Temperance and other reforms have wrought, and still are working, gradual and essential changes and improvements among all classes of seamen; but the most important, and that which stands higher than all others, is, that those who behold the wonders of God in the deep may become the friends and followers of the Saviour.
The following hymn, which, with others of like character, is frequently sung, shows at once the sentiments and spirit of the seamen's concert of prayer.
O, pray for the sailor, now far on the billow;
O, think of his hardships, temptations, and pain.
His home is the ocean; his hammock his pillow;
He toils for our pleasure; his loss is our gain.
While we are securely and peacefully sleeping,
He stands at the helm and his duty performs;
Now walking the deck and his painful watch keeping,
Or sits at the mast head 'mid perils and storms.
O, pray for the sailor, to banishment driven,
Enduring privation, oppression, and care,—
Shut out from the gospel, a stranger to Heaven,
The victim to vice and a prey to despair.
And, while we thus pray for the sons of the ocean,
A kind, peaceful Home to him must be given;
The Mariners' Bethel allures to devotion;
The Bible and preacher direct him to Heaven.
Seamen, of all classes, you are remembered by thousands and tens of thousands, throughout the land and world, who are deeply interested in your welfare. Day and night you are thought of and prayed for by those whom you have left behind; and many a desire is breathed out in the presence of Him who alone can save, that you may be protected in your absence, shielded from temptations, and returned again to your friends.
May the "Star of Bethlehem, which alone can "fix the sinner's wandering eye," guide many a son of the ocean, and lead him to say,—
It was my guide, my light, my all;
It bade my dark forebodings cease;
And, through the storm and danger's thrall,
It led me to the port of peace.