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' THE BlBOHHEAD . TtfE harder the Wow , the finer the ring of the ine metal . Seldom does a calamity befall any ronsiderable number of Englishmen , but that we spethe old spirit rise to meet the occasion , so nobly that calamity itself takes the aspect of opportunity , and sorrow is exchanged for jby at the great ; result . _ _ The loss of the Amazon exasperated the country with the sacrifice made by the niggard trading spirit to paltry savings ; but those meaner recollections were merged in admiration at the noble fortitude with which the many met their fatewith which the few conquered danger— -men , tlie stun ot
youths , women—all ot same Humanity . At hoine , this spirit is shelved in the back shop of trade , as there is no immediate demand for it : the cheap and showy fashions make the shoddy cloths of patriotism , the mosaic gold of honour , the chalked milk of human-kindness , go off better . But the true stuff still exists , warehoused as it may be ; and we might almost hail a national calamity which should restore England to herself , as her sons are made to know their own true blood in the presence of destruction .
In great qualities , the incidents of the destruction of the BlrJccnJiead almost excel those of the Amazon * The calamity is so brilliant a lesson in the capacities of the English character , that statesmen and politicians of all classes may Well study it . The cause of the disaster is plain and obvious : the temerity of the commander made him hug the shore too closely , in hopes of saving time by a short cut . That maiiy recent examples had illustrated the folly of such conduct , that so many lives were risked as well as his own , lends a character of wickedness to such excess of hardihood ; but , unlike many of the vices which just now most widely and destructively beset society ,
there is no quality of baseness or me _ anness in the fault , which was nobly expiated by the courage and self-devotion at the close . Assuredly , there was not one of that doomed company who would have withheld a cordial forgiveness to the erring commander . The ship had struck , two or tliree miles off Point Danger . The sea was smooth , but with the water runnin g hard . The damage was so severe , that in twelve or fifteen minutes the ship parted , while numbers had been drowne d in their hammocks , by the sudden rush of water through the first breach into the troop-deck .
There were 630 souls on board , nearly 500 of them soldiers—men drawn , you know , from " the dregs of society . " " Order and silence" were commanded : the men were at once orderly and silent . Some of them wore told off in reliefs , to assist : " the assistance was given , staunchly and steadily . The bow broke off , and then the ship parted : " a few men jumped off just before she did so , but the greater number remained to the last ; and so did every officer belonging to the troops . " When the vessel was going down , the commandor called out that all who could swim should make for the boats : Captain " Wright and Lieutenant Girai'dot bogged them not to do so , the
'as boat with the women must bo swamped : " not more than throo made the attempt . " Not a cry , not a murmur ; the discipline astonished oven the officers . Officers and mon wero as ono m tUoir heroic fortitude : " all received their orders , and had them carried out , as if the men wero embarking , instead of going to the bottom . " Nothing could bo more sublime than the spectacio of that number of mon meeting thoir fate , lace to face , devotion to groat principles binding thorn to their duty . Discipline , it is said , makes inaehmos of mon ; but to maintain discipline at a umoAvhon death itself is present and unloosens t-iio bonds of compulsion , demands tho genuine
concu rrent will of each man . Machines have not a will nor a conscience , nor a soul . Politicians might loam from tho story , how minds of superior mould and training can obtain such influence over tho "common" mind , that death itself , tho Rlro » ffest of all coercives on , more solf-intorosta , snail bo confronted in obedience to thohighor comnmncl . Soci 6 ty has , or ought to have , its officers « h well m tho army ; and need we fear for " order , " wJion the aristocracy of that community could Jims hold it to its faith and order at such a time H 9 > ft KClUlinO nrisfrkn . viilin wiln wiih ilinvn Tnn .
in-Jftmod , at that torriblo hour , by universal suffrngo itself . And how soon , under well studied inuuences , is tho " common" mind brought to
discipline : most of these men . had been but a short time in the service . What was it that they died for , with this active and daring patience ? Partly , no doubt , from the habit of discipline . Partly , for the better chance of being saved ; a chance which is not refuted by the fatal result ; since , in spite of that result ,, no doubt the chance was improved " ' : ' - But most chiefly , we believe , did these men die thus in order to stand by their principles , their faith in that behalf , their duty . Englishmen are to be found in plenty , who would ridicule such devotion without warrant of self-interest as tested by " pounds , shillings , and pence : " to die on behalf
of principle , to waste a chance tor the individual , violates the great utilitarian rule . Yet , we doubt , that country is the stronger and the happier which is peopled by souls that can face death and not "be corrupted . This great example will sustain many a man in the face of danger , and the devotion of the glorious six hundred will be the means of saving multitudes through that same virtue of discipline to which these men have testified by their resignation . It is in trials of action , in familiarity with danger , that these qualities come out . Calamity is truly the opportunity which tests the stuff of our kind . And it fails not . In towns , amid shifty doctrines and one-sided oocohoinics , we have
grown selfish , corrupt , and crotchety : our rulers cannot face a frown , and flinch at the bare idea of offending a throned ruffian ; our leading politicians teach self-interest as the superior substitute for patriotism ; but in the far regions of action and peril , ranging in the wide fields of colonial enterprise , pursuing scieuce in the icy deserts of the iNorth , or lost helpless amid the waters pi the ocean , the metal of our race is tried , and its temper is found true . The four hundred who perished thus , in dignity undaunted and und t
conquerable , proclaim to the world , ano us at home—who are all too doubtful amid the intrigues and corruptions , amid the shallow pedantries and selfish timidities of our cities—that the staple of our race is still unspoiled , that calamity can but arouse our slumbering strength , and that despair itself cannot master the Englishman . Thanks , then , deep and solemn ,, but strong and hopeful , to that glorious six hundred—both to those that perished in their stedfast chivalry , and to those that , mastering- destruction , have borne us the tale .
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THE CHUECH IN A FALSE POSITION . No great public institution was ever in a more false position than the Church of England . Not to speak of the irreconcilable schisms which convert her o rdained ministers into furious and hostilo factions ; setting on one side her relation to Dissent , and to Roman Catholicism ; disregarding her subservient connexion , or snarling alliance with the State , according as it may be viewed from the Low Church or High Church point of view ; but looking on her as she stands with regard to tho public , and more especially as respects her administration of property , we repeat that her position , in . this respect , is not only false but disgraceful : false , because it prevents the operation of much that there may be of good within her ; disgraceful , on account of her pretensions as minister and interpreter of Divine law . Property , placed in trust for charitable usesto bo employed oithcrin rel ieving tho indigent in body or mind—should bo held sacred , especially by ministers of religion . Old ago , forgotten by a selfish world , and youth with friends yet to Beo ] c—these foil naturally under tho caro of tho pastors of tho Church . JBroad lands , now yielding enormous rents , have been devoted to this
purpose , but how have thoy boon applied P Whero , throughout England , have the stipends of prebends , and canons , and deans , and bishops romained , like tho allowances to old men and young children , at the fixed money valuo named in tho trust- deeds P Havo not tho prebend and canon and clean and bishop , on tho * contrary , grown wealthy and worldly , while tho poor almsman and ignorant child have lacked bodily and montal sustenance P Has the Church fairly and honestly administered tho property intrusted to her , or has sho applied it to her owiyaggrandizomonf ; and tho fattening of hor sonsP
And Churchmen have no right to complain of those accusations so long as Chapters and Collegos aro close corporations , in tho same position as trustees who will not furnish an account or submit tho will xmder which thoy act , to
inspection ; nor so long as men , like Mr . Winston of "Rochester , are treated as enemies . In this case , even the letter of the statutes had not been obeyed . Enormous wrong-doing had gone on for years—arid when the Dean and Chapter dre charged , ! y a pious man , with a dereliction of duty , with an eating up of widows and orphans , thev retort with insults and avenge with
injuries . They do more : they defend themselves on the plea that they have been restoring their cathedral—in other words , whitening the sepulchre and making clean the outside of the platter —wearing phylacteries , and for a pretence making long prayers . We are at a loss to imagine a more damaging position—especially for a Church whose charities once stood in the stead of Poor Laws .
Speaking in the interest of the Church , we say there is only one course left open . Whether these accusations against Rochester , and so many other Chapters , be true or not , makes no difference . The clear duty , and the still clearer interest of the Church , is to refute or admit , and in admitting , nullify them . If they be false , publish a balancesheet of income and expenditure , of thenetreceipts
and what becomes of them . IJritil that is done , the public will believe in all but universal malversation ; and every day less and less faith will be placed in the Church . If they be true , still publish the accounts , if you intend to be honest ; if not ; you must suffer the penalty which ono day or another overtakes all fraudulent corporations . It is monstrous to believe in mal-appropriation by the gross on the part of men holding a sacred office—but what can we do P There is
more than enough of evidence to warrant suspicion , not quite enough to furnish proof . But suspicion in such a case is as bad in its effects as positive certainty . And when accusations are met by persecution * men will instinctively presume that they cannot be met in any other way . What remains to be written ' we write in . all seriousness . Had we the wish and the power to destroy the Church of England , we should say to her members : — -continue to abuse the Trusts reposed in you ; continue to repel
inquiry ; continue to act in the dark ; to vilify opponents , to go on in your old ways ; and when a Whiston rises among you , simple , direct , honest , a conservative by instinct , and a Christian by conviction , a believer in his mission , and a lover of good works , persecute him , hunt him down , insult and outrage him ; for the consequence of such conduct will be , not only your own disgrace , but the downfall of your established religion .
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THE LABOURER'S GOLDEN DREAM COME TRUE . Melbourne without a working class—think of that , you who manage the workhouse of our great towns , or tho " union" of our rural districts ! Think of that , too , you who hang about the " house of call" for your trade—a thriving town without a working class ! Such is the aspect of Melbourne , capital of Victoria , in Australiabecause tho working classes are all off to tho gold beds . The middle class of Melbourne , and a fortiori , the aristocracy thereof , would give " any money" for labour , especially for domestic servants . Would not you , O ! " surplus" of tho
labour market hero , like to accept " any money for a fair day's work ' P There arc funds to convoy you thither . Victoria owns considerable sums in the hands of Government for that purpose ; so does New South Wales , whoro also there are gold bods . Only Lord Groy had an idoa that you , working mon , might ho demoralized if you got so near to a plethora of wealth . It is dangerous , you know , for starving men to bo placed too near to an
abundance of food . So thought tho lato Colonial Secretary ; and Sir John Pukington has not yet had time to inako up Lord Grey ' s arrears . Moanwhilo tho Colonists aro starving , as it wero , for labour ; thoir business stands still ; their harvest wastes without gathering j their iloekn run wild , and thoir shearers arc gold gathering—tho local equivalent for wool gathering ; which is , in Australia , a very respectable
process . For our part , wo would willingly boo a littlo risk run in the way of placing tho working man near to tho mint of Nature . Imagine tho treasures of tho Bank spread out on Hampstoad Hoath : would it not bo pleasant to send forth our overworked artisans , our seven shilling agri *
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Aprii-10 , 1852 . ] THE LEADER . 347
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), April 10, 1852, page 347, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1930/page/15/
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