THE passage I have read to you, is a descrip­tion of a storm, and the effects of it, upon the minds of mariners.

I trust I need not make an apology for so fre­quently addressing you upon this affecting subject. The repeated heavy strokes, we have felt, call for our deepest humiliation, and therefore for our frequent meditations upon such awakening providences.

We rejoice, my brethren, to see so many of you returned to us, after all the dangers you have escaped, and when so many of your companions have been swallowed up in the ocean, whose faces we shall see no more, till the sea shall give up the dead that are in it.—We rejoice especially to behold you "in the con­gregation of the people (of God), and in the assembly of the elders." We hope the end of your approach­ing the house of God is "to praise him for his good­ness, [Page 6] for his wonderful works to the children of men, and his providential deliverances of you in particular.

To you especially I address my discourse, and may the Father of mercies grant the desired effect.

"They mount up to heaven; they go down again to the depths; their soul is melted because of trouble."

We who dwell on shore, your fathers, your wives and children, often feel for you in such tempestuous seasons, and make your dangers our own. We are deprived of rest by day, and of sleep by night, and are ready to conclude, that no employment is so la­borious, and no dangers are so great, as those of the the seas; and that, if possible, some other method of subsistence shall be pursued for the future. This, how­ever, is but a conclusion drawn up in haste, without weighing the matter.

There is no calling in life but has its difficulties and troubles. Those on the land complain of the hard­ship of subsisting their families, and will frequently exchange their callings in order to follow the sea. Since the apostacy from God, trials and dangers are necessary for us; and as each occupation has its plea­sures, so each has its sorrows and burdens too. Tho' following the sea has the greatest proportion of danger and sorrow, the wise Ruler of the world has balanced it with (perhaps) greater advantages and pleasures. When the sea-man determines upon his voyage, future troubles, if they enter his mind, leave no more im­pression there, than the ship, in which he fails, does of her path upon the ocean; and he is chearful and gay to a proverb.

With regard to you who are employed in the fishery, [Page 7] a large proportion of your time is spent on shore, and providence gives you the opportunity of rejoicing with your families and friends; an interview, the delights of which are sweetened by absence and long separation from each other.

When the winter is over and gone, weary of an in­active life, and in hopes of sucking of the abundance of the seas, you long to depart. Joy sits upon every countenance at the alacrity with which you exert your­selves in preparing for your voyage; and if heaven smiles upon your undertaking, none have more cause to rejoice than yourselves. A moderate season, a plea­sant sun, and fair winds, hasten your preparation. The time at last arrives, and your wives and children, with tears of tenderness, take their leave. You weigh an­chor, and set sail, while the multitude give you their blessing, and pray for your successful return.

You have now launched forth upon the wide and boisterous ocean, and there is an uncertainty in all worldly affairs, and trouble may come upon you be­fore you are aware.

"The God in whose hand your breath is, and whose are all your ways," has the command of the wind and of the seas. In order to convince men of their dependance on him, he shoots many arrows from his quiver at those who dwell on the land. This you have been most sensibly affected with, when, upon your late return, you found so many of your dear children not only wounded, but slain by them.^*

Storms and tempests are his usual methods of re­proof and punishment to those who do business on the mighty waters. I have observed to you, that my [Page 8] text describes a storm, and shows us how mariners are affected with it. Ah! how altered? we can scarcely believe they are the same men!

Whatever reason may suggest would be the conduct of those who behold the wonders of God in the deep, experience must force us to own the too melancholy truth, that of all men they are most addicted to a con­versation and conduct, which every rational creature ought to avoid as its bane. We are sorry to say, that oaths and profaneness abound among them, which in some is carried to such a length as to place themselves, as it were, in the throne of God, dealing out his judg­ments as though they had "an arm like God, and could thunder with a voice like him."

No wonder the children of such parents imitate their vices, and when they return from their voyages have learnt to curse and damn their younger brothers. These are the youth that are to act upon the stage when we are dead and gone! these are the children that have been given up to God in baptism, and whom their parents have most solemnly vowed, in the pre­sence of God and man, to bring up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord! Oh! publish it not in Gath! proclaim it not in Askelon! blessed be God that this is not more common among us, and that so many of our children remember their creator in the days of their youth.

To return to my text, "They mount up to heaven; they go down again to the depths; their soul is melted because of trouble." The sky, which looked serene and fair, gathers blackness: The winds, which were moderate, rise and blow with violence: The sea, which was as smooth as glass, tosses its waves moun­tains [Page 9] high: The night comes on: The storm increa­ses: The winds rage: The rain beats upon you, and the sea is ready to swallow you up: "you reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man;" "are at your wit's end," and "your souls melt within you because of trouble." Oh! who can describe how great that trouble is? your hearts can paint it in more lively colours than I am capable of. This, however, is ap­parent, that different tempers are affected different ways, according to their peculiar circumstances.

In prosecuting this subject, I shall enumerate some of those troubles, under which your hearts were ready to melt, and then show the improvement you ought to make of these things.

"Doubtless you were not unaffected with the troubles, which you saw your neighbours, your friends and your relations in." Though your own troubles were great, yet when you saw them tossed up to heaven, then sinking into the depths, your hearts were filled with sorrow for them. On one side of you, was a near and dear companion; on the other side, a kind father, or a beloved son; or, it may be, many rela­tions and friends in the same vessel. They put out signals of distress, importuning your assistance, but importuning it in vain. Or they might be so near as to call to you, and in the bitterness of their souls be­seech you, in God's name, and in the name of Christ, to lend them some assistance. Oh save us! we perish! we all perish!—When men are brought into such ex­tremities as these, they seldom think how little their friends are able to do for them; and though they have called in vain, they call again and again, and cannot take a denial! Oh how must your hearts melt within [Page 10] you! how must your bowels yearn towards them—you cry in distress and agony, ‘Behold! they sink! they are gone—gone to the bottom! Lord have mercy on them! Oh! what will become of their poor souls: they are going into the presence of the supreme judge—into his presence, before whom we ourselves may soon appear. The next sea may prove as fatal to us. Oh! what wretches we are? how unfit to appear before the tribunal of God—how unworthy of his mercy?—These (perhaps some of you might have reason to say within your­selves) were our companions in sin: and Oh! what lives have we lived together? how often have we been companions in drunkenness—companions in debauchery—companions in sabbath-breaking, in gaming, and in profane swearing? We have cursed and damned one another, and dared the Almighty to execute his threatened vengeance upon us. Oh! what has become of my companions, and what will become of me?’ In this respect your souls have been ready to melt within you.

Another of you may have thus reflected within him­self: ‘Alas! my child, my dear child, is gone, clean gone for ever! had I set a good example before him, had I instructed him in the principles of the christian religion, and had I prayed to God for him, the circumstances of his death would have been less shocking;’ and we trust, my brethren, that this has been the case with some of you, and that you have good hope and christian consolation in the death of your children; but this is far from being the case with wicked parents of wicked children, (we hope there are but few such.) Oh how must their hearts melt within them, when they are snatched away from [Page 11] their eyes in so sudden a manner! "O my son Absa­lom, my son, my son Absalom; would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!"

"Again, the hearts of others of you were ready to melt within you because of trouble of another kind." It is more than probable that your dangers reminded you of the circumstances of your families at home. Those, whom we tenderly love, are not easily forgot. It is reported of a pirate, that before he would suffer any man, who was so unhappy as to fall into his hands, to be put to death, he first enquired of him, have you a wife or children on shore? if he answered in the af­firmative, I also, says he, with tears in his eyes, have a wife and one dear child, and for their sakes I forgive you, go in peace. If persons of so abandoned a cha­racter are not divested of natural affection, we may with reason expect the most tender emotions in those who have not run to such excess of wickedness. When you were in trouble for yourselves, it is probable, among other things, you were in trouble for your fa­milies. You wished you could have one more inter­view with them. ‘Oh! my dear wife, my dear lit­tle children, that I could but once see you again! never would I grieve my companion by a profane or wicked conduct, but live with her as a joint heir of the grace of life! Oh my dear children, that I could but see you again, to counsel and warn you, to instruct and pray to God for you; but wretch that I am, what will my prayers avail, who have neg­lected this duty all my life long till now that God has over whelmed my soul with sorrow? Oh that my family knew my distress, but I must be snatched from them without an opportunity to take my last [Page 12] farewell! there are but a few hours between me and eternity! may God be a father to my poor father­less children, and a husband to my widow!’—In this respect your souls have been ready to melt within you.

"Again, many of you have been in trouble, more especially for your own souls." When men are in prosperity, they are apt to be forgetful of God. Young persons, in particular, are prone to rejoice in their youth, and to walk after the imagination of their own hearts, and sight of their own eyes. I fear this has been the case with many of you. You have drank in iniquity like water, and tempted your companions to the same conduct, and wondered that they would not "run to the same excess of riot." When you did these things, God kept silence. He did not frown up­on you in his providence; and because sentence was not executed upon you, your hearts were fully set with­in you to do wickedly; but now the voice of this providence to you is this, "thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee", and you are reminded, in a most affecting manner, "that for all these things God will bring you into judgment."

Once you thought the Lord did not see, neither did the God of Jacob regard it. The sins you kept se­cret from men, you vainly imagined were secreted from God also.

Once you thought there was time enough to repent of the follies of youth; and when you were reminded of the uncertainty of life, and certainty of death, and were urged to seek an interest in Christ, your language was, go your way for this time, at a more convenient season I will hear you of this matter.

[Page 13] Christ and all his glories were set before you, and you have often heard it declared in this assembly, from the sacred bible, by the ambassadors of Christ, in a most solemn manner, "he that believeth, and is bap­tised, shall be saved;" and "he that believeth, not, shall be damned;" but neither the hopes of salvation, nor the fears of damnation, made any abiding im­pression on your sinful hearts.

Your parents prayed (we hope) in secret to God for you, and reproved you with tears of pity in their eyes; but you hated instruction, and would none of their reproof. You thought there was no occasion of troubling yourselves about these things, and that you should escape as well as others, though you never se­riously considered how: But now you find your mis­take, and that "it is a most fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

"You mount up to heaven; you go down again to the depths: Your soul is melted because of trouble." Every sea you ship makes your condition more and more dreadful: You throw the vessel up, to the mer­cy of the wind and waves, and let her drive. Oh! the anguish of such poor souls! recollect your own thoughts in such seasons of distress. ‘Oh what a life have I lived? what a poor thoughtless creature have I been? how little value have I set upon my pre­cious and immortal soul? but now, ah now! I see it is of more value than a thousand worlds! Oh that I had but one hour more to live, that I might repent, that I could hear one more gospel sermon, and have one more offer of Christ; but it is too late for me, for my days are near finished, and I am going to give up an account of myself to God—an [Page 14] account of my mispent time—of my abused privi­leges of all my talents! Oh how shall I hold up my head? how shall I meet my judge? how shall I answer him for one of a thousand of my sins, when I stand before his tribunal?’

In this distress and bitterness of soul, you cried unto the Lord. If you never prayed before, you then prayed and cried, and besought the Lord to have mercy upon you, though at the eleventh hour! Jo­nah's mariners, though heathen, called upon their gods; and doubtless you called upon the God of heaven, whom the winds and seas obey; and you called upon him in a most importunate manner.—‘Lord have mercy on us, Lord save us, we perish! Oh spare our lives. We will repent, we will reform, a will forsake our sins! Oh have mercy on us: for Christ's sake, save our souls. Lord Jesus, have mercy on us!’

Well, my brethren, God has delivered you out of all these troubles. When you cried unto him in your troubles, and he brought you out of your distress, "he made the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof were still." Then you were glad, because you were quiet, so he has brought you to your desired haven;" and here you are, this day, present before the Lord, in his house!

Oh look around in this assembly, and see—Oh! where are your companions gone? Where are those who frequented this house of worship? Where are those that were your companions in diversion at home, and afterwards your companions in sorrow and trouble? [Page 15] —^* Upwards of one hundred and fifty of them are gone to their long home, who have left sixty sorrow­ful widows, and one hundred and thirty-three father­less children, many of whom are in want of bread: And it is a day of darkness with us still! We know not, but have reason to fear, that others are added to this number. How affecting is that passage of Isai. v. 25. if applied to our case? "The anger of the Lord is kindled against his people, and he hath stretch­ed forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them; but for all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still!"

You who have returned to us, have more than double reason to remember the dispensations of provi­dence towards this place. Your hearts must still feel the impressions that were made upon them, when you were abroad; and now you are at home, wherever you turn your eyes, you must be reminded of what God has delivered you from. You are in particular this day reminded of all these things—of your dan­gers—of your vows—of the bitterness of your souls, and of the goodness of God in bringing you to your desired haven.

[Page 16] Oh that we could so remind you of these things as to speak not only to your ears, but to your hearts! we would "impart to you, not the gospel of God only, but our own souls." Permit me, on this occa­sion, to use the words of the Apostle, "My little children, we travail in birth again, 'till Christ be formed in your souls." Oh let us not labour in vain, and spend our strength for nought. See therefore those passages of scripture in Jerem. vii. 2, 3. connected with 1 Chron. xxviii. 9. "Hear the word of the Lord, all ye of Judah that enter in at these gates to worship the Lord. Thus faith the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart."—"If thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever."—Oh, therefore, "praise the Lord for his goodness, exalt him in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders."

It is observed in 1 Pet. iii. 19. that Christ "preach­ed to the spirits that were in prison," that is, he preached to those that were then dead, by Noah, whom he inspired to be a preacher of righteousness, giving warning to the old world of the judgments of God that were approaching. You may remember, that, in my farewell discourse to you, I had such a passage as this: ‘You are now upon a dangerous voyage. God only knows who of you will ever return.—Your wives may soon become widows, and your children, fatherless. Should this be the case, it would not be uncommon. We hope for the best, but prepare yourselves for the worst. As soon for­get [Page 17] your compass as your bible. It will direct you to Christ. It is Christ that is the propitiation for sin. It must be Christ in you, the hope of glory.’

Many of those, to whom these words were addressed, are now dead and gone—gone to the world of spirits, and they know the vast importance of an interest in the Redeemer's purchase; and was it possible for the dead to preach to the living, they would declare to you, that without an interest in Christ you are eter­nally undone! and oh how importunate would they be with you, to embrace the gospel offers of Christ, who giveth eternal life to as many as believe! You will find the gospel as true, as tho' your friends arose from the dead, appeared in this assembly, and preach­ed it to you. Suffer me then to urge your acceptance of an offered Saviour: accept of him as your prophet, as your priest, and as your king. The well being of your souls for a vast eternity depends upon this. Oh think not that, as your dangers are over and past, you may be as thoughtless and secure as ever; for the time may come, when that dreadful threatening, Prov. i. 24. and onwards, may be executed upon you: "Because I have called, and ye have refused, I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at nought my council, and would none of my reproof; I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction as a whirl­wind; when distress and anguish come upon you, then shall ye call upon me, but I will not answer; ye shall seek me early, but ye shall not find me."

Connected with faith in Christ, is a reformation of life. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:" [Page 18] And have you not resolved, and this with tears and vows, that you would reform and live as new men? Perform now unto the Lord your vows—the vows and promises you made when your souls were melted with sorrow. If you forget them, God will not for­get, for they are all wrote down in his book—in that book which will be opened, when the dead, small and great, shall stand before God, and be judged out of those things which are written in the books according to their works.

I know, my brethren, the temptations you labour under. Should you but mention it to your compa­nions, that you intend for the future to live soberly, righteously and godly, in this present evil world, they would laugh you to scorn, and you would have a trial of cruel mocking; for if they called the master of the house Belzebub, much more those of his houshold. But though you may be derided as religious fools, we hope you will disdain their frowns. A companion of, fools shall be destroyed. "Oh my soul, come not thou into their secret; mine honor, unto their assem­bly be not thou united."

We hope we shall hear no more cursing or profane­ness, from your mouths; but that you will rather re­prove those, whose tongues are "full of deadly poi­son," who, when they "bless God, even the father, curse men who are made after the similitude of God."

Instead of spending your time in those unmanly games, which disgrace our children in the streets, we trust you will be seriously concerned for the salvation of your souls.

[Page 19] Live with your companions as joint heirs of the grace of life. Worship God in your houses, and bring up your children in the fear of God, instructing them in the doctrines of the gospel, praying to God for them, and setting a good example before them; and may God grant, you and them, his salvation.

All in this assembly, both husbands and wives, pa­rents and children, masters and servants, ought to make a suitable improvement of these dispensations of di­vine providence. We have, all of us, to perform the voyage of life. We have embarked, weighed anchor, and set sail, and are bound to eternity. We are ex­posed to rocks and to quicksands, to storms and tem­pests. God grant that none of us make shipwreck of a good conscience, left we suffer the loss, not of our lives only, but of our souls.

We trust you will be as pilots to your brethren, who, though they have escaped destruction by the storms at sea, are exposed to another kind of storm,—to a storm of temptation. You will caution them against their danger; you will councel, advise and assist them.

The widows and children of those, whose husbands and fathers have literally suffered shipwreck, are not insensible of your kindness, in your intended liberality to them, this day. They will rise up and call you blessed. It is not to them, alone, you give; it is to the father of the fatherless, to the husband and judge of the widow. Humility indeed is afraid to indulge the thought! "When saw I thee hungry or thirsty, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and ministred unto thee?" To whom our Lord replies, Inasmuch as ye [Page 20] have done it to one of the lest of these my disciples, ye have done it unto me." The mite of a poor wi­dow shall be remembered to the end of the world, and "a cup of cold water only, given to a disciple, in the name of a disciple, shall not lose its reward."

The losses you have sustained, I know, are heavy; the town having suffered £. 12-944-1-6, besides what has been added since this account was taken; but you will remember what the Apostle says to the Corinthi­ans, 2 Cor. viii. 1. when he was forwarding a con­tribution for the poor Christians of Judea: He recom­mends to them, the example of the Macedonians, in these words: "Brethren, we do you to wit, (or we inform you,) of the grace of God, bestowed on the churches of Macedonia; how that, in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty, abounded unto the riches of their liberality, for unto their power, (I bear record) yea, and beyond their power, they were willing of themselves"—wil­ling to do the most generous things for the good of their fellow christians in want—willing without in­treaties and importunity. Let us remember that "he who soweth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly; and he who soweth bountifully, shall reap also boun­tifully."

We hope, brethren, that your zeal will provoke very many, when our circumstances are more gene­rally known. Contributions in the churches were common even in the days of the Apostles. "Touch­ing ministring to the saints, it is superfluous, says he, for me to write to you. I shall not attempt to excite you to forward this, for I know the readiness of your minds.

[Page 21] May God humble us under the heavy strokes of his providence. We have been a most provoking peo­ple. May we be so humbled under his mighty hand, that "in his own due time we may be exalted."—Whatever our outward circumstances are, happy shall we be, if we fly to the hope set before us in the gos­pel, which, as in Heb. vi. 19, with which I conclude, "is as an anchor to the soul, both sure and steadfast, entering into that within the vail."