And storms forbear to toss;
Be thou, dear Lord, still nigh,
Lest I should suffer loss:
For more the treacherous calm I dread,
Than tempest, bursting overhead.”
Captain Luce was a good seaman and captain, and a man of reliable judgment. He would allow no swearing on board his vessel; he looked upon the sailors as his children, and they in turn regarded him with affectionate esteem. The mate was a man of quick passions, easily excited, but as easily calmed.
He one night entered the cabin, where I was, while I was singing one of the songs of Zion, and being in a melancholy mood, he asked me to sing for him; with which request I gladly complied, by commencing a new song, which I had recently learned in Philadelphia. He instantly stopped me, saying he did not wish to hear any new hymn, but some old and substantial one; upon which I sang the following:
“Before Jehovah’s awful throne,
Ye nations bow with sacred awe;
Know that the Lord is God alone: