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Leader (1850-1860), 10th April 1852, Edition Country of 2, Page 15, April jp, >8g2.]. THE LEADER. 347

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      April Jp, >8g2.]. The Leader. 347

      April jp , > 8 g 2 . ] . THE LEADER . 347

      The Birkenhead. The Harder The Blow, The...

      THE BIRKENHEAD . The harder the blow , the finer the ring of the true metal . Seldom does a calamity befalLany considerable number of Englishmen , but that we spethe old spirit rise to meet the occasion , sp nobly that calamity itself takes the aspect of opp ortunity , and sorrow is exchanged for joy 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 , ot tJie stun 01

      youths , women—all same Humanity . At home , 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 BirJcenJiead 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 sh ore too closely , in hopes of saving time by a short cut . That many 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 hai * - dihood ; but , unlike many of the -vices which just now most widely and destructively beset society , there is no quality of baseness or meanness 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 three miles off Point Danger .- The sea was smooth , but with the water running hard . The damage was so severe , that in twelve or fifteen minutes the ship parted , while numbers had been drowned 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 were told off in reliefs , to

      assist : the assistance was given , staunchly and steadily . The bow broke off , and then therfiip parted : " a few men jumped off just befoiroBhe 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 commander called out that all who could swim should make for the boats : Captain Wright and Lieutenant Girardot begged them not to do so , as the boat with the women must bo swamped : " not more than three made the attempt . " Not a cry , not a murmur ; tho discipline astonished even the officers . Officers and men were as one

      m thoir heroic fortitude : " all received their orders , and had thorn carried out , as if tho men wore embarking , instead of going to tho bottom . " Nothing could bo moro sublimo than tho spectnclo of that number of mon meeting their rate , iiU'o to fauo , devotion to' groat principles binding tnom to thoir duty . Discipline , it is said , makos niiiohinos of mon ; but to maintain discipline at a Ji mo whon death itself i $ present and unloosens tlio bonds of compulsion , demands tho gonuino conourront will of each man . Machines ln » vo not a will , nor a conscience , nor a soul . Politicians

      "" KM loam from the story , how minds of aupoi'ior mould and training cu ' n obtain such influonoo over the " common" mind , that death itself , the 8 lro "ff 08 fc of all coorcives on mero self-interests , Bimll bo confronted in . obqdionpo to thohighor command . Society has , or ought to "have , its officers us well m tho army ; and need wo four for ' " ordor , " wiion tho aristocracy of that community could "m 8 hold it to its faith and order at such a timo P ¦ ^ ° ; a genuine aristocratic rule was thcro inainlainotl , at that terrible hour , by universal aufjnitfo itself . And how Boon , under woll studied inuuenoos , 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 chanee of being saved ; a chance which is not refuted by the fatal result j since , in spite of that result , no doubt the chance tvas . improved- But most' chiefl y > 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 for 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 ceconomics , 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 science in the icy deserts of

      the Horth , or lost helpless amid the waters of 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 unconquerable , proclaim to the world , and to us at home—who are all too doubtful amid the intrigues and corruptions , amid the shallow pedantries and . selfish timidities of our cittes—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 .

      The Church In A False Position, No Great...

      THE CHURCH 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 ordained ministers into furious and hostile 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 the 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 tho 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 either in relieving tho indigent in body or mind—should be held sacred , especially by ministers of religion . Old ago , forgotten by a selfish , world , and youth with friends yet to seek—these fall naturally under tho care of tho pastors of tho Church . J 3 road lands , now yielding enormous rents , have been dovotcd to this purpose , but how have they boon applied ? Where , throughout England , have the stipends of probends , and canons , and deans , and bishops remainedlike tho allowances to old mon and

      , youn « - children , at tho fixed money value named in tho trust doeds P Have not tho prebond and canon , ajid doan and bishop , on tho contrary , grown wealthy and worldly , while tlio poor almsman , and ignorant child havo lacked bodily and mental sustonanco P Has the Church fairly and houoBtiy administered the proporty intrusted to her , ox has sho appliod it to her own aggrandizement and tho fattening of hor flons P " And Churchmen have no right to complain of those accusations so long us Chapters and Collogoa aro cloao corporations , in tho same position ati ' trustees who will not furnish an account , or submit tho will under which they not , to

      innpootion ; nor so long as men , like Mr . Whiston 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—and when the Dean and Chapter are charged , by 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 iio 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 . Until 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 one 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 ? 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 Trust 3 reposed in you ; continue to repel the Trust 3 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 himj for the consequence of such conduct will be , not only your own disgrace , but the downfall of your established religion .

      The Labourer's Golden Dream Come True. M...

      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 tho " house of call" for your trade—a thriving town without a working class ! Such is tho aspect of Melbourne , capital of Victoria , in Australiabecause tho working classes are all off to tho gold beds . Tho middle class of Melbourne , and a fort iorithe aristocracy thereof , would give

      , " any money" for labour , especially for domestic servants . Would not you , O ! " surplus" of tho labour market here , like to accept " money " for a fair clay ' s work P There aro funds to convey you thither . Victoria owns considerable sums in tho hands of Government for that purpose ; bo does Now South

      Wales , where also there aro gold beds . Only Lord G-roy had an . idea that you , working mon , might , bo 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 the late Colonial Secretary ; and Sir John Pakington . has not yet had timo to make up Lord Grey ' s arrears .

      Meanwhile tho Colonists are starving , as it were ,, for labour ; their business stands still ; their harvest wastos without gathering ; thoir flocks run wild , and their shearers are gold gathering—the local equivalent for avooI gathering ; which is , iu Australia , a very rospectablo proccHH . . For our part , wo would willingly sec a little risk run in the way of placing the working man . near to tho mint of Nature Imagine tho treasures of . tho Bank spread out on Hampstoad Heath : would it not bo pleasant to send , forth our overworked artisans , our scvou shilling agri-

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), April 10, 1852, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_10041852/page/15/