THE MARINER'S DELIVERANCE: AN ADDRESS TO SEAMEN. FOUNDED ON PSALM CVII., VERSES 23-32. BY A WESLEYAN MINISTER. "When by the dreadful tempest borne They know Thou art not slow to hear, LONDON: PUBLISHED BY J. MASON, 14, CITY-ROAD; 1851. 141. c, 260. PREFACE. To the Christian mind it is a very gratifying fact, that within the last ten or twenty years considerable efforts have been made to promote the spiritual welfare of that class of men who are exposed to the dangers of the mighty deep. Several Sailors' Societies are now in active operation, the design of which is to diffuse among our seamen religious information. In many of our seaport-towns places of worship are set apart for their benefit; Ministers and Missionaries are appointed to watch over them; schools are established for the instruction of their children; and the sacred Scriptures, with other suitable publications, are circulated freely. The Wesleyan Seamen's Mission, for example, established a few years ago in London, and having for its special object the welfare of the many thousands who from time to time are occupied on the river Thames,-that great artery of the trade of the metropolis,-is doing admirable service. We rejoice in this. Our seamen are eminently deserving of our sympathies. But, until a comparatively recent period, they have not secured that attention from the church which their peculiar circumstances demand. They were, at one time, almost outcasts from the fold of Christ, and no man seemed to care for their eternal interests. But the benevolent spirit of the Gospel has taught us better things; and never more, we trust, will the cause of the mariner be forgotten by the church of Christ. It is also a source of satisfaction that these efforts have been attended with very great success. Many a sailor has become a man of prayer. Many a British ship now bears the Bethel flag. Many a little bark, and many a larger vessel, has been consecrated for Christ's service, and made a house of God. It is not improbable that some thousands of our seamen are now accustomed, on the Sabbath-day especially, when away upon the billows, far from Christian sanctuaries, and from all the sweet endearments of their father-land, to worship Him whose presence is alike in every place; and not a few there are who hold secret fellowship with God, and know Him as their Father, reconciled through Jesus Christ. But there are multitudes of sailors who are still ignorant of the truth, and who, it is to be feared, are addicted to the very worst habits of prodigality and intemperance. What can be done to rescue them from a course of sin? Let the churches be more zealous in this cause than ever. The following pages are addressed, in particular, to the more intelligent class of sailors, who in early life were favoured with some of the advantages of education, and who still retain a taste for reading, even amidst the active duties of a life at sea. Though nothing is advanced to which any mariner can object, yet it is admitted that the observations on natural phenomena, and some of the reasonings founded on them, may not be very well adapted to the circumstances of seamen generally. Most of our British sailors can, it is hoped, read the sacred Scriptures; but many of |