Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/englandsexilesorOObrowrich ENGLAND'S EXILES ; OK, A VIEW OF A SYSTEM OF INSTRUCTION AND DISCIPLINE, AS CARRIED INTO EFFECT DURING THE VOYAGE PENAL COLONIES OF AUSTRALIA. COLIN ARROTT BROWNING, M.D., SURGEON. ROYAL NAVY. " My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." — Hosea, iv. 6. " The great God, even our Saviour Jesus Christ, gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." — Tit, 11. 13, 14. "I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of.the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth."— Luke, xv. Prov. xiv. 34; Ezek. xviii. 27; Matt. ix. 13; Luke, xix, 10. LONDON : DARTON AND CLARK, HOLBORN HILL. 1842. (fiiFy7 HV ^ y/^/JL^ CONTENTS. CHAPTEK I. Embarkation of the Prisoners — First Address ... 1 CHAPTER II. Second Address after Embarkation .... 33 CHAPTER III. View of Petty Officers, with Specification of Duties — Address 64 CHAPTER IV. Formation of Schools — Address to Teachers and Pupils . 80 CHAPTER V. Daily Routine — Miscellaneous Rules and Regulations — Address . . . • 94 IV CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER VI. The Working of the System of Instruction and Government — Appointment of a Court of Investigation — Observations on the Enactment and Enforcement of Laws . . .112 CHAPTER VII. Instruction of the People — Sound Principles of Conduct — Acceptable Obedience — Necessity of Entire Renovation of Heart 135 CHAPTER VIII. Examination of Schools — Awarding of Prizes . . . 146 CHAPTER IX. Apparent Effects produced in the Minds and Character of the Prisoners, chiefly by Biblical Instruction . . .170 CHAPTER X. Arrival at Hobart Town — Magistrate's Examination of Pri- soners — Final Address on the evening preceding the De- barkation 191 APPENDIX. Health of the Prisoners during the Voyage , . . 223 PREFACE, When, in the year 1831, on being appointed to the Surry, the duties and responsibilities involved in the surgeon-superintendency of a convict ship, were, for the first time, imposed upon me, I felt myself greatly at a loss from the want of anything like a plan or sys- tem of management and instruction ; and my conscious- ness of unacquaintance with the nature of the service on which I had entered, and with the manner in which I ought to proceed with the details of the duties of my new appointment, caused me no small degree of per- plexity and painful anxiety. I had, it is true, a copy of the printed instructions ; but these, although they afforded me a general view of the duties of my station, supplied me with nothing like a scheme of education VI PREFACE. and discipline, and necessarily left much of the minutice of duty to discretion, and to the suggestion of circum- stances. The whole of my first voyage was, I may say, expended in observation and experiment; and a con- siderable portion of our invaluable time, particularly during the first third of the passage, was in some measure lost to a great proportion of the prisoners, as it respected their advancement in knowledge and moral improvement. On my second charge — and which was in the ship Arab, in the year 1834 — I entered in possession of the system of instruction and government which the experi- ence of my first appointment had enabled me to form ; and, during our progress to the Colonies, made such additions thereunto as circumstances suggested, and as seemed necessary to its perfection. As my third voyage advanced, my plan received farther additions and improvements, and was finally brought to the state in which it is exhibited in the following pages. It has now received the approval of my own mind ; and I am not aware that it contains anything to which objection can reasonably be offered. An outline of my system ap- pears in the journal which has been submitted to the PREFACE. Vll inspection of my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty ; and I have not heard of any objections having been taken to any of its details. My present conviction is, that the system followed out in the Elphinstone might possibly receive, in some of its minor points, slight modifications, but that its grand principles admit not of change, and its framework of little alteration. My chief object in printing these pages is, to put those officers who may, in future, engage in the service to which they refer, in possession of a plan of management, which they may adopt, either wholly or in part, as their judgment and sense of responsibility may lead them to determine. When I entered upon my first appointment, I should have been exceedingly glad to have been fur- nished with such a system ; and to those who may be placed in similar circumstances, it may, at least, supply some useful hints. That ant/ scheme of education and discipline followed out in transports has been given to the public, I am not aware. That which is developed in the following pages may be considered as deserving of regard until it is superseded by a better. To several enlightened and pious persons who are ex- perienced in the instruction, with a view to their moral VUl PREFACE. improvement, of the hitherto neglected portion of our population, it has appeared that the scheme now sub- mitted to the consideration of the public, might be turned to good account, not only in transports, but on board emigrant ships ; and likewise in all our country- prisons, and in houses of correction, and, perhaps, also in large factories. It will readily be perceived that I regard sound views of the Divine Character and Government ; of man's nature and relation to his Maker ; and of all that is involved in that relation, as lying at the foundation of all useful instruction and efficient discipline : and there- fore it was that a special object contemplated in the system I was led to adopt, was the impartation to the people of scriptural perceptions of God and of them- selves, and of the principles of sound and acceptable obedience. We hear much in our days of the separate, and soli- tary, and silent systems of prison discipline ; but, unless the Christian System be brought to bear with Divine power on the understandings and consciences of crimi- nals, every other system which professedly contemplates their reformation, must, to the shame and confusion of its projectors, prove an utter failure. If we would see PREFACE. IX an efficient system of moral discipline in operation in our prisons, and penitentiaries, and convict hulks, we must provide for the effectual instruction of their in- mates in the great facts and doctrines of Christianity ; and must take care, that not only those who are espe- cially intrusted with their religious instruction, but all who are connected with their management, from the governor down to the humblest warder, are truly spi- ritual and consistent Christians, whose temper and general demeanour are calculated to commend the Gos- pel of Christ, and aiFord to all with whom they may come into contact, a happy illustration of its sanctifying influence upon the heart and life. We are quite willing to concede to all human systems of prison discipline the importance to which experience has proved, or may yet prove, them to be entitled ; but it must be maintained that the attempt to reform our criminals by any means short of those which God Him- self hath provided and ordained to that end, as set forth in the sacred Scriptures, involves not only the most ignorant presumption, but even practical infidelity. If the schemes we adopt with a view to the instruction and reformation of prisoners, dishonour God, by contemning or neglecting the Divine power of His word and Spirit, X PREFACE. they must, as hitherto, and of moral necessity, disap- point and put to shame the hopes of our legislators and philanthropists, and leave the State to the oppressive and destructive influence of increasing vice and crime. I have intimated that, as I always speak to the prisoners from mere mental arrangement of the subject, or from very brief notes, 1 do not pretend to give my " addresses " precisely as they v^re delivered. From those I have tvritten, it must just be inferred what those spoken were likely to have been ; making due allowance for the impressive and elevating influence of the actual presence of two hundred and forty immortals deeply interested in every sentiment which was uttered. From the sacred volume — the book of God, 1 endea- voured faithfully to set forth, and for the most part in the language of the inspired penmen, the great doctrines of man's apostasy ; of the depravity of his fallen nature ; of salvation through the obedience, sacrifice, and media- tion of Christ ; of the gracious influences of the Holy Spirit; and of the necessary tendency of Divine truth, believed, to purify the heart, and lead to holiness of life; while it inspires the mind with the cheering hope of a blessed immortality. The circumstances in which these pages have been PREFACE. XI written, must be permitted to account for several repe- titions and other imperfections they exhibit. With respect to their style, I consider it quite unworthy of criticism. The same thing, however, cannot be said of the statements they embrace : and, if I had not believed the most of them to be of incalculable importance, I should not have presumed to submit them to the con- sideration of the reader. There is but one request which I feel I ought to make of those who may be disposed to peruse what my views of duty have induced me to write ; and it is this — that every sentiment to which I have given expression may be brought to the test of the writings of inspiration, that by their decision it may be determined whether it deserves to be rejected, or is worthy to be held fast as being in accordance with the faith delivered unto the saints. Her Majesty* s Ship Hercules^ at Sea, Lat. 240 18' N. Long. 290 28' W. Oct. 23rd, 1838. P.S. Since these pages were written, an opportunity has been afforded to the author of ascertaining how far the scheme they exhibit admits of being carried into Xll PREFACE. practice on board female convict ships : and he is happy to be able to affirm, that it is equally well fitted for the management and instruction of women, as of men. The modifications required are exceedingly slight, and chiefly consist in the mere change of the designations of office- bearers. As for example, chief and second matrons; matrons of deck,*of divisions, and so forth ; schoolmis- tresSy and inspectress of schools. The duties are pre- cisely the same, with such exception as may be involved in the operation of the regulations which prohibit all communication between the prisoners and any person on hoard, save of their own sex ; which permit them not to quit the place assigned them, or to go before the barri- cade which separates them from the forecastle, or abaft the break of the poop ; and which require that the matrons of the deck do not, under any pretext whatever, quit their posts until they are duly relieved : for, it is here most emphatically asserted, that the women them- selves must supply their own guardians, Brighton, August Ist, 1842. ENGLAND'S EXILES. CHAPTER I. EMBARKATION OF THE PRISONERS FIRST ADDRESS. On the 13th day of January, 1836, One Hundred and Sixty Prisoners were embarked in the trans- port " Elphinstone," from the " Justitia " and " Ganymede " hulks, at Woolwich ; and on the 15th, Eighty from the hulks " Fortitude " and " Euryalus," at Chatham, were embarked at Sheer- ness ; amounting, in all, to Two Hundred and Forty Men and Boys, Previously to their removal from the hulks, the whole of these prisoners were, by myself, agreeably to instructions from the Admiralty, carefully in- spected, with the view of preventing, as far as possible, the embarkation of any, the state of whose health and constitution might appear to be such as to render a long voyage hazardous to their lives. ENGLAND S EXILES. In conducting the inspection here referred to, it is necessary, as painful experience has taught me, that the medical officer be close and particular in his observations ; minute and searching in his in- quiries ; in order to prevent his being imposed upon, and men being embarked, who, from their state of health, are likely to fall victims to the voyage, or •cto die. from, its; effects soon after its accomplishment. ' Althoiigb I have myself used every precaution ' that hag suggested itself to my mind, and solemnly warrted the-prisolners themselves, previously to my inspection, on the subject of their attempting to practise upon me imposition, and have faithfully stated to them the probable consequences of such conduct ; yet I have never been able to prevent the embarkation of some individuals, whom I after- wards, and when too late, discovered to be quite unfit to meet the circumstances incident to a long voyage, performed in a crowded ship. Before the prisoners were sent on board, certain preparations were made for their reception : for example, all the mattresses were stamped with numbers, beginning at 1 and ending with 240, cor- responding with the number of prisoners to be received. Each mattress had its little pillow firmly tacked to one end, and such as were designed for hospital use, were directed to be marked with the letter H. The water-kegs, kits, and wooden plat- ters, were likewise ordered to have carved upon each of them the number of the mess to which they were to be respectively assigned. The im- ENGLAND S EXILES. 3 portance of these and similar apparently trivial arrangements, can only be known by experience. The moment the prisoners were mustered on board the transport, and the usual receipts signed, they were requested to put intelligible marks upon their knives and all cutting instruments, as well as on other articles which accompanied them from the hulks, and to deliver all over into the charge of the chief mate. The whole of the people were then assembled on the quarter-deck — the guard being drawn up on the poop — and received their first address. Immediately after the address was delivered, the boys were separated from the men; all had as- signed to them their new or " ship's number," each received his mattress and blanket ; and the whole of them were disposed of in their respective sleep- ing-berths below on the main-deck. Of the men, eight were allotted to each berth, four at top and four at bottom ; and of the boys, eighty or ten^ or even twelve to a berth, according to its extent, and the age or size of the boys. Two of the prisoners were appointed to act as cooks, ad interim. Here I beg leave to observe, that it would greatly tend to facilitate the quiet arrangement of the prisoners in their sleeping-berths on their em- barkation in the transport, were the Surgeon-super- intendent to ascertain with accuracy, previously to his inspection taking place, the number capable of being comfortably disposed of in the boys' ward. 4 ENGLAND S EXILES. This number could then be selected from amongst the youngest of the people before their removal from the hulks, their names taken down by a clerk, and such instructions given to them as would leave nothing to be done in reference to their disposal on embarkation, but to march them below to their ap- propriate ward — giving to each his ship's number as he proceeds to his berth. The lowest number of the mattresses ought to begin in the boys' ward ; and a proper person should be appointed to assign to each his bedding and his berth, according to numerical order, as he enters the ward. I'he boys having been disposed of, the men are to be ar- ranged in like manner, commencing with the num- ber immediately following the highest assigned to the boys. It is, I would observe, most desirable to have all the messes formed previously to the em-" barkation or removal of the prisoners from the hulks, and likewise as many of the petti/ officers appointed as possible ; in short, to have the organ- ization advanced as far as circumstances will admit. On the evening after the embarkation of the prisoners from the hulks at Chatham, our appointed number being then completed, the whole body were assembled on the quarter-deck — the guard being again drawn up on the poop — when the address to those from Woolwich was, with considerable ampli- fication, repeated. england s exiles. d Address, with amplification, to the prisoners immediately on their embarkation, and be- fore they are permitted to quit the quar- TER-DECK : This day commences a new era in your exist- ence. The moment you set your feet on the decks you now occupy, you came under the operation, and I trust will speedily come under the influence^ of a system which contemplates you as intellectual and moral beings; as beings who are capable of making great attainments; who necessarily exert an incalculable influence, good or bad, upon each other, upon mankind, and upon the moral universe ; as beings, moreover, who can never cease to exist, and to exist in a state of perfect happiness or of unutterable wretchedness. The present moment is the link which connects the past with the future; a moment calculated to bring the past most vividly to your recollection, to awaken in your bosoms a deep and an anxious solicitude respecting your future career and your future experience ; it is a moment this, so full of intense interest to you and to me — so pregnant with result to every individual now before me, that I feel it difficult to determine what points of consideration I ought to select, and press on your understandings and your hearts. It is your advantage^ your individual present and ever- lasting welfare^ that I now desire to seek; and perhaps your minds cannot, at this instant, be more profitably exercised, than in honestly and solemnly O ENGLAND S EXILES. calling up to your recollection the days of your life that are gone. Permit me, then, to ask you, in order that you may put the question, every one of you, secretly to himself. What views do you now entertain of your past life ? What think you of the period of your infancy — when you hung a helpless, and, as it respects guilt personally contracted, a guiltless babe on your mother's breast — the tender object of a mother's tender care, over whom, with sleepless solicitude, she watched day and night, and with an anxiety only known to the faithful mother ? Can you think on the fond embraces of a mother's love, and on the unutterable feelings awakened in a mother's bosom, when she gazed with delight on the child of her affection ? I ask, is there a man or a boy now before me, who can thus think on the days of his infancy, and connect those days with the present moment^ and his heart remain unmoved by the most touching recollections? Do you now consider how your father and your mother laboured and toiled, to procure, with the sweat of their brow, bread for you to eat, raiment for you to put on, a bed for you to sleep upon, and a house to shelter you from the cold, and the rain, and the storm? Can you remember all this, and not put to your own hearts the questions, For whom did my parents thus toil ? How have I requited their labour, their solicitude, their love ? Oh, could they for a moment have imagined that ENGLAND S EXILES. 7 they were rearing up children to bring dishonour upon their parents' name, to be the inmates of prisons and of convict hulks, and to appear, as you now do, loaded with irons on the decks of a Transport, to be removed with forfeited liberty from their native land, to some distant corner of the world, there to reap the bitter fruits of folly and of crime, what, under the influence of such anticipations as these, must have been the amount of your parents' sufferings — the agonies of your parents' hearts. Remember the days of your youth, how much your parents continued still to accomplish for you; how they toiled to feed and to clothe you ; in health and in sickness to nurse and to watch over you; how faithful they were to rebuke and check the waywardness of your dispositions; to admonish your negligences ; to punish your offences ; to en- courage you in well-doing, and warn you of the evils to which you were exposed : and Jet such of you as have received what is commonly called an " Education," recollect how much it cost your pa- rents or others, to procure this for you, and ask yourselves what returns they were entitled to ex- pect to receive at your hands, and how far your conduct has answered, or disappointed, their rea- sonable expectations ! Perhaps there are before me those who are the children of pious parents — although I apprehend there are few, very few such ; it may be two or three — of parents, who, having believed the Gospel and felt its obligations, dedicated themselves and ^"■/^/ 8 ENGLAND S EXILES. their offspring to God. You who have been thus privileged, would now do well to remember that you are the subjects of many fervent prayers. Your parents, instructed by the holy Scriptures, and by painful experience in the knowledge of human depravity, of the numerous and powerful temptations to which their children were exposed, and of the necessity of divine teaching and divine influences, to subdue the enmity to God which reigns in the human heart, and fortify the mind against the a&saults of Satan and wicked men, carried you, in the arms of their faith and love, to the throne of grace, and there, in the fervour of secret devotion, when no eye saw but the eye of Him alone whose help and blessing they implored for their offspring, did they dedicate you to that gracious and compassionate Redeemer who came to seek and to save the lost, and who has encou- raged parents to bring their children to Him, with an assurance that of such is the kingdom of heaven, and that if we, in the exercise of faith, ask any- thing according to his will. He heareth us. Let such of you as are indeed the children of suck parents, connect in your minds, with your present situation, your father's and your mother's prayers. Do you remember hov) they cared for you ; how they provided, under God, for your daily wants; how they instructed you out of the Scriptures, and showed you that the way of believing and holy obedience is the way of life ; and that the way of obstinate disobedience is the way of death ? Do ENGLAND S EXILES. V you remember how they led you forth on the day of holy rest to the house of God, to hear the pro- clamation of the Gospel, and share in the united prayers of the church? Do you now remember the daily worship of God in your father's family, the offering up of the morning and evening sacrifice of prayer and of praise in connexion with the reading of the sacred records of divine truth ? When the hour of retirement to rest arrived, the arms of a fond mother securely placed you in the couch which parental affection and industry had provided and prepared ; and you fell asleep under the influence of the tenderest expressions of ma- ternal love. By the bedside of her slumbering and unconscious child she kneels in prayer, and breathes forth her soul to the Angel of the Covenant, for new covenant blessings on the beloved object of her tender solicitude. — Her heart's desire and that of her husband is, above all things, to see their children the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus, and give early proof that they have taken up his cross, and thus made choice of that good part which shall never be taken away from them. Such a choice on the part of their children is, to the heart of the pious parent, everything. It embraces all their hearts' desire respecting their offspring. They know that if their child is turned to God, by the reception of his Son for all the ends for which He is revealed in the Gospel, that child is safe ; safe for time, and safe for eternity; will be kept in the path of believing and holy obedience, by the power u'2 10 England's exiles. of the Eternal Spirit, unto the enjoyment of the heavenly kingdom and glory ; and, therefore^ their constant and unwearied aim is, by instruction, example, and prayer, to be the humble instruments of bringing their child to the foot of the cross, to submit unto Him that redeemed sinners to himself by his blood. Do you, the children of such parents, I now ask you, recollect what they did to, and sought for, you, as you advanced in years ; and how you set at nought all their counsel, despised their entreaties, frustrated their prayers, grieved their spirits by your disobedience, and stung their hearts by your ingratitude ? They saw the first outbreakings of the corruptions of your nature, and they laboured, according to the Scriptures, to see these cor- ruptions up- rooted. They observed your dis- position to turn your back upon them and upon Gody and they tenderly remonstrated with you, and set before you the fearful choice you were deliberately making. They discovered your se- lection of corrupt and corrupting associates, and they dealt faithfully with you, and reminded you that it is he who walketh with wise men that shall be wise^ but that the companions of fools shall be destroyed. But all was of no avail ; the contest was still carried on. Your parents fought and struggled for you and for God ; you fought and contended against yourselves, against your parents^ against God, and in favour of the enemy of God and of man. Your parents desired to see you tread England's exii.es. 11 the pleasant and peaceful paths of true wisdom, but you preferred to run in the rugged and thorny ways of folly and of sin ; your parents wished you to become Christ's freemen, but you preferred remaining Satan's voluntary slaves ; your parents desired to see you making choice of the glory and the bliss of heaven, but you have hitherto rejected these for the ignominy and the wretchedness con- nected with crime — the endurance of the torments of eternal remorse. The instructions, the example, the entreaties, the tears, and the prayers of your parents, produced no salutary and permanent effect upon you; you resisted all, you despised all; you cared not for a father's grief or a mother's broken heart ; you heeded not the counsel of the guardians of your youth, you steeled your heart against the whispers of love and the instructions of divine mercy ; you were wedded to the companions of your iniquity — to your unhallowed enjoyments, and after them you were determined to go. On the beckon- ings of the messengers of peace, calling you to return to the paths of holiness and life, you sullenly turned your backs, determined to take the full draught of sin, although you were assured and knew that death was in the cup. Thus, regardless of the dearest desires of your parents' hearts and of your own present and eternal interests, you ran greedily in your own ways, reckless of all con- sequences, until justice lays her iron hand upon you, and awards you what by your deeds you. demanded^ and the interests of society require — 12 England's exiles. namely, that you he removed from the land of your birth^ and he placed in circumstances corresponding with your character and your crimes. To you who have not had the benefit of the high advantages of which I have spoken, I would now say, see that you, nevertheless, cherish becoming sentiments and feelings towards your parents. Perhaps they themselves could not read the Scrip- tures, and knew nothing of the power of Christi- anity and of practical godliness, and therefore were incapable of caring for the souls of their children. Here I say nothing to you of the fearful guilt that may possibly attach to them, for remaining ignorant of the doctrines of the Bible, and thus living in the neglect of their own souls, and of the souls of their offspring. I only ask you, in the meantime, to entertain such views of, and encourage such feel- ings towards, your parents, as God will approve of; and during this voyage, I shall, the Lord willing, have an opportunity of showing you what you may, and what you are bound to endeavour to, accomplish for your parents ; I mean for such as are yet in the land of the living, and therefore in the land of hope. You will be shown from the word of inspiration, that you are required by God to give first your- selves to Him — body, soul, and spirit, by the reception of Jesus ; and then, to wrestle with Him in suppli- cations and prayers, in behalf of your benighted parents. And you will be farther shown, how much you may attempt to accomplish for them, through grace, by means of judicious and affectionate let- England's exiles. 13 ters, written in the spirit, and in accordance with the precepts, vf the holy Scriptures. But although few of you may have enjoyed the inestimable privilege of being born and brought up under the roof of devout and consistent Christian parents, there are, nevertheless, many advantages which the whole of you have possessed. Have you not, ever since you opened your eyes upon the world which you inhabit, and upon the material universe by which you are surrounded, had visible and clear demonstrations of the power, the wisdom, and the goodness of God ; and has it not been, ever since you were capable of reflection, incumbent upon you to make a legitimate use of such manifestations of the Divine perfections, and to derive from them those lessons which they are designed and calculated to afford ? Hath God, at any time, even to t/ou^ left himself without a wit- ness? Do not the heavens declare the glory of God, and does not the firmament show his handi- work? Does not day unto day utter speech, and night unto night show knowledge ? Although they have no articulate speech or language, yet, without such, is their voice heard, their direction is gone out through all the earth, their words to the end of the world. Do not the construction and the preserva- tion of your own bodies declare to you the perfec- tions of Him who made you, and who has fed and upheld you all the days of your life to the present moment? Verily, God hath not, at any time, left himself without testimony to the truth of his ex- 14 ENGLAND*S EXILES. istence, and of the glorious attributes of his nature, in that He hath been continually doing us good ; giving us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness ; giving to all of us life and breath, and all things ; teaching us that He is not, at any time, far from any one of us ; that it is in Him we live, and move, and have our being; that it is from Him we receive all things richly to enjoy, and that therefore we were bound to seek to know his will, and in everything there- unto to conform. And what have you to say to conscience — that moral faculty which God has placed in every man's bosom, the power by which he distinguishes between good and evil? Have you been careful to enhghten conscience — that is, to give to it all possible informa- tion? and have you studiously hearkened unto, and faithfully acted upon, the intimations which con- science has, from time to time, given you ? What does every man's conscience at this moment tell him, when he calls up to his recollection the his- tory of the secret workings of his heart? Do you remember, when the days of your years were yet few in number, with what a clear and distinct voice conscience spake to you ; how it told you of some immediate duty, some good act to be done, and bade you make haste and do it ; or remonstrated with you in reference to some sinful omission to which you were inclined, or some evil deed that you were disposed to perpetrate; and how, in your bosom, the faithful conscience strove with you, and England's exiles. 15 entreated you to pursue the good and abstain from the evil, giving you honest warning of the fruits which would result from either line of conduct? And do you recollect the long and painful struggle you maintained with conscience — with what con- scious sophistry you laboured not to meet, but to turn aside^ her reasonings, to silence her voice, to impose upon yourself, and so, by what you felt to be an iniquitous effort, to attain the gratification of your unhallowed and sinful desires ? And in this way it was, that you endeavoured to put down and stifle conscience, and to rid yourself of her kind, but, alas ! unwelcome intimations and warnings ; and unhap- pily for you and your fellow-men, you were but too successful in your work of self-destruction. Con- science became seared as with a hot iron. You have endeavoured to enjoy the alarming calm af- forded by her forced insensibility — a calm which you know has been occasionally disturbed by her faithful and friendly efforts still to secure a hearing, that you might be awakened to the consideration of your highest interests, and be yet rescued from the fearful destruction which you appeared deter- mined to choose. But her honest struggle still proved unavailing, and you have thus far gathered the bitter fruits of your triumphs over your convic- tions — triumphs which have afforded you an abun- dant harvest of guilt, infamy, and suffering; and have yielded to the prince of darkness and his as- sociates the satisfaction which, to them, results from your shame and the destruction of your peace. 16 England's exiles. Besides the admonitions of conscience, have you not received many warnings from the dispensa- tions of Divine Providence ? Have you not been visited, perhaps, again and again, with affliction ? Some of you, it may be, have been brought, in all appearance, to the very gates of death ; but your life has, in great mercy and long-suffering, been prolonged, to give you time and space to re- turn unto God by the obedience of his Gospel. But how have you improved these kind chastisements ? Have they been permitted to produce the effect they were designed by a gracious God to produce on your heart and mind ? Conscience has answered the question ; and let your present appearance here answer the question. You know that your afflic- tions either produced no salutary impressions upon you at all, or that such as were produced, you soon forgot and utterly obliterated by your wonted pur- suit of the desires of your corrupt hearts, in despite of the calls and entreaties of true and heavenly wisdom. Not only have you had the warning visits of disease in your own persons, but also in the per- sons of your friends and relations; and what man is here present that cannot recollect a near relative, a beloved friend, or an intimate associate, who has been cut down by death, perhaps, suddenly and unprepared, or it may be at the close of a long and a lingering disease, during the whole of which he was by his sufferings — the intimations of his m.or- tality — preaching a loud and intelligible sermon to all around him ? Was your friend arrested, and by England's exiles. 17 death carried off in the midst of his iniquity, in the disbelief and rejection of the mercy published in the Gospel? Oh, how loudly does such a death speak to your reason and your conscience ! And could you but hear the voice, how loudly does your friend, at this moment, address you from the regions of despair and of everlasting burning ! Was your friend a faithful follower of Christ? Did he walk with God in the holy obedience of his revealed will, and died he in the scriptural hope of a blessed immortality ? What was the language to you of his holy example, of his peaceful, his tri- umphant death ? and how does he now beckon to you from the heavenly mansions of eternal rest, and call upon you to turn at once your feet from the paths that lead down to the abodes of death, and enter into the way that conducts you to God and to endless joy! Has your attention never been arrested by the holy and useful lives of godly men, rich or poor? Have you not witnessed one or more individuals in the course of your lives, who appeared to you to possess a spirit far different from that which in- fluences the men of this world — evidently acting on principles which belong not to man's fallen and corrupted nature — engaging in pursuits and seeking enjoyments which suit not the taste of the children of pride and carnal propensity, but are sought and prized only by men of a renewed and heaven-born nature — men who live above the world, and so regulate their temper and conduct as to evince that 18 England's exiles. they are denizens of no earthly city, that their hopes are not bounded by time, but reach forward to a blessed and glorious eternity ? In one word, have you never come into contact with the humble, useful, consistent Bible Christian^ who proved his faith in his Lord by his obedience to his revealed will? And how did you dispose of such characters? You were bound to dispose of them, and you did dispose of them. Either you approved of them, or you disapproved of them : either you thought them rights or you thought them wrong. If you con- sidered them right, and approved of them, why did you not, then, follow their example, and secure to yourselves their happiness? If you considered them wrong, and disapproved of them because they endeavoured habitually to live agreeably to the will of God revealed in the Bible ; in this case, in dis- approving of obeying God, you prove yourselves to be the enemies of God, and up to the present day you appear to have acted in accordance with such a character. As to your telling me that you reckoned all the apparent and avowed followers of Christ hypocrites^ this is too absurd to deserve at present our notice ; we shall show you how such a malicious slander is to be disposed of, on a future occasion. I shall only stop now to tell you, that I know that you are all perfectly convinced that, if there were no good shillings^ there could be in circulation no bad ones ; and you are as fully satisfied that, if there were no real Christians, there would be no hypo- England's exiles. 19 critical professors of Christianity. What, then, have you done with the example of the sincere and consistent follower of Christ? How shall you answer this question when you meet the Christian at the bar of the Judge of all the earth ; where, if you live and die in a state of opposition to Christ, an unchanged, an unconverted character, you shall appear on his left hand ; whilst the despised but faithful disciple of Jesus shall stand upon his right ? Is any one of you now foolish and presumptuous enough to flatter himself that he will then be able to ward off the question with levity, resist the con- victions of guilt, and escape from the bitter feelings of remorse and self-reproach which must, of neces- sity, assail him on that day? Even now^ at this very moment, your reason and your conscience tell you that, in resisting the calls and the instructions addressed to you from the pious and consistent lives of the people of God, you have been manifest- ing the enmity of your hearts to God himself; that it was because you hated the Lord^ that you hated his faithful servants and true worshippers ; and, to the narrow path and strait gate which conduct unto life, you preferred the broad way and the wide gate which lead downwards to the chambers of death. But again, I ask you, have you never heard of a book called the Bible ? Is there a man now be- fore me, who can say that he never heard of such a book ? Nay, you have not only heard of such a volume being in the world, but it has been inti- !2() England's exiles. mated to you, again and again, that the book in question makes no ordinary claims upon the atten- tion of mankind. You have heard that it eon- tains a revelation from God; that it declares his truth; that it deals with the understandings and the consciences of men. You have heard that it gives an account of this world's origin, of the origin and character of man; that it furnishes us with the history of Divine Providence ; that it ac- quaints us with the perfections and character of God; with the nature of his new Covenant; with the relation in which the human race stand to Him ; with the duties which every one of us owes to our Creator and Preserver; with the provision which He hath made for the salvation of mankind ; with the prin- ciples on which He will deal with them ; and with the vast and interminable prospects which lie be- fore them. In one word, you have heard that there is in this world a Book that tells you plainly v)hat you are, tells you what God requires you to be ; that tells you of a gracious and almighty Saviour ; of a way of life and a way of death ; of a day of final judgment ; of the torments of hell, of the bliss of heaven, and the eternal duration of both. Now, you have all heard of the existence of such a book ; and I apprehend that there is not one individual here present who has not seen a copy of it, or has not had it in his hands. I ask you, then, most solemnly, how have you disposed of the Bible ? You know that it declares it was written by men inspired by the Spirit of England's exiles. '21 God ; that it speaks to you individually, or rather, that by the Bible God himself speaks, and speaks to your understanding and your heart. Is there a man now standing on the deck before me, who will presume to say that his reason and his conscience do not tell him that, when the God of heaven and earth addresses him, He has a right to be heard ? Is there a man or boy present who does not feel persuaded in his heart that, when the Almighty is pleased to send a message to man, it must be a message that is important for man to hear, to un- derstand, and to observe — a message that involves his own glory and man's best and eternal interests ? Your Maker graciously sent to tell you of your rebeUion and your danger, and of his love, and the provision He has, in his great mercy, made for your deliverance from that danger, and recovery to him- self and to happiness ; and what reception have you given to his message^ and to his Bible through which that message was conveyed ? His message have you not refused to receive ? His Bible have you not treated with indignity and neglect? You know that you have not made it your business to search diligently the Scriptures, and in the spirit in which they require you to search them ; that you have not used them for the purposes for which they were graciously written for, and preserved to, you; that you have not yielded to them the obedience they demand, and that it is your duty and privilege to yield ; and therefore it is, you are this dag standing on these decks, and in your present unhappy and 22 England's exiles. degrading circumstances. Obedience to your Bible would have prevented all the evil to which you have exposed yourselves, and which you now of necessity must endure. Are there a number of you who tell me you cannot read^ and that, therefore^ you could not read your Bible^ and are not, in consequence, deserving of blame for not having read it ? But I ask you, why cannot you read? You knew that a written message to you from Heaven must deserve to be by you perused and examined ; and that it must be worth your while — to say nothing of your duty — to use your utmost endeavours to be enabled to read and understand such a message. Now, let your conscience tell me, or rather, tell you^ as you at this moment stand in the presence of the great Searcher of hearts, what efforts, what strenuous ex- ertions you made, in order that you might be able to read and examine the writings of inspiration — the book of God ? Had you, I ask every individual before me, no access, by any means, at any period of your life, to a school ? Did you use your utmost endeavours to gain admission to one; or in the event of your efforts failing in this particular, did you apply to your friends or acquaintances, and en- treat any of them to be so kind and humane as to teach you to read the Bible? and did you per- severe in your application, until success crowned your efforts, or became absolutely hopeless ? Do you remember how many you begged and entreated to give you lessons, that you might be enabled to England's exiles. 23 peruse the Word of Life? How many refused to afford you help ? Have you not manifested a pal- pable and a shameful indifference about the matter? And in preferring any amusement, and any en- joyment, however low or pernicious, to the laud- able and manly exercise of learning to read the Scriptures, you have chosen to remain in utter ignorance of all that it was most important for you to know, because most intimately connected with your present and eternal happiness. And think not that your ignorance, under such cir- cumstances, will furnish any palliation of the crimes of which that ignorance has been the fruit- ful source. The ignorance which you had it in your power to correct, but did not, is itself most aggravated iniquity, inasmuch as its continuance is referrible to your own criminal neglect of di- vinely appointed means of instruction ; and inas- much as it is the parent of every species of im- morality — the parent of suffering and of death. I can scarcely suppose it probable, that there are many men in Great Britain and Ireland, at least in Great Britain, who have been, during the whole of their lives, placed beyond the possibility of learn- ing to read the sacred Scriptures : and it is very likely that there is not among you one individual but who might have been able this day to read his native tongue, had he duly exercised his reason, and, to his utmost, manfully done his duty, in di- ligently availing himself of all the means of in- struction that a gracious Providence placed within 24 England's exiles. his reach. For such wilful ignorance, and for all the crimes, guilt, and sorrow, that spring therefrom, is that man answerable to his conscience, to society, and to God. Once more, you heard of, and had access to, places of public worship where the sacred Scriptures are read, prayers ofiFered up unto God, and the Gospel of salvation is freely published. Did you thankfully and cheerfully avail yourselves of every opportunity afforded you, in the course of a gra- cious Providence, of meeting with the people of God, when they assembled to wait upon Him in the observance of his appointed ordinances ? You cannot complain of the want of time, for the Lord hath not only permitted you to appropriate a portion of your time to the spiritual and temporal concerns of your souls, but hath, in his great love and mercy, most solemnly commanded you to dedicate to his worship and to your spiritual improvement, a seventh part of your time, which He hath consecrated, or set apart, from a common to a holy use. How have you employed the first day of the week — the Lord's day ? Have you faithfully devoted that day to the purposes for which it was hallowed, or di- vinely set apart ? Has it been to you a day of rest from worldly labour and worldly thoughts ? Have you cheerfully spent it in attending to the best and eternal interests of your own never-dying spirits, and likewise of those whose souls have been com- mitted to your care, and for the care of which you must render an account on the great day ? Look England's exiles. 25 back upon your Sabbaths ! What speak they now to your consciences? Are you prepared to hear their voice at the judgment-seat of Christ ? What do they witness ? Do you tell me they witness against your parents^ or that they witness against your masters ? These are not replies to my present questions. What testimony do your Sabbaths bear to YOU ? Is their testimony in your favour^ or is it against you ? God gave to man His Sabbath, that man might be possessed of the means of remember- ing his Creator and Redeemer — His work of creation, and His work of redemption ; and might secure the everlasting welfare of his own soul, and of the souls of his fellow-men, especially of his own household. Have you used His Sabbaths for the ends for which He graciously gave them to you ? What language do they noiv speak to your heart ? What is the language of your guilt? Did you regard the day of holy rest, as the day of slothful indolence ? Do you remember how much of God's holy day you spent in idleness ; how much in sin- ful and gross indulgences ? Where were you when you heard the tolling of the bell, when the people were gathering themselves together, to hear the word of pardon and peace, of holiness and life? What said you to the loud call, or to the whispers of conscience, when your neighbours and their families were proceeding to the house of prayer, to hold solemn converse with the Father of their spirits, and to contemplate the unseen realities of an unseen world ? Whither did your feet carry you ? c 26 England's exiles. To the place where the blessed Jesus hath promised to meet, and receive, and pardon sinners, and to fill them with the joys of His great salvation ? or did they bear you to the haunts of vice, the abodes of darkness and of the children of darkness — the gates of death, which lead down to hell ? You re- collect how you debated the point with conscience, and with your pious and faithful friends ; how you yielded at length to the influence of those corrup- tions which ought to have been subdued, and to the enticements of those wicked associates whose temptations you ought to have rejected, and whose society you ought to have shunned. But, instead of fleeing from temptation, you turned your backs upon God, His house, and the fellowship of His saints ; and preferred the com- pany, the pursuits, and the enjoyments of the wicked. The Tavern was more suited to your dispositions, than the place of Divine Worship ; the destructive draught from the poisoned cup was swallowed with a greedy relish, while the rich pro- visions of the Gospel table, and the pure water of life, were utterly loathed and rejected; dust, the serpent's meat, was preferred to the Bread of Heaven; the low and corrupting ribaldry of the depraved and the wretched was more pleasing to the ear of your licentiousness than were the truths of the Divine law and of the Gospel to a corrupt heart and an oppressed, yet struggling, conscience. The song of the drunkard was preferred to the hymn of salvation and devout praise. Shame, England's exiles. 27 poverty, disease, and death, were chosen rather than respectability, competency, health, and life. You rejected against yourselves the counsels of Heaven ; you have hitherto cast in your lot with the ungodly ; the character of the wicked you have determined should be your character, and you are this day reaping a portion of the fruits of your choice. Finally, you knew the laws of your country ; you knew that you were bound, both by the laws of God and the laws of man, to speak truth, to be honest and upright in your dealings, and to do vio- lence to no man — to wrong no man. You knew that it was your duty to be industrious, to be frugal ; to provide, by some lawful calling, for your- selves, and for those whom Divine Providence had made dependant on your industry; and that you were bound to exert yourselves, to promote the prosperity, the peace, and the harmony of the com- munity. In one word, you knew that, whatever you could reasonably wish men to do to you, you were bound to do to them. Can you plead igno- rance of these laws ? You know that you cannot. When you were in the act of breaking the law, you knew that you were breaking the law i that you were contracting guilt, and subjecting yourselves to the penalty. You were perfectly aware that the welfare of individuals, as well as the peace of so- ciety, required that the laws of the land should be maintained and enforced; yet these laws you de- liberately, and the greater number of you, it is 28 England's exiles. more than probable, oftener than once, violated. You pursued a line of conduct which you knew w^as not only unjustifiable^ but deserving of the strongest reprohation^ as tending to mar the harmony, destroy the security, and entirely upset the quiet and com- fort of the community ; and this course you have followed, not merely in opposition to conviction^ but in the face of many practical warnings, which have been furnished to you by hundreds, alas ! by thou- sands of your countrymen, who, by their unprin- cipled and lawless conduct, rendered themselves obnoxious to justice, and paid the penalty in the forfeiture, in many instances of liberty, and in not a few, of even life itself. But all these loud and solemn warnings appear to have been lost upon you, and you have pursued the path from which you were so often, and so dis- tinctly, urged to flee. Thus have you forgotten the tenderness and care which your parents exercised over you in the days of your infancy, childhood, and youth ; their whole- some instructions, counsel, and reproof, you have neglected and despised ; their supplications and prayers in your behalf, you have hitherto frus- trated ; upon the manifestations of the perfections of God in creation and providence, you have shut your eyes ; the voice of the faithful conscience you have endeavoured to stifle and put down ; the fear- ful and impressive warnings afforded you in the course of the Divine dispensations you have turned aside; the consistent and holy example of the peo- England's exiles. 29 pie of God, which invited you to cast in your lot with them, and share in their privileges, enjoy- ments, and hopes, only served to excite the enmity of your carnal minds, and call forth the rancour of your depraved hearts, in malignant charges of self- seeking and hypocrisy. The writings of inspira- tion with which, in the infinite mercy of God, you were furnished, you either neglected or perverted ; the house of prayer you forsook for the abodes of sin and of death ; on the sound of the Gospel of peace you closed your ears; the Lord's day you profaned ; the laws of your country you have tram- pled under your feet. On a verdict of a jury of your own countrymen, the judges of the land have de- clared that the security and peace of society de- mand, that you should be placed under restraint, and forthwith removed to a distant corner of the empire : and when you view this decision in con- nexion with the injuries you have inflicted on the community, and the dishonour you have cast upon God, you cannot fail to feel and acknowledge — provided that you are now in a becoming jand hopeful disposition of mind — that your sentence is just^ and that the Judge of all the earth, who knows your heart, and is intimately acquainted with all your ways, hath, in the dispensations of His holy pro- vidence, acted towards you, not only in righteous- ness^ but likewise in wisdom, and in great mercy. These reflections may be painful to your minds, but it is because I think them projitahle^ and at this hour most seasonable^ that I have suggested them 30 England's exiles. to your most serious consideration. You are, at this moment, entering upon a new career. You now come under a system of moral discipline, which contemplates, not only your present, but your future character and enjoyments through endless ages. It is right, and of the utmost importance, that you should entertain just views of the past, and have your minds duly prepared to enter upon, and ap- preciate, what lies before you. Should there be — as the case is possible — one individual amongst you who has in truth reason to conclude that he is not guilty of the crime or crimes with which he has been charged, and on account of which he is suffering transportation ; let that person remember that, however much such an evil is to be deprecated and lamented, and whatever degree of guilt it may reflect upon the agents of his suffer- ings, there are nevertheless other crimes with which he is justly chargeable before God ; and that al- though man may have sinned in tearing him from his friends and the land of his birth, yet, viewing the infliction as an evil which the all-wise and sovereign Ruler of the universe has permitted to overtake him, he will feel that his past life de- serves, at His hands, a far severer chastisement ; and if he think soundly and wisely, he will even now be able to perceive that the dispensation of which he complains, may be, and ought to be, so improved as to secure its being overruled to the unspeakable advancement of his best interests for time and eternity. England's exiles. 31 You will observe that I merely admit the possi- bility of such a ease as that to which I have re- ferred (and I do so because I know that it is not a rare thing for men in your situation to allege that they are guiltless sufferers), but the probability — the decided probability — is, that there is not here present amongst you one individual who is not guilty of the crime or crimes with which he is charged, and on account of which he is now about to be removed from his native land. In withdrawing now to your berths, you will do so in deep and solemn thought. Let every man's* mind retire within himself. Lay to heart the hints I have now given you to aid your reflections, and assist you in your self-examination. Let there be no talking^ but let all be deep consideration. Look back upon your lives; silently meditate upon and faithfully apply, every man to himself, what has been now spoken in great kindness to you all. Let every one now consider, that to talk to his neigh- bour on retiring from this place, is to invade his neighbour's rights, and to interrupt that solemn and secret communion that he is now required to hold with his own heart, and with Him who is the Searcher of the heart. In my next address, I shall give you a view of the exercises in which you shall, God willing, en- gage during the voyage ; of the principles upon which the discipline shall be conducted; and show you the great ends which, in all our labours and 32 England's exiles. plans, we shall, through the Divine blessing, seek to attain. You now retire to your wards ; and let me beseech you to take care that your demeanour, on your embarkation, augurs favourably, not only of your behaviour during the voyage, but of your conduct in the country to which you are destined. CHAPTER II. SECOND ADDRESS TO THE PRISONERS, WITH AMPLIFICATION. The following day was chiefly occupied with the organization of the people. They were formed into three divisions, and placed under the superintend- ence of three captains, who were cautiously selected from amongst their fellow-prisoners, according to the character which they had received from the officers of the hulks, and the impressions produced on my own mind by the expression of their coun- tenances, and their general outward demeanour. Besides the appointment of captains of divisions, as many more of the petty officers were nominated as could be fixed upon consistently with prudence. In the afternoon, and just in time to conclude by the hour appointed for mustering the people below for the night, they were assembled, as formerly, on the quarter-deck — the guard being on the poop — to receive the second address ; of which the following is the substance, with some additional observations, introduced chiefly into the paragraphs contained in brackets. c2 34 England's exiles. In my first address, I endeavoured to assist your recollections of your past lives, in order to aid you in your secret examination of your hearts, to pro- duce feelings and sentiments suited to the condition in which you are now placed ; to awaken in you proper desires in reference both to the present and the future ; and thus prepare you for entering upon a couj'se of instruction and discipline^ with a view to your intellectual and moral improvement. What use you have already made of my suggestions and observations, you yourselves know. Probably there are some amongst you who have treated all I have said, just as you treated the wholesome counsel kindly tendered to you by your friends and rela- tives on former occasions. But I would cherish the hope, that there are not among you many indi- viduals of this description of character. I would rather have cause to believe that the whole of you have attentively listened to what I have said ; that you have solemnly and prayerfully reflected upon it ; that you have been secretly dealing with your own hearts, and that He to whom the night is as the day, and the darkness as the light, hath seen the unfeigned sorrow and contrition of your minds ; observed your self-loathing and self-abasement in His sight ; and recorded, in the book of His remem- brance, the earnest longing of your souls to be delivered from sin and from death, and recovered to a state of holiness and life. My object in assembling you together now is, to acquaint you with the exercises in which it is pro- England's exiles. 35 posed you shall engage during the voyage before us ; to exhibit to you the nature of the discipline under which you are to be placed ; and thus to im- press your minds with a just consideration of the grand objects which, in all we undertake for you, we desire to see accomplished. I. I call your attention, in the first place, to the nature of the exercises in which you are to be oc- cupied during the voyage ; and, in doing this, you will observe, that I do not address you merely as prisoners^ but as my fellow-men. Of the causes which have brought you here, I say nothing at pre- sent ; I have just now to do only with the fact^ that you are here. I do not at present notice the circumstances which led to your being placed in prisons or in hulks, and ultimately on board this transport. To some of these we have already alluded ; to others we shall advert on a future occa- sion. All that I have to do with at this moment, are the facts, namely, that I find you here^ and I find myself liere^ charged with the care of your persons, your health, your improvement, and your happiness. You appear now before me as a portion of the human race ; as so many members of that family to which I also belong. I now look upon you as the crea- tures of God, the offspring of our common and almighty Parent, the Creator and the Preserver of the universe, the Former of our bodies and the Father of our spirits. I contemplate you as stand- ing in certain relations to God, to one another, and to the world; relations out of which necessarily 36 England's exiles. arise many interesting and important duties, and as necessarily involving great responsibilities and pe- culiar enjoyments. You are not only the offspring of God, but His rational offspring, the moral sub- jects of His moral government. He made you, and He made you for Himself. He made you, at the first, in His own moral image, and under the influence of His blessing ; you have lost that image, and have fallen under the influence of His disapprobation. Still you are accountable to Him for all you think^ and for all you believe or disbelieve — ^that is, for your belief and unbelief ; and for all you say, and for all you do. And He, as the righteous and im- mutable Judge of all His rational offspring, must deal with every one of you according to the eternal and unalterable principles of justice and truth. Not only are you accountable, but you are likewise im- mortal, beings. Every one of you is in possession of a deathless spirit ; a spirit which must soon quit that tabernacle of clay it now inhabits, and, leaving it to return to the dust from which it was originally taken, must make its appearance before God, to receive at his hand according to the deeds done in the body, whether they be good or whether they be bad. In the meantime, the sentence of death, under which transgression has brought you, is, in its full execution, delayed. God is unwilling that any one of you should perish. Though under a sentence of condemnation and death. He has, in His infinite love and compassion to you as His creatures, placed you under a dispensation of mercy. England's exiles. 37 The apostasy of man from his Maker was quickly followed by intimations of a gracious scheme of redemption. The covenant made in the counsels of the Godhead from the ages of eternity, was published to the fallen and guilty rebels even before their removal from their forfeited paradise. He who is not a man that He should lie, nor the son of man that He should repent, announced to the guilty and desolate hearts of our ruined pro- genitors, the joyous appearance of a Divine De- liverer. The Eternal Word, by whom all things were made — even the beloved Son of the Father, is to clothe himself hi the nature of the fallen and the lost, and appear the " Child horn^^ the " mighty God^' the " Prince of Life'' He is to magnify the law and make it honourable, and bring in everlast- ing righteousness ; vanquish the power of the great adversary ; accomplish a complete salvation for the human race, to be published in due time to aZ/, and to be enjoyed by every one of whom it should ob- tain acceptance. This is that great salvation which was exhibited to the antediluvians, to the pa- triarchs, to the nation of the Jews ; and was pro- claimed to the Gentile world by the apostles of the Lord ; and, ever since their days, has been published in the Scriptures of truth to every one who will either read or hear the Divine oracles, in which the glad tidings of great joy are proclaimed, at this day, to the sinful and perishing children of men, without distinction of rank or condition ; proclaimed to you^ for your deliverance from sin and its bitter fruits, 38 England's exiles. for your recovery to God and to holy and blissful obedience. And according to your treatment of the message of mercy and peace, will be your fu- ture, your eternal condition. If you receive it, you receive pardon and life, and glory everlasting ; if you reject it, you choose condemnation and death, and never-ending wretchedness. But the holy Scriptures not only reveal to you the way of pardon and of life; they furnish you with all that you really require to know, in the present world, re- specting God, yourselves, and the whole human race, considered as the subjects of the Divine go- vernment. They tell you what you are to believe^ and what you are to practise. They clearly exhibit to you the duties you owe to your Maker, your fellow-men, and to yourselves. They inform you on what principles you are to act so as to please God, and under the influence of what motives. They declare unto you, not only what God requires of you, but how you are to obtain strength to do His will. They not only apprize you of the ene- mies, temptations, and dangers to which you are exposed, but they show you how they are to be avoided or overcome. These writings of inspira- tion constitute the chart, according to which you are to steer your course through the present life, to the shores of a boundless eternity. They are the magazine whence you are to be furnished with the whole Christian armour, by which you are to meet and to vanquish all your spiritual enemies. In them you have set before you the Bread which England's exiles. 39 perisheth not with the using; even the Bread of Life, of which if a man eat he shall never die. In them you have the raiment which waxeth not old, the robe of righteousness, the garments of sal prcee^i^g week — is recited by such of the people as may have voluntarily committed it to memory; which passage, together with the chapters read at church, becomes the subject of catechetical exposition and practical instruction; and such observations and exhortations follow as may at the time appear most seasonable. These exercises are intended to occupy one hour; but generally they extend to the hour and a quarter, and occasionally to a longer period; they ought, however, generally speaking, seldom to exceed the hour. The people are exhorted to occupy, when not engaged in public religious exercises, the Sabbath day, in reading their Bibles, and such religious books and tracts as may have been furnished to them ; and in reflection, meditation, becoming and profitable conversation, and prayer. Bedding, which was stowed in the morning be- fore breakfast, and to be taken down, as on other days, before evening muster. MISCELLANEOUS. 1st. The schools to be visited by the surgeon-su- perintendent as often as his multifarious duties will admit of. J 02 England's exiles. 2nd. The people to be occasionally mustered, and jnspecteo bj schools, intead of divisions. 3rd. Individual schools and individual pupils t<:i :}jQ examined hj i\\(? surgeon-superintendent as frequently as may be convenient; especially such pupils as are behind in their education, or under the care of private teachers. 4th. The people will bear in mind that, as soon as any of them shall be found able to read the Scriptures with correctness and ease, they shall, as an additional reward of their industry, be per- mitted to spend a portion of their time in the after- noon, in writing and arithmetic, under the superin- tendence of an appointed schoolmaster. 5th. When a suitable period arrives, the sur- geon-supermtendent shall request the officers of the guard, the master, and the chief officer of the ship, to unite with him to form a board of examination, with a view of determining who are the most profi- cient scholars, and of awarding prizes according to individual merit. The prizes shall consist of copies of the Scriptures, and such religious books as the surgeon-superintendent may have provided himself with previously to his leaving England : observing that such books contain no doctrine but such as is in perfect harmony with the written and inspired Scriptures. 6th. One grand object with the surgeon- super- intendent shall be, that the whole of the people, without one single exception, shall be able, at or before the termination of their voyage, to read th^ England's exiles. 103 Scriptures; and shall disembark in possession, either of the whole Bible, or at least of the New Testament 7th. All petty officers and schoolmasters shall exert themselves, to the utmost of their ability, to preserve the most perfect cleanliness, and the ut- most propriety of conduct amongst the people ; and shall, on no pretext whatever, neglect to report to the chief captain or superintendent of schools, for the information of the surgeon-superintendent, everything they shall hear or observe, which is at variance with good manners, tending to corrupt the people, and derogatory to the honour of God. 8th. The captains of wards will vigilantly guard against any nuisance being committed below. Any one spilling water or any slops on the lower deck, shall be put into the report.^ 9th. As much of the bedding to be in suc- cession stowed on deck during the day as possible, and the whole to be shaken and aired occasionally, as the state of the weather may permit, or the sur- geon-superintendent direct. 10th. After the wards are cleaned, no one shall be permitted to enter them without permission from the surgeon-superintendent ; and as many of the * As the water-kegs are required to be furnished each, not only with a wooden stopper, but also a leathern spout, medical officers must provide themselves with proper leather for this purpose before they leave England. It is also requisite that they lay in a stock of strong brown paper fit for forming covers for books and tracts. 104 England's exiles. people as circumstances will admit of, shall remain the whole day on deck ; and as many messes as can conveniently be accommodated shall, in daily rotation (weather and ship's duties permitting), take the whole of their meals on the main-deck. 1 Ith. The whole of the people are, in an especial manner, required to bear constantly in mind, and habitually to observe, the instructions they have so distinctly and positively received from the surgeon- superintendent, in reference to their general de- meanour towards the guard and crew, and particu- larly the sentries. 12th. All who are in office, or intrusted with the discharge of any specific duties, shall be habit- ually diligent and. zealous in the performance of whatever is required of them ; and all the people will be careful to cultivate and manifest kind and brotherly sentiments and feelings towards each other ; guarding against every species of offence in look, speech, and conduct; using, to the utmost, their influence to promote and maintain unbroken harmony and peace. Should any disposition to pilfer, or to indulge in any kind of irregularity, un- happily manifest itself among the people after they are mustered below for the night, then, in that case, shall twelve, or fourteen, or more of the most trust- worthy be chosen from amongst them to act as watchmen; of whom, two in succession shall keep watch together for the period of two hours; and the two whose watch shall have expired, shall not leave their posts until they have actually been England's exiles. 105 relieved. At every half-hour they shall, in a tone of voice sufficient only to be heard, report to the sentries at the fore and after hatchways, " All's well ;" or, should they detect any impropriety, they shall instantly report the same to one of the sen- tries, for the information of the corporal or serjeant of the watch. It will be to the credit, however, of the whole body of the people, should the appointment of such watchmen be rendered wholly unnecessary. The routine and miscellaneous regulations having been rehearsed to the people assembled on the quarter-deck, they are addressed as follows : — You have now heard in detail the active and princi- pal duties of one entire week ; and these, with little addition, will constitute the chief duties of the voy- age, should it please a gracious Providence merci- fully to watch over us, and preserve us from ail disastrous and untoward occurrences ; a preservation for which it is the duty of all humbly and earnestly to pray, and which all of you who are or may be taught of God, cannot fail, at the throne of grace, daily to implore. With the duties now exhibited to you, it is requi- site, that not only the petty officers and schoolmas- ters, but the whole of you, should make yourselves perfectly familiar : a task which a very moderate degree of attention will enable you speedily to accomplish. And having familiarized yourselves F 2 106 England's exiles. with the demands which every successive hour will make upon your attention and efforts, it will be in- cumbent upon you to take care, that these demands are cheerfully and punctually complied with. It is perfectly unnecessary for me to repeat here what I formerly said to you in reference to the importance of the observance of punctuality^ and the exercise of zeal in the performance of duty. In every state of society, and especially in our little community, punctuality and zeal in the discharge of duty, must be ranked amongst the cardinal virtues. Wherever they are found, they must be regarded as " tokens for good." They not only argue most favourably for him in whose conduct and character they stand out as prominent features, but they promise and secure great benefit to all with whom he is asso- ciated. It is indeed impossible to calculate either the good or the evil which must necessarily result from the cultivation or neglect of these virtues — namely, punctuality and enlightened zeal. To their habitual exercise we cannot attach too great import- ance. Their neglect is confusion and wretchedness; their practice, order and comfort. Their observ- ance is not to^ be limited to those in oflSce ; they are to be found amongst the obvious characteristics of every member of our community. On this, the perfection of our social order must mainly depend. And where the required brotherly affection, in its legitimate influence, prevails, the virtues in ques- tion cannot, of moral possibility, be wanting. England's exiles. 107 I therefore expect soon to see the whole of you so intimately conversant with the duties of every hour, of every day of the week ; so distinguished by punctuality and zeal ; and so under the influence of brotherly love (God of His infinite mercy grant that it may be that love of brother with which His love to you all ought, and is calculated, to inspire you), that our entire apparatus cannot fail to work with the most perfect ease and regularity, and steadily to produce the calculated and anticipated amount of result. In a society whose organization is complete, even as complete as ours will speedily be, and in which the main-spring or moving power, is love, supreme LOVE TO God, and that brotherly affection ivhich such love of necessity involves, the maintenance of harmony and order, and the punctual and zealous despatch of personal and relative duties, cannot possibly fail to obtain. This is perhaps a view of society which very few of you ever seriously con- templated. It is, however, that state of society which is essential to happiness; and the state, moreover, to which it is the aim and the tendency of all that God hath accomplished for human re- demption to bring it : and it is just in as far as men are influenced by Divine love in all the details of their social relations, obligations, and exercises, that the grand end of all that the Saviour of the world hath eftected for us, is accomplished. I would have it now impressed upon the minds of all of you, and distinctly borne in recollection, 108 England's exiles. that the smooth, agreeable, and satisfactory working of our system of moral government and discipline on board this transport, will depend on the spirit and the movements of each individual connected with that system. You all know that, in a piece of machinery — such, for example, as that of a watch — every wheel, however small, in order to secure the accurate working of the whole, must move with absolute precision, and correctly accomplish its as- signed portion of effect in a given time. So it must be with us. Not only every man in office, but every individual of the whole body of the people, even the youngest boy amongst us, must move in prescribed order^ and at the appointed moment ! Let the veriest child amongst us ever recollect that, on the propriety of his individual temper and be- haviour, depends the uninterrupted maintenance of our social order and happiness. If I have suc- ceeded in my endeavours to convince every indivi- dual amongst you, that he is a being of great value; bears an important relation to all of us ; and must of necessity contribute most materially, either to the furtherance or the hinderance of our mutual comfort and improvement, a great object has un- questionably been attained. Such views it will be your happiness to promote amongst yourselves, both by conversation and in your practice : and should it be your wisdom to follow out the advice now given to you, my expectations, so far from being disappointed, shall be most happily realized. England's exiles. 109 Before I dismiss you, I shall just remind you of the necessity of '^ turning out'' with alacrity when you are called in the morning, either to wash decks, or persons, or clothes. Let there be no hinderance or annoyance in this particular. The petty officer who calls you, will give you " a good rouse ;" but let its repetition be wholly unnecessary. Five minutes are an ample allowance of time for a whole division to turn out, and appear on deck. And should any one be absent at any time from muster, morning, forenoon, or evening; or neglect *to ap- pear on deck within ten minutes after he is first called in the morning ; his name shall be entered in the book of reports. Nothing is a greater annoy- ance to me, or operates as a greater hinderance to the despatch of business, and the preservation of order, than drowsy indolence and sluggish tardiness in your movements. I do ardently trust, then, that your petty officers will never have occasion to re- port any of you for ^^ hanging back^' when you ought to be all activity, and each more anxious than another to be first at his post. The cooks cannot fail to perceive, that punctuality with them in the cooking and serving out of the people's ap- pointed meals, is absolutely indispensable. The schoolmasters, too, must be most attentive to the assembling and breaking up of the schools at the hours appointed. Let it also be observed, that every messman, or mess-carrier, will be held responsible to his mess for his punctuality in attending to his name, or 110 England's exiles. number of his mess, when called by the ship's offi- cer, whose duty it will be to serve out provisions and water from the hold. The members of messes will themselves observe, that their messmen are at their posts, when the word is passed for their at- tendance; and as it cannot be expected that the ship's officer should lose his time by waiting beyond a reasonable period (which cannot be more than a few seconds) for the messmen to make their appear- ance, the consequence of their negligence may be, that they and their respective messes will be de- prived, for the day, of the ration which the mess- carrier may have neglected, when called, to receive. In order to prevent the possibility of such occur- rences, it will be required of the second captain, or of some other petty officer appointed by him, to muster at the proper periods the messmen, accord- ing to their numbers, close to the barricade, that they may be in perfect readiness to answer to their mess-number when called. The serving officer will begin with number one^ and proceed with the num- bers in succession. And he is not to be expected to encourage inattention or negligence on your part, by returning to any number he may have passed, and which was distinctly called and repeated by the petty officer in attendance. The messman who shall neglect any portion of his duty to his mess, shall be put into the "book of reports." But if your conduct be what it ought to be, and what I anticipate it will be, our " book of reports " will remain — what it now is — a blanks so far as impro- England's exiles. Ill priety of conduct is concerned. It will then be the record of good and superior behaviour ; exhibiting the demonstrable evidence of the happy reformation of every individual prisoner on board; and such the book in question cannot fail to he^ should the whole of you continue under the governing in- fluence of a right frame of mind, and attend to the punctual discharge of all your duties, personal and relative, in the spirit of a well-directed and disin- terested zeal — a zeal in harmony with knowledge, and guided by brotherly love. CHAPTER VI. THE WORKING OF THE SYSTEM OF INSTRUCTION AND GOVERN- MENT APPOINTMENT OF A COURT OF INVESTIGATION OBSER- VATIONS ON THE ENACTMENT AND ENFORCEMENT OF LAWS. The people having been thus organized, rules and regulations laid down for their guidance ; their re- spective duties, as men and petty officers, pupils and teachers, detailed; a general view presented to them of the grand and ultimate objects to be attained, of the principles upon which they were required to act, and of the spirit by which they were to be influenced in the whole of their conduct ; they gave, as a body, immediate proof that they had come under the influence of a power whose tendency is, to regulate the operations of the mind, the desires and feelings of the heart, and to secure such a degree of outward order and decorum as is necessary to the enjoyment of quiet and peaceful comfort. A very short period sufficed to familiarize the people with the daily routine ; and the required duties were speedily executed with a regularity and precision which could not fail to gratify every en- lightened and benevolent observer. England's exiles. 113 There were unquestionably a few, whose beha- viour continued for several weeks, to be not only painful and disheartening to me, but grievous to the bulk of the prisoners themselves; but these un- happy exceptions were almost confined to the boys ; a class which embraced all aged nineteen years and under, and of whom there were seventy-nine. Fifty of these were under sixteen, and twenty were from eleven to fourteen years of age. Eight or ten of these boys about sixteen years old, were, for some time, rather troublesome, and appeared to resist, in a great measure, the influence of their instruction during at least the first half of the voyage. It is not my intention to offer, in this place, any observations on the moral character of the people ; these will be more appropriately made, when I come to speak of their apparent improvement at the end of the voyage. Here I would only remark that, with the exceptions already made, the general out- ward demeanour of the whole of the prisoners was strikingly quiet and orderly ; and the system of management acted so well, and so much beyond anticipation, that no sooner was the machinery put into motion than it seemed to work by an inherent power — as if, indeed, its primum mobile were nothing short of a vital principle. Every hour brought with it its own duties ; and it just occa- sionally required that the petty officers should be reminded of the demands which the approaching hour would make upon them, and that the people should sometimes feel the influence of my voice, in 114 England's exiles. order to secure that punctuality and despatch which are so essentially requisite to " the carry- ing on," with eiSiciency and comfort, " of the public duty." The working of "the school system" was, if pos- sible, more delightful and interesting, than "the plan of management." It will have been observed, that the whole of the 240 prisoners were formed into schools, of which there were twenty put into im- mediate operation, each provided with a teacher; and that, placed over the whole, was a general in- spector. In another chapter, I shall notice the progress made by the people in intellectual ac- quirements as well as in moral improvement. Here I shall merely observe, that nothing could be more deeply interesting than the appearance our decks, both above and below, now exhibited ; all was order, life, and activity. The hum of twenty schools, containing 240 people, of almost every age, from eleven years to sixty-eight, had an effect upon my ear, far surpassing the powers of the finest music to produce. Wherever a school could be conveniently assem- bled, there the busy group were to be seen sur- rounding their teacher, and all, generally speak- ing, eagerly vying with each other in application and zeal. There was, of course, great diversity of aptitude^ both in communicating and receiving in- struction ; but whatever might be the apparent dif- ference amongst the people in natural and acquired ability, all, with very moderate exception, appeared ENGLAND*S EXILES. 115 to enter with great eagerness on the business of their education. Almost every countenance be- trayed thoughtfulness and attention ; and was soon lighted up with more or less of hopeful animation. A number manifested, at the commencement of the voyage, such a degree of dulness and stupidity, and of absolute incapacity o^ perception, as to almost in- duce me to despair of their ever being able so to master their difficulties, as to read with anything like ease and enjoyment. It will however be shown in the sequel, that this class of persons was reduced in number beyond what could have been reasonably expected; and that, with the exception of a few foreigners, even the most hopeless made such at- tainments as were calculated to secure to future perseverance, final success. Much depended on the character of the schoolmaster. The difference in the effects produced on apparently (speaking generally) the same kind of materials, by teachers furnished with different degrees of skill and of zeal, was indeed very apparent and most striking, and afforded abundant illustration of the value of effi- cient instructors, and of their vast influence on the advancement of useful knowledge, and therefore on the future character and destinies of men. The pupils of a dull and indolent teacher betrayed, in a marvellous degree, the unhappy characteristics of their master ; and the spirit and life of the ardent and industrious schoolmaster, whose mind was manifestly influenced by an abiding sense of the importance of his office, were as visibly diffused 116 England's exiles. through, and influenced, the pupils whose privilege it was to be committed to his care. I was of ne- cessity (as formerly observed) shut up to the choice of such teachers as the people themselves supplied. All that I could do myself personally, was, occa- sionally to instruct them how to proceed, and to lecture them seriously in reference to the mo- mentous character of the duties they were called to perform. When it is remembered that, besides "the entire management of the prisoners," the whole of the medical duties of the transport de- volved upon me, unassisted^ it will readily be con- ceived that a large portion of my time could not possibly be devoted to the schools ; all I could daily attempt, was ail occasional and often hasty visit, the influence of which was perhaps increased by the circumstance, that it was always expected by the people, and liable to be made at any moment. However brief and rapid these visits were, they helped to maintain a constant intercourse between myself and the schools ; they afforded me an oppor- tunity of making my observations at once on the teachers and their pupils ; of speaking a word in the way of direction, or reproof, or encouragement ; and of manifesting a proper interest in the people, and in the success of the work in which they were engaged. In my general inspector, I had very able and efficient assistance. He was a man of fair educa- tion, and had, it appeared, up to the period of his imprisonment, been considered a respectable man England's exiles. 117 in his station as a managing clerk. He appeared well fitted for the situation to which he was ap- pointed on board the transport, the duties of which he discharged with great judgment and zeal, and seemed to exercise considerable influence, intellec- tual and moral, on the minds of the people. The assembling and dismissing of the schools he regu- lated with great punctuality ; was most assiduous in visiting them, spending with each a portion of time corresponding with circumstances, and entering into his book of remarks and reports whatever he might judge proper. Tiie issuing and gathering in of religious publications, took place regularly every week, and uniformly on Saturday ; and the progress of the pupils necessarily rendered a change in the school-books of one or other of the schools, of fre- quent occurrence. In my former trips to Australia, in charge of prisoners, I had frequently occasion to regret that so much of my time should have been consumed by the minute investigations which, with a view to the just administration of discipline, I felt it my duty to make into cases of petty delinquency that occasionally occurred among the people. In order to avoid an evil which — considering the circumstance in which I was placed, and the import- ant purposes to which the time so consumed could be applied — must be considered of no ordinary magnitude, I determined on forming a sort of " court of investigation," whose prerogative should be to hear all the complaints which might be for- 118 England's exiles. warded by the chief captain and inspector of schools. This court consisted oi Jive members — namely, of four of the most intelligent, judicious, and trust- worthy of the petty officers; and my clerk, who acted as clerk of the court. They were empowered to cite before them the parties accused ; to call and examine witnesses, for the purpose of obtaining evidence, and enabling them to determine the nature and extent of the alleged offences. They were intrusted with the power of administering ex^ hortation^ warning^ admonition^ and reproof; of re- monstrating and dealing, according to circumstances, closely and solemnly with such as might, from time to time, be brought before them ; and always with a view to the improvement of the offender and the future prevention of all impropriety of conduct among the people. When the offence, upon in- quiry, seemed to be of a minor character, attended with palliating circumstances, and the culprit ap- peared penitent, expressed his regret at his conduct, and promised, with apparent sincerity, to be more guarded and circumspect for the future, the court were authorized to dispose of the case as above stated — that is, by the administration of reproof and advice, as their judgment might direct — the reprimand constituted the punishment. When the accused exhibited a state of mind not quite satis- factory to the court, besides being reproved, duly advised, and cautioned, he was given to understand that he must consider himself as being in a state of probation and under close observation, and was dis- England's exiles. 119 missed for the present with the assurance, that his next offence would subject him to a more serious punishment ; and that therefore he must be brought before the surgeon-superintendent. This was the severest punishment the court were empowered to inflict : a punishment, too, which they rarely felt themselves called upon to administer; and when a case did occur of a character which required that it should be brought to the '' quarter- deck," it was previously so well sifted, the evidence so completely made out, that, in order to dispose of it at once^ I had only to cause it to be stated in the presence of the offender, to hear the testimony of the witnesses, (who were all assembled at the bar- ricade, and ready to appear in a moment, when called, on the quarter-deck), and to listen to any- thing which the accused might have to say, whether it were matter of confession, or contrition, or of exculpation. No time was now lost, no delay in- curred by the calling of witnesses ; all was prepared, the witnesses were at hand, the case was made to appear as clear as the day, and, with scarcely a single exception, the prisoner confessed his offence; and nothing remained to occupy my time but to place the delinquency in a just and impressive point of light, with a view to practical improve- ment and beneficial result, and to write upon a slip of paper, the nature of the punishment which I might think it expedient to award, and the character and degree of the offence might appear to demand. I was, I must confess, singularly fortunate in my J 20 England's exiles. selection of men to form my court of investigation.. This addition to my working apparatus was made, of course, by way of experiment ; but it was an experi- ment that admirably succeeded, and accomplished a great deal more, both for me and the people^ than I had anticipated. The members of the court con- ducted themselves with great propriety and deep seriousness; they appeared to understand and to feel the importance of the duties which devolved upon them ; and the people seemed to entertain pre- cisely the views of the court which I desired they should. The dealing with them of men of their own class, manifestly produced upon their minds a species of efiFect different, if not in kind^ at least in intensify^ from that which resulted from my own personal and single adjudications. The case was placed before them by their own companions, and its character determined as it were by themselves^ and appeared to be seen by a light which the law itself, or reason and justice supplied. The influence produced upon the minds of the prisoners was purely referrible to their perceptions of truth and their convictions of right and wrong, unmixed with, and unmodified by, any impressions which might have been produced by my immediate presence, or by a distinct and conscious apprehension of my au- thority. Another beneficial tendency which seemed to attend the working of this court was, to lead the people to set in judgment upon themselves, and to acquire or strengthen the habit of forming a just es- timate of their own character and conduct. England's exiles. 121 As the minds of the people became enlightened, their esteem of my approbation, and dread of incur- ring my displeasure, increased. Here there was more than the mere apprehension of punishment; both affection and gratitude soon began to exert their appropriate and happy influence: they per- ceived and felt that I was their friend ; that my sole aim was their improvement and happiness; that nothing pleased and delighted me so much as proofs of real reformation in principle and beha- viour; that nothing caused me greater pain and disappointment than their continuance in immoral and irregular habits; except, indeed, hypocritical pretensions to a change of character which was not made manifest either by their temper or their con- duct. It, therefore (as already hinted), soon rarely occurred that the court of investigation found it expedient to forward a case to the quarter-deck. But many weeks (as shall be stated in the proper place) did not elapse ere a considerable portion of the people began to act upon far higher principles than a mere respect to my feelings, and a regard to my approval. From the nature of some observations which I have thought fit to introduce into my second ad- dress to the prisoners, it will be seen in what light I regard the framing and imposition by man of legislative enactments for the regulation of human conduct. T know nothing connected with human agency, more solemn in its nature, and involving deeper responsibility, than the construction and 12'2 England's exiles. enforcement of laws ; even where the interests of only a few unhappy prisoners are concerned. In all human legislation a due regard to the relation in which man necessarily stands to his Maker ; a conscientious and devout respect to all which such relation implies ; a deep, practical, and uncompro- mising reverence for the authority of the Divine law over all the subjects of the Divine govern- ment, whether considered as ruling^ or being ruled by, one another, is, in my view, of high and para- mount moment, as affecting, to an incalculable ex- tent, the present and future destinies of men. To repeat what I have already said on this subject would be preposterous; it is summed up in the following brief observations : — God claims the universal obedience of His crea- tures. This obedience it is at once their duty and their interest to yield. Every consideration dwin- dles into utter insignificance, when compared with compliance with the Divine will. No demand of man upon his fellow is, for a moment, to be put into competition with the requirements of the Most High. Every enactment, then, of man upon man, the interests of the universe, the solemnities of the great day, and the awful realities of an endless eternity, require that it be such as man, considered as an imperishable subject of the Divine govern- ment, can conscientiously, safely, and honourably observe. In accordance with these views, nothing was re- quired of the prisoners, which was in the slightest England's exiles. 123 degree at variance with that authority which is supreme. No regulation was laid down for their guidance, no rule for their observance, but such as clearly harmonized with their duty to God, and the most obvious import of the requirements of His word warranted me to enforce. And as it is diflScult to conceive anything more pernicious in its influ- ence on the human mind and character, than inert and dead laws, every enactment was uniformly car- ried out, and every offence visited with appropriate punishment To ordain laws and not to enforce them, or to enforce them irregularly and capriciously, is worse than absurd — it is pernicious ; and, in my vieW| unmerciful. A law must either be good or it is not ; if it is not good, it ought not to have been enacted ; or being enacted, ought to be immediately revoked. If the law is good, it ought to be enforced, and its neglect must be regarded as an incalculable evil. All wise and good laws contemplate the preserva- tion of order, and the furtherance of the happiness of individuals and of the community. To appoint such laws, and manifest inconsistency in their en- forcement, is not only to bring them into contempt, and inflict a serious injury on society, but to en- gender in the mind of every observer, unsound and injurious views of government generally; and to destroy all clear and influential perceptions of the connexion which necessarily subsists between obe- dience and happiness, disobedience and sufifering. Besides, if consistent uniformity is not observed in 124 England's exiles. enforcing established laws, men are not only led (as we have observed) to entertain lax views of all laws and moral discipline, but are encouraged to calculate on being able to violate the laws with im- pimity^ and thus to inflict great moral injury upon themselves, and, through their example, upon others; and to lead each other into a trap set for their feet by the uncertain operation of those very laws which were designed to deter from crime, and should, in all probability, have had this effect, had they not been rendered worse than abortive by their capri- cious administration. How far the Divine government may be regarded as furnishing a model for human governments, I shall not take it upon me to say, or even to hazard an opinion upon the question; but surely, there can be no impropriety in proceeding upon the prin- ciples xx^oxv which the government of God is obviously conducted, as far as it is possible for such imperfect and weak creatures as men are to proceed, and as far as is consistent with the Divine will expressly revealed. Now, in the moral government of God we ob- serve that the laws are all just, all merciful, all necessary ; they contain no bugbears, nothing merely to frighten children ; all are stamped with dignity, truth, and certainty ; they all bear the impress of God. They are made for the advancement of the Divine glory, the maintenance of the efficiency of the Divine government, the security of the inte- grity and happiness of all the subjects of the one England's exiles. 125 universal empire, and are therefore made to he enforced. In the government of the Most High, we observe nothing like capricious or arbitrary for- giveness, no setting aside of the claims of justice, no reflection of dishonour upon law ; nothing done or encouraged, that is calculated to weaken the authority of the Divine code, to bring it into dis- repute with the creature, or in the slightest degree to favour its violation or neglect Pardon is indeed dispensed^ but not at the expense either of law or of justice ; and therefore not at the expense of the creature's happiness, and of the highest interests of the humblest member of the moral universe. Trans- gression is forgiven, but forgiven in a way that is calculated not only to maintain law, and secure the happiness of the governed, but fitted unspeakably to advance the interests of both. The vicarious obedience unto death of the Son of God in the nature of the race that transgressed, demonstrates to the universe the nature of moral government, and clearly tends to increase, in all intelligent and virtuous beings, their veneration for the Divine code ; and to strengthen their disposition to yield to it the required and wholesome obedience. The conclusion at which we arrive is this — first, that all human governments should, in the first place, enact and promulgate intelligible, wise, merciful, and warranted laws ; laws which contem- plate the prevention of crime, the reformation or recovery of the criminal, and therefore the advance- ment and security of happiness. Secondly, that 126 England's exiles. these laws should invariably be carried out — that is, as far as the imperfections necessarily attendant on all things human, will permit. Thirdly, that nothing should be done calculated, in the smallest measure, to weaken the authority of the laws, or countenance their neglect; and that, therefore, fourthly, there ought to be practised no arbitrary or capricious forgiveness. If a law is not to be regularly enforced, it is cruel to establish it ; if wis- dom, and justice, and mercy, and a proper regard to the Divine authority, are allowed to exert their due influence in all our legislative enactments, the uniform enforcement of the laws could be nothing more than the uniform exercise of wisdom, and jus- tice, and mercy, and of a proper regard to the Divine authority. This is as clear as the light ; it is a self-evident proposition : and it is equally manifest that, to set capriciously aside law so enacted, is in other words capriciously to trample upon wisdom, justice, mercy, and the required regard to the authority of the supreme Ruler. Satisfied that the regulations adopted for the observance of the prisoners came as near the stand- ard — not that I had set up to myself, but which is necessarily set up for me — as I was capable of bringing them ; and that they were such as wisdom, and justice, and mercy, and the required respect to the revealed will of God, demanded should be uni- formly carried into effect ; arbitrary forgiveness had no place in the administration of discipline amongst the prisoners on board the Elphinstone. Such England's exiles. 127 forgiveness was considered not only absurd, but pernicious; hurtful to the offender himself, and most injurious, in its influence and tendencies, to the body of the people. The nature and degree of the punishment corresponded with the character and heinousness of the offence ; but it was uniformly inflicted. The people soon began to understand something of the nature and design of law and of government ; to perceive that crime and suffering are in the very nature of things inseparable ; that to do violence to their union is itself in a high degree criminal ; that, in fact, it is morally impossible for a just and merciful ruler to separate the two from each other. If a prisoner should happen to request me " to look over his offence" — a request which was repeatedly made at the commencement of the voyage — I had only seriously and solemnly to re- quest him, in my own way, to show me how the thing could possibly be done consistently with his own interests^ and the interests of his fellow-prisoners^ in order to bring him to the apparent conviction, that to grant his request was absolutely impossible, and utterly out of the question. " Forgive you ! how can I forgive you? Where in the universe do you find warranted anything like arbitrary forgive- ness ? Do you request me to be unkind and unmer- ciful to you ? Look at these men ! Are you utterly regardless of their welfare ? Would you sacrifice * * Interpretation of law is very different from the palpable sus- pension or setting aside of law, of the import of which there is no doubt. 128 England's exiles. their highest interests as well as your own, that you might secure to yourself the privilege of committing crime with temporary impunity ? The thing can- not be ; you deliberately, and with the knowledge of your duty, transgressed, and by your transgres- sion you demanded the appropriate punishment; and a due respect to your own happiness, as well as to that of the whole of the people, imperatively requires that your demand should be complied with, and the regulations enacted with a view to the comfort of all on board be maintained. You must now take your punishment. I am sorry that you should have required it, but I cannot, my man, be unkind to you. I must not encourage you or any other man, in a course which I am assured neces- sarily leads to destruction. You knoio that I aim at nothing so much as your improvement and happi- ness ; see, then, that since previous instruction and advice have failed to keep you in the path of honour- able obedience, you now so improve all these, and the punishment to which you have subjected your- self, as to secure the good effects they are designed to produce, both as it respects yourself and those by whom you are surrounded. Your business now is, to see that the greatest possible sum of good be brought out of the evil you have done, and that you use all appointed means to guard yourself against all such evil in future. A personal injury or offence I am bound to forgive, and trust I shall always be enabled to forgive in the spirit of the Gospel, and as I need and hope to be forgiven of God. But the England's exiles. 129 forgiveness of your present offence is a very different matter ; it is an offence committed, not against me personally^ but against law ; an offence, moreover, of such a nature, that you are, I believe, now con- vinced, that for me as the administrator of law, < to forgive it' (as you call it), were to be at once unjust and unmerciful, not only to you, but to all under my authority. Reflect as becomes you on this view of the subject, and you will not again deserve to be brought forward as a wilful transgressor of any lawful regulation." Thus the people were taught practically as well as preceptively^ to think and to feel correctly, as I conceive, on the subject of government, and from the study of that which is human, to rise to the contemplation of that which is Divine; and to learn, moreover, that the only one way by which punishment can he avoided is, not to deserve it, or, having deserved it, to expect forgiveness only in a way that is consistent with the preservation of moral discipline and government. With regard to the modes of punishment which obtained on board the Elphinstone^ they can be stated in very few words : — First, reprimand, which might be private, or less or more public. Secondly, separation from the rest of the people, and confinement under the care of one of the sentries for a SDCcified time, according to the nature and degree of the offence. Thirdly, in ad- dition to the offender being placed under a sentry, his allowance of wine, lime-juice and sugar stopped for g2 130 England's exiles. one or more days ; and in cases which appeared to require severer infliction, the allotted rations stopped wholly, or in part, for one or more days, and thin water gruel and a small portion of biscuit only allowed. In these cases the state of the prisoner's constitution and health requires the most cautious attention. Fourthly, the irons which were struck off by my order at the commencement of the voy- age were requested to be replaced, and worn for a number of days corresponding with the character and degree of the offence. Sometimes, instead of irons on the legs, handcuffs were ordered to be put on for a given number of hours, as the case might seem to require. Fifthly, the offender's name en- tered into the " black list," to be submitted to His Excellency the Governor, at the end of the voyage. This was my severest punishment. As to flogging^ although authorized by Act of Parliament, and the Right Honourable the Secretary of State's letter — with both of which I was furnished previously to sailing from England — it was not practised in the Elphinstone, It is a mode of punishment to which I entertain strong objections ; and although I admit that cases may possibly present themselves in which stripes might be inflicted with advantage, yet, I must confess, that I believe such cases to be of rare occurrence, when a due degree of intellectual and moral influence is sent forth upon the people. Perhaps it is enough to possess the power. It appears to me that, when it is thought necessary to have recourse to the use of the cat, there must be a England's exiles. 131 culpable want of moral power in the system of man- agement, whether it be on board of ship, or on shore. No human means employed in the govern- ment and discipline of men can, for a moment, be compared with sound practical instruction, and the habitual putting forth of an intellectual and a moral power. And my conviction is, that where such in- struction is imparted, and such power is duly exer- cised, the infliction of corporal punishment will seldom, if ever, be required. And I have no hesi- tation in stating it as my decided opinion, that the officer or ruler who, in the management of those who may be placed under his authority or command, has frequent recourse to the use of the lash, gives abundant evidence of his unfitness to be intrusted with the government of his fellow-men. It is admitted, that to prevent crime, to reform offenders, and to promote and secure universal order and happiness on right principles^ must be reckoned amongst the most important objects of government and discipline. To attain these important ends, it is requisite that the laws be not only (as already observed) clearly just and merciful, but as much as possible such as may easily be perceived spon- taneously to arise out of moral necessity. It must be impossible to detect, either in their construction or administration, the slightest degree of unnecessary severity — much less, the most obscure manifestations of vindictiveness. They ought to be the expression of parental wisdom and affection. Their penal awards ought, as much as possible, to be such as 132 England's exiles. have the least tendency to debase the mind, or destroy, or even weaken the love of virtue and the virtuous love of approbation. Their natural effect ought, indeed, to be quite the reverse of this. The mind of the offender ought to be led rather to the contemplation of his guilt and the tendency of his crime, than to the consideration of hh punishment, and which should be such as might be expected to receive the approbation of his mon enlightened rea- son, as well as the approval of all wise and benevo- lent men. In all cases men should be treated like men. Treat them like slaves and you speedily convert them into slaves; act towards them as beings who occupy, or who ought and are expected to occupy, a high place in the scale of moral intelligence, and you immediately elevate them in that scale ; seek to raise them in knowledge, in principle, in motive, and in feeling, and you pursue the course most cal- culated to raise them in character and conduct. What is more likely to secure from man manli/ behaviour, than the uniform treatment of him as a man ? The more strongly any one is made to feel that he is respected, and that manly and reputable conduct is expected of him, the more manly his con- duct is likely to be, the more entitled to respect he is likely to become. — Let us here derive a lesson from God's manner of treating us — the whole of us, His rebellious and guilty apostates. What import- ance does He still attach to us ! What a price He sets upon us ! How high the place He yet assigns England's exiles. 133 us amongst the subjects of his moral government, notwithstanding that we have debased ourselves to the depths of hell ! How valuable, beyond all hu- man calculation, does He yet consider us, even the most debased and wretched amongst us ! At what does He estimate a single soul ? At the worth of a world! The 7vhole world is as nothing in compari- son with the soul of the most despised of mankind. This is the view of the case with which He Himself supplies us. And what is the provision He hath made with a reference to man's reformation, or recovery to Himself and to happiness? Think on the scheme of redemption as unfolded in the Old and New Testament Scriptures. Oh ! what hath God wrought for the restoration of man to holiness and peace ! Contemplate the provisions of the ever- lasting covenant ; consider the history of the Lord's dealings with the human family, His depraved and perverse children. What expressions of love, pa- tience, and long-suffering do we discover! What unwillingness to afflict ! What mercy marks all His chastisements ! How clearly remedial are His dis pensations ! How obviously they all aim at the happiness of the universe ! — His justice is merciful ; His mercy just ; love pervades the whole of His pro- cedure ; and^ in the history of Calvary, we have a concentrated display of all the glorious moral perfec- tions of His nature^ and of the holy and immutable principles of the moral administration of His univer- sal empire, Alas ! how unwilling are we to receive lessons from the word and the providence of God. 184 England's exiles. Let us learn from Him the true value of man ; let us treat our brethren as His word, and treatment of us, warrant; and His blessing will attend our eiForts in the administration of government and discipline, and secure that success which will redound to His glory, and advance our individual and associated comfort and peace. CHAPTER VII. THE INSTRUCTION OF THE PEOPLE SOUND PRINCIPLES OF ACTION, AND ACCEPTABLE OBEDIENCE — NECESSITY OF ENTIRE RENOVATION OF HEART. The course of instruction proceeded with the greatest regularity. Our afternoon lectures on geography, astronomy, and on various subjects connected with natural history and natural philo- sophy, were listened to with apparent interest, and which was increased by occasional examinations. It is obvious that these lectures behoved to be of the most simple description, and couched in the most familiar and intelligible language. To carry my hearers beyond their depth, and to bewilder their minds with what they could not understand, would have been to waste our time, and defeat the object we had in view. They were, therefore, taught nothing but what every boy should be made acquainted with, and that ought to be taught in every country school. Such views of the earth we inhabit — of its form, magnitude, structure, divi- sions, natural and artificial, revolutions, and so on ; 136 England's exiles. such account of the sun, the moon, the planets — their satellites, and of their magnitude and motions, were given, as appeared not only requisite to enahle the people to form something like a just conception of the solar system, but most calculated to illustrate the glorious perfections of the great Creator, and enable the student of the Bible the better to un- derstand and appreciate the allusions made by the sacred penmen to the sublimities and economy of the material creation. One lecture only was de- voted to the consideration of comets and the fixed stars. With respect to subjects connected with natural philosophy, we limited ourselves to those points with which the people, through the medium of their own senses, were most familiar, and which seemed best fitted to show the wisdom and good- ness of God as exercised towards His creatures, in the nature of the laws which He hath been pleased to impose upon matter, the regularity with which they operate, and the important ends they secure. Enough for the use of prisoners on these branches, will be found in Dr. Dick's " Christian Philosopher ;" Mrs. Marcet's " Conversations on Natural Philoso- phy ; " and such like popular works. Our glance at subjects embraced by natural history, was neces- sarily more rapid and brief in the Elphinstone than in the Arab. The popular view given to the prisoners, of the structure of their own bodies, as illustrative of design, wisdom, and benevolence ; and our remarks England's exiles. 137 on the nature and capabilities of the immortal spirits which tenant such admirably constructed tabernacles; and our simple discourses on the subjects which came under our notice, as referred to above, certainly appeared to answer important ends : they tended at once to inform and elevate the mind; they afforded subject of rational and improving conversation, and which might be ex- pected to supersede that which can only corrupt and debase ; and, in connexion with the sacred truths revealed in the pages of inspiration, were calculated to influence and improve the heart. Our main business, however, w^as with the Bible, with the consideration of the evidence, external and internal, to be adduced in support of its claims; and in investigating and applying, for practical purposes, the momentous doctrines and holy pre- cepts — the appalling, yet righteous and merciful threatenings — and the great and precious promises, both temporal and spiritual, which are contained in its sacred pages. With those whose minds have been enlightened by Divine truth, it must be a deep and settled con- viction, that nothing is capable of producing a radi- cal and permanent improvement in the character and habits of man, but just and adequate views of himself aiud of his Maker ; and that such views are to be obtained only from that Revelation which the Father of mercies has been graciously pleased to give us. The study of the material universe is unquestionably calculated to inspire us with lofty 138 England's exiles. conceptions of the natural attributes of the Deity ; the uninspired history of His providence may furnish us with imperfect and disjointed notions of His moral character; and a certain acquaintance both with creation and providence is, it is admitted, indispensable to a proper understanding and just appreciation of many passages of sacred writ, and, moreover, requisite to a sound, connected, and en- larged view of the extent of Jehovah's empire. But it is to the pages of inspiration that we are indebted for our highest and most valuable know- ledge : it is by the study of the Holy Scriptures, that we arrive at anything like a just and satisfac- tory acquaintance with the moral perfections of God, and the nature of His government; — that we learn the relations in which we stand to Him and to one another, as His intelligent and moral subjects — as the members of the one family of man ; and ascertain, with precision, the duties which these relations necessarily involve. It is by the humble, diligent, prayerful, and persevering perusal of the written word of God, that we are made acquainted with all that is most important and necessary for us to know, both as the creatures of a day, and the anti- cipants of eternity. Man is fallen, and needs recovery; he is depraved, and needs renovation ; he is guilty, and needs par- don ; he is ignorant and foolish, and needs know- ledge and wisdom; he is weak, and needs strength; he is spiritually dead, and needs to be spiritually quickened again ; he is, as the child of England's exiles. 139 wrath, liable to eternal death, and needs restoration to everlasting life ; and it is from the Bible alone he learns that a provision has been made for him adequate to every want, and suited to every stage of his existence. It is from this sacred treasury, and from no other source, that he is supplied with all that is most requisite to fit him both for duty and enjoyment, for time and eternity. It is admitted that, under the influence of virtuous example, and of a common moral education, and in possession of what is usually designated " natural religion," a man may be what is generally styled a respectable^ and, in a limited measure, even a useful member of the community, while destitute of the characteristic principles of the genuine disciple of Christ, and a stranger to his experience and his spirit ; but until he become a follower of 'Jesus in the regeneration of his heart and of his life — ^in other words, until he become, in the Bible sense of the expression, a Christian, he cannot, in correct- ness of speech, be accounted either a truly good or a happy man : for how can a man be justly regarded as being either good or happy, so long as his prin- ciples of action are all unsound, and his life, accord- ing to the declarations of Scripture, a life of unbe- lief and of opposition to God ? In order to be in a position in which we can do anything pleasing to God, and acceptable in His sight ; or, to use the words employed in the con- versation which our blessed Lord had with the ^^ OF THB "^^ 140 England's exiles. Jews,* to work His worh^^ we must "believe on Him whom He hath sent." Without faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, it is impossible to please God. Separated from Christ, we can do nothing. It is when we are vitally united to Him by a living faith, that we become living branches of the true and living Vine ; and it is by abiding in Him and con- stantly receiving nourishment from Him that we are enabled to flourish and bring forth fruit to the glory of God the Father. It is not until we be- come the genuine disciples of Christ, created anew in Him by the power of the Holy Spirit, that our choice, principles, conduct, and prospects, become such as entitle us to be considered truly wise, and happy, and useful men. Even the most amiable and moral amongst us, are, in the sight of God, dead in trespasses and in sins, until, through the faith of the Gospel of peace, they become a new creation in Christ Jesus by the quickening influ- ences of the Spirit of truth and of holiness ; and the same Almighty power is necessary to the con- version to God of a convict And although we are assured that the publicans and the harlots are less prejudiced against the Gospel — less steeled against its humbling doctrines — less likely to resist and silence convictions of sin, than the religious for malist and church-going pharisee^ who think them- selves righteous and despise others, and are ever ready to say, " Stand by, I am holier than thou ;" * John, vi. 28, 29. England's exiles. 141 yet, nothing short of the Divine energy requisite to the conversion of the latter, can effect the renova- tion of the former. All need to experience the saving power of Him who said, " Let there be light," and there was light. But farther; not only is it true, that both the moral and the vicious must become the subjects of that saving change, which the word and Spirit of God effect, in order to their being able to do any- thing upon right principles^ and well-pleasing in the sight of the Lord; but it is, in my apprehension, equally true, that little good is to be expected from a large proportion of what is commonly called *^ the crime class of our population," until brought under the illuminating and sanctifying power of the sacred Scriptures, and the gracious influences of their Divine Author, the Holy Spirit ; that there are many convicts who will persevere in a course of ini- quity ; continue the bane of social order, and totally unworthy of the confidence of society, until they are brought back to God and to godliness, by the faith of the Gospel of Christ. Even keeping their eternal salvation out ofview^ so accustomed are some of them to vice ; so hardened in their career of ini- quity ; so utterly devoid of all sense of propriety and decorum ; so insensible to the excellencies and attractions of virtue ; so sunk in their own estima- tion, and (in their apprehension) in the estimation of mankind ; that^ if we desire to see these unhappy men so far improved as to merit that degree of trust which they must command ere they can he safely per- 142 England's exiles. mitted to mingle in general society^ we shall aim at NOTHING SHORT OF THEIR CONVERSION TO GoD. It is my sober conviction, that nothing less than a sav- ing change of heart will warrant our confidence in the more hardened and depraved of those who suffer transportation, or will furnish a sufiicient guarantee, that they will ever prove themselves safe and useful members of the community. The same observations will, I believe, equally apply to thou- sands of our population, who escape the punish- ments both of imprisonment and transportation. Supreme love to God is not only the principle upon which alone we can perform even a single work acceptable in His sight, but is also the effi- cient principle which secures active and unwearied obedience to the whole of His revealed will. Su- preme love to God admits of no substitute. Where this Divine principle is wanting, there can be found nothing capable of insuring the required obedi- ence ; nothing able to impart an approved charac- ter to any one act of life, however specious and fair all to mortal eye may seem. But let this holy and heavenly principle of which we speak — a prin- ciple that is generated in the breast of every man, to whom it has, through grace, been given to per- ceive God's everlasting love to his soul — be once implanted in the heart of man, and, from that mo- ment, he is under the influence of a mighty and transforming power; a power, the tendency of which is, to diff*use itself throughout his whole na- ture, and reduce to its own holy and benevolent England's exiles. 143 character, all that its possessor is, and feels, and thinks, and does. The man who supremely loves God, must, of moral necessity, Jiabitually aim at doing those things which he believes to be in accordance with His revealed will, and well-pleasing in His sight. His possession of such a principle will be made manifest by his conscientious endeavour to cultivate every moral virtue. He will cherish sound views of all the interesting relations of life ; and will con- stantly study to discharge, as he ought, all the im- plied duties. Influenced by love to God, who first loved him — His sinful creature — and so loved him as to give His beloved Son to die, that he might not perish, but live; he cannot fail to be powerfully and happily constrained to aim, in heart and conduct, at universal conformity to His moral likeness. Entertaining these sentiments — sentiments with which all true Christians are familiar, and, as I ap- prehend, cannot fail to sanction — it was incumbent upon me, in conducting the instruction and disci- pline of the prisoners, to use every possible means which, under the Divine blessing, was calculated to acquaint them with the sacred Scriptures, and bring their minds and their hearts into contact with their momentous and impressive truths. I despaired of seeing any solid and lasting improvement produced amongst them by any other means than those to which I have just referred. Change of heart was the only ground on which I expected satisfactory change of conduct. But the renewal of the heart is 144 England's exiles. effected by the Holy Spirit, through the instru- mentality of the inspired word. The grand object, then, which I was bound to keep steadily in view, and humbly to beseech God to accomplish, was the communication to the minds of the people, of the knowledge of the oracles of Divine truth. And it was equally binding upon me earnestly to seek, in the appointed way, those blessed, enlightening, and sanctifying influences of the Spirit of all grace, without which all means employed to recover man unto his Maker must prove abortive ; and, unac- companied by a confiding reliance upon such Divine influences, every human eff^ort to attain such an end, must be regarded as being not only vain, but in the highest degree dishonouring to God. He alone, who created the soul at the first, can create it anew in Christ Jesus unto good works. The same Almighty Power which called into ex- istence an archangel, is requisite to turn the apos- tate heart of man back again to God, and to re- stamp upon it the Divine image. Salvation is wholly of the Lord. He only can provide the righteousness in which the sinner can be justified and accepted ; and He alone can subdue the enmity and the pride of the sinner's heart, and dispose and enable him to put the provided robe of righteous- ness on, unto justification of life. In dealing with convicts, it is necessary that our minds be con- stantly under the influence of these and similar views. We cannot too completely set aside self as nothing — less than nothing — than sinful dust and England's exiles. 145 ashes ; we cannot too deeply feel that it is utterly impossible for us to impart to the mind of a fellow- sinner a single truly spiritual idea, either respecting himself or the Divine Saviour : and let it, at the same time, be observed, that we cannot put too much confidence in God, that He will give eflScacy to His own word ; nor can we too earnestly plead with Him, in humble and scriptural prayer, in be- half of those whose souls He requires us, in His strength, to seek to bring to Him who, by His blood, redeemed them to Himself. Proceeding in this manner, we are warranted to expect that the God of all mercy and grace will, through our hum- ble and unaffected instrumentality, speak to the heart of the convict, and accomplish in him that moral renovation of his nature and principles, which is necessary to his acceptable obedience, and will entitle him to the future confidence of his fellow- men, on whom he had, in the days of his darkness and rebellion, inflicted the wrongs which necessa- rily result from a life not only at variance with the spirit and the precepts of the Gospel of Christ, but opposed to the spirit and letter of the law of the land. " Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory, for Thy mercy and for Thy truth's sake " (Psalm cxv.). CHAPTER VIII. EXAMINATION OF THE SCHOOLS — AWARDING OF PRIZES. The names of all the pupils were, in their school- order, beginning with school No. I, entered into a small book, provided with four columns perpendicular to the lines on which the names were written ; the schools being divided by a small space from each other, and having written over them the names of their respective teachers. These columns anti- cipated four special examinations of the schools during the voyage, about the period of a month being allowed to interpose between each. The first three were conducted by myself, in the pre- sence of the general inspector of schools and of the respective schoolmasters. In the first column was stated the date of the first examination, and notes of the progress made by the pupils were en- tered opposite to their respective names. In Uke manner were the two following columns filled up. The advantages resulting from these examinations are very obvious : they aflbrded so many points, or stages, to which the minds of the pupils were par- ENGLAND*S EXILES. 147 cicularly directed, their arrival at which should be marked with a special and faithful report of the diligence and success with which they might be found to have applied their minds to the great bu- siness of their education ; and opportunity was fur- nished of giving to each his due meed of praise or reproof, and of exhorting and encouraging all to put the shoulder to the wheel with manly purpose of effort ; and to encourage and assist each other, with all benevolent and courteous readiness of mind. And occasion was likewise taken to give such hints, both to teacher and pupil, as seemed to be called for, and might appear calculated to fur- ther the grand object we had in view. Sometimes it was thought fit that a pupil should be translated to some other school ; and occasionally a " private teacher'' was appointed to such as appeared of ob- tuse intellect, to assist the efforts of the school- masters, especially during leisure hours, when the schools were not assembled. These stated and special examinations of the schools did not of course supersede my daily visits already noticed. At my second examination, I was under the necessity of dismissing three of the schoolmasters from their charge : two for incapacity, and perhaps wilful indolence; and one for culpable neglect of duty. With the conduct of this last teacher, I had reason to be much displeased, when in reply to my inquiries into the causes of his having so shamefully neglected his pupils, he intimated to me, that he belonged " to a communion which did not approve 148 England's exiles. of the people reading the Scriptures." Such a reason for his conduct as this, could not fail to grieve any man possessed of the smallest measure of soundness of mind and true benevolence ; and it afforded no palliation whatever of his treatment of the unfortunate men committed to his care ; for all the schoolmasters, without a single exception, were chosen from a body of volunteers ; and this man, having volunteered to take upon him the care of a school, and having heard my charge to teachers and pupils, and the specification of the duties which they were respectively required to perform, could not possibly take honourable refuge under the pro- hibition which he, for the first time to me, alleged, had been imposed upon his conscience. If such a prohibition existed, it was known to him before he gratuitously oft'ered his services as a teacher; and had he, upon reflection, found that he had violated an injunction which he believed to be lawful, he could have tendered his resignation. But, instead ot pursuing this open, honest, and manly course, he continued to keep his pupils back in their educa- tion during a considerable portion of our voyage ; and neither voluntarily gave up his charge, nor confessed his reason for conniving at the perpetua- tion of that ignorance, the tendency of which was, to secure the destruction of his fellow-prisoners — until I had dealt closely and solemnly with his heart, in reference to his character and conduct, and had denounced him as being totally unworthy of the trust I had, unfortunately, reposed in him. ENGLAND S EXILES. 149 Justice requires that it should be here stated, that all on board professedly of this man's communion, appeared highly to disapprove of his conduct. At my third examination, I was compelled to collect together all those who appeared to have lagged most sadly behind, and about whose ultimate success I had great reason to be alarmed, and com- mit them to the care of one of my ablest and most successful teachers ; a man from the north of the Tweed, whose tact and zeal in teaching were quite extraordinary, and only equalled by the suc- cess which attended his efforts. I trust also that this man will give evidence in future life, that he fears God, that he had learned the value of his own soul, and was therefore deeply concerned about the interests of the souls of his fellow-prisoners, whom he so anxiously laboured to teach to read the word of life. More than half of my schoolmasters were men whose hearts were, I trust, brought under the influence of the Gospel of Christ, previously to their debarkation. When our voyage appeared to be, in all proba- bility, within a fortnight of its termination, our fourth and last examination of the schools took place. This was conducted before " a Board of examiners," consisting of the two officers of the guard, the master of the ship, and one of the mates ; all of whom, at my request, politely consented to unite with me for the purpose of hearing the pri- soners read, of determining their respective merits, and of awarding the prizes which I had provided 150 England's exiles. for distribution among them. We assembled at the cuddy table, on which were placed lists of the schools; and each examiner was provided with paper and a pencil for taking notes, and recording his opinion. The general inspector was also pre- sent to witness the examination, and to answer any questions which might be put to him, but was not, of course, a member of the Board. The schools, attended by their respective teachers, were, com- mencing with the junior school, called into the cuddy in succession ; and, after being most carefully examined, and all doubts as to relative merit re- moved from our minds, all, save the inspector, were requested to withdraw, when the Board compared notes and settled the question of merit, which, of course, determined the character of the prize to be afterwards bestowed. Although every pri- soner was found to deserve a reward, none of the prizes were designated by numbers lower than the fourth. This, our grand examination, had been looked forward to by the prisoners and myself with great anxiety ; and its anticipation had evidently exerted considerable influence upon the minds of teachers and pupils. It was conducted with great propriety, and with a due admixture of animation and serious- ness, on the part of the Board. A considerable number of the pupils acquitted themselves with modest and becoming self-possession ; and several, especially of those somewhat advanced in years, betrayed some degree of anxious trepidation. The England's exiles. 151 examination altogether was exceedingly interesting, and its character was, no doubt, very agreeably modified by the deep interest which all the exami- ners took in the whole business, as well as in the result. Several days were occupied with this ex- amination ; and several more in writing the names of the prisoners in their respective prizes, together with an appropriate statement of the grounds on which they were awarded. In this work, too, the oflGicers of the guard kindly aflforded me their ready assistance. As each prisoner had one prize, and nearly the whole of them had two ; and as a large proportion, almost the whole, had written on the back of the title-page, besides the name of the party, some ex- pression of my approbation of their good conduct on board, and persevering and successful diligence at school ; it will not be matter of surprise that so much time was required for preparing the prizes for distribution. About twenty-three^ including six foreigners, greatly disappointed the hopes of the Board, and were sent back to their labours, with a promise of another trial before the debarkation should take place ; and it is amazing the progress they made, chiefly through the exertions of the inspector, and of the successful teacher formerly referred to, dur- ing the short period that remained : for although it was necessary that they should yet be reported as reading " imperfectly," they were all found to have advanced so far as to be thought able, with, per- 152 England's exiles. haps, the exception of some of the foreigners, to complete, by their own unaided perseverance, the work they had begun. The distribution of the prizes, which were chiefly copies of the sacred Scriptures, furnished quite a " gala day " to all on board. It took place at the capstan, on the quarter-deck — the guard, women, and children, witnessing our proceedings from the poop; and, I believe, the ship's company also were in attendance. Never, I apprehend, was there, on any similar occasion, a happier display of cheerful countenances; never, under my observation, did persevering toil and well-sustained zeal produce fruits which appeared to be reaped with greater satisfaction and joy. The scene would have defied the pencil of Wilkie, or, at least, afforded abun- dant scope for the exercise of his genius. The oflScers of the guard, the master of the ship, and myself, called the lists and distributed the rewards. About 320 human faces were concen- trated within the space of a very few square feet, each lighted up with an expression of felt interest in the business of the day, modified, no doubt, by cherished expectation, or disappointment, or self-reproach. Not only were the successful pupils highly delighted with this consummation of their labours, and provision for future advancement in the highest and most important branch of know- ledge, but every spectator seemed to be under the influence of a sympathy which he was neither able nor disposed to conceal. And the more reflecting England's exiles. 153 and comprehensive mind will contemplate the scene to which we have been referring, with sentiments and feelings of no ordinary character. The Chris- tian philosopher will view the sight retrospectively and prospectively. He will think on more than the mere fact of 238 human beings* receiving each a copy of the Scriptures, which are able to make them wise unto salvation, through faith that is in Christ Jesus: he will not limit his attention to the circumstances in which we were then placed, on board a transport, speeding her way over the surface of the great Southern Ocean to one of the most distant corners of the British Empire : he will not merely look at the boundless expanse of waters by which we are surrounded, and lift up his eyes to the canopy of heaven spread over us; he will call to mind something of the history of these 238 pri- soners ; the localities whence they had been taken ; the scenes in which many of them had mingled; the neglect with which they had been suffered to grow up ; the deplorable ignorance which characterized them at the period of their em- barkation ; the exercises in which they had since been employed; the advancement they had made in intellectual and moral improvement ; and • Two of our original number were not permitted to be present on this stirring occasion — the messenger of death had been sent to remove them to the world of spirits, to receive according to the character in which death found them, and in accordance with the declarations of that volume which we were engaged in distributing. h2 154 England's exiles. especially will he consider the gracious conduct of Divine Providence towards them. He will likewise view them in relation to the future; he will recollect the tendency of their bibUcal instruction ; the fruits which must, of moral necessity, result from its use and its ahuse^ not only as it respects the prisoners themselves, but also all those to whom their influence shall extend. With all these considerations borne in mind, the intelligent Christian will be able to con- template the scene before him with feelings and emotions in harmony both with its character and with his own. He will view it, we say, not only in relation to the past and the present, but to the future ; he will look at it in connexion with the eternal des- tiny of immortal souls, whose numbers are only known to Him who sees the end from the beginning, and who hath connected the faith and obedience of the Gospel with everlasting life, and the rejection of the Gospel with eternal death. It has, I think, been observed, that the Govern- ment supply of books is not adequate to meet the demand created during the voyage.* The regular * I particularly wish it may be distinctly understood, that I in- dulge in no animadversions on the Government allowance of books; I merely state the fact, that I never found it " adequate to meet the demand created during the voyage." Were the prisoners to con- tinue as ignorant and uneducated as they are at the period of em- barkation, the supply referred to might prove quite sufficient, and more than sufficient; but when the surgeon-superintendent fully discharges what I conceive to be his duty to the prisoners, it is indispensably necessary that he provide himself with additional religious books. England's exiles. 155 allowance of religious books, as exhibited in my printed instructions, is in the following proportion for one hundred convicts — viz. Bibles, 7 ; Testaments, 13 ; Common Prayer-books, 26 ; Psal- ters, 26 ; Manuals of Devotion, 7.* And it is directed that the Bibles and religious books supplied for the use of the convicts, are to be distributed among them in the following proportion — viz. New Testament, 1 ; Common Prayer-books, 2 ; Psalters, 2 ; for each mess of eight persons. Bible, 1 ; Manual of Devotion, 1 ; for each sixteen persons. There are also allowed in proportion for each hun- dred convicts : — Slates, 15 ; Slate Pencils, 50 ; Primers, 15. • Such is the provision made for the education of the prisoners during the voyage; and the interest which the Government takes in their intellectual and religious improvement, will farther appear, if the following paragraphs, which I extract from the volume of the surgeon-superintendent's instructions, be duly considered : — "30. As it is highly desirable to keep the minds * The supply of Religious Books allowed by the Admiralty has been increased, and it is now, for every hundred convicts, as fol- lows : — Bibles, 20 ; Testaments, 30 ; Common Prayer-books, 26 ; Psalters, 26. Or, Two Common Prayer-books, Two Psalters, for each mess of eight persons ; and Five New Testaments, Three Bibles, for each sixteen persons. 156 England's exiles. of the convicts as constantly and usefully employed as possible, he (the surgeon-superintendent) is to use his best endeavours to establish schools under such regulations as circumstances will permit, espe- cially for the boys in male convict ships (who, ac- cording to the present mode of fitting, are to be kept entirely separate and apart from the men) ; and should any of the convicts appear to be of par- ticularly bad and vicious dispositions, they should be separated from the others in the best way in his power, and every means taken to effect their reform. He is to insert in his journal a list of the convicts who can read, of those who can read and write,-^ and of those who can do neither ; and also a state- ment of the progress in learning made by the boys and others during the voyage. "31. The surgeon-superintendent is to read the Church service to the convicts every Sunday, in two divisions, if advisable for the sake of security ; and also a sermon, or some well-selected parts from the religious tracts which are supplied to him. Should there be on board a clergyman of the Church of England, he is to allow him to perform this duty, if he be willing to undertake it. " He is to use every possible means to promote a religious and moral disposition in the convicts; and, on his arrival in the colony, he is to deliver the books to the Governor, with a list of the names of those convicts who, from their general good con- duct, may be considered deserving of having them as presents.*' England's exiles. 157 The provision made, and the instructions given, as above exhibited, evince the benevolent and laud- able concern of the Government for the religious instruction and moral improvement of the convicts, during the passage to the colonies. And if the mind of the medical officer be duly affected with the nature of his charge ; and should he be deeply and devoutly anxious to turn the time occupied by the voyage to the best possible account, as it regards the instruction and reformation of the pri- soners intrusted to his care, there is nothing in his instructions to prevent him from making such judicious and suitable additions to the books vt^ith which he is furnished, as the means within his reach may enable him to make. Past experience had taught me to anticipate the wants of my people, and provide for their supply. What- ever I might find their attainments to be at my first investigation, I cherished the expectation that they would all be able, with more or less ac- curacy, to peruse the Scriptures before the period of their debarkation in the colony should arrive. I therefore, before the embarkation of the guard at Deptford, prepared myself to be able to send every man and boy on shore in possession of a copy of the Holy Scriptures, either a Bible or a Testament; and since I had always found the "London Primers," that are usually supplied, unsuitable for the purpose for which they are intended, and causing a painful loss of time, I took care to lay in a sufficient stock of school-books, in my judgment 158 England's exiles. of a more fitting description, and much more likely to facilitate the progress of the pupil. The Govern- ment's New Testaments were so much worn, through being in daily and constant use during the voyage, that they were returned into store; the remainder of the religious books were, with His Excellency's approbation, distributed as rewards amongst the prisoners ; and, with my private pro- vision, enabled me, as already observed, to disem- bark every prisoner possessed of a Bible or Testa- ment — save a very few, whose reading was so imperfect, that a Psalter in addition to their spell- ing-books, tracts, &c., was thought sufficient for them, in the meantime, to possess. Several had Bibles or Testaments of their own which they had brought on board with them ; or had been sent to them by their friends, previously to our sailing from England. It ought to be stated here, that there was one man — viz. the discarded schoolmaster, who refused to accept of a Bible from me ; and there was an- other, whose conduct on board had been in the first instance pretty good, and during the latter part of the voyage very satisfactory, who declined receiving our translation of the Scriptures ; stating that he would prefer the translation approved of by the Church to which he belonged. When I last saw this man in Hobart Town, he acknowledged to me he had not been able to procure the Bible he wished, and confessed that he believed he had been deterred, through the influence of the ENGLAND S EXILES. 159 great enemy of souls, from accepting the copy I had offered him on board the transport. The following is a view of the provision made, by Christian philanthropy, for the instruction of the prisoners during the voyage, and for their use in the colony : — Received from Sir T. Blomefield, Bart, and Lieutenant Michael Turner, R. N. From the Rev. Mr. "Wagner, and the Misses Mahon, of Brighton. /240 spelling-books, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th class, published by the Sunday School Union ; and 240 Scripture readings Vby the same Society. 100 tracts, 50 vols, of sundry religious works and 100 Ho- milies. From Mrs. Wilkinson, ofClapham Com- C 30 pocket volumes of ion. t prayers & sermons. 9 vols, of old reli- gious books. 157 vols, of various works published by the Religious Tract Society. J 3 dozen spelling- ( books. i 88 vols, of sundry I religious works. f39 vols, religious -{ publications, and L 1000 tracts. f75 minion Bibles, Grant from the Committee of British and j ^qO brevier Testa- Foreign Bible Society. Lments and Psalms. 115 nonpareil Bi- bles, 50 common Prayer-books and a few Homilies. From Mr. Baynes, 28, Paternoster Row. | From Mr. Oldfield, Lombard Street. Purchased from Mr. Baynes. Purchased from the Tract Society. Grant from Religious Tract Society. Grant from the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. As two volumes of sacred music were also pro- 160 England's exiles. vided for the use of the prisoners, such of them as were disposed, occasionally assembled for the pur- pose of familiarizing themselves with a few simple and devotional tunes, suitable for Divine worship. The books "purchased," including the brown paper covers, were paid for by money contributed by Miss Wagner, of Brighton ; Miss Graham, and friends, Clapham Common; Mr. Tooke, Hatton Garden ; and Mr, Hull Terrell, Basinghall Street, London. The sum amounted to £8 10s. Thus we were provided with a suifficient variety of elementary school-books, with a valuable assort- ment of instructive and interesting works on re- ligious subjects, chiefly published by the Tract Society, and with Bibles and Testaments sufficient to enable me, with the Government allowance, to ac- complish my wishes, in providing every prisoner with a copy of the sacred Scriptures previously to his debarkation. Besides a Bible or a Testament, many of them, as above stated, possessed a Psalter, others a Prayer-book, and each a little religious work from the Tract Society, or some other Society or friend, or a volume of tracts sewed together un- der covers of brown paper : the tracts were sorted, covered, and stitched by my handy and zealous " lihrarian^^ George D s. It may not be uninteresting to see introduced here a tabular view of the acquirements of the prisoners at the respective periods of embarkation and debarkation as officially presented, in my jour- nal, to the Admiralty. England's exiles. ICl ^ ^ oa, «^ PQO pH3J ^[UQ fl o =0^ ^d8 £ pBaj iCtuQ a;TjAv p^aj iC[UQ aiiJM puB p^a^ p^aj if [UQ a)UAv puB p^a-y; > a> j3 1 'W na ^ ' o *n ^ p^aj X^UQ a;iJM puB pBa-jj a^UAV puB pna-y; pBaiiC[uo I" a;iJAv puB pBa-jj pBaj A{UQ puB pBa^if a;_UM J 00 joii pBaj jaq^ia^ ( t2 «3 "TJ B^ i^ o pBaj X[UQ a;uA^ puB pBa^j pBai X|uo a:^iJM piiB pBa-^j So ' pBai iCjuo a^iiAv puB pBa-^ pBai iC|uo a;uM puB pBa^j c o ^^ B^ PQ IQ pBai iC[UO a;|iAi piiB pBa-^ I pBai X[uo o p^ <1 -^o a:jUM puB pBa'a[ O cS a^UM jou pBaj laq^TaN^ pBaj ^[UQ a;uM puB pBa'a; ^ u 162 ENGLAND S EXILES. WHAT COUNTRYMEN, AND WHERE EDUCATED. English Wei h ..... . Scotch Irish Foreigners . . No. 175 5 29 21 8 Educated It Sunday schools. At other schools Elphin- stone Uneducated.* 3 57 3 10 9 115 2 19 12 8 None. * Of the 156 set down as educated on board the Elphinstone, twenty-three, of whom six are foreigners, still read imperfectly; arxd several of them have so defied the efforts that have been made to instruct them, that they may be regarded as almost ** hopeless." It may here be stated that, on my arrival at Hobart Town, in the Elphinstone^ in the year 1836, it was intimated to me by a gentleman who came on board, that after the prisoners of the Arab had been in the colony for a period of several months, a Board had been appointed by His Excellency, the Lieutenant Governor, to inquire into their behaviour, as far as it could be as- certained by a reference to the records of the police and justices of the peace ; and to compare it with the conduct of prisoners by several other ships, during the corresponding period of residence in the colony : and in the report of the Board it is stated, that the prisoners by the Arab " have been invariably clean, sober, and regular ; whilst, at the same time, none of them have yet been brought before magistrates for punishment ; a fact which has never before occurred within the knowledge of the Chief Police Magis- trate, or Principal Superintendent." For a farther account of the prisoners transported in the Arab, the reader is referred to His Excellency, Sir George Arthur's letter addressed, in the year 1835, to His Grace, the Archbishop England's exiles. 163 I may also add, with propriety, corresponding views of the state of education on board the ships Surry, Arab, and Margaret. OF Dublin. From the publication referred to, the following ex- tract may, with the utmost propriety, be here given ; because it exhibits the testimony of the distinguished and pious author in favour of the working of the system set forth in these pages : — " For my own part, I do not see why, in aw?/ instance, the voyage may not be made an opportunity of eradicating evil passions — of supplying the mind with useful information — and of impressing it with a deep sense of religion, and of the dreadful consequences of crime. Nor do I augur thus favourably, from a vague conception of what might be done, but from a knowledge of what has actually been done !" " The convict ship, Arah^ arrived about four months since. The transports brought out in her were, when put on board, I have every reason to believe, as ignorant, as profane, and, in every respect, as reckless as transported criminals usually are." *' But when they were disembarked, the character of a great many, it was evident, had undergone a most remarkable change ; their tempers had been subdued — they had been induced to think and to reflect — and they had been instructed, so as to know them familiarly, in the principles of religion." " This they evinced, very satisfactorily in my presence, in the course of a general examination, that took place after they had been landed ; and their continued good conduct since that period, has proved the abiding influence of the mode of instruction pur- sued by Dr. Browning, the surgeon- superintendent, under whose charge they had been placed." — Pages 71 — 73. 164 ENGLAND S EXILES. Total number of Convicts debarked to Total number of Convicts embarked Read and write ? "> Read and write 00 CO Only read 00 Only read - Neither read nor write GO Neither read nor write Read and write 2 S a- n C J It 1 Read and write 11 3 O' n> »^ l-i ^? M- &- &- 1 Pw - Only read Only read Read and write o :s - Read and write • 3 to Only read Only read CO Read and write CO Read and write Ci Only read Only read ^ Read and write cott CO Read and write o Only read Only read CO Read and write • CO? 03 -1 Read and write Only read Cn Only read ^ Read and write 3 CO Total number of Convicts embarked i Read and write 03 Read and write a- ^ to 00 Only read Only read - Neither read nor write Neither read nor write Read and write 5 a- C5 s^ §.§ ^? 1 1 Read and write gs % ^ s.|. p i Only read Only read Read and write o s Read and write § - Only read Only read Ci Read and write OS ^ 1 Read and 1 write 3 Oi Only read Only read ^ Read and write ^ Read and write til Only read Only read OS Read and write •^ Read and write t^ ft) o Only read Only read CO Read and write §g5 • 3 r •-« ^. p' o rs o P H pi' o o o p^ 1 - Only read Only read o Read and write Read and write. 2 ft o s »- Only read — Only read Read and "^ write VJ O CD O !3 Read and write ■ si 2 Only read Only read Read and ^ write Read and write to Only read - Only read o» Read and write to Read and write CO c op en Only read Oi Only read Oi Read ana write c5 tc o 4^ Read and write 1l to Only read Oi Only read ENGLAND S EXILES* 169 WHAT COUNTRYWOMEN, AND WHERE EDUCATED. English .... Welsh Scotch Irish No. Educated at Sunday- schools. At other schools On board the Mar- garet. Remain- ing un- educa- ted*. 3 128 3 26 3 6 * Of the ninety-six set down to the Margaret, thirty-three still read very imperfectly. & CHAPTER IX. THE APPARENT EFFECTS PRODUCED BY BIBLICAL INSTRUCTION ON THE MINDS AND CHARACTER OF THE PRISONERS. My previous acquaintance with the general cha- racter of convicts had prepared me to find amongst those embarked in the Elphinstonej a number who had imbibed infidel sentiments ; and, as I well knew that the majority of them would be found not to have thought at all on the subject of the claims of the sacred writings upon their attention and belief, I determined to undertake the task of setting before the minds of the prisoners, at as early a period of the voyage as circumstances might permit, a popular and summary view of the evidences of the authenticity, genuineness, integrity, credibility, and inspiration of the Holy Scriptures. The subject was rendered as intelligible, interesting, and im- pressive as I possibly could, assisted by the few authors I had with me ; especially by the Rev .T. H. Home's work, on the critical study of the Scrip- tures; a small volume on their verbal inspiration, &c. by Robert Haldane, Esq., of Edinburgh ; and the writings of Keith. My plan was, to refresh my England's exiles. 171 memory by glancing, before the hour of lecture, at a few pages of one or more authors, on the part of the subject on which it was my intention to speak; to arrange in my mind the line of argument I should adopt ; determine the practical application, and trust to the moment for language, which behoved always to be as simple as possible ; and, occasionally, an extract from an author was read. The object which I had in view, was, to show the people how much can be said in support of the claims of the Bible ; to enable them to think justly of its character, and of the care with which its Divine Author hath, in His provi- dence, graciously watched over, and preserved it from mutilation and interpolation ; to impress their minds with a deep sense of the obligations they were under to the Father of mercies, for the inesti- mable boon He had put into their hands ; to lead them to perceive with what sentiments and feelings, and in what spirit, it becomes all men to approach the writings of inspiration ; to demonstrate to them the vast importance which the Divine Author of the sacred volume attaches to His word ; to fortify their minds against all the assaults of infidel companions and pernicious writings ; and to dis- cover to the most unlettered amongst my people, the firm and immovable rock on which the true believer builds his hope for time and eternity, and on which, in life and in death, he rests in humble and unshaken confidence. Nothing could exceed the attention with which the people listened to these popular prelections; and I have reason to believe 172 England's exiles. that, through the Divine blessing, my humble labours were not in vain. Our principal employment, however, was (as has already been observed), to study the contents of the Bible, with a view to the acquisition, through Divine teaching, of that knowledge which lays the sinner in the dust, and leads him to Jesus and to peace — to holiness and to heaven. A chapter, consisting of seven sections, and con- taining the substance of the instructions communi- cated to the prisoners during the voyage, on sundry cardinal points of Christianity, I had prepared, with the view of giving it a place in this volume. But, as it is thought that the chapter referred to would render this publication too bulky, I have been induced, in compliance with more matured judg- ments than my own, to suppress it.* To give a view of the instructions imparted to the people in the style and manner in which they were delivered, is quite impossible. Every incident was made to supply useful and practical instruction. Addresses on the most important points of Chris- tianity, and on occasional manifestations of princi- ple and character by one or other of the prisoners, were daily delivered; but the efficiency of these ♦ A brief outline of the course of instruction which was followed out on board the transport, appears in an "address," which was hastily written, and very imperfectly printed at Hobart Town, with copies of which, all the prisoners who had been conveyed to New South Wales and Van Dieman's Land under my care, were kindly furnished by the Colonial Governments. England's exiles. 173 addresses was, unquestionably, increased in no small degree, in virtue of the minds of the prison- ers having been perpetually brought into contact with the sacred Scriptures themselves, and fur- nished with instructions from our morning and evening lessons, the reading of which was always accompanied with prayer, and, generally, with ex- planatory observations, and practical applications to the heart and life. In the morning our engage- ments required that our remarks on the chapter read should be very brief; in the evening, they were more extended, and, sometimes — frequently indeed — instruction was conveyed through cate- chetical exercises on the portions of Scripture read. In entering on the study of the Scriptures, we began (as has been observed) with the beginning of the Old and New Testaments ; read consecutively the portions which appeared the most suitable, instructive, and striking; directing the intermediate chapters to be read at school and in private ; and we were especially careful to select the most im- pressive chapters for the first and second lessons at « church." As I have, in the "address" printed at Hobart Town, noticed the portions of Scripture to which the minds of the people were particularly directed, I shall only observe here, that the consideration of the prisoners' extreme ignorance ; of the shortness of the period allotted to their instruction on board the transport, necessarily limited to the time occu- pied by the voyage; and the desirableness of their 174 ENGLAND*S EXILES. going through such a course of biblical instruction as was most calculated to furnish them with a con- nected and comprehensive view of the Christian system as developed in the Scriptures, appeared to authorise the substitution of other chapters in the place of those appointed in the English liturgy as the lessons of the day for the period of a whole year. For these reasons we commenced with the first chapters of Genesis and Matthew^ and pursued the course we have just named. It may be here stated, that of the Old Testament we chiefly ex- amined the books of Moses ; the most remarkable passages of the history of the Jews, as contained in the remaining historical books ; the books of the Psalms and Proverbs ; portions of Job ; the most doctrinal chapters of Isaiah, and those which es- pecially refer prophetically to the Messiah and His kingdom ; a few chapters of Jeremiah, as the xvii. and xxxi. ; and the ix., xviii., xxxiii., xxxvi., and xxxvii. of Ezekiel ; a considerable part of Daniel ; and select portions of the minor prophets. Of the New Testament, we read the whole of the Gospels by St. Matthew and St. John, and portions of those by St. Luke and St. Mark ; the whole of the Acts ; several of the Epistles; and closely examined and applied those to the Romans and the Hebrews. In the schools and in private, the Scriptures were regularly read during the voyage. When the weather was favourable, the prisoners were invariably assembled for "church" on the quarter-deck, the guard and ship's company being England's exiles. 175 on the poop, as stated in the view of the routine of a week ; and on one occasion only did the state of the weather compel us to meet below in the main- ward. I may here observe, that public worship commenced with the singing of a psalm, and that the same exercise divided the " service " from the sermon. At two o'clock on the Sabbath afternoon — the guard, as before, being on the poop — the people were again arranged on the quarter-deck, for the recital of Scripture and for examination. The portion to be committed to memory for the purpose of recital was announced about a week before, and was taken either from the Old or New Testament. The selection was made with a view to a systematic arrangement of Divine truth, as far as this could be well done. The task was voluntary. All who undertook it were requested to repeat the verses to their respective schoolmasters by Saturday evening or Sabbath morning, and to give in their names to the inspector of schools, who entered them into a small book, which was forwarded to me before the hour of recitation. The number who prepared themselves weekly for this public exercise was, to the best of my recollection, never under fifty-two ; and was once as high as sixty- two. Of course, our time did not permit me to hear the whole of these volunteers recite the passage assigned them ; I was compelled to rely on the testimony of the teachers and inspector, who, I believe, never attempted to deceive me ; and to call upon as many to stand up 176 England's exiles. and rehearse as our time would permit, limiting our meeting, as nearly as possible, to one hour or an hour and a quarter ; and, as no one knew on whom I might call, none professed to have com- mitted the verses to memory who had not done so, and had repeated them to their respective teachers. And there were, probably, many who made them- selves masters of the appointed passages, but who had not courage to give in their names for public recital. The rehearsal being finished, the passage immediately became the subject of examination and exposition, and, as far as time allowed, the people were catechised on the chapters read at " church," as well as on other portions of Scripture — as, for example, those which exhibit the types; on the Lord's prayer; the sermon on the mount: likewise on their acquaintance with the sclieme of salvation, and on the cardinal doctrines and the duties of Christianity. The meeting began and closed with a short prayer. All our meetings for religious exercises, not only on the Lord's day, but during the week, were, with- out one single exception, marked by the most perfect order and decorum, and generally with apparently deep solemnity. It is not easy to imagine any spectacle more impressive than an assembly of 240 outcasts, consigned, by the violated laws of their country, to suffer all the horrors of transportation, closely seated on and around the quarter-deck of a transport, under sail to a remote corner of the earth — and the ship's company, England's exiles. 177 guard, officers, soldiers* wives and children, all in their Sabbath-day's costumes, arranged in their pro- per places on deck, and all seriously engaged in the solemn worship of the Most High; singing His praise, reading His word, presenting at the throne of grace their confessions, supplications, and thanks- givings for themselves, for each other, their friends and relatives, their Sovereign and their fellow-sub- jects, for the churches of Christ and their minis- ters, and for all mankind, in every possible rank and condition. Those who have obtained some scriptural acquaintance with their own hearts ; who know what it is to have the conscience burdened with guilt, and have some experience of godly sorrow for sin, and of the exercises of a soul draw- ing near to God by the atoning sacrifice and medi= ation of Jesus, when they call to mind the peculiar circumstances in which the whole of us, particu- larly the prisoners, are placed — recollect what and whom we are all leaving behind — few of us daring to expect, or to hope ever to tread our native shores again, or to behold in the flesh those who are the dearest to our hearts — may be able to form some conception of the feelings which are most likely to pervade every bosom in such an assembly, while engaged in the rehgious exercises of public worship. There was, I must confess, something in the appearance of the congregation which I am not able to describe, and the recollection of which is, at this moment, most touching to my feelings. The apparent diversity which obtained amongst the i2 178 England's exiles. prisoners — diversity of countenance, age, character; the soldiers under arms ; the ship's crew with their officers, the women and their children — all contri- buted to increase the interest, and to add to the solemnity of our engagements. No congregation could exhibit more decided marks of extreme attention to the exercises in which they were em- ployed. Almost every countenance evinced a mind engaged, and more or less impressed. This remark applies, in an especial degree, to the prison- ers; although I cannot say that I ever observed any inattention manifested by any one present. If, at any time, I should think I had reason to doubt the attention of a prisoner, an observant look directed to the quarter which he occupied, and perhaps, on a few occasions, accompanied with a short pause, could not fail, apparently, to secure the presence of the suspected absentee. But it was seldom I had occasion to apprehend inattention on the part of any of the people. A more deeply attentive audi- ence than a congregation of prisoners, I never witnessed, either at sea or on shore. It is difficult to say which of our meetings on the Lord's day, whether in the forenoon for "church," or that in the afternoon for recitation and examina- tion, was the more interesting. Each found its peculiar character. Perhaps that at two o'clock, excited the greatest interest, called forth more exercise of mind, and afforded more instruction to the people; at all events, to the least informed. All had an opportunity of ascertaining whether England's exiles. 179 they were able to answer the questions proposed, either to their own minds or to me, and of having their views either corrected or confirmed by the passages quoted from the Scriptures, either by their fellow-prisoners or myself; and the subject of ex- amination always afforded abundant matter for practical application and solemn appeals to the understanding and the conscience, with which, fol- lowed by a short prayer, our meeting closed. To those who were by sickness confined to their beds, the Holy Scriptures were occasionally read, either by myself, or by some proper person whom I selected from amongst the prisoners. And occa- sionally, when other duties admitted of it, I spent a short time with them in religious conversation and prayer. When I ascertained, either by my own observa- tion or otherwise, that a prisoner was under the influence of serious impressions, I privately sent for him to my cabin, or some other place of retirement, either on deck, or in the hospital ; and conversed with him on the subject of his state of mind, with a view of discovering as much of his past history and present sentiments and feelings as might be useful to us both, and of imparting to him such in- struction and counsel as might appear to me the most suitable, and I might be enabled to give. Such interviews as these, besides affording me an oppor- tunity of dealing closely with individual souls, were calculated to influence my choice of subject for general instruction, and to give a direction and J 80 England's exiles. character to my illustrations and application of Divine truth. We had not proceeded far on our voyage, when three of the prisoners were observed to be under deep and anxious concern for their spiritual in- terests. I embraced the earliest opportunity of conversing with them. Two of them, it appeared, had been, while on board the hulk, led to reflect seriously on their past lives, and to lay to heart the prospect which was before them, not only as it re- gards the present life, but especially that which is to come. They all appeared to me to have obtained that spiritual knowledge which no man can impart to his brother, and to be sincerely exercised in heart in reference to the salvation of their souls. They made no profession beyond what was in- volved in a serious and manly devotedness to duty, public and private ; in a love of retirement for the reading of the Scriptures, and engaging in other devotional exercises ; in the manifestation of a be- coming spirit and temper; in a regard for the souls of their fellow-prisoners manifested in private conversa- tions and kind remonstrances; in due attention to the social exercises of religion ; and in a becoming deportment in their manner and conduct. To these three, several more were soon added ; when it was proposed to meet twice every week in the main-ward, for the reading of the Scriptures, social prayer, and praise. It was thought prudent that I should, on these occasions, preside, and call upon such as I considered qualified in point of humility. England's exiles. 181 spirituality of mind, and knowledge, to engage in prayer. The first meeting was evidently conducted with great solemnity. Although it was left to the people to attend or not, as they might think proper, or feel inclined, I am not aware that a single in- dividual of our numbers absented himself, save one or two confined by indisposition to the hospital. There was something in the pouring forth of the heart of a prisoner in prayer, in the midst of his fellow-prisoners, that was deeply touching and im- pressive. The prayers had all the appearance of being the breathings of a broken heart and of a con- trite spirit, in humble confession, and earnest sup- plication in the hearing of Him who looks upon the inmost parts, and requires to be worshipped in spirit and in truth. The minds of the people were evi- dently solemnized by the prayers of their companions in crime and in suffering. They saw men like themselves drawing near to God, in the name and through the mediation of our great and merciful High Priest, who came into our world not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance; and, in the appropriate language of the Holy Scriptures, heard them confessing their iniquities, and the iniquities of those around them ; imploring promised forgive- ness through the sprinkling of the precious blood of Jesus, and earnestly seeking the uprooting of all the corruptions of their nature, and the conformity of their character to the Divine will, in the holy obedience of faith and love. I felt it incumbent upon me to embrace the 182 England's exiles. solemn opportunity these social meetings afforded, to address closely^ not only those who had professed to have taken up the cross to follow Christ as their Lord and Saviour, but likewise all present ; and to endeavour to make what I conceived to be a legiti- mate practical use of the happy decision apparently arrived at by the few, considered in connexion with the Divine command^ that all who hear the Gospel do believe it — confess Christ, and be added to His church according to the Scriptures. It will be seen that these meetings, which were held in the main- ward, possessed a character differ- ent from that of any to which we have yet referred ; and afforded opportunity for a mode of address, as well as supplied subjects for mutual improvement, dissimilar in some respects, from the advantages furnished on other occasions of assembling to- gether. Circumstances induced me to require the pre- sence of the boys on these occasions of coming to- gether for social prayer ; and although it was always left to the option of the men to attend or not, as they might feel disposed, I do not know that any of them at any time absented themselves. I judged from the appearance of the number present, and from the reports of the petty ojQScers and others. Being for some days confined to bed through severe indisposition, evolving an affection of the windpipe which prevented me from speaking, the piously disposed among the prisoners applied to me through one of themselves, who was in constant attendance England's exiles. 183 upon me, to know whether they might assemble for their social worship in my absence. Although the most perfect decorum and even devout seriousness had always hitherto prevailed on these occasions, I was doubtful as to the effect of my non-attendance ; and therefore, as there was no patient on the sick- list at that time whom the meeting could disturb, I permitted it to be held in the hospital ; but there were so many who appeared anxious to be present, beyond what the hospital could accommodate, that I resolved, in the event of my illness continuing, to permit the whole to assemble as usual in the main- ward. My illness did continue ; the whole of the people, including the boys, assembled as when I was among them, and their religious exercises were conducted with a degree of apparent feeling and solemnity, that seemed, from the reports communi- cated to me, even to surpass anything of the kind which had marked former social meetings. The numbers who appeared to receive the Gos- pel, and to yield obedience to its requirements, con- tinued to increase, and to express their desire to be admitted to the visible fellowship of those who seemed to have renounced the service of sin, and to have devoted themselves to God in the faith and obedience of His Son Jesus Christ. And before the termination of the voyage, I had the unspeak- able satisfaction of recognising twenty-three of my men as humble followers of the Lord, and who gave all the evidence of their discipleship, which the circumstances in which they were placed per- 184 England's exiles. mitted them to give. Besides these, there were thirty-Jive under serious impression, and exhibiting the most hopeful evidences of conversion to God; and there were hkewise tioo who had made an in- consistent profession on shore, or at least, had en- joyed high religious privileges, but had apparently resisted the truth; and who, for some time, pro- fessed on board to have been awakened to anxious concern about their spiritual safety, but whose temper and conduct were by no means satisfactory, either to my mind or to the minds of others : they therefore ceased to be acknowledged on board as sincere and honest converts to Christianity. In looking over the list of thirty-five, while I re- gard the whole as hopeful characters, I observe the names of several whom I cannot but consider as men whose hearts were savingly impressed by Divine truth ; and there might be more of the peo- ple whose minds had been enlightened by the Gos- pel, and who had never come particularly under my observation ; for the conduct of a great many of the people was orderly, moral, and to all appear- ance, if not absolutely in harmony with, at least not openly adverse to, the spirit of the New Testa- ment But whatever may be said of the sincerity or in- sincerity of any of the prisoners in their profession of faith in, and obedience to, Christ, they must STAND BY THE DECISION OF THEIR LIVES, AND OF THE GREAT DAY. If any of them are the children of God in the England's exiles. 185 regeneration of their hearts by the power of His truth, they will demonstrate their sonship by a manifestation of the Spirit of. their Lord, and by the holy obedience of a life of faith. If any of them have made a profession of Christianity while they are yet in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity, their hypocrisy will, in due time, be made manifest. If any persevere in their fidelity to Christ unto the end of their mortal life, they shall be saved with an everlasting salvation. If any continue to resist, and finally, even in death, reject the only Saviour, they seal their own eternal de- struction. Man may, and does, sinfully and guiltily resist and reject the Gospel ; but the reception of Christ is God's gift. The work of conversion is wholly and entirely His peculiar work ; Paul may plant, Apollos may water, but it is God who giveth the increase. " By grace are ye saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not of works, least any man should boast.'* He only who, at the first, caused the light to shine out of darkness, can shine into the sinner's heart, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God as it shines in the Person and the Work of Jesus Christ. If one of the prisoners was, while on board the transport, plucked as a brand from the burning, and translated from the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom of God's dear Son, the deliver- ance was effected by the power of the Holy Spirit. The whole work was His : and we may be confident of this very thing that, wheresoever He begins a 186 England's exiles, good work. He will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. He will keep His saints' feet ; and preserve them in the path of holy obedience, unto the end. If there is any one exercise which, more than another, is calculated to lay us low in the dust of self-abasement, and makes us deeply to feel our utter weakness and insignificancy, it is that of deal- ing with the souls of our fellow-sinners, with a view to their reception of Christ unto salvation. Oh, how presumptuous it is in any man, to imagine for a moment, that he, by any power of his own, can turn a sinner from the error of his ways and bring him back to God ! We cannot, to our dearest and most beloved friend or relative, impart one spiritual perception. The saving illumination of the mind is altogether the work of the Almighty and Eternal Spirit Whatever of conversion work was effected among the prisoners on board the Elphinstone, is most entirely to be referred to the Spirit of God. The Power that created the world (as we formerly observed) can alone create a sinful soul anew in Christ Jesus unto good works. To Him then be- long all the glory and all the praise of all illumi- nating, sanctifying, and saving operation among the prisoners during our interesting voyage. The work of the conversion of a sinner is as wholly the work of the Holy Spirit, as is the work of the creation of a seraph. And a deep and an abiding conviction of this truth cannot be too earnestly sought, nor too highly prized. God will be sanctified in all them that come nigh Him ; and before all the peo- England's exiles. 187 pie He will be glorified. His praise He will not give to another ; neither His glory to graven im- ages. To be made instrumentally useful to souls, we must, in our own esteem, become nothing and less than nothing and vanity ; and God must be all and in all. We must consent to become as the rough unpolished horn of the priests before the walls of Jericho, and, as it were, to be merely spoken through to our fellow-sinners, by the Spirit of truth and of all grace. The voyage afforded me many lessons on the subjects of my own utter nothingness — of the work of conversion being the undivided work of the Holy Spirit — and of the necessity of cherishing an abiding and influential recollection of these things, in order to our being employed to speak that truth which the God of truth will carry home with power to the understanding and heart of a sinner, unto his present and everlasting salvation. Should any one be disposed to animadvert on the conversions which appeared to have taken place on board the Elphinstone^ let it be remembered that such as were real were effected by the Almighty power of the Holy Spirit, and that He will make their reality to appear, both in this world and in that which is to come ; and that such as were not real mark a fearful resistance to Diyine truth; that they read to us all an impressive lesson, and loudly proclaim in our ears the words of holy writ, " Consider your ways." " Let a man examine him-' self'' " Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed, lest he fall." " For every one of us must give 188 England's exiles. an account of himself unto God." " If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature;" and, " If any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His." But even those who gave no decided evidence that they had received the truth in the love of it, by manifesting, in holy living, a saving change of heart, received, nevertheless, no inconsiderable benefit from the system of instruction and disci- pline followed out during the voyage. All were, more or less, instructed in the knowledge of the true God — His word, His works, and His providence ; all had felt the influence of an intellectual and moral system of government and discipline ; nearly all had been taught to read with ease the Holy Scriptures; all had, day by day, for a period of more than four months, heard the Gospel of the grace of God, and seen, in many happy instances, its blessed effects; all had learned truth which they can never forget, and which, if they should, at any time, receive it in love, is able to save their souls. In a word, the whole body of the people were placed in a position in which they had never been placed before. Their increase of knowledge was necessarily accompanied with an increase of responsibility. They had all received instruction which was calculated to fit them for answering the grand end of their existence ; to qualify them for the discharge of the highest duties ; and to prepare them to participate in the purest and most enno- bling enjoyments: instruction, moreover, which they cannot neglect without fearfully increasing their England's exiles. 189 guilt and their sorrow ; nor follow out in the obe- dience of faith, without securing the happiness which consists in conformity to the character and revealed will of God, and in the enjoyment of His approbation and love. No one who has been taught duly to appreciate Divine truth, will deny that, by the impartation to the prisoners, during the voyage, of biblical know- ledge, much positive good was accomplished. Not only (as has been intimated) were a considerable number of them deeply impressed and apparently reformed, but the great body of them gave unequi- vocal evidence of improvement, both intellectual and moral. Their behaviour towards each other and towards all on board, was in a high degree satisfactory. They became thoughtful, learned to command their temper; and, generally speaking, conducted themselves in a manner that would have done credit to any portion of the labouring com- munity of England. With scarcely an exception, their conversation was remarkably correct and manly ; and only on one or two occasions, during the whole of the period they were on board, did I hear an improper expression proceed from their lips: and I hesitate not to say, that I should re- joice to observe every little community of men, whether at sea or on shore, characterized by a cor- responding manliness of decorum. But while we duly estimate that outward decorum, which im- plies not necessarily the existence of vital Chris- tianity, it must be admitted that it holds but a 190 England's exiles. secondary place to true and genuine piety, its sure and certain source, and from which it never can be separated ; for the man who loves God, has been taught to admire and to cultivate whatsoever things are true, and venerable, and just, and pure, and lovely (Phil. iv. 8). CHAPTER X. ARRIVAL AT HOBART TOWN MAGISTRATE'S EXAMINATION OF PRISONERS FINAL ADDRESS ON THE EVENING PRECEDING THE DEBARKATION. On the 24th of May, when well advanced up the river Derwent, we were boarded by the port officer, to whom I delivered the despatches and letters on His Majesty's service ; and on the following morn- ing were safely moored in Hobart Town harbour. After the usual communications and arrange- ments, and after the inspection of the prisoners and wards by the proper authorities ; the magistrate, accompanied by his attendants, came on board for the purpose of examining, one by one, the prison- ers ; putting such questions to them as he might think fit, recording their answers, and noting every circumstance in their individual appearance by which their personal identity might, at any future period, be determined. The examination of the prisoners at Hobart Town is, in some important points, very different from that which obtains at 192 England's exiles. Sydney.* At the latter place, besides noting per- sonal peculiarities, and making some inquiries con- cerning the prisoner's relations, the principal object appears to be, to ascertain with precision all his qualifications with a view to his disposal in the colony ; and a portion of a day sufficed to despatch the examination of more than 200 men : at the former, 230 or 240 men will occupy the space of about four days ; and the object seems to be, not merely to discover all at which the inquiry aims as conducted in Port Jackson, but to learn from the prisoner's own lips as much as possible of his his- tory, particularly that part of it which embraces those improprieties and misdeeds of his life, which may have led to conviction and imprisonment, or some other };unishment. On the nature and tend- encies of the examination here referred to, I refrain from offering any observations in this place. The fatigues of the voyage had so materially in- jured my health that, by the time we reached the colony, I was almost unfit for every duty. Between the day of our arrival and that of the debarkation, many things remained to be done. The scholars last examined by the Board had to receive their prizes; and there were many religious books and tracts to be yet disposed of amongst the prisoners. All, however, was accomplished before the close of our last day on board. I was enabled also to com- * In the year 1840, the character of the examination at Sydney- appeared to have approximated very nearly to that which took place at Hohart Town at the time here referred to. England's exiles. 193 plete a solemn conversation upon which I had entered, some time previously to our arrival in har- bour, with each individual prisoner^ the grand ob- ject of which was, to ascertain from every man's own lips the views he entertained, before God, of himself as a sinner, and the knowledge he had received of Jesus Christ as the only Saviour of a lost world. Every one with apparent seriousness and candour acknowledged himself to be a guilty and ruined transgressor; and professed to believe that there is no salvation for any man but that which the Lord Jesus hath wrought out, and which is freely published in the Gospel of His grace. During, perhaps, the first half of the voyage, I was not aware that there was a single individual amongst the prisoners who belonged to a Church unfavourable to the study of the sacred Scriptures ; when it was farther advanced I found there were three or four ; and at its close, I ascertained, upon inquiry, that there were twenty- semn who were professedly attached to such a Church. I had endeavoured as much as possible to avoid, during my course of instruction, everything which, in the smallest degree, tended to bring out peculiarities of religious sentiment. My duty was, to be faith- ful to all, and to endeavour, in Divine strength, to persuade all to submit themselves unto God, and to obey His command to search the Scriptures, which are able to make wise unto salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. With scarcely more than the one exception formerly specified, the be- K 194 England's exiles. haviour of the whole of these twenty-seven prison- ers to whom I have just alluded, was, speaking generally, very orderly and satisfactory. The dili- gence and zeal with which they applied to the busi- ness of their education, and their readiness to peruse the Holy Scriptures, were not behind the rest of the people, if we except those among the latter who appeared to have obtained a spiritual discernment of the truth, whose zeal in the devout study of the inspired volume was characteristic of Divine illumination and spiritual life: and there were two or three of the twenty-seven also, whose hearts were evidently deeply, and, I would trust, savingly impressed. Having found that there were so many amongst the prisoners whose minds had been prejudiced, not only against the study of the inspired and written word of God, but against the cardinal doctrines of the Gospel of His grace, I felt I had yet a solemn duty to perform. I therefore assembled them together apart by themselves, for the purpose of dealing closely, faithfully, and affec- tionately with them in reference to the safety of their souls; and a more deeply interesting and satisfactory interview I do not remember ever to have had with any body of men. I took occasion to assure them that, whatever I might have said in the course of my instructions which did not harmonize with their views, was by no means intended to hurt the feelings of any one of them ; that I regarded them all as my fellow-sinners, and, like myself, standing in need of a free salvation ; and that my England's exiles. 195 only object in reference to them was, that they might be persuaded to avail themselves of the redemption of the Son of God, and so insure the present and eternal peace of their never-dying souls. I reminded them that they, with the whole human race, were involved in guilt, condemnation, and death ; and that there is no other name under heaven given amongst men, whereby they could be saved, but the blessed name of Jesus. I assured them that it was not my object, to bring any man merely out of one sect into another sect, but to per- suade all to renounce sin and Satan, and to yield themselves unto God by the reception of Jesus Christ and of the Holy Spirit : because that it must avail a man but little, merely to pass from one sect into another, while he remains a stranger to Christ, and uninterested in His salvation — ex- cept, indeed, when it happens that the sect he quits holds sentiments which tend to deter men from yielding obedience to God either in searching the Scriptures, or observing any of their Divine appoint- ments; or sentiments, which would deprive the Lord Jesus Christ of the honour which is due to Him as " God over all, blessed for ever more ;" or infringe on the glory of the Holy Spirit, as being with the Father and the Son, the one Eternal Je- hovah ; or holds any doctrines which are palpably opposed to the Holy Scriptures, and are calculated to endanger the present and everlasting salvation of the soul; whilst the sect which he joins soberly adheres, in holy obedience, to the inspired volume, 196 England's exiles. and keeps in view the analogy of Scripture^ in their interpretations of Divine truth. I reminded them that it would avail them nothing to be able to say, " I am of Paul, and I am of Apollos, and I am of Cephas or Peter," unless they could, in faith and obedience, say, "I am of Christ." I entreated them to obey the Most High God by studying His word, which he had put into their hands ; to prove all things by its doctrines and its precepts, and to bear in mind that it is according to that word that they, and all mankind, shall be judged at the last day; and I solemnly declared to them that my heart's desire for them was, that they might be saved. It is pleasing to have to record that no men could receive my communication with more becoming intimations of kind and grateful feelings, or give more unequivocal expressions of their good-will, and sense of my interest in their truest happiness. On the evening preceding the debarkation of the prisoners, the whole of them assembled in the main- ward for the exercise of devotion, and to receive their last address on board, of which I can here only give the substance. It was, as nearly as I can recollect, as follows :— Our eventful voyage has come to a close, and our interesting sojourn together on board the Elphinstone terminates with to-morrow's dawn. It now, in an especial manner, becomes the whole of us to lift up our hearts in adoration, thanksgiving, and praise to the Father of Mercies, for all the England's exiles. 197 protection and blessing which he halh been graciously pleased to vouchsafe to us, from the period of our embarkation to the present hour. And whilst we acknowledge the unmerited good- ness of the Lord, it is fit that we should, with all humbleness of mind, and with deep contrition of heart, confess before Him our manifold trespasses and short-comings, and our misimprovement of great and distinguished privileges. The winds and the weather have been, upon the whole, most favourable to us ; the waves of the sea have been controlled, and commanded to be at peace with us. At the commencement of our voyage, a sudden and most favourable change of wind saved us from a hazardous approach to the coast of France, which had filled the mind with all the anxieties which are connected with being em- bayed on a "lee-shore;" and during its progress, the solemnizing apprehension of "^r^," which, for a few fearful minutes, influenced our minds, tended to remind us of our entire and never-ceasing de- pendence on God, and to awaken in our bosoms feelings of deep humility, unfeigned gratitude, and filial confidence. Our sick-list has, indeed, been rather large ; and it has pleased God to take from the midst of us, besides the three belonging to the guard, their families, and ship's company, two of your number; and thereby reminded us of our mortality, and called upon us so to number our days as to apply our hearts unto wisdom. The committal of the bodies of the dead to the deep, 198 England's exiles. afforded to us all the most impressive and practical instruction; and I earnestly entreat the whole of you to reflect upon the solemnities of the burials you have witnessed on board, and to remember the exhortations addressed to you on these several solemnizing occasions. It is, indeed, a suitable exercise for the present moment, that the whole of us put to our hearts the questions — Why was /not taken? Wherefore w^as / left? What improve- ment have / made of His sparing mercy ? Am I at this moment in a fit condition either to live or to die ? Were it to be said to me by a voice from heaven, " This night shall thy soul be required of thee," should I be found in a state of safetv — dwelling in Christ, and Christ dwelling in me, and having His Spirit bearing witness with my spirit and with a holy and consistent life, that I am a child of God? Let each individual present ascertain what reply he can, in sober truth, make to these questions. The time you have spent on board this transport forms a most important period of your existence, and one which you never can forget. It must, of moral necessity, extend its influence to ages yet to come ; more or less modify your future experience ; and, to an extent unknown to us, affect the destinies of many of your fellow-mortals. The providence of God has been conspicuously, graciously, and mis- teriously exercised towards you. You have been collected from all quarters of the British Empire, and some of you from foreign nations, and placed, England's exiles. 199 for a period of five months, under a course of in- struction, the grand object of which is, to restore you to the knowledge, and favour, and likeness of God, and to fit you for serving and enjoying Him for ever ! Your minds have been directed to the contemplation of His wonderful works of creation and of providence ; and especially to the investiga- tion of those sacred and inspired records which, together with the former, make known to us all that it is requisite we should know respecting God and ourselves, the nature of His moral government, the demands of His law, the provisions and re- quirements of His Gospel, and the prospects which lie before the whole of the children of men. From the sacred Scriptures it has been shown you, that we are a race of evil-doers, children of wrath even as others; that the whole world is guilty before God, and, as transgressors, are under a sentence of condemnation and death ; and from the same Scriptures you have heard of the gracious and merciful character of Jehovah. The eternal love of the Father has been declared to you ; the unspeakable gift of His love, Christ Jesus, has been set before you, as the one and all-sufiicient propitiation for sin; and the great promise of the Holy Spirit, the Divine Teacher, Sanctifier, and Comforter, has been exhibited to you from the holy oracles of Divine truth : and you have been, day by day, from the pages of inspiration, urged and entreated to attend to the manifestation of the Father's love; to accept the gift of His Son, for all 200 England's exiles. the purposes for which He is bestowed; and to yield your minds and your hearts to the instruc- tions, influences, and persuasions of the Spirit of truth and of holiness. There is not amongst you, to the best of my knowledge, a man or a boy who has not declared, in the Divine presence, that he believes himself to be a guilty and a lost sinner, and Jesus to be the only Saviour from sin and from the wrath to come. The question now is, What has been secretly transacted between your own hearts and God? Have you felt the enormity of your guilt ? Have you been made deeply sensible of the depravity of your nature ? Have you been humbled to the very dust, under a just apprehension of your crimes committed against your country's laws, against society, and against God ? And have you, in very deed, come, in deep contrition of heart, to " the fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness" — even the fountain of the blessed Redeemer's atoning blood — and, by washing in that fountain, had your sin all taken away, and obtained deliverance from its wages and its power ? Think now on all the truth which has been declared to you; think on the tenderness of your heavenly Father's love ; think on the unsearchable riches of Christ's redeeming grace; think on the faithful and gracious strivings and long-sufffering of the Holy Spirit; think on the blessedness you secure to yourselves by your reception of the sal- vation published to you in the Gospel; and think England's exiles. 20^1 on the ceaseless wretchedness which, by your re- jection of the Saviour, you perversely choose and deliberately confirm. According to the abiUty and opportunity which have been given to me, I have endeavoured, though in much weakness, to declare unto you the whole counsel of God ; and have kept back trom you no truth which I conscientiously believe He hath revealed for your instruction and salvation, and which our time and my abiHty have permitted me to declare. And I have invariably entreated you to bring all I have said to you to the test of the infallible writings of the Holy Spirit, and thereby to prove all things ; holding fast only that which is good, and obviously in accordance with the Divine mind ; and rejecting whatever might appear, in the light of inspired truth, to be nothing but the doc- trines and commandments of men, and at variance with the spirit and precepts of the Gospel. I humbly trust that I am free from the blood of all of you, and have been, through grace, enabled, as it respects the matter of your instruction, to deliver mine own soul. With Jesus Christ set before YOU IN the Scriptures, and the command of God, that you should believe in Him for sal- vation, addressed to you — if you perish, you perish ! But know that, if you perish under such circumstances, you perish in the wilful rejec- tion of God's deliverance ! In whatsoever matter I may have come short in the discharge of my duty to my country and to you k2 "202 England's exiles. — whereinsoever I have come short in my duty to God (and I know that in everything I offend and come short of His glory), I seek pardon from that "same Jesus" to whom t/ou have been directed to come for forgiveness, holiness, and life. There is no remedy provided for me, but the remedy which is provided for 2/o?i ; there is no ground on which I am warranted to rely for pardon, but the ground on which you are invited and urged to rest for forgive- ness and every spiritual blessing. In Jesus alone, who died and rose again, can you and I have pardon and peace. Let us remember, that a fearful responsibility attaches to the whole of us. I am responsible for my fidelity in teaching you and showing you the way of life; because it is written, "Ze# him that heareth say, Come " ( Rev. xxii. ) ; " To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin" (James, iv.) ; "All things whatsoever ye w^ould that men should do to you, do ye even so to them" (Matt, vii.) ; " He that winneth souls is wise." And you are responsible for the use you have made, or may yet make, of all the truth that has been set before you, from the works, the provi- dence, and the Scriptures of God; because it is written, "Every one of us shall give account of himself to God" (Rom. xiv.); "Take heed how ye hear;" "Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required" (Luke, viii.) ; " It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee" (Matt. xxi,). Take heed, 203 then, as to the manner in which you dispose of all the truth you have been taught. Oh, take heed how you treat the Son of God ! Not one of you can go on shore as you came on board ! The whole of you disembark to-morrow morning, either improved in your characters, or fearfully hardened in your hearts. All of you have had the salvation of Christ fully and freely pressed upon your acceptance ; and every one of you leaves this vessel, either in the character of one who has accepted of His salvation, or in the character of one who has rejected it ! Oh, let me beseech you to lay this consideration to heart, and to take heed how you quit the transport in which the way of life and the way of death have been, from the Scriptures, faithfully set before you ; and remem- ber, that you carry along with you that Bible ac- cording to which you shall be judged at the last day. You, who have professed to embrace Christ as all your salvation and all your desire, I most earnestly beseech to be most watchful over your future conduct. Recollect what is incumbent upon you as persons who are not their own, but who are bought with a price, and are under the highest obligations to serve Him who purchased them to Himself by His precious blood. Remember what is required of him who, in the Scriptures, is styled a temple of the Holy Ghost. Keep steadily in mind the tendency of your example ; and bear it in your recollection, that your individual example 204 England's exiles. must be productive of incalculable good, or of inconceivable evil. Remember that the eyes of men and of angels are upon you ; that God Himself is the constant witness of your thoughts, temper, and conduct ; and that the believer's God is a con-- suming Jire^ and cannot spare, in the objects of His new covenant love, the dross of corruption and of sin. Oh ! remember that He requires all His children to be holy, even as He is holy — holy in heart, holy in speech, holy in conduct. Remember that the tendency of holy and consistent living is, to win souls to a participation of the blessings of everlasting life; that the tendency of unholy and inconsistent living is, to destroy souls, and to con- sign them to the regions of eternal fire. Forget not that you have no evidence of the reality of your faith in Christ, apart from its sanctifying influence on your heart and life. If the tree is good, the fruit must be good; if the fruit is bad, the tree must be bad also. If you are living branches of the True Vine, you will exhibit, not merely the green leaves of a scriptural profession, but you will bring forth such fruit of holy living as will redound to the glory of your Father who is in heaven. Beware of the first approaches of temptation to sin, whether in thought, or feeling, or desire, or word, or deed. Oh ! be on your guard in reference to novel temptations, which have not yet come within the scope of your experience; and let me most earnestly beseech you ever to have it in pre- sent recollection, that your only safety lies in your England's exiles. 205 habitually abiding in Christ, and relying on His strength. Be assured that you have no security out of Christ. If He does not hold you up, and keep you clinging to Him in faith, love, and holy obedience, you will most assuredly fall, bring fresh guilt upon your conscience, grieve the Holy Spirit, destroy your peace, cause the way of truth to be evil spoken of, give the enemies of God occasion to blaspheme, wound the hearts of all your Christian brethren, endanger your future usefulness, and perhaps inflict such spiritual injury upon your- selves, that you may be suffered, in the displeasure and justice of your heavenly Father, to perform the remainder of your journey halting, even until you reach the borders of your grave ! Take heed, then ; watch and pray, that ye enter not into tempt- ation. Keep your hearts with all diligence, and, with the heart, keep the door of your lips. At the very first approaches of sin, flee away — flee to the cross, escape to your knees, and wrestle in prayer for the needed deliverance; and cease not until, through Divine grace, you have obtained the victory ! It is not enough that you offer up cold and heart- less petitions, and then return to the influence of the temptation ; but you must agonize in prayer, and you must keep aloof from the temptation, in thought, in look, and in approach ; it must be driven far hence from your soul, or your soul must flee far hence from the temptation. You must abide in Christ; you must walk in the Spirit; you must think on your heavenly Father's love; you 206 England's exiles. must have your conversation in heaven ; and you must not Uft off your eyes from Jesus, but con- template Him in His sufferings and in His glory ; and keep looking forward in hope and expectation to the period when you shall see Him as He is, and when He shall present to His Father, with- out spot and blameless, all who, in the days of their earthly pilgrimage, followed Him in the regene- ration of their hearts, and cultivated that holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. Recollect the several duties which Jesus Christ hath been graciously pleased to enjoin on all His followers: your duties to God and to man. With considerable minuteness they have been set before you during your voyage. You will find them all in the pages of your Bible, which you are required diligently and prayerfully to search, that you may, day by day, become more familiar with their details, as well as obtain more and more of that faith, wisdom, and strength, which are necessary to the successful and acceptable performance of every duty. In all things follow out your Bible, and you cannot fail to be an unspeakable blessing to all with whom you may come immediately into contact, and therefore to the whole colony. It would be un- seasonable for me to detain you now, by recapitu- lating to you what I have so often addressed to you on the subject of consistency of conduct. What I would now say to you is summed up in the exhorta- tion, "In all things follow out your Bible." Be faithful to God, according to the requirements England's exiles. 207 and spirit of His word ; and according to the spirit and requirements of the same word, you will be faithful to man. See that the whole of your future conduct corresponds with the advantages you have enjoyed for so many months on board this ship ; and that it be sach^ in every respect, as will com- mend the knowledge of the Scriptures, and un- equivocally illustrate the power of the Gospel of Christ to all who may observe you, as you engage in the various vocations of life. I particularly urge upon you, the necessity and importance of cultivating great tenderness of con- science, and of being extremely exact in the dis- charge of duty. Be conscientiously attentive to every minute circumstance connected with your duty. Guard against inattention to what may be considered little things^ but which go to make up a great deal of the sum of human life, and to which little things a due and seasonable share of your regard contributes, in no small degree, to stamp your character, and to affect the comfort of all with whom you have to do. The great fault of that valuable portion of the community called "^er- vants^^ generally is, the neglect of the minor points of their duty — negligence as to " little things." But such neglect cannot be allowed by an intelligent and conscientious person. The consistent Christian will, in ei^erything^ scrupulously guard against every just cause of offence. He will be thoughtful, atten- tive, considerate; accustom himself to reflect, to call to memory every injunction laid upon him ; and 208 r England's exiles. will perform every duty heartily, to the best of his ability, and to the Lord, and not merely to man. If you keep steadily in view the example and the precepts of Christ, and habitually act under the constraining influence of His love, and of the pro- mised influences of the Eternal Spirit, you will prove lights to hghten all around you ; you will be blessed in your own souls, and be made an un- speakable blessing to the souls of your fellow-men. Let me beseech you to walk humbly, and closely, and habitually with God. Be as much engaged in the reading of the Scriptures, heart-searching, meditation, and prayer, as the consistent discharge of your other duties will allow. Avail yourselves of the opportunities affbrded you, in providence, to attend to all the exercises of family devotion, and to improve the public ordinances of the church of Christ. Remember what you have been taught from the Scriptures, in reference to your behaviour towards all men^ high and low, rich and poor, rulers and ruled. When called to bear reproach or perse- cution for the sake of Christ and of His truth, bear all with meekness and patient resignation ; cherishing the dispositions of your Divine Lord and Master, and manifesting His Spirit in doing good to them that hate you, praying for them that despite- fullyuse you — and in cherishing love and good-will even to the bitterest of your enemies. To Him who died for you, and is now exalted at the right hand of the Majesty on high, be ye faithful; and although you may be called, while in this world, to England's exiles. 209 pass as it were through fire and water. He will, ac- cording to His promise, bring you at last into the wealthy place. Remember it is through much tribulation that you are to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Let this be always your consolation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sin- ners, even the chief; that He casts out none that come unto Him ; that His sheep can never perish ; and that all who believe in His name He will keep, by His Almighty power, in the path of holy and willing obedience to His heavenly kingdom. To you who have, up to the present moment, put the gift of God, Christ Jesus, away from you, and have refused to accept of pardon and of life, I am able to say only a few words. Remember that the free and unfettered salvation of the Gospel has been fully declared to you. You have now " no cloak for your sin." You have heard that God commandeth every one of you to look unto Jesus for repentance, and pardon, and everlasting peace (1 John, iii. 23). You have heard the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking unto you, and saying, in the words of His servant John, " Behold the Lamh of God who takefh away the sin of the world !'' You have heard His words by the Apostle of the Gen- tiles, " Beheve in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts, xvi.). And again by John, " He that believeth in the Son of God, hath ever- lasting life; and he that believeth not in the Son of God, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him " (John, iii.). The salvation of God fUiriTBRSITT)) 210 England's exiles. is again proclaimed in your hearing. Jesus Christ, who offered Himself without spot unto God as a sacrifice for sin, is still set forth in the Scriptures to every one of you, as the end of the law for righ- teousness to every one that believeth. Oh ! be per- suaded to accept of Him, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. Is it possible that there is amongst you a man who has purposed in his mind to disem- bark to-morrow morning, as a character who has lived all his days, not only in the violation of the laws of God, but in the rejection of the salvation of His Son ? Can it be that there stands before me a man or a boy, who has formed the ungrateful and desperate resolution, that his last act on board this transport shall he a repetition of his rejection of Christ; and that in setting his foot on these shores, he will do so in the character of an enemy of God, a contemner of His mercy, a despiser of His covenant, a slave of sin, who refuses to be a partaker of the glorious liberty of the children of God? Let me entreat you to improve the moments you are yet permitted to be on board. Let this night — this evening of the Lord's holy day — record your submission to God by the belief of His testimony to His Son Christ Jesus. Let there be this night joy among the angels in heaven over the return of the whole of you, who have not yet returned, to Him who so loved you as to give His beloved Son to be the propitiation for your sins, that ye might not England's exiles. 211 perish but have everlasting life. Remember, all ye who have purposed to continue to pursue a course of unbelieving disobedience, that wherever you are in this world, whatever ye may be engaged in, whatever may be your condition in life, it is still true that Jesus is the Saviour of sinners, and that him that cometh to Him He will in nowise cast out. But oh ! recollect, that it is also true, that every hour you live in sin, and in the neglect of the mercy and favour of God published in the Gospel of His Son, you are rendering your heart harder and harder, fearfully increasing the sum of your guilt, and making your conversion to God, morally^ more and more improbable. While you are on this side the grave, it will unquestionably stand recorded in the Bible, that Jesus died for sinners, and that His blood cleanseth us from all sin. But if you continue to live in sin under the sound of pro- claimed pardon and life, you will so close your eyes against the truth, so steel your consciences against conviction, so deaden your souls to the influence of the tender accents of Divine love, that the length- ening of your days will, through the obstinacy of your rebellion, and the inveteracy of your unbelief, only enhance your guilt and aggravate your con- demnation. But if you listen to the dictates of heavenly wisdom, you will now credit what God saith to you in His word ; you will at once flee for refuge to Jesus, who alone can save you from sin and deliver you from the wrath to come. You will yield yourselves wholly up to the Lord, to be formed 212 engi>and's exiles. for Himself by His truth and Spirit, and to be qua- lified for serving and enjoying Him for ever. Then indeed will the lengthening of your days increase your opportunities of doing good to the souls of your fellow-men, and of advancing in the world the glory of your Father who is in heaven. And your stay upon the earth, whether of short or long dura- tion, will be marked by the blessed effects of Divine love upon your hearts ; and will afford you an opportunity of making your light to shine before men, and thus to commend to all around you the glorious Gospel of the blessed God. But if you persist in your refusal to submit yourselves unto God in the faith and obedience of the Gospel, you not only consign your souls to eternal destruction, but you leave no ground on which we can war- ran tably calculate on your ever proving yourselves trustworthy members of society. I tell you can- didly, I myself could place no unhesitating confi- dence in any of you as members of my family, un- less I had, in your temper and conduct, scriptural evidence of your conversion to God. And I am quite prepared to hear that such of you as have no fear of God before your eyes, and have no con- scientious regard for His approbation, will not be many days in the colony before you yield your- selves to some tempation, fall into some crime, bring more infamy upon your character, and sub- ject yourselves to additional sufferings. All I can now do for you is, to warn you, beseech you, and pray for you. And in parting with you I do most England's exiles. 2!3 earnestly implore you to guard, as in the sight of God, against everything which He hath shown you is offensive to His eyes, dishonouring to His name, destructive to your souls, and injurious to the pri- vate or public interests of your fellow-men. I solemnly repeat my warning respecting dis- obedience to any lawful command of those who are in authority over you. Remember that disobe- dience to lawful commands is one of the greatest and most pernicious crimes of which you can he guilty. What expelled angels from heaven, and converted them into devils ? Disobedience. What separated our first parents from God, and subjected them and their offspring to the loss of holiness and of happi- ness ? Disobedience. What is the cause of all the misery and death that abound in the world ? Dis- obedience. What is the cause of your present and future sufferings? Disobedience. What was it that prepared hell? Disobedience. And what did man's disobedience require ere man could be restored to purity and to bliss ? Nothing less than the in- carnation, sufferings, and obedience, even unto death, of the Son of God ! And can any of you^ then^ think lightly 0/ disobedience ? Let the occa- sion of your disobedience be what it may; let the thing about which you are disobedient be as insig- nificant as the turning of a straw ; if the command be lawful^ and you disobey that command, you are guilty of the heinous transgression of disobe- dience — you are chargeable with that sin that ex- pelled the angels from heaven, and that lost a world ! 214 England's exiles. Think not, then, lightly oiany act of disobedience. Study 1 Sam. xv. 22, 23. While, in taking leave of you, I warn you in re- ference to disobedience, I would also entreat you to remember what has been said to you in regard to improper and dangerous associates. Avoid, as much as possible, the company of wicked men, the tend- ency of whose example must ever be to destroy you. Let them feel the benign influence of good example and of good counsel, but remain not im- prudently in their society when it can be avoided. When it cannot, then recollect you owe it to God, to them, and to yourselves, to h^ faithful. Be faith- ful to your Bible, and you will not only be kept from falling yourselves, but you will be in the way of calling the attention of your associates to Him who can effectually save both you and them from sin and death. You have heard what a resident in Hobart Town* has, in great faithfulness and kindness, said to you in reference to the tendency both of the use and abuse of ardent spirits. It has just been stated to you by the gentleman who speaks from personal observation, that the greatest snare to which you will be exposed on shore is the use of intoxicating liquors ; that there is no vice to which you are liable more calculated to lead you into the practice of other vices, than the vice of drunkenness ; and • An officer of the army came on board, and at my request gave the prisoners a view of the temptations and vices to which they would be especially exposed in the colony. England's exiles. 215 that this proves the overthrow and destruction of more prisoners than any other evil habit whatever. Take heed, then, that you never permit one drop of the intoxicating and destructive poison to cross your Ups, unless prescribed by a medical practi- tioner in the treatment of disease, a circumstance which is not likely very often to happen. In reference farther to your future conduct, let me express my hope that the whole of you will benefit by past experience. You have already had, I should imagine, sufficient practical demonstra- tion of the connexion that subsists between evil- doing and suffering ; you have now found out that "the way of transgressors is hard;" and that the tendency of their " perverseness " is to ''destroy them" (Prov. xiii. 15 : xi. 3) ; and I trust you will now prove to yourselves that " wisdom's ways are ways of pleasantness, and that all her paths are peace " (Prov. iii. 17). The most, if not the whole, of you, are now in circumstances which enable you to compare the peace and comfort which are con- nected with well-doing, with the infamy and wretchedness that are the offspring of evil-doing; and I beseech you to profit by the experience. Some of you have long felt the pain and remorse that are the fruits of ignorance, irregularity, and crime; why, then, should you desire to drink deeper in the cup from which you have already taken so many bitter draughts ? I would remind you of the gracious remonstrance of the God of Israel with His ungrateful and rebellious children, 216 England's exiles. as recorded in the first chapter of Isaiah's prophe- cies — '' Hear, O heavens ; and give ear, O earth ; for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib : but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. Ah! sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers, children that are corrupters. They have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger; they are gone away backward." "Why should ye be stricken any more ? Ye will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores. They have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment." The people for whom God had done so much, remained insensible to His goodness and mercy, and, instead of manifesting love and gratitude in a cheerful obedience to his re- vealed will, they turned their backs upon Him, in- dulged the wicked imaginations of their own hearts, ran greedily after the manners of the idolatrous nations by whom they were surrounded, and sub- jected themselves to severe and repeated expres- sions of the Divine displeasure. And did their character improve under the chastening hand of God ? Did they seek, in deep humility and con- trition of heart, the sanctified use of their multiplied afflictions ? No ; they persevered in the obstinacy England's exiles. 217 of their rebellion, and called for more strokes from the rod of their Almighty and long-suffering Father, until they were smitten all over, and covered from head to foot with wounds, and bruises, and putrify- ing sores, the marks of the strokes of their faithful and compassionate Father's chastening rod. And have not you^ my men, long abused the loving-kindness and sparing mercy of the Lord ? Have not you lamentably misimproved the repeated chastisements to which your repeated offences have subjected you, and grievously provoked the Divine displeasure? The question is now urged upon you, Why should you subject yourselves to bo stricken any more ? Why should you be imprisoned any more ? Why should you be ironed any more ? Why should your flesh be torn in pieces by the scourge any more ? Why should your conduct any longer demand the execution of any of the penalties of the law ? Have you not already tasted enough of the bitterness of transgression ? Have you lost all rehsh for the pleasure that is connected with well-doing; for the satisfaction that is inseparable from the approval of conscience and of good men ? Have you utterly cast off all desire for the appro- bation of God? Have you calculated the conse- quences which must result from your perseverance in a course of rebellion against the Most High ? Oh ! have you thought of the agonies which you are laying up in store for yourselves by your obstinately persisting in your disbelief of the Divine testimony, and by your voluntary rejection of the Son of God ? 218 England's exiles. Are your hearts not at all affected by the con- sideration of the pernicious influences which your example must send forth on all whose attention it may attract ? A world that has broken loose from its proper orbit, and thrown off all restraining and directing influences, may carry, far and wide, phy- sical ruin and confusion among surrounding worlds : but the irregular course of one sinner, of one con- vict, may prove productive of far greater evil; his path may be marked by a more fearful devastation ; his lawless progress away from the Sun of Righ- teousness must be seen, in the terribleness of its moral havoc among the immortal souls of men; and, it may be, among beings of a higher order; and his character and his destiny are those of the " wandering stars, to whom is reserved the black- ness of darkness for ever !" (Jude, 13). Hear, then, all ye whose hearts up to the present moment have been stout against the Lord ; hear ye again the proclamation of mercy, " As I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye, from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?" "Be ye re- conciled unto God. For He hath made Him who knew no sin, to be sin for us ; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him " (2 Cor. v.). " He that heareth my word, and believeth in Him that sent me, hath everlasting life ; and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life." Suffer me to beseech the whole England's exiles. 219 of you now, to submit yourselves unto God by the reception of His Son Christ Jesus, for all the pur- poses for which He is revealed to you in the Gospel ; and not to add another hour to the period of your rebellion against Him. Look unto Jesus and live ! Cleave to Him with purpose of heart ; follow Him fully ; holding fast the beginning of the confidence, and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end (Heb. iii. 6, 14). To-morrow morning you quit this vessel; a vessel the remembrance of which must be for ever associated with your future destinies, be they what they may; whether they be the destinies of the despisers of mercy, or the destinies of the humble followers of the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world. Of our conduct on board the Elphinstone^ of our treatment of Christ, and our disposal of His great salvation, you and I must render an account ! We shall all meet again — I say that we shall all meet again! It may not be in this life. But we shall meet with an assembled world, together with holy and with fallen angels. We shall form part of that awful assembly which shall be present on the day of the final judgment, and in the proceedings of that day we shall not be mere spectators ; no ! but we shall be personally and intensely interested. Let us now choose the position we shall occupy in the presence of the Judge ; whether it shall be in the character of one who, in the regeneration of the heart, followed Him in the faith and obedience of 220 England's exiles. His Gospel; or in the character of one who re- sisted His Spirit, despised His pardon, and opposed His reign. Let us now decide whether we shall be able to look up with joy and behold in our Judge, our blessed Advocate and gracious High Priest, who in His new-covenant love engaged to save us from sin and to bring us to glory; or whether, under the overwhelming power of conscious guilt, we shall be constrained to cry to the rocks to fall on us, and hide us from the wrath of the Lamb, and from the glory of His power. Oh ! let us all, every one of us, now choose whether our abode i^to be with the unbelievers and unrenewed in heart, in everlasting burnings (Isa. xxxiii. 14), or with the sanctified in Christ Jesus, whose names are written in heaven, and whom the blessed Saviour will pre- sent faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy (Jude, 24; Matt. xxv. ; Isa. xxxv.). On Monday morning, the 30th of May, at day- break, the prisoners, amounting to 238, were dis- embarked at Hobart Town, and in the evening were inspected and addressed by His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor, Colonel, now Sir George Arthur, in the presence of a number of the Govern- ment officers. And on the following day, they were, at His Excellency's desire, assembled in Trinity Church, in their school-order, and examined on their reading, and their religious knowledge, in the presence of the Rev. Philip Palmer, the rural dean, and of several officers and gentlemen; the England's exiles. 221 attendance of the Governor being prevented by other and urgent pubhc duties. A certain number of pupils in each school read portions, either of the Old or New Testament; as many as time permitted us to hear, stood up, and recited one or other of the chapters they had com- mitted to memory on board; they were then ex- amined in their knowledge of the Scriptures, and of the Christian system, due reference being made both to doctrines and precepts ; and then the whole received a summary and practical address. To those who had professed to have taken up the cross, a seasonable and most impressive exhortation was delivered by a reverend gentleman who attended at the examination. During the delivery of this ex- hortation, all present seemed to be deeply affected. The place might have well been called Bochim, and the character of the assembly, and of the proceedings of the day, has no exact parallel in my experience ; for the scene exceeded, in several most interesting points, that which the corresponding examination of the prisoners by the Arab presented, in the year 1834. How far God was glorified, and permanent good done to souls, will be made manifest in future life, and shall be publicly declared on the great and terrible day of the Lord. May God, in His abundant and great mercy, grant, that all the prisoners whom He hath been pleased, on repeated occasions, to commit to my care during the passage to Australia, may be gra- ciously led " into all truth ;" and, under the abid- '222 England's exiles. ing influence of the Saviour's love shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit, be preserved in the faith and obedience of the Gospel to everlasting life, unto the praise of the glory of the riches of Divine grace. And may all other prisoners be duly instructed in the knowledge of the sacred Scrip- tures, and, as " prisoners of hope " (Zech. ix. 12), be disposed and enabled to flee for refuge (Isa. Ix. 8; Heb. vi. 18) to the atoning blood of the Cross, and give evidence that they have surrendered their hearts to Him who came to seek and to save the lost — by their walking in His footsteps, under the sanctifying influences of His Spirit, and in con- sistent accordance with His blessed will as set forth in His written and inspired word. THE END. APPENDIX. ON THE HEALTH OF THE PRISONERS DURING THE VOYAGE. The few remarks which I propose to offer on the subject of the prisoners' health during the passage to Australia, will have a respect, I. To cleanliness, ventilation, and fumigation. II. To clothing. III. To diet. IV. To exercise ; and V. To the extent of the sick-list, and the character of the diseases which prevailed on board. I. Cleanliness^ ventilation^ fumigation. Wherever a considerable number of people are congregated together in confined places, and for a lengthened period of time, the strictest observance of cleanliness, as involving to no small extent their health and comfort, becomes, it must be admitted by all, matter of no secondary consideration. To this point, then, the most particular attention was paid on board the Elphinstone ; and the strictest injunctions imposed, not only on the petty officers, but on the whole of the prison- ers, to maintain a special regard to a matter so closely con- nected with the comfort and safety of all on board. 224 England's exiles. From the specification of the duties of petty officers, and the view of one week's routine, may be gathered several of our regulations which bear upon the subject now under con- sideration. It will be seen that, as early after five o'clock as possible every morning, the people were "turned up" by divisions to wash persons ; and that, twice a-week, all hands washed clothes. As it is of the greatest moment that the lower deck (that is, the deck on which are placed the peo- ple's sleeping-berths) should not only be kept perfectly clean, but likewise dry, it was directed that the greatest care should be exercised to allow as little water to come upon it as pos- sible. It was seldom, if ever, that the prison deck admitted of being cleansed by '* dry holy-stoning :" the plan adopted, therefore, was, to commence with clearing the deck of all that could be removed by a broom ; afterwards to use efficiently the scrapers, and finish by a " clean sweep.'* To certain parts of the deck it was often necessary to apply a damp swab, to enable the scrapers to be used with due effect ; and on several occasions it was absolutely requisite to scrub all to w^hich the people's feet had access. When, by any means, the decks were rendered damp, and the state of the weather was at the same time such as not to warrant the expectation of their soon drying ; then the swinging stoves lighted with charcoal were used, under the care either of a sentry, or of one of the ship's company, generally the former ; one or other of the petty officers also being appointed to keep the people at a proper distance from the stoves, and to see the latter kept moving when necessary. Too much importance, it is now well known, cannot be attached to the keeping of a ship perfectly dry between decks, as well as clean. The bottom boards were directed to be frequently removed (every morning, indeed, this precaution ought to be taken), and the deck well cleaned under them. These boards were often kept up during the greater part of the day ; and the exterior parts of the sleeping-berths were likewise, when necessary, well scrubbed with water and scrubbing-brushes. The ventilation of the ship was maintained by the adrais- England's exiles. 225 sion of air down the hatchways, and the current was increased by means of windsails. When weather and sea admitted it, the scuttles in the ship's sides were also kept open during the day. With respect to fumigation^ the wards and hospital were frequently sprinkled with a strong solution of the chloride of lime, particularly in the evening after the people were in bed ; in damp weather the dry chloride was sprinkled on parts of the deck least likely to be trodden upon by the prisoners. Occasionally vinegar was used, especially in the hospital. The same care was bestowed on the barracks, and the cor- responding parts of the vessel occupied by the " ship's com- pany,'* under the inspection of the officers of the guard and of the ship, respectively ; the whole of the decks, fore and aft, being subject to my own inspection. As much of the people's bedding (as formerly intimated) as the hammock-nettings would admit of, was kept on deck the whole day ; and occasionally in fine weather, all the bedding was opened up and well shaken in the breeze. Although none of the prisoners were, during the day, de- tained in the prisons, our numbers did not admit of the whole of them being always kept on deck ; for the crowd was so great that there was scarcely space left to admit of their moving. We were, therefore, compelled to allow a consider- able number of the schools to assemble below% and it was seldom that more than a Vialf of the messes could, at one time, dine on deck ; and this, the weather admitting it, they did in rotation. The inspection of the wards, and of the prisoners' persons and clothes, has been already noticed. II. The prisoners' clothing. In addition to the suit in which they embarked, several packages of clothing were put on board for their use during the voyage. The suit in which they embarked consisted of l2 226 England's exiles. One striped cotton shirt, ,, pair of shoes, ,y ,, worsted stockings, ,, ,, woollen small-clothes, ,, woollen waistcoat, „ „ jacket, ^y »> cap, ,, blue striped cotton neckcloth for each pri- soner. The bales for use during the passage contained for each prisoner. One pair of raven duck over-alls, ,, striped cotton shirt, „ pair of worsted stockings, ,, flannel shirt — this last article is supplied when the embarkation takes place between the first of October and the thirty-first of March. There are also bales of clothing put on board for the prisoners' use in the colony, but these the surgeon- superin- tendent is not authorized by his instructions to open. Under the head of " hospital furniture,'* there are included several articles of clothing for the use of the sick, but which it is unnecessary to particularize. Neither is it requisite that I should here particularly notice the supply of medicines^ or of utensils allowed for the use of the prisoners during the passage. III. The prisoners* diet. The following is the " daily quantities of provisions " allowed to each male convict — viz. Bread (or biscuit) lb. f ■) Fresh meat ■§ > when at anchor. Vegetables ^) Sugar oz. ] Cocoa or chocolate I " When fresh meat and vegetables are not issued, there shall be allowed in lieu thereof — viz. England's exiles. 227 Salt beef, per day lb. J ) alternate Flour ditto J ) days. Salt pork, ditto J^ alternate Peas, ditto pint ^ ) f^^ys. " And weekly, whether fresh or salt meat be issued, vine- gar, not exceeding one quart for each mess of six persons. ** And each convict is to be allowed two gallons of wine during the voyage. *^ Suet and raisins, or suet and currants, shall be substi- tuted for one-fourth part of the above proportion of flour, one-half of the said fourth part in suet, and the other half in raisins or currants at the following rates — viz. half-a-pound of suet to be considered equal to one pound of flour ; and one pound of raisins, or half-a-pound of currants, to be con- sidered equal to one pound of flour." * Under the head of ^* medical comforts," are allowed in the following proportion for 100 convicts, Preserved meats, including soup (a pint of the latter being equal to a pound of the former) lbs. 75 Lemon-juice „^ 648 Sugar, to mix with it 648 Tea 6| Sugar 48 Scotch barley 60 Ginger oz. 4 Red Port wine bottles 9 Vinegar gallons TJ * In the surgeon-superintendent's instructions, printed in the year 1838, the allowance to each male convict of oatmeal, sugar, chocolate, and tea, is as follows : — Oatmeal pint, not more than ^ per week. Sugar ounces, 1 ^ per diem. Chocolate do. Tea do. * Either three-eighths of an ounce of chocolate, or one quarter 228 ENGLAND S EXILES. The ElpMnstone was also supplied with oatmeal for one month, which was directed to be served out *' in the propor- tion of one- third of a pint per day for each convict, and to be iT^ed occasionally as a meal in lieu of chocolate, at the dis- cretion of the surgeon-superintendent." IV. The prisoners' exercise. In addition to the exercise necessarily involved in the discharge of active duties, all of which, immediately connected with their own comfort, disci- pline, and instruction, the prisoners themselves were re- quired, under my direction, to discharge — it was appointed that they should be marched, in three successive divisions, around the upper deck, to such music as we could command, and as frequently during the voyage as circumstances would admit. This is a mode of exercising the people which, for various reasons that might be assigned, I decidedly preferred to dancing. It must be confessed, however, that, from the shortness of our days, and the multiplicity of our educational engagements, our marches were far too seldom repeated. This I acknowledge was a practical error ; and, although I do not ejccuse it, 1 may be permitted to account for it. V. Extent of sick-list, and the character of the diseases which prevailed on board during the voyage. In the hospital was kept a journal for the daily entrance of the names, number, and disease of all who, through indis- position, however slight, came under medical examination ; and also for recording all my prescriptions. The number of entries into this journal during the voyage, was very con- siderable. It will be observed that the name of every patient, for what length of time soever he might be under medical treatment, was written in this journal's daily report ; and even in cases where there was no disease, but merely a dose of domestic medicine exhibited, the name and dose were put down, and the person was never permitted to absent himself of an ounce of tea, is to be issued daily to each male convict or male settler — viz. on one day chocolate, and on the following day tea, and so on alternately. England's exiles. 229 from the regular morning and evening visits until he was distinctly told that his farther attendance was unneces- sary. It will also be remembered that the applicants from the guard and ship's company, were likewise entered in the same journal. All the cases which appeared at first sight to be of any moment, and likely to be under treatment for two or three days, were entered into my official sick-list to be forwarded with the clean medical journal for the information of the Physician-general of the Navy ;* but which list I thought it unadvisable to burthen with such cases as were likely to prove ephemeral, much less with any notice of those indivi- duals who might merely apply ioT n prudential dose of medicine. The same observation applies to the journal of all matters connected with the prisoners, which the surgeon-superin- tendent is required to keep for the information of the " Comptroller for Victualling and Transport Services," and that likewise of my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. The number of patients whose names and diseases appear in my official sick-list is as follows : — Furnished by the guard 21 ,, crew 27 „ prisoners 123 171 The total number of souls on board was 325. "With regard to the nature of the diseases which prevailed on board the Elphinstone, they were such as might be ex- pected to appear, and as, I believe, for the most part do obtain, under corresponding circumstances. Their character was unquestionably more or less modified by the climates through which we successively passed, and by the length of * Now denominated "The Inspector General of Naval Hospitals and Fleets." 230 England's exiles. the period during which the prisoners were on board the transport. Having embarked in the month of January, pyrexial complaints — as catarrh, sore throat, rheumatism, and oph- thalmia — chiefly prevailed during the first part of the voyage; that is, until we had reached the latitude of Madeira. We had also a few cases of common phlegmonous inflammation ; and various affections of the digestive organs, partly refer- rible to the influence of sea-sickness ; but chiefly to cold, and perhaps, in some measure, to change of diet. While passing through the tropics, especially when ex- posed to the heat of a vertical sun, we had to encounter a variety of affections of the head, several obstinate cases of ophthalmia, derangement of the biliary system, spasmodic complaints, pneumonia, and a few cases of scurvy ; and, while running down our longitude between the Cape of Good Hope and Van Dieman's Land, inflammatory affections — as rheu- matism, sore throat, and bowel complaints — again predomi- nated ; and we had several cases of mild continued fever. On the 12th of February, one of the prisoners died of serous apoplexy, apparently the effect of a severe blow which he was reported to have received while engaged in working in the dockyard, when attached to one of the hulks. And on the 27th of March, another prisoner died of water in the chest, which appeared to have been the effect of an attack of pneumonia, under which he was said to have suf- fered while engaged in working in the common sewers during inclement w^eather. On the fourth of March, an infant belonging to the guard died of hydrocephalus. On the 24th of the same month, the ship*s cook, who had kept out of sight till a few days before his death, sunk under a complication of chronic affections of long standing, and which had produced hydrothoraco and general dropsy. And on the 9th of April, a private of the guard fell a victim to an organic affection of the stomach, evidently of long continuance, and mainly referrible to the irregular habits of a confirmed drunkard. England's exiles. 231 REMARKS. A safficient supply of warm clothing, particularly to con- victs who sail from England at those periods of the year which subject them to the influence of cold weather, both at the commencement and during a considerable portion of the last half of the voyage, I consider indispensable to the pre- servation of their health and lives. The whole stock of the convicts' clothes ought to be good; that is, made of warm and durable materials — especially (as just observed) of those prisoners who embark at a season which exposes them to cold, and often damp, weather, both at the commencement and termination of a voyage, fully one-half of which has to be accomplished in high southern latitudes, in which a cold polar wind is liable to prevail. The flannel shirt which had not been supplied to me on former occasions, I consider a judicious addition ; as many of the prisoners on board the Arab (in which I performed my preceding voyage) as pos- sessed money, I required to provide themselves with enough of flannel to furnish them with a flannel shirt each, and had them made by the tailors, who contributed to make up our numbers. While we give to a sufficient supply of warm clothing its due importance, it must be remembered, that the extent of the sick-list, and the character of the diseases which prevail, are often, to no small extent, dependant on circumstances which may be considered purely incidental. The constitu- tions and previous habits and condition of the prisoners ; the time during which they have been in prisons and in the hulks, and their treatment therein ; the season of the year at which they embark ; the sort of weather they experience during the voyage ; the character of the transport, whether she is what is called a wet or dry ship ; the numbers on board, and the extent of space allotted for exercise ; besides, the attention paid by the medical officer to his medical duties ; the manner in which the cooks perform their functions ; the system of management and discipline ; the influence main- 232 England's exiles. tained over the people's minds — have all their share in deter- mining the number and nature of the ailments of the prison- ers during the voyage. On the 3rd of March, and before we had quite reached the equator, symptoms of scurvy were but too distinctly mani- fested in two of the prisoners ; and after the lapse of a few days, in five or six others, but in whom this fearful malady did not exhibit an equally threatening aspect. I immediately ordered the oatmeal to be issued^ and, with the view of making it last double the period contemplated by the issue of the whole daily proportion allowed, I directed that it should be used for breakfast only, continuing the chocolate for the evening repast. The prisoners in whom scorbutic symptoms had actually appeared, were forthwith put under the influence of the anti- scorbutic mixture so highly spoken of by Mr. Charles Cameron in his letter addressed to the late ^* Commissioners for Victualling his Majesty's Navy." The medicine was pre- pared in accordance with Mr. Cameron's directions, by dis- solving eight ounces of the nitrate of potassa (common nitre) with as much lemon-juice, or lemon-juice and vinegar, as afforded, with the addition of a few ounces of spirits, a little sugar, and several drops of the oil of peppermint — a mixture amounting to sixty-four fluid ounces. One ounce of this mixture, generally diluted by the addition of a little lime- juice and water, three times a-day, was the usual dose. In the two worst cases, it was repeated as often as four, five, and even six times a-day ; and it was most gratifying to find that all symptoms of scurvy speedily vanished, and made not their appearance again during the voyage, excepting in two or three instances (and in these they were very slight), until we began to approach the shores of Australia, when a few addi- tional cases of sponginess of the gums were detected. Every case was met with the use of the acidulous solution of nitre, and invariably with success. One man had, at the termina- tion of the voyage, some degree of swelling of the left leg and stiffness of the corresponding knee-joint, and which I sus- England's exiles. 233 pected were referrible to the causes of scurvy ; and a youth was affected with slight cough, and occasionally with diarr- hoea ; but neither of his ailments was I disposed to regard as being connected at all with this malady. Many weeks, how- ever, did not pass away, ere 1 had painful cause to alter my opinion of the nature of this young man's complaints. He was received as a patient into the colonial hospital, after he had been only a few days in the colony ; and in less than three weeks he was laid in his grave. I was able to attend the post-mortem inspection, and wit- nessed appearances which, in connexion with the statements of Dr. Scott, the colonial surgeon, and of Dr. Bedford, colonial assistant-surgeon, placed these voyages to Australia in a new and painful point of light, and afforded me instruc- tion which can only be obtained from similar sources. I had flattered myself that we had escaped the fatal influence of the malady I had, for the first time in my life, so much dreaded. But my hopes were most grievously disappointed, the bowels exhibited a frightful mass of disease ; nearly the whole of the intestinal canal, especially the colon, was covered with ulceration, and discovered other marks of the presence of scurvy, very familiar to the medical officers of the colonial hospital at llobart Town, The right lung was little else than a mass of tubercles and vomicae. This young man, it afterwards appeared from what I could learn from his fellow-prisoners, could never taste the chocolate ; a circumstance which he managed to con- ceal from my notice. He always appeared of a very quiet and retiring disposition ; manifested while on board, and up to the period of his death, a most amiable disposition ; he was one of my best scholars, and I have reason to hope that, during the voyage from England, his heart had been brought under the sanctifying influence of Divine truth. His conduct on board was uniformly that of a meek and humble Christian, He fell a victim to scurvy— to scurvy engendered mainly by want of nourishment (for he loathed his food), by the depress-, ing passions of the mind, and circumstances necessarily con- 234 England's exiles. nected with the voyage, and acting on a constitution predis- posed to phthms pulmonalis. It is a most mistaken conclusion that, because there are no ejcternal symptoms of scurvy, or because the internal ravages of this frightful malady have not yet been made manifest, the disease does not therefore exist. There may be no out- ward — no tangible appearance of the disease whatever, and yet the most serious, nay, destructive, changes have taken place ; which may, unaided, ultimately carry off the patient, or render him an easy prey to other diseases, which, in other circumstances, would have been easily controlled. One of the most healthy-looking men that landed from the Arab in July, 1834 (and the whole body of the prisoners by that vessel, it was remarked by every one that saw them, exhibited a very healthy appearance), was a man named Judd. After a residence in the colony of about five months, he was brought into the colonial hospital at Hobart Town, labouring under symptoms of common continued fever ; and in a few days after his admission, he died. His bowels vvet^, on inspection, found in a state very gimilar to that of those of the young man referred to above ; and his death was, in the decided conviction of the hospital surgeons, referrible, not to the fever which brought him into the hospital, but to the circumstances attending the voyage from England ; con- sidered, perhaps, in connexion with others involved in the punishment of transportation. Surgeon-superintendents of convict ships are not in circumstances to judge correctly of the positive condition of the prisoners* bodily organs at the period of embarkation or of debarkation. At the former, the medical men under whose observation and care they have for some time been placed, ought to be the best judges of their constitutions and health ; their real condition at the latter period, can be best determined by the medical officers under whose observation they may come during the first twelve months of their resi- dence in the colony. Should scurvy not develop itself prior to debarkation, its existence, it is plain, cannot be known to England's exiles. 235 the surgeon -superintendent, unless he remain some time in the colony, or communicate with the colonial surgeons. The conversations I have had with Doctors Scott* and Bedford, of the colonial hospital, Hobart Town, gentlemen distinguished for their observation, intelligence, and expe- rience, have produced in my mind the conviction that not a few prisoners have fallen victims to scurvy engendered during the voyage from Great Britain, or through the united influence of the circumstances which attend the voyage, and which mark the habits and condition of the prisoners pre^ viously to their embarkation ; notwithstanding their having been reported — and honestly reported — in official returns, to have been landed in the apparent enjoyment of perfect health. Scurvy is a disease which appears to attack all the tissues. The earliest symptoms may appear in the gums, skin, or cellular substance : in the gums, in the form of sponginess and readiness to bleed ; in the skin, in the resemblance of the common flea-bite, but wanting the puncture in the centre ; in the cellular substance, in yellowish or purplish adematous effusions, or ecchymoses, hardness, and increased heat ; often attended with contractions of the tendons and stiff'ness of the joints. Or, its earliest ravages may be in one or more of the internal organs, as the lungs, stomach, and bowels — most fre- quently, it would seem, in the lungs and intestines ; in the latter consisting chiefly of ulceration commencing in the mucous membrane ; and of a species of venous congestion which marks great laxity of the solids, sometimes attended with debility of the whole system. When the extremities, or external parts of the trunk, are first assailed, the internal organs are the more likely, at least for a time, to escape. When the internal organs, on the other hand, are in the first instance attacked, the disease may have made most serious, if not fatal, progress, before any outward manifestation, or symptoms of its presence, have excited any apprehensions in ♦ Dr. Scott, I lament to hear, died soon after I left the colony. 236 England's exiles. the minds of the medical attendants. A slight cough, or diarrhoea, may be the first intimation of the existence of a disease, which^ before its detection, may have made fearful and fatal havoc, and thus made sure its victim. It is not my intention to enter, in this place, on the con- sideration of the dieting of convicts during the voyage to Australia. It is a subject on which a considerable diversity of opinion prevails even amongst the most intelligent and experienced officers ; and it is one, moreover, upon which the Admiralty have, I believe, bestowed much anxious con- sideration. I shall only observe, that we are perpetually hearing, both in England and in the colonies, the most un- wise and unbecoming remarks, according to my judgment, made on unhappy convicts ; and the most ignorant compari- sons instituted between the diet of prisoners and that of the free poor. But it is manifest that the cases are by no means parallel. The case of the prisoner is altogether peculiar ; his constitution is frequently much impaired by previous habits, poverty, and confinement in gaol; and he is, generally speaking, placed in circumstances most unfavourable to health — circumstances to which the free, because they are free, must, until it be their misfortune and their crime to become prisoners, remain altogether strangers. Although the convict has cut himself off from the respect, and gene- rally even from the sympathies, of his fellow-mortals, he has not yet been able to divest himself of the feelings and sus- ceptibilities common to humanity. He is suffering, more or less, under the influence of conscious guilt and self-reproach — he may be parting for ever from wife, and child, and parent, and every relative and friend ; and is therefore, more or less, under the operation of almost all the depressing passions of the mind, and, of consequence, is peculiarly liable to diseases of debility. If his diet, under such circumstances, be not sufficiently nutritive, the most serious consequences may be expected to ensue. It may be said, and it is often more than insinuated, that his past conduct does not entitle him to an adequate allowance of provisions ; but it is not the England's exiles. 237 consideration either of his merit or demerit, that can war- rantably determine the question of his diet during the voyage to the colonies, but the Jaws of humanity and of England. To those persons, both at home and abroad, who are per- petually exclaiming against the scale according to which convicts are victualled during the passage to the colonies, as being by far too liberal, I should say, these unhappy men are condemned to tt'ansportation, not to Death ! There is no warrant to withhold from them the provision necessary to the preservation of their lives during the voyage. Besides, it is in every point of view most desirable that they should be disembarked in the possession of health, and fit for labour. If the objectors to a suitable and adequate scale of rations desire the death of the convict, that can surely be secured by means far less expensive to the country than the usual pro- vision for a long voyage, and without the professional attend- ance of a medical officer. If their wish be simply to see carried into effect the sentence of the law^ and that in a manner which will be found to accord with the spirit of the law, and the end contemplated by our wise and benevolent legislators ; then let them cherish the desire to see the pri- soners, during the period required for so doing, placed in circumstances most calculated to secure the preservation of their health ; most fitted to enlighten and invigorate their minds, to rectify their principles, to renew their hearts ; and thus be, soul and body, redeemed to society and to God ! I must confess that I do not envy the position of that man who advocates such a treatment of convicts as the law does not authorize, as humanity and Christianity unite to forbid, and which obviously tends to cut short the number of their days ; the position of that man whose sentiments and conduct must be regarded as being adverse to the benignant pro- visions of a paternal Government, whose glory it is to seek, not the destruction, but the reformation and happiness of the most profligate and abandoned in our land. To every enlightened and benevolent mind it cannot fail to be gratifying to observe that, while such punitive measures 238 England's exiles. as receive the united approbation of justice and mercy are adopted in reference to crime, the most wise, salutary, and efficient arrangements and efforts are, at the same time, made with a view to the moral instruction and improvement of the criminal, and his speedy recovery to obedience and to usefulness — to respectability and comfort. It would be well if all those who have it in their power to cause their voice to be heard in public, were to exert their influence to strengthen the hands and encourage the hearts of our rulers in all their virise, benevolent, and scriptural efforts to promote the refor- mation and comfort of the more neglected and depraved portion of the community, instead of doing what they can to hamper and annoy them in their labours of statesman-like philanthropy, and that sometimes on the ground of a paltry question of pounds, shillings, and pence ! It is certain, that all the good men in our land — all who know God and their own hearts — all who have tasted redeeming love, and have been taught to cherish becoming feelings and sentiments in reference to their brethren — even the most depraved and despised amongst them — will readily approve of, and encou- rage, all those wise and seasonable measures of our Govern- ment, which have for their object, not only the prevention of crime, but the reformation of the criminal, and the advance- ment of benevolence, order, and peace, throughout our entire and increasing population. And it will be well for those persons who are in the habit of perpetually starting objections to the disbursements made from the public purse, with a view to the furtherance of objects which every wise and benevolent Government must seek to accomplish, to watch narrowly the spirit, character, and tendency of their opposition ; and to take heed how they embarrass our rulers in their enlightened endeavours to advance the best interests of every class of the community, and thus to promote and secure the prosperity and stability of the Empire. ^"07 THE <» THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETTURN THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY WILL INCREASE TO SO CENTS ON THE FOURTH DAY AND TO $1.00 ON THE SEVENTH DAY OVERDUE. .:1-1934 ^EOOJ-D^ 1951 APR 21 1936 4.