VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 BY 
 
 CAPT. P. STRICKLAND. 
 
 BOSTON : 
 
 A. WILLIAMS & COMPANY. 
 1873-
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by 
 
 A. WILLIAMS & CO., 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
 BOSTON S 
 STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY RAND, AVKRY, A CO.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 The Wonders and Uses of the Ocean. Remarks on Ships and 
 Seamen. Camel the Type of Commerce in Ancient Times. 
 
 A Ship the Type of Modern Commerce. Comparison 
 between Ancient and Modern Maritime Commerce. Piracy 
 linked with Commerce Two Centuries ago. Agriculture the 
 True Basis of Commerce. Commerce the Handmaid of 
 Peace and Civilization. Some assist Benevolent Enter- 
 prises from Unworthy Motives. The Light of Truth pro - 
 gressive. She must now let it shine upon Seamen . . 13 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Arrival of an East-Indiaman. Seamen's Wardrobes. 
 Behavior of Runners. Man craves Female Society. The 
 Laborer can have a Wife and Children. Seamen's Board- 
 ing-Houses and Landlords. Clothing-Stores. Meal Times. 
 
 Waiting-Maids in Seamen's Boarding-Houses generally 
 Girls of Loose Character. Their Evil Influence on Seamen. 
 
 Origin of Runners and the most debased among Prostitutes. 
 
 How the Sailor gets rid of his Money. Seamen can sel- 
 dom leave their Boarding-Houses without Advanced Wages. 
 
 They frequently go to Sea more or less intoxicated. 
 Serious Troubles often result from their Bad Behavior when 
 partially Drunk. Venereal Diseases often contracted while 
 on Shore. They cause the Most Intense Bodily and Mental 
 Suffering. How treated. Influences on Board of Ships 
 generally more for Evil than for Good. Pernicious Read- 
 
 3
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 ing-Matter one Fruitful Source of Iniquity. The most Shame- 
 less and Heartless Tyranny frequently practised by Officers 
 in dealing with Seamen. Its Pernicious Results. The !'. -t 
 Seamen avoid Large Ships and Long Voyages. The Shame- 
 less Conduct of Sea-Lawyers. They must be dealt with 
 severely. Rascally and Hypocritical Conduct of the Honora- 
 ble Ship-Master Foreign Consuls and Tailors. Seamen 
 not naturally Viler than other Men . . k . . .25 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Accommodations for Seamen on Shipboard. Evil of hav- 
 ing Double Berths. Swinish Method of Eating. Quality 
 of Provisions. Method of Cooking. Deficiency of Fresh 
 Water. Religion must be Tangible to benefit the Sailor. 
 Board ing- Houses and Landlords. They are not the Primary 
 Cause of the Sailor's Degradation and Misery. Sailors' 
 Homes. Shipping-Agents. Foreign Consuls. Ship- 
 Owners. The Happy Effects of Marriage among Officers. 
 Tyrants and Tyrannical Measures. Seafaring Men not no- 
 ticed by the Government. Bad Effects of some of the Pres- 
 ent Custom-House Regulations. Summing up of the Sail- 
 ors' Miseries. Rule to prevent the Social Evil. The Rights 
 of Women. Sailors are in a Pitiable Condition, and need 
 Help 50 
 
 CHAPTER lU. 
 
 The Efforts of Benevolent Societies to benefit Seamen. The Sea- 
 men's Friend Society. A Sketch of the Life and Labors of 
 Father Taylor. A Short Account of Father Stowe and 
 Others. The Mariners' House in Boston. Sailors' Homes. 
 
 The Difficulties which beset Bethel Ministers and Missiona- 
 ries. Obstacles in the Way of Sailors who are trying to 
 reform their Lives. Encouragements for Bethel Ministers. 
 
 The Great Value of Libraries. The Effect which Good 
 Books sometimes have upon Seamen. Captains' Wives and 
 their Children. The Efforts of Benevolent Societies inef- 
 fectual to reclaim the Seaman's Profession from Dishonor . 88
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Effects of Early Instruction. Bethel Influences scarcely 
 reach the Mass of Seamen. The Tendency of Religious and 
 Well-behaved Seamen to avoid Large Ships and Long Voyages. 
 
 Sailors need Female Society. They do not prefer the 
 Company of Abandoned Women. Comparison between the 
 lives of Seamen and Clergymen. The Potency of Marriage 
 to sanctify the Heart. Good People in Society indebted to 
 Means of Grace furnished them by Others for the Loveliness 
 of their Characters. The Evil Influences to which Seamen 
 are exposed must be removed. Christian Sailors generally 
 marry and quit a Seafaring Life, and Society suffers on that 
 Account. The Highest Motives not generally Efficacious 
 at first in leading Sinners to Repentance. Erroneous No- 
 tions concerning Heaven. Heaven a State of Bliss rather 
 than a Place of Fancy. Sailors must be saved by Human 
 Agencv. The Wages of Seamen, and Reasons why they are 
 
 .so Low. Commerce should be the Sailor's Nurse, and not 
 Freight. The Slave-Trade still carried on among Seamen. 
 
 The Benevolent Contracts of Landlords in Favor of Sea- 
 men are not productive of much Good. Seamen must be 
 saved from Physical, Moral, and Spiritual Shipwreck . . 105 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Conclusions deduced from a Retrospective View of the Circum- 
 stances and Condition of Seamen. The Nation must provide 
 Remedies for the Wrongs of Seamen. She must adopt them 
 as her Wards. A Financial View of Their Prospective Situa- 
 tion. What such a Measure would do for the Abandoned 
 Woman. No Class of Men can keep Virtuous without Female 
 Society. A Project for providing Seamen with Homes. 
 How Seamen's Clothing should be kept in Order. The End 
 of Seamen's Boarding-Houses and Sharkish Landlords. 
 Seamen should have Newspapers devoted to their Interests. 
 Remarks concerning our Commerce. Seamen should live 
 by Commerce the same as the Artisan lives by his Trade. 
 They should have the Commonest Blessings of Life secured to 
 them by Society, if nothing more 132
 
 6 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Seamen's Miseries not so much due to Defective Legislation as to 
 other Causes. A Few Extra Laws may eventually be needed 
 to protect both Ship-Masters and Seamen. Litigation among 
 Seamen should be discouraged as much as possible. Pecu- 
 niary Assistance from the Government would solve most Nau- 
 tical Problems. How Sailors might be prevented from 
 Smuggling. Seamen, even if assisted by the Government, 
 should receive from their Fellow-Men more than an Ordinary 
 Share of Regard and Consideration. Very Exemplary Be- 
 havior should not be expected from them at first. The 
 Wages of Officers. Seamen more worthy of Help than In- 
 dians. Sailors ignorant of Politics. Patriotism . .151 
 
 CHAPTER VH 
 
 Mammon should not be allowed to supersede Justice in National 
 Affairs. The Devotees of Fashion miserably defrauded and 
 perpetually deceived. It is expected that any Monetary 
 Project to assist Seamen will be sharply criticised. Their 
 Case needs Investigation. Nations would sooner spend 
 Billions in settling big Indian Disputes than use a Dollar to 
 befriend Mercy and Goodness. The Church of Christ now 
 a Power in the Land. All Denominations of Christians 
 must unite their Efforts to bless the Sailor. Worldly Wis- 
 dom cannot grasp Common Sense. Hope for Abandoned 
 Females. Seaman's Cause will eventually triumph . , 168
 
 PEEFATOEY EEMAEKS. 
 
 THE author of this little volume has been a sailor for 
 nearly twenty years. He has, in that time, served in 
 nearly every capacity on hoard of a merchant-ship. It 
 cannot he urged, therefore, that the inexperience of the 
 writer disqualifies him from making an accurate estimate 
 of the evils which exist among a class of men with whom 
 he has spent nearly two-thirds of his life. 
 
 The suhject of this work has engaged my attention, in 
 a greater or less degree, ever since I became cognizant of 
 the miserable condition of seamen. It never occurred to 
 me, however, that I could ever do much to effect a change 
 for the better. I thought, with many others perhaps, that 
 the most of a sailor's woes were due to his own depravity ; 
 and that, when the genial influences of the Christian 
 religion should become more widely diffused, the hardened 
 mariner, as well as others, would eventually be subdued 
 and saved by the matchless power of grace. I thought my 
 duty would be done in the matter, if I used diligently my 
 best endeavors to reclaim individuals. As to influencing 
 
 7
 
 8 PREFATORY REMARKS. 
 
 the masses, I thought that that was the business of those 
 who are specially set apart by the Church " to go into all 
 the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." 
 
 Time and observation at length wrought a change in 
 my views. I saw that the majority of seamen had no 
 heart for religion. If, here and there, one could be im- 
 proved, I noticed, that, in most instances, he would soon 
 abandon a seafaring life, and seek for other means to gain 
 a livelihood. I found that there was something in the con- 
 dition and circumstances of the sailor that pre-occupied his 
 mind, and prevented him from being acted upon by moral 
 and spiritual motives with any great degree of efficacy. 
 
 When I first took charge of a vessel, I felt my respon- 
 sibility to seamen keenly. I do not think my owners' 
 interests lay much nearer my heart. It caused me so far 
 to overcome my natural reserve and diffidence, that I 
 immediately resolved to hold divine services every sabbath 
 on board of any vessel that it might fall to my lot to 
 command; and I have never yet seen occasion to regret 
 my decision. 
 
 The men would generally all attend, and conduct them- 
 selves in a becoming manner. They would also behave 
 much better during the voyage than if no such services 
 had been held. Those circumstances seemed encouraging ; 
 but I quickly saw that there was a limit to a shipmaster's 
 usefulness, far more circumscribed than I had any idea of 
 when I began. I found that (in the case of sailors at 
 least) many of the steps were gone from the ladder which
 
 PREFATORY REMARKS. 9 
 
 Jacob saw reaching from earth *to heaven ; and, unless 
 they were replaced, seamen could not ascend. Unless 
 the disabilities of sailors were first removed, all efforts to 
 reclaim them must be about as futile as the attempts of 
 Sisyphus of old to roll his stone. 
 
 This discovery induced me to examine the subject 
 closely, to see if any way could be devised that would be 
 likely to lead out of such a labyrinth of difficulties ; and 
 the results of my researches and investigations may be 
 found by perusing the following pages. 
 
 When I thought that I had divined the cause of, and cure 
 for, most of the special ills which beset seamen, I met 
 with other difficulties, which, for a little time, almost 
 threatened to make me despair of ever being able to do 
 any thing for the sailor. In the first place, I was 
 frightened at the magnitude of the remedies which had 
 commended themselves to my careful judgment. I could 
 not help thinking that our tax-burdened people would be 
 almost ready to ( stone any one who should have the temerity 
 to propose a further increase of taxes. Whether I was 
 right or not, time will determine ; but, if the stoning time 
 ever does arrive, I shall console myself with the reflection 
 that I never proposed such an unpopular remedy for the ills 
 of seamen, merely to serve my own selfish interests. I, 
 at least, must bear my share of the taxation. 
 
 Another serious difficulty now presented itself for my 
 consideration. I had no means of gaining the public ear. 
 As to lecturing, that was entirely out of the question ; for
 
 10 PREFATORY REMARKS. 
 
 I had never yet been prevailed upon to speak a dozen 
 sentences before an audience on any one subject in my 
 life. Writing would do better, for me at least ; but then 
 I very well knew that my seafaring life had never been 
 favorable for developing such habits of thinking, and 
 modes of expression, as would qualify me to produce any 
 thing like a perfect literary performance. The rules of 
 grammar had partially fled from my memory ; and I had 
 had but little occasion to submit my mind to the vigorous 
 discipline which is so essential to give even genius any 
 well-grounded hopes of achieving success as an author. 
 
 No one, therefore, need expect to have his fancy tickled 
 by the productions of a man who knows more about box- 
 hauling a ship than he does of the rules of syntax. 
 People should reflect that Nature does not often combine 
 the fleetness of the greyhound with the strength of the 
 buffalo. If I had spent my youth in schools and colleges, 
 I might have missed that experience which no amount 
 of book-learning could compensate for, or the greatest skill 
 in debate supply. 
 
 If there are those, however, who shall choose to criticise 
 this work, all I have to say is, they are entirely welcome 
 to do so. If the style should not suit them, or if there 
 should be found any violation of the established rules of 
 grammar, it would be a benefit to me to have all mistakes 
 brought to my notice. If the sentiments are adjudged 
 faulty, I should like to hear all the objections that can be 
 offered ; for I think all the subject needs is ventilation. If
 
 PREFATORY REMARKS. 11 
 
 I have made any mistakes in judgment with regard to 
 ways and means, I should like to be apprised of my errors, 
 and set right. If any one knows of a more excellent plan, 
 I should really like to hear of it ; and perhaps some of my 
 readers may be able to furnish suggestions bearing on this 
 subject that would be invaluable. Perhaps some one can 
 devise a plan that would be more feasible than mine. All 
 are cordially invited to give their views on this highly 
 important and deeply interesting subject ; for in the 
 "multitude of counsellors" there is said to be safety. 
 
 If any uncharitable persons shall choose to attack my 
 little work with ridicule, and me with calumny, I shall not 
 have much confidence in their honesty ; but still, if they 
 are able to advance any thing that will throw additional 
 light on what I have termed the seamen's cause, I shall 
 gladly avail myself of their moonshine, and try to feel 
 very much obliged to them. The children of the Wicked 
 One have done many a good turn for the cause of truth, 
 without, perhaps, intending to do any such thing ; and 
 sometimes they have accomplished glorious results while 
 taking active and energetic measures to stay up the palsied 
 hands of prejudice and ill-will. 
 
 Whatever different conclusions people may come to as 
 to what ought to be done for seamen, they should always 
 bear in mind that the evils enumerated in this book 
 actually exist. No man conversant with nautical affairs 
 can honestly deny that fact without doubting the evidence 
 of his own senses. I feel that my duty will not be done
 
 12 PREFATORY REMARKS. 
 
 in the matter until I have laid the subject before the pub- 
 lic, and perhaps not then. Something ought to be done 
 for seamen, and something must be done; for the enemies 
 of the sailor are not idle. Even while I write, the sharks 
 in the great tide of destruction are devouring thousands. 
 
 For the further consideration of all uncharitable critics 
 that may be allied to the shark family, I will just state 
 that the following pages were wholly composed at sea, 
 during short intermissions from the active duties of my 
 station ; and that I have had neither friends nor libraries 
 to consult while attempting to draught a rude sketch of the 
 seamen's cause. This explanation must also answer as 
 an apology to my friends for not exhibiting detailed statis- 
 tical accounts of various matters connected with my subject, 
 which might greatly interest some of my readers. This 
 work was ready for the press in the summer of 1871, and 
 before I heard of the new shipping-laws. As they can only 
 operate, at the best, to slightly mitigate a few abuses 
 which exist within the limits of the United States, and as 
 they are otherwise liable to very grave objections, it must 
 be obvious to every one who reads this book attentively, 
 and feels convinced that its statements are true, that it 
 was hardly worth the while of Congress to enact them. 
 It is not so much law that the sailor requires as justice. 
 
 Then let our virtuous freemen give 
 Poor outraged seamen means to live, 
 And find them cause, without delay, 
 To shout, " Long live America ! " 
 Nov. 25, 1871.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THE boundless ocean, which covers to an immense depth 
 more than two-thirds of the surface of the earth, has ever, 
 and justly, been considered one of the grandest objects 
 which the God of Nature has revealed to the eye of 
 man. When we look away at the distant horizon, and 
 reflect, that, if we were transported thither, we should be- 
 hold, at an equally removed distance from us, still another 
 seeming boundary between sea and skies traced on the 
 heaving bosom of the vasty deep ; and when we give our 
 full and undivided attention to the great fact revealed to 
 us by the light of science, that we might go on changing 
 our position with the same results until time with us 
 should be no more, - we can then conceive, in some degree, 
 with what propriety this great and mighty expanse of 
 waters has been called the image of eternity. 
 
 Nor is it the magnitude of the ocean alone that excites 
 our wonder and admiration. Terrific storms and tempests 
 often rage with dreadful fury on its vast plain of waters; 
 and at such times the grandeur of the scene exhibited by 
 
 13
 
 14 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the wild warring of the elements is absolutely beyond 
 description. Then, truly, the deep utters his voice, and 
 lifts up his hands on high. Poor pygmy man is then 
 and there compelled to acknowledge his insignificance ; and 
 the boasting, would-be atheist is made painfully conscious 
 that there is a God. 
 
 The ocean has been described as being a waste of 
 waters ; but that is not true in every sense, for in more 
 ways than one it is necessary to our very existence. The 
 vapor which rises from its surface, condensed into clouds, 
 and carried about by winds, descends again in refreshing 
 showers upon the mountains and hills and plains, giving 
 fertility to lands which would otherwise be barren wastes. 
 Nor is this all ; for, after serving a great variety of useful 
 purposes, these gathering waters unite again in forming 
 springs, brooks, creeks, and rivers, which, besides turning 
 mills, and furnishing thousands of miles of navigable 
 water, also constitute the natural drainage of continents, 
 carrying out into the sea, and mingling with its waters, 
 millions of tons of organic and inorganic matter, which are 
 carried about by marine currents, and slowly deposited, to 
 form future continents, when some great geological change 
 shall cause the present bed of the sea to become dry land. 
 
 The ocean is also the abode of myriads of fishes, which 
 are excellent for food; and their capture affords employ- 
 ment to thousands of people, and is an important source 
 of wealth to mankind. 
 
 One of the most important purposes which it serves,
 
 INTRODUCTION. 15 
 
 however, in connection with the welfare of the human 
 race, is in affording a natural highway for commerce to 
 transport her goods, and for travellers to visit all parts of 
 the earth. It is a road that needs no repairs. No amount 
 of travel can injure it in the least degree. In a very few 
 minutes after the passage of a vessel over a wave, not a 
 trace of her track remains to he seen. 
 
 A nohle ship gliding safely over the ever restless deep, 
 with " every thing set," is one of the most interesting 
 objects of man's skill and enterprise that we can possibly 
 contemplate. Almost every thing about her seems to be 
 a mystery. Although all of her movements and evolutions 
 can be accounted for on mechanical principles, yet such 
 is the complexity of the operations made use of in directing 
 a ship on her course, that she has not been inaptly termed 
 " a thing of life." 
 
 To navigate the vast multitude of vessels which carry 
 on the commerce of the world requires the lifelong services 
 of millions of human beings, who are denominated, as a 
 class, sailors, mariners, or seamen. It is of the physical, 
 moral, and spiritual character and condition of this very 
 important body of men, that we propose to treat in the 
 following work. 
 
 It has been said that ships carry on the commerce of 
 the world: but perhaps that statement requires some 
 qualification ; for a vast amount of the carrying-trade is 
 performed by railroads and other modes of conveyance on 
 the land. In many semi-civilized and barbarous countries
 
 16 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the camel is made use of to exchange the productions of 
 one country for those of another ; and even smaller quad- 
 rupeds, such as the mule and llama, are held in requisition 
 for the same purpose in mountainous districts, where trans- 
 portation cannot he effected very well in any other way. 
 
 It is nevertheless a fact, however, that a ship is the true 
 type of the commerce of the present day ; and, whenever 
 we hear the subject mentioned in our presence, we almost 
 involuntarily picture to ourselves anchors, chains, cordage, 
 blocks, quadrants, and the mariner's compass: in fact, all 
 the paraphernalia of navigation seem to be inseparably 
 connected with a true idea of commerce. 
 
 In the early ages of the world, however, this great 
 department of industry was mostly confined to the land ; 
 and that " ship of the desert," the camel, figured conspic- 
 uously as the type of commerce in those days. The art 
 of navigation was then but very imperfectly understood ; 
 and that, as well as other things, had a tendency to 
 confine maritime commerce principally to the shores of 
 the inland seas of Europe, and the south-western parts of 
 Asia. The mariner's compass had not then been in- 
 vented ; and the science of astronomy was not yet suffi- 
 ciently developed to enable mariners to avail themselves of 
 its principles in tracking their courses over the unknown 
 regions of the pathless deep that lay beyond the Pillars of 
 Hercules. 
 
 The ancient Greeks and Romans had fleets of small 
 vessels; and some of the other nations bordering on the
 
 INTRODUCTION. 17 
 
 Mediterranean carried on, at times, quite a brisk trade with 
 each other ; but, when compared with the gigantic mercan- 
 tile enterprises of the present day, their little traffic sinks 
 into insignificance, and seems to be hardly worth mention- 
 ing. Probably the whole commerce of the Mediterranean 
 in the time of Julius Caesar did not exceed in pecuniary 
 value that of Lake Michigan in 1870. 
 
 It was not until the time of Columbus, Diaz, Cabot, and 
 De Gama, that the ocean began to assume its true place 
 as the highway of the nations. Even then, and for two 
 centuries later, there was but very little legitimate com- 
 merce. Cargoes were principally obtained by fraud, 
 robbery, pillage, and almost every species of outrage and 
 violence. ' The bold and restless spirits who were exploring 
 every coast, and ascending every river, in their eager 
 search for gold, hesitated not to imbrue their hands in the 
 blood of their fellow-men, nor to have recourse to any other 
 expedient by which they could effect their much-desired 
 object. With but very few exceptions indeed, the mass 
 of them were about on a par with the Algerines ; and here 
 and there could be found one who performed deeds worthy 
 of Tamerlane or Ghengis-Khan. 
 
 Time, and the progress of true civilization, at length 
 inaugurated a better state of things. The seekers after 
 gold met with too many misfortunes, and had too much 
 competition in their business, to allow it to pay well ; and 
 it was at length found that the greatest good would accrue 
 to the greatest number by colonizing the newly-discovered 
 2*
 
 18 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 countries, with a view to the cultivation of the soil as the 
 principal and true basis of a legitimate commerce. 
 
 The result has been a most rapid development of 
 friendly feelings among the nations of the earth. The 
 principles which ought to govern trade have been carefully 
 studied, and systems of banking and insurance have grown 
 into existence, which are world- wide in their application; 
 and it is safe to say that this improved state of things 
 has done more to keep the peace, and bind the nations 
 together, than all other agencies combined, excepting, 
 perhaps, the influence of the Christian religion. 
 
 Wars are growing unpopular, and becoming less frequent. 
 The nations are beginning to find that they are as 
 necessary to each other's welfare as the various trades and 
 professions are to each other in the division of labor. 
 What could the carpenter do without the blacksmith, the 
 shoemaker, and the grocer? And how could the world 
 afford to dispense with the tropical productions of Brazil 
 and the West Indies, the grain and cotton crops of the 
 United States, the manufactures of England and Conti- 
 nental Europe, and the literature of Scotland ? 
 
 The tendencies of legitimate commerce and true religion 
 are ever towards peace and brotherhood. Unprincipled 
 and ambitious men have succeeded from time to time in 
 plunging the nations into mortal conflicts with each other; 
 but it is plain to be seen that they do not meet with the 
 encouragement now that they did a hundred years ago. 
 A great general who has been a scourge to his own and
 
 INTRODUCTION. 19 
 
 to every other country is now seldom revered as a demi- 
 god ; and even those successful commanders that can lay 
 claim to purer motives and better intentions are obliged 
 to content themselves with a very small share of regard 
 from their fellow-men compared with what they once 
 received. It is probable now that Humboldt is a much 
 dearer name to the world at large than Van Moltke ; and 
 Napoleon Bonaparte can certainly bear no comparison with 
 Sir Isaac Newton. 
 
 " The world moves " said Galileo Galilei ; not only the 
 physical world, but also the moral and spiritual. There 
 are plenty of bears now, as there were then ; and they all 
 declare that every thing, except vice, is still at rest or 
 retrograding. To hear them talk sometimes, one would 
 be almost tempted to think that the world was at last 
 perfectly ripe in wickedness, and that the great day of 
 wrath must be close at hand. Such people are always 
 prating about the good old times in which their fathers 
 lived, when virtue reigned supreme, and the moral atmos- 
 phere was so pure and clear, that great and disinterested 
 men were produced almost spontaneously. They seem to 
 forget that such agencies as the whipping-post were em- 
 ployed in those days to effect moral reforms; and that 
 about one-half of the precious time of almost every public 
 school-teacher was required to govern his refractory pupils, 
 and to bestow upon them their daily dividends of castiga- 
 tion. 
 
 Yes, the world moves, and forward too, or else the
 
 20 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 prophecies must be a delusion. More than two thousand 
 years ago the prediction was made, that every valley should 
 be exalted, and every mountain and hill be made low ; 
 that the crooked should be made straight, and the rough 
 places plain ; and that the glory of the Lord should be 
 revealed so that all flesh should see it together. Those 
 memorable words, which were dictated by the Spirit of 
 God to the prophet Isainh, are being fulfilled to-day. The 
 agencies for good are unceasingly at work on every hand ; 
 and, as time progresses, the means of grace seem to 
 multiply in almost a geometrical ratio. The centfal idea 
 contained in the prophecy is becoming popularized ; and 
 doubtless hundreds, if not thousands, of poor deluded 
 mortals, are rendering very efficient aid to the cause of 
 truth, merely because it is fashionable to do so. Men, 
 whose actionsvin private and even in public life demon- 
 strate that they have but very little true regard for the 
 claims of Christianity, will often give large sums of money 
 to advance the interests of that kingdom which Christ 
 came upon the earth to establish ; and there can be found 
 ladies, who while they are plying their needles very 
 industriously at sewing-circles and elsewhere, to aid some 
 benevolent object, will at the same time be using their 
 tongues very maliciously in discussing the demerits and 
 misfortunes of such of their neighbors as happen to be 
 absent. 
 
 It would not be easy to enumerate the various agencies 
 which are being employed to equalize the comforts, and
 
 INTRODUCTION. 21 
 
 the mental, moral, and spiritual advantages of life. The 
 strong protect the weak. Labor is no longer the slave 
 of capital. The churches and schools are open to all. The 
 children of the poor possess almost equal educational 
 advantages with those of the rich ; and organized efforts 
 are being almost everywhere put forth to reclaim every 
 creature unto whom Christ has commanded his loved ones 
 to preach the gospel. 
 
 As the primitive forests disappear before the woodman's 
 axe, leaving the landscape clear for the bright and glorious 
 sunlight to quicken into existence, and supply nourishment 
 to beautiful flowers, fruitful trees, and golden grain, so 
 does the onward march of civilisation dissipate the dark 
 clouds of error, superstition, and bigotry, which have so 
 long overspread our fair world like a funeral pall ; clearing 
 the horizon for the Sun of righteousness to arise, and shed 
 his benignant rays of heavenly light on those fields which 
 our Saviour has declared are ripe for the harvest, and ready 
 to be cut down. 
 
 As the wild beasts of prey which roam forth in the 
 woods at night, in quest of blood and carnage, melt away 
 before the huntsman's rifle, so do the sweet influences 
 of the Holy Spirit of truth teach mankind to conquer 
 and subdue all of those evil appetites and passions 
 which have so often been the means of bringing such 
 misery and wretchedness upon the human race as to 
 cause mercy and penitence to shed floods of bitter tears. 
 
 There is a bear side to the question, however, as some
 
 22 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 of the following pages will abundantly testify. The Ca- 
 naanites are still strong in their holds; and there yet 
 remaineth very much land to be possessed. The sun gilds 
 the top of Pisgah ; and a few bright spirits are up there, 
 beholding with the eye of faith the utmost borders of the 
 promised land ; but the mists of prejudice and error still 
 lie in the valleys, and the popular mind is scarcely yet 
 able to divide the light from the darkness. It cannot 
 see afar off. 
 
 Innumerable evils have yet a very strong hold upon 
 society ; and the " broad road " to destruction is still 
 thronged with people of all classes and conditions, some of 
 whom seem emulous to excel each other in their appreciation 
 of forbidden pleasures, and the transient delights of sin. 
 Much of the fair fruit that might now be saved if Heaven's 
 appointed laborers would only do their duty is also left 
 upon the ground to perish, and furnish food for the " worm 
 that never dies." Truth is abroad, however ; and but few 
 can entirely avoid beholding her bright and steady light. 
 She is pointing to where the day dawns, and the shadows 
 flee away upon the mountains. Many feel interested to 
 make their way thither, so that they can behold her 
 beauty by the sunlight. 
 
 It is our object now to let her light shine upon a class of 
 men who have hitherto been almost neglected, a class 
 of men that the world could not do very well without, and 
 who are suffering, because they do not get that help from 
 the world which is their due for its extensive obligations to 
 them.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 23 
 
 We shall now attempt to exhibit some of the principal 
 phases of their condition and character, and point out 
 where, in our judgment, remedies might be applied to 
 what appear to be flagrant wrongs; not forgetting, how- 
 ever, to mention the efforts put forth by some benevolent 
 societies and individuals to improve the moral and spirit- 
 ual condition of seamen, and to see how the remedies 
 which we shall propose bear on the results of their labors. 
 
 With this explanation of our intentions, we shall pro- 
 ceed at once towards the consummation of the work before 
 us ; and we hope it may prove profitable and interesting 
 to all good people who have at heart the welfare of their 
 Master's kingdom.
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE CIRCUMSTANCES, CHARACTER, AND CONDITION OF 
 SEAMEN. 
 
 1. THE arrival of a large ship from a long voyage, in one 
 of our seaport towns, is quite a novel spectacle to behold. 
 As she comes slowly to the wharf in tow of a steamer, a 
 sight of the hronzed faces and weather-worn hulks of the 
 crew, as they come into view on the forecastle and other 
 exposed places of the ship, shows most conclusively, that 
 their life has not been one of ease and pleasure, but of toils, 
 sufferings, and privations. They have just returned from 
 a conflict with the elements ; and long and bitter has been 
 the struggle in which they have finally prevailed. 
 
 2. Their scanty wardrobes composed of old pea-jackets, 
 canvas pantaloons, shrunk-up flannels, dilapidated shoes, 
 oiled clothing, and sou'-westers, all saturated with salt, and 
 daubed over with tar and grease are carefully packed in 
 sundry bags, trunks, and chests, awaiting transportation to 
 the different boarding-places where these friendless sons of 
 Neptune propose to recruit their wasted energies, and pre- 
 pare for another voyage. 
 
 3 25
 
 26 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 3. We say friendless ; but it would hardly seem so at the 
 first view, for certainly they receive very marked attentions 
 on their first arrival in port. There are always a large 
 number of men, called in nautical parlance " runners," that 
 usually try to board vessels as soon as they arrive in the har- 
 bor; but, if they are then refused admission on board, they 
 will greet the sailors from their boats alongside, and proffer 
 their services, as soon as they can be made available, in the 
 most friendly manner. These generous creatures are very 
 particular to inquire abr ut the welfare of every person on 
 board ; and they usually threaten to inflict sundry punish- 
 ments upon the officers, if any of them have been so unfor- 
 tunate as to offend any part of the crew during the voyage. 
 They promise all sorts of accommodations in the different 
 boarding-houses which they represent ; and each one is 
 ready to pledge his honor that whoever goes with him will 
 be sure of having a glorious good time, and be well cared 
 for. Unfortunately the countenances and actions of these 
 men usually belie their professions ; for, in many instances, 
 their faces exhibit a number of frightful scars and other 
 marks of dishonor which they have received from their 
 companions in drunken brawls, or from policemen while 
 perpetrating deeds of darkness that Satan might be 
 ashamed of, were that notorious personage capable of being 
 acted on by any such motive.* 
 
 4. These felons and criminals are usually denominated 
 " sharks " by the sailors, and shovel-nosed ones at that ; 
 which shows that their true character is not unknown to the 
 society of webfoots. Sailors dislike them a* a class, but 
 
 * The new shipping-laws prohibit runners from boarding vcraefe, which i a 
 .rime regulation to protect officers from imposition ; but it docs not prevent sea- 
 men from eventually falling into their clutches. They can still greet sailors from 
 fleir boats, and meet them lovingly at the head of the wharf, luring them to ruin 
 4a before.
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 27 
 
 sometimes affect to think well of the shark that is attached 
 to their own boarding-house. To enumerate the crimes 
 and villanies of these cormorants would be too great a 
 digression from our main object in this place ; but, as we 
 shall hereafter have many occasions to introduce them 
 again, it is to be presumed that the main features of their 
 characters will be sufficiently delineated to indicate the 
 class of predaceous animals to which they belong. Sailors 
 seem to think that they are allied to the shark family ; and 
 they certainly resemble those repulsive creatures in many 
 of their physical and in most of their moral characteristics. 
 
 5. Having now given the reader some idea of the char- 
 acters of the men that greet the sailor on the wharf, when 
 they cannot before, it must now suffice to state that their 
 main object in greeting seamen so cordially is to entice 
 them to go^to boarding-houses, where they can assist their 
 respective landlords and others to deprive the hapless mari- 
 ners of the paltry sums of money which may be due them 
 when they are paid off. 
 
 6. If we examine the countenances of the seamen as they 
 leave the ship, it will be apparent to us that they manifest 
 very little of that buoyancy and light-heartedness which we 
 should naturally expect to witness in the actions of men 
 that had just returned from a long voyage, where they had 
 encountered dangers, hardships, and discomforts almost 
 every day. The reason is obvious. These men know they 
 are not going home. They know there is no one on shore 
 to take much interest in them, except self-interest ; and so 
 they feel hopeless and dejected. They know, from former 
 experiences, what is about to take place. A very few days 
 of sinful pleasure, or rather of pain, are before them ; and 
 then, as soon as their little stock of money is expended, 
 they will embark to go another weary voyage, and return 
 again in the same manner as before.
 
 28 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 7. The Bible says that it is not good for man to be 
 alone. He craves and needs sympathy. He longs for 
 female society. In the case of the sailor, how are these 
 cravings and longings of the human soul to be gratified ? 
 Who is there to feel interested in his welfare, and bid him 
 welcome in such a manner, that he can feel that the lan- 
 guage which he hears is but an exponent of the heart's 
 best affections ? There is no one ; and he is painfully con- 
 scious of it. There is no one to share the bitter feelings 
 which crowd upon his memory ; and he tries to give vent to 
 them by unavailing sighs and curses. 
 
 8. The laborer on the wharf, although his occupation is 
 a humble one, has this in his favor : he can go home when 
 his work is done, and there contemplate and enjoy treas- 
 ures such as money alone can never purchase, treasures 
 which bring gladness to the heart and animation to the 
 spirits. However deficient he may be in this world's goods, 
 he feels that his wife and children are his own. The rela- 
 tions that exist, or ought to exist, between him and his 
 family, have a powerful tendency to strengthen his hands 
 and heart, and buoy him up against despair, even under 
 the most adverse circumstances. *Not so the sailor. He 
 has no treasures but a little hard-earned cash, which his 
 professed friends are trying every expedient to get away 
 from him ; nor can he find any female companions, except- 
 ing those poor, degraded wretches who are more outcasts 
 from society than himself. Under such circumstances, is 
 it strange that sober looks should prevail among seamen* 
 when they are about to take their departure from the best 
 home they are usually ever possessed of upon the earth, 
 a ship's forecastle ? 
 
 * There are men going to sea to whom the above remarks will not apply, 
 natural eons of Belial, who delight in riot and debauchery. But they are no 
 more numerous among seamen than they are among other classes of men.
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 29 
 
 9. The usage on board of ships is frequently bad enough, 
 and the accommodations almost always wretched ; but, 
 while there, the mind of the sailor can feed on hope. He 
 knows, it is true, that his life is pre-eminently one of toils, 
 discomforts, and privations ; but then such things, in some 
 degree, fall to the lot of all men : and he is seldom heard to 
 complain, or even allude to them. But when he reaches 
 port, and finds that his air-castles 4iave all vanished; when 
 he finds, that, in place of bread, lie must take up with a 
 stone, then despair seizes upon him, and he rushes madly 
 into the embraces of sin, determined, that, rather than be 
 deprived of all the treasures that men hold dear, he will 
 take up with the counterfeit; and so he perishes miserably, 
 with no eye to pity, and no arm to save. 
 
 10. Let us now, in our imagination, follow the sailor to 
 his boarding-house, and observe what takes place there ; so 
 that we can understand what was meant by that glorious 
 good time promised him by his officious friend, the shovel- 
 nosed shark, whom we have already introduced and par- 
 tially described. He is usuall}' conducted thither by that 
 attentive and interested individual, who receives a certain 
 sum per head for all boarders, new and old ; but there is 
 usually a large difference made in favor of the new. The 
 sailor sometimes has a chance to ride on top of his things 
 in the team ; but he usually prefers to go afoot, so that, in 
 his uncouth appearance and forlorn condition, he shall 
 attract as little attention as possible. When he arrives 
 at the boarding-house, he is greeted very kindly by the 
 landlord and landlady ; and after he has replied to all their 
 questions concerning his health, welfare, &c., and after 
 they have expressed much sympathy for him by words and 
 gestures, he is invited to the bar, where his kind and 
 benevolent landlord gives him a glass of grog to cheer him 
 up, and make him feel like himself, now that he has arrived 
 
 3*
 
 30 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 safe and sound among such good friends. He is also given 
 to understand that it will be better for him to take a few 
 quiet drinks at home than to go elsewhere for them, where 
 he will be likely to fall into bad company, and perhaps get 
 robbed. Nearly all of these boarding-houses either have 
 a clothing-store in a part of the building, or else the pro- 
 prietors are interested in one elsewhere ; and into one of 
 these Jack is next introduced. The goods in such places 
 are generally cheap and poorly made : but the sailor thinks 
 he must have clothing immediately; and so he trades where 
 they are willing to trust him until he is paid off from the 
 ship. The prices in those stores are regulated somewhat 
 by the amount of intelligence and knowledge displayed by 
 the individual who buys; but they usually range from five 
 to seventy-five per cent more than would have to be paid 
 almost anywhere else for the same articles. Considerable 
 advantage is frequently taken of the sailor in those stores, 
 whenever he happens to be in circumstances which render 
 it extremely difficult for him to avoid extortion. Whale- 
 men are often in such circumstances while buying their 
 outfits ; and that is probably one reason why they have so 
 little due them on their pay-days. After the sailor has 
 changed his clothes, visited the barber, and sent his things 
 to the washerwoman, he is considered as fairly inducted 
 into the boarding-house; and most of the special attentions 
 of his friends cease for a time. 
 
 11. Meal-time at length arrives, and Jack has an oppor- 
 tunity to indulge in the luxuries of fresh beef, fresh bread, 
 pies, cakes, &c. ; and he enjoj's it. Confined for months on 
 board of a vessel, where a large part of his daily food is 
 composed of " flint biscuits " and " mahogany beef," the 
 change seems great'and grateful to him ; and so it is. The 
 quality of the food served up in seamen's boarding-houses 
 is probably equal to that of others where the same price is
 
 A VOICE PROM THE DEEP. 31 
 
 charged for board; and in this respect they are certainly 
 entitled to some credit. But food for the support of his 
 body is not the only entertainment furnished at meal-times 
 for the sailor. Loud talking, swearing, and even quarrel- 
 ling, add to the conviviality of the scene; and, as the waiting- 
 maids in such places are seldom overburdened with modesty, 
 low jokes, vulgar and even obscene language, and many 
 other improprieties, are constantly carried on between them 
 and the boarders. The landlord and landlady generally 
 countenance, and in some cases encourage as much as 
 possible, all such things, believing that they all help to 
 make their house popular among seamen. If any one is 
 observed at the table who does not affect to take a part in 
 and be pleased with such proceedings, he is almost sure to 
 be made the butt of all the witty remarks the company can 
 think of; and, if he should be so unwise as to remonstrate, 
 his persecutions would certainly be increased. 
 
 12. There is usually a dirty, repulsive-looking room in 
 every seamen's boarding-house, where some of the men 
 assemble at times to smoke and to talk. In the midst of it 
 there is a table set, where a party can frequently be seen 
 playing cards. The custom is, that the beaten player shall 
 treat all hands to whiskey, or some other liquor which the 
 company may chance to prefer. The landlord spends much 
 of his time in this vicinity, and looks on approvingly, telling 
 his boarders that it is much better spending their time so, 
 than to be cruising about the streets, where they will be 
 exposed to temptations and bad company. He declares 
 there is no harm done in playing cards, as long as peo- 
 ple just amuse themselves by playing for the drinks, 
 and do not stake money. He knows very well, however, 
 that it is his clerk who dispenses the drinks, and that all 
 the money they cost eventually goes into his own pockets. 
 
 13. Some of these houses keep one or two girls besides
 
 32 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 the table-waiters, to do chamber-work, and help in the 
 kitchen. If they were all intelligent and well-behaved, 
 their influence on seamen would be good and salutary; but 
 that is seldom or never the case. None of them may be 
 downright prostitutes; but, in many places, they are encour- 
 aged and expected by the keepers of such houses to make 
 as free with the sailors as they well can, and not part with 
 the last relic of virtue and modesty which they possess; 
 and in nearly all cases they are required to have a tender 
 regard for the home-instincts of the sailor, and to seek to 
 please him in all things. Hence it is, that there can fre- 
 quently be witnessed in all parts of such houses rude frolics 
 and almost all kinds of lewd actions and conversation be- 
 tween the boarders and employees. It can easily be ima- 
 gined what eftect such actions would be likely to have on 
 men that have never been systematically taught the neces- 
 sity of qualifying their animal instincts by moral and 
 religious training. The apparent freedom and sociability 
 which seamen enjoy in their boarding-places is also one 
 reason why they usually prefer them to the Sailors' Honi---. 
 where they can seldom find influences adapted to gratify 
 their social feelings. 
 
 14. When Jack receives his supply of new clothing, his 
 landlord generally advances him twenty-five or thirty dol- 
 lars, if the prospects of his voyage will warrant it; and this 
 circumstance is of course known to the runner (alias John 
 Shark), who at once proceeds to lay a trap to get as much of 
 it as possible. In order to fully understand the working 
 of his plan, we must inquire a little further into the status 
 of the runner, and the person or persons that he makes 
 use of to accomplish his object. These runners are perhaps 
 the most hardened specimens of humanity that exist upon 
 the earth. The very nature of their employment makes 
 them so in some degree : but other influences are not want-
 
 A VOICE FKOM THE DEEP. 33 
 
 ing; and among them the bias given to their characters by 
 the laws of hereditary descent is probably the strongest 
 and most enduring. They are bad by nature, and deficient 
 in moral susceptibilities. 
 
 In certain of the worst localities in nearly all of our large 
 seaport towns there can be seen, at almost any time, bare- 
 footed and bare-headed little children running about the 
 streets, or playing in the gutters, covered with filth and 
 vermin, and, in many cases, the victims of dreadful dis- 
 eases. When night comes, the poor little things crawl 
 into the cellars and attics of those forbidding-looking 
 buildings which are used for sailors' boarding-houses, rum- 
 shops, and dens of prostitution. Being, in many instances, 
 the direct offspring of sin and shame, what good can be 
 expected from them ? They grow up familiar with all 
 kinds of vice and wickedness, and, of course, practise what 
 they know as soon as they get big enough. Some of the 
 males grow up to be runners for sailors' boarding-houses ; 
 and the females form the nuclei of those houses of pros- 
 titution which abound in the vicinity of nearly all seamen's 
 boarding-houses. These people seldom marry, but live 
 together, and help each other get a living. The runner 
 proposes a walk with the sailor, and soon introduces him 
 to one of these women, who receives him cordially, and, as 
 soon as she can gain his confidence, proceeds to get his 
 money away as fast as possible. And, when that is gone, 
 he is obliged to go to sea for more, which leaves her free 
 to play the same game on somebody else ; and the money 
 she divides with her paramour the runner. If she gets 
 into any difficulty with the sailor, the runner is always 
 at hand to help her out of it, by force if necessary. In 
 this way sailors frequently divest themselves of half the 
 proceeds of an East-India voyage in three or four days. 
 
 15. As the time and attention of the sailor are largely
 
 34 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 taken up with liis mistress, it follows that he will be absent 
 from his boarding-house at meal-times on many occasions. 
 He has to pay just the same, however; and the number 
 of drinks he has taken, and sometimes a great many he has 
 not taken, are likewise carefully reckoned into the account. 
 The landlord gains very much in this way ; for, besides 
 being absent from many of his meals, the sailor's appetite 
 for wholesome food is so much diminished by the amount 
 of trash he takes into his stomach in the shape of poison- 
 ous liquors, ice-creams, oysters, nuts, and candies, that he 
 cannot eat much when he happens to be in ; and the pru- 
 dent landlady is not slow in turning this circumstance to 
 pecuniary account. 
 
 16. As soon as Jack is paid off, he usually deposits 
 a part of his money with his boarding-master for safe-keep- 
 ing, and draws such sums as he may want from time to 
 time. That is a very good arrangement for the landlord, 
 but not quite so good for the runner and his mate. If the 
 sailor prefers to keep his money himself, which he does 
 sometimes, the runner and his courtesan come in for the 
 largest share ; and the landlord is obliged to content him- 
 self with the advanced wages, which he always handles. 
 As Jack is very liberal in his dealings, and keeps no account 
 of his expenditures, it is not surprising that such a multi- 
 tude of friends should soon manage to find the bottom 
 of his purse. The state of his finances is usually announced 
 to him by the runner, who asks him how he should like to 
 go in such a ship on such a voyage. The sailor knows 
 what the hint means well enough, but generally does not 
 like to go until he is absolutely obliged to. In making the 
 agreement, and stipulating for the advance, the runner, 
 who acts under instructions from the boarding-master, has 
 pretty much his own way ; but he .usually defers to the 
 wishes of the sailor as far as his own interests will allow
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 35 
 
 him. A sailor in the hands of a boarding-master can never 
 get away without advanced wages. They usually stipulate 
 for about two months' pay on long voyages; and the land- 
 lord becomes their security and broker, receiving his pay 
 from the shipping-agent after the vessel has proceeded to 
 sea. Out of his advanced wages the sailor is allowed a 
 small sum by his landlord to replenish his sea-stock of 
 clothing ; and the garments are furnished from the store we 
 have just mentioned. He also gives the sailor one or 
 two dollars to spend with his mistress, and wind up his 
 spree, leaving the balance until the bill is settled. When 
 the reckoning time comes, it is often found that the sailor 
 is heavily in debt to his landlord; but that benevolent 
 individual considerately tells him to " never mind," but be 
 sure and come back next time, and make it all right then. 
 If he fails to come, however, his wages are immediately trus- 
 teed; and the runner, and sometimes the landlord, set 
 their wits to work to procure for him a sound thrashing. 
 
 17. When the ship is ready to go, Jack is generally ush- 
 ered on board by the runner in a state bordering on intoxi- 
 cation ; for, in some respects, he is more manageable when 
 partially drunk. The runner, on such occasions, coaxes and 
 pets him until the fasts are cast loose, and then bids him 
 a hearty good-by, and ends by wishing him a pleasant 
 voyage, and all sorts of good things until he is out of hear- 
 ing. The landlady sometimes slips a bottle of rum into 
 the sailor's chest before it leaves the house, as a token 
 of her affectionate regard, motherly care, and good-will ; 
 and sometimes the runner slips him an extra bottle just as 
 the vessel is about to leave.* 
 
 * How can our shipping commissioners prevent such things as these? They 
 cannot. Unless the temporal condition of our seamen is improved by suitable 
 means, all legal enactments to benefit them must prove unsatisfactory and 
 abortive.
 
 36 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 18. Such is Jack's experience on shore among his friends ; 
 and a very eventful one it is too. In a very few short days 
 he is deprived of perhaps a year's earnings; and the money 
 is distributed among a lot of sharks, cormorants, and har- 
 pies ; for certainly they deserve no better name. He went 
 on shore to recruit; but, instead of accomplishing his object, 
 he is far worse off than he was before, both physically and 
 morally. A voyage around Cape Horn, or a western pas- 
 sage across the Atlantic in the winter, would not do so 
 much to shatter his constitution as a few short days spent 
 in the haunts of sin and vice. His self-respect is also 
 gone ; for he knows that he has degraded himself, and 
 defiled the temple of God. Under such circumstances, he 
 tries to find some relief from the stings of conscience by 
 having recourse to the bottle which was placed in his chest 
 by the landlady. He drinks deep and recklessly ; and the 
 poisonous liquid, like an electric current, sends madness 
 and despair through all his frame. 
 
 The officers of the ship, in the mean time, require his 
 services on deck ; and, if their calls are not promptly 
 obeyed, they use force to bring him out. A fight generally 
 ensues, in which poor Jack gets badly bruised and beaten ; 
 and he also frequently renders himself obnoxious to the 
 ill-will of his officers for the whole voyage by his offensive 
 conduct. 
 
 19. In two or three days after leaving port, the rum is 
 all gone ; and the realities of another voyage, -begun so 
 inauspiciously, begin to present themselves. The claims 
 of duty begin once more to occupy the time and minds of 
 the poor mariners ; and in a few days a better effect is 
 visible. The powers of nature are again busily at work, 
 seeking to restore the exhausted energies of mind and 
 body; and in due time things wear a more pleasing aspect. 
 The officers grow better natured as they find the crew.
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 37 
 
 more tractable; and at length peace and harmony are some- 
 times restored fore and aft. Many of the sailors then try 
 to forget the awful scenes they have just passed through, 
 and begin to indulge again in the pleasures of hope. They 
 think they will do better the next time ; and that delusion 
 never leaves them. As long as the soul of man continues 
 to inhabit its earthly tenement, hope will always keep a 
 taper burning to lure him from despair. 
 
 20. Most men love to look ahead, and let their fancy 
 luxuriate in the midst of imaginary blessings. They know 
 that behind them is a desolate wilderness, but before them 
 is the garden of Eden ; and they are generally just expect- 
 ing to arrive thither, and rest forever. Such is not always 
 the case, however; for men are affected differently, according 
 to their susceptibilities and temperaments. People that 
 are naturally morose and peevish in their tempers and dis- 
 positions are sometimes tenfold more disagreeable, if possi- 
 ble, when they have inflicted upon them the just punish- 
 ments due to their transgressions, and are neither willing 
 to enjoy any thing themselves, nor let anybody else. Sail- 
 ors of this description often get a whole ship's company 
 into trouble by indulging in sulky looks and actions, thereby 
 treating their officers with the grossest disrespect, and 
 making themselves obnoxious to those wholesome rules 
 and regulations which must be enforced in order that the 
 best interests of all may be secured. 
 
 21. Sometimes physical diseases of the most loathsome 
 description result from those outrages of the laws of nature 
 which all men are guilty of that follow the strange woman 
 to her haunts of sin and death. The wretched patient, 
 1 it-sides having to endure the most intense bodily suffer- 
 ings, is often made to feel some of the dreadful horrors 
 of the second death, with hardly hope to be his companion. 
 Shipmasters, with a view to keep such men in a condition 
 
 4
 
 38 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 so as not to lose their services, generally administer such 
 remedies as the medicine-chest affords ; but they seldom 
 or never effect a cure, if such a thing is indeed possible. 
 
 22. Most sailors try to forget their miseries as soon as 
 they can, however, and philosophically conclude that it is 
 of no use to grieve about that which cannot be helped. 
 They delude themselves with the belief that the future will 
 be better than the past ; though a little reflection on their 
 own experience would surely teach them better. It is not 
 unusual, even, to hear them moralize about their follies and 
 transgressions in such a manner as to lead one to believe 
 that they were thoroughly conscious of their situation ; and, 
 if good resolves could effect any thing, we might reasonably 
 conclude that they would never yield to temptation again. 
 Alas for them ! They do not realize the treachery of the 
 human heart, nor the deceitfulness of sin. They do not 
 resolve to flee from temptation, but only not to fall in it 
 They would still consider the advantages enumerated by 
 the tempter, when he says in honeyed accents, " Ye shall 
 not surely die." Their renewed hopes have the effect 
 to promote cheerfulness, however, and in that respect, if 
 in no other, are the means of doing much good. 
 
 23. The influences for good on board of a ship are rather 
 negative than positive in their character. As the poet 
 observed : 
 
 ' Much waa removed that tempted once to sin." 
 
 And that is about all that can be said in favor of a sailor's 
 life upon the sea. He is there taught neither to fear God 
 nor to regard man ; and it is very seldom that he can ever 
 see the beauty of holiness exhibited in the lives and conver- 
 sation of those around him. The society of other individuals 
 situated like himself may afford him some pleasure, and
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 39 
 
 the kindly feelings which he sees manifested towards him 
 by his officers may give him considerable satisfaction ; but 
 his better part is not nourished. " No man cares for his 
 soul." 
 
 24. Daily and hourly he hears his companions indulge 
 in profanity without any apparent compunctions of con- 
 science. The sabbath is but very little regarded at sea 
 and, whenever he is allowed to rest a little, there is hardly 
 ever wanting in a ship's forecastle a number of the 
 " sons of Belial," that are always speaking in terms of glo- 
 rification about their exploits in evil both by sea and land. 
 The reading-matter on board of a ship is very apt to be low 
 in its tone, and some of it of the worst description. Cheap 
 novels, which record the imaginary exploits of highway- 
 men and pirates, constitute the chief; and the productions 
 of Byron, Eeynolds, and Paul de Kock, contribute their 
 corrupting influences to poison the minds of hundreds of 
 young and inexperienced sailors, and thus pave their way 
 to those " houses of death," from which " none that go 
 ever return again ; neither take they hold of the paths of 
 life." 
 
 25. The officers, too, whose positions the seamen are 
 bound to respect, are often unprincipled and wicked men ; 
 tod it is very seldom indeed that one can be found who is 
 willing to make any personal efforts to promote the moral 
 and spiritual welfare of his crew. The majority of ship- 
 masters are, perhaps, men of kindly feelings ; but, their 
 minds and hearts being pre-occupied by selfish and worldly 
 interests, they do not perceive that the cause of truth has 
 any claims upon them ; and so they content themselves by 
 taking but very little notice of any thing in connection 
 with their crews, except to see that the work is done right, 
 and proper discipline maintained. Many of them practise 
 the same vices which the seamen are guilty of j and very
 
 40 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 few can be found who do not habitually use profane lan- 
 guage, drink occasionally, and use tobacco. The influence 
 that most officers exert upon their crews is, therefore, un- 
 favorable to the cause of virtue and religion ; as most men 
 are apt to refer to the bad conduct of those who happen 
 to be above them in wealth, position, and accompli >h- 
 ments, as an excuse for their own shortcomings and mis- 
 demeanors. 
 
 26. There are also several direct agencies for evil exist- 
 ing on board of many of our ships ; and perhaps we cannot 
 do better than to introduce a few of them here. One is the 
 most debasing, shameless, and heartless tyranny. Some 
 men are naturally tyrants in the worst sense of the word; 
 and, when poor Jack gets into a ship where one of these 
 fiends holds sway, his condition is indeed deplorable. The 
 worst kind of slavery is an enviable state compared with 
 the usage on board of these " hells afloat," as the sailors 
 call them. The men are beaten with belay ing-pins, 
 knocked down with brass knuckles, kicked with heavy 
 boots, deprived of sleep, and tortured in almost every pos- 
 sible way to satisfy the fiendish malice of those monsters 
 of depravity, who delight and^glory in being called fighting- 
 men, bullies, and horses. About fifteen years ago, it seemed 
 as though the majority of our large clipper ships were 
 cursed by being officered by these devils in human shape ; 
 and the names of some of those Neros, Herods, and Calig- 
 ulas, will long be remembered by the unfortunate men who 
 were compelled to sail with them. 
 
 27. A sailor's condition on board of such a ship is 
 indeed pitiable, and a parallel case it is very hard to find. 
 The epithets applied to seamen by such officers are often 
 too shocking to be repeated. To be called the "son of a 
 female of the canine species" is not calculated to make 
 a spirited man feel very pleasant ; but that is about the
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 41 
 
 mildest term ever used by such officers when addressing 
 their men ; and they almost invariably put a volley of 
 oaths before and behind their favorite expression to give 
 it emphasis. Such officers in their ordinary conversation 
 use the term "hounds" to designate their sailors collec- 
 tively, and vie with each other in boasting how many men 
 they have knocked down, kicked the face off of, robbed, and 
 murdered. When we reflect upon such horrible scenes 
 of cruelty, which used to be so common on board of sea- 
 going vessels, and take into consideration the fact that 
 American commerce is very much diminished, and, perhaps, 
 in a fair way to become extinct, how can we resist the 
 conclusion, that the sad change is largely due to that 
 shameless tyranny and oppression which has brought down 
 the judgments of God on our mercantile interests, and seem- 
 ingly destroyed our commerce beyond the possibility of 
 a resurrection ? It is nearly certain that it cannot be resus- 
 citated without help from the nation ; and it will assuredly 
 be for the nation's interest to provide for a better state 
 of things in the future. May our commerce never rise 
 until its foundations are established in truth and righteous- 
 ness! 
 
 28. The immediate effect of the ill-treatment which sea- 
 men so often receive is to destroy their self-respect, and 
 make them feel that they have very little in prospect worth 
 living for in this world. They frequently brood over their 
 miseries, and cherish bitter and revengeful feelings towards 
 their officers, until, finally, desperation causes them to com- 
 mit acts of violence and bloodshed. Their oppressions have 
 also a powerful tendency to give them dark and erroneous 
 views of human nature, and sometimes even cause them to 
 distrust the goodness of God. " For why," say they, " does 
 he suffer such rascality to exist?" They observe, also, that 
 ship-owners, and others connected with vessels, are gener- 
 
 4*
 
 42 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 ally church-going people ; and that circumstance leads 
 many seamen to conclude that all Christians are hypo- 
 crites, or wolves in sheep's clothing. All such things have 
 an influence to harden the sailor's heart, and confirm him 
 in the belief that all virtue is counterfeit, and that good 
 motives are hardly ever the springs of action in conducting 
 human affairs. 
 
 29. In many other ways does oppression and tyranny 
 produce evil, and only evil. The best part of seamen do 
 not always get entirely discouraged; but their experience 
 causes them to avoid large ships and long voyages as much 
 as possible, and confine themselves to coasting, fishing, and 
 short voyages, where they can soon change their quarters 
 if things do not go on to suit them. Such unjust and 
 shameful proceedings have also had the effect to keep most 
 Americans away from the sea altogether ; for the tastes and 
 education of our people render them averse to being will- 
 ingly brought into positions where they will be almost sure 
 to receive unmerited abuse. As ships must be manned at 
 some rate in order to make their voyages safely, and as the 
 best behaved and most efficient seamen will not go if they 
 can help it, shipping-agents are therefore compelled to hire 
 thugs, thieves, pickpockets, and runners, that want to make 
 a passage somewhere, to help make up a vessel's complement 
 of men. This is a great evil ; for such vagabonds, of course, 
 know but very little about a sea-faring life : and so the 
 most complicated of all trades, involving the safety of thou- 
 sands of lives, and hundreds of millions of property, has to 
 be left, in a great measure, to the care of men that ought 
 to be confined in a state-prison, or transported beyond the 
 seas against their will and wishes. It is no wonder, then, 
 that so many noble vessels are carelessly lost, and valuable 
 lives and property imperilled. 
 
 30. If the bad men could always be associated with the
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 43 
 
 bad officers, there might not be quite so much harm done ; 
 but the reverse is oftener the case. The petty tyrants who 
 delight in the misery of others are just as anxious to 
 obtain quiet, peaceable men themselves as anybody ; and 
 they succeed about as often. To do this, they will fre- 
 quently 'anchor their vessels in the stream, and then au- 
 thorize their broker to pay " blood money " to the landlords, 
 which has the effect to interest them ; and then there is 
 seldom mSich difficulty. The best shipmasters are not so 
 fond of paying the " blood money," which is sometimes as 
 high as ten or twelve dollars per head ; and so, in many 
 cases, they have to take up with what the others leave. 
 This, again, is another crying evil ; for when bad sailors, or 
 rather salt-water impostors, get into a good ship, they make 
 it about as disagreeable for the officers as bad officers can 
 make it disagreeable for well-disposed men. Their con- 
 duct is generally in the highest degree irritating and vexa- 
 tious. They are not willing to submit to proper discipline, 
 nor to any wholesome restraints, and act continually as 
 though they thought it must be extremely dishonorable in 
 them to behave well. In such unpleasant circumstances, 
 if the officers do not act promptly, and use any and every 
 means that may be necessary to keep the miscreants 
 under, they will behave like so many devils incarnate, and 
 make the ship a perfect pandemonium. They will openly 
 and shamelessly rob the decent men on board of their 
 clothing; insult the officers ; fight among themselves ; and 
 do many other things which must rojoice the heart of the 
 Great Destroyer, when he sees what apt and zealous crea- 
 tures the greater part of his children are. The writer 
 of these pages has heard several of these scoundrels tell 
 their officers to go to a " very warm place," because they 
 were very civilly requested to keep a lookout at night. 
 They are seldom willing to do any thing that requires them
 
 44 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 to make any effort ; and, as they are entirely destitute 
 of shame, no man can hope to govern such a set, but by 
 having recourse to the most stringent measures, and fear- 
 lessly using every means that may be necessary to preserve 
 peace and order. These men, too, are regular sea-lawyers; 
 and, if they can provoke an officer to strike one of their 
 number, they will lay their case before their boarding- 
 master, who will employ a lawyer that will harass the 
 shipmaster with letters aud arrests, until he is glad to get 
 clear of the annoyance by paying quite a large sum of 
 money; and their success gives them fresh courage to 
 repeat the same manoeuvre on somebody else. If the ship- 
 master is resolved to fight it through in the law, he is very 
 likely to get the worst of it: for these men will swear to 
 any thing; and, being assisted by the boarding-master and 
 runner, they will make up and swear to a plausible story, 
 which would deceive almost any jury of landsmen. This, 
 again, is another great evil which ought to be remedied ; for 
 most juries know as little of maritime affairs as they do 
 of Tristan, d. Acuna, or Van Dieman's Land. Juries to 
 try seamen should, as far as possible, be composed of sea- 
 faring men. 
 
 31. It is very rarely, however, that a ship's crew is com- 
 posed of men wholly good or wholly bad. For reasons 
 already given, they now average far worse than formerly. 
 But still there are many men now going to sea that are 
 naturally well disposed; and if they could have their temp- 
 tations removed, and be subjected to good influences, many 
 of them might be saved from destruction, and become orna- 
 ments to .their profession, as well as benefactors to the 
 human race. As long ns such men are swindled by their 
 landlords, maltreated by their officers, and compelled to 
 live on equal terms with felons and blackguards of almost 
 every description, it is, of course, useless to talk about re-
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 45 
 
 form ; but if society will take knowledge of the situation 
 of these suffering men, and be willing to give them, one 
 and all, an equal chance in the world, and the same rights 
 and privileges that other men enjoy, then we can hope 
 that the time has at last arrived, when the "abundance 
 of the sea" shall be given to that Being who is using his 
 children as agents to establish upon the earth his blessed 
 kingdom of righteousness and peace. 
 
 Before we discuss the means to be employed for the 
 accomplishment of this much-desired object, we will take 
 notice of a few more grievous wrongs which seamen have 
 to endure, and which will probably continue to exist until 
 the change we have mentioned shall become an accom- 
 plished fact. We shall take no further notice of the crimi- 
 nals and blacklegs, who, in consequence of the existing 
 state of things, make up so large a percentage of our ships' 
 crews, unless compelled to do so in order to make our sub- 
 ject intelligible. They do not deserve to class with seamen ; 
 and, if things were as they should be, they would all be 
 cared for at some penal establishment, where force could 
 be advantageously used to make them work for a living. 
 
 32. It has been already noticed, that many of our ship- 
 masters are wicked and unprincipled men, who would stoop, 
 if circumstances were favorable, to do the meanest things 
 for the sake of a little pecuniary benefit. It is to be par- 
 ticularly remarked, that such men generally ignore religion, 
 and profess to be governed by a high sense of honor in all 
 their dealings with mankind. When a ship commanded 
 by one of these honorable individuals reaches a foreign port, 
 and he finds that seamen can be obtained there for a less 
 rate of wages than what he is paying, he immediately sets 
 his wits to work to devise some plan of persecution, which 
 rarely fails to drive the crew all ashore ; especially if there 
 are any landlords and runners in the place to entice them.
 
 46 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 The* United States have laws to discourage the discharge 
 of seamen in foreign lands ; but they are wholly ineffec- 
 tual to prevent the evil, and only operate to embarrass and 
 perplex good captains, who, perhaps, would be very glad to 
 get rid of some of their roughs. Bad shipmasters compel 
 their crews to desert by hard usage, and nothing can be 
 done to them for it ; but, if a good captain wants to get 
 clear of a felon who is nothing but a nuisance on board, he 
 must first take him to the consul, and get the consent 
 of that functionary, and afterwards pay three months' addi- 
 tional wages to defray the man's expenses home. The 
 poor sailor who is compelled to desert by cruel treatment 
 forfeits all of his wages, and his clothing into the bargain ; 
 but the miserable scoundrel who is nothing but a pest on 
 board of a good ship is protected by the laws, and must be 
 paid every cent that belongs to him, and sent home by the 
 government, free of expense. It is true, that, if the captain 
 can make it appear that any of the crew have been guilty 
 of criminal offences on board of his ship, he will then be 
 justified in discharging them without the three-months' 
 additional pay ; but that almost always involves a lawsuit, 
 which, for many reasons, is far more practicable for the 
 sailor than for the captain. 
 
 The lost wages of the deserted sailor are lawfully claimed 
 by the United-States Government; and it is the duty of con- 
 suls to affix a true account of the same to every vessel's 
 crew-list, so as to avoid all disputes in the custom-houses 
 at home. The captain carries the ship's articles, and the 
 deserted crew's receipts for advanced wages, to the consul's 
 outer office, and assists the consul's clerk to "square up" 
 the forfeited wages and effects of the "runaways." These 
 experts in mathematics generally dispose of the matter 
 much as a schoolboy would an affected quadratic equation ; 
 and when they have got every thing involved, transposed,
 
 A VOICE FKOM THE DEEP. 47 
 
 reduced, and simplified to their minds, it is often found 
 that U. S. = a very long string of accounts, which the 
 mathematical processes have reduced to cipher margins. 
 The ship gains largely by laying for a long time without 
 any crew on board ; for their services are seldom actually 
 required in ports where stevedores handle the cargoes. 
 
 33. But such is not the course that is generally pursued 
 by the majority of these honorable .shipmasters, especially 
 if the consul happens to be a man of known integrity; which 
 is sometimes the case. Most of them know a trick worth 
 two of that, as we shall presently see. In nearly all sea- 
 port towns there exists a lot of rascally tailors who are 
 willing to do any thing to make money, as long as they can 
 manage to keep the weather-side of the law. To one of 
 these men the honorable shipmaster applies himself, and 
 gives him authority to pay off his deserted crew. In these 
 transactions it is understood that the seamen are to receive 
 what is due them, only on condition that they will take 
 a large part, say seventy-five or eighty per cent of the whole 
 amount, in clothing at .the tailor's prices. They do not 
 sign receipts for the full amount of wages in settling, but 
 only for so much money advanced them, so as not to com- 
 promise the shipmaster, who has no right to discharge 
 them. The tailor then finds means to inform the men of 
 this arrangement; and they soon come for their pay, glad 
 enough to get any thing. The captain then carries these 
 receipts to the consul's office ; and they are, of course, al- 
 lowed in making up the accounts to be transmitted home. 
 By this little piece of roguery the tarlor makes an enor- 
 mous profit, the captain gets a nice new suit of clothes, and 
 poor Jack is branded as a deserter, and left to shift for 
 himself, and get home the best way he can. This is a 
 very common transaction, especially if a vessel makes a voy- 
 age to Europe.
 
 48 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 34. In many instances where the crews do not leave, the 
 same thing is practised to some extent. A sailor wants 
 money, say twenty-five or thirty dollars; and the captain, 
 instead of advancing it himself, gives the man an order to 
 go to some tailor, who is willing to give him only about 
 twenty per cent of what he calls for in money ; and the 
 rest he must take in clothing, as in the case of desertion. 
 As clothing is the main thing that the sailor generally 
 wants to get with his money, he submits to the arrange- 
 ment; and the captain gets a suit of clothes, as before, but 
 not so good a one as in the case of desertion. In that case, 
 the tailor has a double incentive to do well by the captain, 
 and give him large presents: for in Europe many of them 
 keep shipping-offices, and furnish men for the return voy- 
 ages of American ships, which gives them a chance to han- 
 dle large amounts in advanced wages. These tailors will 
 never ship men, if they can help it, who are not willing to 
 take a large part 6f their advanced wages in clothing; and 
 so the poor miserable shell-backs from one ship are robbed 
 in the same manner while shipping in another. And all this 
 rascality is carried on right under the noses of our foreign 
 consuls ; but it does not seem to excite any comments from 
 them. It is true that they are nearly impotent to hinder 
 such things; but they might give an alarm, and let people 
 know what wolves and hyenas surround them. 
 
 35. The effect of such dealing on the minds of seamen is 
 necessarily pernicious. They cannot help feeling that tln-y 
 are not considered a part of the civilized world, but the 
 natural prey of every human shark and cormorant that 
 claims to belong to society. Can it be surprising, then, 
 that they act like brutes while on shore? What earthly 
 motive can a sailor have to behave well, when he sees noth- 
 ing but evil result from, his conduct, be it good or bad? 
 His hand is, therefore, against every man, and every man's
 
 A VOICE FKOM THE DEEP. 49 
 
 hand against him. He reels into every grog-shop, and 
 tries to efface memory, and drown the voice of conscience, 
 by pouring down streams of liquid fire. Good people shun 
 him in the streets as they would the pestilence, and gravely 
 moralize on the awful depravity of sailors. What poor, 
 blind creatures we are ! and how liable to err in judg- 
 ment ! The sailor's natural qualities of mind and heart 
 may be as good as our own. By subjecting our wheat to 
 one process, we obtain from it the healthful, nourishing, 
 and invigorating "staff of life;" but, by fermentation and 
 distillation, we can convert the same article into one of the 
 deadliest poisons known in the universe. Just so with the 
 sailor and the rest of mankind. Give seamen the same 
 chance in life that other men have, and they would un- 
 doubtedly turn out as well. If other men have got vir- 
 tiK! in their possession, it is because she was given them 
 by those that felt a generous interest in their welfare; and 
 it is the duty of all that have received and appreciated 
 such a precious gift to be willing to bless others in a like 
 manner. To neglect seamen, therefore, because they are 
 sinful and depraved, shows both hypocrisy and ingrati- 
 tude; and they are crimes so foul and mean, that it is 
 doubtful if their names were ever registered at Dean Swift's 
 famous whispering office. Some one has said, with consid- 
 erable truth, that no human being has yet been found who 
 would acknowledge himself guilty of them.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE CIRCUMSTANCES, CHARACTER, AND CONDITION OF 
 SEAMEN (CONTINUED). 
 
 36. IT has already been intimated that the accommoda- 
 tions for seamen on shipboard are often extremely bad. 
 That was especially the case a few years ago, when fore- 
 castles were almost invariably built under the vessel's 
 main-deck, and near the bows. Such forecastles are hardly 
 ever tight; and, besides the discomfort of having his cloth- 
 ing and bedding wet much of the time, the sailor has to 
 breathe, day and night, in full force, whatever odors may 
 arise from the cargo, be it guano, petroleum, hides, or mo- 
 lasses. These dogholes are also as dark as Egypt ; and, as 
 sailors are frequently allowed no light but what they can 
 produce by burning salt-beef and pork-grease in a tin 
 vessel constructed for the purpose, it can, perhaps, be faintly 
 imagined what an uninteresting place such a den must be. 
 Ho man in his right senses would ever think of risking a 
 dumb animal in which he was pecuniarily interested in 
 a ship's fore-peak; for, if he did, it would be almost sure to 
 die. It is probable, however, that the human species can 
 endure more abuse, and live, than any animal belonging to 
 the brute creation. Cockroaches and rats thrive well in 
 such places, however; and so do centipedes and scorpions, 
 if the weather happens to be warm, and the vessel is loaded 
 with logwood or dry hides. The peculiar motions of a ship 
 are felt much more severely iu the vicinity of the bows than 
 60
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 51 
 
 elsewhere ; and that is probably one reason why young and 
 inexperienced whalemen are so long afflicted with sea-sick- 
 ness. It cannot be surprising, either, that men living in 
 such dungeons should be subject to agues, rheumatism, and 
 bilious attacks, nor that they should soon fall victims to 
 pestilential diseases when the vessel happens to be lying 
 in a malarious district ; and their discomforts are immeas- 
 urably enhanced by myriads of mosquitoes that will not 
 suffer the sailor to rest a moment on his miserable couch. 
 If Mr. ttergh should know of any quadrupeds as uncom- 
 fortably situated as some sailors are with respect to their 
 sleeping-accommodations, he would undoubtedly make a 
 fuss about it ; and no man possessed of the common in- 
 stincts of humanity could blame him. 
 
 37. Most foreign vessels are still constructed with fore- 
 castles below ; but, within a dozen or fifteen years, many 
 American builders fit up an apartment for the sailors in the 
 forward part of what is now called the forward-house. 
 These places are far more comfortable than the others; for 
 on deck the sailor is removed from the odors of the cargo, 
 and can have sunlight and ventilation. He is also meas- 
 urably freed from the presence of venomous reptiles, which 
 crawl out of some cargoes ; and, being now where he can 
 sleep in a current of air to keep him cool, he can use a mos- 
 quito-net, and so free himself from that plague. It is much 
 to be feared, however, that Jack was never shifted on deck 
 from motives of benevolence, but simply to gain room below 
 to stow merchandise when freights were high. 
 
 38. If a forecastle below is worse to live in than any 
 damp cellar can possibly be, the one on deck is certainly 
 not a paradise. Imagine a dozen men, with all their chests, 
 bags, clothing, eating utensils,- and bedding, living in a 
 room six feet high by twelve feet square. Passengers are 
 allowed by law sixteen superficial feet ; and they, perhaps,
 
 52 A VOICE FEOM THE DEEP. 
 
 have only to endure the discomforts of a sea-voyage once 
 in a lifetime : but no law seems to avail for the sailor who 
 has to go to sea all his days. Some forecastles are a little 
 larger in proportion than the one we have described ; but 
 the extra room is generally used to stow away salt provis- 
 ions, chain-cables, or something of the sort ; so that the 
 sailor is actually worse off than he would be with a smaller 
 apartment free from those distasteful objects. In many 
 instances, too, the berths are constructed double ; and so it 
 frequently happens, that a clean, intelligent, sensitive boy 
 has to take up his quarters with some loathsome wreck 
 of a man, afflicted with all sorts of chronic diseases, and a 
 slave to every evil habit and vice. If a young man in 
 such unpleasant circumstances should manifest any repug- 
 nance towards the person referred to, his evil passions 
 would immediately be aroused, and the poor fellow would 
 become an object of dislike, and perhaps of persecution, for 
 the remainder of the voyage. 
 
 39. There is seldom any thing like a table in a ship's 
 forecastle ; but the food is usually brought from the galley 
 in huge tin pans, and placed in the middle of the floor, 
 where each man is expected to help himself with his sheath- 
 knife, which, perhaps, he has been using ten minutes before 
 to scrape greasy spars, or to cut tarry ropes. Each man 
 has a small tin basin in lieu of a plate, a quart-pot to hold 
 tea and coffee, and an iron spoon. With these rude uten- 
 >ils. and a little help from their fingers (that they can 
 seldom get fresh water enough to wash), they manage to 
 supply their corporeal natures with such aliment as custom 
 or cupidity will allow, and a very slovenly cook prepare. 
 Some of our fastidious epicures, who declare that they 
 cannot possibly eat fish with a steel fork, might be puzzled 
 to know how it is that sailors relish such meals. But per-
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 53 
 
 haps what the poet says maybe true on some occasions; 
 and this may be one of them : 
 
 " Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise." 
 
 40. Then, again, as we have just stated, there is seldom 
 much pains taken in preparing the food ; and the quality 
 of the ingredients is generally very inferior. Biscuits com- 
 posed of rye, rice, and Indian-meal, baked as hard as 
 chalk ; salt beef and bones completely innocent of fat ; pork 
 that would do honor to a soap-boiler's vat ; chiccory-coffee ; 
 the cheapest kind of tea; broken rice; kiln-dried Indian- 
 meal; a very little flour twice a week; the poorest quality 
 of molasses eked out with salt water ; a very few potatoes 
 occasionally; and split peas, beans, and vinegar, comprise 
 about the only articles from which the cooks can select 
 materials from which to prepare their meals. If the cooks 
 could or would do justice to what sailors have allowed 
 them, they would fare much better than they do now ; but 
 justice never seems to be in the fashion when dealing with 
 sailors. The salt beef is hardly ever skimmed while boil- 
 ing; the beans are thrown into a kettle with a junk of 
 pork (soap-grease), and boiled to a jelly ; the rice is cooked 
 in the same manner; the potatoes are boiled with their 
 "jackets" on, and left to soak in the water; and a hundred 
 other things done that would be suggestive of emetics to 
 people living ashore. The cooks are not always to blame 
 for such negligence, for frequently they have no time to do 
 better. Some owners do much better in provisioning their 
 vessels than the foregoing description would indicate, and 
 are quite liberal with flour and potatoes, and fresh meat 
 in port ; but such are not regular practitioners. The ma- 
 jority adhere rigidly to the old style, and would as soon 
 think of giving plum-cake to swine as butter and sugar to 
 
 sailors. 
 
 6*
 
 54 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 41. One bad consequence of the present system of dealing 
 with sailors is seen in the fact that they do not know how 
 to conduct themselves in the society of refined and culti- 
 vated people ; and that is another inducement for them to 
 go to seamen's boarding-houses, where but little notice is 
 ever taken of their peculiarities. Such slovenly habits con- 
 stantly indulged in tend also to lessen their self-respect, 
 which, in the absence of religion, is one of the best safe- 
 guards to human virtue and honor. 
 
 42. Another evil is to be found in the fact that a great 
 many owners, and not a few shipmasters, seem to be very 
 much afraid they shall put too much fresh water on board 
 their vessels; and so the strictest economy has to be used 
 to make it hold out. This is a great evil ; for it makes it 
 very difficult for seamen to keep their persons and clothing 
 clean. One gallon of fresh water per day is too little for 
 a civilized man to keep himself in a civilized condition, 
 especialty in hot weather ; but that is all the sailor is gen- 
 erally allowed for cooking, tea, and coffee, and all other 
 purposes. 
 
 43. It can readily be seen, from what has been stated, 
 that there is but very little, if any thing, in the surround- 
 ings of a sailor, that has any tendency to elevate him. 
 Almost all the influences which are brought to bear upon 
 him are only productive of evil. It is true that he is occa- 
 sionally brought into contact with some benevolent per- 
 sons who will, perhaps, offer to take an interest in his 
 moral and spiritual welfare; but that does not satisfy the 
 sailor, nor hardly seem to reach his case. Abstractions are 
 not very tangible things; and what the sailor wan 
 something tangible. It may be easy for some people to 
 tell him that ho is a vile sinner, and that, unless he re- 
 pent, he will be ruined and lost ; but how can such a 
 declaration benefit him ? He knows that he is ruined and
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 55 
 
 lost as well as anybody else ; and, what is more, he knows 
 that he has always been so. If he is told that Jesus Christ 
 came into the world to save just such sinners as he is, the 
 great thick cloud of unbelief, supported by a thousand fla- 
 grant wrongs, will not let the light shine upon the truth : 
 so it is nothing but an abstraction to hiui. Perhaps it 
 might also stagger the faith of some weak-kneed Christians, 
 if they were called upon to tell him how faith in Christ 
 could put him on equal terms with themselves, and give 
 him a home and a wife and children. Almost any sailor 
 would be ready to admit that religion might be a very fine 
 thing for people living ashore, who have friends and 
 houses and wives and children aad sympathy ; but he 
 cannot see how it can avail much in his case. He can see 
 no remedy, even in Christ, for all the evils which seem to 
 be so intimately connected with his station in life; and 
 those evils, being ever present with him, operate to prevent 
 him from beholding the light that shines above the portals 
 of heaven. If the sailor could see Christ in the hearts 
 of his fellow-men, and witness them making self-denying 
 efforts to remove his disabilities, and make him a man, he 
 would then have an efficacious motive to believe in Christ, 
 but hardly till then. When Christ came upon the earth, 
 he went about doing good, and convinced people of his 
 divine mission by his labors of love for their bodies, before 
 he undertook to convert their souls. So it must be with 
 the sailor. He must be able to see Christ's love working 
 in the hearts of his people, and behold them trying ear- 
 nestly to remove all obstacles that prevent him from having 
 an equal chance in the world with themselves; for what 
 other pledge can ho have of their good faith ? It will not 
 do to go from our pleasant homes to this needy class of 
 men. and say to them, " Be ye warmed and filled ! " No 
 indeed! The life-boat must be launched and manned by
 
 56 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 true Christians, who are willing to brave perils, if need 
 be, and privations, to effect their salvation; and then tin- 
 poor outcasts may be able to see something tangible and 
 beautiful in Christ's love. 
 
 44. Before we proceed any further with our investiga- 
 tions, we will glance back, and review some of the things 
 which have been said concerning those classes of men who 
 are, by their occupations and professions, more or less con- 
 nected with seamen, lest a false impression should be left 
 on the minds of any of onr readers whe may be unac- 
 quainted with nautical affairs; and, in the first place, we 
 will commence with the boarding-master. Men and women 
 that keep seamen's boarding-houses have generally the 
 credit of being great rogues; but such is not always tin- 
 case. Doubtless a few of them have as good intentions, 
 when they first begin their business, as any other class 
 of people who are striving to get an honest living by serv- 
 ing, in some manner, their fellow-men. Their profession 
 is not necessarily bad, no worse than a hotel-keeper's, a 
 barber's, or a baker's. Seamen must board somewhere; and 
 it is a great accommodation to them to have a place to 
 live between their voyages. Some of these bonding-masters, 
 too, have kindly dispositions, and, in many cu-es, are will- 
 ing to do much for the sailor aside from sordid self-interest. 
 Many of them have actually lost money by rendering ;i - 
 sistance to those who have been unfortunate ; for, in some 
 instances, those unfortunate ones have been heartless and 
 unprincipled vagabonds, who never had any intention of 
 repaying their kind benefactors, except by the basest in- 
 gratitude. Quite a number of these boarding-house keep- 
 era have been seamen themselves, and know, from tlieir 
 own experiences, how to sympathize with others in their 
 privations and Bufferings. Doubtless there are men among 
 them, who, according to the dim light they have received,
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 57 
 
 mean to be honest, and to practise fair dealing as well as 
 they can. It is not by any means the object of this book 
 to attack boarding-masters, or any other class of men, but 
 simply to present facts from which we can draw conclu- 
 sions as to what causes the physical, moral, and spiritual 
 degradation of the sailor, so that we can intelligently apply 
 remedies which will be best calculated to remove the evils 
 te which he is subjected, and elevate him to the dignity 
 of a Christian brother and fellow-citizen. Good boarding- 
 houses cannot be permanently injured by any such reme- 
 dies ; but the bad ones will be squelched without fail. 
 
 45. If what has been said bears hard on those scoun- 
 drels that are and that have been using their best endeav- 
 ors to ruin the bodies and souls of their fellow-men for the 
 sake of advancing what they conceive to be their own tem- 
 poral interests, it cannot be helped. The light must shine, 
 whomsoever it may offend; for such is the will of that Being 
 who has not only commanded his children to walk in the 
 light while they have it, but also to let their light shine upon 
 the dark places of the earth, which "are full of the habita- 
 tions of cruelty." Light on this subject will not operate to 
 disparage the attempts of any honest and upright person 
 who is trying to gain a livelihood by administering to the 
 temporal wants of seamen, but will rather stivngthen his 
 hands. Those people only whose deeds are evil hate the 
 light; and, when we consider the effect which light has 
 upon their works, we can scarcely wonder at their repug- 
 nance. 
 
 4(>. Notwithstanding all that has been said in favor 
 of fair-dealing landlords, it must be confessed they are but 
 rarely met with ; and the majority are fully as bad as 
 has been represented. Even in those houses where hon- 
 orable principles prevail, as far as money-matters are con- 
 cerned, there is hardly any thing ever done to promote
 
 58 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 the moral and spiritual interests of seamen. The prevail- 
 ing influences in some of the best of these places tend 
 rather to weaken than to build up the cause of virtue in the 
 human heart. 
 
 47. It is not so strange, however, as it might at first 
 seem, that nearly all seamen's landlords should be men 
 that have but little regard for the higher and nobler inter- 
 ests of life. The fact is, but few of the best people in 
 society could be prevailed upon to keep a seamen's board- 
 ing-house; and they have very sound reasons for declining. 
 People on shore are not ignorant of the fact that sailors 
 have the reputation of being a turbulent and depraved 
 class of men ; and what poor Christian widow, keeping a 
 boarding-house, would like to have her moral sensibilities 
 constantly shocked by dealing with such barbarous crea- 
 tures ? A great many professed Christians, and, it may be, 
 true ones too, are not very aggressive^ jn their characters, 
 but prefer to send substitutes into those fields of labor 
 where thorns and brambles, and poisonous plants, must be 
 rooted up and subdued. They might go there if sent by 
 the Church or some societj'; but few would ever think 
 of being so benevolent of their own accord : and we can 
 hardly blame them, when we reflect that other considera- 
 tions are involved, which would deter most good people 
 from engaging voluntarily in any such work. Who would 
 like to have a parcel of swearing, drunken, and licentious 
 men introduced into his family, especially if he had little 
 children? It is useless to say that they might be all con- 
 verted, and induced to behave well. Some of them might ; 
 but enough would remain bad to make it extremely un- 
 pleasant and disagreeable to try to get along with them on 
 any terms. We see, therefore, that the conduct of the 
 sailor qualifies the character of his boarding-house even 
 more than the evil influences of the boarding-house affect 
 the character of the sailor.
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 59 
 
 48. From what has been said, we can also rightly infer 
 that bad seamen's boarding-houses are not the primary 
 cause of the sailor's degradation and misery. They are 
 only branches of the tree of sin, and not the roots. As 
 branches, they produce very pernicious and bitter fruits, 
 which contribute largely to increase the wretchedness and 
 woe of those "that go down to the sea in ships ; " but, after 
 all, we must seek farther if we would find the source of all 
 the mischief. We must follow the tap-root along until we 
 find where the little fibres elaborate deadly poison from 
 the dark laboratory of the destroyer. We must probe 
 society, and see by what means the enemy has succeeded 
 in inflicting a wound that refuses to be healed by any 
 remedy which has hitherto been tried, and will not be mol- 
 lified with ointment. Good boarding-houses, like rood 
 branches of the tree of righteousness, produce many fair 
 and excellent fruits, which may do very well to nourish 
 a convalescent sailor; but they cannot cure him. Nothing 
 but a copious flow of sap from the roots can impart life and 
 vigor to one so far gone as he. 
 
 49. As good branches, producing many fair and excel- 
 lent fruits, we may mention some of our Sailors' Homes, and 
 other institutions of like character, which abound in some 
 of our seaport towns. They are undoubtedly the means 
 of accomplishing an incalculable amount of good ; and those 
 noble men and women who first interested themselves to 
 make self-denying efforts to establish such places are wor- 
 thy of all praise. It is also to be hoped that they have 
 already seen good enough result from their labors to make 
 their hearts rejoice in the fulfilment of some of the sweetest 
 promises of Scripture; for, among other things, the "chil- 
 dren of light" are constantly assured that their lab y or is not 
 in vain in the Lord. Sailors' Homes, however, and all 
 kindred agencies, though they may benefit hundreds, and
 
 60 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 perhaps thousands, of individual seamen, still cannot effect 
 a cure for scarcety any of the special evils to which they 
 are, as a class, subjected. The plaster is not large enough 
 for the wound ; nor can it be made large enough, even if 
 every port had a hundred Sailors' Homes. 
 
 50. The character of runners will generally be found to 
 agree with the character of the houses which they repre- 
 sent. Some sailors regard them as merely an excrescence 
 of a bad boarding-house, and not at all necessary in a good 
 one. But such a view is not strictly correct ; for they are 
 frequently useful in assisting timid and bashful seamen to 
 obtain situations ; and, in a variety of ways, such a man, 
 attached to a good boarding-house may bo not only use- 
 ful, but necessary. It is also proper to mention that there 
 has been considerable improvement in the character of some 
 of the seamen's boarding-houses in many of our Northern 
 seaport towns during the last ten years; and the runners 
 behave much better now than formerly. These improve- 
 ments, however, are largely due to stringent laws, which 
 will not allow runners to board vessels until after they 
 arrive at the wharves; and to better police-regulations than 
 we formerly had. It is also found impracticable to des- 
 patch vessels from the wharves Sundays; and the various 
 institutions for the benefit of seamen now receive the fos- 
 tering care of city governments ; whereas they were formerly 
 obliged to shift for themselves. 
 
 51. These changes are great, and as they should be ; but 
 still it is doubtful if they contribute very much towards 
 actually improving the condition of seamen. There is no 
 corresponding change for the better in other parts of the 
 world ; and even hero the aforesaid laws and regulations 
 were probably made and enforced more with a view to pro- 
 tect the public from having to witness and bo annoyed by 
 shameless exhibitions of depravity thuu from any just and
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP, r 61 
 
 intelligent appreciation of the obligations and duties of soci- 
 ety to that class of men who are daily and hourly risking 
 their lives for her welfare. The character of boarding-houses, 
 landlords, and runners, is and must be intrinsically the same 
 as ever, unless there shall some change take place in the 
 character, circumstances, and condition of seamen, which 
 will necessitate a thorough reform. Landlords, runners, 
 and prostitutes may stand in awe of the police, and try to 
 maintain an outside show of decency ; but inside of their 
 peacock's feathers they have gizzards like ostriches, and 
 nothing would come amiss to them which they could 
 devour. 
 
 52. The brokers employed to hire seamen, called ship- 
 ping-agents or shipping-masters, frequently exercise a very 
 bad influence upon them by the methods which many 
 of them adopt to get crews, and by cheating in various 
 ways. These brokers frequently have authority from own- 
 ers to pay off some of the crews they have shipped ; and in 
 such cases figures (which won't lie) are often so arranged 
 as to tell tales which make poor Jack's heart ache. Some- 
 times, again, when men are plenty, and chances scarce, 
 they will extort a fee from the sailor, besides the regular 
 brokerage which they get from the ship-owner. This is a 
 great evil : for, the fee being variable, the best chances, 
 of course, go to the highest bidders; and the highest bid- 
 ders are generally those that are worth the least. The 
 best men are not very fond of paying this fee. But board- 
 ing-masters that have a parcel of drunken swabs on hand, 
 that they consider in debt to them, will sometimes pay lib- 
 erally to get them shipped off; and that, too, is one reason 
 why good ships are so often cursed with bad crews. Mates 
 are frequently bled in the same way, the fee for them being 
 sometimes as high as fifteen or twenty dollars; and any 
 officer who does not feel disposed to uphold such a sharne- 
 6
 
 62 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 less system of corruption, and who has no acquaintance 
 among ship-owners, might remain ashore a month without 
 being noticed by a broker, unless circumstances should 
 favor him. The evil is not so much in the fee itself as in 
 the irregularity of it. When men are scarce, the broker.-* 
 are glad to get them without it, and even call on the owners 
 for blood-money; but, when men are plenty, qualifications 
 are often, in a great measure, disregarded, and the best 
 places are secured to the highest bidders. We see, there- 
 fore, that the influence of shipping-agents as a class is 
 unfavorable to the development of right principles in the 
 mind of the sailor. Many of them not only cheat him 
 when they can, but tell all kinds of lies about the vessels 
 they are working for, and the voyages they are interested 
 in ; and Jack is sure to find them all out eventually, 
 which gives him another lamentable proof that he was born 
 to be the legitimate prey of all the harpies in the world. 
 Many shipping-agents, however, do as well as can reasona- 
 bly be expected of them, considering the circumstances in 
 which they are placed; and the abuses for which they are 
 directly responsible are small when compared wU,h many 
 others which seamen have to endure.* 
 
 * As the shipping-agents are now superseded by the shipping-commission 
 ers, it may be thought unnecessary to retain this section; but it yet remains to 
 be Been, whether they will do much better than their predecessors did. The same 
 temptations are before them; and there is no valid reason to give why a mmi 
 appointed by the government should prove more virtuous than one who is not. 
 The head commissioners In the different ports may possibly retain their integ- 
 rity; and, as a new broom sweeps clean, their utaff officers mny do well for a 
 while; hut it will be a miracle indeed, if they do not soon prove as corrupt as 
 those that have just been compelled to retire before them. As long as the sailor 
 is physically, morally, and spiritually corrupt, just so long will he be surrounded 
 by vultures and hyenas : but put him in harmony with nature, and all of his as- 
 sociations will quickly regulate themselves to his new standpoint in society ; and 
 the lion will quickly learn to eat straw like the ox. It should be remembered, 
 too, that our commissioners have no jurisdiction out of the United States, where 
 most of our shipping and discharging is practically done. Sec SECTION 34.
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 63 
 
 53. Another thing which goes to prove to seamen that 
 landsmen are sharks and hypocrites is the treatment which 
 they often receive at the hands of some of our foreign con- 
 suls. Some of these officials are humane, well educated, 
 and intelligent, and perhaps every way worthy of the posi- 
 tion they have attempted to fill ; but it is to be feared 
 there are many among them who are inclined to seek iheir 
 own instead of another's wealth. Broken-down merchants 
 that have failed in business, and who, perhaps, were never 
 burdened with honesty, will sometimes contrive to get a 
 number of respectable names attached to their petitions to 
 the government for an office which will give them a good 
 living, a respectable position in society, and, at the same 
 time, remove them as far as possible from the scene of their 
 former mishaps ; and they are very apt to succeed. Many 
 of these men know and care but very little about the rights 
 or the wrongs of seamen, but have an eye continually to 
 replenishing their pockets before the next presidential 
 election. They use every expedient to extort money from 
 both shipmasters and seamen; and, instead of facilitating 
 commercial enterprises for their countrymen, they only 
 place obstacles in the way. Innumerable are the instances 
 in which consuls and their deputies have wronged sea- 
 men ; and so their influence for good cannot rate much 
 higher than the boarding-masters' or the shipping-agents.' 
 There are, doubtless, many excellent men among them ; 
 but they generally manage to keep their excellences far 
 away from the vulgar gaze of seamen. 
 
 54. A great many people seem to think that ship-owners 
 are primarily responsible for most of the evils which sea- 
 men have to endure. They say that if merchants would 
 see that their ships were sea-worthy, and provided with 
 ample accommodations for their crews, much discomfort 
 would be avoided ; if they would be careful to put on board
 
 64 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 an adequate supply of good nourishing food, and pay the 
 men well, they would be contented and happy ; and if they 
 would go a step further, and select honest, upright, and, as 
 far as possible, religious men for officers, there could then 
 be nothing else left to be desired ; and, if sailors would not; 
 then improve, it must be their own fault. This view of the 
 case, plausible as it seems, is liable to grave objections. 
 It is not intended to shield ship-owners from their just 
 responsibilities ; but it can readily be shown that there 
 is a limit to what merchants can do, far more circumscribed 
 than is generally supposed. 
 
 55. Ship-owners are generally thought to be immensely 
 rich, and sometimes such a supposition is true ; but then it 
 does not necessarily follow that they can all afford to pay 
 high wages, besides expending large sums in providing 
 things for seamen's comfort, when the state of their busi- 
 ness will not warrant such indulgences. They cannot do 
 it simply because they are rich ; for, if a rich man con- 
 stantly pays away more than he receives, he will soon cease 
 to be wealthy ; and those versed in maritime affairs know 
 that it is extremely awkward for a ship-owner to be poor. 
 Vessel-property has, of late years, been about the poorest 
 of any; and, unless something is speedily done by the gov- 
 ernment to relieve our merchants, ship-building in the 
 United States must soon be practically numbered with the 
 lost arts. 
 
 5G. Supposing, tljen, that merchants should conclude to 
 enhance the cost of running their ships thirty per cent., 
 for the express purpose of benefiting seamen: what must 
 necessarily be the result? Would not such a measure 
 speedily destroy the whole commerce of the country, and 
 leave our seamen with nothing to do? It must be obvi- 
 ous, therefore, to every intelligent person, that the most that 
 any merchant can do, under present circumstances, will
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 65 
 
 only be to give his attention to such means of improve- 
 ment as will tend to alleviate some of the woes and discom- 
 forts of sailors, and not cost too much money. And here 
 it must be confessed that many of them are sadly at fault, 
 as much so, perhaps, as the landlords, the brokers, and 
 the consuls, whose conduct we have already had occasion 
 to notice. Money is the objective point to which all own- 
 ers direct their attention ; and it must be confessed that 
 some of them, in their greed for gain, neglect all the nobler 
 faculties of their souls, and sacrifice their whole lives at 
 Mammon's unholy shrine. 
 
 57. Such men, if they own ships, merely regard them as 
 a pecuniary investment, valuable only according to the 
 dividends which they pay. The comfort and happiness 
 of the crews they employ never enters into their calcula- 
 tions ; for they only regard seamen as tools to work with for 
 the accomplishment of their own selfish purposes; and 
 they are constantly contriving how to make them service- 
 able with the least possible expense. Some of these soul- 
 less men connive at, and even encourage, the unlawful dis- 
 charge of seamen in foreign ports, where cheaper help can 
 be obtained ; and they likewise have recourse to every other 
 expedient which their ingenuity can suggest to save for 
 themselves a few paltry dollars at the expense of poor 
 Jack's health, comfort, and happiness. Such meanness is 
 truly despicable ; but it is astonishing to what low things 
 some people can stoop when they have neither religion nor 
 honor to strengthen their poor weak backbones. 
 
 58. Merchants, on the whole, however, compare favora- 
 bly in society with any other class of men. Some of the 
 greatest enterprises for the benefit of sailors have originated 
 almost entirely with them ; and many a noble man who has 
 amassed wealth by industriously following mercantile pur- 
 suits has rendered his name illustrious by his timely con- 
 
 6*
 
 66 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 tributions to the various objects of benevolence which 
 abound in all civilized communities. Thousands of people 
 in our land will never cease to give thanks that the world 
 has been blessed by the self-sacrificing benevolence of such 
 rich men as Cooper, Forbes, Peabody, Fearing, Stewart, 
 and Rousevelt; and it may be possible with God for even a 
 camel to pass through a needle's eye. 
 
 59. Ship-owners are clearly responsible, however, for not 
 providing suitable accommodations on board of their ves- 
 sels for sailors, and also for not supplying them with a 
 sufficient quantity of good wholesome food and water. It 
 is likewise criminal in merchants to send rotten and unsea- 
 worthy vessels on voyages where they are liable to be lost 
 on account of their weakness ; for, although they may se- 
 cure themselves from damage by getting such vessels 
 insured, it is not so with the sailor. With the merchant 
 it is only a matter of a few dollars and cents; but with the 
 sailor it is a matter of life and death. Such vessels are 
 sent to sea quite often; and sometimes, it is to be feared, 
 on purpose to get rid of them. Whoever tempts Provi- 
 dence in this manner, merely for purposes of gain, incurs 
 a most fearful responsibility, even if the voyage should ter- 
 minate successfully ; for the motive would be the same in 
 both cases. 
 
 60. Some owners demonstrate that they have but little 
 regard for the comfort and happiness of their crews by 
 hiring tyrannical and disagreeable men for officers. It is 
 very true, that, in selecting officers, the utmost pains should 
 be taken to secure energetic, enterprising, and competent 
 men in the first place ; but when a man is known to be 
 brutal, unprincipled, and tyrannical, his bad qualities 
 should not be overlooked simply because he is a proper 
 man to make money. Doubtless there are merchants that 
 would hire Satan himself to do their business if he would
 
 A VOICE PROM THE DEEP. 67 
 
 only promise them handsome dividends ; and they would 
 not care much, either, what means he used to make money, 
 as long as they could be sure that he would shoulder his 
 own legal responsibilities. Such men excuse the brutality 
 of their officers, if the subject is ever alluded to in their 
 presence, by saying that he is a nice man, a very good 
 fellow ; only he is a little cross when he is annoyed by the 
 unreasonable stupidity of sailors. "He is a little quick- 
 tempered," say they ; when, perhaps, the scoundrel has 
 been the cause of more misery than a whole lifetime of pen- 
 ance could atone for. And cases are not wanting in which 
 these miscreants have been guilty of murder in the first 
 degree, and still continued in office. 
 
 61. It should be remembered here, that it always 
 makes a wide difference who the parties are, when any 
 event out of the usual order takes place at sea. If passen- 
 gers have been ill treated in any manner, or their lives 
 rendered unsafe by the criminal neglect of merchants and 
 shipmasters, there is immediately a general cry raised for 
 a thorough investigation; and so ready are people in such 
 cases to jump at conclusions detrimental to the characters 
 of officers and merchants, that much injustice is frequently 
 done by the promptings of unreasoning prejudice. On the 
 other hand, if a ship is lost, and many seamen perish, or 
 if any thing else happens in the course of a voyage preju- 
 dicial to their interests, but very little notice is ever taken 
 of it. It is generally thrust into some obscure corner 
 of the newspapers, and just glanced at by the casual reader, 
 who does not feel, perhaps, that he lias any particular inter- 
 est in unimportant events which transpire in Behring's 
 Straits or the Mozambique Channel. 
 
 G2. The^e is no doubt, however, but that some ship- 
 owners do try to have honest and humane men take charge 
 of their vessel-,; and many of these shipmasters reflect
 
 68 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 great credit on their profession by their unceasing efforts 
 to do good. Some of these men are intelligent and well- 
 educated, and would no more think of taking a mean 
 advantage of a sailor than of cutting off their right han<ls. 
 Coining into direct contact with him in business afl'uirs, 
 and always dealing honestly and fairly, leaves an impres- 
 sion on his mind for good, which cannot readily be effaced. 
 The sailor is thus often made to feel that there may still be 
 such a thing as virtue in the world, though he has been so 
 often put off with its counterfeit. 
 
 63. We must remember, however, that good shipmas- 
 ters and officers are the exception, and not the rule. The 
 majority in all countries are more or less depraved; and 
 when we come to inquire into the different methods used t > 
 make them, we shall hardly wonder that the Prince of 
 Darkness has the best chance. Bad as things are now 
 conducted on board of many of our ships, there are yet 
 cases in which good, intelligent boys choose a seafaring 
 life, and stick to it in spite of all the ill-treatment they 
 receive. Being, in many cases, the disciples of the sab- 
 bath school, and perhaps graduates of the high school, 
 if not of some college, their early associations help them 
 very much to resist and overcome those vices and pollu- 
 tions which are the ruin of so many young sailors. When- 
 ever such young men happen to get in ships where their 
 exemplary conduct is appreciated by those above them, they 
 soon get ahead, and finally make the best shipmasters we 
 have, men who are every way worthy of the honor, 
 iv.-pect, and love usually bestowed upon them by their fel- 
 low-men. Would that there were more of them ! Would 
 that all the officers on board of our ships were kind-hearted, 
 conscientious, and intelligent men. Alas! they are not. 
 There are not enough to select from ; and so the majority 
 come from the most capable men that the forecastle affords
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 69 
 
 (without much regard being paid to their dispositions and 
 characters), and from the ranks of those fast young men who 
 manage, by means of their father's money, to crawl into 
 the cabin-windows and into a great many other places 
 which they are naturally much better adapted for than 
 going to sea. 
 
 64. It seems strange that men who have been ground 
 down by the most relentless oppression for a great number 
 of years should, in their turn, make the worst of tyrants 
 whenever they are delegated with the power. One would 
 naturally suppose that a sailor taken from the forecastle 
 would be the very man to feel for the condition of those 
 he might leave behind; but such is very seldom the 
 case. It seems as though any system of oppression and 
 wrong to which ignorant men are subjected has a tendency 
 to harden their natures, and render them more intensely 
 selfish and disagreeable. With intelligent and educated 
 persons the case might be very different ; but it is certainly 
 true, that when any of the poor, hardened wretches that 
 are usually denominated " growls " in a ship's forecastle get 
 to be officers, those they leave behind are more to be pitied 
 than ever; that is, if the men thus selected possess much 
 force of character. Quite a number of officers are selected 
 from crews in this way: for it frequently happens that a 
 shipmaster finds himself short of officers when placed in 
 circumstances where he can do no better than pick a man 
 from the crew as a temporary expedient; and most of these 
 transient officers try hard to keep out of the forecastle for- 
 ever after, and generally succeed. When such a man finds 
 he can maintain his position as second mate, he will fre- 
 quently, if he happen to bo young and ambitious, try to 
 acquire enough knowledge of the art of navigation to enable 
 him to navigate a ship indifferently well ; and then he is 
 ready for a mate's berth. A long experience as mate of a
 
 70 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 vessel, and some contact with cultivated people, prepares 
 the way for his becoming master when an opportunity 
 occurs; and in this way the major part of our shipmas- 
 ters get their positions. 
 
 65. These men are very apt to bring their vices along 
 with them ; but they are all subjected to a refining process. 
 Thus, instead of drinking rum and whiskey, they must have 
 Madeira and Champagne ; a clay pipe is exchanged for the 
 inevitable cigar; and, in visiting houses of ill-fame, they 
 are careful to bestow their patronage on those only where 
 the furniture and surroundings are all pleasing to the eye, 
 and where the inmates have only gone a few of the first 
 stages on the road to death. It is noteworthy, however, 
 that shipmasters, even of this latter description, generally 
 marry before they are fifty years of age ; but, when they 
 have been very vicious in youth, they seldom make faith- 
 ful husbands. It is related of the strange woman, that 
 "none that go unto her return again; neither take they 
 hold of the paths of life." And observation, as well as reve- 
 lation, teaches us, that, in most cases, it is certainly 
 even so. 
 
 66. What, then, can be expected of such men when 
 they become shipmasters? Can we expect selfish and 
 vicious men to become unselfish and pure minded, merely 
 because their position happens to be changed a little? 
 No: not unless the heart be changed, can we reasonably 
 expect any good to result from the actions of men who 
 have been trained up in the school of vice, and become 
 sublimated in the ways of sin. 
 
 67. There are some circumstances, however, in favor 
 of an improvement in the moral character of officers, even 
 though their antecedents may be bad. We have noticed 
 that many of them get married, especially the captains; 
 iind when this event is not consummated too late in life,
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 71 
 
 and the object of the affections is possessed of a good moral 
 character, the fires of sanctified love often prove sufficiently 
 powerful to rouse up all the latent faculties of the soul ; 
 which, under the stimulus of affection, re-acts in favor of 
 purity and virtue, until at length the individual is brought 
 within the domain of conscience, and becomes a thoroughly 
 reformed and virtuous man. Even in those cases where 
 the conduct of the wife exerts no positive influence for 
 good, if there are children, their innocent prattle and 
 harmless mirth have a wonderfully humanizing effect, bring- 
 ing the heart and mind, in a greater or less degree, under 
 the magic influence of love ; and so the way is often 
 paved for truth to come in, and ingraft upon the soul many 
 of those sweet and lovely graces which are the offshoots 
 of the tree of life. In very many, if not in most, in- 
 stances where both parties have missed the path of virtue 
 in youth, their union is attended with some degree of ben- 
 efit ; at least to the parties immediately concerned. It is 
 fearful to contemplate their offspring, which are so often 
 enstamped by abused and outraged Nature with the awful 
 lineaments of sin ; but, even with that drawback to their 
 happiness, the parties are undoubtedly infinitely better off 
 married than they would be pursuing their former road to 
 ruin, a path that can have but one termination, the 
 utter destruction of soul and body. 
 
 68. We see, then, that the influence of woman, if she is 
 not actually depraved and vicious, conspires powerfully to 
 elevate man under any circumstances. The sexes were 
 made for each other ; and nothing but evil can ever result 
 from keeping them apart. We shall yet have occasion 
 to show that it is through and by the agency of woman 
 that we hope to obtain our most efficacious means for the 
 physical, moral, and spiritual regeneration of seamen. 
 
 G9. It must, then lore, be apparent to every one, that
 
 72 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 there are some good influences to which men are more 
 exposed as officers than they are in the capacity of seamen. 
 Besides the inestimable privilege of often having a wife, 
 their increased means, and the respectability attached to 
 their official positions, and many other advantages in their 
 favor, all have a tendency to make them cherish self- 
 respect, and many other sentiments powerfully conducive 
 to human virtue. 
 
 70. On the other hand, the advanced position of the 
 shipmaster exposes him to temptations which he felt only 
 in a very slight degree before. He now finds that money 
 is the prize coveted by his employers, and, apparently, by 
 most of the world besides. He has accustomed himself to 
 respect their maxims, and execute their commands, many 
 of which, as we have already seen, are dictated by un- 
 righteous motives. In such a school he frequently learns 
 to be unscrupulous in the methods which he uses to get 
 gain, either for himself or his owners; and at length be- 
 comes such a proficient in the art of knavery, that lie 
 hardens hit heart to all the demands of justice, love, and 
 mercy, excepting, perhaps, where he sees his own interests 
 concerned, as in the case of his friends and family. While 
 absent on his voyages, he will resort to all kinds of expe- 
 dients to make money at the expense of sailors, or any 
 others whom he finds incapable of protecting themselves, 
 or of doing him any injury in return. He will sometimes 
 take advantage of the improvident habits of seamen, and 
 also of their misfortunes; and, when he finds they are suf- 
 fering for clothing, he will offer them enough to supply 
 their present needs at a profit of perhaps two or three 
 hundred per cent. He will also join hands with shipping 1 - 
 agents, tailors, and consuls' clerks, and divide with them 
 all the money which can in any possible way be wrung out 
 of the victimized mariner.
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 73 
 
 71. Shipmasters and officers who treat their men in this 
 manner cannot, of course, have any respect for them ; and 
 so they act accordingly. The sailor is regarded simply as 
 a machine to make money with, that needs no repairs j" 
 and so he is taxed to his utmost capacity of endurance. 
 He is treated, in many respects, worse than any dumb 
 animal would be, for the simple but singular reason that 
 he is a thinking, intelligent being, possessed of rational 
 faculties which can respond to abusive treatment with 
 bitter feelings and a broken spirit ; whereas it would effect 
 but little, even in the eyes of a tyrant, to abuse an inoffen- 
 sive brute, which could have no appreciation of his motives. 
 There are many inhuman beings, however, that seem to 
 delight in torturing dumb animals, as common observation, 
 and the records of one of our most useful societies, can 
 abundantly testify. 
 
 72. At this present day, the greater part of our shipmas- 
 ters who command foreign-going ships make a constant 
 practice of keeping both watches on deck in the afternoon, 
 on their passages out and home ; and they will continue to 
 do so until they are compelled to desist. A sailor is always 
 obliged to spend one-half of his time in the service of the 
 vessel, no matter what the weather may be; and this ar- 
 rangement seems unavoidable : but there is no occasion for 
 keeping him at work three or four hours longer every day, 
 unless something unusual takes place. No landsman would 
 like to be obliged to attend to business fifteen hours out 
 of every twenty-four, and be harassed about Sundays be- 
 sides. 
 
 In port, sailors are almost invariably obliged to work 
 from daylight until dark ; but there seems to be more rea- 
 son for that, as their work is useful : but at sea, much of 
 their extra work is absolutely vain and silly, and does not 
 benefit anybody. Some owners buy up a lot of old junk 
 r
 
 74 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 which is hardly fit to make oakum, and put it on board their 
 vessels to be worked over into spun-yarn. Half a dozen 
 sailors will be "kept up" a week, perhaps, to make a coil 
 that would not fetch a dollar at auction ; and many other 
 like things they are compelled to do, while they might and 
 ought to be improving their minds by reading, or washing 
 and mending their clothes to make them comfortable. It 
 is not objected that a sailor's work at sea is generally very 
 hard, but that he is required to devote too many hours to 
 it, which leaves him no time for any thing else but sleep. 
 We see that they are required to spend fifteen hours out 
 of every twenty-four in the service of the vessel. Add an 
 hour and a half more for their meals, and it leaves them 
 seven hours and a half to themselves; and we presume 
 that the most of them would require as much as that for 
 sleep. What would our mechanics, that are so anxious to 
 establish an eight-hour system of labor, think of such an 
 arrangement as that? How would they like to be confined 
 to their work still another eight hours, and have a part 
 of them come in the night? And, in addition to all this, 
 how would they like to realize that they neither had a 
 home, nor the remotest prospect of one? We think, that, 
 under such depressing circumstances, many of them, as 
 well as the sailors, would be tempted to have recourse to 
 the bottle, and " turn spirit down to keep spirit up." 
 
 73. But it is often said that sailors are not kept so busily 
 at work for the pecuniary profit that results from their 
 labors, but merely to keep the scurvy out of their bones, 
 and to prevent grumbling. Indeed ! Then, why is it that 
 shipmasters do not grumble, and have the scurvy ? If we 
 examine history, we shall find, that from the times of Cook, 
 Anson, and La Perouse, commanders have, as a class, been 
 remarkably free from the scurvy ; and that it has been 
 almost entirely confined to their neglected, misused, and
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 75 
 
 ill-fed crews. As to keeping sailors out of mischief by 
 hard work and abuse, that is all twaddle. A plenty of good 
 vegetables and water would be a far better specific for the 
 scurvy, and a library of good books, with maps, pencils, 
 and paper, and time to use them, a much more rational 
 means to prevent grumbling. Some owners might not 
 think that their interests would be best served by libraries 
 and vegetables ; but that is because selfishness always was 
 and always will be near-sighted. Many of them seem to 
 be nearly blind to the fact that an intelligent, well-behaved, 
 and efficient crew is one of the main things to be secured 
 in order to conduct a voyage successfully. The money lost 
 by a single collision, where a harassed, sleepy, and discon- 
 tented sailor failed to keep his lookout properly, would buy 
 more than a thousand libraries, or load a dozen vessels with 
 potatoes. 
 
 74. There are many shipmasters who actually esteem it 
 an honor to bully and tyrannize over those who may be so 
 unfortunate as to sail with them. In conversation these 
 petty tyrants are always boasting about the prowess they 
 have displayed in pugilistic encounters ; and some of them 
 act as though they thought that the surest way to rise in 
 the estimation of their owners would be to gain a reputa- 
 tion for exactness and cruelty. They would not have it 
 thought that they are naturally cruel, but made so by the 
 stupidity, slowness, and bad behavior of sailors. They 
 would try and make it appear, that, but for their own per- 
 sonal vigilance and extraordinary skill, their vessels could 
 not sail a mile without disaster. 
 
 75. It must now be obvious to all readers that have fol- 
 lowed us thus far, that bad officers on -a long voyage are 
 a terrible calamity to poor Jack ; and it is no wonder 
 that ships commanded by such miscreants should be de- 
 nominated " hells afloat ; " nor is it surprising that good sea-
 
 76 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 men should avoid such vessels as they would a pestilential 
 disease. There has been some legislation that was intended 
 to protect seamen, and the courts are apt to sympathize 
 with them ; but still the rascality is carried on, and the 
 worst villains nearly always manage to go unpunished. 
 The fact is, it is a matter which cannot be very well reached 
 by legislation, unless it be of a different character from any 
 which has yet emanated from Congress. 
 
 76. It is astonishing how ignorant our national repre- 
 sentatives are of the wants and necessities of seamen. 
 Here are nearly a hundred thousand of the most deserv- 
 ing of our fellow-citizens, who, if they had families the 
 same as other men, would represent half a million of our 
 population; and not a single soul to plead their cause intel- 
 ligently, or represent them in Congress. Our senators and 
 representatives, even from our seaboard States, know about 
 as little concerning the practical life of a sailor as they do 
 of the inmates of the Great Mogul's seraglio ; and that 
 surely is not much. These are the very men, too, who 
 bring us all our necessaries and luxuries from foreign lands, 
 the men, too, that choked the South to death in the 
 secession war, the men, too, whose life-blood would be 
 required, in case of a European war, to keep our enemies 
 at bay. Of these men, their wants and necessities, con- 
 gressmen know and realize but little. 
 
 77. There are but very few, if any, office-seekers and 
 lobbyists from among sailors. It is, indeed, but very sel- 
 dom that they can even get a chance to vote ; and then 
 they think it hardly worth their while. A poor, honest, 
 but unfortunate shipmaster seldom gets a lighthouse to 
 keep, or any other position under the government, which 
 can, in any possible way, be filled by the scrambling ver- 
 min that are as eager to grab every thing of the kind as 
 catfish are to seize the contents of a table-cloth. There
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 77 
 
 are honest, upright, and intelligent men in the country 
 who have spent the greater part of their lives at sea. Why 
 should not the lighthouse-keepers, some of the custom-house 
 officers, and other officials, be selected from among them ? 
 It is actually disgusting to have a young sprig of a lands- 
 man, who, perhaps, was never exposed to a storm in his 
 life, rush down into a vessel's cabin on her arrival, with his 
 hat on, and cry out, " Halloo, cap ! Let's see your papers! 
 Got any cigars ? Any good brandy ? " &c. 
 
 78. It may be said that such officers must be had; and 
 if seafaring men will not step forward, and present them- 
 selves, others must be taken. That seems to be a pretty 
 good excuse ; but it argues badly, we think, for the ten- 
 dency of republican institutions. There is a fitness to 
 things; and a cattle-drover would be as much out of place 
 officiating as secretary of the navy as a sailor would deal- 
 ing with the Sioux Indians as peace-commissioner. If sea- 
 faring men are not intelligent enough to be light-keepers 
 and custom-house officers, that is quite another thing ; but 
 then "who is to blame?" We shall see by and by. The 
 landsmen can have the custom-house a while longer, and 
 the lighthouses, too, for that matter ; but seamen must be 
 had to keep the lightships. It seems, then, that necessity 
 can find them, if justice cannot. 
 
 79. It is not intended by the foregoing remarks to cast 
 obloquy on our custom-house officials, or those that ap- 
 pointed them. Many of them are no doubt excellent men, 
 and might shine in some of the various trades and profes- 
 sions which abound in our midst ; but it does not seem 
 hardly proper that so many should addict themselves to 
 maritime affairs without some knowledge of the first rudi- 
 ments of a seaman's profession, without so much as know- 
 ing how to dig clams. Collectors should see to this, and 
 ask every applicant for office if it would be best to dig 
 
 7*
 
 78 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 clams at high or low water. Doubtless many of them 
 would say, " Sibboleth." 
 
 80. Be that as it may, however, and laying all jesting 
 aside, it is surely a matter worthy the attention of public 
 men ; for why should seamen be altogether excluded from 
 remunerative offices, as well as ostracized from society? 
 Allowing that it is much easier to take applicants from 
 other trades and professions for every thing, does that 
 make it right and proper, or even expedient? Would 
 it not help to make seamen virtuous, if they could see that 
 even a few of their number were kindly noticed by those 
 in authority under the government ? 
 
 81. If it be said that seafaring men would sympathize 
 with their former companions, and encourage a little smug- 
 gling, we reply, that if that is true, why not, on the same 
 principle, send sailors on shore to collect the internal reve- 
 nue, for fear that landsmen should sympathize with lands- 
 men ? Are sailors naturally more dishonest than shore 
 people? and, if so, what makes them? We shall yet have 
 occasion to show that many of the irregularities of which 
 seafaring men are manifestly guilty can be traced directly 
 to the present system of dealing with them, which almost 
 presupposes that they are all thieves, liars, and sniugglers, 
 and sends unsympathizing, and sometimes predaceous de- 
 tectives to watch them narrowly, and seize every silk dress, 
 accordion, and bed-spread with which the poor, wretched 
 outcasts from society propose to gladden the hearts of their 
 female acquaintances, whom the nature of their occupation, 
 and the want of means, will hardly ever allow tbem to see. 
 It may be that the female friends of sailors have no right 
 to have silk dresses. And perhaps some people cannot 
 realize what it is to leave a pleasant home forty or fifty 
 times in a lifetime, and spend their weary weeks and 
 months and years ploughing salt water for the benefit
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 79 
 
 of others : but it is time that somebody gave their attention 
 to those things ; it is time that the rights and privileges 
 of seamen should be clearly denned, and proper regulations 
 made to save them from the supposed necessity of having 
 to practise fraud and concealment to keep their little pres- 
 ents to their wives, mothers, and sisters, out of the clutches 
 of those unsympathizing land-sharks and small politicians 
 that now compose quite a large per cent of the officials in 
 some of our custom-houses. 
 
 82. Be it distinctly understood, however, that we do not 
 say a word in favor of giving seamen free permits to en- 
 courage smuggling, but to vindicate a command that was 
 given a long time ago, and the moral bearing of which is 
 worthy of a moment's reflection : " Thou shalt not muzzle 
 the ox which treadeth out the grain." People who are 
 caught smuggling should be punished severely ; but, if a 
 seafaring man buys a few little things abroad for his own 
 family, he should be allowed to pass them free of duty if 
 the value is not excessive. It could be easily arranged 
 so that but little damage would result from these small 
 leaks ; and much good would be done if sailors could be 
 made to see that they were accounted worthy of a little 
 consideration by their countrymen. 
 
 83. We have now discussed the principal of the sailors' 
 business-relations, and found them all wanting. Let us 
 turn our attention to the sailors again for a short space, 
 and take a retrospective view of the situation before we 
 proceed to inquire what remedies may be available to alter 
 the present state of things, and give seamen something 
 like an equal chance in life with other people. 
 
 84. Some may think, that, as this book treats principally 
 of the wrongs of seamen, it may, perhaps, leave an unfair 
 impression on the minds of those who have had no oppor- 
 tunities of knowing any thing about them by personal con-
 
 80 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 tact. They would say, perhaps, that the hright side of a 
 sailor's life should be exhibited at the same time, and with 
 equal fidelity; so that a one-sided view of the picture need 
 not bias the judgment. Such reasoning is plausible, and 
 should be adopted if possible ; but what can be done when 
 there is no bright side? Let any landsman who has spent 
 twenty years in the bosom of a Christian family, loved 
 and respected by his neighbors, enjoying all the rights of a 
 freeman, and the privilege of going to the house of God on 
 the sabbath, we say, let such a man "ship" for a sea- 
 man on board of one of our East-Indiamen, and be sub- 
 jected to the same treatment that his shipmates receive, 
 and, if a year's voyage does not convince him that a sailor's 
 life is what many have termed it, a "dog's life" then we 
 must conclude that such a person cannot be in his right 
 mind, or else he must be a subject of total depravity if 
 there is such a thing. 
 
 85. Yes : let any man with a correct taste be forced to 
 live like a common sailor ; let him have the same food, 
 served up in the same manner, the same sleeping accom- 
 modations, and the same abuse from day to day ; add to 
 this the swearing, the obscene and foul language, and 
 all the loathsome habits of his companions, and it would 
 be nearly enough to drive him crazy. He would feel far 
 worse than Livingstone felt in the Valley of the Leeambye, 
 away from all signs of Christian civilization, and in the 
 midst of heathenish savages. Those savages were gener- 
 ally friendly to him ; but such is not always the case with 
 the savages on board of a ship. 
 
 86. No: there is but little fear that the picture will 
 be overdrawn. The plain facts are, that, in the most of our 
 ships, men are compelled to submit to a great amount of 
 profane and abusive language from their officers ; that they 
 have to work a third longer than almost any other class of
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 81 
 
 men, when there is no occasion for it ; that they generally 
 have food given them of the poorest quality, and served up 
 in a manner that ought to make swine blush; that they 
 are unnecessarily restricted in the quantity of fresh water 
 allowed them ; that they are compelled to work Sundays, more 
 or less ; that they receive but little respect from their officers, 
 and give as little as they can help in return; that their pay 
 is so low, and they are so often out of employment, that it 
 takes a very large share of what they can get to pay the 
 boarding-master; that they can have no female society 
 but the worst kind; that they are obliged to pay a large 
 hospital-fee, for which the most deserving get no adequate 
 return ; that they have to fee shipping-agents in many 
 cases; that they are robbed and abused by each other; 
 that they are compelled to hear each other's fearful lan- 
 guage ; that they are sometimes compelled to sleep to- 
 gether; that they are tempted to do wrong by nearly every 
 one they come in contact with ; that they cannot have any 
 families for the want of means ; and, consequently, they can- 
 not have any wives, sons, daughters, nor property. They 
 must drag out a miserable existence between their voyages, 
 their boarding-houses, and the brothel ; and, if the sharks 
 and dissecters do not get their shattered hulks before they 
 have lived half the allotted time of man upon the earth, 
 they must spend a cheerless old age in some almshouse or 
 sailors' snug-harbor, with, perhaps, not one that they can 
 really call a friend upon the earth. 
 
 87. No : sailors cannot look ahead to any encouraging 
 prospect in this life. Every thing looks dark and gloomy 
 in the future. A sailors' snug-harbor and an almshouse 
 are the most cheering objects on the mental horizon of the 
 sailor. Where shall we look for a bright side to this pic- 
 ture ? Is it not enough to cover the whole canvas ? Are 
 not the outlines bad enough, without rubbing on paint and
 
 82 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 varnish ? And yet the half is not told. We have in our 
 mind's eye, to illustrate some of the horrors we have but 
 faintly alluded to, a story, which we will not repeat, from 
 motives of delicacy, but to which some of the words of 
 Shakspeare are very applicable : 
 
 " I could a tale unfold, whose lightest word 
 Would harrow up thy soul." 
 
 88. It may be said, however, that there can be no help 
 for sailors, unless they will help themselves. People have 
 so many affairs of their own to attend to, that they cannot 
 be expected to take much interest in the concerns of oth- 
 ers. There are hardships to be borne by every one ; and 
 it is the lot of all men to toil. How, then, can seamen, 
 except by their own efforts, expect to be elevated, and "car- 
 ried to the skies on flowery beds of ease " ? Such reason- 
 ing may appear plausible to the thoughtless and unre- 
 flecting ; but it will never do. " I am my brother's keep- 
 er" is a law of God founded in the nature of things; and 
 woe betide the man who does not obey it to the letter ! We 
 are not to think, that, because we may be subjected to a few 
 trilling annoyances ourselves, it is, therefore, no business 
 of ours if others are in distress and perishing, it may be 
 afar off. We must hunt up the lost sheep, and relieve 
 their distresses. We must do our Best to banish sin and 
 sorrow from the world, else we practise gross hypocrisy 
 when we pray for the advancement of the Master's king- 
 dom. 
 
 89. But is it not an old maxim and a true one, that 
 " charity begins at home " ? How can we devote our 
 attention to evils afar off, when so many real or imaginary 
 distresses exist all around us ? How can sailors get a 
 hearing, when so many politicians, lecturers, and philan- 
 thropists are rending the air with tales of lamentation and
 
 A VOICE FEOM THE DEEP. 83 
 
 mourning and woe? The complaints on file for a hear- 
 ing at the bar of public opinion are so numerous, that it 
 almost seems like effrontery to burden the calendar with 
 any more ; but still they come. Some petition that 
 women shall be encouraged to vote ; others are clamoring 
 for an eight (not a fifteen) hour law; some are worried 
 about the Ku-Klux, and want government to investigate 
 matters in the South ; and a thousand other things, all 
 home-affairs, and some of them very important too. 
 
 90. What need is there, then, for going abroad to find 
 objects of sympathy and distress, when so many exist all 
 around us, even at our doors ? There is need for it. 
 The wrongs of seamen affect society at large, and even the 
 state and nation. Perhaps it is not too much to say, that 
 they, directly or indirectly, cause more misery and distress 
 than any one evil that has existed for a hundred years, 
 if we except war, intemperance, and professed slavery. We 
 say professed slavery, for the sailor is but little better than 
 a slave, and, in many respects, worse situated. That is a 
 pretty broad statement, we acknowledge ; but we have seen 
 and shall see how it is verified by facts. We have already 
 glanced at some of the principal ones; but it will be impos- 
 sible to give them all. 'The ramifications of evil are so 
 various, that we can hardly mention one that is not, in 
 some way, connected with all others. 
 
 91. The effects of good actions are likewise as diffusive 
 as the light, and as enduring as truth. "As the small 
 pebble stirs the peaceful lake," so a marked improvement 
 in the character, condition, and circumstances of any one 
 class of men belonging to a community, would infallibly 
 benefit all the others. If a man otherwise warmly clothed 
 should be compelled to walk barefooted on the frozen 
 ground, not only his feet, but his whole physical and men- 
 tal nature, would suffer; and, if not speedily relieved, he
 
 84 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 might take cold and die. But, if he was timely supplied 
 with good warm shoes and stockings, his feet would soon 
 get comfortable ; and all of his other members would rejoice 
 with sympathy, and again perform their functions with 
 ease and pleasure. So it would be with the sailor if he 
 was placed on an equal footing with other men. He would 
 not only be happy himself, but his elevation must neces- 
 sarily effect a favorable change through all the circles of 
 society. Thousands must rise or fall with him ; for it 
 should ever be remembered, that, whatever is done for the 
 sailor, his connections in business-affairs will remain nearly 
 the same. 
 
 92. The elevation of seamen would also assist powerfully 
 to solve many of the questions which have hitherto per- 
 plexed legislators and philanthropists, as we shall see by 
 the following illustration : The advocates for woman-suf- 
 frage tell us, that, if women could have the ballot, it would 
 tend to inaugurate a state of things which would do much 
 towards removing the " social evil," which is acknowledged 
 to be the ruin of thousands of the female sex every year. 
 Without intending to say a word either for or against 
 woman-suffrage, we must affirm that we think there is a 
 remedy for the "social evil" far more speedy, effectual, 
 and practicable than any which that movement contem- 
 plates, a remedy which will be thorough and durable, 
 and equally beneficial to both sexes. We will just men- 
 tion it now, and discuss it more at length in the succeeding 
 chapters. 
 
 93. The rule for the suppression of the " social evil " can 
 be laid down with mathematical precision, and is derived 
 from the old axiom that it takes an ounce to balance an 
 ounce. Here it is : Provide the one or two hundred thou- 
 sand seamen who navigate the vessels of the United States, 
 and the millions that navigate those of other countries,
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 85 
 
 with the means to support families, and the temptation for 
 an equal number of women to become public prostitutes 
 will be diminished in nearly an equal ratio. A hundred 
 thousand women in the United States might thus not only 
 be saved from being exposed to lives of sin and shame, but 
 be transformed into wives and mothers ; positions which 
 all well-constituted and unperverted girls of twenty would 
 rather fill than have all the ballots in creation. Those 
 women would not only thus be saved, but their hus- 
 bands, in like manner, would be rescued from nearly 
 as bad a fate, and transformed into respectable and happy 
 men. 
 
 94. From the ranks of such men we could hope, in time, 
 to be able to select officers that would be skilful and capa- 
 ble; and the number of casualties at sea, involving the loss 
 of lives and property, would thereby be very nnich dimin- 
 ished. Thousands of native-born Americans would thus be 
 added to our seafaring population, which would be a source 
 of national pride; whereas now there is not one-half of 
 them even naturalized. By diminishing the number 
 of houses of prostitution in this way, it would be easier to 
 deal with intemperance ; for lewdness is always his best 
 customer. Improve the condition of seamen in this man- 
 ner, and we should be less concerned about our sons, many 
 of whom may have a preference for a seafaring life. It is 
 useless to say, that, if they go out with good principles, 
 they will do well enough. They cannot. One bad apple 
 in a barrel would infect all the rest in some degree. What, 
 then, can we expect when all are bad but one? would it 
 be likely to keep sound long ? about as sound as Lot's 
 family kept in Sodom. "Evil communications corrupt 
 good manners ; " and it therefore becomes us to see to it 
 that our children are not unnecessarily exposed. Very few 
 of them, going to sea under present circumstances, would
 
 86 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 entirely escape contagion; and the great majority would 
 contract vices which make us shudder to contemplate. 
 
 95. We have now enumerated a few of the principal 
 blessings which might result from giving the sailor means 
 to support a family; and what avast difference there is 
 between the actual state of things as revealed on some 
 of the preceding pages, and what might be if sailors were 
 paid as well for their work as the humblest artisan, or even 
 the -day-laborer ! We have seen, also, how it helps to solve 
 one of the problems which the advocates for woman-suf- 
 frage hold up as a reason why woman should have the 
 ballot. We have already intimated that we have no desire 
 to discuss the woman's rights question ; but we will ven- 
 ture it as our opinion, that the very best thing which can 
 be done for a young woman is to provide her with a hus- 
 band : and, when all the soldiers and sailors in the country 
 are furnished with the means to support families, a very 
 large percentage of the single women will have one of their 
 dearest and most important " rights " accorded them ; and 
 the few poor seamstresses that remain will have more fami- 
 lies to work for, and less competition. It is from woman 
 that we expect the most efficient help in our efforts to bless 
 the sailor. Not until she goes to him with words and 
 deeds of sympathy and love, will he ever have courage to 
 reclaim his manhood, and break the chains which his adver- 
 saries have forged. Woman must yet be his angel of deliv- 
 erance ; but we hope and trust, that, in the end, she will 
 receive a hundred-fold more blessings than he. 
 
 96. We have assumed that there is really no bright side 
 to a sailor's life ; but perhaps that statement requires a 
 little explanation. We do not mean to say that sailors are 
 never mirthful, or that they never indulge in the pleasures 
 of hope the same as other men. They are proverbially a 
 philosophical set of fellows, and generally regard almost
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 87 
 
 every passing event as something out of which they can 
 manufacture amusement. What we do mean to say is 
 this : There is but little, if any thing, in the condition and 
 circumstances of the sailor, that has any tendency to ele- 
 vate him ; and his mirth and hilarity are nothing but the 
 ephemeral pleasures which all people of happy dispositions 
 derive from the effect which various passing events have 
 upon their natures, and must not be confounded with hap- 
 piness in the highest signification of that word. An out- 
 cast from society, a slave to lust and intemperance, a victim 
 to fraud and oppression, a sufferer from shipwrecks and 
 misfortunes, with scarcely any of the hopes to animate 
 him which other men are wont to cherish, he now comes 
 before a great, prosperous, and comparatively happy peo- 
 ple, earnestly desiring to be fed with some of the crumbs 
 which fall from the public table of God's bounties to the 
 nation : and who can say him nay ? 
 
 Something has been done for him already, done by noble 
 men and women whose hearts God has evidently touched, 
 and who are worthy of the lasting love and gratitude 
 of all who love our Lord Jesus Christ. We will now 
 notice some of the works they have done, which is neces- 
 sary to a complete understanding of the subject before us.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 BETHEL INFLUENCES ; LIBRARIES AT SAILORS' HOMES. 
 
 97. IT would seem that the moral and spiritual condi- 
 tion of seamen has not attracted the attention of the reli- 
 gious world until within a comparatively recent period. 
 The biographical and historical accounts of matters in 
 which sailors bore a part during the last century indicate 
 that a worse state of things existed then than now. Even 
 the traditions that came down to us from our grandparents 
 go to show that sailors in their day were regarded as 
 a peculiar sort of genii by themselves, more allied to sea- 
 monsters than to the human species. Most of the special 
 efforts which have been made to reclaim seamen from their 
 state of heathenish ignorance and moral degradation have 
 originated within the last half-century. The Seaman's 
 Friend Society is probably the largest enterprise of the 
 kind in America; but there are many others, all working 
 with the same object in view, which is to give to seamen 
 the glorious gospel of the Son of God, and save them, as 
 much as possible, from unhallowed influences. 
 
 98. In these enterprises, as well as in all others of a 
 similar nature, men are from time to time raised up, and 
 seemingly have their education controlled by particular 
 dispensations of Providence, so that they shall be qualified 
 to fill positions which require uncommon abilities, and 
 which are often fraught with trials, perplexities, and dis- 
 couragements, positions where the prejudices of men are 
 
 88
 
 A VOICE FBOM THE DEEP. 89 
 
 to be overcome, and the standard of truth planted amid the 
 strongholds of error. 
 
 99. The seaman's cause has developed a few of these 
 peculiarly gifted ones, men of unflinching courage, which 
 no discouragements could abate ; and having faithfully ac- 
 complished their mission, and served their day and genera- 
 tion, many of them have now gone home to receive their 
 final reward : but the results of their labors still remain with 
 us, and will continue to bear fruit until the end of time. 
 Two or three of these men we now propose to introduce in 
 order to exemplify our subject. Their names are still well 
 known in commercial circles, and on every sea where the 
 American flag is unfolded to the breeze. 
 
 100. One of these mighty men, who has but just now 
 gone over the " river of death," was the Rev. E. T. Taylor 
 of Boston, better known to seamen by the more endearing 
 and familiar appellative of " Father Taylor." He was born 
 in Richmond, Va., near the close of the last century ; but 
 the beginning of his life is so much enveloped in mystery, 
 that the date of his birth cannot be fixed with precision ; 
 and it is even uncertain who his parents were. His ear- 
 liest recollections placed him among the seafaring men that 
 were attached to the small vessels navigating the waters 
 of the Chesapeake; and from thence he increased the length 
 of his voyages as his years increased, until, at length, we 
 find him in a privateer which was operating against Brit- 
 ish commerce during the last war with England. He was 
 taken prisoner on one occasion, and carried into Halifax, 
 where he met with a kind old lady who acted like a mother 
 to him, and gave him a Bible. Some time after this event, 
 he happened to be in Boston ; and, while strolling down 
 Bromfield Street, his attention chanced to be attracted by 
 some people going to the Methodist chapel there, and he 
 made bold to go in with them. He was there converted 
 
 8*
 
 90 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 under the ministry of the Rev. Elijah Hedding; and, al- 
 though an illiterate and uneducated man, he soon com- 
 menced his missionary labors among seamen, and met with 
 remarkable success. Hundreds crowded to hear the sailor- 
 preacher; and at length the merchants of Boston, and some 
 other benevolent individuals, were prevailed upon to build 
 him a church, where he continued to preach and labor with 
 great zeal and success until near the end of his days. His 
 beloved wife died but a short time before him, and he 
 probably felt the blow severely. She was a very remarka- 
 ble woman, and every way worthy to be the wife of such 
 a man as Father Taylor. She entered heart and hand into 
 all of his undertakings, and was herself the honored means 
 of accomplishing an incalculable amount of good, being 
 a wife and "a mother in Israel" in the fullest sense of 
 those significant and delightful words. 
 
 101. Father Taylor's church was composed of but few 
 members, and they were usually men from some of the low- 
 est walks in life ; but they were generally all earnest work- 
 ers, and, however deficient they might be in this world's 
 goods, they were rich in faith, and valiant for the truth 
 upon the earth. They formed a nucleus, around which 
 clustered thousands that waited to hear their testimony 
 concerning the new life, which they declared that God was 
 willing to infuse into every soul that might be longing for 
 deliverance from sin, and for hopes that would reach be- 
 yond the grave. We say thousands ; but we do not mean 
 that any thing like that number ever attended on his min- 
 istrations at one time. His congregations were largely 
 composed of seamen, who were constantly coming and 
 going; so that, in the course of a few years, the number 
 of different individuals might not only be reckoned by 
 thousands, but by tens of thousands. 
 
 102. Before Boston was as strictly governed as it now
 
 A VOICE FROM TEE DEEP. 91 
 
 is, these bethel churches, situated, as they generally are, 
 in bad localities, were subject to great annoyances from 
 bad boys and other malicious persons, who would throw 
 stones against the windows, and shout and scream, during 
 the services. Father Taylor was well qualified to deal 
 with such disturbances ; and he frequently made capital 
 of them to illustrate his discourses. Once, when the shout- 
 ing from an adjoining alley was almost deafening, he 
 stopped in his sermon, and suddenly exclaimed, " There ! 
 you see the Devil is jealous ! He knows there is good 
 going on here, and he is very mad about it." And then 
 he proceeded with his discourse as if nothing had hap- 
 pened. Sometimes a bevy of abandoned females would 
 come mincing up one of the aisles, bare-headed, and with 
 their arms and neck naked, hoping to disturb the meet- 
 ing ; but he would generally nonplus them with some obser- 
 vation of Solomon's about the strange woman, interspersed 
 with a few quaint remarks of his own. Indeed, Father 
 Taylor was just the man to deal with rough natures, and 
 conquer the innumerable difficulties with which he was 
 beset in his day. His nautical experience in early life 
 enabled him to appreciate a sailor's wants and necessities ; 
 and his iron will and resolute bearing gave him a command 
 over men which was truly marvellous. The sailor, always 
 accustomed to render implicit obedience to authority, could 
 hardly resist the impassioned appeals of the lion-visaged 
 old man, who almost commanded him, in the name of the 
 Lord, to become a Christian. Nor was it sailors alone that 
 came from afar to hear him. Men and women of scholarly 
 attainments often made their way thither, drawn by the 
 magnetic influences of a man whose eloquent reasoning 
 could affect the understanding at the same time that his 
 resistless sympathy melted the heart. 
 
 103. The good man has now gone to his last resting-
 
 92 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 place, and his mantle has fallen upon a most excellent 
 young man named George S. Noyes, who was for some 
 time Father Taylor's assistant. He is hardly like his 
 predecessor in belligerent propensities, and may not be 
 quite so well qualified as Father Taylor was to wage an 
 offensive warfare against the Prince of Darkness on his own 
 grounds ; but in goodness of heart, earnestness of purpose, 
 and zeal for the cause of truth, he is quite up to the mark, 
 and will probably succeed as well as Taylor. The times 
 are changing; and it may be that the young man is better 
 adapted for what is coming than one more like the revered 
 man who has just left us would be. When sailors come to 
 respect themselves, and have families the same as other 
 men, an amiable, cultivated man for a sailor's minister 
 would doubtless be preferable to one who had always been 
 accustomed to sleep with his armor on in the enemy's coun- 
 try, "fighting the Devil with fire," as the saying is. 
 
 104. Another excellent man died a few years ago in 
 Boston, who spent the most of his life and talents in the 
 same good cause as Taylor. His name was Phineas 
 Stowe ; and he originally came from the vicinity of Plart- 
 ford, in the State of Connecticut. He also received from 
 sailors the honored and revered name of " Father." There 
 was but very little about him that was humorous or tri- 
 fling; but in solemn earnestness he worked as though the 
 salvation of the world depended on his own individual exer- 
 tions. He preached and prayed and worked and begged 
 for the benefit of sailors. He was not a sea-faring man 
 like Taylor ; but, on the whole, he got along very well with 
 sailors ; and much sorrow was felt and expressed for him 
 when he died. In a fearful gale on the north coast of 
 Ireland, Father Stowe lost his only child and daughter, 
 who was married to a sea-captain. He was often heard to 
 allude to the touching event iu his discourses, and always
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 93 
 
 manifested the deepest feeling. It is said that poor old 
 Father Taylor was seen at his funeral weeping like a 
 child. 
 
 105. There are other men in Boston, New York, and 
 elsewhere, that deserve more than a passing notice in con- 
 nection with the great movement which has been made in 
 favor of seamen ; but it would take too much time and 
 space to mention them all. Those we have already named 
 were as prominent as any; and the little sketch concerning 
 them will serve to show how God has been working through 
 human agency to accomplish his purposes, and cause the 
 "abundance of the sea" to be converted to himself; so that 
 sailors, in their turn, can join in proclaiming his gospel to 
 the uttermost parts of the earth. 
 
 106. There are bethels now in almost all the large sea- 
 port towns in the United States ; and they are also quite 
 numerous in other countries. There is no doubt but that 
 they all do an immense amount of good ; but after all, like 
 the little loaves and the few fishes, what are they among 
 so many ? Out of a thousand seamen in the port of Boston 
 at one time (and that is probably not too large an esti- 
 mate), it is safe to say that not one-fifth part attend divine 
 services anywhere ; and, as Boston is ahead of most other 
 large towns in its facilities for public religious worship 
 among the lowly, we can easily conjecture that there are 
 ports where not more than one-fiftieth parlr of the seamen 
 ever go to church. There is little fear, therefore, that 
 sailor missionaries will crowd each other for some time to 
 come. 
 
 107. In order to secure a fair attendance at the little 
 churches which are already organized, colportors and mis- 
 sionaries have to be employed to go on board the vessels, 
 and frequent the boarding-houses, and even the haunts 
 of vice, to gain any thing like a respectable number. These
 
 94 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 missionaries have a very difficult work to perform, for they 
 are frequently treated with the greatest disrespect, as if 
 they were engaged in a very disreputable piece of busi- 
 ness ; and but very few can be found who are willing to 
 do it. 
 
 108. Besides the numerous bethels which have been 
 erected for the worship of God and the spiritual improve- 
 ment of the sailor, there are a number of boarding-houses 
 established in many of our seaport towns, which are de- 
 signed to secure to seamen some of the advantages of a 
 good Christian home. To illustrate some of the benefits 
 which seamen receive from these excellent institutions, we 
 will give a short account of the way things are conducted at 
 the Mariners' House, situated on the west side of North 
 Square in Boston. This house is under the fostering care 
 of the Boston Port and the Seaman's Aid Societies, and is 
 conducted by Mr. Nathaniel Hamilton, assisted by his 
 excellent wife. Their administration of affairs has always 
 been attended with a remarkable degree of success. In the 
 first place, they adopted the policy that there should be no 
 countenance given to wickedness and vice in a place which 
 was professedly designed to shield the sons of the deep 
 from temptation. Every regulation and by-law for the 
 maintenance of good order was therefore rigidly enforced, 
 and those that would not conform promptly expelled. The 
 result has been beneficial to all parties. All boarders that 
 have a natural disposition to indulge in bacchanal and lewd 
 revels have to go elsewhere; and those only are encouraged 
 to patronize the house who are friends to good order, so-, 
 briety, and respectability. All such find a hearty wel- 
 come. A large amount of charity is sometimes exercised 
 towards those who sin through weakness; but even then, 
 while the individuals have been leniently dealt with, their 
 sins have received no quarter. A promise of repentance
 
 A VOICE FEOM THE DEEP. 95 
 
 has always been necessary to prevent even the weak ones 
 from being promptly expelled. The result of such dealing 
 has been to secure a good class of boarders for this house ; 
 and every shipmaster who is fortunate enough to get a part 
 of his crew from it can be reasonably sure that they will 
 be well-behaved men. In the first place, they will not 
 come on board drunk, which is a very important item in 
 their favor ; and then, if they are well used, they will be 
 pretty sure to behave well during the voyage. 
 
 109. Iirthe Mariners' House, the sleeping-apartments are 
 spacious, commodious, and well ventilated, and the halls, 
 office, and reading-room kept scrupulously clean and neat. 
 There is also an elegant dining-room, and a good parlor 
 and chapel-room. In the latter, religious worship is con- 
 ducted by the superintendent mornings and evenings, and 
 a prayer-meeting is held every Wednesday evening. The 
 institution is designed to be self-supporting, or nearly so; 
 and the strictest economy is therefore practised, so that as 
 many advantages as possible shall accrue to the sailor. 
 
 110. It can readily be seen that such a house must be an 
 immejase benefit to the sailor. He has so many incentives 
 to respect himself, and so many real and substantial bless- 
 ings are given him for the money he expends, that it is no 
 wonder so many are prevailed upon to go from such a house 
 to the bethel ; and so it proves for the Church a most effi- 
 cient ally. In all attempts to elevate ignorant and de- 
 praved men, a due regard should be had for their physical 
 well-being in the first place. They cannot, of course, have 
 any just idea of what is meant by the salvation of the soul : 
 but if it can be made to appear to them that the results 
 of Christianity are good in this life ; that good principles 
 and virtuous conduct will secure to mankind (including 
 sailors) peace, respectability, and bread . and butter, 
 then their attention can easily be gained ; and, by follow-
 
 96 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 ing on after the loaves and the fishes, they may at last 
 be led to see Christ beyond, and the glories of his king- 
 dom. It is thus that good, clean bricks and mortar preach 
 many an efficacious gospel sermon ; and so clean clothing 
 and a clean person frequently furnish quite a satisfactory 
 evidence that something is striving within to make the 
 heart clean also. 
 
 111. It can readily be imagined, therefore, that a lack 
 of physical and moral culture in the sailor is one of the 
 most difficult things with which a bethel minister has to 
 deal. It is sometimes easy to awaken the instinctive reli- 
 gious element in the soul to a sense of the spiritual pres- 
 ence of God; but to infuse into it the vital principles of 
 true pietj r is quite another affair. It is often that poor, de- 
 graded beings are coaxed into a prayer-meeting, and while 
 there their religious instinct gets excited to such a degree, 
 when they hear Christians telling what God has done for 
 them, that they, also, become constrained to take a part in 
 the exercises, like Saul of old ; but their subsequent con- 
 duct often shows most conclusive!}' that they never had 
 any just notion of the requirements of the Christian reli- 
 gion, or much else in connection with the subject. They 
 hear Christians in the prayer-meetings tell about being 
 happy ; and certainly happiness is a very desirable thing, 
 and what all are seeking after ; but such persons generally 
 have but a very vague, notion of what it is that makes intel- 
 ligent Christians happy. They love to be excited, but not 
 instructed ; and if abstinence from whiskey, tobacco, un- 
 profitable conversation, or any thing else that they have an 
 unnatural liking for, is enjoined upon them, they are very 
 apt to say, as Pliable said to Christian, " Go and possess 
 the brave country alone for me; " and then they will set their 
 faces again towards the City of Destruction. In some in- 
 stances these people go forward for prayers, and are
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 97 
 
 accepted as converts ; but alas ! when they get where 
 other influences prevail, they are just as ready to drift with 
 the wind and tide as they were in the prayer-meeting, and 
 sometimes only for the want of a good deep keel of self- 
 respect to hold them to windward. 
 
 112. It is easy enough to have the feelings acted upon ; 
 and it is also easy to resolve to he a Christian : hut to go 
 through all the campaigns, and fight all the terrible battles, 
 of life, is quite another affair. It is here that we can see 
 the importance of faithfully imparting religious instruction 
 to children. Their pliant and susceptible natures can 
 easily be moulded to good or to evil ; and, if they are 
 brought along in the right track in youth, they will not 
 be likely to deviate much from it as they grow older. But, 
 when a man is arrested by pungent convictions in the 
 midst of a life of sin, it is an extremely hard matter for 
 him to conquer all of his bad habits; and the conflict, at 
 times, seems so likely to crush him, that he is sometimes 
 tempted to abandon a course of life which obliges him to 
 carry a heavy cross continually. Overcoming bad habits 
 late in life is, indeed, like cutting off a right hand, or pluck- 
 ing out a right eye. It is like taming and making useful a 
 wild horse which has always been accustomed to gallop 
 over the plains at his pleasure, and is altogether unused 
 to the harness and bridle. We hope, that, in the next 
 generation, sailors will grow up Christians from childhood ; 
 and then their ministers' labors will be, at least, much 
 pleasanter. Now they have to do principally with grown-up, 
 wayward, and vicious men ; then they will have in their 
 congregations a due proportion of women and children, the 
 same as other pastors. 
 
 113. If a young minister that never had much experi- 
 ence should hear that several of his converts had indulged 
 in improper conversation, or in any manner given occasion 
 
 9
 
 98 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 to the enemy to speak reproachfully, it would doubtless 
 make him think that he might be laboring in the wrong 
 field, where rocks and thorns and stumps would not suffer 
 any thing to be brought to perfection : but let such a one 
 never despair; for a field is seldom thoroughly cleared up 
 in the beginning. It takes years for the stumps to rot ; 
 and, every time the soil is turned up, there will be a fresh 
 crop of stones. It is the minister's business only to sow 
 the seed faithfully ; and his heavenly reward will be the 
 same, whether the land produce ten, a hundred, or a thou- 
 sand fold. 
 
 114. A minister settled over a congregation of landsmen 
 has many things to make his life pass pleasantly away. 
 Young people, and even children, as they come to the years 
 of understanding, are constantly being converted, and re- 
 ceived into the Church, where they can be watched over 
 and instructed by older Christians until they are grounded 
 so strongly in the faith, that it is next to impossible to re- 
 move them. Their education, their marriage, and, indeed, 
 almost every important event of their lives, furnishes an 
 object of interest to the pastor, who must, at times, almost 
 feel as if they were his own. The elder portion of his flock 
 maintain the even tenor of their way, and assist him every 
 way that they can. Besides taking a part in the evening 
 meetings, they have social gatherings, where the people 
 meet to get better acquainted with each other. Good feel- 
 ing abounds on all sides; and the minister finds every thing 
 to encourage him, and make his heart glad. Not so with 
 the bethel minister. His congregations are largely com- 
 posed of full-grown males, who are strangers to each other; 
 for sometimes they do not get a chance to go to the same 
 church half a dozen times in a year; and some of them 
 may never visit the same port again in their lives. As the 
 congregations are constantly changing, the results of
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 99 
 
 preaching and other means of grace are traced with great 
 difficulty ; and some of the words spoken, and thought to 
 be lost on poor ground because no signs of germination 
 could be detected immediately, may yet, under the influ- 
 ence of some favorable experience, spring up, and bear fruit 
 unto life eternal. 
 
 115. Notwithstanding all the discouragements and draw- 
 backs which have hitherto always attended the efforts of 
 philanthropical individuals and societies to promote reli- 
 gion, happiness, and Christian virtue among seamen, they 
 have achieved a remarkable degree of success. They not 
 only confer blessings on those sailors they come in contact 
 with ; but those men, in turn, exert good influences wher- 
 ever they go, and carry, in many instances, godly lives and 
 conversation right into the strongholds of sin. Some of 
 them get to be officers of vessels : and then their sphere 
 of usefulness is very much increased ; for then they can re- 
 strain wickedness by their authority, as well as encourage 
 virtue by their example. 
 
 The converts to Christianity from among seamen, even 
 with the limited means employed, can probably be num- 
 bered by thousands ; and, if we take into the account the 
 Bible estimate of the comparative value of the soul, surely 
 no one can say that the ocean has proved to be an unfruit- 
 ful field of labor: and still this work is but just begun. 
 What a glorious consummation of love's labor it would be 
 to have all the noble men who are engaged in constant 
 conflicts with the elements disciples of Him whose voice 
 can instantly still the raging tempest, and who is not 
 willing that any of his loved ones shall perish, or even 
 be uncomfortable ! A Saviour's love is now working in 
 the hearts of thousands of noble men and women, prompt- 
 ing them to furnish the same blessings that they enjoy to 
 every son and daughter of Adam ; and even the sailor is to 
 be no longer left out of the account.
 
 100 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 116. Choice libraries of valuable reading-matter have 
 been furnished to many vessels for the use of the sailor; 
 and there is no doubt but that they also have done much 
 good. The books are usually all selected with a view to 
 improve the moral and spiritual conditiqn of seamen ; and 
 so all irrelevant matter is carefully excluded. These libra- 
 ries have been mostly furnished by the Seaman's Friend 
 Society ; and we will now quote a paragraph from one 
 of their reports, dated 1870: "The society has shipped, 
 during the past twelve years, 3,387 libraries, composed of 
 about 150,000 volumes. The reshipments, as near as can 
 be ascertained, have been 2,095. These libraries, including 
 the reshipments, have been accessible to crews numbering 
 150 to 250 men, many of whom have read every book in 
 the library of 40 or 50 volumes. Since 1861, 761 of these 
 libraries have been shipped in the United-States navy, 
 accessible, at different times, to crews numbering 85,600 
 men. Of these libraries, 240 have been returned, leaving 
 now in the navy, or unaccounted for, 521. The shipments 
 and reshipments for the past year, including 359 new, and 
 425 returned and refitted, are 784. As a library often 
 remains in a ship three or four voyages, each voyage hav- 
 ing different crews, a much larger number of seamen 
 are reached in this way than the above figures indicate." 
 
 117. It can easily be imagined, that a hundred and 
 fifty thousand volumes of good, substantial reading-mat- 
 ter must have a powerful effect on the minds and hearts 
 of men whose daily livee and circumstances are favorable 
 to habits of contemplation and reflection. In the mid- 
 night watch, when the stars are shining brightly above 
 him, like so many pure and heavenly gems of sacred 
 truth, the sailor's mind can reflect upon the lives of those 
 good people he has been reading about until the Spirit 
 of truth shall make it apparent to him, that there is a
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 101 
 
 central figure which gives light, beauty, and brilliancy 
 to human character, as well as to the stars which adorn 
 the nocturnal firmament. The red harbinger of approach- 
 ing twilight in the east teaches him that the Sun of 
 righteousness will soon appear above his mental hori- 
 zon, before whose face the moon shall withdraw her shin- 
 ing ; and the stars, which were his late companions, shall 
 not give their light ; but Christ shall be all, and in all. 
 Where can rest be found, rest for the weary soul ? That 
 is the momentous question which agitates his mind, and 
 affects his heart. The testimony of a dozen biographies 
 teaches him that there is a better way than he is now pursu- 
 ing; that there are hopes which reach beyond the grave; 
 and that he can participate in them, too, if he will. He 
 longs for liberty. He longs to be freed from the tyranny 
 of sin. His mind reverts, perhaps, to his early years, when 
 a pious mother prayed, in his hearing, that he might be 
 kept, unspotted from the world. Indecision holds him no 
 longer. He resolves to be a Christian, and soon finds the 
 way through some of God's appointed means, which humble 
 and contrite hearts only can appreciate and successfully use. 
 118. It is true, that many of those books are read by the 
 thoughtless and the unreflecting: but, even in their case, 
 we may anticipate some good results ; for although such 
 men may never become thoroughly reformed themselves, 
 still, in whatever degree they can be restrained from actual 
 wickedness, so much will be gained for the cause of truth ; 
 so much will the sailor's temptations, and the aggregate 
 amount of evil to which he is exposed, be necessarily dimin- 
 ished. We are naturally constituted sympathetic creatures, 
 and sympathy we must have at some rate, even if we have 
 to get it from exceptional sources; but, if all we receive 
 comes from bad people, it cannot fail to affect us injuriously. 
 Their influence may be almost imperceptible at first, for it 
 9
 
 102 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 will act inwardly ; but, if it is continued, it can hardly fail 
 to eat the vital part of Christianity effectually out of us, 
 leaving nothing but a fair outside, which can be easily 
 crushed through when any combination of circumstances 
 operates to remove the earthly hopes which conceal for a 
 time the dreadful ravages of contagious disease. 
 
 119. Another cause which operates favorably to dispose 
 the minds and hearts of seamen to receive moral and reli- 
 gious truth is the presence of females and children on 
 board of a ship. A great many shipmasters now carry their 
 wives with them on some of their voyages ; and those 
 among them that happen to be devoted Christians can ex- 
 ert an influence for good among seamen that could hardly 
 be exceeded by a minister of the gospel. The ship then 
 seems more like a home ; and the profound respect which 
 the feelings of seamen almost always cause them to enter- 
 tain for virtuous females is heightened by the fact that 
 the captain's wife seems to be something to them. They 
 seem to be, in a manner, members of the same family ; and 
 all of her actions and words are noted with as much interest 
 as if she were the dearest creature in the world to them ; 
 and, doubtless, many of them actually feel so. Poor souls ! 
 nine-tenths of them can never have any female society 
 excepting that of those poor, degraded wretches whose souls 
 and bodies are even now in the lowest hell of the destroyer. 
 Even when a woman has no claims to being considered any 
 thing more than merely respectable, her presence is always 
 a blessing. Order is much easier maintained where a 
 woman is at hand to hear of and witness all ungracious 
 conduct and evil deeds. There are but very few seafaring 
 men who would not desire to be thought well of by an 
 intelligent, well-behaved woman : indeed, any man that 
 could be so hardened as to be wholly insensible to a virtu- 
 ous woman's good or bad opinion would be a fit candidate 
 for Blackwell's Island or Botany Bay.
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 103 
 
 120. The effect which little children have upon the minds 
 and hearts of seamen is likewise pleasing and salutary. 
 Who that has lived a life of sin and shame can behold a 
 little child, full of innocent glee, and perfectly unconscious 
 that he is living in a wicked world, and not feel a desire 
 to be young again, so as to correct in a second edition, as 
 Franklin said, the errors of the first? Doubtless many 
 a weather-worn and vicious sailor has had such thoughts 
 course through his heart 'when circumstances have been 
 favorable ; and every such thing tends to soften a hardened 
 nature, and prepare the ground to receive the seeds of 
 truth with some prospect of a hopeful result. 
 
 The stupid prejudice entertained by some merchants 
 against allowing their captains to take their families with 
 them, on the ground, that, in order to allay their fears, a 
 less amount of sail will be carried, is without any founda- 
 tion in fact. Women are just as likely to take happily 
 to a seafaring life as men ; but there are those of both sexes 
 who think they could not go to sea under any circum- 
 stances. It is to be feared, however, that some people 
 have no better excuse for the repugnance which they mani- 
 fest towards a seafaring life than a natural and selfish dis- 
 taste for any thing that looks like hardship, inconvenience, 
 or danger. Any shipmaster possessed of the moral ele- 
 ments of manhood would redouble his exertions (if such a 
 thing were possible), if his wife and children were with him 
 to witness his conduct, and be exposed to all the dangers 
 that his delinquencies might bring upon them. An intelli- 
 gent lady in a vessel's cabin may often prove a great assist- 
 ance to her husband on many trying occasions; and any 
 owner that objects to their heavenly presence must be not 
 only blind to his own interests, but hostile, or at least 
 apathetic, to the cause of virtue and religion. With the 
 exception of their board, which is but a small trifle, there
 
 104 A VOICE PROM THE DEEP. 
 
 is no other-objection worth mentioning, unless it he on account 
 of character. The moral effect which a woman's prescin-" 
 always inspires on board of a ship ought to have weight with 
 any ship-owner; but some of them, as we have already had 
 occasion to notice, cannot see any thing of the kind, if they 
 can manage to get a dollar before their avaricious eyes. 
 
 121. In reviewing the efforts which have recently been 
 made to elevate seamen from a worse than brutal state of 
 sin and misery to a place among men where they can re- 
 spect themselves, we have thus far seen the most encoura- 
 ging results. We have said, that, after making due allowance 
 for those that fall away after professing better things, 
 still the converts to Christianity from among sailors, even 
 with the limited means employed, can probably be num- 
 bered by thousands. That fact is certainly encouraging; 
 and if so many have been benefited, even though their 
 number bears but a small proportion to those who are still 
 in the lowest depths of. degradation and misery, why may 
 we not hope, that, by using the same means faithfully, all 
 will at length be converted, and come to a knowledge of the 
 truth ? Is not the good work among seamen progressing 
 as fast as it can under the circumstances ? and will not tin- 
 glorious promise heralded by the prophet, that the "alum- 
 dance of the sea shall be converted," soon be realized? It 
 may be that it will soon be realized; but we think never 
 wholly by the means at present employed. As we have 
 said before, the plaster is not large enough for the wound ; 
 and, before we speculate further on methods of improve- 
 ment, let us see why it is that what are usually considered 
 the ordinary means of grace cannot directly avail to effect 
 eventually a thorough reformation in the character, circum- 
 stances, and condition of all sailors.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 EFFECTS OF EARLY INSTRUCTION. NECESSITY FOR FE- 
 MALE SOCIETY. NECESSITY FOR HIGHER WAGES. 
 
 APPEAL FOR SYMPATHY. 
 
 122. NOTWITHSTANDING all the efforts that have been 
 made by benevolent societies and philanthropical individ- 
 uals to improve the spiritual condition of seamen within 
 the last half-century, the mass of them are about as badly 
 off as ever. A thousand converts out of a hundred thou- 
 sand does not certainly indicate a very favorable state 
 of things. Let us now examine and see what the causes 
 are which prevent those who are still debased and profli- 
 gate from being benefited, as well as those who have already 
 been the subjects of reformation. 
 
 123. In the first place, then, a reference to what has 
 been said will show us that many seamen have had good 
 surroundings in childhood. Many have had pious parents, 
 and good moral and religious instruction when young. 
 We have seen, also, that some of them have had good 
 educational advantages; and, previous to their going to sea, 
 they were, perhaps, well versed in the usages and pro- 
 prieties of civilized life. Perhaps their first motive for 
 leaving home was a desire to see something of the world, 
 or to gratify a restless and adventurous disposition, intend- 
 ing, at some future time, to quit a seafaring life, get mar- 
 ried, and settle down, on shore. Their contact with seamen 
 at such an early age was prejudicial to all their best inter- 
 
 105
 
 106 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 csts; for their association with men addicted to vicious 
 habits operated to hlunt their moral susceptibilities, and 
 to undermine the fair fabric of virtue which parents, 
 teachers, and guardians had striven so industriously to rear. 
 "When men that have been thus situated in youth come in 
 contact with Christian influences in advanced life, they 
 are frequently powerfully affected by them ; and it is to be 
 observed, that most of the converts from among seamen are 
 men of .this description. In a great many such cases, the 
 sailor, in relating his experience, will frequently mention 
 the efforts made by a praying mother, or some other friend 
 of his youth, for his salvation; and many other things go 
 to show, that, in most cases, other agencies besides the 
 bethel have primarily given the sailor some respect for 
 divine things, and, in a manner, prepared his heart to be 
 acted on by moral and spiritual motives, when presented 
 under favorable circumstances. The work that the bethel, 
 and similar agencies, does, is principally to reclaim those 
 that have, in a greater or less degree, fallen; but it hardly 
 touches that great mass of corruption, sin, and degrada- 
 tion, which lies festering before our eyes, and which is 
 incurable by all the means which have hitherto been 
 employed. We see, therefore, that but few are permanently 
 benefited by the most powerful means of grace, unless their 
 minds and hearts have been, in some degree, prepared in 
 youth. 
 
 124. We know, also, that it is one of the offices of the 
 Christian religion to inspire men with a love of liberty, and 
 a hatred of oppression and all kinds of lawless violence. 
 Let us now see what inferences can be drawn from this 
 proposition to exemplify our subject. 
 
 When men are converted, the inspirations engendered 
 by self-respect (another Christian virtue) prompt them to 
 avoid foreign-going ships, in which they are liable to re-
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 107 
 
 ceive abusive treatment, and confine themselves to coasters 
 and fishermen, where they can soon have a change if things 
 do not go on to suit them. This exodus of religious seamen 
 from large ships to little brigs and schooners leaves the 
 mass of long-voyage sailors as badly off as ever, and reveals 
 the undoubted fact, that tyranny and barbarous usage, 
 under present arrangements, must always prove a powerful 
 though secondary cause to prevent any wholesale improve- 
 ment in the moral and spiritual condition of seamen. This 
 defection of seamen from foreign-going ships to coasters is 
 a great evil, and is severely felt by the few good shipmas- 
 ters who deserve and are anxious to obtain good, efficient, 
 and peaceable men for their crews. Sometimes it happens 
 that there is hardly a steady man to be found in port ; 
 and, in such cases, the best captains have to take up with 
 ruffians, thugs, loafers, or any thing in the shape of men, to 
 go with them on, perhaps, a year's voyage. Such men are 
 bound to make trouble, and can seldom be governed at all 
 except by the severest discipline, administered in the se- 
 verest manner. It is apparent, therefore, that the conver- 
 sion and consequent exodus of good seamen from sea-going 
 ships renders the general character of most crews even 
 worse than formerly ; and the testimony of almost all offi- 
 cers who have had fifteen or twenty years' experience will 
 verify the truth of this assertion. 
 
 125. We have noticed also, that in the Mariners' House 
 in Boston, and perhaps in some of the sailors' homes, it 
 often becomes necessary to promptly expel many boarders 
 who will not conform to the rules. These expelled boarders 
 find a welcome in the various seamen's boarding-houses, 
 where they are considered just as good as any of their com- 
 panions. This shows that the good which such houses 
 do is, in a measure, limited to those, who, by early reli- 
 gious influences and proper training, are measurably pre-
 
 108 A VOICE? PROM THE DEEP. 
 
 pared to appreciate an asylum from temptations and false- 
 (Iraling. Such institutions may help to save a few 
 well-disposed sailors; but they cannot redeem the sea- 
 man's profession from dishonor. They are merely life- 
 boats to prevent a few spiritually-shipwrecked and drown- 
 ing seamen from losing eternal life; but they possess very 
 little power to prevent, or even to diminish, the number 
 of shipwrecks. 
 
 126. .It is a matter of observation, that a great majority 
 of the seamen that compose the congregations in the differ- 
 ent bethels are not what is called, in nautical parlance, 
 "deep-water sailors." The greater part come from little 
 schooners lying at the wharves, and from their own homes, 
 and from some of the benevolent institutions we have 
 already named. This fact shows the tendency of moral 
 and religious seamen to cherish their self-respect by avoid- 
 ing large ships, and serving where they can be assured 
 of good moral treatment, if nothing more. Only those that 
 hope to become officers, and a few inexperienced boys, and 
 a small number of unintelligent but well-disposed foreign- 
 ers, will still expose themselves to the evils and horrors 
 of an ocean passage ; and, whenever we do see any ' deep- 
 water sailors" in a bethel meeting, we can be reasonably 
 assured that they are from some of these. The regular 
 " ShellbacJcs," who constitute the rank and file of the 
 class of men usually denominated sailors, are but seldom 
 seen in a bethel. 
 
 127. There is another thing that not only draws our con- 
 verted seamen out of foreign-going ships into coasters, 
 but in many instances induces them to quit the sea alto- 
 gether, and seek for something to do on shore to gain 
 a livelihood: it is the want of female society. God 
 said in the beginning, that "it was not good that man 
 should be alone;" and all human experience has veri-
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 109 
 
 fied the truth of the assertion : it reveals a law of man's 
 nature, which he is bound to respect, or the most ca- 
 lamitous results will inevitably follow. It is founded in 
 the nature of things, in the natural instincts which 
 God, in infinite wisdom, has constitutionally ingrafted 
 upon the human soul. It is said by many, that the 
 sailor, in choosing the company of abandoned women, 
 demonstrates to the world that he is naturally vile and 
 depraved; that he is merely seeking to gratify the morbid 
 cravings of a wicked heart that is wholly given up to licen- 
 tiousness and vileness. Such a view of the case is by no 
 means the true one. The instinctive law of God in the 
 soul of the sailor prompts him to crave female society ; 
 and, in desiring and striving to fulfil that law, he is, in 
 the main sense, no more blameworthy than the minister 
 of the gospel would be in desiring to have a wife and chil- 
 dren. 
 
 128. No : but it is said that the minister of the gospel 
 only desires a lawful wedded wife and legal children, which 
 is regarded by all mankind as perfectly honorable ; but the 
 sailor has "a wife in every port," and does not expect any 
 children, nor any good to result from his practices. We 
 reply, that the desire for female society must be equally 
 laudable in both cases; and one may not be any more 
 influenced by his animal appetites than the other. Both 
 want female society from the same instinctive motives, and 
 both take the best they can get. The education and out- 
 ward circumstances of the minister are favorable to cause 
 him to practise virtue, which is only strictly and intelli- 
 gently obeying all the laws of God constitutionally estab- 
 lished in his own nature and in the nature of things. The 
 education and outward circumstances of the sailor and his 
 transient companions of the other sex are nearly all unfa- 
 vorable to cause them to practise virtue ; and so they per- 
 10
 
 110 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 vert the laws which God has constitutionally established in 
 the nature of things: and the results are, in both cases, 
 inevitable, in the former case happiness, and in the 
 latter misery the most intense ; for the violation of a law 
 which was designed to secure to us the greatest blessings 
 is sure to procure for us curses proportionally great. We 
 see, therefore, that education and outward circumstances, 
 more than natural inherent righteousness, cause people 
 to appear amiable and lovely in this world of ours. The 
 natural qualities of the clergyman's heart, and of the 
 sailor's, in boyhood might have been nearly the same. The 
 appetites and passions of one may have been of the same 
 strength with those of the other. It was due to different 
 circumstances, and to different modes of training, that one 
 turned out to be a licentious vagabond, and the other a 
 minister of the gospel. 
 
 No, it is not true that the sailor generally prefers the 
 society of lewd women. He secretly despises their con- 
 duct, as well as his own, and only goes with them, because, 
 in his degraded state, he can do no better. He would like 
 a lovely wife and children the same as the clergyman ; but 
 what virtuous woman would have any thing to do with 
 him ? and how could he support one if she would ? How 
 can he do much better than he is doing, with so many 
 things against him ? and how can his transient companion 
 of the other sex do much better than she is doing, with so 
 many things against her? We repeat, that neither the 
 sailor nor his companion may be any more the natural 
 slave of lust than thousands of others in society that 
 have the reputation of being virtuous and honest people. 
 
 129. But do not the foregoing remarks make it evident 
 that all people marry from impure motives? If the cler- 
 gyman has no purer instincts than the sailor, who has "a 
 wife in every port," does it not argue that society rests on
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. Ill 
 
 very rotten foundations ? By no means. Marriage is so 
 far from being a consummation of impurity, that it is, prob- 
 ably, the beginning of its death. Love is wholly spiritual; 
 and where it exists in full strength, unalloyed by the baser 
 passions, it will consume and destroy every thing that is 
 opposed to it. Man's spiritual nature longs for female 
 society far more than his animal ; and where it is in the 
 ascendency, and rightly instructed, it will subdue all the 
 animal instincts to the requirements of moral truth ; and 
 perfect happiness will be the result. The clergyman, we 
 have seen, was favorably situated in life. His physical, 
 moral, and spiritual natures were all cared for ; and, fol- 
 lowing the dictates of Nature, he married a virtuous wife, 
 which a good reputation, correct habits, and many other 
 favorable circumstances, enabled him to obtain. The sailor, 
 on the other hand, was unfavorably situated. Exposure to 
 physical and moral evils in early youth blunted his per- 
 ceptive and even his reflective faculties. Oppression, 
 t}Tanny, and outrageous violence broke his spirit ; and false 
 dealing made him distrustful of human nature, and a dis- 
 believer in God. By degrees he fell ; and, in his progress 
 downward, he was only able to keep company with those 
 of the other sex who were as far along on the road as him- 
 self: but that fact in no measure proves that the sailor is 
 more lustful, or any less susceptible of moral improvement, 
 than other men. If a young man in society, that had 
 always been surrounded with good religious influences, and 
 had been duly instructed about all of his duties towards his 
 Creator and his fellow-men, should voluntarily leave all heav- 
 enly hopes and aspirations for the sake of frequenting houses 
 of prostitution, merely to gratify his lusts, we might then, 
 perhaps, have some cause to attach a stigma to his name, 
 and say that he was a natural son of Belial. It is to be 
 hoped there are but few such young men anywhere ; and it
 
 112 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 is quite certain they are no more numerous among sailors 
 than they are among other classes of men : the fact that 
 many seamen go with abandoned women does not prove it 
 in the least degree. 
 
 130. But why, it may be asked, does not the sailor try to 
 reform himself? and why does he not marry, even though 
 he may be compelled to take a wife from the lowest circles 
 in society? We will reply to the first question by another. 
 Why does not a child go to school of his own accord, and 
 begin to read? or, if he is situated so that he cannot go to 
 school, why does he not learn to read himself from a book ? 
 We see men, women, and children of all ages, that are hon- 
 ored, respected, and beloved by all ; but did they make 
 themselves lovely? They might have been partially will- 
 ing to be made lovely; and that is about all that can be 
 said in favor of the best of them. Many people do but 
 faintly realize how much they are indebted to the multi- 
 plied means of grace which exist all around them for the 
 excellent loveliness of their characters. And then people 
 are not worthy of too much credit for even being willing to 
 be Christians. In the first place, gentle force is used, as 
 in the case of the child. He is restrained from evil by 
 force, and encouraged, and even forced, to do good. He is 
 forced to go to school, and forced to go to church, and 
 forced to avoid the company of bad boys, and so on, until 
 higher motives can be used to influence him for good. The 
 forces which were exerted in his early youth finally find 
 their consummation in the force of habit, which is nearly 
 irresistible, and explains that observation of Solomon's, 
 where he says, that, if we "train up a child in the way he 
 should go, when he is old he will not depart from it." 
 
 131. If people in virtuous communities cannot rise with- 
 out assistance from others, when there is comparatively but 
 little opposed to them, how can we expect the sailor to rise,
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 113 
 
 surrounded as he ever is by evil influences, and a slave to 
 bad habits, which are just as strong as good ones? How 
 can we expect him to rise, when almost every thing connected 
 with him seems to be evil, and only evil ? It is not possible. 
 In order to save the sailor, the evil influences we have 
 described must be removed, and good ones substituted in 
 their places ; and it is the bounden duty of every Chris- 
 tian man and woman to give him a chance to obtain, as far 
 as possible, all the blessings which they themselves enjoy ; 
 and, if they fail to use their best efforts to do this, 
 they must also forfeit their right to be called the children 
 of God. 
 
 132. In regard to the other question that might be 
 raised, Why does not a sailor marry ? we reply, that a cor- 
 rect answer discovers at once the fountain-head of all the 
 sailor's miseries and misfortunes. It lays bare the tap-root 
 of the tree of sin, and shows us where we must strike to 
 cut off the flow of deadly poison which nourishes the nox- 
 ious plants of the Great Destroyer. Sailors do not marry, 
 because their limited means ivill not allow them to support 
 families, or even to think of such a thing. That is what's 
 the matter. That is what renders teaching and preaching 
 of little avail to the sailor. No amount of teaching and 
 preaching can give him a wife and children ; and, until 
 that is done, his noble profession will never be redeemed 
 from reproach and dishonor. There is one of the most 
 exacting of Nature's laws violated in his case ; and, until he 
 is set right in that respect, the New Jerusalem, with its 
 unfading flowers and golden streets, which we love to sing 
 about, can be a matter of no great concern to him. He 
 turns aside from the entreaties of men and women who 
 profess to be Christians, with an incredulous smile, as if he 
 should say, " What is heaven to me? It will do very well 
 for you to talk of its glories, when you have every tiling 
 10
 
 114 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 furnished to your minds in this fe ; but I must be put 
 off with something apparently as unsubstantial as an 
 Indian's ghost in the* spectre land. That will not do for 
 me. I am in the valley now, and do not want to be lifted 
 so high up all at once. Get me up to a position where I 
 can have that which is not denied to the meanest slave, 
 and perhaps I can see from thence the gate of the celestial 
 city you have been telling me about." That is what's the 
 matter. Sailors cannot be brought to believe that they are 
 to be translated right into heaven. No. The poor, sim- 
 ple souls want to go there the way other people do ; and 
 who can blame them ? Surely no reasonable person. 
 
 133. But how is it that the few Christian sailors get 
 along without families ? They do not get along at all 
 without them. Show us a Christian sailor, and we will 
 show you a man who will, in nine cases out of ten, have 
 a family in less than five years. But does not that state- 
 ment, if true, disprove the assertion that a sailor cannot 
 support a family ? By no means. Those very men know 
 that they cannot support families by going to sea; and so 
 they are constantly on the watch for something to do on 
 shore ; and, in time, they generally succeed ; and then they 
 get married. Besides, it is only the most intelligent sea- 
 men that are generally converted ; and those are the very 
 ones who can best get a living on shore. The greater part 
 of the old Tritons have never done any thing else but follow 
 their calling; and it would be very difficult for them, 
 ignorant and degraded as they are, to find employment on 
 the land. 
 
 134. It is a great evil to have the best-behaved sailors 
 quit a seafaring life because it will not afford them a 
 living. Society suffers by it, and the nation likewise. 
 How many calamitous accidents would be avoided, if the 
 men of the sea were all what they should be ! T/tousands
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 115 
 
 of valuable lives are lost every year, and millions of prop- 
 erty, through the carelessness, inefficiency, and misbehavior 
 of many of the officers and seamen that now carry on the 
 commerce of the world. Surely no right-minded person 
 would be indifferent as to what kind of a crew might have 
 his own life in charge, and perhaps the lives of his wife 
 and children, on some rock-bound coast. But somebody's 
 wives and children are constantly exposed to danger in that 
 way ; and, we repeat, it is for the interest of all our citi- 
 zens to provide means to secure competent and well-behaved 
 men to navigate our vessels. 
 
 135. But perhaps it may be objected by some, that the 
 foregoing statements do not present the highest class of 
 motives to sailors to induce them to become Christians. 
 God must be worshipped in spirit and in truth, and not 
 for the loaves and the fishes. The Bible commands men 
 to attend to the salvation of their souls before they think 
 of any thing else ; for all are given to understand that their 
 labors will be in vain, unless they " seek first the kingdom 
 of God and his righteousness." Why is it, then, that 
 sailors cannot be converted, and become good men, without 
 getting married ? Why is it, that they cannot serve God 
 in any circumstances, especially when he informs us that 
 we must do so in order to be saved ? We must be willing 
 to, indeed ; but the interesting question occurs, How shall 
 we be made willing ? Does not God, in the first place, ap- 
 peal to every faculty of our natures, by placing motives 
 before us which affect not only our spiritual, but also our 
 temporal well-being. Does he not give us "line upon line, 
 and precept upon precept," repeatedly telling us that it is 
 his will that we shall be saved from every form of sin and 
 transgression here, for our own good? Does he not tell us 
 that he is doing all that even a God can do, consistent 
 with the truth and fitness of things, to make us happy and
 
 116 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 comfortable even in this life? Our first motives for being 
 Christians spring from self-love. We believe the change 
 will do us good, else we should never attempt to make it. 
 We do not like to look too far off for that good either, 
 but we desire immediate good; and why should not the 
 sailor ? Christianity is very good ; but she has never yet 
 held out much to seamen which they could appreciate. 
 Like the enslaved Jews in Egypt, they cannot hear the 
 voice of spiritual deliverance for cruel bondage. They 
 cannot be taught to love a religion full of abstractions. 
 
 136. The sailor knows as well as anybody, that he is 
 pursuing a course which leads continually to sin and 
 misery. He knows that he does wrong when he gets 
 drunk, uses profane language, or goes to the " house of 
 death." But what else shall he do ? There is a restless 
 spirit within him, which ever prompts him to seek after 
 happiness. He meets with no encouragement to seek for it 
 in the exercise of the higher faculties of his nature ; and 
 so he allows his appetites and passions to control him, in- 
 stead of his controlling them ; and, as they are often under 
 the influence of baneful stimulants, where else can they lead 
 him, but to ruin and disgrace ? He knows that landsmen 
 profess to have a religion -which gives them hopes of happi- 
 ness and felicity in another life ; but that is nearly all he 
 understands about the matter; and, to his mind, it might as 
 well be the paradise of Mohammed as the "heaven with 
 golden streets," which many professed Christians love to con- 
 template. Whatever effect, therefore, the hopes of a state 
 of bliss in another life may have on some people, to induce 
 them to become converted, and teachable like little chil- 
 dren, it is nevertheless certain such motives cannot avail 
 much with the sailor. Present blessings are what he 
 wants and needs; and, if he cannot get them of God's pro- 
 fessed people, how can he be expected to have confidence in 
 their God, or in the sincerity of their religion ?
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 117 
 
 
 
 137. It is to be feared that many of our professed Chris- 
 tians are inclined to take more stock in a future life than 
 is consistent with their present needs and obligations. We 
 should think a man acted strangely, if we saw him invest- 
 ing all his money in* bonds, mortgages, and banks, while 
 his wife and children were starving, and clothed in rags. 
 He should, at least, reserve enough to satisfy his present 
 necessities, and pay all of his just debts. Speculations 
 about a future life may be pleasing to the Christian at 
 times, especially as we have every reason to believe that we 
 shall be happier then than now ; happier, because the lapse 
 of time, and a sanctified experience, will give us a greater 
 measure of faith, love, and knowledge, and every other 
 Christian attribute and grace whereby we can spiritually 
 see, love, and comprehend God. It is not for a moment to 
 be supposed that a material heaven, with golden streets 
 and a thousand other fancied embellishments, can ever 
 make an intelligent Christian happy. Such a place, with 
 nothing to do, and a sufficient number of houries, might 
 satisfy the spiritual cravings of such men as Mohammed, 
 and Good Haroun Alraschid; but it could never fill the 
 heart of a man who had once, tasted of Christ's love. The 
 desjre expressed by St. Paul, "to depart and to be with 
 Christ," cannot be construed into an ignominious wish to 
 cease from doing good, or into a sensual longing for material 
 pleasures. There are times in the life of every man when 
 tired nature seeks a momentary respite from the active du- 
 ties of life. When the shades of evening close around the 
 man of toil and many cares, exhausted nature sometimes in- 
 duces a temporary depression of spirits ; and for the moment 
 he almost feels like Elijah when he made his impassioned 
 appeal at the foot of Horeb ; but, after a few hours of sweet 
 repose, he rises fresh and vigorous, ready to anoint Jehu, 
 stand before Caesar, or do any thing, through Christ who 
 lias engaged to strengthen him.
 
 118 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 138. The fact is, when we talk about localities and mate- 
 rial things as appertaining to a future state, we do it about 
 as intelligent!}' as a man tbat has been blind from his 
 birth can judge of colurs. We can know but very little 
 about our status in the world of spirits, simply because we 
 have no experiences to guide our judgment ; nor is it neces- 
 sary that we should have, when our Saviour expressly de- 
 clares that we should rather look for the kingdom of heaven 
 within us than be speculating, as some of his disciples did, 
 about a temporal kingdom which existed only in their 
 imagination. Love is the essence of heaven ; and, like the 
 rose, it does not depend altogether for its sweetness on the 
 soil from which it derives its nourishment. Are young 
 lovers always particular to choose daylight, splendid 
 scenery, and publicity, for those seasons of soul-communion 
 that so much resemble the sweet and immortal joys of 
 heaven ? By no means. They prefer the subdued light 
 of the moon, and the solitude of the ocean's foaming beach, 
 where nought can be heard but the awful voice of Nature, 
 making a ceaseless response to those sentiments of truth 
 and love which " flutter in the heart," and " tremble on the 
 tongue," of those faithful and guileless beings whom God 
 designs to be one iu spirit and one in flesh. A great 
 white throne and golden streets in the far-off future may 
 be all well enough ; but, we repeat, such a heaven is above 
 the comprehension of such creatures as seamen. Our con- 
 templations of God enthroned in a material heaven must 
 always be extremely vague. Christ enthroned in the hu- 
 man heart we can all understand if we will. 
 
 139. What we now wish to make apparent is the uncon- 
 trovertible fact, that sailors must be saved and brought into 
 the kingdom of heaven here, through the instrumentality of 
 human agents, be-fore it will be very profitable to talk to them 
 much about their interests on the other side of the grave.
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 110 
 
 Our .Saviour said, that in his Father's house were many 
 mansions ; and we presume it must be the design of Infi- 
 nite Wisdom to have vicious and depraved men go first into 
 the lowest room in the school of Divine Providence, where 
 they can learn to conduct themselves properly in the 
 departments above them. 
 
 ggr The only part of the kingdom of heaven which the 
 sailor can understand and appreciate at first will be a snug 
 little place to live on shore between his voyages, presided 
 over by a lovely and sympathizing wife, and an income 
 sufficient to support her. Is that an unreasonable aspira- 
 tion on his part ? Is it not what all good men seek after ? 
 Is it not what all must have in order that holiness and 
 righteousness and joy may prevail in this present world ? 
 Give to the sailor these things, and we give him the alpha- 
 bet of knowledge, and then good people can teach him how 
 to make farther advances in the school of heavenly wis- 
 dom. 
 
 140. Christ taught his disciples to pray. In the pat- 
 tern which he gave them, the applicants were instructed to 
 use the plural personal pronoun when petitioning for gen- 
 eral blessings, and not say, " My Father which art in 
 heaven," but " Our Father," meaning that they should ask 
 for others as well as themselves. What, then, shall we 
 ask for the sailor ? Shall we pray to our common Father 
 to give him a contented mind and a generous heart, that 
 shall feel willing that all other classes of men shall be 
 secure in the possession of all earthly blessings, while he 
 must serve them, and feed his soul on spirituality, and 
 hopes that must find their consummation beyond the grave, 
 and in the grave we had almost said? We ask God to give 
 us blessings ; and he does so, not miraculously, but in the 
 ordinary course of nature. A wife and children (the great- 
 est of earthly, and not the least of spiritual blessings) are
 
 120 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 his gift; but they come by natural means, through human 
 agency, and not miraculously. It must be our business, 
 therefore, to see that all are provided for; else our brethren 
 of the sea cannot behold in our countenances the face of 
 God (Gen. xxxiii. 10). 
 
 141. It is impossible for us to avoid our responsibility in 
 these matters. The eye that never sleeps is upon us; and 
 the heart that never ceases to beat with sympathy for the 
 distresses of the wanderer and the outcast will not hold us 
 guiltless, if we turn away, like the Levite, and walk on the 
 other side. God has in his bounty given some of us far 
 more blessings than we can use ; but somebody needs them. 
 The world abounds in sin and suffering ; and, until it is 
 completely renovated, our work in never done. People talk 
 about leisure ; but there is no leisure. Love is an active 
 being, who will hardly suffer her children to get their 
 necessary sleep. Behold that loving mother watching 
 beside her sick child ! How many hours does she spend in 
 sleep? How, then, can the love of God allow his children 
 to be idle ? Let them work " while it is day : the night 
 cometh, when no man can work." Human wisdom 
 points in the same direction ; for " there will be sleeping 
 enough in the grave," as Poor Richard says. We are the 
 almoners of God's blessings to mankind to the extent of our 
 several abilities ; and is it not our business to answer our 
 own prayers by our own individual exertions, as far as they 
 can be answered in that way ? One thing is certain : God 
 will never do for us what he has given us power to do for 
 ourselves ; and he has often declared, that he not only wants, 
 but needs, our services in his vineyard, where the fruits are 
 not gathered for the lack of laborers. 
 
 142. It must, therefore, be obvious to every one that has 
 any suitable regard for the dignity of man, that he is con- 
 stituted the honored and intelligent- agent of most of the
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 121 
 
 moral and spiritual blessings which God designs to bestow 
 upon the human race. It is the second great law of God 
 established in the nature of things, that he shall love his 
 brother-man as himself, and do all that lays in his power 
 to secure for every human being the same blessings that he 
 enjoys himself. The sailor must have a wife ; and Chris- 
 tianity must furnish him with one. The poor, fallen, and 
 friendless woman who is called an outcast by society must 
 have a husband ; and Christianity must attend to her needs. 
 The offspring of these suffering people will, in due time, 
 furnish well-behaved, intelligent, and efficient crews for our 
 ships; and they will be Americans, which will be one 
 grand result of Christianity. Thousands, yes, hundreds 
 of thousands, will be released from a worse than Egyptian 
 bondage, and brought into a civilized condition as fast as 
 circumstances will allow, which will, at the farthest, be 
 in the next generation. Will not such facts as these give 
 Christians and patriots cause for rejoicing? Americans 
 will then be better respected abroad ; whereas now their 
 ships are a disgrace to the country they hail from, at least 
 in many instances. All, or nearly all, the troubles on 
 board of vessels on account of having bad crews and offi- 
 cers will quickly regulate themselves, which will be another 
 great blessing. It will also operate to strengthen the 
 hands of all good men in their benevolent enterprises, and 
 assist powerfully in upholding every good cause. 
 
 143. Oh that society could feel its responsibility in this 
 matter, and move in it without delay ! Thousands are suf- 
 fering and perishing even while these lines are being 
 penned; and the evil work is still going on. Oh that vir- 
 tuous Christian families could realize that the tokens of 
 their fearful responsibility are ever before their eyes ! They 
 have furniture and carpets, and tea and coffee and sugar, 
 
 and a thousand other necessaries and luxuries, furnished 
 11
 
 122 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 them by commercial enterprise ; and how do they requite 
 the sailor? Look into the bosom of a Christian family on 
 a Thanksgiving or a Christmas Day, and see how it reflects 
 the kingdom of heaven. The sire feels supremely happy, 
 for he sees those around him that lie has blesaed, and we 
 feel interested in and love those we work for. The mother 
 is supremely happy in her husband's and in her children's 
 love ; and the children are happy in the midst of present 
 blessings and future hopes. But where is the sailor? He 
 has no home. No children 
 
 " Climb his knee 
 The envied king to share." 
 
 If he were passing through a snow-drift, benumbed with 
 cold, at the door of the aforesaid Christian home, he would 
 hardly be asked to come in and warm himself, and partake 
 of their sumptuous repast. In the name of that Being who 
 came into the world to befriend and save sinners, are such 
 things right? Is it not enough to melt into tenderness 
 a heart of stone, to reflect upon them ? Truly " whosoever 
 hateth his brother is a murderer ; " for how can any man 
 that calls himself a Christian coolly stand by and see his 
 comrades drifting to destruction, without making some 
 effort to save them? 
 
 144. Perhaps the public would like to know the reason 
 why sailors cannot support families. Do they not receive 
 as much compensation for their services as other trades- 
 men ? and, if not, why ? It will be very easy to show how 
 much they get ; and it may not be very difficult to explain 
 why they get so little. Sailors, on an average, do not get 
 work more than ten months in a year, and it is very 
 doubtful if they much exceed nine. They have to go to 
 boarding-houses at the close of every voyage, to await their
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 123 
 
 pay-days, and look for other chances; and as voyages, as 
 now conducted, do not probably average in length over 
 three months, it is easy to see where the time is consumed. 
 Sailors probably average two or three weeks on shore; and 
 four such breakages in a year would never give them over 
 ten months' actual service ; while the time sometimes spent 
 in hospitals, and in going to see their aged parents (if they 
 are fortunate enough to have any), and many other things, 
 would make their average time much nearer nine months 
 than ten. Then they have to pay a dollar per day for their 
 board while waiting, and eight or ten dollars, perhaps, in 
 the course of a year to have their baggage transported; 
 which, altogether, we will put down at the minimum sum 
 of seventy dollars. They require more clothing than lands- 
 men to keep them comfortable; and, as it is sometimes 
 scarcely possible to keep any thing dry for weeks, their 
 garments rot quickly, which makes it necessary to buy 
 more or less new articles every time they come on shore. 
 Then, again, they are charged enormous prices ; and, as 
 the fabric of which their clothing is composed must be 
 woollen in order to keep them as much as possible from 
 rheumatism, it necessarily costs very dear without extra 
 extortion. If we put the sailor's bill for clothing at seven- 
 ty-five or eighty dollars per annum in these times, it will 
 be about as low a figure as he can possibly use and make 
 himself decent and comfortable. Then, again, he has to 
 pay hospital money, which amounts to $4.80 per year ; 
 and frequently he has to fee shipping-agents for chances; 
 and his travelling-expenses, bills for washing, and a dozen 
 other little items, amount to something; so that, putting 
 every thing together, his own personal expenses cannot 
 possibly amount to less than a hundred and seventy-five 
 dollars a j r ear ; and probably two hundred would come much 
 nearer the truth. Now let us see what he gets. The
 
 124 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 highest wages now paid to seamen from the port of Boston 
 are twenty-five dollars per month for short voyayes, and 
 eighteen or twenty for long ones. Assuming the former 
 figures as the basis of our calculations, and assuming, also, 
 that seamen are never shipwrecked, driven ashore in for- 
 eign ports, nor cheated in any way, and we have the sum 
 of two hundred and fifty dollars for ten months' work ; but 
 it is safe to say that sailors do not get as much as that one 
 time in twenty. If, now, we subtract from this sum his 
 necessary expenses, which we have reckoned at a hun- 
 dred and seventy-five dollars, we shall have seventy-five 
 dollars remaining, which would not pay the rent of two 
 good rooms in the vicinity of such a place as Boston, and 
 leaves no margin whatever which could be used for the 
 support of a family. A common day-laborer along the 
 wharves gets from thirty to fifty cents an hour ; and, if he 
 cannot get work over half the time, we see that his earn- 
 ings amount to more than double the sailor's. k A sailor's 
 work, too, calls for skilled labor, and requires four years' 
 service from a man of good abilities to master all of its 
 mysteries. But no tradesman thinks of working for less 
 than from thirty to fifty cents an hour, averaging, probably, 
 nearly three-fourths of the time ; and then they declare 
 they have to study economy to make both ends meet. If, 
 therefore, a tradesman, with fewer personal expenses, and 
 three times as much pay, as the sailor, finds it difficult to 
 support a family decently and comfortably, it is, of course, 
 useless for seamen to ever think of such a thing; and so 
 the sanctified influences of love, and the divine institution 
 of marriage, are forever debarred the sailor. 
 
 145. Well: it is demanded, How came things in such 
 a state ? What is the reason sailors cannot resort to strikes, 
 the same as other tradesmen, and get suitable wages ? We 
 have already proved that the business of ship-owners will
 
 A VOICE FEOM THE DEEP. 125 
 
 not warrant striking. Merchants are clearly unable to 
 give higher wages ; for, if they should attempt such a thing, 
 they could not compete with foreigners, and the little ship- 
 ping we have left us would speedily be driven from the 
 deep. In order to find out how things came to be in such 
 a miserable condition, we must go away back to the dark 
 ages, when to be a poor man was to be but one degree re- 
 moved from a slave. After the discovery of America by 
 Columbus, and even before, a spirit of commercial enter- 
 prise began to be felt in Europe ; and several nobles and 
 other rich men fitted out small expeditions to go to the 
 newly-discovered countries, and trade with the natives. 
 These expeditions were generally commanded by rich and 
 influential men, and the vessels, in the main, officered by 
 those who were at home esteemed gentlemen ; but the 
 crews in those days were slaves in the worst sense of the 
 word. They were generally completely at the mercy of 
 their officers, and might be tortured by the cat, triced up by 
 the thumbs, flogged through the fleet, keel-hauled, or hung 
 at the yard-arm, just as the will and caprices of their haughty 
 and imperious commanders dictated. The commercial en- 
 terprises, in those days, were seldom but little better than 
 piratical expeditions, though people at that time did not so 
 regard them. Most of the common sailors would serve in 
 pirates and the so-called merchantmen alternately ; and 
 they were treated about alike in both. The principal 
 inducements for common sailors to go to sea in those adven- 
 turous times were the same as those held out by Wallen- 
 stein and Tilly to their barbarous troops ; namely, plunder 
 and lust. In all slave and piratical expeditions, and, indeed, 
 in most others, sailors were allowed every facility to de- 
 bauch themselves with the savages of the foreign climes 
 they visited ; and they might also rob, plunder, and even 
 murder, at their pleasure, as long as they did not get the 
 11*
 
 126 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 vessels into trouble with their proceedings. Wages for 
 seamen were merely nominal up to within a very recent 
 period ; and, as late as revolutionary times, they were not 
 paid more than six or seven dollars a month on East-India 
 voyages. In England, it was always customary to kidnap, 
 not only sailors, but watermen, and many others who had 
 the misfortune to be poor, and compel them to go and 
 serve in the king's ships just as long as the king pleased. 
 And, even in American ships, it is not long since a sailor 
 could be whipped almost to death with the cat, to satisfy 
 the drunken malice of almost any petty commander ; and 
 there could be nothing done about it on shore that would 
 give the least satisfaction to justice. The present status 
 of seamen then took its departure from the most debasi//;/ 
 form of slavery ; and, although some of tlie most repulsive 
 features of the monster are measurably taken away, 
 enough remains to disgrace any country or people that will 
 tolerate such a relic of barbarism among them. 
 
 146. It is astonishing what changes have taken place in 
 this and in almost every other country within the last cen- 
 tury. A hundred years ago the appearance of a comet in 
 the heavons was thought by the ignorant masses to portend 
 the destruction of the universe; and the common people 
 almost universally believed in witches, times, enchant- 
 ments, and wizards. Those things have not all passed 
 away yet : but still the sun has risen high enough in the 
 heavens to peer down brightly through the fog ; and the 
 foundations of society are being every day more securely 
 laid. Error is now obliged to paint her face, and dress up 
 in all kinds of shapes, to make her hideous form appear 
 lovely ; and then she fails in many instances. In vain has 
 she improved witchcraft to spiritualism, superstition to self- 
 righteousness, and licentiousness to free-thinking: all will 
 not do. Her enemies have found her out; and a thousand
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 127 
 
 printing-presses are daily and hourly exposing her deformi- 
 ties. Men of nearly all classes and professions, in nearly 
 all civilized countries, now know something of what it is to 
 be really free. They are not entirely dependent on the rich 
 for their living, or even for their rights ; and they are not 
 obliged to hide their Bibles under their chair-cushions for 
 fear of the malice of the informer. The rights, relations, 
 and duties of all, are now quite clearly denned ; and it is 
 supposed, that, in most instances, a man's wages correctly 
 represent the services he has rendered to society. 
 
 147. Things have arrived at their present stage of per- 
 fection by the slow but sure march of civilization and en- 
 lightened ideas. Men have been constrained, from time to 
 time, to renounce error, and make mutual concessions to 
 each other. Sometimes they have been forced by strikes 
 and the will of majorities, and sometimes benevolence has 
 been the primal motive: but, in all cases, there has been 
 a steady advance ; and many sanguine people are beginning 
 to hope that the time is not far distant, when the " Adver- 
 sary " will be entirely driven out of his intrenchments, and 
 consigned to the " hole in the side of the hill," where Bun- 
 yan used to delight to have him. We have seen, however, 
 in the course of this work, that the enemy yet holds one 
 advanced position on the battle-field, from which he has 
 never yet been dislodged. He has deceived people during 
 the last seventy-five years by telling them that freight is 
 necessarily the mother of wages for the sailor; when facts 
 prove that she is not. At any rate, if the present rates 
 of wages are her offspring, they do not reflect much credit 
 on their parent among mothers, who are generally observed 
 to be anxious to have big babies. 
 
 148. No: Commerce should be the mother of wages, and 
 Freight her handmaid ; and then the sailor could live. And 
 it is plainly the duty of society to support Commerce in a
 
 128 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 position where she can give all of her children as good a 
 living, and as many advantages, as the other department* 
 of national industry secure to theirs ; and if that cannot 
 be done without paying a little more for tea, coffee, *;/</"/. 
 &c., then the people ought to be willing to do it without 
 delay, and give the proceeds to the men ivho scour the seas, 
 and encounter all kinds of discomforts, hardships, and dan- 
 gers, to furnish necessaries and luxuries for tJie other mem- 
 bers of society. Commerce should be entirely rescued from 
 every vestige of piracy and barbarism, and forever weaned 
 from those nurses of her infancy, that are now, in another 
 shape, seeking to prostitute her to tyranny, injustice, celibacy, 
 intemperance, and licentiousness. Because marriage wns 
 not thought of for sailors in the time of Henry the Eighth, 
 it surely does not follow that it can be improper now. 
 That consummate scoundrel would doubtless have mo- 
 nopolized all the women in creation if it had been in his 
 power. 
 
 149. The low rates of wages established by slavery in the 
 infancy of commerce have changed but slowly, for the fol- 
 lowing reasons : The rates of freight then paid corresponded 
 with what had to be paid the sailor ; and, as his services 
 were easily secured for a very small pittance, it follows that 
 the whole of society has been pecuniarily interested, from 
 the time freighting was established to the present day, to 
 keep his wages low, in order that the products of commerce 
 might be kept low; and so we can see that the whole of 
 society is directly responsible for all the -vice, depravity, 
 ignorance, and misery that is caused by withholding from 
 seamen a just equivalent for their services. Yes : every 
 act of drunkenness and debauchery that sailors are guilty 
 of, and all the terrible evils resulting from their conduct, 
 can be traced right into the bosom of every family iu the 
 land, the purest and most virtuous not excepted.
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 129 
 
 150. The motives of lust and plunder are not so effica- 
 cious now to induce men to adopt a seafaring life as they 
 were a hundred years ago ; but still, among the poor and 
 degraded population of some of the European seaports, men 
 can be found who are willing to go to sea on almost any 
 terms ; and, through the agency of sailors' boarding-houses 
 and runners, enough can always be found to make up the 
 complements, in numbers at least, for all of our ships. 
 Such men, however, have but very little to say about what 
 their wages shall be. That is all determined by the board- 
 ing-master and the broker, who works for his own and the 
 merchant's interest; and, among them all, they are carrying 
 on as brisk and extensive a slave-trade as Toombs and 
 Davis could possibly wish to see. We affect to pity the 
 poor wretches who are violently torn from their homes, and 
 sold to the Arabs in the regions of inter-tropical Africa; 
 but we have, right in our midst, a system of slavery more 
 repulsive if possible, inasmuch as our slaves are treated 
 hypocritically. We pretend to think highly of the noble, 
 brave, and generous "sons of Neptune ;" and, at the same 
 time, we stand by and see them used like Leasts for our 
 benefit. 
 
 151. With regard to strikes, very little need be said, as 
 they are wholly impracticable for the sailor. The compe- 
 tition of foreigners prevents them, for one thing; but, on 
 other accounts, they are not available for seamen. They 
 are in no condition to carry on a strike. If they were liv- 
 ing on shore with their families, by using the strictest 
 economy they might hold out a good while; but boarding- 
 masters have no particular ends of their own to serve by 
 securing a large increase in the sailors' wages. Most of 
 them know very well, that, if sailors were paid like other 
 men, the effect would be to break up about two-thirds of all 
 the seamen's boarding-houses in the country, and leave
 
 130 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 only the best; but, while things are taking their present 
 course, they have but little to fear from that quarter. 
 Truly the children of this world are wiser in their genera- 
 tion than the children of light. The different landlords do 
 contract with each other, sometimes, not to let men go out 
 of their houses for less than a certain rate of wages ; but 
 such contracts amount to nothing, except to delude the 
 sailor into the belief that the landlord is his friend. In- 
 deed, such a declaration or contract has the mark of the 
 cloven foot on the very face of it; for it furnishes conclusive 
 evidence that the sailor is not accounted his own master. 
 Landlords know well enough that the small fluctuations in 
 sailors' wages are wholly regulated by demand and supply, 
 and not at all affected by any of their "benevolent con- 
 tracts." 
 
 152. It is very evident, then, that seamen are in no con- 
 dition to help themselves. They are down, and kept down 
 by forces which must be dealt with by others, before we 
 shall ever have a millennium upon the water. They will, 
 doubtless, be ready to help when the time of their deliver- 
 ance shall come ; but we cannot be justified at first in 
 expecting very much from them. It may seem easy to the 
 comparatively virtuous for every one to forsake vice, and 
 embrace virtue ; but it is not easy. Let any one try to 
 break off from an old habit, and he will find that it will be 
 like cutting off a right hand, or plucking out a right eye. 
 The life-boat must be launched and manned by others ; and 
 the poor souls will do well if they can keep their heads 
 above water until they are hauled in. On many of the 
 exposed parts of our coast, little buildings are erected, called 
 "huts of refuge," or life-boat stations, where life-boats, 
 mortars, and other means for saving life, are kept with a 
 view to assist in saving the bodies of any poor shipwrecked 
 seamen who may be so unfortunate as to be cast away on
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 131 
 
 our inhospitable coast in the winter. They are established 
 and supported by humane societies ; and they cost considera- 
 ble money every year. All honor to the noble members 
 of every such society, and to those heroic men who are 
 willing to hazard their own lives to save their fellow-crea- 
 tures from drowning ! Let us now look around, and see 
 where we can find means to save the bodies and souls of 
 seamen from a worse fate than drowning, and secure to 
 them a situation with a " Captain who never lost a ship, 
 and in a ship that never was, nor ever will be, cast away."
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 REMEDIES FOB THE BENEFIT OF SEAMEN. HOPE FOB 
 
 ABANDONED FEMALES. NATIONAL RESPONSIBILITY. 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 153. IF, now, we take a retrospective view of what has 
 been said in the preceding chapters, we shall perceive that 
 the seamen of the present day are but very little better off 
 than were the African slaves who have just been liberated 
 by our gigantic civil war. We shall see, too, that the most 
 of their miseries and misfortunes are due to the fact that 
 they cannot have any homes of their own, because their pay 
 is not sufficient to enable them to maintain famines. We 
 shall see, also, that the efforts of benevolent societies and' 
 individuals in behalf of seamen, though highly useful and 
 praiseworthy, still cau never remove a tithe of the evils 
 which beset the sailor; and in many instances they are 
 rendered abortive by circumstances and conditions which 
 they were never calculated to cope with successfully. It 
 must also be apparent to every one, that the cheapest as 
 well as the most efficacious way to deal with seamen will be 
 to proceed at once to remove all the evils to which they are, 
 as a class, subjected, and to do it thoroughly, so that there 
 shall hereafter exist no necessity for undoing what has been 
 done in order to commence operations afresh. Who will 
 and who can do this great work ? Let us now see. 
 
 154. In looking round about us in search of ways and 
 means, we can find a multitude of noble men and women 
 
 132
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 133 
 
 ready to spend and be spent in this or in any other good 
 work; but here is a field large enough to tax the energies 
 of all. No single society is large enough to deal with the 
 reforms which are here presented ; and so, for ability and 
 help, we must look to the nation. It must be the nation's 
 pride and glory alone to give liberty to her children. Let 
 America do this great work as thoroughly and effectually 
 as she has done others of like character, and she will still 
 maintain her right to be called the head of the nations. 
 May the heart of every true patriot burn with a desire to 
 have every evil removed from his country, so that she shall 
 be a bright and beautiful example to induce all the nations 
 of the earth to " go and do likewise " ! 
 
 155. But how, it may be asked, can this work be done 
 by the nation ? How can the nation change freights, break 
 up bad seamen's boarding-houses, and give her sailors rights 
 and wives and homes and property ? Simply by adopting 
 them as her wards, and giving them a small pension, which, 
 with what they can earn at sea, will be sufficient to main- 
 tain their families in the most humble manner. Such a 
 measure would have the effect to create, at least, fifty thou- 
 sand new homes in the United States, and raise a hundred 
 thousand people from almost the lowest depths of degrada- 
 tion and vice. It would give to the nation from seventy- 
 five to a hundred thousand of the very best kind of seamen 
 to man her navy in case of a foreign war, and also make it 
 easy to carry out the law which requires that two-thirds of 
 the crew of every vessel shall be Americans. That law is con- 
 stantly evaded now; but, in order to do it, captains have to 
 swear in the custom-houses that two-thirds of their crews are, 
 to the best of their knowledge and belief, Americans, when 
 they are morally certain that such is not the case. It 
 would occupy too much time and space to enumerate all the 
 advantages which would result from the adoption of such 
 la
 
 134 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 a measure ; but they can easily be imagined by any accu- 
 rately-informed and reflecting mind. That blessings of 
 the highest value would accrue to the sailor, none can for 
 a moment doubt. 
 
 156. But here we shall probably be interrupted by a 
 thousand croaking voices, crying out, " We must have econ- 
 omy: we must have retrenchment even. We are now 
 burdened with a terrible debt ; and here you come petition- 
 ing shamelessly for our very heart's blood. We cannot 
 and will not endure it. Away with all your idle, designing 
 schemes and vagaries, and let the miserable, drunken, vaga- 
 bond sailors and their female coadjutors take care of 
 themselves ! Let them learn to save what money they do 
 get, before they beg of honest, hard-working people for 
 more." Indeed, that's quite an argument. Such logic is 
 irresistible ; and therefore we cannot expect much from you. 
 It is a pity the government could not exempt such people 
 from taxation altogether. We hope, for the sake of sail- 
 ors, that such poverty-stricken individuals are not very 
 numerous in the United States, and for the sake of others 
 also. Such forlorn creatures are more to be pitied than 
 the sailor ; for no amount of money can keep their minds 
 away from the almshouse ; but a very small sum would 
 place the sailor in the land of Beulah. 
 
 157. Let us now examine the matter a little, and see 
 how much it would probably take to carry out this project, 
 which would effect such mighty changes in the condition 
 of seamen and those few poor tax-payers we have men- 
 tioned. We will assume that help should only be afforded 
 to well-behaved, native-born, or naturalized able seamen, 
 who could produce proof that they had served at least nine 
 months out of a year on board of some American vessel. 
 We will grant to every such seaman the sum of ten dollars 
 per month, if he have only a wife, and two dollars extra for
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 135 
 
 every child (not exceeding five) under ten years of age ; 
 and what will the result be, allowing that fifty thousand 
 heads of families had the full numher to support we have 
 just mentioned ? Twelve millions of dollars. Allow 
 another million to regulate the machinery of the movement, 
 and we have thirteen millions, or a little less than thirty 
 cents per head for the whole population of the United 
 States. 
 
 158. Now, we would ask, is that a sum the nation would 
 be distressed to pay, when it would secure so many ines- 
 timable advantages to a class of her citizens whose whole 
 life, at the best, is one of toils, dangers, hardships, and 
 privations? Is it too much, when it would provide the 
 country with an army of a hundred thousand men, which, 
 if need be, would fight her enemies, yard-arm to yard-arm, 
 in sight of their own shores, and relieve our thousands 
 of miles of seaboard from all danger of an attack? The 
 nations of Europe think they must support almost four 
 times that number in sheer idleness; but these sailors, 
 needing only partial support, would be all useful citizens, 
 who would be adding continually to the wealth and re- 
 sources of their country, as much, at least, as any other 
 class of men. Yes, we can aiford it, and we must ; or the 
 time will come when we shall have to pay ten times as 
 dear to make the change, as we did in the case of African 
 slavery. It should be remembered, too, that no such sum 
 as twelve millions of dollars would probably be required for 
 many years to come, if ever. The nations of Europe might 
 all eventually be led to adopt the same plan ; and then 
 freights could be raised, so that most of the special help 
 from governments could cease. 
 
 159. It is not to be supposed that all seamen would go 
 at once and find mates among the abandoned women that 
 now frequent all of our seaport towns. That many of them
 
 136 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 would get wives in that way, there can be no doubt; and, 
 bad as their predisposition to evil habits might cause them 
 to act, they would certainly be better off married, than 
 leading worse lives than the most depraved animals possi- 
 bly could. It is said that in mathematics two negatives 
 make an affirmative ; and so it might prove in many cases 
 of this kind. Rising hopes and true grounds for affection 
 would, in ma}* cases, be the leaven that would cause both 
 hubsand and wife to unite their efforts in trying to reform 
 each other, and so escape, as much as possible, from the 
 consequences of their former vileness. 
 
 160. It is in the power of the nation to do all 'we 
 have proposed, and much more ; and who can say it is not 
 her duty ? Nations, as well as individuals, are accountable 
 to that Being who has created all things for himself; and 
 if they know how to do good, and do it not, surely sin lieth 
 at the door, and he will not hold them guiltless any more 
 than he will an individual. The history of every country 
 in the world, as well as divine revelation, furnishes abun- 
 dant and conclusive evidence of that fact. 
 
 161. We have remarked that the proposed change would 
 not tax the country very severely at first ; and ten years 
 would certainly elapse before it could amount to any thing 
 like twelve millions of dollars. But the good work would 
 be going on, and the very means used to reclaim the sailor 
 would be adding to the wealth of the country ; and it is 
 highly probable, that, within a few years, the taxes that 
 might be raised from sailors' property would go far towards 
 paying the interest of the sums expended in his behalf. 
 The money would all remain in the country, and eventually 
 find its way back to the national treasury, as surely as vapor, 
 after serving a thousand useful purposes, eventually finds 
 its way back again to the waters of the ocean. Doubtless 
 many seamen would be stimulated to save a little from their
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 137 
 
 earnings in order to raise the wherewith to purchase little 
 cottages; and they would then be responsible for the taxes ; 
 and the fifty thousand abandoned females who are now 
 drawing indirectly millions from the nation's resources, 
 would, by this benevolent arrangement, be transformed into 
 angels of light. They would be saved from spiritual, moral, 
 and even physical death, and add immensely to the wealth 
 and prosperity of their country. 
 
 162. We have said that such a measure would furnish a 
 hundred thousand men for the navy in the event of a for- 
 eign war; but only fifty thousand have entered into the 
 calculations for pecuniary assistance. To explain this, we 
 shall only assume that one-half of our sailors would or could 
 at any time be married men. There would be thousands 
 between the ages of fourteen and twenty-two, and some 
 unmarried above that age, and a small percentage of for- 
 eigners. They would all, with the exception of the foreign- 
 ers, mate excellent men for the navy, however ; for the 
 hopes with which they would be animated could not fail to 
 inspire them with loftier sentiments of patriotism than 
 could ever be expected from foreign hirelings, with the old 
 means used to develop within their breasts an undying love 
 for their adopted country ; namely, the cat-o'-nine-tails and 
 a plenty of gunpowder and whiskey. 
 
 163. We have seen that the pecuniary aid which we 
 have proposed to give the sailor and his wife, together with 
 what he could earn, would not amount to over three hun- 
 dred and seventy-five dollars per year. That is a much 
 smaller income than almost any other class of people get, 
 and by no means as much as he deserves; but by the 
 most rigid economy, and perhaps a little consideration 
 from custom-house officials and benevolent societies, he 
 might possibly get along with it. There is a saying that 
 beggars should be always modest; and so, in fixing the
 
 138 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 amount of the proposed pension, no margin has been left 
 for any thing except the bare necessaries of life. 
 
 164. The main difficulty with the sailor would be his 
 rent ; and here would be a good chance for some benevo- 
 lent society to erect a number of small cottages within easy 
 walking-distance of the cities, or a few miles out on the 
 line of some railway, and let sailors have them for the 
 interest of the money they cost, and enough to pay for 
 taxes, repairs, and insurance. By living so far away, many 
 temptations would be cut off, such as theatres, grog-shops, 
 and the like; and it would also be much healthier than 
 living in cheap tenements in the cities. Land would be 
 much cheaper; and perhaps enough might be reserved to 
 each house to enable every occupant to have a small gar- 
 den, which would not only furnish work and amusement 
 for children, but give the tenants flowers and vegetables. 
 It would be easy for some of our millionnaires to launch out 
 a little money in this direction. Vanderbilt's property 
 alone would furnish cottages for all the sailors in the United 
 States. 
 
 There should be a department established in every 
 custom-house to regulate the affairs of seamen. Sailors' 
 names should be registered the same as vessels, and protec- 
 tions griven them, which they could use in foreign ports. 
 They should also have discharges granted them ; and per- 
 haps it would be proper to have an officer appointed to 
 make up their accounts, and pay them off the day after the 
 arrival of the vessel, or at least before they left her. The 
 same officer should receive the captain's testimony, under 
 oath, concerning the seaman's behavior and abilities ; and 
 if it was found that a man could not maintain a good repu- 
 tation, he should be denied all pecuniary assistance, unless, 
 perhaps, he would go in the navy. The testimony of one 
 shipmaster need not be regarded as conclusive evidence
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 139 
 
 in all cases; but two or three successive discharges should 
 be examined and compared before extreme measures were 
 taken. Men thus registered and assisted should be held 
 liable to be drafted into the navy in case of any war; and, 
 in the event of death, their families should receive a suita- 
 ble and well-guarded pension. Their wages in the navy 
 should correspond with what they were in time of peace in 
 the merchant-service. On account of some of the provis- 
 ions of the late treaty with Great Britain, it might be neces- 
 sary to include a part of our fishermen in the above ar- 
 rangement ; but it need not apply to steamboats and barges 
 navigating rivers, nor to canal-boats, or any other unrigged 
 vessels. It might also be proper to exclude coasters, if 
 they spent over two-thirds of their time for three consecu- 
 tive years in those vessels. 
 
 165. One happy consequence of the new arrangement 
 would be, that seamen could have neighbors and relatives 
 for their companions ; whereas now they go on board of 
 ships entire strangers to each other. In a ship's forecastle 
 half a dozen different nationalities will almost invariably be 
 represented ; and, as they consequently cannot be expected 
 to have much in common, it is surprising that they get 
 along together as well as they do. Satan loves to work in 
 darkness, and carefully avoids the light, lest his deeds 
 should be exposed. Men now get thousands of miles away 
 from home, where no one knows them, and there they will 
 give way to lusts, and involve themselves in schemes of 
 wickedness which they would hardly think of if they knew 
 they were under the eye of those who would be likely to 
 report their misdeeds to their relatives and friends. Few 
 are so lost to virtue, that they do not desire to be thought 
 well of in the place where they spent their childhood, espe- 
 cially by their opposites in sex. The love of approbation 
 and the magnetism of the sexes are fur mightier than the
 
 140 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 famous lever of Archimedes ; for with Christianity at the 
 outer end of the beam, and the Rock which abideth forever 
 for a fulcrum, they are continually turning the world upside 
 down to get it right side up. Yes, if seamen were mar- 
 ried, their children would participate in the hallowed hopes 
 and aspirations which actuate the offspring of all other 
 classes of men; and who can doubt but what the best 
 of results would follow? Who can doubt but what the 
 next generation of seamen would compare favorably with 
 tradesmen on the land in moral character, intelligence, and 
 all the Christian virtues? 
 
 166. Some people are very much afraid that their chil- 
 dren will choose the occupation of the sailor, and conse- 
 quently lead dissipated and vagabond lives, which would 
 have the effect "to bring down their gray hairs in sorrow 
 to the grave." Let all such put their shoulders to the 
 wheel, and help on this movement, and the way of their sons 
 will be pretty effectually hedged up. The sea would then 
 be the last place for vagabonds ; for they would soon find 
 themselves more out of place on board of our ships than 
 good men seem to be now. They would also find it very 
 difficult to obtain situations, as the seamen's children* would 
 contribute so largely towards supplying all deficiencies, that, 
 in most cases, others could not get ships without the assist- 
 ance of friends. 
 
 167. Sailors would then be intelligent, and, in some 
 cases, learned, as well as well behaved. The nation could 
 then be proud of the representatives she would send forth 
 to foreign climes; and the hearts of missionaries would 
 rejoice to have our ships visit their lonely stations in the 
 far-off isles of the Pacific ; whereas now they would about 
 
 * There are many now inquiring, IIow shall we get seamen to man our ships? 
 Justice answers, From the children of seamen, where they ought, in all con- 
 science, to bo obtained.
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 141 
 
 as soon be visited by the plague as to have some vessels 
 heave in sight. Excellent officers could always be selected 
 from such crews; and the high moral tone of seamen would 
 soon necessitate a corresponding change in the characters 
 of all above them. It would never do to bully, nor sys- 
 tematicalty abuse, educated, intelligent men ; and ship-own- 
 ers would be compelled to hire proper persons for officers. 
 They would have no difficulty in finding them under the 
 new dispensation, which will, when it is carried out, solve 
 many of the difficult problems which have hitherto per- 
 plexed the merchant, the nation, the humane ship-master, 
 aad the philanthropic Christian. 
 
 168. There is an evil existing among seamen, to which 
 we have already faintly alluded, that would nearly disap- 
 pear under the new dispensation 5 and that is, the difficulty 
 they experience in trying to keep their clothing in order. 
 Sailors are now frequently frozen more or less while per- 
 forming their duties ; but a vast amount of their suffering 
 might, in a great measure, be prevented, if they all had a 
 sufficient quantity of warm, clean, and durable clothing. 
 Sometimes there will not be more than three or four pairs 
 of mittens on board of a ship of twelve hundred tons, which 
 carries a crew of twenty men ; and then, again, some will 
 be short of oiled clothing; and some will have no stockings 
 nor drawers to wear in the cold, piercing weather. They 
 must do their duty just the same, however; and some of our 
 readers who may be cosily seated by a good fire of anthra- 
 cite coal, where they can hear the snow and sleet pelting 
 against their windows, can just try to imagine how they 
 should like to spend the greater part of a tempestuous win- 
 ter's night clinging to an icy sail a hundred feet up in the 
 air, and exposed to all the furious, chilling blasts, without 
 stockings, drawers, or mittens. Hundreds of men are more 
 or less frozen in that, and in many other ways, every year,
 
 142 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 and some of them to such an extent, that their limbs have 
 to be amputated. It is a terrible thing to come on to our 
 coast in the winter, or go to any other in the same latitude, 
 without a good stock of clean, well-made, and warm cloth- 
 ing. Those only who have been tossed about for weeks in 
 a deeply-laden, ice-clogged ship, trying to make head 
 against our howling nor'-westers and snowstorms, can have 
 any just conception of how much sailors have to suffer. 
 Even if they are not actually frozen, they are often tor- 
 tured by rheumatism throughout the remainder of their mis- 
 erable lives. If the sailor had a home, his wife and daugh- 
 ters could see that his clothing was kept in order ; and they 
 could also make many of his garments, which would dimin- 
 ish his future clothing-bills fifty per cent at least, and give 
 him a far better supply than he now receives. 
 
 169. It is easy to see that the proposed improvement 
 would have the effect to break up all of those rascally sail- 
 ors' boarding-houses, which now make a living and a busi- 
 ness by buying and selling the sailor every time he arrives 
 in port. A few of the best ones might remain ; and it 
 would probably be necessary to keep the Sailors' Homes in 
 operation ; but, after the machinery of the new movement 
 was once got in good running-order, the landlords could 
 no more sing, 
 
 "You're welcome, Jack, with your nine months' pay; 
 For I think you're homeward bound." 
 
 Many seamen would prefer to board in sailors' families ; 
 and the landlord, and his coadjutor the runner (alias John 
 Shark), would disappear from the scene forever. Like 
 the giant Pope in " Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress," a few 
 of them might remain about their old haunts, and grin at
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 143 
 
 sailors as they passed by ; but they could no longer set 
 their music to, 
 
 "Arise up, Jack ! Let John sit down ; 
 For I know you're outward bound.' 
 
 We see, therefore, that a little help from the government 
 would eventually have the effect to remove all the sailors' 
 enemies and miseries. It would dispose of the hypocritical 
 boarding-master, the predaceous runner, the rascally tailor, 
 the tyrannical shipmaster, the unprincipled ship-owner, the 
 unscrupulous foreign consul, and the abandoned woman. 
 It would not only prevent all of these persons from here- 
 after injuring seamen, but also cause many of them, through 
 necessity, to devote their attention to useful employments, 
 where they could not fail to receive some benefit them- 
 selves. Such a measure would also be favorable to the 
 cause of temperance ; for a sailor is undoubtedly about 
 the worst type of a drunkard. A man with a family that 
 loves him has many powerful influences to hold him back 
 from this degrading vice ; but the present female compan- 
 ions of the sailor are as fond of strong drink as he ; and so, 
 when they are together, they mutually assist each other to 
 fathom the lowest depths of iniquity. It is safe to say, that 
 the elevation of seamen would diminish the number of 
 drunkards at least a hundred thousand in one generation. 
 
 170. If sailors were organized together as a class, one or 
 two newspapers might be published exclusively for their 
 benefit. It would be well to have such papers conducted 
 under the auspices of the government, or some benevolent 
 society, in order to secure for them a high moral tone ; but 
 they should be self-supporting. If some of their spaces were 
 devoted to topics which would particularly interest seamen 
 and their families, they could not fail to be profitable and
 
 144 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 instructive, as well as entertaining. Such papers are all the 
 more necessary for seamen on account of the low tone and 
 immoral tendencies of a large number of the weeklies, and 
 even dailies, that now swarm in our midst. People infer 
 that society was in a corrupt state in ancient times, on 
 account of various developments which have recently come 
 to light in the exhumation of Herculaneum and Pompeii ; 
 but, if they want to see what is going on in our midst 
 to-day, they have only to look into the windows of almost 
 any news office, and behold the " National Police Gazette," 
 "Police News," "Day's Doings," and a dozen other kin- 
 dred publications, from which, if any of their copies live in 
 the future, our descendants will have just cause to conclude 
 that they have indeed sprung from a race which must have 
 
 " Crept through scoundrels ever since the flood." 
 
 The pictures in those papers verge as near obscenity as 
 they can, and avoid the provisions of the law ; and the read- 
 ing-matter treats vice with levity, and rather makes it 
 attractive than forbidding, especially to those whose char- 
 acters and tastes are yet unformed. There are thousands 
 of people who take such papers, and they are increasing 
 like the unclean frogs of Egypt ; but it is safe to say that 
 no good people can be interested in them, except to have 
 them suppressed. 
 
 171. Perhaps some one will now say, Why make such an 
 ado about sailors, when our commerce is so much depressed? 
 when it bids fair to become almost extinct ? If the people 
 of the United States have really made up their minds to 
 do without shipping, and let other nations monopolize the 
 commerce of the world, it may not benefit us much : but 
 still it would set a good example to the nations of the 
 earth ; and we could not choose a cheaper time than the pres-
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 145 
 
 ent, as ships and seamen are now scarce. But we cannot 
 yet make up our minds that a country witli so many thou- 
 sand miles of seaboard, and such vast resources, intends to 
 do without shipping. Ships will eventually be obtained 
 in some way, either by buying them in foreign markets, or 
 by building. It is our traditional policy that they should be 
 built at home ; and many powerful reasons can be urged in 
 favor of the practice. In the first place, the country needs 
 builders. If we buy our ships abroad, and a war should 
 suddenly arise, we should have no ship-builders to con- 
 struct a navy. It was the ship-builders and sailors that 
 choked the South in the secession war until armies could 
 be equipped for their overthrow. That is how the ship- 
 builders and sailors contributed towards crushing the Re- 
 bellion ; and can the country aiford to do without them ? 
 Is it showing gratitude to those men to neglect them, and 
 force their children into other fields of labor? The soldier- 
 mechanic is now living with his happy family, earning 
 from three to five dollars a day ; but iron-clad Jack is 
 wandering about in foreign climes, ivithout any friends, 
 ml (jetting from twelve to fourteen dollars per month for 
 making passages from one port to another. [See Sects. 
 32 and 33.] And is there no national honor to be pre- 
 served in this matter? Shall we, like Spain and other 
 second-class powers, buy a few vessels abroad, and man 
 them with foreigners ? Is it our desire that the American 
 flag shall wave over vessels built on the same stocks as 
 were the " Alabama " and " Shenandoah " ? Do we wish 
 to make it appear that our people are at their wits'-end, and 
 making temporary expedients to fight off bankruptcy. 
 
 172. But how can we help it? is demanded. Again we 
 
 answer, By an appeal to the national treasury. We will 
 
 suppose the country needs a million tons of shipping to 
 
 carry on our foreign trade in the next five years. We can 
 
 13
 
 146 A VOICE PROM THE DEEP. 
 
 furnish it somewhat in this way : let all duties on building- 
 materials be abolished, to begin with; and then let an accu- 
 rate estimate be made from year to year of the difference 
 between the cost of building ships abroad and in the United 
 States ; and then let the government grant a subsidy to e:n-h 
 merchant or builder registering a new vessel equal to this 
 difference, for a limited number of tons for each merchant 
 or builder. If a million of tons were required in the n- xt 
 five years, and the difference amounted to twenty per cent 
 even, and the price of building to a hundred dollars a ton, 
 the subsidy would amount to only twenty millions, or four 
 millions per year. It is probable, however, that the subsidy 
 would be much less than the aforesaid sum ; for when ship- 
 building was once got well under way, and the price of 
 labor reduced to correspond with the price of gold, every 
 year would witness a less difference in the* percentage we 
 have named ; and, in a few years, a highly useful and hon- 
 orable branch of industry would be set fairly on its legs 
 again, and assist powerfully to develop the resources of the 
 nation. Four millions a year for ship-building, and proba- 
 bly four or five more for sailors, seems to make an enor- 
 mous sum for a nation burdened with a huge debt to raise. 
 And so it is ; but supposing, that, in the providence of God, 
 the war had continued a year longer, would it not have 
 cost money enough to have built a merchant navy for 
 almost the whole world ? And should we not have been 
 compelled to afford it ? The money expended in war, too, 
 would have been irrecoverably lost; but, by assisting mer- 
 chants and ship-builders temporarily, nothing will eventu- 
 ally be lost, but a great deal gained. It is not proposed to 
 give ship owners and builders a better chance to get a 
 living than other people have, but merely to put them on 
 equal terms with their European competitors, the same 
 as we do manufacturers, for our otvn yood.
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 147 
 
 173. But some may say, that, if the United States should 
 adopt measures calculated to enfranchise and elevate her 
 seamen, other nations would soon do the same thing; and 
 then of what special benefit would be our army of a hun- 
 dred thousand valiant seamen? Would not a similar 
 movement make other nations equally strong, and leave our 
 own country in the same relative condition as before ? 
 Admitting that it did,' and admitting, also, that all would 
 make the change, should not the prospect of such a con- 
 summation of things be one of the strongest arguments we 
 can possibly use in favor of giving the sailor the proposed 
 pecuniary aid ? Freights could then be raised to a figure 
 which would enable merchants to pay sailors enough to 
 support families the world over; and then, perhaps, all 
 special help from governments could cease. They cannot 
 rise now, because many countries will still continue to treat 
 their seamen according to the civilization of the "dark 
 ages ; " and those nations that are willing to do better, 
 of course, cannot compete with them. If all nations would 
 emancipate their seamen, the event would be such a stride 
 towards a consummation of the reign of practical Chris- 
 tianity among the nations of the earth, that our hundred 
 thousand seamen would have pleasanter employment than 
 handling eleven-inch guns, or knocking their brothers over 
 with the broadsword. War is but a relic of barbarism, and 
 ought to die and be buried in this generation. 
 
 Such a measure would have a powerful tendency to pro- 
 mote kindly feelings among the seamen of different coun- 
 tries, and make them emulous to excel each other in 
 knowledge, intelligence, arid every Christian virtue. It 
 would diminish their temptations everywhere, and operate 
 powerfully to prevent smuggling, casting vessels away wil- 
 fully to get the insurance, embezzlement, and a hundred 
 other things that ignorant and depraved men can frequently 
 be made use of to perform.
 
 148 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 174. It is not proposed to throw down all the bars and 
 fences, and let foreigners and bad characters come in 
 by the wholesale, and reap benefits which should only be 
 secured to the industrious and deserving. Let the relations 
 of all sailors to the merchant still continue as they are, and 
 let the government help those only who seem inclined to 
 behave well, and help themselves. Foreigners should be 
 required to go through the regular course, and get out 
 naturalization papers, and take the oath of allegiance, before 
 they should be allowed help ; and no sailor should be ad- 
 mitted unless he could produce proof from some respectable 
 source that his behavior had been good for at least the 
 last three years. The utmost pains should be taken to 
 exclude all loafers and criminals, and every person not nat- 
 urally disposed to try to do well ; for in this way alone 
 could the good results hoped for ever be realized by the 
 sailor and the country. 
 
 175. It would not do, however, to exclude all who had 
 led vicious lives, nor those who might still be subjected to 
 some bad habits, such as chewing and smoking tobacco, 
 especially at first. It might be better for the next genera- 
 tion of sailors if all such were excluded ; but we must have 
 an eye of benevolence to those now living, and try to save 
 some of them. If a sailor should choose to marry one 
 of his old companions in iniquity, no objection should be 
 made for the same reason ; but the parties should be made 
 distinctly to understand that any infraction of the estab- 
 lished rules of morality would forfeit all claims to pecuniary 
 assistance. It has not hitherto been proposed for the gov- 
 ernment to do any thing for unmarried seamen ; but it 
 would probably be best to register all that were well 
 behaved, and give them a child's allowance for their future 
 encouragement. The sons of sailors might be registered as 
 soon as they should arrive at the age of twenty, or as soon 
 as they could pass for able seamen.
 
 A VOICE PROM THE DEEP. 149 
 
 176. The seamen's department in the custom-house could 
 easily be organized so as to meet all the needed requisi- 
 tions of the sailor ; but it should be presided over by the 
 collector with a watchful eye, to see that no injustice was 
 done, or dishonest practices countenanced. It is not in- 
 tended, however, by the foregoing remarks, to map out the 
 exact course which government ought to pursue in dealing 
 with sailors, but simply to show that no difficulties exist 
 but what can easily be surmounted. It would be much 
 easier, every way, for our government to render a little 
 assistance to sailors, ivhich, after all, is but a simple act 
 of justice, than for the nations of Europe to support 
 standing armies of four or Jive hundred thousand men 
 each. 
 
 177. Who, now, that is possessed of even an ordinary 
 degree of intelligence, can fail to see that such an arrange- 
 ment would be fraught with the greatest of blessings to 
 seamen, to society, and to the nation? Who can say that 
 it is not just for sailors to live by commerce the same as 
 the artisan lives by his trade, and the minister by the 
 gospel? It was commanded the Jews, that they should 
 not muzzle the ox while treading out the grain ; and is not 
 a sailor as good as an ox ? An increase of five per cent on 
 the duties levied on the imports of the single port of New 
 York would set all the machinery of this movement in 
 active operation, or a very small export duty would do the 
 same thing; and who could raise any objection to either? 
 Surely no one with a soul as big as an animalcule, no man 
 with the common instincts of humanity unperverted within 
 him, could stoop so low as to be willing and greedy to enjoy 
 blessings at the expense of others, if he could possibly avoid 
 it. The sailor surely deserves the commonest blessings 
 of life for doing our work, work that hardly one middle- 
 aged man in a, hundred could be tempted to undertake. It 
 
 13*
 
 150 
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 may be that society has never acted maliciously in this 
 matter; for people have been thoughtless, and perhaps 
 ignorant of the sailor's true condition; but, now we have 
 light, we must not allow sin to lay at the door, lest she 
 raise a cloud, and fill our houses with darkness.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 LEGISLATION NOT DEFECTIVE. CUSTOM-HOUSE MATTERS. 
 
 SAILOKS NEED SYMPATHY. 
 
 178. IT may be thought by some people, that many 
 of the tumults and outrages on board of our ships are due 
 to defective legislation, and that the surest way to rescue 
 the sailor from at least a part of his troubles would be to 
 change some of the existing laws, and substitute better 
 ones in their places. We answer that but very little good 
 could be effected in that way. Most of the present laws 
 are good enough, as far as they go; but the existing phys- 
 ical and moral condition of seamen renders the working of 
 them ineffectual. Remove the disabilities of the sailor, 
 and put him in harmony with nature, and there would be 
 but very little difficulty about the laws. 
 
 179. There is a mistaken notion among some people, 
 that the laws are now all on the side of the ship-master, 
 and only operate to support tyranny and injustice ; but 
 such is by no means the fact. It is absolutely necessary, 
 for the welfare of all people concerned in sea-voyages, that 
 the strictest discipline should be faithfully enforced on 
 board of all sea-going vessels. The ship-master's position 
 is one of great responsibility. On board of his ship is a 
 little community, of which he is necessarily the judge, law- 
 giver, and commander; and he cannot efficiently fulfil all 
 of his varied duties and trusts, without possessing almost 
 unlimited control of all the means at his disposal, and abso- 
 
 151
 
 152 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 lute power to enforce order, and obedience to all his neces- 
 sary commands. Instead, therefore, of weakening his 
 authority, and placing obstacles in his way, hi.s position 
 should be strengthened by more stringent Jaws; and it is 
 very possible that a few might be enacted, and some other 
 regulations made, which would assist him materially: but 
 it is not our purpose to notice them in tliis connection. 
 There might, also, be a few laws enacted for the special 
 benefit of sailors, that could not be liable to many objec- 
 tions ; but, after all, the extra compensatton we have pro- 
 posed would cure most of their evils. It can never be ad- 
 visable to encourage litigation among seamen ; not that 
 they should be denied the protection which good laws are 
 supposed to afford; but ignorant people just beginning to 
 emerge from barbarism are apt to be excesssively fond of 
 going to law when the penalties are light. The blacks in 
 the English West-India Islands, and the inhabitants of 
 Sierra Leone, are examples of this truth. 
 
 180. If difficulties should arise hereafter, however, about 
 certain abuses which have been named in the course of this 
 work, such as keeping the sailor at work, without occasion, 
 for sixteen hours in a day, restricting him unnecessarily in 
 the use of fresh water, &c., a little judicious legislation 
 would seem to be indicated ; and it might, also, be proper to 
 make regulations which would assist officers who have not 
 an awe-inspiring presence, nor a natural aptitude for gov- 
 erning, to deal with insolent and refractory seamen in cases 
 where they now experience great difficulty. If a salt-water 
 impostor feigns sickness when there is a disagreeable job on 
 hand, the master should have discretionary power to stop 
 his wages. If a man chooses to sleep on his lookout, he 
 should forfeit five dollars for every offence. For insolent 
 language, a seaman should be confined, and fed on prison- 
 fare, or for any other flagrant breach of discipline; but
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 153 
 
 it would be high time to consider these minor matters 
 after seamen, as a class, were brought into a position where 
 they could respect themselves, and, in the main, be influ- 
 enced by higher motives than the fear of bodily pains and 
 privations. 
 
 181. We have mentioned before, that it might be proper 
 to give the sailor a little latitude in the custom-house : but 
 perhaps that may be a mistaken notion ; and it is certain 
 that many reasons could be urged against its expediency. 
 Many would say that it might be just to give sailors a few 
 liberties in that way ; but they would certainly abuse them, 
 and bring discredit on the whole revenue system. We 
 think, however, that regulations might be made, which 
 would allow sailors to bring home a few things for their 
 own families free of duty, and operate, at the same time, to 
 remove many of the obnoxious features of the present sys- 
 tem. The temptation for sailors to smuggle a little, with 
 things arranged as they now are, is powerful ; and it is 
 safe to say, that there is not one seafaring man out of 
 twenty, who would not try to carry ashore secretly little 
 presents of the value of fifteen or twenty dollars. Sailors 
 are strongly tempted to practise deception in these matters 
 by the conduct of some of the custom-house officers. The 
 majority of these men are, perhaps, worthy enough, and, 
 doubtless, they may mean to do right; but, not knowing 
 nor realizing scarcely any thing about the affairs of sea- 
 men, they unintentionally do them a vast amount of injury. 
 Their instructions, in many cases, lead them to believe 
 that they are sent on board of vessels to look after a set 
 of " rascally scamps;" and so they think they must re- 
 gard all sailors as thieves and smugglers, else the powers 
 above them will distrust their vigilance and fidelity. Being 
 allowed a percentage of all they can seize, many of them 
 will unscrupulously take every thing they can lay their
 
 154 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 hands on ; and, instead of showing the least sympathy for 
 men who have passed through hardships and privations 
 enough to entitle them to a welcome reception on shore, 
 they will dive unceremoniously to the bottom of every chest 
 and trunk they can find, even if some of them belong to 
 the captain's wife. Such proceedings are very damaging 
 to the moral characters of seamen. There is no man on 
 shore who would feel pleasant if he was periodically sub- 
 jected to a visitation from a squad of detectives, who would 
 come into his house, and ransack every thing from garret to 
 cellar, not even sparing his wife's clothing. There is many 
 an honest seafaring man, who has felt a sense of burning 
 shame come over him as he has come into port out of a furi- 
 ous storm, and had a lot of furnace-bleached, piano-fingered 
 men, who were never a hundred miles on salt water in 
 their lives, and who had just come out from behind a warm 
 stove perhaps, come unceremoniously on board, and go to 
 searching every nook and corner, asking, at the same time, 
 all sorts of impertinent questions, and rendering themselves 
 as disagreeable as possible. Sailors generally spend a little 
 money while away, and, in doing so, frequently remember 
 a wife, a sister, or a mother; and, when they get to their 
 own country, they look on the custom-house officials as a 
 parcel of heartless robbers ; and they almost invariably 
 try to conceal their little treasures from them, and gener- 
 ally succeed. It is true, that such little things might be 
 put on the manifest, and the duties paid; but that seems to 
 be a troublesoine operation, and they hardly ever attempt 
 it; neither do they think it is quite right. They have 
 also a vague notion that it is not quite right to carry their 
 things on shore secretly; but finally they make a virtue 
 of necessity, and stifle the voice of conscience for the time, 
 persuading themselves that it is right to do a little wrong 
 that good may come, or, rather, to avoid what they consider 
 to be a far greater wrong.
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 155 
 
 182. The collectors think they must approve of and en- 
 courage all such little seizures in order to stimulate their 
 employes to be vigilant; but it is doubtful if such is sound 
 policy. A well-paid custom-house officer should be willing 
 to do his duty faithfully, without having a share in the little 
 hard-earned cash of sailors. If seamen are to be punished 
 for bringing home a few dollars' worth of foreign produc- 
 tions, let the majesty of law be invoked, and the United 
 States have the benefit of all such seizures and fines. 
 There is now seldom any thing done to sailors, except to 
 take away their goods ; for collectors know well enough how 
 they feel about the matter, and they do not wish to pro- 
 ceed to extremities with a class of men that are hardly held 
 to be morally responsible to society for many of their acts. 
 The effect of such leniency is, however, pernicious; for, if 
 men are to be punished at all for smuggling, they should 
 be punished severely, and given to understand that the laws 
 cannot be transgressed with impunity. Now they regard 
 the officers as but little better than robbers ; and a seizure 
 only makes them more careful the next time. Officers, 
 also, that have long been accustomed to this way of mak- 
 ing money, will, at length, condescend to receive bribes; and 
 so prevalent is this custom in England, that a few shillings 
 and a glass of beer will pass almost any seaman's effects 
 out of the dock-gates. 
 
 183. We think that things would go on better with 
 regulations something like the following : Let every ship- 
 master, on his arrival in port, be required to have a separate 
 manifest of all the little articles belonging to himself and 
 crew, that should exceed five dollars in value ; and let the 
 government charge duties on the excess above a hundred 
 dollars on a year's voyage for a sailor, a hundred and fifty 
 for a mate, and two hundred for a captain, and for other 
 voyages in proportion, according to the length of time.
 
 156 A VOICE PROM THE DEEP. 
 
 The crew should be required to stay on board and do duty 
 until their accounts were made out; when the proper officer 
 should come on board from the custom-house to pay them 
 off. Such an officer should receive the ship's articles, 
 and all the seamen's receipts, when the vessel enters, and 
 have the accounts made out immediately, and then, accom- 
 panied by an appraiser, he should board the said vessel, and 
 settle up every thing connected with the crew and officers. 
 If there should be an excess above the specified sum on 
 dutiable articles, it could then and there be taken from the 
 sailors' wages ; and they could then go to their homes, or 
 to any other place, without the necessity of running in 
 debt to tailors, or going to seamen's boarding-houses, or 
 any thing of the sort. Sailors, when they are paid off, 
 should be required to swear to the truth of the crew's mani- 
 fest; and, if any are ever found guilty of perjury, they 
 should be dealt with as the law directs. They should be 
 required to swear that their little articles are not for mer- 
 chandise, but for their own families, or as presents to some 
 of their special friends. 
 
 184. Who can doubt but what some such regulation 
 would do away with a vast amount of lying, stealing, and 
 perjury? Ignorant, morally weak, and irreligious men 
 should be dealt with discreetly; and temptations should, 
 as far as possible, be removed from them : but they should 
 never be taught that they were irresponsible beings, and 
 not amenable to just and wholesome laws. It cannot work 
 well to deal with seafaring men on the presumption that 
 they are irresponsible smugglers, thievi*?, and liars. They 
 should be regarded as good honest men, and punished 
 severely if they do not behave in a becoming manner. 
 
 185. It may seem to some, that such exceptions in favor 
 of the sailor would amount to a large sum in the aggre- 
 gate; but that is not probable. Sailors do not generally
 
 A VOICE PROM THE DEEP. 157 
 
 get over twenty-five or thirty dollars to spend in foreign 
 ports ; and half of that goes for clothing for themselves, 
 sight-seeing, &c. The little articles which they now get 
 for presents they smuggle safely ashore in nineteen cases 
 out of twenty; and we very much doubt if government 
 would lose much more by the new arrangement than by the 
 old. The duties lost in this way could not amount to more 
 than a million in any case ; and the benefit would all go to 
 a class of men that we think we have fully proved it is 
 necessary to assist; and, for reasons already given, it would 
 be better to do it in this way than in any other. We 
 should not think it proper to preach to a wayward and 
 gluttonous child, that it must not eat candy or plum-cake, 
 and then keep those articles on a stand alongside 'of its 
 bed : neither can it be proper to thrust temptations in the 
 way of ignorant and vicious seamen, and then punish them 
 for their indulgences, or, what is worse, treat them the same 
 as we would an unintelligent horse or mule working in 
 a wheat-field. 
 
 186. It is not to be denied that a few ship-masters and 
 officers smuggle cigars, coffee, silks, and a great many 
 other valuable articles, in trading for themselves ; and some- 
 times they do it for their owners: but we cannot help 
 thinking that the surest way to prevent such things is to 
 help seamen in the manner proposed, and adopt the fore- 
 going regulations. We have already seen that smuggling 
 and perjured ship-masters originally sprung from vicious 
 and depraved seamen ; and if we use effective means to 
 improve the moral standard of seamen's characters, and try 
 to redeem their profession from dishonor, we shall at the 
 same time, and by the same means, remove the disposition 
 of sailors to smuggle, and various other crimes and irregu- 
 larities will soon disappear from among them, like a crop 
 of boils before an alterative medicine.
 
 158 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 187. Sailors should, therefore, not only be the .wards 
 of the nation, but have tlie kind regards and sympathies 
 of all classes in society. The peculiar position which they 
 occupy, and many of the circumstances attending it, make 
 them worthy of more attention than is usually bestowed 
 upon our fellow-mortals. They are strangers and wander- 
 ers to and fro upon the face of the earth. They are ex- 
 posed to peculiar perils from shipwrecks, falling overboard, 
 falling from aloft, collisions, and many other dangers which 
 are but sparingly dealt out to the rest of mankind. Even 
 when the sailor is married, and has a family of children, 
 what a feeling of loneliness must come over him at times, 
 when he is away at sea without them ! How lonely and 
 
 'desolate his poor wife must feel as she hears the wind rush- 
 ing by her dwelling, and sighing among the trees, as if it 
 were the requiem of the absent one ever present in the poor 
 woman's thoughts ! How she clasps her babes to her 
 bosom, and wildly beseeches God to have compassion on 
 her poor husband ! 
 
 188. Some people profess to think that it is crnel for 
 sailors to marrj 7 , and expose poor helpless women to such 
 experiences as this; but, if such are their actual sentiments, 
 they do not judge wisely; neither can they have a proper 
 conception of what Christians ought to live for in this 
 world. Such experiences soften the heart, and tend to 
 give us faith in God and in each other. It may seem 
 shocking to those trifling mortals who do not like to think 
 seriously of any thing except their own fancied grievances; 
 but ease, pleasure, and thoughtlessness are not the agents 
 used by the infinitely wise God to purify his children. 
 The storms of adversity, the furnace of affliction, and the 
 waves of sorrow, are oftener the refining influences brought 
 to bear, from time to time, upon the sons and daughters 
 of Adam to try them. The dross is consumed; but the
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP- 159 
 
 gold is made bright and pure for the building of that tem- 
 ple of which Jesus Christ is the chief corner-stone. It 
 seems unnatural for husbands and wives, and parents and 
 children, to be separated from each other for weeks and 
 months and years, when, perhaps, they are thinking of 
 each other every moment; but, if they have God's Spirit 
 with them, that undying love which burns so brightly upon 
 the altar of their hearts will keep them true to each other, 
 and pure and good and virtuous. If might not be so if 
 they lived single. Love would then have no fuel with 
 which to kindle his sacred fires; and darkness deep, 
 midnight darkness would enshroud the human soul, and 
 the demon of lust and intemperance would hold carnival 
 there, until the lost and wretched victims were hopelessly 
 wrecked on the dark, rock-bound coast of despair. 
 
 189. Many will say that such a picture is not true to 
 life. A great many people belonging to our whaling-ports, 
 and some of them in good circumstances, have been mar- 
 ried ; and, if reports were true, the fires and lights of love 
 never prevented many of the parties from acting improperly. 
 Sometimes it would be the woman who was in the trans- 
 gression, and sometimes the man, but still oftener both. 
 That may all be true ; but still it proves nothing against 
 what we have advanced, if we can find even one instance 
 where the parties remained true to each other; and we 
 know there have been man}' hundreds. There are many 
 thoughtless, trifling persons and monsters of both sexes all 
 around us ; and the only reason why they do not behave as 
 bad as the aforesaid whalemen and their wives is, that 
 thoy have learned to be more hypocritical, and their facili- 
 ties are not so good. 
 
 190. It is certain that many couples have been married, 
 and remained true to each other through years of absence ; 
 and that fact alone is sufficient to disprove every attempt
 
 160 A VOICK FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 to show that a temporary separation favors false-hearted- 
 ness. Neither is it expected that sailors, as a class, or 
 their wives, would be models of virtue, for at least some 
 time to come. Men and women that have been educated 
 in vice and iniquity cannot be expected to remove from 
 them, in a moment, all the effects of their early training. 
 Missionaries would at first have to deal with " the halt, the 
 maimed, the lame, and the blind ; " but it would be a glori- 
 ous field of labor. This generation coming, as it would, 
 out of almost Egyptian darkness might prove somewhat 
 refractory, and thousands might die in the wilderness ; but 
 the most of their children could be measurably fitted to enter 
 the promised land. 
 
 191. After these explanations, if we should hear of here 
 and there a sailor that turned out to be a Judas, and a few 
 women that should choose to take pattern after Jezebel 
 and Athaliah, we need not be at all surprised. We should 
 never abandon a good work because it is beset by a few 
 difficulties, but go to work manfully, and try to clear 
 them away. If Washington had given up all for lost 
 when he was chased across the Delaware, our country 
 could not now be the first to act on this project of emanci- 
 pating seamen ; and, if Jesus had abandoned hope when all 
 his disciples forsook him and fled, none of the emancipated 
 sailors could ever sing with .the immortal Wesley, 
 
 " Oh for a thousand tongues to sing 
 My great Redeemer's praise ! " 
 
 192. We have hitherto said nothing about including 
 officers in the number of those who should receive assist- 
 ance and extra compensation from the government ; but it 
 would certainly be best, and even necessary, to help all in 
 the manner proposed, excepting shipmasters. The pay of 
 officers is no greater, in proportion, than the pay of sailors,
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 161 
 
 as we can readily demonstrate. The chief mate of a vessel 
 of three or four hundred tons, who has certainly as great 
 cares and responsibilities as almost any overseer, head 
 bookkeeper, or head clerk on the land, if not much greater, 
 does not get but forty-five dollars a month and his board, 
 averaging, probably, less than ten months annually. He 
 cannot now, under the most favorable circumstances, earn 
 more than four hundred and fifty or four hundred and sev- 
 enty-five dollars in a year; and he is also subject to most 
 of the drawbacks which befall the sailor, from shipwrecks, 
 perils, pestilence, absence from home, and a hundred other 
 evils. But no overseer in a factory, nor any head book- 
 keeper or clerk, would think of receiving less for his ser- 
 vices than from twelve hundred to two thousand dollars iu 
 a year ; which is far more than three-fourths of our sea- 
 captains get in a straightforward and honest manner. The 
 mate of an ordinary-sized vessel, at the present time, does 
 not get more than the farm-laborer ; and, whenever we find 
 one of them married, his family is always living in two or 
 three rooms, in the most humble manner; and his wife and 
 children have to assist him in some way to get a living. 
 This is gross injustice ; for a mate's position requires a man 
 of good abilities, and much general information and intelli- 
 gence ; and he ought to be put on equal terms in society, 
 and with respect to pay, with overseers, bookkeepers, and 
 head clerks. Even if we should give a chief mate the 
 same assistance as we have proposed to give the sailor, he 
 could not then earn any more than an unskilful mechanic 
 who does not get work over two-thirds of the time, and 
 who, it may be, can neither read nor write. 
 
 193. Common modesty, as well as many other motives, 
 should prevent us from begging for the shipmaster; but it 
 can do no harm to show that he is not paid like other men 
 for the services which he renders to society. A man in 
 
 14*
 
 162 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 charge of a vessel worth fifty thousand dollars, carrying 
 a cargo valued at, perhaps, one or two hundred thousand, 
 and several passengers, ought, at least, to receive as much 
 compensation as a head clerk in a wholesale store, or the 
 principal teacher in one of our common city schools ; but 
 such is not generally the case. Shipmasters' wages are not 
 fixed; but, as a general thing, they cannot earn over 
 a thousand dollars a year in clear money. A captain's 
 wages will enable him to support a family, however ; and 
 so, perhaps, no great harm will be done if he is used to 
 exemplify that passage of Scripture where it is said that 
 the "first shall be last, and the last first;" and, again, 
 where it says that "he which would be great should be 
 the servant of all." As the captain is the owners' recog- 
 nized agent, it would probably be best to leave every thing 
 concerning him as it is now, and perhaps, in time, things 
 would all come out right. 
 
 194. In comparing wages and expenses thus far, it has 
 always been assumed that the parties were, or should be, 
 married men ; for it would make quite a material difference 
 if such was not the case. If we assume that the sailor has 
 no business with a family, and allow the landsman one, 
 the present wages given each are just enough, and, proba- 
 bly, they are divided about as equally as possible. A single 
 sailor with twenty-five dollars a month might easily lay 
 up as much money as the married mechanic with three 
 times that sum ; and a single captain with eight hundred 
 dollars could do as well as a married school-teacher with 
 eighteen hundred or two thousand; but the most stu/iiil 
 blockhead could easily see that such a comparison would 
 not be just. Money considered by itself is of scarcely any 
 value; but, when society allows it to represent some of the 
 greatest blessings of this life, it becomes an object worth 
 seeking after. If a common sailor should be as saving and
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 163 
 
 prudent as a common mechanic, he would, probably, have as 
 much property at the age of sixty, providing that he always 
 lived single, and the mechanic, in the mean time, brought 
 up a large family; but no right-minded person can, for an 
 instant, deny that the mechanic at that age, with his lov- 
 ing wife for a companion, and his large family of thriving 
 children scattered over the land, would feel richer without 
 any property than the single sailor with all the fabled 
 wealth of Croesus. 
 
 195. There are a multitude of evils to which seamen are 
 subjected, that will not be mentioned in this book. It was 
 never the design of it to go much into details, but to pre- 
 sent to the public, in as comprehensive a manner as possi- 
 ble, some of the main features of a sailor's life, so that all 
 can have some idea of abuses, which, perhaps, many people 
 hardly ever heard of before. There are those who seem to 
 think, that, because African slavery is now dead, we have, 
 therefore, no more to do in behalf of freedom, but we are 
 now truly a great, free, and happy people. Poor souls ! 
 how it must grieve them to learn that they have yet many 
 mighty mountains to climb before they can see the length 
 and breadth of this entire land illuminated by the sun of 
 liberty ! When we all get up to that heavenly height, we 
 can view our beloved country with as much satisfaction as 
 Moses felt when he beheld the land of promise from 
 the top of Pisgah ; but, until then, our work will not 
 be done. It may be that we shall never gain such a 
 prospect :n our earthly lives ; but our companion, sweet- 
 tempered and lovely Faith, whispers to us, that in some of 
 the ages to come, measured by the mighty cycles of eter- 
 nity, we shall look out of the windows of heaven, and 
 behold the sun of liberty elevated above all the earth. 
 May the thought strengthen and encourage us to go and 
 work to-day in our Master's vineyard !
 
 164 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 196. If this matter is examined carefully, and it is 
 found that 110 available means exist to disinthnill the sailor 
 in this generation, then, of course, we must let the matter 
 rest, even though it cause miseries unspeakable, and affect 
 the eternal interests of hundreds of thousands, if not mil- 
 lions, of human beings. We think it will be found, upon 
 examination, however, that something can be done to stay 
 this mighty tide of destruction, and done immediately. 
 We have seen, that, as far as the nation is concerned, it is 
 merely a matter of dollars and cents; and has the nation 
 become so poor, that she cannot afford to treat the sailor as 
 well as she treats the savages that roam over our Western 
 wilds and prairies ? If the Indians could be prevailed upon 
 to "settle down," and cultivate their "hunting-grounds,'' 
 would it not be better for the government to pay them the 
 cost of the present military establishment kept up on their 
 account for doing so, than to maintain it year after year 
 with no good results, except to keep our frontiersmen from 
 destruction ? If the Indians would cultivate the soil, they 
 would contribute millions to the aggregate wealth of the 
 country, the same as the sailor is doing now ; and the sol- 
 diers could go to their homes, where they, also, could engage 
 in useful occupations for the benefit of society : but those 
 lawless gentlemen of the scalping fraternity have no mind 
 to do any such thing ; and so the government is obliged to 
 have recourse to all kinds of expedients to get along with 
 them. The Indian has a wife and children the same as 
 any other man, and as many hands to work with ; but, 
 because he will not, the government must spend millions in 
 fruitless wars, or else maintain him in horse-stealing, but 
 most commonly both. Why, then, not treat the sailor 
 half as well as the Indian? He does not ask to be sup- 
 ported in laziness. He does not compel the government to 
 make war upon him, and spend millions every year. Oh, no !
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 165 
 
 On the contrary, sailors have always been among the most 
 efficient defenders of their country, even when detailed to 
 serve on shore. If Commodore Barney had had a force 
 equal to two-thirds of the British forces opposed to him, 
 Ross and Cockburn's gang would hardly have entered 
 Washington, except as prisoners. The sailor does not 
 expect to stay with his family all the time, like shore peo- 
 ple, and be in a position where he can direct all of his own 
 affairs. He does not expect to be taken care of by his 
 loving wife and sympathizing children when he is sick, nor 
 to supply their little wants by his kind offices when they 
 are in a like condition. He expects to pay for what he 
 receives by toils and labors and privations in foreign 
 climes ; and it is a poor ivorld indeed, that cannot give 
 him what has seldom been denied to the meanest slave 
 since the time of Adam, namely, a wife, and means 
 to support a family. 
 
 197. This is a measure in which all men who love their 
 country are interested. God forbid that it should ever be 
 a " plank " in the platform of any political party ! Demo- 
 crats, Republicans, Labor-Reformers, Woman-Suffragists, 
 and, we trust, all other political organizations, should unite 
 their efforts, and vie with each other in their endeavors to do 
 justice to this long-neglected and very deserving class of 
 men. It would be a pity to hear a dissenting voice in the 
 council-chambers of the nation, should the sailor stand upon 
 the threshold, and ask the people's representatives to give 
 him the means to support, in the humblest manner, a poor 
 outcast woman who wanted to be his wife, and who could 
 hardly find means to get an honest living without his assist- 
 ance. Surely any voice raised in opposition to such a plea 
 would sound worse than the hissing of a serpent, or the mid- 
 night bowlings of a jackal. 
 
 198. Perhaps some of our readers may now wonder of
 
 166 A VOICE FliOM TI1E DEEP. 
 
 what political stripe the author of this book professes to be; 
 and many may be desirous to know whether lie would be as 
 willing to help the prohibition cause, the labor-reform 
 cause, or the woman-suffrage cause, as he is to have the 
 people belonging to those political organizations help the 
 seaman's cause. There can be no harm done by enlight- 
 ening such people ; but we regret to say it must be done 
 by referring them back to statements which have been 
 made in the progress of this work (76-78). The author 
 of this book is, and has been for nearly twenty years, a 
 sailor, and, consequently, knows but very little about the 
 maxims, mottoes, and wire-pulling arrangements, of any 
 political party. He desires the good opinion and kind offices 
 of all, however, and feels willing to appeal and submit the 
 seamen's cause to the unbiassed judgment of the people 
 and the freemen of all the political parties in the United 
 States. He wants no wire-pulling, nor any other kind of 
 political jugglery, used to get this measure through ; for, if 
 it cannot stand in this country on its own merits, may 
 Providence take care of it, and let our people and legislators 
 turn their attention to the other questions which agitate 
 the public mind ! 
 
 199. What a noble way it would be to show our grati- 
 tude to God, in the presence of an admiring world, for all 
 the national blessings we have received, to emancipate, 
 enfranchise, and place as near as possible in harmony with 
 nature, a hundred thousand men and women, that might 
 be numbered, if they were dealt with justly and charitably, 
 among our most worthy citizens ! Doubtless, such a course 
 would be more grateful to Heaven's majesty than a thou- 
 sand windy speeches about our greatness, or the sacrifice 
 of a million of geese and turkeys on a Thanksgiving. 
 
 200. We hear a great deal about hard times now; but 
 people do not seem to act as though they were very hard.
 
 A VOICE FEOM THE DEEP. 
 
 167 
 
 Thousands of families will have things now, that people in 
 the same circumstances thought altogether out of their 
 reach a quarter of a century ago. Our national debt would 
 not hinder us from buying Cuba, if it was offered for a rea- 
 sonable price ; and there is certainly as much propriety in 
 providing a way for our seamen to have their clothing taken 
 care of as there is in buying the north pole. Eour or five 
 millions annually to assist our seamen, and as much more 
 for a few years to re-establish our commerce, could be as 
 well afforded as thousands of other things not half so im- 
 portant to the welfare, honor, and prosperity of the people 
 of this great Commonwealth.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 CONCLUDING REMARKS. CERTAIN VICTORY. THANKS- 
 
 n GIVING. 
 
 201. BUT is it necessary to make it apparent to the 
 inhabitants of the United States, that an enterprise in 
 which justice and mercy are deeply involved pays, before 
 any one can be found willing to engage in it ? Are gold 
 and silver of more value to mankind than those divine 
 attributes which enstamp God's image upon the human soul, 
 and make man upright, unlike the beasts that perish? No : 
 it cannot be. The freemen of this great country would 
 scorn to have their names associated with dishonor, injus- 
 tice, and ingratitude. Prove to them that a cause is right, 
 after their attention is gained, and it must be that they 
 would soon make it their own. Any other course would 
 lead to infamy ; and that is a goal where but few would 
 care to have their names registered. 
 
 202. It is true that Mammon presents many attractions 
 to our selfish imaginations, and oftentimes succeeds in en- 
 veloping the heart in a gold and silver case, where its 
 beats of love and sympathy can be but faintly heard ; but, 
 even then, he can seldom prevail upon his simple and 
 foolish captive to withhold all tribute from Honor, especially 
 if she is found in company with the great. Many people 
 who are not accounted the slaves of avarice find it difficult 
 to help forward any good wotk, because they have so much 
 charity to dispense at home. They have a thousand ways 
 
 168
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 169 
 
 for all the money to go which they can get; and, although 
 they would always be thought to be living on terms of the 
 strictest intimacy with Honor, it is to be observed they often 
 make her pecuniary dues extremely small. The fact is, 
 the poor creatures are miserably deceived and defrauded by 
 fashion. That vain and gay deceiver proffers her services 
 as a broker to give grace in Honor's sight; but, instead 
 of fulfilling their brilliant expectations, the blind and fickle 
 goddess only conducts them to the " springs," or to some 
 watering-place, where they oftentimes find nothing but 
 "vanity and vexation." Poor deluded mortals! They 
 cannot be made to believe that the road to heaven lies 
 over the fields of self-denial, and through the valley of hu- 
 miliation. 
 
 203. That a project which proposes to abstract from the 
 national treasury every year should be sharply criticised, we 
 are fully prepared to expect. People who have to work 
 hard for a living, and know the value of that which money 
 represents, do not like to expend their surplus earnings for 
 " that which is not bread." They do not like to become 
 the dupes of some vile speculator, who would predict that 
 the world was coming to an end if all his idle vagaries were 
 not at once received as the true oracles of wisdom. Good 
 people wish to examine minutely the merits of every 
 cause they are called upon to support, so as to be assured 
 that their labors will not be in vain ; and surely we can- 
 not blame them, for their prudence is commendable' and 
 reasonable. 
 
 204. We cannot, it is true, see every thing ourselves. 
 We are obliged to let our friends, and those that have our 
 confidence, think for us in some degree ; for a dozen life- 
 times would not suffice to make any man master of all the 
 useful knowledge there is in the world. But still none can 
 escape from their responsibilities, and the penalties due to 
 
 15
 
 170 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 transgression, on the plea of ignorance. We go to sea in 
 ships which are driven by fierce winds, and carried about 
 by tides and currents; and it is necessary that we should 
 use our own careful judgments, aided by the experiences 
 and directions of others, if we would escape from ship- 
 wreck. We must measure every new proposition by the 
 long-tried, accurate, and approved rules of right, to satisfy 
 ourselves whether it is in any way worthy of our attention 
 and regard. The seaman's cause, which we have intro- 
 duced in this work, will bear investigation. It commends 
 itself not only to our minds and hearts, but to the strictest 
 tests that were ever applied to any proposition which 
 had for its object the welfare of any part of the human 
 race. All are cordially invited to examine it carefully ; 
 and, if it is found that it cannot stand on its own merits, 
 let it fall to the ground, never to rise again to deceive 
 mankind. 
 
 205. Lest any should think that many of the statements 
 in this book are incorrect, or the offspring of an impulsive 
 spirit and a heated imagination, we cordially invite all 
 people interested in maritime affairs to give in their testi- 
 mony, and let the public see whether it compares with 
 what has been written on the preceding pages or not. Let 
 some one be deputed to go in disguise, and make a voyage 
 before the mast in one of our East-Indiamen or a whaler; 
 and, if he is a middle-aged man, we will guarantee he will 
 not be easily prevailed upon to repeat his experiment. 
 Select a man from the navy like the late Admiral Foote, 
 and see what he thinks of it. Ask any intelligent and 
 unprejudiced ship-master. Send a man in disguise to 
 spend a month in some of our seamen's boarding-houses, 
 and let him make his report. All the subject requires is 
 to have the light shine upon it, so that all can see ; and we 
 think that many will soon be found hastening to do all in
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 171 
 
 their power to remove the foulest blot from the national 
 escutcheon. 
 
 206. We say that we cannot get along without a navy ; 
 for one is needed for the defence of our country. Millions 
 are expended every year to maintain it, and no one com- 
 plains ; for all want to live secure. We say, too, that we 
 must have Commerce, or relapse into barbarism ; for all 
 agree that she is the handmaid of civilization. We can see 
 our self-interest in both of these matters ; and so all obsta- 
 cles must be removed, and commerce cherished, and a navy 
 maintained. Any one who should refuse to pay taxes to 
 support these all-important benefactors of his country 
 would be looked upon as a traitor or a madman, and treated 
 accordingly; but when we say that seamen should be cher- 
 ished, and raised to a social position which would corre- 
 spond, in some respects, to that which is occupied by the 
 poorest day-laborer, shall any lawyer presume that that 
 alters the question, and interpose an "if" to prove that one 
 axe is not as good as another? Surely, if the nation can- 
 not take care of her seamen, and give them the means to 
 do right, the sooner the navy is abolished, and commerce 
 destroyed, the better. 
 
 207. Neither will it do to say that we must respect the 
 wisdom of our ancestors, and give countenance to abuses, 
 which, perhaps, have existed ever since the days of Noah 
 and the Argonauts. We might as well think of reviving 
 the Ptolemaic system of astronomy, or of re-establishing 
 
 . stage-coaches and the whipping-post. The current in the 
 middle of the stream of life flows forever onward towards 
 the clear and sparkling waters of immortality; and, if we 
 do not keep in it, we shall inevitably be brushed aside into 
 some of the dark and sluggish bayous of oblivion, where 
 the stagnant and putrid waters will have a worse effect 
 upon us than the lotos-eaters' fruit had upon them; and
 
 172 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 we shall never see that goodly land and Lebanon, so often 
 promised to the faithful. 
 
 208. If any prominent man belonging to our country 
 should be travelling abroad with his family, and it should 
 forcibly be taken from him, would not the whole country 
 be up in arms about it ? Would not the nation rise in her 
 majesty, and send forth her fleets and armies to vindicate 
 the claims of justice, at an expense of hundreds of millions 
 of money, and thousands of lives, if need be? Would not 
 the Trojan war be renewed on a scale that would satisfy 
 even Menelaus himself, if he could be alive to see it? We 
 think so. Then why is it that the nation should refuse to 
 rescue from certain destruction hundreds of thousands of 
 its own citizens, when it can be done at comparatively :i N 
 small expense, and without any sacrifice of life or honor 1 .' 
 The salvation of the meanest sailor or street-walker would 
 give more true glory to the nation than the rescue of a 
 thousand faithless Helens ; and, if no Homer could be found 
 on eartli to do honor to such a theme, we may be assuivd 
 it would be the subject of one of the sweetest songs in 
 heaven. 
 
 209. It is, indeed, a surprising fact, that men are more 
 ready to pour out their blood and treasure to support a 
 desolating war about a small matter than they are to make 
 very small sacrifices for a much larger one which can be 
 accomplished by peaceful means. How much better the 
 people of France would feel now, if they had only to pay 
 out a small sum of money to sustain such a measure as this 
 book advocates, instead of giving all the first-fruits of their 
 labors into the hands of their worst enemies ! Half a dozen 
 years ago, her statesmen would probably have declared that 
 the French people were unable to do any thing for the 
 sailor; but now they are obliged to afford five times the 
 sum that would be necessary for that purpose, as a result
 
 A VOICE FEOM THE DEEP. 173 
 
 of being beaten in war. The nation could glory in spend- 
 ing money for the noble purpose of rescuing a portion of 
 her own children from lives of ignominy and sin ; but there 
 is but very little true glory to be derived from even a 
 successful war, involving, as it always does, a wholesale 
 destruction of human life. 
 
 210. The history of the world proves that the majority 
 of statesmen have never realized this important truth. 
 Goodness has always hedged herself about with difficulties, 
 so as to hinder evil-disposed persons from following her just 
 for the loaves and the fishes. She has always been acces- 
 sible, but only to the firm and resolute, who would not be 
 kept back by her barriers. Because that many people 
 cannot see through the thorny hedge which encircles her 
 beautiful garden, where the fruits of wisdom grow, they 
 therefore affirm that she does not live there ; and so they 
 search for her in all kinds of dark and crooked ways, where 
 she is never to be found. Statesmen have, therefore, gen- 
 erally shaped their courses according to the wisdom of this 
 world, which is counterfeit; and so, in the end, they have 
 seldom succeeded in establishing the fabric of state on firm 
 and lasting foundations. 
 
 211. There are better days coming, however; and we 
 may almost presume that the reign of ignorance and decep- 
 tion is drawing near its end. Even the men who prefer to 
 shape their courses according to the dictates of worldly 
 wisdom are beginning to see that their interests cannot be 
 best served by too exclusive a selfishness. An ignorant 
 man is now almost universally considered to be a dunger- 
 
 , ous man ; for human observation has not failed to reveal to 
 every intelligent person the great fact, that education is 
 almost wholly responsible for the social, moral, and spiritual 
 status of mankind. People that make no efforts to relieve 
 themselves from the thraldom of ignorance are anxious to
 
 174 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 have their children educated, and, if possible, associated 
 with those who are accounted good. May we not hope, 
 from the prevalence of this feeling, that many whose mo- 
 tives to action are far from spiritual can see that their own 
 and their country's interests will be best served by the 
 speedy emancipation of seamen ? 
 
 212. But, after all, we must rest our main hopes on the 
 efforts which shall be put forth by the Church of Christ. 
 She must lead the van in every good work ; and, assisted by 
 the strong arm of her Beloved, she will eventually triumph 
 over every obstacle. If the God of Revelation and the God 
 of Nature says that " it is Hot good for man to be alone," 
 she must see that he is provided with a helpmeet for him, 
 and means to support her. She must go and find the 
 sailor, who is like a lost sheep in the desert, exposed to be 
 the prey of every wolf and wild beast, and bring him to her 
 Master's fold, where the angels can rejoice over him. She 
 is equal to the work ; and it will sooner or later be accom- 
 plished. 
 
 213. It is true that some of her members are even now 
 such as have need of milk, and cannot yet abide strong 
 meat. It is true that Christ has yet many things to say to 
 his Church, that she cannot well bear at the present time ; 
 but nevertheless taken collectively, she is the mother of 
 hope, and the habitation of wisdom. Christ is hers ; and 
 there k no other name given under heaven that can afford 
 sinful men any promise of salvation. 
 
 214. Let all people, therefore, that have the least re- 
 gard for the teachings of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ, unite in destroying this stronghold of the Father 
 of Lies, which has been so long planted firmly in our 
 midst. Let them drive out the residue of the Canaanites 
 that dwell in the laud, " even though they be strong, and 
 have chariots of iron." Let us but supply the " sinews of
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 175 
 
 war," and there will not be wanting soldiers who will make 
 the "Prince of Darkness" tremble in his Capitol, and release 
 vast numbers of the miserable captives that he yet holds in 
 bondage on this side of the grave. We think the Christian 
 oracle says that Love must go into this fight with golden 
 weapons, and then she surely shall prevail. 
 
 214. The very act of enfranchising seamen would do 
 more to win them to Christ, and destroy their infidelity? 
 than a hundred thousand sermons. They would then see 
 Christianity exemplified in a tangible shape, and could not 
 help but admire her loveliness. Their hearts would be 
 softened, and their minds enlightened, all ready to receive 
 the seeds of truth in an effective manner. There is also 
 every reason to believe that the gracious Author of love 
 and goodness would give special blessings to his children 
 and to the nation, for their benevolent efforts to establish his 
 cause. He has said that the " abundance of the sea shall 
 be converted ; " and why can it not be done in this genera- 
 tion ? Whenever it is done, it will be sure to bring 
 a blessing with it ; and may the children of light and im- 
 mortality see that it is done immediately ! 
 
 215. What a pleasant thing it is to have the love of God 
 in our hearts, to have Christ formed within us the hope 
 of glory! "Tongue can never express" what the children 
 of light sometimes enjoy when they fully realize that the 
 Spirit of Christ lives within them, and that he is indeed 
 causing "all things to work together for good" to those 
 who love him in deed and in truth. Christ is infinite 
 love ; and no man can have his mind, and be actuated by 
 his spirit, without seeking to benefit his fellow-creatures. 
 No man can have the love of God in his heart, and not be 
 kind and gentle, even to the lower animals, which were 
 given us to assist in subduing the earth. Such a man may 
 be crossed and plagued and persecuted; but he has a
 
 176 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 spring of happiness within him, which yields a sovereign 
 balm for all the ills and sorrows of this life. 
 
 216. If, therefore, it would be a pleasure and a comfort 
 to the sailor to be the recipient of the greatest of earthly 
 blessings, and placed in harmony with nature, how much 
 more would it give joy and happiness to every true child 
 of God to know that he had been the means of blessing a 
 fellow-mortal, and saving him from, perhaps, moral and 
 spiritual death ! Wisdom declares that " it is more blessed 
 to give than to receive." Human philosophy, unaided by 
 light from Heaven, cannot compass this proposition ; but it 
 is nevertheless true. Good received frequently gives no 
 pleasure. Good done to others causes our cups to run over. 
 
 217. Let, then, all religious denominations, as well as all 
 political parties, unite their efforts to do this thing. All 
 are interested in many ways ; and we should almost wonder 
 what reasons any body of men could give for opposition, 
 save the one against extra taxation. Who is there that 
 would not befriend the sailor? Who can bear to see him 
 so miserably degraded and enslaved by such a multitude of 
 perverted appetites and passions ? Who would not try to 
 save him from sins that have been almost forced upon 
 him, and disclose to his enraptured gaze the beauty of holi- 
 ness reflected by the light from heaven ? Almost all 
 denominations of Christians have representatives among 
 seamen : arid many of them contribute quite large sums to 
 sustain bethels and other institutions for the moral and 
 spiritual improvement of the sailor. They are worthy of 
 great credit for what they have done ; and most, if not all, 
 of their efforts to do good have been crowned with success. 
 Far be it from us to disparage any of their works : they 
 were all done in good faith, and were eminently useful and 
 proper. But yet we cannot help thinking there is a more 
 excellent way, "a way that no fowl knoweth, and which 
 the vulture's eye hath not seen."
 
 A VOICE FEOM THE DEEP. 177 
 
 218. When "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was first published, 
 many honest and thoughtful people seemed to think, that, 
 as a literary work, it was too sentimental ; and some pre- 
 dicted that it would breed mischief and discord in the 
 country by "plentifully declaring the thing as it was," 
 without even suggesting how the evils enumerated might 
 be removed. Such a criticism did not give the average 
 popular mind credit for a very great degree of intelligence 
 and penetration ; but subsequent events have shown most 
 conclusively that the prescience of those critics was accu- 
 rate and well timed; for if a well-digested and practicable 
 scheme of emancipation, bearing on all alike, had been kept 
 Constantly in the foreground from the time the slavery 
 question was first agitated, it is possible the country might 
 have avoided that heaviest of all calamities, a terrible 
 war between blood relations. None can offer any such 
 objection to the publication of the present work. It is not 
 our design to create indignation and prejudice against any 
 class of our fellow-men, not even the runners, but rather to 
 elevate and save them. And, with this end in view, we 
 have steadily brought our remedies along with us, and feel 
 that we can confidently recommend them to the public as 
 eminently practicable, just, and useful. The few remarks 
 we have oifered against the devotees of fashion, selfishness, 
 and Mammon, are of the most general character; and no 
 one need put on the coat unless it fits him. 
 
 The Church of Christ and all benevolent societies should 
 fully comprehend and realize this one great truth; namely, 
 that as a general rule, admitting of but few excep- 
 tions, the moral and spiritual condition of any class of 
 men cannot be much improved while they are burdened 
 with physical disabilities. A man's first thoughts are 
 about his earthly well-being; and not until that, or a pretty 
 certain prospect of it, is secured, can he be wrought upon
 
 178 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 efficiently by the most pungent means of grace, or be made 
 to look for happiness in spiritual joys and prospects. Men 
 in a state of bondage will contemplate their own miseries, 
 and cannot be made to look away from and disregard the 
 causes of all their pains and torments. The fact that many 
 are converted on sick-beds, and brought to the foot of the 
 cross by trouble, does not militate against this general rule 
 when it is rightly understood. 
 
 219. The Church, then, nor the nation, has no right to 
 expect that sailors, as a class, will ever be much improved, 
 until some means are devised to keep them from being 
 almost forced to break Nature's laws. It will never do for 
 church-members and philanthropists to tell seamen to be 
 warmed and filled with spiritual things, and then sit them- 
 selves down in their warm, comfortable homes, and ask 
 God's blessing over fat turkeys and geese on Thanksgiving 
 Days. No : not at all ! The poor sailor has rarely a sab- 
 bath that he can call his own ; and, as for turkeys and 
 geese, they exist only in his imagination, being wholly 
 mental food for the sailor. How would it look for the peo- 
 ple of God to repair to their churches on that eventful day 
 of rejoicing, and thank and bless the " Father of all " that 
 they were so much better off than the vile and miserable 
 vagabonds that were ploughing salt water, and close the 
 services by singing, "The temple of the Lord! The tem- 
 ple of the Lord are we ! " It would be more inconsistent 
 than it would have been in olden time to have seen the 
 Rev. Cotton Mather riding into Salem, 
 
 " With the witch behind him." 
 
 220. The great conflagration which has recently hap- 
 pened in one of the largest of our Western cities causes 
 the floods of sympathy to run that way in an un inter-
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 179 
 
 rupted stream. A hundred thousand people homeless, hun- 
 gry, and some of them almost naked, is a spectacle which 
 the active benevolence that characterizes the present time 
 will not long endure. Every one will be ready to contrib- 
 ute something for the relief of the sufferers; and all will 
 deeply deplore the lives and property lost by the terrible 
 calamity. Why, then, are not suffering and homelessness 
 recognized on the broad and boundless ocean, where they 
 have existed for centuries ? Some false oracle may say 
 that there is no parallel between the two cases, and that 
 sailors are already as well off as any other class of men in 
 the country ; but no sentient beings, except those allied to 
 the moles and the bats, will for a moment believe it. 
 
 221. Some men regard the seamen's cause as they would 
 a chronic disease. If a person is afflicted with a disorder 
 which gives him pain, he flies at once to the physician for 
 something to relieve him ; but a painless chronic complaint, 
 of which the acute disorder may be but a symptom, is suf- 
 fered to lurk in the system, and sap the foundations of life, 
 for years without exciting any alarm. An acute symptom 
 was the principal thing that killed African slavery by con- 
 vulsions, and not a wide-spread and intelligent appreciation 
 of the evils which were the natural consequences of its 
 existence. It is to be hoped, however, that a time has at 
 last arrived in the history of the world, in which at least 
 some persons have views of Truth perfect enough to see 
 that she is altogether lovely, and worthy of the most im- 
 plicit confidence, even if she declares to be wisdom things 
 which are diametrically opposite to the maxims and prac- 
 tices of those who are rightly esteemed the men of this 
 world. Selfishness would bid us cease from pursuing the 
 rugged path which leads up the midst of the Hill of Diffi- 
 culty towards the Celestial Gate, and turn us aside into by- 
 path meadows, where Ease spreads couches of repose. She
 
 180 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 would delude us with lying vanities, until, intoxicated with 
 earthly pleasures, and poisoned by the bread of deceit, we 
 should find our hearts ravished of all goodness ; and then she 
 would abandon us to the loathsome and inhospitable clutches 
 of Diffidence and Despair. Not so Truth: she would con- 
 duct us along the strait and narrow path, steep though it 
 might be, and never let go our hands until we had reached 
 the mountain-tops above the clouds, and far out of the 
 reach of the storms of this world. She would conduct us 
 to higher pleasures than those of sense, and never forsake 
 us throughout all the countless ages of eternitj 7 . There are 
 now many noble spirits, led by Truth, and assisted by 
 Faith, pursuing the narrow way ; and, from the lofty heights 
 to which many of them have already attained, they can 
 doubtless see that no man was ever yet ill paid for serving 
 goodness. They can see that a blessing will inevitably fall 
 on the heads of those who are willing to stay up the hands 
 of Truth, Charity, and Justice, while they are trying to 
 bless the sailor. 
 
 222. When congressmen are called upon to consider the 
 claims of the sailor, let them try to imagine themselves in 
 his condition, and reflect seriously on the superlative wretch- 
 edness of those who have to wander their whole lives upon 
 the stormy ocean, without homes, wives, children, friends, 
 or privileges. Lit them, think hoia they would like to have 
 their own wayes regulated upon the basts of celibacy, and 
 their wants supplied according to the cheapest devices ever 
 contrived by the disciples of Mammon to keep body and 
 soul together long enough to make a sea-voyage. If Con- 
 gress should make a law forbidding two hundred thousand 
 people in some section of the country the right and privi- 
 lege of making any matrimonial contracts, the whole civil- 
 ized world would be aroused ; and exclamations of horror 
 and denunciations of our government would proceed from
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 181 
 
 every tongue in every land. Yet there is a law made, 
 and rigidly enforced, which prevents our seamen from 
 marrying, or thinking of it : it is the hard, stern, and un- 
 mitigalle law of necessity. 
 
 223. If, after all that has been said, there shall still re- 
 main a large number of our citizens like doubting Thomas, 
 we would recommend for them to take all the facts con- 
 nected with the sailor's true condition, and see if they can 
 elaborate a scheme of improvement that will be more eco- 
 nomical, expedient, and practicable. We have done our 
 best, and feel satisfied with the result; but, if any one can, 
 do better, we will gladly defer to him, and assist him to 
 the best of our ability. We trust, however, that there is 
 no one so sceptical as to conclude that nothing should be 
 done ; and we feel confident, that, if inquiry is once awak- 
 ened, we can hope to be guided in our efforts by the expe- 
 rience, wisdom, and judgment of hundreds that have demon- 
 strated, by their words and actions and public services, that 
 they are well qualified to act as leaders and advisers in this 
 or in any other matter connected with the happiness and 
 well-being of any portion of the human race. 
 
 224. If there are no\v any noble men and women who 
 are willing to engage in this work, they can be sure of one 
 thing; and that is, they will have God on their side. It is 
 his will, revealed in his Word, that the salvation and 
 enfranchisement of seamen shall be an . accomplished fact; 
 and ultimately some plaiv must and will be adopted to save 
 them. None that take up this cause will, therefore, labor 
 in vain; for they will have their fortunes linked with One 
 who has declared that he will not fail nor be discouraged 
 "until he has set judgment in the earth." Christ died for 
 sailors as much as for any other class of men ; and they 
 must be saved in order that he may see of the travail of his 
 soul, and be satisfied. We read, that, in one case, our
 
 182 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 Saviour stood still, and commanded a man to be brought. 
 He now commands his true disciples to bring to him the 
 sailor, in such a condition that he can be cured of all the 
 evil diseases with which he is afflicted. 
 
 225. How it ought to make the hearts of all good people 
 rejoice to know that they can work with Christ in this 
 matter! We shall be "more than conquerors through him 
 that loved us." We must grapple with all the difficulties 
 manfully, and they will not oppose us long. The moments 
 of victory will richly compensate us for all the trials we 
 may have to undergo. We see before us a poor, houseless, 
 homeless, wifeless, childless, joyless, suffering outcast from 
 society, desiring to be fed with some of the crumbs which 
 fall from our national table of Thanksgiving, and shall we 
 spurn him away? God has winked at our ignorance in the 
 times that are past ; but he now commands all men every- 
 where to go work to-day in his vineyard, and bring forth 
 fruits meet for repentance. If we would have Abraham 
 for our father, we must do the works of Abraham. 
 
 226. What has now been said we would commit to the 
 God of the spirits of all flesh, hoping that it may prove 
 instrumental in bringing to the sources of life and light 
 great multitudes from that long-neglected and much- 
 abused class of men " who go down to the sea in ships, and 
 do business upon the great waters." He is able to bring 
 light out of darkness; and he has promised to fulfil the 
 desires of those that fear him, of those that hope in his 
 mercy. The Spirit of holiness will give his assistance in 
 quickening the hearts of all God's people, and prepare them 
 to help forward the good work, which must be accomplished 
 in due season. Let all the people help in this matter. Let 
 them take delight in placing the sailor in a position, and 
 showing him how to live, so that the greatest possible 
 amount of good shall accrue to society, to his family, and to
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 183 
 
 himself, from all his thoughts, words, and actions. The 
 Spirit and the Bride saith come, and the results will all 
 be for that pure and spotless Being who laid down his life 
 to save us, when we, like the sailors, needed help, and whom 
 the Scriptures and our own hearts declare to be the Son 
 of God. May the work be done quickly " while the day 
 lasts," lest the Spirit leave us in darkness, and make his 
 appeal to some other nation !
 
 INVOCATION. 
 
 GREAT GOD of wisdom, truth, and love, 
 Stoop down, and lift us far above 
 All earthly ways and human pride, 
 And make our thoughts with thcc abide. 
 
 May Wisdom to our souls appear, 
 And Truth make all our vision clear! 
 May heavenly Love her charms reveal, 
 And give us grace her woes to feel ! 
 
 She points where Adam's wayward race 
 Arc all defiled by Sin's embrace: 
 She grieves to see her children fall, 
 And quench their raging thirst with gall. 
 
 In every land, on every tide, 
 She sees Temptation scattering wide 
 The seeds of Death, which imps of Sin 
 Prepare for Lusts to harrow in. 
 
 Intemperance feeds with foul delight 
 Kadi sin-perverted appetite; 
 And oft the human form divine 
 Lies grovelling in the dust like swine. 
 
 The sword of Lust, the tyrant's chain, 
 Are oft resisted quite in vain ; 
 And pal i id Misery's piercing wail 
 Is wafted wide in every gale. 
 
 184
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 185 
 
 'Tis true that seers accounted wise 
 Have patched up ways for man to rise; 
 But, ah ! how vain is all conceit, 
 Compared with trust at Wisdom's feet ! 
 
 The best devices man e'er gave 
 Have ne'er sufficed a soul to save; 
 And all his schemes his skill to prove 
 Give anguish to the heart of Love. 
 
 She sees religion linked with hate, 
 The agents used to guide the State ; 
 And kings and senates all agree 
 To spite and fraud and perjury. 
 
 The way of man is marked with blood, 
 
 And tears run down it like a flood ; 
 
 But still earth's sages all proclaim 
 
 'Tis freedom's road, and leads to fame. (209) 
 
 O Lord ! how long shall these things be ? 
 How long shall Truth from Malice flee? 
 Shall tyrants rage on every shore, 
 And gorge their glutted fangs with gore ? 
 
 Be still, my soul, and give thy trust 
 To Him who weighs the mountain's dust: 
 To Him who made the land and sea 
 Should all in silence bend the knee. 
 
 'Tis not for puny, glow-worm men 
 The vast designs of God to ken ; 
 Nor think to weigh his counsels wise 
 In scales which human minds devise. 
 
 The fire-flies' flash which light the ground 
 Night's sable curtains all surround : 
 So earthly wisdom stands by guess, 
 And leans on props of foolishness. 
 
 But thy blcjt Spirit teaches still 
 That God fis words shall all fulfil ; 
 16*
 
 186 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 And though earth needs the sunshine bright, 
 Yet flowers and plants grow in the night. 
 
 Still, Lord, we know that thou art kind, 
 And wilt regard the humble mitid : 
 Let wisdom to our thoughts suggest 
 Thy ways and means to make us blest. 
 
 Give us to see and know and feel 
 What best shall serve for human weal ; 
 And if, perchance, our views are right, 
 Please give us grace in honor's sight. 
 
 We know that Jesus left his throne 
 To tread the wine-press all alone ; 
 And through the long, dark ages past 
 The saints their bread on waters cast. 
 
 Tremendous conflicts, crimes, and blood 
 Have scourged the earth e'er since the flood ; 
 But still thy caijse is gaining ground, 
 And fruits of grace do still abound. 
 
 But now, O Lord ! thy saints arc strong, 
 And freemen's rights to men belong: 
 Cannot grim War his carnage cease, 
 And plants of truth be nursed by peace? (211) 
 
 If man's proud wrath must speak thy praise, 
 And malice delve on wisdom's ways, 
 Shall not the gifts thy loved ones bring 
 Make all the hosts of angels sing 1 (212) 
 
 We know thy fairest children eat 
 This strong, substantial gospel meat; 
 But weakly lambs in thee confide, 
 And only yet can milk abide. (213) 
 
 Oh, may thy holy peaceful Dove 
 With brooding notes allure to love 
 The half-fledged offspring of the skies, 
 And give them wings of faith to rise !
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 187 
 
 Then may they mount, and soar away 
 Where wisdom sheds eternal day ; 
 And learn that prayers are answered sweet 
 By toiling hands and willing feet! (210-141) 
 
 Give them to see and feel and know 
 
 What sinners have to undergo ; 
 
 And help them in their arms to bring 
 
 Bright sheaves to heaven's eternal King. (214) 
 
 Great God, we bring before thee norw 
 Those men that stormy seas do plough ; 
 And, oh ! we pray our hearts may feel 
 While they to us their woes reveal. 
 
 They leave our homes for many a shore, 
 And mighty tempests round them roar : 
 Through weary nights they vigils keep 
 Along the restless, rolling deep. 
 
 Exposed to shipwrecks, toils, .and pain, 
 They steer their barks across the main, 
 And bless mankind on every shore 
 With useful goods, a plenteous store. 
 
 What scenes at sea, in winters bleak, 
 No human tongue can frame to speak ! 
 But still our venturesome seamen sign 
 Their names to cross the freezing brine. 
 
 But ah ! the mighty waves that roll 
 From arctic regions near the pole 
 Bring not the worst of seamen's woes, 
 Nor chill their hearts like human foes. 
 
 In robes designed to clothe mankind, (3) 
 Cold, senseless sharks an ambush find; (14) 
 And through each street, poor Jack to greet, 
 They roam, professing friendship sweet. 
 
 They proffer pleasure, joy, and love, 
 Names sweet to hear to saints above;
 
 188 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 
 
 And soon the sailor yields his heart ; 
 For gems like these must bliss impart. 
 
 His generous soul intrusts his friends 
 With nil his cash to make amends (16) 
 For what appears affection sweet, 
 But which, alas ! is counterfeit. 
 
 Allured by Sin's delusive power, 
 
 Poor seamen sleep in Folly's bower; 
 
 And, ere they wake to Reason's call, 
 
 The sharks have gulped and swallowed all. (14) 
 
 'Tis then they feel that sirens sing 
 
 To make remorseful conscience sting; (18) 
 
 And, now their dream of bliss is o'er, 
 
 They'll plough the seas to sin no more. (19-22) 
 
 'Tis thus that seamen tempt in vain 
 The racing billows of the main : (18) 
 They spend their days with fright and care, 
 But fruits of love they never share. 
 
 O Lord, may all thy children rise, 
 And judgments right and true devise ! 
 May seamen's wrongs all lips repeat, 
 Till justice crowns the mercy-seat ! 
 
 May every creature, great and small, 
 Give heed to freedom's earnest call, 
 And rouse the nation's peers to take 
 Due means the sailors' yoke to break. 
 
 Oh, how can men, and ladies fair, 
 Refuse the gifts of heaven to share 
 With sons of want and poverty, 
 And think to dwell with luxury! 
 
 How can they bear to see and hear 
 Pale Misery plead the scalding tear 
 Which shuts the light from Sorrow's eye, 
 And drains Affection's fountain dry.
 
 A VOICE FROM THE DEEP. 189 
 
 The homeless sailor ploughs the seas, 
 While rogues in mansions live at ease. 
 In toils for them he spends his life ; 
 And yet they say, " He needs no wife." 
 
 If truth and justice e'er suggest 
 
 That gold might make poor seamen blest, 
 
 These selfish mortals idly prate 
 
 Of ruin's schemes in Mammon's gate. (156) 
 
 Great God ! control the human will, 
 And all such senseless clamors still : 
 Let not the miser's plea prevail, 
 Lest myriads more their woes bewail. 
 
 When nations rise as God commands, 
 To hreak accursed slavery's bands, 
 He'll give them means to do his will, 
 And all their best desires fulfil. (214) 
 
 Let all our virtuous freemen give 
 Poor outraged seamen means to live, 
 And find them cause without delay, 
 To shout, " Long live America ! " (154) 
 
 Our nation then shall dwell with peace, 
 And God shall give us large increase ; 
 For those that list to wisdom's call, 
 And mend their ways, shall never fall. (216) 
 
 When God shall seamen's wants relieve, 
 And every heart shall cease to grieve, 
 We'll praise the Lamb for sinners slain, 
 And send his gospel o'er the main. (105) 
 
 STRICKLAND.
 
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 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
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