The Author to the Reader,
The Author to the Reader. fear,obey,and trust in your SaviourandDeliverer. I have read that the enthralled Greeks were so affected with their liberty, procuredbyFlaminiustheRomangeneral,thattheirthrillacclamations of Σωτηρ,Σωτηρ, a Saviour, a Saviour, made the very birdsfalldown from the heavens astonished. O how should feamenbe affected with theirfea-deliverances! many that have beendeliveredfrom Turkish slavery,have vowed to be servants to their redeemersall the days of their lives. Ah ! Sirs, will not you bemorethan ordinarily God's servants all the days of your lives, seeing you have been sooft, sowonderfullyredeemed from death itselfbyhim ? Verily, do what you can, you will die in God's debt. " As for me,God forbid that I should fin
" against the Lord in eeasing to pray for you," I Sam. xii. 23, 24. Thatbytheperusal of this short and sweettreatife, wherein the judicious and ingenious author hath well mixed utile dulci, profit and pleasure, you may learn the good and right way, even to fear the Lord, and serve him in truth, with all your hearts, considering how great things he hath done for you.
*This is the hearty prayer of Your cordial friend, earnestly desirous ofa prosperous voyage
T. M. for your precious and immortalfouls, The AUTHOR to the READER.
WHEN dewy-cheek'd Aurora doth display Her curtains, to let in the new-born day, Her heav'nly face looks red, as if it were
Dy'd with a modest blush, 'twixt shame and fear.
Sol makes herblush,suspecting that he will Scorch some too much, and others leave too chill.
With suchablush, my little new-born book Goesoutofhand, suspecting some may look Upon it with contempt, while others raise
Someanapiece too high,by flatt'ring praise, Itsbeautycannot make its fatherdote ; 'Tis a poor babe, cladina sea-green coat.
X It's gone from me too young, and now is run To sea, among the tribe ofZebulun.
Go, little book,thoumanyfriends wilt find Among that tribe, who will be very kind; Andmanyofthemcare of thee will take, Both forthyown, and for thy father's fake.
A New Compass for Seamen: &c.
Heav'n save it from the dang'rous storms andgusts That will be rais'd against it by men's lust s.
Guilt makes men angry, anger is a storm; But sacred truth's thy shelter, fear no harm .
On times, or persons, no reflection's found !
Though with reflections few books more abound:
Go, little book, I have much more to say, But seamen call for thee, thou must away.
Yet e're you have it, grant me one request, Pray do not keep it pris'ner in your chest.
NEW COMPASS
FOR SEAMEN OR
NAVIGATION SPIRITUALİZED.
CHAP.
The launching of a ship plainly sets forth Ourdoubleftate, by first and second birth.
OBSERVATION.
TO sooner is a ship built, launched,rigged, victualled,and ocean, where she is never at rest, but continually fluctuating, tossing, and labouring, until she be either overwhelmed, and wrecked in the sea, or through age, knocks, and bruises, grows leaky, andunserviceable; and so ishaled up,and ript abroad.
APPLICATION.
No sooner come we into the world as men, of as Christians, bya natural or supernatural birth,but thus we aretoffedupon afea of troubles.
Job v. 7. "Yet man is born to trouble, as
VOL . VI.
ANew Compass for Seamen: Or, " the sparks fly upwards."
The spark no sooner comes out of the fire, but it flies up naturally ; it needs not any external force, help, or guidance, but ascends from a principle in itself; fo naturally, fo easily doth trouble rise outoffin.
There is radically all the misery, anguish, and trouble in the world in our corrupt natures.
As the spark lies close hid in the coals, fo doth misery in sin ; every tin draws a rod after it. And these sorrows and troubles fall notonlyonthe body, in those breaches, flaws, deformities, pains, aches, diseases, to which it is subject, which are but the groans of dying nature, and its crumbling, by degrees,intoduftagain; but on all our employnfents and callings also,Gen. iii. 17, 18, 19. These are full of pain, trouble, and disappointment, Hag. i. 6.
We earn wages, and put it into a bag with holes,anddisquiet ourselves in vain; all our relations full of trouble. The apostle speaking to those that marry, faith, 1 Cor. vii. 28. " Such shall have
" trouble in the flesh." Upon which words one gloffeth thus :
Flesh and trouble are married together,whether we marry or no ; but they that are married, marry with, and match intonewtrouSee Mr. Whateley's Care-cloth. bles:All relations have their burdens, as well as their comforts : It were endless to enumerate the sorrows of this kind, and yet the troubles of the body are but the body of our troubles; the spirit of the curse falls upon the spiritual and noblest part of man.
The soul and body, like toEzekiel's roll, are written full with sorrows, both within and without.
Sothatwemake the fame report of our lives,when we come to die, that old Jacob madebeforePharaoh,Gen. xlvli. 9. "Few
" and evil have thedaysofthe years of our lives been." Eccl. ii . 22, 23. " For what hath man of all his lab our, andofthevex- " at i on of his heart,wherein he hath laboured under the fun ?
" For all his days are sorrows, and his travel grief, yea, his " hearttakethnoreftinthenight: This isalfovanity."
Neither doth our new birth free us from troubles, though then they be sanctified, sweetned, and turned into blessings to ns. Weputnotoffthehuman,when we put on thedivinenature ; nor are we then freed from the sense,though we are delivered from thestingandcurse of them. Grace doth notprefentlypluckout allthosearrows that sin hath shot into the fides of nature. 2Cor. vii. 5. "When we were come into Mace- "don i a, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubledonevery
" side: Withoutwerefightings, andwithinwere fears." Rev. vii. 14. " These are they that come out of great tribulations."
The first cry of the new-born Christian (fays one) gives hell'an
Navigation Spiritualized."
alarm, and awakens the rage bothofdevils and men against him.
HencePaul and Barnabas acquainted those new converts, Acts xiv. 22. " That through much tribulation they must enter in- " to the kingdom of God."
And we find the state of the church, in this world, set out (Ifa. liv. 11.) by the fimilitude ofadistreffed ship at sea: "O thou afflicted [and tossed] with " tempefts, and not comforted." [Toffsed] asJonah's ship was ; for the fame word is theirufed, Jonah i. 11, 13. as a vessel at sea, stormed, and violently driven without rudder, mast, fail, or tacklings.
Nor are we to expect freedom from those troubles, untilharboured in heaven ; fee 2 Theff. i. 7. O what large catalogues of experiences do the saints carry to heaven with them, for their various exercises,dangers, trials,and marvellous preservations anddeliverances out of all ! and yet all these troubles without, are nothing to those within them; from temptations, corruptions, defertions, by passion and compassion :
Besides their own, there comes daily upon the in the troubles of others ; manyrivulets fall into this channel and brim, yea, often overflow the banks. Psalm xxxiv. 19. "Many are the " afflictions of the righteous."
REFLECTION.
Hence should the graceless heart thus reficct upon itself,O my soul ! into what a sea of troubles art thou lanched forth! and what a sad case art thou in ! full of trouble, and full of sin; and these do mutually produce each other.
And that which is the most dreadful consideration of all, is, that I cannot fee the end of them. As for the saints, they suffer in the world, as well asI ; but it is but for a while, I Pet. v. 10. and then they suffer no more, 2 Theff. i. 7. " But all tears
" shall be wiped away from their eyes," Rev. vii. 17. But my troubles look with along visage, ah ! they are but the begining of sorrows, but a parboiling before I be roasted in the flames of God's eternal wrath.
IfI continue as I am, I shall but deceive myself, ifI conclude I shall be happy in the other world, because I have met with so much sorrow in this :
For I read, Jude, ver. 7. that the inhabitants of Sodom andGomorrah,though consumed to ashes,with all their estates and relations, (a forer temporal judgment than ever yet befel me) do, notwithstanding that, continue still in" everlasting chains,
" under darkness,in which they are reserved unto the judgment " of the great day."
These troubles of the saints are sanctified to them, but mine are fruits of the curse.
They have spiritual confolations to balance them, which flow into their souls in Hh2 ::
ANew Compass for Seamen : Or, thefameheight, and degree, as troublesdoupontheirbodies,
2Cor. i. 5. But Iamastrangertotheir comforts, and" inter- " meddle not with theirjoys," Prov. xiv. 10. If their hearts be surcharged with trouble, they have a God to go to; and whentheyhave opened their cause before him,they are eased, return with comfort, and their "countenance is no more
" fad," 1 Sam. i. 18. When their belly is as bottles,full of new wine, they can give it ventbypouring out of their fouls into their Father's bosom: but I have no interest in, nor acquaintance with this God, norcanIprayunto him in the Spirit.
My griefs are shut up like fire inmyboson.,whichpreys upon my spirit.
This is my sorrow, and I alone must bear it. O my foul, look round about thee ! what a miserable cafeart thou in? Rest no longer satisfied in it, but look out for a Christ also. What though I am a vile, unworthy wretch ? yet he promiseth to love freely, Hos. xiv. 4. and invites such as are heavyladento him, Mat. xi. 28.
Hence also should the gracious foul reflect sweetly upon itself after this manner: And is the world fo full of trouble ? O my soul! what cause haft thou to stand admiring at the indulgenceandgoodness of God to thee ? Thou hast hitherto had a smooth passage, comparatively to what others have had.
How hath divine wisdom ordered my condition, and cast my lot ? Have I beenchastised with whips ? others withfcorpions.
Have I had no peace without? some have neither had peace without nor within, but terrors round about.
Or have I felt trouble in my flesh and spirit at once ? yet have theynotbeen extreme, either for time or measure. And hath the world been a Sodom, an Egypt to thee ? Why then dost thou thus linger in it, and hanker after it ? Why do I not long to be gone, and sigh more heartily for deliverance ? Why are the thoughts of my Lord's coming no sweeter to me, and the day of my fulldeliverancenomore panted for ?AndwhyamIno more careful to maintain peace within, since there is so much trouble without ? Is not this it that puts weight into all outward troubles, and makes them sinking,that they fall upon me whenmyspirit is dark, or wounded ?
The POEM.
My soul, art thou besieged With troubles round about ?
If thou be wife, take this advice, To keep these troubles out.
Wifemenwillkeep their confcienceas their eyes ; For in their conscience their best treasure lies.
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See you be tender of your inward peace, That shipwreck'd, then your mirth andjoymust cease :
If God from you your outward comforts rend, You'll find what need you have offuch a friend.
If this be not by fin destroy'd and lost, You need not fear, yourpeacewillquit your cost.
If you'dknow how to sweeten any grief, Tho' ne'er so great, or to procure relief Against th' afflictions, which, like deadly darts,
Most fatal are to men of carnal hearts; Reject not that which conscience bids you chuse ;
And chuse not you what conscience faith, refuse.
Iffin you must, or misery under lie, Resolve to bear, and chuse the misery.
CHAP.
II.
In the vast ocean spiritual eyes defcry God's boundless mercy, and eternity .
OBSERVATION.
HE ocean is ofa vast extent and depth,thoughsupposedman.
Itcompatieth about the whole earth, which, in the account ofGeographers, is twenty-one thousand and fix hundred miles in
compass ; yet the ocean environs it on every side, Psalm civ.
35. and Jobxi. 9. Suitable to which is that of the poet. * " He spread the seas,which then he did command,
" To swell with winds,and compass round the land."
And for its depth, who can discover it ?The sea in Scripture is called the deep, Job xxxviii. 30. the great deep, Gen. vii.
11. the gathering together of the waters into one place, Gen. i. 9. If the vastest mountain were cast into it, it would appear no more than the headofapin in atun of water.
APPLICATIO Ν.
This, in a lively manner, shadows forth the infinite and incomprehensible mercy of our God, whose mercy is said to be over all his works, Psal. cxlv. 9. In how many sweet notions is the mercy of God represented to us in the Scripture ? He is said to be plenteous, Psalm ciii. 8. abundant, 1 Pet. i. 3. rich in mercy, Ephef. ii. 4. then, that his mercies are unsearchable,
Ephef. iii. 8. " High as the heavens above the earth,"
* Tumfreta diffudit rapidisque tumefcereventis Juffit, & ambitaecircumdare littora terrae.
Ovid
A New Compass for Seamen: Ог Psalm. x. 4. which are so high and vast, that the whole earth is but a small point to them; yea,they are not only compar ed to the heavens,but,to come home to the metaphor, to the depths of the sea, Mic. vii. 19. which can swallow up mountains, as well as mole-hills ; and inthisfeaGodhathdrowned fins ofa dreadful height and aggravation,even,scarlet, crimson,
(i. e.) deep-dyedwith many intensive aggravations, Ifa. i. 18.
In this sea was the fin ofManaffehdrowned,and of what magnitude that was, maybe seen, 2 Chron. xxxiii. 3. yea, in this ocean of mercy, did the Lord drown and cover the fins of Paul, though a blafphemer, a perfecutor, injurious, 1 Tim. i. 13. " None (faithAugustine) more fierce than Paul among " the perfecutors, and therefore none greater among sinners:"
To which himselfwillinglysubscribes, 1Tim. i. 15. yet pardoned. How hath mercy rode in triumph, and been glorified upon the vilest of men! How hath it stopped the slanderous mouths of men and devils ! Ithathyearnedupon" Fornicators,
" idolarers, adulterers, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, " extortioners ;" to such havethesceptreofmercybeen stretched forth, upon their unfeigned repentance and submission,
1Cor. vi. 9. What doth the Spirit of God aim at, in such a large accumulation of names of mercy? but to convince poor sinners of the abundant fulness and riches of it, if they will but submit to the terms on which it is tendered to them.
In the vastness of the ocean, we have also a lively emblem of eternity. Who can comprehend or measure the ocean, but God ? And who can comprehend eternity, but he that is said to inhabit it ? Ifa. lvii. 15.
Though shallow rivers may be drained and dried up, yet the ocean cannot. And tho' these transitory days, months, and years will at last expire and determine ; yet eternity shall not. O! it is a long word! and amazing matter ! what is eternity,but a constantpermanency of persons and things, in one and the same state and condition for ever ; putting them beyond all possibility of change? The heathens were wont to shadow it by a circle, or afuake twisted round.
It will be to all of us, either a perpetual day or night, whichwillnotbe measured by watches, hours, minutes. And as it cannot be measured,so neither can it ever be diminished.
When thousands of years are gone, there is not a minute less to come.
Gerhard and Drexelius do both illustrate it by this krown fimilitude : Suppose a bird were to come once in a thousand years to some vast mountain off and,and carry away in her bill one sand ina thousand years ; O what a vast tine would it be, e'er thatimmortalbird, after that rate, should carry
Navigation Spiritualized.
off the mountain! and yet in time,this might be done. For therewouldbe still some diminution; butineternitytherecan be none. There be three things in time,which are not competent to.eternity: Intimethere is afucceffion, one generation, year, anddaypasseth, and another comes ; but eternity is a fixed [now.] In time there is a diminution and wasting, the more is past, the less is to come. But it is not fo in eternity.
In time there is an alteration of condition and states : A man maybe poor to-day, and rich to-morrow ; fickly and diseased this week, and well the next; now in contempt, and anon in honour: But no changes pass upon us in eternity. As the tree falls at death and judgment, so it lies for ever.
If in heaven, there thou art a pillar, and shalt go forth no more, Rev. iii. 12. If in hell,no redemption thence,but the fmoak of their torments afcendeth for ever and ever, Rev. xix. 3.
REFLECTION.
And is the mercy of Godlike the great deeps, an ocean that none can fathom ? What unspeakable comfort is this to me? may the pardoned foul fay. Did Ifraelfing afong,when the Lord had overwhelmed their corporeal enemies in the seas ?
And shall not Ibreakforth into his praises,who hath drowned all my fins in the depth of mercy ? O my soul, bless thou the Lord,and let his high praises ever be in thy mouth.
Mayest thounotsay,that hehathgoneto as high an extent and degree of mercy in pardoning thee, as ever he did in any ? O my
God, who is like unto thee ! thatpardoneth iniquity,tranfgref- ! fion and fin.
What mercy,but the mercy of a God, could cover such abominations as mine?
But O ! what terrible reflections will conscience make from hence, upon alldespisers of mercy,when the sinner's eyes cone to be opened too late for mercy, to do them good ! We have heard indeed, that the king of heaven was a merciful king, but we would make no address to him,whilst that fceptre was stretched out. Weheardofbalm inGilead, and a physician there, that was able and willing to cure all our wounds, but we would not commit ourselves to him.
We read, that the arms of Christ were open to embrace and receive us, but we would not.
Cunparalleled folly! O foul-destroying madness! Now the womb of mercy is shut up, and thall bring forthnomoremercies tome for ever. Nowthegates of grace are shut, and nocriescanopen them.
Mercy acted its part, and is gone off the stage; and now justice enters the scene, and will be glorified for everuponme.
How oftendidIhearthe bowels of compassion founding in
ANew Compass for Seamen : Or, the gospel for me? But my hard and impenitentheart could not relent; and now, if it could, it is too late.
I am now past out of the ocean of mercy, into the ocean of eternity, where I am fixed in the midst of endless misery,and shall never hear the voiceofmercymore.
Odreadful eternity ! O foul-confoundingword ! An ocean indeed, to which this ocean is but as a drop; for in thee nơ foul shall fee either bank or bottom.
IfI lie but one night under strong pains of body,how tedious doth that night seem!
And how do I tell the clock,and wish for day! In the world I might have had life, and would not. And now,how fain would I have death, but cannot ? How quick were my fins in execution? And how long is their punishmentinduration?
O! how shall I dwell with everlasting burnings ? Oh that God would but vouchsafe one treatymorewith me1 But alas, all tenders and treaties are now at an end with me. On earth peace,Luke ii. 13. but none in hell. Omy foul ! confider these things ; come, let us debate this matter seriously,before we launch out into this ocean.
The POEM.
HO from some high-rais'd tower views the ground, WH His heart doth tremble, and his head goes round ;
Even so my soul,whilst it doth view and think On this eternity, upon whose brink It borders, stands amazed, and doth cry, Oboundless ! bottomless eternity !
The scourge of hell, whose very lash doth rend The damned fouls in twain : What ! never end ?
The more thereonthey ponder, think, andpore, The more, poor wretches, still they howl and roar.
Ah! though more years in torments we should lie, Than sands are on the shores, or in the sky
Are twinkling stars ; yet this gives some relief!
The hope of ending. Ah! but here's the grief!
A thousand years in torments past and gone, Tenthousandmore afresh are coming on ; And when these thousands all their course have run ,
The end's no more than when it first begun.
Come then,my foul,let us discourse together This weighty point, and tell me plainly whether
You for these short-liv'djoys, that come and go, Will plunge yourself and me in endless woe.
Resolve the question quickly,do not dream More time away.
Lo, in an hasty stream
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We swiftly pass, and shortly we shall be Ingulphed both in this eternity.
CHAP .
II.
Within these smoothfac'dfeas strange creatures crawl; But in man'she art far stranger than them all.
OBSERVATION .
IT was an unadvised saying of Plato, Mare nil memorabile producit: the sea producethnothing memorable.
But furelythere is much of the wisdom, power, and goodness of God manifested in those inhabitants of the watery region : notwithstanding the sea's azure and smiling face, strange creatures are bred in itswomb.
" O Lord, (faith David) how manifold are " thy works : In wisdom hast thou made them all ; the earth
" is full of thy riches.
So is this great and wide sea, where- " in are things creeping innumerable, both small and great
" beasts," Pial. civ. 24, 25. And we read, Lam. iv. 3. of Sea-monsters, which draw out their breasts to their young.
Pliny and Purchas tell incredible stories about them.
About the tropic of Capricorn, our seamen meet with flying fithes, that have wings like a rere-mouse, but of a silver colour ; they fly in flocks like stares.
There are creatures of very strange forms and properties ; some resembling a cow, called by the Spaniards, manates, by some supposed to be the sea-monster spoken of by Jeremy.
In the rivers of Guinea, Purchas faith, there are tithes that have four eyes, bearing two above, and two beneath the water, when they swim : both resembling a toad, and very poitonous. How strange, both in shape and property, is the sword-fish and thresher, that fight with the whale : Even our own seas produce creatures of strange shapes, but the commonness takes off the wonder.
APPLICATION.
Thus doth the heart of man naturally swarm and abound with strange and monstrous lust sand abominations, Rom. i. 29.
30, 31. "Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, " wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, mur- " der, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil
" things, disobedient to parents,without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmer- " ciful." Owhat a swarm is here ! and yet there are multitudes more, in the depths of the heart! And it is no wonder,
Vot. VI.
New Compass for Seamen : Or, considering that with this nature, we received the spawn of the blackest and vilest abominations.
This original lust is productive of them all, Jam. i. 14, 15. which lutt, though it be in everyman, numerically, different from that of others, yet it is one and the fame specifically, for fort and kind, in all the children of Adam ; even as the reasonable soul, though every man hath his own soul, viz. a soul individually distinct from another man's, yet it is the lame for kind in all men.
So that whatever abominations are in the hearts and lives of the vilest Sodomites, and most profligate wretches under heaven; there is the fame matter in thy heart out of which they were shaped and formed.
In the depths of the heart they are conceived, and thence they crawl out of the eyes, hands, lips, and all the members, Matth . xv. 18, 19. " Those things (faith Christ)
"which proceed out of the mouth, come forth from the heart, " and defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts,
" murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, falte witness, blaf- " phemies : even such monsters, as would make a gracious heart tremble to behold.
• What are my lusts Puller'sMedi- (faith one)but so many toads spitting of vetations, p. 1F.'nom, and spawning of poison ; croaking in my judgment, creeping in my will, and crawhng
•into my affections ?" The aposlle in 1 Cor. v. F. tells us of afin, not to be named;" for monstrous, that nature itself Martlesat it: evenfuch monsters are generated in the depths of the heart.
Whence come evils ? was a question that much puzzled the philosophers of old. Now here you mayfeewhence they come, and where they are begotten.
FLECTION.
And are there such strange abominations in the heart of man ?
Then how is he degenerated from his primitive perfection and glory!
His streams were once as clear as crystal, and the fountain of then pure, there was no unclean creature moving in them.
What a flately fabric was the soul at first ! And what holy inhabitants possessed the several rooms thereof ! But now, as God speaks of Idumea, Ha. xxxiv. 11. "The line of con- " fusion is ftretchedout upon it, and the stones of emptiness.
" The cormorantandbittern possess it; the owl and the raven "dwell in it."
Yea, as Ifa. xiii. 21, 22. "The wild beasts of " the defart lie there; it is full of doleful creatures, the fa-
" tyrs dance in it, and dragons cry in those sometimes pleasant places." Ofadchange ! how fadlymay we look back towards our first state! and take up the words of Job, "Othat
"I were as inmonthspaft, as in the days of my youth; when
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the Almighty was yet with me, when I put on righteous ness, and it cloathedme, when my glory was fresh in me,
Job. xxix. 2,4, 5.
Again, think, O my soul, what a miserable condition the unregenerate abide in ! Thus swarmed and over run with hellishlusts, under the dominion and vassalage of divers lusts, Tit. iii. 3. What a tumultuous sea is such afoul : how do these lusts
rage within them! how do they contest and scuffle for the throne! and usually take it by turns : for as all diseases are contrary to health, yet some contrary to each other, so are lusts.
Hence poor creatures are hurried on to different kinds of sevitude, according to the nature of that imperious lust that is in the throne; and, like the lunatic, Matth. xvii. are sometimes cast intothewater, and sometimes into the fire.
Well might the prophet say, " The wicked is like a troubled sea that cannot " rest," Ifa. vii. 20.
They have no peace now in the service of fin, and'less shall they have hereafter, when they receive the wages of fin. " There is no peace to the wicked, faith my
God." They indeed cry Peace,peace; but myGoddothnot say fo.
The last issue and result of this is eternal death ; no sooner it is delivered of its deceitful pleasures, but presently it falls in travail again, and brings forth death, Jam. i. 15.
Once more : and is the heart such a sea, abounding with monstrous abominations ?
Then stand astonished, O my soul, at that free-grace which hath delivered thee from so sad a condition; O fall down, and kiss the feet of mercy that moved fo freely and seasonably to thy rescue?
Let my heart be enlarged abundantly here.
Lord, what am 1, that I should be taken, and others left ?
Reflect, O my soul, upon the conceptions and births of lusts in the days of vanity, which thou now blushest to own. Owhat black imaginations, hellish desires, vile affections, are lodged there ! Who made me to differ ? or, how camel to be thus wonderfully separated ?
Surely, it is by thy free grace, and nothing else, that I am what lam; and by that grace I have escaped (to mine own astonishment) the corruption that is in the world through lust. O that ever the holy God should set his eyes on such a none ; or cast a look of love towards
⚫me, in whom were legions of unclean lusts and abominations.
The POEM.
MY soul's the sea, wherein, from day today, Sins like Leviathans do sport and play.
Great master lusts, with all the lesser fry, Therein increase, and strangely multiply. liz
A New Compass for Seamen : Or, Yet strange it is not, sin so fast should breed, Since with this nature I receiv'd the feed
And spawn of ev'ry species, which was shed Into its caverns first, then nourished By its own native warmth; which like the sua
Hathquickened them, and now abroad they come; And like the frogs of Egypt creep and crawl
Into the closest rooms withinmyfoul.
My fancy swarms, for there they frisk and play, In dreams by night, and foolish toys by day.
My judgments clouded by them, and my will Perverted, every corner they do fill.
As locusts seize on all that's fresh and green, Uncloath the beauteous spring, and make it seem
Like drooping autumn; so my soul, that first As Edenseem'd, now's like a ground that's curst.
Lord purge my streams, and kill those lusts that lie....
Within them ; if they do not, 1 must die.
CHAP .
IV.
Seaspurgethemselves, and cast their filth afbore, But graceless fouls retain, and fuck in more.
OBSERVATIΟΝ.
SEAS are in a continual motion and agitation, they have their flux and reflux, by which they are kept from putrefaction: like a fountain it cleanses itself, Isa.Ivii. 20. "It can- " notrelt,butcasts up mire and dirt;" whereas lakesandponds, whose waters are standing, and dead, corrupt and slink. And it is observed by seamen, that in the southern parts of the world, where the tea is more calm and settled, it is more corrupt and unfit for use; to is the sea of Sodom called, the dead sea.
APPLICATION .
Thus do regenerate souls purify themselves, and work out corruption thatdefiles them, they cannot suffer it to fettlethere,
1 John iii. 3. " He purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
" Keepeth himself, that the wicked one toucheth him not,"
1 Johnv. 18. feil. tanto qualitativo, with aqualitativetouch, as the loadstone toucheth iron, leaving animpreffionof itsna ture behind it. They are doves delighting in cleanness, Ha. xxxii. 15. " He despiseth the gain of oppression,he shakethhis
" hands trem holding of bribes, stoppeth his ears from hearing blood, and shutteth his eyes from tecing evil."
See how ail
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senses and members are guarded against sin: but it is quite contrary with the wicked; there isnoprincipleof holiueis in them, to oppose or expel corruption It lies in their hearts as mud in a lake or well, which settles and corrupts more and more. Hence
Ezek. xlvii. 11. their hearts are compared to miry or marshy places, which cannot be healed,but are given to salt : the meaning is, that the purest streams of the gospel, which cleanteothers, make them worse than before, as abundance of rain will amiry place.
The reason is, because it meets with an obstacle in their souls ; to that it cannot run through them and be giorified, as it doth in gracious fouls.
All the means and endea vours used to cleanse them are in vain; all the grace of God they receive in vain, "they hold fast deceit, they refuse to let
" it go," Jer. viii. 5.
Sin is not in them as floatingweedsupon the sea, which it strives to expel and purge out, but as spots in the leopard's skin, Jer. xiii. 21. or letters fashioned and engravenin the very substance of marble or brass, with a pen of iron, and point of a diamond, Jer. xvii . 1. Or as ivy in an old wall, that hath gotten root into its very entrails. " Wicked- " ness is sweet to their mouths, they roll it under their tongues,"
Job xx. 12. No'threats nor promises can divorce them from it.
REFLECTION.
Lord ! this is the very frame of my heart, may the graceless foul say. Mycorruptions quietly settle in me, my heart labours not against it :
I am a stranger to that conflict which is daily maintained in all the faculties of the regenerate foul.
Glorified fouls have nofuch conflict, because grace in them slands alone, and is perfectly triumphant over all its opposites ; and graceless souls can have no such conflict, because in them corruption stands alone, and hath no other principle to make opposition to it.
And this is my case, O Lord ! I am full of vain hopes indeed, but had I a living and well grounded hope to dwell for ever with so holy a God, I could not but be daily purifying myself.
ButO! what will the end of this be ? I have cause to tremble at that last anddreadfullest curse in the book of God,
Rev. xxii. 11. " Let him that is filthy be filthy still."
Is it not as much as if God should say, Let them alone, I will spend no morerodsuponthem, no more means shall be used about them ; but I will reckon with them for all together in another world ?
Omy foul ! what a dismal reckoning will that be!
Ponder with thyself in the mean while, those terrible and awakening texts, that, if possible, this fatal issue maybe prevented.
See Ifa. i. 5. Hos. iv. 14. Jer. vi. 29, 30. Heb. vi.8.
A New Compass for Seamen : Or, M The POEM .
Y heart's no fountain, but a standing lake Of putrid waters ;; if therein I rake, By serious search, O ! what a noisome smell,
Like exhalationsrising out of hell ; The stinking waters pump'd up from the hold,
Are as perfumes to seamen: but my soul Upon the same account that they are glad,
(Itslongcontinuance there) is therefore sad.
The scripture faith, " No foul God's face shall see,"
Till from such filthy lusts it cleansed be.
Yet though unclean, it maythatway be rid, AsHerculus the Augean stable did.
Lord turn into my soul that cleansing blood, Which from my Saviour's side flow'd as a flood.
Flow, sacred fountain, brim my banks ; and flow Till you have made my soul as white as snow.
CHAP.
Seamen foresee a danger, and prepare :
Yet few ofgreaterdangers are aware.
OBSERVATIΟΝ.
How watchful and quick sighted are seamen, to prevent dangers ! if the wind die away, and then fresh upfoutherly; or if they see the sky hazy, they provide for a storm : if by the prospective glass they know a Pyrate at the greatest distance, they clear the gun-room, prepare for fight, and bear up, if able to deal with him ; if not, they keep close by the wind, make all the fail they can, and bear away.
If they suppose themselves, by their reckoning, near land, how often do they found! And if upon acoaftwith which they are unacquainted, how careful are they to get a pilot that knows, and is acquainted with it?
APPLICATION.
Thus watchful and suspicious ought we to be in spiritual concernments.
We should study, and be acquainted with Satan's wiles, and policy. The apostle takes it for granted, that Christians are notignorantofhis devices. 2Cor. ii. 11. " The " serpent's eye (as one faith) would do well in the dove's head."
The devil is a cunning pyrate, he puts out false colours, and or. dinarilycomes up to the Christian in the disguise of a friend.
O the manifold depths and stratagems of Satan, to destroy fouls ! though he have no wisdom to do himself good, yet he
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hath policy enough to do us mischief. He lies in ambush behind our lawful comforts and employments; yet, for the geneFality of men, how fupine and careless are they, suspecting no danger ?
Their souls, like Laish, dwell carelessly, their senses unguarded : O what an easy prize, and conquest,doththedevil make of them !
Indeed, if it were with us aswithAdam in innocency, or as it was with Christ in the days of his flesh (who by reason of that overflowing fullness of grace that dwelt in him, the purity of his person, and the hypostatical union, was secured from the danger of all temptations) the case then were otherwise ; but we have a traitor within, Jam. i. 14, 15. as well as a tempter without. I Pet. v. 8. " Our adversary the devil goes about as a roaring lion, seckingwhomhe may devour." And, like the beasts of the forests, poor souls lie down before him, and become his prey.
All the sagacity, wit, policy, and foresight of some men, is summoned in to serve their bodies, and secure their fteshly enjoyments.REFLECTION.
Lord ! how doth the care, wisdom, and vigilance of men in temporal and external things, condemn my carelessness in the deep, and dear concernments of my precious soul ! what care and labour is thereto secure a perishing life, liberty, or treasure! when was I thus folicitous for my soul, though its value be inestimable, and its danger far greater ? Self-preservation is one of the deepest principles in nature. There is not the poorest worm, or fly, but will shun danger, if it can : yet I amfo far from shunningthosedangers to which my foul lies continually exposed, that I often run it upon temptations, and voluntarily expose it to its enemies. I see, Lord, how watchful, jealous, and laborious thy people are; what prayers, tears, and groans, searching of heart, mortification of lusts, guarding of senses ; and all accounted too little by them. Have not Ia foul to save or lose eternally, as well as they ? Yet Icannotdeny one fleshly lust, nor withstand one temptaion. O how I am convinced and condemned, not only by other's care and vigilance, but my own too, inlefferand lower matters ?
The POEM .
Am the ship, whose bills of lading come To more than man's or angel's art canfum,
Rich fraught with mercies, on the ocean, now I I float, the dang'rous ocean I do plow.
Storms rife, rocks threaten, and in ev'ry creek Pyrates and pickeroons their prizes feck.
ANew Compass for Seamen: Or, My soul should watch, look out, and use its glass, Prevent surprisals timely; but, alas !
Temptations give it chace, it's grappled sure, And boarded, whilst it thinks itself secure.
Itleeps, like Jonah, in the dreadfull'st storm, Altho' it'scafe be dang'rous, and forlorn.
Lord, rouze my drowsy soul, left it should knock, And split itself upon some dangrous rock.
If it of faith and conscience shipwreck make, I am undone for ever; foul, awake !
Till thou arrive in heav'n, watch, and fear; Thou may'st not say, till then, the coast is clear.
CHAP.
VI.
How small a matter turns a ship about ?
Yet we, against ourconfcience, stand it out.
OBSERVATION.
Tis just matter of admiration, to fee so great a body as a IT Chip is, and when under fail too, before afresh and strong wind, by which it is carried, as the clouds, with marvellous force and speed, yet to be commanded with ease, by so small a thing as the helm is. The scripture takes notice of it as amatterworthy of our consideration.
Jam. iii. 4. " Behold also " the ships, which though they be great, and driven of fierce
" winds ; yet they are turned about with as mall helm, whi- " therfoever the governor listeth."
Yea, * Aristotle himself, that eagle-eyed philosopher, could not give a reason of it, but looked upon it as avery marvelious and wonderful thing.
APPLICATION.
To the fame use and office has God designed conscience in man, which being rectified and regulated by the word and spiritofGod, is to steer and order his whole conversation. Con. science is as the oracle of God, the judge anddeterminer of our actions, whether they be good or evil ? And it lays the strongest obligations upon the creature to obey its dictates, that is imaginable: for it binds under the reason and consideration of the most absolute and sovereign will of the great God. So that as often as conscience from the word convinceth us of any fin or duty, it lays such a bond upon us to obey it, as no power under heaven can relax or dispense with. Angels cannot do it, much less man ; for that would be to exalt themselves above
* Ariftot. Secund. Μηχανικων, C.5.
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God. Now therefore it is an high anddreadfulwayoffinning, to oppose and rebel againstconfcience, when it convinces of fin and duty.
Conscience sometimes reasons it out with men, and thewsthem the necessity of changing their way and course ; arguing it from the clearest and most allowed maxims of right real on, as well as from the indisputable sovereignty of God.
As for instance: itconvinceth their very reason that things of eternal duration are infinitely to be preferred to all momentary and perishing things, Rom. viii. 18. Heb. xi. 26. and it is ourdutytochuse them, and make all secular and temporary concernments to stand aside, and give place to them.
Yet though men be convinced of this, their stubborn will stands out, and will not yield up itself to the conviction.
Further, It Argues from this acknowledged truth, that all the delightandpleasures in this world are but a miserable portion, andthatitis the highest follyto adventureanimmortal foul for them, Luke ix. 15.
Alas ! what remembrance is there of them in hell ?
They are as the waters that pass away. What have they left, of all their mirth and jollity, but a tormenting sting ?
It convinceth them clearly, also, that in matters of deep concerument it is an high point of wisdom, to apprehend and improve the right seasons and opportunities of them, Prov.
Χ. 5. "He that gathers in summer is a wise son."
Ecclef. viii. 5. " A wife man's heartdifcerns both time and judgment.
" There is a season toeverypurpose," Ecclef. iii. 1. viz. a nick of time, an happy juncture, when, if am an strikes in, he doth his work effectually, and with much facility such seasons conscience convinceth the soul of, and often whispers thus in its ear: Now, foul, strike in, close with this motion of the Spirit, and be happy for ever ; thou mayest never have such agale for heaven anymore. Now, though these be allowed maxims of reason, and conscience enforce them strongly on the soul, yet cannot it prevail, the proud, stubborn will rebels, and will not be guided by it.
See Eph. ii. 3. Job xxxiv. 37.
Ila. xlvi.
12. Ezek. ii. 4. Jer. xliv. 16....
REFLECTION.
Ah !Lord, such an heart have I had before thee; thus obstinate, thus rebellious, touncontroulableby conscience. Many atimehath conscience thuswhisperedin mine ear, many a time hath it stood in my way, as the angel did in Balaam's, or the cherubims that kept the way of the tree of life with Aaming swords turning everyway. Thus hath it stood to oppose me inthewayof mylufts. Howoftenhathit calmlydebatedthe
VOL. VI.
K -
New Compass for Seamen : Or, case with me alone ? and how sweetly hath itexpoftulatedwith me ? How clearly hath it convinced of fin, danger, duty, with fstrong demonstration ? How terrible hath itmenaced my soul, and set the point of the threatning at my very breast?
And yet my head-strong affections will not be remanded by it.
I have obeyed the voice of every lust and temptation, Tit. iii.
3.butconfciencehath lost its authority with me. Ah Lord! what afad condition am I in,both in respect of sin and misery?
My fin receives dreadful aggravations, for rebellion and presumption are hereby added to it.
I have violated the strongest bonds that ever were laid upon a creature. Ifmyconfcience had not thus convinced and warned, the sin had not been fo great and crimson-coloured, Jam. iv. 17. Ah ! this is to fin with anhighhand, Numb xv. 30. to come near to the great andunpardonabletranfgreffion, Psalm xix. 13. Ohow dreadful away of finningis this, with opened eyes ! and as my fin is thus out of measure sinful, so my punishment will be out of measure dreadfui, if I persist in this rebellion. Lord ! thou hast said, Such shall be beaten with many stripes, Luke xii.48. yea, Lord, and if ever my conscience, which by rebellion is nowgrownfilent, should be in judgment awakened in this life;
O! what an hell hould I have within me ! how would it thunder and roar upon me, and surround me with terrors ?
Thy word assures me, that no length of time can wear out of its memory what I have done, Gen. xlii. 21. no violence or force can suppress it, Mat. xxvii. 4. no greatness of power can stifle it ; it will take the mightiestmonarchby the throat, Exod. x. 16. Dan. v. 6. no music, pleasures, or delights, can charm it, Job. xx. 22. O conscience ! thou art the sweetest friend, or the dreadfullest enemy in the world; thyconfolations are in comparably sweet, and thy terrors insupportable. Ah ! let me stand it out no longer against conscience; the very ship in which I fail, is aconfutationof my madness, that rush greedily into fin against both reason and conscience, and will not be commanded by it; surely, O my soul, this will be bitterness in the end.
The POEM.
Ship of greatest burthen will obey A The rudder ; he that fits at helm, may sway
And guide its motion: If the pilot please, The ship bears up, against both wind and seas.
My soul's the ship, affections are its fails, Confciencethe rudder. Ah ! but Lord, what ails
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My naughty heart, to shuffle in and out, When its convictions bid it tack about ?
Temptations blow a counter blast, and drive The vesselwhere they please, tho' conscience strive.
And by its strong perfuafions it would force My stubborn will to steer another course.
Lord, if I run this course, thy word doth tell How quickly I must needs arrive at hell.
Then rectify myconfcience, change my will ; Faninthy pleasant gales, my God, and fill
All my affections, and let nothing carry My soul from its due course, or make it vary ;
Then if the pilot's work thou wouldst perform, I should bear bravely up against a storm.
CHAP.
VIH.
Thro' manyfearsanddangersSeamen run, Yet all'sforgotten when they do return.
OBSERVATION.
E have an elegant and lively description of their fears W and dangers, Píal. cvii. 25, 26, 27. "Hecommandeth
" and raiseth the stormy winds, which lifteth up the waves " thereof; they mount up to heaven, they go down again to " the depths; their soul is melted because of trouble ; they
" reel to and fro, they stagger like a drunken man ; they are at " their wits end."
Or, as it is in the Hebrew, " All wisdom " is swallowed up."
Suitable to which is that of the poet *.
" The Pilot knows not what to chuse, or flee ; " Art stands amaz'd in ambiguity."
Owhat a strange and miraculous deliverancehavemany seamen had? How often have they yielded themselves for dead men, and verily thought the next sea would have swallowed them up? How earnestly then do they cry for mercy? and, like the Corinthians, can pray in a storm, though they regard it not atothertimes, Pial. cvii. 28. Jonah i. 5, 6.
APPLICATION.
These dreadful storms do at once discover to us the mighty いい * Rector in incerto eft : nec quidfugiatpetat
Invenit; ambiguis ars stupet ipsa malis.
Ovid.
A New Compass for Seamen: Or, power of God in raising them, and the abundant goodness of God in preserving poor creatures in the in.
1. The power of God is graciously manifested in raising them; the wind is one of the Lord's wonders, Psal. cvii. 24,
25. " They that go down to the sea, see the works of the " Lord, and his [wonders] in the deep; for he commandeth
" and raiseth the stormy winds."
Yea, ver. 18. God appropropriates itasapeculiar work of his; " Hecauseth his [wind
" to blow.]"
Hence he is said, in Scripture, " to bring them " forth out of his treasury," Plal. cxxxvii. 7. there they are locked up, and reserved, not aguft can break forth, till he command and call for it to goand execute his pleasure :: Yea, he is said to "hold them in his fist," Prov. xxx. 4.
What is more incapable of holding than the wind ? yet God holds it; although it be a strong and terrible creature, he controuls and rules it: yea, the Scripture sets forth God, " as riding upon " the wings of the wind," Psal. xviii. 10.
It is a borrowed speech from the manner of men, who when they would shew their pompandgreatness, ride upon some stately horte, or chariot ; so the Lord, to manifest the greatness of his power, rides upon the wings of the wind, and will be admired in fo terrible a creature.
Andnolessofhisglorious power appears in remandingthem, than in raising them. The heathens ascribe this power to their godAeolus, but we know this is the royalty, and sole prerogative of the true God, who made heaven and earth; it is he that " makes the storm a calm," Psal. cvii. 29. and itishethat shifts and changes them from pointtopoint, as he pleaseth; for he hath appointed them their circuits, Ecclef. i.6. " The wind
"goeth towards the south, and turneth about unto the north; it " whirleth about continually, andreturneth againaccordingto
" its circuits."
2. And as we should adore his power in the winds, fo ought we to admire his goodness in preserving men in the height of all their fury and violence. O what a marvellous work of God is here ! that men should be kept in a poor weak vessel, upon the wild and stormy ocean, where the wind hath its full stroke upon them, and they are driven before it, as a wreck upon the seas; yet, I say, that God shouldpreferve you there, is a work of infinite goodness and power. That those winds which do rend the very earth, mountains, and rocks, 1 Kings xix. 11.
" Breaks the cedars, yea, the cedars of Lebanon, thakes the " wilderness, and makes the hinds to calve," Psal. xxix. 5, 8, 9. which naturalifts say bring forthwith greatest difficulty; sure-
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lyyour preservation, in such tempests, is an astonishing work of mercy. O how dreadful is this creature, the wind, sometimes to you ! and how doth it make your hearts shake within you ?
If but a plauk spring, or aboltgive way, you are all loft.
Sometimes the Lord, for the magnifying of the riches of his goodness upon you, drives you to such exigencies, that, as Paul speaks, in a like case, Acts xxvii. 20. " All hope of " being saved is taken away; " nothing but death before your eyes. The Lord commands a wind out of his treasury, bids itgo and lift up the terrible waves, lock you in upon the shore, and drive you upon the rocks, so that no art can fave you ; and then fends you a piece of wreck, or some other means, tolandyou safe : And all this to give you an experiment of his goodness and pity, that you may learn to fear that God in whose hand your soul and breath are.
And it may be, for the present, your hearts are much affected; conscience works strongly, it smites you for fins formerly committed, such and such counsels of ministers, or relations flighted. Now, faith conscience, Godiscome in this storm to reckon with thee for these things.
But, alas ! all this is but amorningdew; no sooner is that storm without allayed, but all is quiet within too. How little of the goodness of God abides kindly, and effectually upon the heart?
REFLECTION.
How often hath this glorious power and goodness of God passed before me in dreadful storms and tempests at sea ? He hath uttered his voice in these stormy winds, and spoken in a terrible manner by then ; yet how little have I been affected with it? " The Lord hath his way in the whirlwind, and in " the storm," Nah. i. 3. To some he hath walked in ways of judgmentandwrath, fending them down in a moment to hell; but tome in away of forbearance and mercy. Ah! how often have I been upon the very brink of eternity ! had not God shifted, or allayed the wind, ina moment, Ihadgonedown into hell.
What workings of conscience were at present upon me ? And what terrible apprehenfionshad I then of my eternal condition ?
What vows did I make in that distress ? And how earnestly did I then beg for mercy?
But, Lord, though thy vows are upon me, yet have I been the fame; yea, added to, and filled up the measure of my fios.
Neither the bonds of mercy thou hast laid upon me, nor the sacred and solemn vows I have laid upon myself, could restrain me from those ways of iniquity, which then appeared so dreadful to me.
Ah! Lord, what an heart have I ? What love, pity, and
A New Compass for Seamen: Or, goodness, have I finnedagainst ? IfGodhadbut respitedjudg ment so long, what a mercy were it.
Sure I am, the damned would account it so; but to give me such a space to repent, ah! what an invaluable mercy is this? And do I thus requite the Lord, Deut. xxxii. 6. and pervert and abuse his goodness thus ?
Surely, O my soul, if this be the fruit of all thy preservations, they are rather reservations to some farther and forer judgments. How dreadfully will justice at last avenge the quarrel of abused mercy, Josh. xxiv. 20. How grievouslydidGod take it from the Ifraelites, that they provoked him at the sea, avenatthered-sea? Psal. cvi. 7. whereGodhadwroughttheir deliverance in such a miraculous way.
Even thus have I sinned after the fimilitude of their transgressions ; not only against the laws of God, but against the love of God. In the last storm he shot off his warning piece, in the next, he may discharge his murdering piece against my soul and body. O my soul! hath he given thee " fuchdeliverances as these, and darest thou
" again break his commandments," Ezra ix. 13, 14. O let me paythevows that my lips have uttered in my distress, left the Lord recover his glory from me in away of judgment.
T The POЕМ.
THE ship that now fails trim before a wind, E'er the desired port it gains, may find A tedious passage; gentle gales a while Do fill its fails, the flatt'ring seas do smile,
The face of heav'n is bright, on ev'ry side The wanton purpoice,tumbles on the tide.
Into their cabins now the seamen go, Andthenturns out again, with, What chear, ho?
All on a sudden darken'd are the skies, The lamp of heav'n obfcur'd, the winds doth rise;
Waves swell like mountains : Now their courage flags, The masts are crack'd, the canvas torn to rags.
The vefssel works for life; anononecries, The main mast's gone by th' board ; another plies
The pump, until a third does strike them blank, With, Sirs, prepare for death, we've sprung a plank.
Now to their knees they go, and on this wife They beg for mercy, with their loudest cries :
Lord, save us but this once, and thou shalt fee What persons, for the future, we will be :
Our former time's mis-spent, but, with avow, We will engage, if thou wiltsave us now,