^■ fa „ 
 
 - \ ' |\/T ■ - 
 
 THE SAILOR’j^ SARBATH; 
 
 ^ OR 
 
 A WORD FROM A FRIEND TO SEAMEN. 
 
 a^onolulu, ©alju: 
 
 FUBLISHEI) BY THE HAWAIIAN TRACT SOCIETY. 
 
 1846 . 
 
THE SAILOR’S SABBATH. 
 
 It is a bright feature of the present age, that truth, 
 philanthropy and love, are extending their influences to 
 ail classes of men. Amonij the many objects ofbenevo=' 
 lent interest the seaman is not forgotten. His temporal 
 and eternal wants have found a place in the hearts of the 
 good. .4n earnest desire is enkindled in the souls of 
 Christians, to promote the happiness of his whole being— 
 physical, civil, social, intellectual and moral. 
 
 This is true of those who ride upon the mountain bil¬ 
 low, and brave the loud tem[)est of mid-ocean; of those 
 who plow the bosom of inland seas, or thread the sinuous 
 coast; and also of those who glide along the more quiet 
 waters of rivers and canals To thi- class of men, and 
 more especially to those connected with the Whaling ser¬ 
 vice and their friends, the writer would address a few 
 remarks. 
 
 Having been, for more than 20 years, conversant with 
 this vigorous and enterprising portion of our race, he is 
 hsppy lo say that, among the numerous sons of the deep, 
 there are not a few of enlightened, elevated, noble and 
 generous minds, as well as many sincere Christians. 
 Still, it is an undeniable and an affecting fact, that the 
 great mass of seafaring men, are very far from that high 
 standard of excellence, both moral and intellectual, which 
 they might attain. Such improvement and elevation of 
 character as we desire, would carry in it a double bless¬ 
 ing; for while it inspired in the sailor self-respect, and 
 clothed him with respectability—while it augmented his 
 happiness in time, and prepared him for a bright immor¬ 
 tality, it would also convert him into a friend, a benefac¬ 
 tor, and an angel of light to the nations. 
 
 Notwithstanding all that oratory and poetry have said 
 and sung of the generous and splendid qualities of the 
 sailor, still such eulogies must be received with much 
 abatement. There is more of fiction, flattery and ro¬ 
 mance, than of sober iruih in them. Jack, after all, has 
 
2 
 
 THE SAILOll’s SABBATH. 
 
 wandered far from his home and his God The winds of 
 temptation, like a pressing tempest, have driven him wide 
 from a heavenward course, and the currents of passion 
 have carried him far from tlie haven of peace. 1 he ocean 
 is covered with iwrec/cs—not o( ships, but of men—of men 
 who have broken the ties of country and of kindred ot 
 sons who have sundered the strong cords of a mothers 
 
 soul_ nf brothers who have crushed a tender sister s heart 
 
 —o(husbands who have wantonly violated the most sacred 
 coniucral vows—of citizens who have trampled on the ob¬ 
 ligations of allegiance, quenched the fires of patriotism, 
 and plunged into folly and crime. And now, impelled by 
 fear or shame; by remorse or revenge; by desperation 
 or reckless daring, they have left their native shores, 
 hopin.r to bury their crimes and their names in the vast 
 and pmfound solitudes of ocean, or forget themse ves 
 amidst the strangeness and the bustle of distant realms. 
 In this catalogue mav be found many a once fair profes¬ 
 sor of reli<non, who has violated the most solemn covenant 
 vows evei^vitnessed and recorded by High Heaven, and 
 who is now plunging deeper into sin, and hurrying on to 
 a more fearful doom than the dark-souled pagan. This 
 picture, of course, applies to a portion only of seafaring 
 men* but the great mass need reformation on certain im¬ 
 portant points connected with morality. Among the 
 Inany which might be named, the only one novv selected 
 as the subject of this essay, is. The violation of the Lord s 
 Day by Seamen generally; but more espec.ally by those con¬ 
 nected, directly or remotely, with the Whaling service. 
 
 It were easy to show from all history, liorn observa¬ 
 tion, and from innumerable/acts, that the highest state of 
 civilization, refinement, enterprise, intelligence and tem¬ 
 poral prosperity, can never exist without the Sabbath. 
 And the world may be challenged to produce a single in¬ 
 stance of a nation, either ancient or modern, which has, 
 without a Sabbath, maintained a pure and unsullied virtue, 
 a sound and vigorous morality, and a spiritual and hea¬ 
 venly religion. Among all nations, and in a 1 time public 
 and'private virtue, and “pure and undefiled religion, 
 have flourished or declined as the Sabbath has been sa¬ 
 credly kept or wantonly desecrated. Whoever, there¬ 
 fore shall throw his whole influence on the side of a 
 prop’er observance of this sacred day, will be a friend 
 and a benefactor of mankind; and he who throws his in- 
 
THE sailor’s sabbath. 3 
 
 fluence into the opposite scale, is a practical enemy to 
 his race. 
 
 We will now proceed to apply these r'^niarks by an 
 appeal to that class of men who are engaged or interested 
 in a seafaring life, especially to those connected with the 
 whaling service. 
 
 I. Oiir first inquiry is, Why do ships so of ten have port 
 on the Lord's Day '? 
 
 It has been said—and probably with truth—that more 
 ships leave port on the Sabbath than on any other day of 
 the week. Now why is this ? Does it merely happen! 
 or is it done through carelessness and want of consider¬ 
 ation ? Is it done to pain the hearts of a Sabbath keeping 
 community, and to insult the -‘Lord of the Sabbath?” 
 Or do the breezes of heaven blow moi e favorably and more 
 wooingly on that hallowed day? Are seamen in haste to 
 leave parents, brothers, sisters, wives, children and com¬ 
 panions? Do they feel imiiatient of one day’s delay amidst 
 sanctuaries, and Christian privileges, and the cherished 
 scenes of a loved land? Or do they esteem it an act of 
 pious atid exhilirating devotion, to spread their while can¬ 
 vas to the winds of heaven, and to move forth upon the 
 bosom of the great deep amidst the chime of church going 
 bells, the solemn peals of the organ, and the glad anthems 
 of the saints? But how often have these slighted melodies 
 been the prelude to the mariner’s death knell! How often 
 have they but a little preceded the funeral dirge which 
 the howling winds have swept over the sailor’s watery 
 grave! And what assurance has the seaman who thus 
 launches forth upon the stoimy sea, to pursue his wordly 
 schemes, in open disregard of the command, “ Remember 
 the Sabbath day to keep it holy,” that he will ever again 
 enter the hallowed precincts of the sanctuary, or hear 
 any more the voice of the messenger of peace? 
 
 Again we ask; and why does the mariner leave a peace¬ 
 ful port on the Lord’s Day ? Does he flatter himself that 
 it will be approved or overlooked by Him who has com¬ 
 manded us to keen this day holy? “The winds and the 
 sea obey ” the Sabbath’s Lord, and why not man for whom 
 the Sabbath wa.-. made—who was created in the image of 
 the Eternal, endowed with reason, loaded with favors, 
 and invested with the prerogatives of immortality? Why 
 should a dependent creature disregard the will of his pro¬ 
 tector and benefactor, or cfTeud that “God in whose hand 
 
4 
 
 THE sailor’s sabbath. 
 
 his breath is?” or provoke that power on whose fiat hangs 
 all destiny? or rush upon tlie hiuh helmet of Him “ Who 
 rides and thunders through the skyV’ It cannot be that 
 seamen are under the intluence of that false and foolish 
 proverb, The better tlie day the better the deed!" 
 
 One says, that “ Bv d^elaying we may lose a fair wind.” 
 True—and it is equally true that you may not. Some¬ 
 times you will lose and at other limes you will gain a fair 
 wind by a few day’s delay. Shi()3 often beat out of port 
 on the Lord’s Day, against a head wind, and sometimes 
 they are towed (»ut by three, four or five boats, in a dead 
 calm, when, had they remained quietly in port, a fair and 
 favoring breeze would have carried them out on Monday. 
 
 Another says, “One day’s delay may make a great 
 difference in our voyage.” True —and this difference 
 may be for the better or it may be for the worse. One 
 day earlier may greatly expedite a voyage by securing a 
 good wind and fair weather, or it may lead into a calm, or 
 drive your ship into a storm which shall shatter her and 
 hurry all on board into a watery tomb. These are all 
 contingencies with which we have nothing to do, and on 
 which true philosophy and true faith will not speculate. 
 All that c mcerns us is to do right, and in doing this we 
 need fear no evil. 
 
 “ But,” says one, “ We must sail when we are ready. 
 We should lie blamed for lying in port after the ship is 
 ready for sea.” Now this, in most cases, is a mere sub¬ 
 terfuge—especiallv where whalers go into port for re¬ 
 freshments. Whale ships lie in port from one to four 
 weeks, according to the pleasure of the master—the term 
 may be prolonged or shortened at his discretion—and he 
 may, usually, fix on any day he chooses in the week for 
 sailing, without fear of being called to account for stop¬ 
 ping one day too long. This then, as every one knows, 
 is not the difficulty. 
 
 Among a certain class of men there is a strange and 
 unaccountable rage for sailing on the Lord’s day. This 
 rage—to say nothing of its immorality—is often ridicu¬ 
 lous. For example. A ship is about ready to sail on 
 Friday; but “ Friday is an unlucky day,’’ and no prudent 
 mariner—vvho would nail a horse s/ioe to his main-mast or 
 in his cabin, “to keep the witches off”—would think of 
 sailing on that day ; as there are more tales of hurricanes, 
 .shipwrecks, and disasterous voyages, in consequence of 
 
6 
 
 THE sailor’s sabbath. 
 
 leaving port on Friday, than of all the ghosts and witch¬ 
 craft ot New England. And now, as llie bud day” must 
 be passed in port, and as “ Sunday is the most fortunate 
 day lor sailing;” and moreover, as “one day will not 
 make much dili’erence in a long voyage,” Jack is allowed 
 to take things easily, while “ the Old Man” spends Satur¬ 
 day in making calls,. bidding larewells, and “doing up 
 last things,” ready to sail “early Sunday morning.” 
 
 Should the tables turn, however, and should any delay 
 or disappointment in business make it difficult to be ready 
 for sea on the Lord’s Day, then every nerve is strained 
 to its utmost tension. Jack is at work early and late— 
 all is hurry and confusion—little things are left undone— 
 ship-stores, freight, etc., are thrown pell-mell into the 
 hold and on deck—the sailor or the passenger must take 
 his linen wet from the tub of his washer-woman, or leave 
 it behind; and sometimes the poor laundress is “left in 
 the lurch” without her hard-earned wages, and “ the ship 
 must go to sea,” as if the salvation of a world depended 
 on her s iling on this day. This practice is, however, 
 less prevalent than formerly. Many noble-minded and 
 conscientious ship masters are setting a better example. 
 May all soon follow it. 
 
 II. Our second inquiry is, 'Do oivners of whale ships 
 know that their vessels whale on the Lord's Dayl 
 
 It has been said that they do; and not only so, but that 
 they approve of and expect it. And, furthermore, it is 
 affirmed by many, that they absolutely require it as one of 
 the conditions on which they give their ships to their 
 commanders. It is also said, that many of these ship 
 owners are members of evangelical churches in Nan¬ 
 tucket, New Bedford, Fair Haven, New'London, Warren, 
 Newport, and other places. Some owners it is said, say 
 nothing to their captains on the subject, and if their ships 
 do but return full no inquiries are made how or on what 
 days the oil was obtained. Now and then a shrewd 
 Yankee Captain “ guesses that his pious owners have no 
 objections to his taking oil u'hen he can gel it.” A full 
 ship fills the heart with joy, and lights up the countenance 
 with an approving and benignant smile; while a half-filled 
 ship often clouds the. brow, excites the spleen, fills the 
 biliary ducts, and distuibs the loyful and generous action 
 of the heart. Especially would this be so, had the :rew 
 of the half-filled ship been permitted to rest one day in 
 seven, “ according to the commandment.” 
 
 1 * 
 
6 
 
 THE sailor’s sabbath. 
 
 On land, “the man-servant and the maid servant, the 
 ox and the ass,” may rest on the Sabbath. But other 
 laws prevail on the sea. Here all the servants of Mam¬ 
 mon—animate and inanimate—agents and instruments— 
 must work whenever the master calls. The head, the 
 heart, the lungs, the bones, sinews and muscles; together 
 with the ships, boats, oars, harpoons, lines, lances, s[)ades, 
 caldron, fuel, every thing, must be taxed in the all-absorb¬ 
 ing eflbrt to secure a little filthy lucre on the Lord’s Day. 
 Were our whaling masters and officers all open and 
 avowed infidels, then this course would be consistent with 
 their principles. But how shall we reconcile it with the 
 principles ol those who profess to believe the Scriptures, 
 and especiallv vvith professors of religion? No wonder 
 that the scofier scoffs, and the keen-eyed sce|)tic thinks 
 he sees insincerity, inconsistency, if not a little spice of 
 infidelity in these professors. 
 
 Occasionally a master, an officer or a sailor, hints that 
 he would be glad to rest on the Sabbath according to the 
 dictates of his conscience; Imt this he may not do but at 
 the risk of losing fiis ship and being thrown out of em¬ 
 ployment. When masters !ind officers are reasoned with 
 on this subject, most of them will frankly acknowledge 
 that the practice is wrong, and uttei ly indefensible on all 
 moral principles. “ But,” say they “ our owners are in 
 the fault, you should begin with them, they can stop it if 
 they will.” Very well. We have begun with tlie owners, 
 just as we are told to do; but this very advice of masters 
 and seamen reminds us of a principle of our depraved 
 natures, viz; a disposition to excuse or to palliate our 
 crimes by casting the blame on others. When our first 
 parents fell, Adam threw the .sin upon Eve, and she, in 
 her turn, reproached the serpent as the author of her 
 transgression; bui the poor devil had no one on whom to 
 lay his load. The same principle still holds true after a 
 lapse of near 6.000 years—consequently, when the sailor 
 is charged'with deliberate Sal)bath breaking, he throws 
 the blame upon the master and officers, and they turn it 
 over upon the owners; and the question now arises, on 
 whom will the owners throw their responsibility? 
 
 But perhaps these owners, at least the religious part of 
 them, are slandered by those in their employ This, 
 surely, is possible, as ii is a part of the legacy of the pious 
 that “their names shall be cast out as evil.” Moreover, 
 
1 
 
 THE sailor’s sabbath. 
 
 those who are caught in bad business will oAen manage 
 to transfer their guilt to others rather than bear it them¬ 
 selves, or relieve themselves of the load by reformation. 
 Should any ship owner feel that an evil and groundless 
 report has been raised against him, he will find it easy to 
 refute it by taking all proper measures to prevent his ships 
 from whaling, &c. on the Lord’s Day, and by securing 
 to all in his employ the privilege, at least', of " remember¬ 
 ing the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” And may God 
 speed all those who honestly set their hearts to this good 
 work. 
 
 III. Our next inquiry is. Do professors of religion en¬ 
 gage in Sabbalh Whaling 1 
 
 It is truly giatilying to know that there are pious ship 
 masters, both in the whaling and the merchant service, 
 who make it a rule never to leave port or to do any un¬ 
 necessary business on the Lord’s Day. There are a few 
 whale ships whose boats are never lowered to pursue the 
 leviathans of the deep on the Sabbath. No “ look out” is 
 kept “ at masthead,” and no man on board is compelled 
 to break the laws of his maker. These are bright spots 
 upon a dark ocean. They are cheering stars in the sea¬ 
 man’s lowering firmament. They are'heralds and har¬ 
 bingers of day to the benighted and tempest-driven mari¬ 
 ner. To such masters, and to all who co-operate with 
 them, we would say: 
 
 “ Launch thy hark, mariner— 
 
 Chiastian, God speed thee— 
 
 Lei loose the rudder band— 
 
 Good angels lead thee.” 
 
 But, on the other hand, it is painful to see a class of 
 masters, < fficers and seamen "who are professors of the 
 religion ol the Lord Jesus, and yet, who do not scruple to 
 violate the sacred laws of the Sabbath by engaging in one 
 of the most arduous and perilous of enterprises; and this 
 too with no better excuse than the love of gain. And, 
 what is mure painful still, some of these professedly pious 
 gentlemen, defend this wicked practice with a tenacious 
 stubborness—and sometimes bitlerness even—such as is 
 rarely seen among those who make no pretensions to 
 piety. Some will even go so far as to say, “ It is as much 
 our duty to whale on Sunday as to pray or read our 
 Bibles.” Such expressions mark an obtuseness of moral 
 perceptions, or a perverseness of heart not a little shock- 
 
8 
 
 THE sailor’s sabbath. 
 
 ing to Christians of tender consciences. Nor will such 
 remarks ever fall from the lij)s of one who “ sets God 
 always before him,” and who lives each day in readiness 
 to meet the Son of Man. Should the messenger of death 
 enter the ship on the Sabbath, what reflecting seaman 
 would not prefer to meet him with his Bible in his hand, 
 or on his knees, rather than be overtaken by him while 
 pursuing his mighty prey upon the bosom of the deep, 
 only to be hurried headlong and quivering before his 
 Judge by the flukes or the jaws of this mad leviathan? 
 “ Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when he cometh, 
 shall tind watching.” 
 
 Some professedly pious captains, in order, perhaps, to 
 hush the upbraidings of conscience, altetnpt a soiT of 
 compromise witli their Maker, by laboring so to reconcile 
 “ God and Mammon” as to be able to serve both. This 
 class w'ill agree to “ do no unnecessary work on the Sab¬ 
 bath,” provided their own interested feelings, and the 
 customs of worldly men may determine what is and what 
 is not necessary, without reference to the word of God. 
 Of course, all such will decide at once, and as by intu¬ 
 ition, that Sabbath whaling is a ipork of necessity. Others 
 go still farther. They will consent to be very pious and 
 hold religious meetings on the Sabbath, w^heiv tehrf, are 
 NO whales. Of course they always keep,a man at “ mast¬ 
 head,” on the “ look out” for the oil of joy to the whale¬ 
 man, while the rest look up for “an unction from the 
 Holy One,”—or, in other words, one man looks out for 
 Worldly, while the rest look up for heavenly good. Now, 
 should it so happen, that the prayer of this mast-head 
 MINISTER should be first granted, by “ raising a whale” 
 during Divine service, and should he, from his lofty pul¬ 
 pit, cry out “There she blows!” then what a thrill of 
 joy electrifies all his hearers! How soon the lesser desire 
 yields to the greater! How quick and how thrilling the 
 response from the quarter, “ Where away! Lower the 
 boats! Bear-a-hand boys!” Now the scene changes. 
 Devotion does not cease, but it is turned [oto another chan¬ 
 nel. Prayer, reading, sacred melody, exhortation—all 
 give place to the loeightier matter of pursuing this MOV¬ 
 ING SEA GOD! The object of devotion thus changed, 
 interest, zeal, fervor, energy, are all quickened and strong¬ 
 ly developed. 
 
 True, most irreligious men ridicule this kind of piety, 
 
the’sailor’s sabbath. 
 
 9 
 
 and heartily despise its selfishness and inconsistency. 
 Still, this pious Sabbath whaler, defends his position by 
 saying “ Christians must expect to be persecuted for 
 righteousness’ sake. The wicked are always watching 
 professors of religion and sporting with their faults.” 
 Very well. If these religious Sabbath breakers are sure 
 that they are serving God by whaling on his holy day, 
 then let them take courage in spite of the scoffs and sneers 
 of the wicked world, for Christ has said to his disciples, 
 “Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and perse¬ 
 cute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you 
 falsely, for my sake.” 
 
 Lord’s Day whalemen often complain that it is hard to 
 maintain religion, and especially so, to keep up Divine 
 service at sea. No douht it is hard, and perhaps it is 
 impossible to exercise true religion in connection with 
 Sabbath breaking. The two cannot be reconciled. “No 
 man can serve two masters. Ye cannot serve God and 
 Mammon ” 
 
 « 
 
 A clergyman was once invited to preach on board a 
 whale ship. The hour for service having arrived, Capt. 
 
 -said to the officer of the deck, “ Mr. -call all 
 
 hands aft.” The crew were soon assembled in the cabin. 
 An “ old salt” remaining behind, the Captain inquired, 
 
 “Where is S-?” “Down in the hold, sir—says he 
 
 won’t come to meeting, sir?” He was then called again, 
 but to no effect. He had gone down into the blubber 
 hold, and entrenched himself, like a giant in his castle, 
 or a lion in his lair. He was reasoned with, but all to 
 no purpose. He refused to be routed. In his den he 
 sat—and in his den he growled defiance—“ I won't come 
 up.” On this the officer left him and reported to the 
 captain. 
 
 The clergyman now asked liberty to go himself and in¬ 
 vite the old man in the blubber hold. This granted, he 
 proceeded to the hatchway and kindly invited the iron- 
 hearted tar to come up and attend service. For a mo¬ 
 ment the old man was silent, but it was only the silence 
 of a dark cloud while it gathers strength for a burst and 
 a roar. At length he raised his stern brow, and with a 
 look of defiance brawled out, JYo! I won't go!” A 
 gentle effort was then made to soften his rigid nerves, but 
 Jack was not to be taken either by storm or stratagem. 
 Again he roared out, “i tell you no! I won't go there!” 
 
THE sailor’s sabbath, 
 
 io 
 
 On being asked the reasons for his prejudice against re-” 
 ligious services, he again thundered out—“ I don’t want 
 
 any of Captain -’s religion! One Sunday it is all 
 
 preach and pray, and the next Sunday it is work! work! 
 catch lohttles! catch whales! I tell you I don’t want any 
 $uch religioiu JYo! I ivon't go aft to meetin’, and that’s all 
 about it!” The result of this interview was reported to 
 the captain, the services proceeded, and old Jack remain¬ 
 ed in the blubber room. 
 
 IV. Our next inquiry is. Do Clergymen in sea ports 
 and Seamen's Chaplains preach against Sabbath Whaling! 
 
 But why ask this question? Surely the ambassador of 
 Christ will not fail “ to declare the whole counsel of 
 God.” Surely the herald of Heaven will keep back no 
 part of his message. Surely the watchman on the ram¬ 
 parts of Zion, will sound the trump of alarm on the ap¬ 
 proach of danger. Surely the mariner’s friend will not 
 fail to lift his warning voice above the roar of the ocean, 
 when he sees whole fleets steering for a deadly reef, or 
 driving into foaming breakers. Surely he will not suf¬ 
 fer the blood of the lost sailor to be required at his hands. 
 Still, it is possible, that through inattention to this sub¬ 
 ject, or through the unconscious influence of false maxims 
 and customs, some, otherwise faithful ministers of the 
 Lord Jesus, may have failed to discharge their whole duty 
 to this class of Sabbath breakers. Probably many good 
 saainisters of the Gospel are not at all aw'are how exten¬ 
 sively—how nearly universally the Sabbath is desecrated 
 by whalemen. 
 
 But, we ask again, do ministers who are called to 
 preach to ship owners and seafaring men, labor to en¬ 
 lighten and reform them on this subject? 
 
 Very many masters, officers and seamen, assert that 
 they never heard a minister preach against Sabbath 
 whaling until they came to the Sandwich Islands; and 
 Eome have even intimated that a clergyman who should 
 be faithful in reproving for this sin, would not stop hng 
 in New Bedford, Nantucket, &.c. Many seamen acknow¬ 
 ledge the practice to be wrong, and express surprise that 
 chaplains and other ministers in sea ports do not labor to 
 break it up. Some who were members of evangelical 
 churches in the United States, have declared to the writer, 
 that their pastors, when questioned as to the morality of 
 Sabbath whaling, have expressed the opinion that, “/rom 
 
THE sailor’s sabbath. 
 
 11 
 
 the peculiarity of the circumstances, it might be right for 
 them to pursue this business on the Lord’s Day!” This 
 amounted to practical advice, and greatly soothed the 
 
 troubled consciences of the pious sailors. ^ 
 
 Not long since an article appeared in a Seaman s Jour¬ 
 nal, purpoTfing to be an extract from the sermon of a 
 seamen’s chaplain, in which the sailor is taught that it is 
 his duty to whale on the Sabbath should his captain com¬ 
 mand it; and that he need not suffer his conscience to be 
 troubled about it; that the master of the ship takes the 
 responsibility, &.c. &.c. I? this dealing faithfully with 
 men’s consciencesr Does it, like the Bible, press every 
 man with his individual and untransferable responsibility ? 
 Will it lead each man to feel the eternal, the immutable 
 truth, that he “ must give account of himself to God "—that 
 he must stand or fall to a greater than his earthly mas¬ 
 ter? Does it not look too much like “ daubing with un¬ 
 tempered mortar”—like preaching “ smooth things —— 
 like seeking to please, or fearing to displease men and 
 like “crying peace when there is no peace? 
 
 But, perhaps, some of these ministers are slandered by 
 seamen. Transgressors are ever seeking excuses or pal¬ 
 liations for their sins, and they feel ill at ease till they can 
 persuade themselves or others, that some at least who ars 
 called good men, either practice as they do, or approve 
 of their conduct. Many fearless and faithful ministers, 
 and many editors of Christian journals, are not aware of 
 the painful extent to which the sailor is deprived of his 
 Sabbath, nor of the fearful and wide-spread moral evils 
 which flow from the desecration of this sacred day by thiB 
 
 class of men. . 
 
 Were their attention once turned to the subject, and a 
 sufficient array of facts brought before their minds, they 
 would, at once, speak out in tones which should arouse 
 a community which has too long slumbered over the im¬ 
 measurable interests of seamen. The sailor needs a 
 Sabbath. His whole nature—physical, social, intellectual 
 and moral, needs it; and every true friend philanthro¬ 
 pist, minister and Christian, will rejoice to see this boon 
 of Heaven restored to him. 
 
 When the pulpit and the press in our sea ports shall 
 become the trumpet of Jehovah, sounding forth the high 
 sanctions of the Sabbath, and kindly calling on all th© 
 weary and storm-rocked sons of ocean, to rest from their 
 
THE sailor’s sabbath. 
 
 i2 
 
 iotls on that holy day, and to worship and adore Him who 
 made the deep and the dry land, then may we hope that 
 the time hastens when “ the abundance of the sea shall 
 be converted to God.” Then may we look for the day 
 when the peaceful Sabbath sun, as it gilds with golden 
 glory the ocean’s horizon, shall be joyfully hailed by ten- 
 thousands of happy seamen; and when the glad anthem 
 of praise shall, like an incense cloud, roll upward from 
 the bosom of every ocean and sea and navigable water of 
 the world. 
 
 V, We now ask, Do Churches discipline their members 
 for tvhaling, Sfc. on the Sabbath'? 
 
 By the arrangement of Christ, and by the common 
 consent of Christendom, ministers of the Gospel and 
 Christian churches, are the public and practical expoun¬ 
 ders of the Word of God. It follows, of course, that the 
 doctrines and practices of the great mass of Christian 
 professors, will form the standard of morals, and furnish 
 the code of appeal among men. Consequently, if a mis¬ 
 take be made, an error propagated, or a vice practised 
 by Christians generally, this mistake, this error, or this 
 vice, will be viewed as harmless, adopted without scruple, 
 and practised without compunction by mankind. For il¬ 
 lustration of this statement we need only refer to the for¬ 
 mer views and practices of Christians in relation to 
 spirituous liquors, slavery, war, etc. 
 
 The world will slumber over any cherished sin so long 
 as ministers of the Gospel and Christian churches slum¬ 
 ber over it. The world will call darkness light, bitter 
 sweet, and evil good, so long as ministers and churches 
 do not, in doctrine, discipline, and life, contradict them. 
 
 Now the command, “ Remember the Sabbath day to 
 keep it holy,” is just as clear and just as binding as any 
 other law of the decalogue; and its violation has called 
 down as severe and terrible retribution on individuals 
 and on nations as the violation of any other command of 
 Jehovah. How then can a ship master, an officer or a 
 common seaman, who no more scruples to whale on the 
 Lord’s Day than to eat his daily food, be esteemed a 
 member of an evangelical church, and receive a certi¬ 
 ficate to that effect from his nastor? If we are to take 
 the Bible, and not the maxims and customs of men, for 
 our rule of fa.th, and our standard of morality, we might 
 as well certify that the man who steals or commits adul- 
 
’i'HE SAILOR^S SABBATH. 
 
 13 
 
 •iery, is in good and regular standing in the church of 
 Christj as the professor who thus wilfully, deliberately, 
 and constantly tramples on the Sabbath. The same God 
 who says, “Thou shalt not steal,” &c., says also, “Re¬ 
 member the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” Traditions, 
 maxims, customs, prejudices, doctrines and speculations 
 of men, do not change the immutable and immaculate 
 laws of Heaven. Should any church in a Christian land 
 allow its members to engage, on the Sabbath, in agricul¬ 
 ture, manufactures or traffic, as on other days of the week 
 —or to jish even, on the rivers, lakes and shores of the 
 country, that church would soon become a taunt and a 
 proverb, an execration and a derision among men. What 
 then is the difference in the morality of the thing, and 
 what shields the professor from censure, when the same 
 worldly, money-seeking passion, is indulged on ^broader 
 settle upon the wide ocean? 
 
 The missionary church, just gathered from heathenism, 
 would be looked upon as a burlesque and a scandal upon 
 the Christian name, were its members allowed, without 
 rebuke, to sail their canoes, drag their nets, and ply their 
 fishing tackle on the Lord’s Day. And yet the plea of 
 necessity, were it to be admitted at all, would be much 
 more plausible here than in the case of the whalemen. 
 No, every one knows that it is not right to pui’sue this bu¬ 
 siness as it is pursued by most whalers, whether professors 
 or non-professors. 
 
 And this evil is not confined, in its influences, to 
 churches in Christian lands. Its unhappy effects are 
 also felt on heathen shores. Take, for instance, the 
 Hawaiian Islands. These are visited annually by 200 or 
 300 whale ships, most of whose masters wish to ship more 
 or less natives in the service. Consequently, not a few 
 of the church members are, by the hope of gain, lured to 
 embark in an enterprise where the law of Jehovah has 
 less practical influence over the mind than the love of 
 money. This often brings the pastor into painful collis¬ 
 ion with ship masters and other interested persons, as, 
 from a sense of duty he cannot, and dare not neglect to 
 teach his flock the sin of engaging in a business in which 
 they will be driven to desecrate God’s holy day. 
 
 Nor does the evil stop here. Church members who 
 are thus enticed to violate their solemn vows—by labor¬ 
 ing on the Lord’s Day—must be cut off from our fellow- 
 2 
 
14 
 
 THE sailor’s sabbath. 
 
 ship, while many of their employers from enlightened and 
 Christian lands, are suffered to remain in regular stand- 
 ing, and, so far as we can learn, unrebuked in their re¬ 
 spective churches. Ought these things so to be? Is this 
 setting a good or a bad example before these feeble, infant 
 churches, just emerged from the ruins of heathenism? Is 
 this encouraging or opposing the efforts of the benevolent 
 to evangelize and bless the benighted pagan? Is this 
 pleasing to God, the Judge of all ? Is it right or is it 
 wrong ? Let the candid and the upright answer. 
 
 Were the whaling business conducted on Christian, 
 and liberal principles, many of the best and most consci¬ 
 entious young men would be encouraged to ship in the 
 service, thus gaining for themselves an honest and com¬ 
 petent support, while they benefited their employers. 
 But, as the enterprise is now conducted, sincere Chris¬ 
 tians, who have been faithfully instructed, and who dulv 
 regard their sacred vows to Heaven, cannot engag’c in it 
 with impunity. 
 
 VI. Our next inquiry is, Why do Masters and Officers 
 whale on the Lord’s Day? 
 
 One says, “ I know it is not right any more than it is 
 right to plant potatoes on the Sabbath. But then it is 
 custom. Every body does it, and it is of no use for one 
 to stop if others don’t. If all the rest would give it up I 
 would!” ^ 
 
 But you do not mean to say that you must do every 
 thing that others do; or that you cannot refrain from fol¬ 
 lowing every custom around you. Suppose you lived in a 
 community where it was the custom to lie, swear, fight, 
 steal and get drunk, would it not do for you to refrain 
 from such customs till all did so? Scoffing was a custom 
 in the time of Noah, and God poured a flood of wrath 
 upon the custom. "Filthy conversation” and "un¬ 
 righteous deeds” were the custom of the Sodomites, and 
 God rained a deluge of fiery ruin upon the people. But 
 did Noah and Lot gain nothing by abjuring the customs 
 of their times? No! no! This plea of custom is a weak 
 one it will not do. All that an independent, self-respect- 
 ing, God-honoring man will do in such cases is, to deter¬ 
 mine whether a practice is right, and, if not, to abstain 
 from it, custom to the contrary notwithstanding. There is 
 honor, there is dignity, there is moral sublimity in this. 
 What glory irradiates the brows, and what sacred vene- 
 
THE sailor’s sabbath. 
 
 1.5 
 
 ration enshrines the memories of the hold pioneers~ihQ 
 leaders of high resolve in the cause of human freedom, of 
 temperance and of philanthropy, A noble soul, endowed 
 with decision, independence, manliness, courage and be¬ 
 nevolence, will stem the current of popular opinion and 
 abjure prevailing customs, when that opinion and those 
 customs are opposed to truth and righteousness. The 
 timid and the weak may sail before a gentle breeze, float 
 down stream or drift with the tide; but to stem the strong 
 current, and to struggle in the teeth of the tempest, re¬ 
 quire the nerved arm and the strong heart. And how 
 much more honorable to lead in entering a deadly breach, 
 and in storming a castled foe, than timidly to follow in 
 the rear of a victorious army, simply to shai-e in the 
 spoils. 
 
 But custom is not the only excuse. The master often 
 says that his officers would be unwilling to abandon Sab¬ 
 bath whaling, and the officers, in their turn, think that 
 the captain would not consent to such an arrangement. 
 Now this is often so: neither master nor officers are will¬ 
 ing to give up the practice. They understand each other, 
 and, like Ananias and Sapphira, agree together to sin 
 against the Lord, Let them look to that matter. 
 
 Now and then a master may be found who is truly ivill- 
 ing to renounce this business; but his officers oppose. 
 Again, there are officers who would sincerely rejoice to 
 reform this practice, but the captain will not consent. 
 This renders the case truly unpleasant; but to the man 
 who fears God there is but one course to take. Let him 
 say to those who would compel him to violate his consci¬ 
 ence, “ Whether it be right in the sight ofGod to hearken 
 unto you more than unto God, judge ye.” Acts, 4: 19. 
 
 Sometimes it is objected that the creto would not con¬ 
 sent to renounce Sabbath whaling. They would murmur, 
 mutinize,” etc. As every one knows that the master 
 commands and controls the ship, it is enough simply to 
 state this excuse without comment. 
 
 “But,” says one, “we are a long way from home.” 
 And is that a reason why you should sin? What if you 
 should never reach home! Would it not be well to seek 
 a “ better country?” You may be near your “long 
 home, ’ and will Sabbath whaling prepare you for it. 
 
 “ But,” says another, “ our voyages are long at the 
 best, and we wish to shorten them as much as possible 
 
16 
 
 THE sailor’s SABBAT^. 
 
 that we may get back to our friends.” True—but how 
 do you know that Sabbath whaling will hasten your re¬ 
 turn. It is with the Lord whether your voyage be a long 
 or a short, a prosperous or a disastrous one. He is able 
 to return you to your friends, or to send you “to that 
 bourn whence no traveller returns.” Will it not be wise 
 to bear in mind this truth, viz; you will shortly embark 
 on a longer voyage and on a shoreless ocean. 
 
 Again, it is said by another, “ We must get a living.” 
 Then it is to save life that you work on the Lord’s Day. 
 And bow much longer will you live by working seven in¬ 
 stead of six days in a week? Did a man ever starve be¬ 
 cause he did not work on the Sabbath? 
 
 “ But,” replies another, “ we have families to support 
 —we must not let them starve. It is our duty to take oil 
 when we can get it.” And is ijour family in a state of 
 starvation'^ And do their lives and health depend on your 
 Sabbath whaling ? Then, certainly, your excuse is 
 plausible. It will never do to let your wives and children 
 Lifer and perish for want of a little extra effort on your 
 part, even though it be on the Lord’s Day. But how 
 happens it that this excuse is as often made by the full fed 
 as by the hungry—'oy the man worth ^50,000 as often as 
 by the man worth only |5? How piously men will some¬ 
 times talk in order to justify a wicked practice, and to 
 make others believe what they do not believe themselves! 
 
 Next comes up another, and with great assurance asks, 
 “ Why does God send whales on the Sabbath if he does 
 not wish us to take them ?” This excuse, if it be any thing 
 short of profanity, is almost too absurd to call for a seri¬ 
 ous reply. As well might the Arabian robber ask why 
 God sends the caravan in the desert, or the ocean pirate 
 inquire why the Almighty brings the merchant ship within 
 the range of his guns and his pikes, unless it be to gratify 
 
 his thirst for plunder. , . , • 
 
 But there is another and a more formidable obstacle in 
 the way of the master and officers, and that is, the known 
 or supposed will of the oivners that their ships should 
 whale on the Sabbath. This, to many, seems amnsuper- 
 able difficulty. “The owners,” say they, require it. 
 And is it so? What! require that which the master does 
 not require of his slave, the manufacturer of his opera¬ 
 tives, or any other employer of his laborers—nay more, 
 what a man does not require of his horse and his ox! 
 
THE sailor’s sabbath. 
 
 n 
 
 And is it true that the ship owner demands that which the 
 laws of his country do not require, and that which the 
 laws of Heaven forbid! Is it possible that he has framed 
 a law which reads thus—“ Seven days shalt thou labor 
 and do all my work; and when these are ended, thou 
 shalt labor other seven days, and thus on till the voyage 
 is over, for there is no Sabbath at sea—there is no rest 
 for the sailor.” 
 
 It is a common remark of masters and officers, “If we 
 should refuse to whale on the Sabbath we should never 
 get another ship. We must please our owners or we are 
 out of business.” Then it would be better to be out of 
 business. Yea it would be better to beg your bread from 
 door to door, than to grow rich by doing wrong. “Ye 
 cannot serve tivo masters.” If ship owners are so illiberal 
 and oppressive as not to allow a Sabbath to those in their 
 employ, then it is time that all good and honest men seek 
 business in which they may act up to the dictates of their 
 consciences. Masters have been heard to say, “ Our 
 owners are church members, but they would never give 
 their ships to any who would not whale on Sunday.” 
 For the honor of such men it is to be hoped that this is a 
 mistake. But, if it be true, it only furnishes an illustra¬ 
 tion of the assertions—“The love of money is the root of 
 all evil ” “ He that maJceth haste to be rich shall not be 
 
 innocent;” and “ they that tvill be rich fall into tempta¬ 
 tion and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts 
 which drown men in destruction and perdition.” 
 
 VII. We next inquire why common seamen whale on 
 the Lord’s day. 
 
 This is a question of deep interest, as it must effect the 
 temporal and eternal well being of many thousands of 
 sailors. 
 
 Perhaps most whale men never stop to ask why they 
 do it. It is a custom and they fall in with it. It is com¬ 
 manded and they do it. But why the custom and the 
 command ? “The Sabbath was made for man”—for 
 man generic, i. e. for all men. Why, then, is there no 
 Sabbath for the sailor ? No day which he can call his 
 own ? No day on which he may not be required to per¬ 
 form the most arduous and perilous labors ? No day on 
 which he may rest his weary limbs ? No day on which 
 he may retire with his Bible and his God, and feel the 
 calm consciousness of relaxation from toil, and the as- 
 
18 
 
 THE sailor’s sabbath. 
 
 surance that, during these peaceful hours, no mortal may 
 control his muscles or his mind? 
 
 It is true that many, and perhaps, most sailors, are 
 willing to whale on the Sabbath, Of course such must 
 bear their own responsibility. But it is also true, that 
 a goodly number would prefer not to labor on that day .— 
 Hundreds of young men are annually shipped from the 
 country. Among these are sometimes found, sober, mo¬ 
 ral and pious men, who have been taught by religious 
 parents and Christian ministers, to “remember the Sab¬ 
 bath.” Many ofthese have shipped without dreaming that 
 the service required them to disregard their early instruc¬ 
 tions, violate the dictates pf conscience and trample on a 
 plain command of Jehovah. But what shall they do r— 
 Shall they claim the privileges which the great Creator 
 granted in the beginning, equally to all men ? This is 
 denied them ! Shall they plead conscience in this mat¬ 
 ter ? This only e.xposes them to ridicule or to cursing ! 
 One mightier than themselves has taken their conscien¬ 
 ces, their bodies and souls into his own keeping. A 
 mortal has usurped the prerogative of the Eternal, and 
 the trembling sailor must submit in silence. His obedi¬ 
 ence, his fear, his allegiance, and all his moral obliga¬ 
 tions have been transferred to a fellow worm. On shore 
 all laborers have a legal right to rest one day in seven; nor 
 do they find it necessary to stipulate beforehand with their 
 employersto that effect. Common law, common custom, 
 common consent, common sense, all award them this privi¬ 
 lege, and they take it as Heaven’s boon to all, and without 
 crouching to ask it as a favor at the hand of man. But at 
 sea all is changed. The ship is a little absolute despotism, 
 and the sailor must know no duty paramount to “skip 
 duty.” All will acknowledge that the master should com¬ 
 mand the ship and govern the crew, and, that the sailor 
 should know his place, obey all proper orders, and cheer¬ 
 fully and faithfully discharge every real duty to his master 
 and to the ship. Nor need this interfere with his freedom 
 of conscience and his duty to his Creator. The laws of 
 God are prior and paramount to all human rules and 
 regulations ; and let a ship only be governed with an 
 honest regard to this incontrovertible truth, and no consci¬ 
 entious sailor would find his heart in conflict with the 
 commands of his superiors whom he truly wishes to re- 
 apect and obey. It is clear that some things should be 
 
THE sailor’s sabbath, 
 
 10 
 
 done on the Sabbath, such, for instance, as the preserva¬ 
 tion of life, health and happiness, all of which will im¬ 
 ply a proper and necessary care of the ship. Evey wise, 
 liberal and Christian commander, will discriminate be¬ 
 tween things really necessary to be done on this day and 
 those which imagination, or caprice,or custom, or the love 
 of gain,have stamped with the false name of necessary. 
 
 It has been remarked that serious and pious men some¬ 
 times ship in the whaling service. Others, again, be¬ 
 come thoughtful at sea. By reading the Bible, or some 
 other religious book or tract, by listening to preaching, 
 while in some foreign port, or by some other call or agen¬ 
 cy ot Providence, the sailor’s attention may be arrested. 
 Perhaps the sudden death of a shipmate, or the reading 
 of a letter from a pious mother or sister, has solemnized 
 his mind and softened his heart.. He feels the impor¬ 
 tance of religion and the need of a preparation to meet 
 his God. But what can he do ? The rules of his ship re¬ 
 quire of him that which the voice of his conscience and 
 the laws of Heaven forbid. A determination “to obey 
 God rather than man,” brings upon him a mingled tem¬ 
 pest of ridicule and wrath. This storm he feels una¬ 
 ble to breast. In his inexperience, in the absence 
 of all human counsel and sympathy, and amidst the 
 Tnany . trials of his situation, his flesh and his heart 
 shrink from the unequal conflict. He cannot bring his 
 mind to the holy and high resol ve to obey the instructions 
 of Christ, “Fear not them that kill the body but are not 
 able to kill the soul.” Instead of this, “the fear of man 
 brings a snare” upon him. For a little while he strug¬ 
 gles with his convictions of duty, and then gives up the 
 conflict. He breaks the command, sears his conscience 
 and sinks into stupidity. He may hold on to a perishing 
 hope, or he may go back to the world, and become 
 “ ten-fold mole the child of hell than before.” Hence 
 the ruinous remark which has passed into a proverb 
 among seamen—There can be no religion at sea.” 
 
 What, then, can the pious sailor do ? He should un¬ 
 derstand that “ to fear God and keep his commandments 
 is the whole duty of man.” He should meekly, respect¬ 
 fully and manfully claim his birthright to one day in sev¬ 
 en; and if this be denied him, he should, as some have 
 done, calmly and patiently suffer persecution “ for right¬ 
 eousness sake,” and for conscience sake. He should 
 
•20 
 
 THE sailor’s sabbath. 
 
 fear God rather than man, and “ in well doing commit 
 the keeping of his soul to him as a faithful Creator.” He 
 should cast his burden on that Almighty arm which will 
 one day plead his cause and redress his wrongs. Better 
 that the flesh be cut with the lash, or boiled in the cal¬ 
 dron, than that the soul be cast into hell, “Where the 
 worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched.” 
 
 This may be called “preaching mutiny and encour¬ 
 aging insubordination among seamen.” Nothintr how¬ 
 ever, IS farther from the heart of the writer, or from the 
 true interpretation of these remarks. In fact, no true 
 babbath keeping seaman ever did or ever will engage in 
 mutiny. This conduct may be expected only from those 
 who do not fear God or regard his Sabbaths. But it will 
 be sufficient to reply to such an ungenerous insinuation 
 that ij this be mutiny, then Daniel, Shadrach, Paul, Fe¬ 
 tter, yea, all the prophets and apostles, and even Christ 
 himself preached and practiced the same doctrine. 
 
 VIII. We next ask, Have ship-masters a right to 
 compel their crews to whale on the Sabbath } 
 
 The only legitimate answer to this question is no. 1st 
 Because the sailor has signed no papers, bonds, instru¬ 
 ments, or anything else whatsoever, in which he promi¬ 
 ses to whale seven days in a week. And moreover, as 
 has been remarked, many do not know at the time of 
 shipping, that such is the pract-fce among whalemen. 
 
 .i.d. Because the civil law does not grant this power 
 to the master. The laws of most Chri.stian States dis¬ 
 tinctly recognize the Lord’s day, and offer protection to 
 all who wish to observe it. Nowhere, in a free and 
 Christian community, are common laborers compelled by 
 the civil power, to toil cn the Sabbath. Wherever the 
 law speaks on this subject, it lifts its voice in favor of a day 
 of rest for the weary laborer, and offers no encourage¬ 
 ment to the oppressor who would take this boon from him. 
 
 3d. Because the Almighty never gave this power to 
 the master. * " ^ 
 
 In the beginning God gave the Sabbath to man—fo all 
 
 men of evevy class. It is Heaven’s rich legacy to all_ 
 
 It is inalienable, and no man can take it from his fellow 
 without entrenching on the prerogatives of Jehovah. 
 How then, shall the master of a ship have power to dis¬ 
 annul, or to suspend at pleasure, this statute of Heaven, 
 by refusing those under his command, the enjoyment of 
 
THE sailor’s sabbath. 
 
 21 
 
 that day of rest, which none but the Eternal King, who 
 first gave the boon, can, with impunity, take from them? 
 
 On many ships, there are individuals who feel that it 
 is not right to whale on the Lord’s Day, and they never 
 do it but with troubled consciences and uneasy hearts. 
 Now, will a commander take the dread responsibility of 
 forcing axidi crushing snch consciences? Will he con¬ 
 sent to pervert the power of his station to intimidate and 
 drive such men to do that, which they and other consci¬ 
 entious and disinterested men, believe to be wrong? 
 Such a spirit is tyranny —it robs a man of a birth-right, 
 as clearly inalienable as those of “life, liberty and the 
 pursuit of happiness.” It is like driving a man headlong 
 over a beatling precipice. 
 
 It is said that Napoleon, in the height of his power, 
 made this singularly truthful assertion, “ My dominion 
 ceases ivhere that of conseience begins.” Would all men 
 in power act on this principle, bigotry, intolerance, 
 oppression and persecution—social, civil and religious, 
 would soon cease from the earth. 
 
 No independent man would be willing to be intimi¬ 
 dated, under penalty of brute-force, to read his Bible, 
 or to pray, or to attend Christian worship on the Sabbath. 
 Such an exertion of power would be complainbd of as a 
 palpable violation of personal right, and as an act of 
 intolerable tyranny. If then, he would not be driven, 
 by compulsion, to the discharge of a inoral duty, why 
 should any one exert the power of a temporary station, 
 in compelling men to sinl Masters little realize the sol¬ 
 emn responsibility they take upon themselves, in thus 
 abusing the authority with which they are invested. It 
 were enough, for one to break the Sabbath himself, per¬ 
 sonally, without compelling others to do it. He would 
 then bear only his own individual responsibility. But the 
 case assumes another and a more fearful aspect, when 
 he usurps the power to coerce those under him to do 
 the same. It is sufficiently wicked to laugh and 
 mock at men—impeach their motives, call them “ bigots, 
 hypocrites, lazy dogs &.c., ” because they express scruples 
 as to the morality ofSrbbath whaling. What, then, is the 
 guilt of those who raise the rod of terror, to drive men 
 into this sin? Nor does it at all relieve the case for the 
 master to tell the pious, conscience-troubled sailor, 
 “you have nothing to say in this matter, God will never 
 
22 
 
 THE sailor’s sabbath. 
 
 punish you for doing your duty to the ship—1 will agree 
 to take all the responsibility!” Take a stronger case: A 
 pious sailor ventures tremblingly into the presence of the 
 master, to ask the privilege of resting on the Sabbath 
 day according to the commandment.” His petition is 
 presented in a meek and respectful manner, and based 
 upon the dictates of conscience and the instructions of 
 the Bible. He is met thus: “ Dont open your head again 
 on that subject f—you teach the crew insubordination!—I 
 canH hear a ivord about it!—if you loill not do your duty, 
 I will make you!—go forward you * * * !” 
 
 This is no fiction—painful cases like the above have 
 occurred—and some of a worse type, where a pious and 
 inoffensive seaman has suffered corporeal punishment for 
 conscience sake. Other cases would occur, should 
 seamen assert their rights in this matter. 
 
 But the master who can take this course with the pi¬ 
 ous and sincere sailor, possesses an unenviable charac¬ 
 ter. He is too near of kin to one who, after having 
 beaten and cursed a part of his crew—calling them after 
 the name of Baalam’s beast, walked rapidly upon the 
 quarter deck, and while heated with passion, and inflated 
 with the consciousness of “a little brief authority,” ex¬ 
 claimed, i‘ ril let you know that 1 am God Mnighty of 
 this little world!” [the ship.] 
 
 Now there is no need of all this—there is no need of 
 making '‘ship’s duties” to conflict with moral didies. 
 Every ship-master would soon find his reward in keep¬ 
 ing the Sabbath; not only in the approbation of his own 
 conscience, but in the obedience, the social happiness 
 and the improved morals of his crew. So long as sea¬ 
 men are not allowed a Sabbath, so long will their gen¬ 
 eral morals be bad, and their many vices remain un¬ 
 checked. This is true of every community on earth. 
 Where men are not taught to reverence the high author¬ 
 ity of their maker, they will- have but little true and 
 heart-felt respect for the authority of man. Consequent¬ 
 ly, while this is so much the case at sea, owners, mas¬ 
 ters, officers, and sailors to say nothing of many others, 
 are mutual sufferers in this common evil. 
 
 It is cheering, however, to know that there are'many ex- 
 ceptionsto this dark picture. We trust that there are many 
 masters and officers who respect the laws of God and 
 the rights of conscience. Such will not drive those un- 
 
THE sailor’s sabbath. 
 
 23 
 
 der their authority to sin against their Maker. They understand 
 that the doctrine of silent, implicit obedience to all comrnands, 
 without respect to right or wrong, may do for a 
 
 but it will not do for a moral, accountable agent, as it would lead 
 to the wicked absurdity, that a pious sailor must turn pirate shou d 
 his master command it. Resistance to this dangf ous and unholy 
 doctrine, threw Daniel into the den of lions, Shadrach and his fel¬ 
 lows into the burning furnace, Paul and the apostles into prisons, 
 martyrs into the flames, and the thirteen American colonies into 
 
 “ the revolution.” .• j • 
 
 A few more objections, which have not been noticed in th- pre¬ 
 ceding pages, will close the subject. . . u.i;„„ 
 
 Some say that they should never fill their ships witliout whaling 
 
 on the Sabbath. But how do they know that ? ^ 
 
 tried it ? There have been a few examples of 
 whalers, and their success has been very much like that ot others. 
 But the subject hitherto has been one of theory and vain specula¬ 
 tion, rather than of practical experiment. Let one-hdf o’ 
 
 whaling fleet practice on the principle of keeping the Sabbath tor 
 
 ten years, and then look at their comparative success The ques- 
 tion^of pecuniary loss and gain would then be settled on the im¬ 
 partial ground of facts. Till such trial shall have been made, the 
 objection is hasty, ex parte and gratuitous. 
 
 But should it be proved, which, as God is true, it never ‘-a" » 
 
 that the whaling business cannot be successfully prosecuted 
 
 without violating the commands of '^‘V!l1nparis 
 
 proved that it should not be prosecuted at all; for no business is 
 justifiable which requires for its success the breach of any one ot 
 
 ^"*But the question is not to be settled on the principle of pecuni¬ 
 ary loss and gain. Were we to admit this test, we might justify 
 the distiller, the rum seller, the smuggler the robber, the slaver 
 and the pirate. No ! The question is to be tested by higher and 
 holier prLciples than the love of dollars and cents. Before v. e suf¬ 
 fer ourselves to be too much influenced by such mercenary and de¬ 
 lusive motives, it will bo well to solve the question Fopo^edby our 
 Savior—“ What shall it profit a man if he shall gam the whole 
 
 world Slid lose his own soul ? • v- i 
 
 Others say, “By refusing to whale on Sunday, we might lose 
 our best chances for taking oil. Sometimes we don’t see whales 
 for a whole month or more, then, all at once, we raise a schooI on 
 the Sabbath, and, if we let these go, we may not have another 
 chance for months to come.” This, to the anxious whaleman, 
 looks like a hard case. He is weary with waiting. Hope de¬ 
 ferred makes his heart sick.” He has not learned to ‘ walk 
 
 faith” _to trust in that unseen, tha.t faithful /land which holds 
 
 Lstiny, and which fills or empties our earthly cup of pkasure. The 
 
 love of gain, the desire of change, the hope of hastening 
 
 to his native land, all fill his mind, and he almost P®>-®®ades hra- 
 
 self that God has sent these whales as a special 
 
 grant to spend the Sabbath in capturing He cannot now 
 
 feel the truth affirmed of God’s Commandments, that ‘ In keeping 
 
 trem there is great reward.” “No ! No !” says the whaleman. 
 
'24 
 
 THE SAILOR^S SABBATH. 
 
 “ There will be loss, great loss in it. We shall lose a whale ! pets 
 haps a hundred barrel whale! worth $2,000 ! That is more than 
 poor men can afford to lose !” My brother ! you would not speak 
 thus did you believe what God has affirmed, that “ Godliness is 
 profitable to all things, having the promise of the life that now is 
 and of that which is to come.” You deny that ” In keeping the 
 commandments there is great reward.” This you must settle with 
 your Maker and Judge. 
 
 Another asks, ” What shall w’e do with the whale killed on Sat¬ 
 urday ?” We cannot try him out before the Sabbath, and if we 
 wait till Monday we shall lose him. Therefore, if we stop work 
 on Sunday, we must on Saturday also.” This objection looks 
 plausible, to those not acquainted with the facts in the case. But 
 from extensive inquiries of masters and officers in the whaling ser¬ 
 vice, it is believed to be more imaginary than real. Probably the 
 cases would be rare where a whale, or any part of a whale, would 
 be lost by suspending the process of “ boiling out” from 12 o’clock 
 on Saturday night till 12 on Sabbath night. At least, this opinion 
 has been expressed by many candid masters and officers. 
 
 But as we are not to test the question by the probabilities of 
 temporal loss and gain, it must, like all other moral subjects, be re¬ 
 ferred “ To the Law and the Testimony.” Does the Bible allow 
 the whaler to “look out for whales,” pursue whales, kill, cut in, 
 and boil out whales on the Sabbath, as on other days of the week ? 
 We all know better. 
 
 Another says, “ There is no more harm in whaling than in at¬ 
 tending to the sails, and taking a trick at the wheel on the Sab¬ 
 bath.” As this objection belongs to a class which appear more 
 like quibbles than like honest difficulties, it will be dismissed with 
 two brief remarks. 1st. If any sincere inquirer after truth wilt 
 conscientiously break off from the greater sin of Sabbath whaling, 
 and do “ the weightier matters of the law,” he will not long be in 
 the dark as to his duty in smaller things; such as “ tything of 
 mint and anise,” etc. First, remove “ the beam” from the eye, 
 and then “ the mote” will be more clearly seen. 
 
 2d. If any sophist wishes to quibble on this subject, let him quib¬ 
 ble with hismelf. 
 
 The foregoing remarks have been written with great plainness 
 and freedom, but with the utmost candor and good will, and with 
 an earnest and sincere desire to promote the temporal and eternal 
 welfare of all concerned. In this light they will be received by every 
 honest lover of truth. None will be offended at their plainness, but 
 those who are determined to resist the light “ because their deeds 
 are evil.” The sentiments herein expressed are those which tho 
 writer is willing to meet, and those which every whaleman, and 
 all others concerned, will meet at the Judgment Day, 
 
 May the time hasten when the Sabbath sun shall be hailed joy¬ 
 fully by every seaman—when the Bethel Flag shall wave aloft on 
 every ship, and when every ocean and sea shall echo the glad an¬ 
 them of the sailor, as his song of praise is borne on the breath of 
 Heaven into the ear of Him “ who made the sea and the dry 
 land.” 
 
■ir,