In 1825, when on his passage from London to
Leith by a sailing smack, the vessel had scarcely cleared the mouth
of the Thames when a sudden storm came on, she was driven out of
her course, and, in the darkness of the night, she struck on the
Goodwin Sands. The captain, losing his presence of mind, seemed
incapable of giving coherent orders, and it is probable that the
vessel would have become a total wreck, had not one of the
passengers suddenly taken the command and directed the working of
the ship, himself taking the helm while the danger lasted. The
vessel was saved, and the stranger was Mr. Hume.
{20} 'Saturday Review,' July 3rd, 1858.
{21} Mrs. Grote's 'Memoir of the Life of Ary Scheffer,' p. 67.
{22} While the sheets of this revised edition are passing through
the press, the announcement appears in the local papers of the
death of Mr. Jackson at the age of fifty. His last work, completed
shortly before his death, was a cantata, entitled 'The Praise of
Music.' The above particulars of his early life were communicated
by himself to the author several years since, while he was still
carrying on his business of a tallow-chandler at Masham.
{23} Mansfield owed nothing to his noble relations, who were poor
and uninfluential.
Pages:
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596