When in port, the crews are
kept at work all the week, and the only day they are allowed for
rest or pleasure is the Sabbath; and unless they go ashore on that
day, they cannot go at all. I have heard of a religious captain who
gave his crew liberty on Saturdays, after twelve o'clock. This would
be a good plan, if shipmasters would bring themselves to give their
crews so much time. For young sailors especially, many of whom have
been brought up with a regard for the sacredness of the day, this
strong temptation to break it, is exceedingly injurious. As it is,
it can hardly be expected that a crew, on a long and hard voyage,
refuse a few hours of freedom from toil and the restraints of a
vessel, and an opportunity to tread the ground and see the sights of
society and humanity, because it is on a Sunday. It is too much like
escaping from prison, or being drawn out of a pit, on the Sabbath day.
I shall never forget the delightful sensation of being in the open
air, with the birds singing around me, and escaped from the
confinement, labor, and strict rule of a vessel- of being once more
in my life, though only for a day, my own master.
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