by believing, earnest, and persevering prayer. We must not be contented with moving on the surface. We must not be satisfied with attacking Satan's outworks. We must boldly, and fearlessly, and in the spirit of the meek and lowly Jesus, assault the citadel. Thither must divine truth be carried and immoveably lodged by the Spirit of truth, the Lord of hosts, and thence, by his almighty power, must the prince of darkness, with all that is unholy, be driven; and the Lord Jesus be enthroned in every heart made willing to be his by the blessed influences of his constraining love, long-suffering mercy, and rich and free grace. That system of instruction and moral discipline which the Holy Scriptures warrant and appoint, must, in the spirit of their Divine Author, and of humble and believing prayer, be faithfully exhibited to their minds, and brought into full and uniform operation in all the details of daily and social life.

Do these prisoners now, like the Jews of old, ask the question, "What shall we do that we might work the works of God?" To that question is the reply, given by the great Prophet of the church himself, "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent."+ To believe on Christ is "the work of God," not merely because the faith that unites to him, unto present and everlasting salvation, is the work of the Holy Spirit, but because it is the beginning of

all holy and acceptable obedience. Until we receive Jesus, we are living in rebellion,-living not only in the habitual violation of the divine law, as persons who are dead in trespasses and sins,but as persons who are living in the act of rejecting the Son of God, the only Saviour from sin and from wrath,-living in the sustained act of resisting the Holy Spirit, and of putting away from us that perfect salvation which Jesus accomplished for us, and is ever, in the inspired Scriptures, urging upon our immediate, thankful, and cheerful reception, for pardon and life. Without faith in Christ it is impossible to please God; and it is by faith in Christ Jesus that we become his children,* are enabled to render to him an acceptable service, prove a blessing to the world, and warrant the confidence of our fellow-men in our principles and character. Coercion, and even punishment, may, through the sinful neglect and rejection of the gospel, become necessary to restrain the evil passions, and arrest the lawless and destructive career of man; but it is not by such means, or by any apparatus of man's construction, physical or moral, that the heart is to be brought back to God, or that men are to be qualified for fulfilling the offices of social life, and become deserving of the confidence of the community and of the state. God has shown us in his written word, what is absolutely necessary to accomplish these great and paramount objects; and shall we presumptuously

*Heb. xi. 6; Gal. iii. 26.

attempt to accomplish any one of them by means other than those of Divine appointment, which must prove infinitely inadequate to the attainment of the ends contemplated?

The period allotted to the voyage to the penal colonies is a season, when rightly improved, that is most favourable, under the divine blessing, to the reformation of the guilty, and their recovery to God and to happiness; and therefore, as already observed, the instruction and discipline of the people, according to the Scriptures, and the exercise of fervent and believing prayer, is to begin with their embarkation, to be continued during the whole of the passage strenuously carried on in the colonies, and perfected, through grace, in after life. And here I think it expedient to observe that, should I, as the officer intrusted by the government with the "entire management"—the care, instruction, and discipline of these men,neglect to seize the opportunity afforded by our voyage, and to endeavour, in compliance with my instructions from the Admiralty, to turn our time to the highest possible account, with a view to their reformation and happiness, I should prove myself unworthy of the confidence reposed in me; and inflict a great injury upon my country, and upon these souls for whom Christ died, and who requires that their attention be faithfully and solemnly directed to himself, as the only refuge of the guilty and the lost.

CHAPTER II.

State of the prisoners' education when they embarkedFormation of schools-Subject-matter of instruction-The impressive position occupied both by the prisoners and the naval officer intrusted with their instruction and management.

ON the day immediately following that of their embarkation, the prisoners were assembled again on the quarter-deck to receive their second Address; and various preliminary and necessary arrangements having been made, we forthwith proceeded with our adopted system of organization, as set forth in the second part of this volume.

The earliest opportunity was embraced to ascertain, by a close and personal examination, how the people stood as it regarded their ability to read and write; and the following is the result of my inquiries:

Read and write, 53; read only, 23; read a little, 65; know their letters, 45; ignorant even of the alphabet, 77.

Therefore, in a very limited sense of the expression, there were found,-educated, 76; uneducated, 187.

The prisoners being classified according to * Part I., chap. ii.

+ Part I., chap. iii., iv., v.

"their ability to read and write," were formed into twenty-four schools; the two highest of which consisted of those who could read and write; the third, of those who could read only; six, of such as could read a little; five, of those who knew their alphabet; and ten, of such as did not know their letters.

The schools having been fully organised,* and teachers and inspector appointed, the whole of the prisoners are assembled on the quarter-deck; the inspector and schoolmasters are drawn up in lines, and placed before their pupils, when they are all addressed in reference to the new and interesting relations in which they now stand to each other as teachers and pupils.†

Nothing could be more deeply interesting than the appearance which our decks now presented, above and below,-all was order, life and activity. The hum of twenty-four schools, containing 264 pupils, from seventeen to fifty-eight years of age, had an effect upon my ear far surpassing that of the finest music. Wherever a school could be conveniently assembled, there the busy group were to be seen surrounding their teacher, eagerly vying with each other in application and and zeal. There was of course great diversity of aptitude, both in communicating and receiving instruction; but almost every countenance betrayed thoughtfulness and attention, and was soon lighted up with more or less of hopeful animation. The diligence and *Exiles-Chap. iv. + Ibid.