THE 



NS27. 



SHIF WRECK ; 

SHOWING 

WHAT SOMETIMES HAPPENS 

ON THE 

SEA COASTS: 

Also giving a Particular Account of 

A POOR SAILOR BOY, 

Wbo was refused any Assistance by the Wreck- 
ers, and who died in consequence of their In* 
human Conduct. 




PUBLISHED BY 
THE AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

144 Nassau-street, New- York. 



OTCVIWI 




THE SH£?WSLBCS, 



In winter's rude storm, when the tem- 
pests blow loud, 
And the hail drives full hard 'gainst 
the door, 

And babes run together, like Iambs in a 
crowd, 

And cling to their mother, as, forth from 
a cloud, 
Fresh and deep-roaring torrents still 
pour : 

When wolves through the forest in sa- 
vageness scowl, 
And poor lambs cry for help, but in 
vain ;- — 



4 THE SHIPWRECK. [164 

And tigers for slaughter rush forward 

and howl, 
And wreckers, as cruel, do savagely prowl 
Round the shores of the dark-troubled 

main : 

'Tis then the poor bark often sinks in the 
wave, 

And brave Seamen go down to the 
dead ; 

No harbour, nor vessel, nor mortal to 
save, 

To snatch one poor soul from a watery 
grave, 
Or in pity to hold up his head. 

But, ah ! there are scenes and sad tales 
yet behind, 

Which may well make our heart-blood 
run chill ; 

When the poor stranded vessel, long 

press'd by the wind. 
Is driv'n on shore, but no safety can find 
From the wreckers, who plunder or 
kill. 

'Twas gloomy December, and dark was 

the night, 
And the sky was so wild and so drear,, 
When to land all the sea birds, with 

screams, urg'd their flight, 



1^5] THE SHIPWRECK. 6 

Ere the long-forked stream 7 gan to flash 
down its light, 
And the thunders had burst on the ear. 

*Twas then a poor bark was returning 
from far, 
After crossing the wide western main, 
Where oft. through the night-watch each 

long absent Tar 
Had cast a glad eye on the bright east 
ern star 
Which directed his way home again. 

And oft had they mus'd on the long- 
hop'd-for morn, 
When the wife and the husband should 

meet; 

When the parents and children, and lo- 
vers forlorn, 

Should confess, 'midst the troubles to 
which we are born, 
There are mingled some portions of 
sweet. 

But who can now tell what to-morrow 
may bring, 
When so frail and uncertain our time i 
While mirth fills each heart, and so gaily 

we sing, 
And dream not of danger, or any such 

thin * 
Qft our days are cut short in their 

prime < 



, 



6 THE SHIPWRECK. [168 

So it prov'd with yon crew, who, nearing 
the land, 

Had concluded their dangers were 
past, 
When, lo! their own coast must become 

the fell strand 
Where Death, in the storm, shall pro- 
nounce his command, 
Which numbers that day as their last, 

A long time they strove, both with skill 
and with might, 
To surmount all the dangers around ; 
But torn were their sails in the last dis- 
mal night, # 

At day-dawn a lee-shore was full in their 
sight, 
So they drove on the hard rocky 
ground. 

Crash, crash, went the bark, as the big 
waves assail'd, 
And her masts were plunged over the 
lee ; 

Then, nor courage nor skill of command- 
er avail'd, 

Death drew a long 'dart, and o'er many 
prevaiFd, 
And, half mangled, they sunk in the 
sea. 

Now high flew the foam, as it broke o'er 
their head, 



167] THE SHIPWRECK. 7 

And the vessel groan'd under each 
blow, 
And the raging- surf rolFd o'er the dying 1 

and dead ; 
And the rock's craggy cliff was their 
last lonely bed, 
When the life-blood had ceased to flow. 

These sights, so afflicting, to ivreckers 
were dear, 
Who live by fell rapine and crime ; 
Whose eyes never shed soft Compas- 
sion's sweet tear, 
Whose hearts never learnt e'en their 
Maker to fear, 
Or reflect on the end of their time. 

Awhile lash'd to ring-bolts, some few yet 
remain, , 

And their shrieks rend the pitiless air ; 
From the wreckers on shore no relief can 

they gain, 
{They beckon, and call, but they beckon 
in vain) 
Who rejoice in the cries of despair. 

Now shore-ward the masts and their 

tackling swing round, 
And the wreckers begin their glad toil; 
they curse and blaspheme, while they 

cover the ground 



8 THE SHIPWRECK. [168 

With spars, and with sails, and whatever 
is found ; 
For each seizes his share of the spoil. 

When the tempest's wild fury had some- 
time allay'd, 
They launch'd off, and boarded the 
bark ; 

Where their hearts and their eyes still 
on plunder were stay 7 d, 

Though the captain and crew for assist- 
ance oft pray'd 
Ere extinct was life's faint, trembling 
spark. 

Their cords were untied ; but the wet 
and the frost 
Had so stifTned their limbs with the 
cold, 
That the next breaking wave, as the ves- 
sel it crossed, 
Swept them over the side, and they 
quickly were lost, 
While the wreckers held on a fast hold, 

One fine youthful Sea Boy alone rode 

the wave, 
And half lifeless was thrown on the 

sand ; 
While his captain and comrades had 

each found their grave 






*69] THE SHIPWRKCK. 9 

Unpitied by wreckers, who strove not to 
save, 

Or convey them for shelter to land. 

Awhile those on shore throng'd the Ship 
Boy around, 
And rudely asked all that he knew; 
He told them his tale, as he lay on the 

ground, 
While the blood from his temples a free 
course had found, 
And still weaker and fainter he grew. 

Now reviving, he turned his pale cheek 

from the earth, 
And concluded his sorrowful tale 
By speaking of her who had given him 

birth, 

A parent of tenderness, piety, and worth, 
Who lived m a far distant vale. 

" My mother," said he, " she is old and 
gone blind, 
But I love her most dearly and true- 
In my chest some relief for her wants 

you will find — 
Oh J save it for her who to me was so 
kind, 
And the Lord will be kind unto you." 

They heard him, as wolves hear the ewes 
intercede 
For the lambkins they torture aa^ 
Slay j 



10 THE SHIPWRECK. [170 

In an instant they left him to faint and 

to bleed, 
While they grappled his chest from a 

bank of sea-weed, 
And like harpies they strove for the 

prey. 

The news of a wreck, it soon spread 
along shore, 
And women and men ran for gain ; 
Thus numbers they harden each other 

the more, 
Till to mercy and justice their hearts 
close the door, 
That the love of curst money may 
reign, 

Anon came the pious old Vicar that way, 

For he heard there was evil abroad : 

Against wrecking, and plundering, for 

many a day 
He had preach'd ; but, alas ! there were 
few V obey, 
Or give heed to his tears or his word. 

Arrived at the spot, what a scene was 
displayed ! 
For its numbers 'twas like to a fair ; 
Dead bodies, and cargo, and trunks 

about lay'd, 
Or piPd up in heaps where a sentinel 
stayed ; 
But, nor mercy nor pity was there. 



171] THE SHIPWRECK. 11 

The poor fainting Sea Boy the Vicar 
espied, 
With his head lying- hard on a rock ; 
To aid whose distress, he sat down by 

his side, 
And many a tear of compassion he cried, 
While the wreckers continued to mock! 

"Ah! Sir," spake the Sea Boy, " my 
blood it runs cold, 
Here life's voyage it shortly must end ; 
I I shall ne'er see my home, nor my pa- 

rent behold; 
My tales and adventures for ever are 
told, 
I shall never shake hands with a friend. 

"But four days ago, oh! how happy 
was I, ™ 

And so was our cheerful ship's band ; 
But, alas ! the rude storm that late howl'd 

in the sky, 
It has wreck'd our fine bark, and I short- 
ly must die 
On the shores of this hard-hearted land. 

u My mother oft said, when the young* 
ravens cry, 

How kind Heaven some succour still 
brings ; 
Ah ! why then give up us poor seamen 
to die. 

To perish, while men their assistance 
deny? 



12 THE SHIPWRECK. [172 

Do explain, my good Sir, these 
strange things. 

" My Captain was kind to his lads and 
his men, 
And kind was my mistress so dear, 
That the poor never calPd and were bid 

call again ; 
Who asked her relief never asked it in 
vain, 
For she lov'd to dry misery's tear. 

u But now her kind heart, it will sorrow 
and break, 
When she hears the sad tale of our 
wo; 
Keen anguish will pour its sharp stream 

down her cheek ; 
In vain for support to these sharks may 
she seek ; 
Down to ruin and death she must go. 

44 And must the young babes of our dead 

plunder'd crew 
Come and beg for their bread on this 

shore, 
And be charg'd by the wreckers as idle^ 

untrue ; 
And be curs'd, and abus'd, as their cry 

they renew, 
And some food for their hunger im<* 

plore ? 

a Oh, Sir ! can kind Heav'n look on all 
/ the while, 



a 



173] THE SHIPWRECK. 13 

And refrain its dread thunders to hurl ? 
Methinks, its blest spirits would speed 

down, and smile, 
To inflict their dread anger on wreckers 
so vile, 
And all angels their vengeance un- 
furl." 

"Hush, hush, my dear child, 7 ' cried the 
pious old man, 
All was right that was taught in thy 
youth : 
From the day yonder sun his bright 

course first began, 
Has thy Maker pursued one beneficent 
plan, 
And his ways are all wisdom and truth. 

" But deep, nay, and dark, they some- 
times may appear, 
Yet judgment surrounds his blest 
throne, 
Whence he calls thee to trust him, to 

love, and to fear, 
To submit as a child, while a sojourner 
here : 
So far are his purposes known. 

" What though yonder wreckers live out 

a long day, 
And thyself find an early rough grave; 
Though the wicked appear to succeed 

in their way, 



14 THE SHIPWRECK. [174 

And the kind-hearted Seaman becomes 1 
their fell prey, 
Yet the righteous for ever he'll save. 

" Not save from all troubles of life's 
stormy day, 
But from evils hereafter to come ; 
Oft as death finds their feet treading- du- 
ty's safe way, 
Still aiming their Saviour to love and 
obey, 
He conveys their blest spirits straight 

home, 

"But wo to the wrecker that dies in his 
sin ! 
To his soul there no peace can remain ; 
When his heart fails to beat, Oh! what 

torments begin, 
The worm, never-dying, shall fasten 
within, 
And the flame rage with infinite pain. 

"From realms of despair he shall lift up 
an eye, 
And behold the blest spirits above; 
He shall call out for death, but he never 

shall die ; 
But shall plunge down the gulf, and m 
misery lie, 
While the saints share a heaven o! 
love. 



175] THE SHIPWRECK. 15 

" Nay, on earth, the dread curse often 
enters his door, 
And his children they die in ill time ; 
His wealth is consunVcf, and he, wretch- 
ed and poor, 
Can revel in plunder and pillage no 
more, 
But must smart in old age for his 
crime. 

" Oh ! turn then, dear youth, all thy 
thoughts to the sky, 
For thy spirit must quickly depart : 
To the Saviour of sinners direct thy last 

cry- 
To pardon, and cleanse, and accept, he 
is nigh ; 
May his peace now possess thy whole 
heart." 

So spake the good man, m kind accents, 
as mild 
As the zephyrs that fan the still air ; 
Then he wip'd off the blood from the 

poor dying child, 
Who, looking to heaven, with confidence, 
smil'd, 
And thus uttered his last dying pray- 
er : — 

"0 Jesus, thou Saviour of sinners below! 

On thy mercy my soul it relies ; 
Cleanse its stains in thy blood, which so 
freely did flow ; 



16 THE SHIPWRECK. [176 

And, when thou shalt bid it these trou- 
bles forego, 
O take it to thee in the skies. 

"Forget not my mother, poor, aged, and 
blind, 
Nor leave her to sink down in grief; 
Let a sense of thy love ever comfort her 

mind, 
While her Sea Boy lies dead in a land 
far behind, 
And can bring her no further relief, 

H O pardon these wreckers, thou God of 
all grace ! 
Let their many dark crimes be for 
given ; 
Save, save them from wrath, from that 

horrible place, 
And grant them to see a Redeemer's 
blest face ; 
O receive them, in mercy, to heaven !" 

Thus saying, he bow'd his faint head to 
the ground, 
And, expiring in peace, clos'd his 
prayer; 
His soul, we may hope, will in glory be 

found, 
Where no cries of distress ever utter 
their sound. 
For no pains, no afflictions ,are there. 

R. M. 

FINIS. 



I .. ..I .Mil 



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I cent, the 

AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

In addition to a very extensive 
series of duodecimo Tracts, in differ- 
ent languages, Occasional Volumes, 
&c, have published a large variety 
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Series IV.. ..FoL L...32 j p , s....l8mo. 

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14. A Catechism on the Commands. 

VOL. III. 

15. The Simple Flower. 



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