord alone might be exalted. God says to these would-be reformers : " The pride of thy heart hath deceived thee." " Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself but I will reprove thee." And it is at this very point, too, that these reformers, so con- fident in the perfection of their own dogmas, rise in rebellion against both God and the Bible. Yea, so confident, so pre- AMERICAN SLAVERY. 235 sumptuous, so self-willed do they become, that, rather than admit that they can be in an error, they will boldly declare, " that if God's thoughts are not their thoughts, and God's ways their ways," on this given subject, they will discard both God and the Bible ; and in this we have the answer to the oft-re- peated question; "-Why is it that so many of these modern reformers plunge into the gulf of infidelity and atheism?" It is because they find themselves too weak to grapple with omnipotence, and God's truth not supple enough to suit their purposes ; and being too proud " to submit themselves to the righteousness of God, and becoming vain in their imaginations, and their foolish hearts darkened, professing to be wise, they become fools." Then commences that torrent of abuse, and the pouring out of the vials of their wrath against every soul that differs from them, which has marked ever}- step of their progress, their wrath and bitter cursings always in exact proportion to the vividness with which their opponents make the truth to appear. This is natural ; it was just so with Peter. So long as he could parry off the accusations of the maids, he kept himself apparently cool ; but when the light of demonstration was poured into his guilty soul, by the cnarge that he was a Galilean, and that his very speech betrayed him, he could no longer keep his temper, but " began to curse and to swear." Peter, by nature, was a reformer of the first water, and of the modern stamp. He ccrald deny his Lord, lie, curse and swear, work himself into a passion, draw his sword, cut off a man's ear, and perform many other exploits equally courageous : but his Saviour had compassion upon him, looked him into penitence, contrition, and love ; commanded him to put up his sword, taught him the great truth, that his kingdom was not of this world, nor were the weapons of his warfare carnal, but spiritual " and mighty, through God, to the pulling down of strongholds." This arrant reformer became reformed, and he who might have been a terrible curse to the world became, through grace, a great and lasting blessing. Paul also was another great reformer of the same type, till met by 236 TREASURED MOMENTS. the same Saviour at the gate of Damascus, where he was taught " a more excellent way ; " and becoming a man of faith and prayer, and having the scales taken from his eyes, he discovered that all his zeal for reform was actually fighting against God ; and now saw, for the first time, " that God's thoughts were not his thoughts." From this hour Paul became a blessing to the world. Would that the same CRUCIFIED ONE, now THE RISEN AND GLORIFIED SAVIOUR, would show like compassion to many of our modern reformers ! When men's ways and thoughts are in harmony with God's ways and thoughts, they can afford to be kind and amiable in their manner and language ; and nothing betrays more quickly and clearly the weakness of a man's cause, than to see him always in a bad temper. The very look, manner, and speech of modern reformers and theorisers betray their spirit. The air they assume, the defiant tone with which they give utterance to their abuse, all speak one language are like frontlets between their eyes, or as an index that points to the inward misgivings that the Lord is not on their side, " that God's ways are not their ways, nor his thoughts their thoughts." It is with just such a spirit that the real friends of Africa and of the slave have had to contend, for the last twenty years, in the United States. I repeat now what I felt and said then, that this spirit of bitter denunciation, malice, and wrath, can do no good, but worketh evil, and that continually ; and the development on this subject, North and South, as seen in legislative halls and ecclesiastic assemblies, are but a confirmation of what God long since revealed, that " The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God." Master and slave, the statesman and the Christian, have alike drunk of the bitter cup, and tasted the bitter fruit of this malignant, Satanic spirit. Many speak and write as though there could be but one side to this great complex question as to what is the very best thing to be done, for the slave first ; the country, the master, AMERICAN SLAVERY. 237 and all connected with, or in any way involved in, this great organic evil ! When, like all other similar questions of casuistry, there must of necessity be a broad surface of de- batable ground, upon which the best, the wisest, and most conscientious men will be found on opposite sides, how pitiable, or rather despicable, appears the man who arrogates to himself infallibility and the right to denounce and proscribe every man that differs from him ! It is not so much the magnitude of the subject, as the malignity of the spirit in discussing it, that has kept our whole country, for the last quarter of a century, like a ship in a storm at sea, driven by fierce winds and tossed. With the political phase of this question I have nothing to do ; it is not within my province. I address myself to Chris- tians, to those who profess to take the Bible for their guide, and to imbibe its spirit. And now, for the sake of argument, let us admit that all the tremendous evils which the most ultra- abolitionists attribute to slavery are, in deed and in truth, inherent in the system; and that slavery, as it exists in the United States, is the greatest pecuniary, moral, social, religious and political curse ever inflicted upon any nation or people. What then ? Is that any reason why we should work ourselves up into a furious passion, forgetting what manner of spirit we are of ; throw away our Bibles and the whole gospel armour, and seize upon carnal weapons, and wage a perpetual war with our brethren at the South ? " Should we not rather put on bowels of mercies and kindness ? " Have not the masters souls, as well as the slaves ? And are not the souls of both masters and slaves put in jeopardy by such an exhibition of wrath, malice, and revenge, and bitter cursings, which, like a river of liquid fire, is unceasingly rolling from the North into the Southern States, aided and abetted by those calling themselves Christians, professing to have the Spirit of Christ, and to be filled with " that love that suffereth long, and is kind " ? Can the liberation of a body from temporal bondage outweigh, in the Christian's mind, the 238 TREASURED MOMENTS. deliverance of a soul from eternal bondage ? And is it not painful in the extreme to listen to speeches at the North, in which the stealing of their master's horses, and even the taking of their master's life, is recommended and justified, if so be the body may be set at liberty ? And in these ebulli- tions of heated passion, how palpable and significant the fact, that the real good of the slave, and the awakening of kindly feelings and sympathies on his behalf, are matters of small importance, and quite lost sight of, in their mightier and more desperate efforts to arouse the vilest passions anger, revenge, and war to the knife, against the master. If they love not the slave less, certain it is they hate the master more. And did not that abolitionist, who swore " that their business was to cut the slaves loose from their masters, and then they might all go to the devil together, for aught he cared," did he not, in this declaration, unwittingly let out the real secret of their ultimatum on this subject ? Is this a Bible doctrine ? Is mere personal liberty, in this short life, the only or chief blessing, to purchase which the Son of God gave his own life a ransom ? Is this a Christian spirit, and can God bless such a spirit ? If our brethren at the South be in an error, does not the Bible point out a more excellent way to enlighten them ? Is this the gospel method of grappling with great, organic, national evils, the world over ? Are missionaries sent to Turkey, China, Japan, or India, to seize men by the throat, and compel rulers, magistrates, and masters to bow, immediately and unconditionally, to their views of what is right, or even to what they know the Scriptures teach? And is not this the radical mistake of these rabid abolitionists ? Do they not overlook the glorious fact, that God's blessed gospel has been given to the world for the express purpose of rooting out and eradicating every false principle, every evil way, "and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God ;" and that the weapons of this warfare are " not carnal, but mighty, through God, to the pulling down AMERICAN SLAVERY. 239 of strongholds"? in a word, that the gospel is "Heaven's great panacea " for all the ills and evils that can afflict men and nations ; and that this " balm of Gilead " is ever to be applied in the spirit of meekness, tenderness, and with a depth of compassion and love, " that is not easily provoked, and thinketh no evil " ? Nor will God honour or bless any other means than that which he has appointed. No patent remedies ! No nostrums of man's device ! No sentimentalism, however exquisite and refined, can be brought in as a substitute, or be mixed up with God's truth. His own word, and his own word alone, will " God magnify above all his name." But, that we may be able to discriminate a little more clearly between " God's ways and man's ways " of reforming this world, let us suppose, for the sake of illustration, that these modern sciolists should all band together, and organise into one grand reformatory society, to sweep and garnish the earth, and empty it of all human woe. They issue their proclamation, calling upon Young America and all lovers of progress to rally for universal reform, universal freedom, universal equality and brotherhood. They send forth their missionaries into all the world, each and all selected with special reference to their peculiar qualifications for the field in which they are respectively to labour, and to the difficulties to be overcome. The pagan world being supplied, the reserve corps, like Napoleon's marshals, are brought up, sorted out, and despatched to those points through- out Christendom at which it is supposed the battle is to wax the hottest. The Rev. A. is commissioned to England, as a " leveller," with specific instructions to overthrow the Estab- lished Church, break up the aristocracy, "pitch into the cabinet," * overhaul their India legislation, and place the whole British empire upon the high road of progress and reform, " Equality and equal rights " being the watchword. * A favourite expression among the modern reformers of the United States, and much used in the ranks of " Young America." 210 TREASURED MOMENTS. Rev. B. is appointed to Russia, to liberate the serfs, put down the nobles, divide and distribute the lands upon the basis of equal rights in property. The ladies of the court to be stripped of their jewels, to supply the liberated serfs with Sharp's rifles, in case of an insurrection among the crushed nobility ; and to secure uniformity, and prevent all unholy ambition and strife in the weaker vessel, hooped skirts are to ' be repudiated, and the Bloomer costume to be universally adopted as the immutable law of the land. Rev. J. is commissioned to Germany ; sails under sealed orders. On his disembarkation, he breaks the seals, and finds that his specific work is to form all kinds of " anti-societies," " pitch into " gambling-saloons, beer-barrels, tobacco-pipes, and things in general. Rev. T. P., so notorious for his courage and tenacity in gnawing the file, is sent to Scotland to " pitch into " old Calvinism, and tear it up root and branch. He commences his labours by forming societies of " fast young Scotchmen " of the baser sort progressive, presumptuous, self-willed, and "not afraid to speak evil of dignities/' On parading in the city of Edinburgh, they descry the house of old John Knox, jutting right out into the street, as if to oppose their progress, or to remind them of what kind of metal the old Scotch reformers were composed of. The shout is raised, " Down with that idol an incentive to idolatry, a gross type of fogeyism !" The house is demolished, and upon its ruins a log-cabin is erected, as the symbol of modern reform ; while " EQUALITY, PRO- GRESS, UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD, AND UNIVERSAL SALVA- TION " are written in large capitals upon the ample folds of the white flag that waves over it. They now unanimously and by acclamation vote " Uncle Tom's Cabin " as their only Bible, and Tom Paine's " Age of Reason " as the exponent of their religion, and the " Atlantic Monthly " the vehicle of their literature. The works of Calvin, Luther, Wycliffe, Knox, Huss, and of all the old reformers, are now gathered from all the libraries in AMERICAN SLAVERY. 2-41 the city and the land, into one pile, larger than their cabin, to which, in the dusk of the evening, the torch is applied ; and in the light of this bonfire, they write out their report, in which sarcasm, wit, low jests, and ridicule are blended ; and in the conclusion of which, they congratulate their patrons at home that Scotland is fast receiving the new light, and her reforma- tion nearly complete. While this reform is going on in Scotland, l)r. C. is commissioned to the South, to take the bull by the horns, and put an end to slavery ; and without follow- ing all these modern reformers through their brief career of missionary exploits, let us keep our eye upon Dr. C. He lands in the South, and commences his ministrations before a large, mixed audience of masters and slaves ; proving, as he thinks, most logically and conclusively, that slavery is sin, per se ; that God is against it ; consequently, slaves were under no obligations to obey their masters, but possessed an undoubted right to free themselves by whatever means lie in their reach. Before he has half finished his long and laboured sermon, every antagonistic feeling and passion of the human heart has become fully aroused. A mob ensues ; he dies a martyr : his mission terminates ere it is fairly begun ; and with how much success in the great work committed to his trust we will not stop to inquire ; but simply add, that these are but specimens, or pictures if you please, illustrative of " man's ways," in contradistinction from " God's ways," of reforming the world They may very properly be termed "THE NEW MEASURES," adopted by YOUNG AMERICA for eradicating all kinds of evil from the world, and ushering in a millennial day. It is li terally and solely man's work, and to man belongs the glory. But alas ! how brief his glorification ! True, the world may become empty, swept, and garnished ; but its spirit is not changed. And the unclean spirit returns, with seven other spirits more wicked than himself. They enter in, and now the last state of the world is worst than the first ; even so shall it be unto this wicked generation. In all this sweeping and garnishing Q 242 TREASURED MOMENTS. Christ and his gospel have been virtually repudiated, and the goddess " LIBERTY" exalted and worshipped. Now God says to these self-constituted reformers, " My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways." Let us then, by way of contrast, look at God's method for reforming this world. God's proclamation reads thus : " Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature/' Yes, the gospel " good news, glad tidings/' which shall be unto all people ; because needed by all people, suited to all people, and is a revelation of the grace of God to fallen man through a Mediator ; the gospel of Christ, " which is the power of God unto salvation ; " " Christ crucified, the way, the truth, and the life ; " Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God, though " unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness." Now, instead of Dr. C., let us suppose Paul himself to be the missionary at the South. He rises with a feeling, loving heart and weeping eyes, before a mixed audience of masters and slaves, parents and children ; and, under a deep and overpowei'ing sense of his responsibilities to God, and his obligations to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, and not to speak evil of dignities he opens the Bible, and reads from his own Epistle to the Ephesians, as follows : " Children, obey your parents in the Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children to wrath. Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart ; knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And. ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven ; neither is there respect of persons with him." - An admirable text for the occasion ! " And now," says Paul, " behold the golden rule, which is to be the burden of my theme ! ' He that hath an ear, let him hear/ " AMERICAN SLAVERY. 243 Paid now unfolds this heaven-born principle, holding up this golden rule, and presenting it in all its phases and bearings upon each and every individual ; pressing it home upon all classes ; dealing out to each one master and servants, parent and child his portion in due season ; giving to each and all specific and minute instructions suited to their re- spective circumstances, stations, and responsibilities in life, and the peculiar relations they sustain one to another. And now, upon one and all, he enforces the great principle of "HOLY LOVE," which is the fulfilling of the law. " Masters, love your servants/' " Servants, love your masters." " Parents, and children, love each other." "Love worketh no ill to his neighbour ;" therefore, " love is the fulfilling of the law." God honours and blesses this preaching ; the Holy Spirit descends upon the congregation ; the word of God is magni- fied above all his name ; and oh, what tenderness ! what mingling of soul with soul ! The hearts of the fathers are turned to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Servants rejoice in the affections of their masters, and the hearts of their masters are melted into ten- derness and love toward their servants. All is joy, peace, and goodwill. Christ is honoured; his truth is honoured; his glorious gospel is honoured, " and made the wisdom of God, and the power of God." The truth, thus spoken in love, excites no angry passions, no spirit of revenge ; Paul's life and usefulness are prolonged ; and this work of the Holy Spirit in renewing the heart, " casting down imaginations and every high thing that ex- alteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ," spreads from heart to heart, from family to family, from State to State, till the chains of the slave gradually melt away under the power of this divine love, and, ere he is aware, drop from his hands ; and thus, under the influence of this heaven-born principle of the gospel, the abstract question of slavery is practically settled before it has been discussed. Q 2 24i TREASURED MOMENTS. Behold the difference between " God's ways" and "man's ways/' in reforming this world ! Man works only at the branches; God lays the axe at the root. Man throws his nostrums into the rivulets; God purifies the fountain. Man looks only upon the outward appearance ; God looketh upon the heart. Man simply requires right actions towards his fellow-man ; God requires that a man shall not only act right, but feel right, and act from a pure and holy motive, both towards God and towards man.* True, Paul, in his practical abolitionism, has won no laurels, has done nothing whereof to glory, has not even found a martyr's grave ; but is satisfied in simply performing his duty, as a minister of Jesus Christ, preaching the truth in love, giving glory to God ; and thereby sacrificing all that notoriety and self-glorification that he might have acquired by remain- ing a thousand miles off, shooting his paper bullets, and thundering out his anathemas from Union Square or Brooklyn Heights, and glorifying human liberty into a Diana, exalting her above all that is called God. Poor Paul ! what notoriety he lost by his ignorance of modern tactics ! But, blessed be God, his life and his preaching still live to enlighten and bless mankind, notwithstanding he was so far behind the present age. Once more, mark the difference between " God's ways " and " man's ways/' between God's gospel and man's gospel. Man's gospel is a gospel of wrath of war to the knife against all men, all institutions, and all governments, that differ from his own private views. God's gospel is a gospel of " peace on earth, and goodwill toward men/' It wars with no forms of human government ; quarrels with no man's creed, abstractly considered ; presents no hostile or menacing attitude in any * The religion of many modern reformers is little more than a sickly senti- mentalism, whose teachings all point to one idea ; to wit, man, as a sinner against God, is more to be pitied than blamed ; but to sin against a fellow-man is the unpardonable sin, for which he must be condemned and executed, without benefit of clergy. Not so thought David ; he looked upon all sin as committed against God " Against thee, thee only, have I sinned." And as all sin is against God only, so Ids gospel is the only remedy. AMERICAN SLAVERY. 245 man's path ; lays no rude hand upon organised and cherished institutions and social relations, as such ; yet acts as " a refiner's fire and fuller's soa," in purging out from them all the tin and the dross, and whatever is not in harmony with the law of love, and blending into one holy compact all that bears the stamp of its own heavenly origin.* MULTUM IN PARVO. COMFORTING THOUGHTS. 1. THE Lord God omnipotent reigneth. 2. His decrees are all righteous, wise, and infinitely perfect. 3. He cannot do wrong ; but doeth all things well. 4. He ruleth in heaven, in hell, over all worlds and nations. 5. He maketh the wrath of man to praise him. 6. Will bring order out of confusion, and light out of dark- ness. 7. The kingdom to which the Christian belongs is not of this world. 8. Like his Divine Master, therefore, he is obliged to bear with many things from the powers that be, which his heart cannot approve. 9. If evils exist, which the Christian cannot remove by any of God's appointed means, he may be sure that God has some ulterior good to accomplish in permitting them to exist. * The early fathers and reformers seemed to understand this subject better than many at the present day. I mean, the distinction between those specific instructions given for the guidance of Christians under peculiar circumstances, and those great fundamental principles and abstract questions appertaining to the gospel, and which work like leaven, slowly, imperceptibly, it may be, but steadily and effectually, in changing and modifying laws and governments, eradicating organic sins, and working out the most perfect and happy reforms in all the religious, political, and social relations in life. (See " Neander'a History of the Planting and Training of the Churches.") 246 TREASURED MOMENTS. 10. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him. Let the Christian, therefore, endeavour to find out what that " secret good " is, to be brought out of existing evils, and then cheerfully fall in with God's providences in the matter. 11. Slavery is one of the great evils of the world. Chris- tians have never been able to eradicate it from the earth ; and where they have united with civil governments suddenly to destroy it in any given country or island, it has generally increased rather than diminished the evil, both to masters and to slaves. 12. The great work of the Christian is not the sundering of ties that bind masters and slaves, but to lead both to Christ. These two different works belong to two different kingdoms, one of this world, the other not of this world. 13. No three millions of heathen can be found in the world, more accessible, more within the reach of Christian influence, and where richer fruits have followed Christian efforts, than the three millions of slaves in the United States. This does not prove that it was right for old England to force them upon us when we were a colony ; nor does it prove that it is right for the present kingdom of this world to hold them in bondage, but proves what is the duty and the privilege of the Christian. 14. No Christian missions in the world can show in ore abundant fruit of their labours, or happier results of their prayer, faith, and toil, than those in which a few humble Christians have been engaged among the slaves of the South. And if Christians would cease from mingling in those noisy debates about theories and dogmas, and the kind of tracts to publish, and wasting their strength and energies in keeping up a perpetual hue-and-cry between the North and South, and just go to work to convert souls, yes, convert slaves into G >d's freemen, go forth among them, not under the banner of party names, but solely in the name and strength of the Lord Jesus Christ, tell the simple story of the cross, what glorious AMERICAN SLAVERY. 247 results would follow ! The world does not furnish a more inviting field. 15. Has not God permitted slavery to exist in the United States for the very purpose of giving to Christians an opportu- nity of showing their love to their Lord and Master in educating and Christianising them, and thus preparing them to carry back to their own native land the glorious light and liberty of the precious gospel of Christ ? PRESENT IMPRESSIONS AND CONVICTIONS. AFTER more than thirty yeaiV experience in public life, during which time it has been my privilege to travel through every Slave State in the Union, and to preach the gospel in those States, to the whites and to the blacks, to masters and to slaves, sometimes promiscuously assembled together, and sometimes divided into separate congregations, and after a permanent residence of several years in the city of New York, and spending, in the aggregate, years in Boston and other cities and towns in New England, preaching and labouring for various benevolent objects, and embracing every opportunity of attending public meetings of all sorts and descriptions, and for all purposes connected with educational, moral, or religious movements, and having listened to speeches upon all the varied phases in which slavery has been held up to view, from their mightiest orators down to the lowest ribaldry and insane ravings and the vilest atheistical balderdash that ever issued from woman's tongue, and having narrowly watched the spirit and temper exhibited by these various speakers, I do here record it as my deep and solemn conviction, for which I am to give an account to God in the day of judgment, that were Jesus Christ to revisit the earth in person, travel through the United States, preach the same glorious 248 TREASURED MOMENTS. doctrines, repeat verbatim his sermon on the mount, hold up the same golden rule, apply and enforce it, utter the same terrible woes against Phariseeism, hypocrisy, and self-right- eousness, as a ground of justification, and were he to declare himself, as he did then, " one with the Father," and that " he that hateth me, hateth my Father also," " I am the resur- rection and the life ; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall be live/' were he, the Holy One, to go through the length and breadth of our land, proclaiming such truths, he would find the natural, unregenerate heart just what it was more than eighteen hundred years ago in Judea. But in no section of our country would he find a more perfectly organized system of opposition, a more thoroughly trained band of opposers, who, in the pride of their hearts, would scoff and sneer, and bid defiance to all the humbling doctrines of his glorious cross, than in the cities of Boston and New York ; and the very class of citizens that would be found first and foremost to deride him, spit upon him, smite him with the palms of their hands, mock him, and raise the cry of "Away with him ! crucify him ! crucify him !" would be that very class who are loudest and longest in their bitter curses and denunciations against their Southern brethren ; and that in no part of the country would the Saviour meet with less oppo- sition, or meet with fewer difficulties, in holding up the golden rule, applying it, or enforcing it, than in the Southern Slave States. THESE ARE THE DEEP CONVICTIONS OF MY HEART. 2*9 BRIGHT PROSPECTS OPENING TO THE AFRICAN RACE. THAT we may the better see and understand this subject, and know who are the most reliable friends of Africa, and who are taking the broadest and most scriptural views of this great subject of African slavery, and of God's curse resting upon the world in its varied forms, we ask attention to the following extracts, gathered from documents of un- doubted authority. From these we may learn that the real friends of the slave, who are laying the broadest foundations of the African's glory, are not among the noisy theorists and visionary reformers who are always quarrelling with the providences of God, and cursing their fellow-men, because they cannot perform impossibilities ; but are to be found among practical men men of far-reaching views. And believing, as they do, that this curse will be removed, and that poor, bleeding, down-trodden Africa will one day be Christianised and elevated to take her stand among the great powers of the earth, they are aiming to turn the curse of slavery into a blessing, by educating and Christianising the slave, and pre- paring for him an asylum upon his own native soil, to which, in a few years, the rush of emigration may be equal to that of Ireland to the United States. THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA, ON THE WESTERN COAST OF AFRICA, is the child of many prayers, the hope of millions, and the bright star that points to the redemption of that race. God has blessed her ; is now blessing her ; and will 250 TREASURED MOMENTS. continue to bless her, till all the sable eons of Ham shall be brought into that liberty wherewith Christ makes his people free. Instead, therefore, of fretting and scolding, and working ourselves into a passion, about a thing we cannot help, let us, as Christians, study the Scriptures, which show us a more excellent way, and set about some practical thing. The following papers point to that thing. Let us read and understand ; read and believe ; read with faith, hope, and charity, and with many prayers for the slave and his master, for Liberia and for Africa. And let the Christian "cease from man, whose breath is in his nostrils ;" have no confidence in the flesh, and no trust in any being, or in any means, for reforming the world, or removing any of its evils, save God and his blessed gospel. 251 SKETCHES OF THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA. BY. J. W. LUGENBEEL, LATE COLONIAL PHYSICIAN AND IT. S. AGENT IN LIBERIA. CHAPTER I. GEOGEAPHY. THAT portion of the western coast of Africa which has received the appellation of Liberia, embraces a tract of country included between the parallels of 4 deg. 20 min. and 7 deg. 20 min. north latitude, extending from the Sherbro river on the north (near the southern boundary of the British colony of Sierra Leone) to the Pedro river on the south ; a distance along the coast of about six hundred miles. The political jurisdiction of the Republic of Liberia embraces about five hundred miles of this territory : that of the colony of " Maryland, in Liberia," embraces about one hundred miles, to the north and east of Cape Palmas. All the territory which lies between these two points (except two or three small tracts) has been purchased from the original proprietors and rightful owners of the soil. The first tract was purchased in the early part of ]822, embracing a small extent of territory in the vicinity of Cape Mesurado. Other portions have, at different times, been purchased, the greater part within the last few years. The interior boundaries of the purchased tracts extend from about ten to forty miles from the coast. These boundaries may readily be extended as far as may be desirable, as the interior tribes are generally very willing, and some of them anxious, to sell their territories. In no instance have the natives, from whom the land was purchased, been required to remove their residences, or to 252 TREASURED MOMENTS. abandon their usual customs, except that of trading in slaves, and the practice of such superstitious rites or ceremonies as tend to deprive any of their fellow-beings of life. And in all the written contracts which have been entered into between the agents of the Colonization Society, or the authorities of the Republic, and the native chiefs, the latter have invariably obligated themselves, in behalf of the people over whom they presided, to conform to the laws and regulations of the Liberian Government. As in most other countries similarly situated, the land in the immediate vicinity of the ocean in Liberia is generally low, and in some places it is very marshy. There are some elevated spots, however, such as those on which the towns of Monrovia and Harper are located. The land generally becomes more elevated towards the interior, and in some places, within fifty miles of the coast, it is quite mountainous. Far as the eye can reach from the highest points of land in the vicinity of the ocean, the whole country presents the appearance of a deep, unbroken forest, with hill-top rising above hill-top towards the vast interior, the country consisting, not as is supposed by some persons, of arid plains and burning sands, but of hills and valleys, covered with the verdure of perpetual spring. The country is well watered ; many beau- tiful streams may be seen winding their way amidst blooming flowers and wild shrubbeiy, and many cooling springs of clear, sparkling water invite the weary traveller to linger and quench his thirst. In all the settlements of Liberia, good water can be procured without much difficulty ; and though, in the dry season, as in this country after a long dry spell in summer, some of the springs fail for a time, yet as good water can always be obtained by digging wells, and as many of the springs never fail, there need not be any fear about getting plenty of good water at any time in the year. SOIL. The soil of Liberia, like that of other countries, varies in appearance, quality, and productiveness. That of the uplands, though generally much inferior to that of the AMERICAN SLAVERY. 253 lowlands, is better adapted to some articles. The upland soil usually consists of a reddish clay, more or less mixed with soft ' rocks and stones, containing considerable quantities of iron. That of the lowlands, in the immediate vicinity of the ocean, consists principally of sand. Besides this sandy soil, there are two other varieties of lowland soil, one of which is that on the banks of the rivers, within a few miles of the sea; this consists of a loose, deep, black mould, which is peculiarly adapted to the growth of those kinds of vegetables that thrive best during the dry season. The other variety is that which is generally found extending back from the banks of the rivers, farther from the sea than the last named ; this con- sists of a light-coloured clay, more or less tempered with sand, and it is well adapted to almost every kind of vegetables that will thrive in tropical climates. RIVERS. There are no very large rivers in Liberia ; and, although some of them are from one-fourth to three-fourths of a mile wide, for fifty miles or more from their entrance into the ocean, yet none of them are navigable to a greater dis- tance than twenty miles ; the navigation being obstructed by rapids. The St. Paul's, the St. John's, and the Juuk, are the largest ; and, indeed, they are the only rivers of any con- siderable length or width. The other principal rivers are the Gallinas, the Cape Mount, the Mechlin, the New Cess, the Grand Cess, the Sanguin, the Sinou, and the Grand Sesters. Some of these present a bold appearance at their mouths ; but they are all comparatively short ; and none of them are navigable for boats, or even for canoes, more than twenty or thirty miles, without obstruction by rocks or rapids. The St. Paul's river is a beau