FAREWELL TO NATIVE LAND—"UPON THE WIDE, WIDE SEA"—HEBER'S DREAM OF JOSEPH—A SHIP OUT OF HER RECKONING—A DYING CHILD HEALED—APOSTLE HYDE PREACHES ON BOARD—ARRIVAL AT LIVERPOOL—THE ELDERS LEAP ASHORE.
"Adieu, adieu, my native shore
Fades o'er the waters blue;
The night-winds sigh, the breakers roar,
And shrieks the wild sea-mew.
Yon sun that sets upon the sea
We follow in his flight;
Farewell, awhile, to him and thee,
My native land—Good night!"
At ten o'clock on the morning of July 1st, 1837, the Garrick weighed anchor, and, being towed down the river by a steamer as far as Sandy Hook, set sail oceanward. A few hours later Heber lost sight of his native land. Say he:
"I had feelings which I cannot describe, when I could no longer behold its shores, and when I bade adieu to the land of my birth, I felt to exclaim:
'Yes, my native land, I love thee:
All thy scenes I love them well:
Friends, connections, happy country,
Can I bid you all farewell?
Can I leave you,
Far in distant lands to dwell?'
"However, when I reflected on the causes which had induced me to leave it for awhile, and the work which depended upon me, I could likewise say:
"I go, but not to plough the main,
To ease a restless mind."
"I was actuated by a different motive than either to please myself, or gain the riches and applause of the world; it was a higher consideration than these that induced me to leave my home. It was because a dispensation of the Gospel had been committed to me; and I felt an ardent desire that my fellow creatures in other lands might hear the sound of the everlasting Gospel, obey its requisitions, rejoice in the fullness and blessings thereof, and escape the judgments which will come upon the ungodly."
Only souls where sentiment and feeling dwell, who have been upon the mighty waters, floating like an insect on a leaf amid the immensity of the liquid waste, can realize that awful loneliness, that sense of helplessness and utter dependency upon a power superior to man's. Atheism, thy home is not the boundless deep! Ocean, thou art religious, thou art worshipful, and throwest heavenward the thoughts of man as though they were thy spray!
Especially was it so with Heber and his companions, God-fearing men, upon whom rested the burden of a mission fraught with salvation to thousands. The solemnities of eternity encompassed them. They felt as little children in the presence of the Infinite. And children they were in their humility. Not in their own strength went they forth, but in the strength of Him who made the seas, and who holdeth their waters in the hollow of His hand.