. PREFACE. VU 
when we are safe," So said the Roman poet, 
and such is our nature still. 
But we are now guided, or ought to be, by a 
better spirit than even an enlightened ancient 
could feel. We acknowledge the superintend- 
ence of a kind overruling Providence, and in no 
situation are we led to a more entire reliance on 
such a Providence, than amid the dangers of 
the sea. Never do the mere unassisted efforts 
of man appear feebler, than amid those great 
convulsions of nature, and those perilous chan- 
ces, to which the mariner is so especially expo- 
sed. We, too, have learned to sympathize truly 
with all our kind, and when we read of the 
hazards and sufferings of the poor sailor, with 
nothing to protect him but the mercy of Provi- 
dence, we feel our own hearts moved to bene- 
volence, and impressed with a like sense of 
dependence. 
