Page:Address to an emigrant.djvu/5

 you gaze upon the mighty world of waters over which you are about to sail, think of the great power of God who created the sea, and fixed its bounds; remember that you are sailing across the ocean of life, and that you will soon land on the shores of eternity; think of that heavenly world in which "there shall be no more sea," and seek a meetness "for the inheritance of the saints in light." Meditation on these and on kindred subjects will serve to preserve your mind from fainting, will occupy your thoughts to advantage, and enable you to speak a word in season to those who surround you.

I cordially wish you a prosperous voyage, by the will of God. He will, I hope, give the winds and the waves charge concerning you, and guide you in safety to the haven where you would be. I imagine you at length arrived at the point of your destination, and planting your feet on that country, which is henceforth to be regarded as your home. Let not the excitement of such new scenes, as will then present themselves to view, banish the thought of God from your mind. Forget not to acknowledge his hand, but praise him for the mercies showed you in preserving you from shipwreck, and from the numerous perils of the great deep. Your heart may sink within you, as you come in contact with the difficulties of a colony, where you will miss, at least for a time, many of the comforts of an English home; then endeavour to put your trust in God. Then remember that many of the patriarchs wandered about as strangers and pilgrims in the earth; that Jacob lay down at Bethel, under the canopy of heaven, with a stone for his pillow, and that even there he had communion with God, and was assured of his providential goodness; and above all, remember that the Lord of angels and of men, when he tabernacled in human flesh "had not where to lay his head." But perhaps when