CHAPTER XII.
THINGS REMEMBERED IN THE STORM.
A few things were remembered in the storm, to which, when we have called the reader’s attention, our task is ended. THE BIBLE was read in the storm. Doubtless the passengers had with them many books to relieve the tedium of a long voyage, but good as these books might have been, it was not from these that they sought to derive instruction and comfort in the hour of peril. They opened their Bibles, many of them were seen in groups reading it together, or sitting by themselves turning over its pages, as if in search after some passage which had been forgotten, and the meaning of which was specially important then. They read the Bible during the most solemn hour of their existence, and when they knew that their moments were numbered, and whilst in the midst of a scene which its own pages have so magnificently described.
“They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in the great waters; these see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. For he commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to heaven, they go down again to the depths; their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so He bringeth them unto their desired haven.”
That storm-tossed vessel, with her sinking passengers, has furnished no insignificant testimony to the preciousness of the Book which too many criticise as if it were the foe and not the friend of humanity. The picture of those passengers going down with their Bibles in their hands will be a sweeter one for the memory to treasure, than all the results of anatomical critics. And Oh surely! it will teach its lessons to those who are content to live in the neglect of, or in direct opposition to, the Book which in such an hour was appealed to, and not in vain.
Nor must it be forgotten that, on board the sinking _London_, the passengers attached the greatest possible importance to prayer. They prayed for themselves, and they besought an interest in the intercessions of others. During those wasting days and nights of lingering suspense they continued in prayer: it was their only comfort, and they went down into the deep with the voice of supplication upon their lips. Does not this teach its own solemn lesson to the prayerless who may read these pages? Does it not tell of a value in prayer beyond all the arguments that may be used against it, or even in favour of it? Those brave men and women, praying bareheaded to the storm, and going down into the wild waves calmly trusting in God’s goodness still;--shall not this last touching act of theirs convey an appeal to the prayerless which there can be no resisting? Shall it not say in tones of entreaty that cannot be withstood, “Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while he is near?” Close to your heart with its deepest needs there stands a throne of mercy from which every imaginable good can be obtained: turn to that throne, be you in lane, highway, or open street, when this commandment reaches you, and seek salvation in the name of Christ, and you shall not seek in vain.
Finally, on board the sinking _London_, the greatest attention was paid to a preached gospel. A preacher is not unfrequently heard enforcing his appeals to the undecided by the solemn words, “I speak as a dying man to dying men.” In Mr. Draper’s case the words were literally true, and they had all the pathos and hold of last words that might at any moment be stopped by the overwhelming flood: and how the passengers listened! How important seemed every word then with either heaven or hell coming nearer and nearer with every inch of water rising in the engine-room!
Ah! could those on land, and out of the reach, as they think, of such a calamity as shipwreck, but feel, that slowly yet surely up to them is advancing the hour in which all earthly interests will be as nothing, and the concerns of the soul all important, how would they now value the privilege of a preached gospel, and every instrumentality by which they can learn more of themselves and of spiritual things! A little while, and the last hour of every one who reads these lines will have come, and will be felt to be the last. How wilt thou meet it, reader?
It has been said, that in that last hour, no matter how aged the dying one, the memory awakes to its keenest power, and there passes before the mind a vivid diorama of all life’s doings. Events and circumstances seemingly long buried, suddenly leap into life, and it well nigh startles one to listen to the remembrances that come and go through the fast-darkening chambers of the brain. Slowly dying on the pillow before us, lies one whose head is silent with age, and the grey dawn of an eternal morning is stealing over his features; but glancing brightly through the haze of death, there come to him visions of his long, long past; of the home of his childhood, of the bride of his youth, of the events of his riper age and manhood, until in a single hour he seems to live all his life over again.
Oh! it will be sad to remember, in such an hour, a neglected Bible, a throne of grace despised, and a gospel of mercy refused. It will be sad to remember, that even such a calamity as the wreck of the _London_ produced no serious impression, and no turning of the head towards heaven. If the things which the sinking passengers remembered during the storm are remembered by you now,--if their deep importance is laid to heart by all whose feelings have been touched by the disaster,--then, terrible though it has been, it will not have occurred in vain. It will have come in mercy to those who, in circumstances of fancied security, are not prepared to die. To such the voice of the sinking minister crying, even from the drowning wave, “Prepare to meet your God,” will not have come in vain.
THE END.
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APPENDIX.
The narrative which we have here given of the Wreck of the _London_ was written pending the inquiry instituted by the Board of Trade to arrive, if possible, at the cause of the melancholy catastrophe. It is to be regretted that the inquiry, though it lasted many days, has not added much to the information that was given to the public by the survivors upon their landing at Plymouth. No discovery has been made as to the real cause which brought about the melancholy event, although it is hardly possible to conceive any question of more serious importance to the public mind. The evidence given at the inquiry was by no means satisfactory. On the one hand, those directly connected with the owners gave their evidence, and on the other hand, there was the testimony of the Emigration Inspectors who had passed the ship, and who could not be expected to stultify themselves by a new judgment of her seaworthiness. But against this testimony of ship-builders and inspectors has been placed the evidence of those who declare that the ship was in disgracefully bad trim, and, as will be seen among the slips that were picked up in bottles that were cast away on the morning of the wreck, there was one which says that the vessel was too heavily laden. Great dissatisfaction has been expressed, and it has even been made a subject of discussion in the House of Commons, that Mr. Traill, the magistrate before whom the Board-of-Trade inquiry was conducted, did not permit Counsel to cross-examine witnesses on behalf of those who have lost relatives: but it seems that there really was no power under the Act of Parliament to admit of such cross-examination. The tonnage, measurement, and steam-power of the ship, together with the names of her owners, the nature and quantity of her cargo, were stated before the Court. We heard again the story of her voyage from the Docks to Gravesend, and from Gravesend to Plymouth, and from Plymouth to the Bay of Biscay. There was no charge made against Captain Martin, and no one dreamed of imputing negligence or incapacity to so experienced a seaman. The evidence of the official surveyors and other experts examined by the Court of Inquiry as to the construction and fittings of the _London_ was, on the whole, decidedly in favour of her perfect seaworthiness. In the opinion of the Court, the immediate cause of her loss was the sea getting into the engine-room and extinguishing the fires; but the Court did not venture upon any positive conclusions as to whether the action of the sea carried away the skylight over the engine hatchway, or whether the skylight was properly secured. It did not appear in evidence that the fastenings of the skylight were not properly secured, and it was distinctly stated that the hatchway was perfectly battened down. There were several points in the evidence as regards the occurrences at sea--such as the carrying away the masts and booms, the delay in clearing away the wreck, the loss of the boats, and other matters relating to the management of the ship--which might have been more satisfactorily explained had the lamented Captain, or any of the officers of the ship, survived to explain them. In the absence of such explanation, it is but reasonable to give Captain Martin the credit for the character he always possessed, of being an able and careful seaman, who would not be guilty of any great default of management.
For ourselves, we can hardly believe that the ship was in the disgraceful condition that some represent her to have been, unless we are ready to assume that there was a gigantic conspiracy among all concerned in pronouncing the ship to be in safe trim. The Surveyor of the Board of Trade passed the ship; Lloyd’s Surveyor, acting in the interests of the Underwriters, passed the ship; and lastly, the ship was passed by the Emigration Surveyor, who had not only to look to the ship generally, but to take into consideration her cargo, for the purpose of seeing whether she was overloaded. We join in the universal regret that the real cause of the ship’s foundering, beyond what is given in the preceding pages, is still a mystery; and it only remains for us again to express the hope that still more scrutinizing care will be exercised by Government Inspectors and others, in regard to every ship concerning whose safe trim they are called upon fairly and honestly to testify.
* * * * *
Messrs. Wigram have kindly forwarded the following List of Passengers per steam-ship _London_, Captain J. Bohun Martin, for Melbourne:--
CHIEF CABIN.
Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Draper Mr. Owen and child Mr. and Mrs. G. F. P. Urquhart Mr. J. Patrick Mr. and Miss Vaughan (Brooke) Mr. J. Alderson Mr. P. Benson Mr. and Mrs. J. Fenton, and two children Mr. G. M. Smith Mr. and Mrs. Chapman, and two children Mr. and Mrs. Clark, and son Mr. F. Lewis Mr. and Mrs. J. Bevan Dr. J. Woolley Mr. and Mrs. Debenham Miss L. Maunder Mr. J. Robertson Mr. T. M. Tennant Mrs. Traill and child Mr. G. Palmer Mr. T. Brown Mr. and Mrs. Amos Mr. E. Brooks Mr. J. R. Richardson Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Kerr Mrs. and Miss King Mr. and Mrs. Thomas and two children Mr. A. Sandilands Mr. E. Youngman Mr. H. J. Dennis Mr. E. A. Marks Mr. D. F. De Pass Master W. D. Burrell Dr. J. Hunter Miss D’Ovoy Miss C. McLachlan Miss Cutting Mr. McMillan
SECOND CABIN.
Mr. Kaye Eastwood Mr. F. Stone Mr. and Mrs. White Miss H. Price Mr. J. L. Williams Mr. and Mrs. Graham Mr. B. G. Rowe Mr. J. E. Wilson (_saved_) Mrs. Morland Miss G. Graham Mr. J. Dothie Mr. C. Gough Mr. A. Bruce Mr. J. Woodhouse Mr. G. Cross Mr. W. Day Mr. D. W. Lemon Mr. and Mrs. Giffett Mr. G. Chennells Mr. and Mrs. Wood Master and Miss Clayson Mr. Thomas Wood Mr. Godfrey Wood Miss E. Wood Mr. B. Bevan Miss S. Brooker Mr. Davies Mr. T. O’Hagen Mr. H. W. Harding Mr. F. Fryer Mr. J. Munro (_saved_) Mr. D. C. Main (_saved_) Mr. C. Johnstone Mr. P. Fenwick Mrs. and Miss Meggs Mr. G. H. Campbell Miss E. Marks Mr. E. G. Trevenen Mr. and Mrs. Hickman, two sons and two daughters Mr. A. McLean Mr. Davies
THIRD CABIN.
Mr. W. Passmore Mr. H. Miller Mr. C. P. Chandler Mr. B. Hay Miss E. Jones Mrs. and Miss Simpson Mr. and Mrs. Hanson Mr. and Mrs. Graham and three children Mr. David Graham Mr. McVittie Mr. G. Rolwegan Mr. and Mrs. Sercombe and three children Mr. and Mrs. G. Flick and four children Mr. R. Trevenen Mr. D. Block Mr. J. Gerkem Messrs. Zulec Morris and Zulec Barnett Mr. S. Bolton Mr. T. Skeggs Mr. and Mrs. D. Smith Mr. A. Umphray Master Spring Mr. A. Hoyeim Mr. J. Walls Mr. W. Barron Mrs. Lampes and two children Mr. Algernon L. Otter Mr. John Little Mr. H. McCovey Mrs. Bachelor Mr. J. Kirkwood Mr. W. Clifton Mr. R. Reynolds
SEA MESSAGES FROM THE PASSENGERS.
Admiral Halsted, the Secretary of Lloyd’s, has received the following letter from Sir Anthony Perrier, C.B., Her Majesty’s Consul, and Lloyd’s Agent at Brest, dated 24th February 1866:--
SIR,--I annex a translation of an extract from a letter just received from the Commissary-General of Marine at Lorient, which may be of interest to those concerned in the fate of the unfortunate _London_, should the original papers sent to Paris not have been transmitted to Her Majesty’s Government by the Minister of Marine.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant, ANTHONY PERRIER.
To the Secretary at Lloyd’s.
Extract of a letter from Commissary-General of Marine at Lorient:--
(_Translation._)--On the 12th of February last three bottles were found on the coast of Guiberon and Locruariaquer, containing six papers written in English, as follows:--
_The first paper_--D. W. Lemon, London, Thursday, 10th January 1866. The ship is sinking; no hope of being saved. Dear parents, may God bless you, as also me, with the hope of eternal salvation.
_Second paper._--Steam-ship _London_.--They are putting out the boats.
_Third paper._--F. G. Huckstepp. On board steam-ship _London_, lat. 46 deg. 20 min., long., 7 deg. 30 min.; lost boats, masts, and sails; ship leaking.
_Fourth paper._--We commenced our voyage on Saturday, the 30th December 1865. Sunday in the channel, Monday in open sea; Tuesday in ditto; Wednesday at Cowes; Thursday at Plymouth; Friday and Saturday at sea; Sunday bad weather; Monday water from the stern comes in cabins; the 9th, heavy damages, a boat lost. May we get home. Storm.--H. G.
_Fifth paper._--F. C. McMillan, of Launceston, Tasmania, 12th January, to his dear wife and dear children: May God bless you all. Farewell for this world. Lost in the steam-ship _London_, bound for Melbourne.
_Sixth paper._--H. J. D. Denis to Th. Denis Knight, at Great Shelford: Adieu father, brothers, and my ... Edi ... steamer, _London_, Bay of Biscay, Thursday, ten o’clock. Ship too heavily laden for its size, and too crank; windows stove in; water coming in everywhere. God bless my poor orphans. Request to send this, if found, to Great Shelford. Storm not too violent for a ship in good condition.
On the same day were found, on the shoals of Guiberon, a binnacle watch, stopped at half-past ten o’clock, a woman’s shift, two cotton sheets, two splinters of wood, having on them in white letters, and six centimetres (2½ inches long), the word _London_.
A great quantity of staves have been picked up along the coast.
In compliance with instructions from the Minister of Marine, the above-mentioned papers have been sent to the Minister of Marine and Colonies.
Transcriber’s Notes
Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in the original book; otherwise they were not changed.
Simple typographical errors were corrected; unbalanced quotation marks were remedied when the change was obvious, and otherwise left unbalanced.
Illustrations in this eBook have been positioned between paragraphs and outside quotations.
Original text used “steam-ship” and “steamship”; both retained here.
Original text used “Mc” and “M‘” (the curving left single quote was used because it looks similar to a superscript “c”). In this ebook, “Mc” is used for all of them.