The following is a correct copy of the Address, which comprehends some of the fundamental principles by which it is my intention they shall be regulated during the voyage.
ADDRESS.
The object of my calling you together at this time, is to make a few observations regarding the voyage which, under Providence, we are about to commence. On your good and correct behaviour during this voyage your future happiness will depend in an infinitely greater degree than, I apprehend, any of you can form the least conception; let me, therefore, entreat your undivided attention, and most serious consideration, to what I am about to offer, as it materially concerns your own welfare.
Your peculiar situation, it is true, excites compassionate consideration, and the performance of any duty which requires rigid restraint, and perhaps measures of severity, must always be painful to a benevolent mind. It is distressing to contemplate the situation of the wretched or unfortunate, even at a distance; and to meliorate their condition must be the first wish and the most gratifying work of humanity.
I trust there is no need of employing arguments to prove that vicious conduct invariably leads to disgrace and misery; the unhappy circumstances in which you are all placed here, must be a more convincing proof of this than any other I can adduce, though many thousands might be mentioned. It is far from my intention to add to your distress by upbraiding you with the errors of your past life; none of us can recall the past; but, for the consolation of human nature, we possess, with the divine aid, over the future an unlimited and absolute control: to this latter point I am particularly desirous of directing your attention.
The word exile, or banishment, sounds harshly on the ear, and must ever convey to the heart the most acute feeling of anguish. Our native land, containing the scenes of youthful amusements and innocent pleasures, abandoned perhaps for ever! the dear ties by which nature had united you to your families, relations and friends must become lacerated; yes, to be compelled to separate from parents, children and husbands, dear as life, and to be parted from them for ever, is, it must be confessed, a truly bitter thought. Under this accumulated load of misery is there no ray of hope, no relief to be obtained? Yes, my unfortunate friends, not only relief, but consummate happiness, even joys unspeakable are within the reach of every one of you.
The Holy Scriptures abound with merciful promises of forgiveness, and gracious invitations to sinners of every sect and degree. Our blessed Redeemer addresses his consolations more immediately to those who are languishing under the horrors of a guilty conscience. His language is that of a tender father earnestly soliciting a wayward child, on whom his fond affection is lavished, to return to its duty and avert the punishment awarded to disobedience. Who can meditate on his boundless offers of mercy and forgiveness without being filled with grateful admiration of the divine attributes? In the xith chap. of St. Matthew, 28th verse, we hear this most consoling invitation, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” It is impossible to appreciate fully the intrinsic value of these heavenly words; many times, in my own person, have I experienced their soothing effects on the pillow of sickness, and their tranquillizing power in moments of the keenest affliction: I wish, from my soul, that every one of you may derive as much happiness from those words as I have done.
The word of a mortal creature may deceive; but the promise of Christ, who died for our salvation, must stand: it is utterly impossible for any one, how incredulous soever he may pretend to be, to doubt that a single jot of God’s promises will be left unperformed.
With a firm conviction, then, of divine righteousness, let us piously meditate on the words of the text, and endeavour to apply to our minds the healing balm they convey. I shall explain, according to the best of my judgement, what preparation is most advisable and necessary to enable us to avail ourselves of this most gracious invitation. The first great step towards it is Repentance. By repentance I do not wish you to understand that fleeting and pitiful grief, which suffuses us in tears for the crimes of yesterday, and, soon evaporating, will allow us to-morrow to resume the practice of iniquity. The Almighty is not to be deceived by mockery and external show; “A sacrifice to God is that of an humble and a contrite heart;” nor will that temporary piety which is produced by distress or fear, render us acceptable before him: it is humility from a sense of our unworthiness, and profound contrition of heart for past offences, with sincere purpose of amendment, and a resolute determination to resist the slightest approach of temptation, and to return from the paths of evil, that will gain us favour in his sight.
If, with these sentiments in our minds, we supplicate the throne of mercy, we have every encouragement to confide in the divine clemency; for we are assured that “None who come unto Christ will he in any wise cast out[[8]].” Consoling promise! Suppose any one under sentence of death were offered a pardon, the errors of his past life to be for ever buried in oblivion, and honours and riches to be liberally bestowed upon him, on condition that he confessed his crime and pledged himself to lead a virtuous life in future; surely such a person must be considered mad, should he obstinately persist in guilt, and allow the sentence of the law to be carried into execution, when the means of preservation and of averting his dreadful fate were in his own hands! Let me ask any of you, whether you would not gladly have undertaken to renounce for ever those errors by which you were first led astray from the pleasing paths of virtue, to prevent your being now separated from your native country? Undoubtedly you would. Yet how trifling, how insignificant are loss of life and separation from the dearest objects of affection, compared with an eternal exile from your heavenly Father, and the destruction of the immortal soul! The thought is overwhelming.