The Sun.
London, England, 1865-10-21 00:00:00

Dreadful Shipwreck

A letter in one of the San Francisco papers gives the
following account of the loss of the American ship Brother
Jonathan :—" I was lying in my berth, feeling sick and
sad, when I was suddenly startled by a fearful shock, fol-
lowed by a laboured rolling of the ship, a creaking of her
timbers, and the distinct roar of rushing waters. It was
but a moment's movement to spring from my berth and
look out of the stateroom window, when I saw a piece of
-ship timber floating in the water and a man running to
the upper deck with a life preserver on, which con-
vinced me that we must be in great danger. I seized
my child with one hand, and, grasping a life preserver
with the other, I ran upon deck. On the way I met
ladies rushing from their rooms in their night clothes,
their hair hanging loosely about them, and their faces
--Owing to the heavy sDa, many were
sick in their berths when the disaster occurred. When I
reached the deck I saw one of the boats already lowered
and full of ladies, among whom was Mrs. Geneial Wright.
Just then a woman sprang into the boat from the deck,
and in the same instant the steamer careened and upset
the boat, engulfing all in the merciless wave. One lady,
clutching her infant with one hand, seized a rope and
swung by the ship's side, now borne aloft, then disappear-
ing in the sea as wave rolled on wave towards the wreck;
nor did she loosen her grasp till the ship and its living
freight went down. After the boat was upset the cap-
tain throw a plank overboard, and one lady got on it,
but a wave drove it against the ship's side and struck
her. When I last saw her she was sinking and pressing
her head with one hand. Most of that which is detailed
above was seen while sitting in the boat in which I was
rescued, and with whom I now have to deal. When I first
reached the deck the boat above mentioned was already
filled with ladies, and the lifeboat, which was afterwards
saved, was occupied by the crew. Whether this was sel-
fish or not is not for me to decide ; but certain it is that
they availed themselves of their knowledge of the supe-
riority of this little boat over larger ones. Seeing the
boat full and ready to be lowered, I called to them
" Save my child!" when one reached out and took it—l
at the same time buckling on my life-preserver, because I
had no expectation that they would take me, but ono of

the men said, " Don't you want to come too 2" I joyfully
accepted the opportunity to go with my child, and was
soon dragged over the guards by two of the men. Just

then a man with a red jacket on jumped into the boat,
one foot lighing upon a Chinawoman's shoulders and the
other upon a child, but neither uttered a cry. The cap.
tain at the same time exclaimed, " Stay back ; you'll
all be drowned." Here a poor woman, all dripping wet,
ran up from below, and rushed for our boat, but the
barkeeper, who was standing near, seized her round
the waist and held her back, telling her that she would
be drowned if she went in that boat. About this time
one of the crew attempted to loosen our boat, and sud-
denly she hung one end down at a frightful angle,
threatening to plunge us all in the waves below, but we
clung to the boat, to the seats, to one another, I know
not how, till the barkeeper loosened her at the other end
and we were let down. Here dangers still threatened
us—the rolling steamer to engulf us in her dark whirl-
pool, the angry waves to dash our frail boat to atoms,
and a shoal of drowning people struggling to catch at
any hope of rescue, to clutch at our boat and drag it
down with them. The crew hastened to clear the
steamer, and as I looked back I noticed one lady stand-
ing with her husband and two children on the deck, look-
ing wistfully after us. I had noticed her before as being:a
very beautiful woman, and shall long remember the ex-
pression of that sweet face. Soon after we left the steamer
a huge wave rushed over us, and nearly filled our boat,
making us wish ourselves back on the sinking ship. But
' Onward !' was the cry ; Whither ?' was the question.
There is land,' said one, and we steered in that direction
and found it. some of the men rowed, while others bailed
the water out, while the women crouched in the bottom
of the boat, shivering and crying, almost perished with
cold."

Among the passengers drowned was a Mr. Nesbitt, the
editor of one of the San Francisco papers. When all hope
of being saved appeared at an end, Mr. Nesbitt wrote his
will, which occupied two sides of a sheet of papers On
the third page of the sheet he wrote an affectionate letter
to his brother, giving him in the fewest possible words a
schedule of all his property, directing him as' to his choice
of attorney, and sending a parting message to his only
sister. Business being thus attended to, and still a spare
moment intervening before the fatal plunge, the fourth page
of the sheet he devoted to a few hurried lines addressed to
a family in which ho had resided for several years, and
children—though in no manner related to him—familiarly
called him grandpa. They had urged him not to sail on
Friday, especially on the ' unlucky Brother Jonathan.' It
was evidently in remembrance of their childlike apprehen-
sions on his account that he wrote as follows ci M dear Ma,—A thousand affectionate adieus. You spoke of my sailing on Friday—hangman's day—and the unlucky
Jonathan. Well, hero I am, with death before me. My
love to you all—to Caspar, to Dita, to Belle, Mollie, and
little Myra—kiss her for MO. Never forget GRANDPA." This sheet of paper was thrown overboard, and has since
been recovered. The witing is in pencil, and it is as clear,
says a San Francisco paper, as if Mr. Nesbitt had intended
it for "copy."

ACCIDENT IN WOOLWICH ARSENAL.—A young
lad, 14 years of age, named James Martin, in the
employ of Mr. Daly, contractor to tho War Department,
was on Thursday engaged in attendance on a party of men
who wore repairing the gas fittings in the royal gun fac-
tories at Woolwich, when his hand was caught between a
couple of cogwheels then in motion, and was literally
crushed to pulp. The man in charge, who had observed
the lad's inclination to meddle with the machinery, had
frequently warned him of the danger of so doing, and hear-
ing a shriek he suddenly stopped the wheel, when, hasten-
ing to the unfortunate lad's assistance, he found that the
hand was completed separated at the wrist. After receiving
temporary relief in the local dispensary from Dr. Briscoe
ho was conveyed to Guy's Hospital, where it was expected
a furthor amputation would bo found necessary.

COLOGNE, Oct. 20.
The Cologne Gazette of to-day devotes two
[ columns of its space to a biography of Lord Pal-
merston, in which it says:—
If any one in future times wishes to sketch the portrait
of an English statesman, he had better try to write Lord
Palmerston's history. Free England has the good fortune
to possess statesmen of reputation as a special class—men
called by birth and education to devote themselves to public
affairs Palmerston had not the moral elevation
and the entrancing fire of the elder Pitt, not the cool cal-
culation of the younger, not the deep seriousness and the
religious conscientiousness of a Peel. The English also
do not assign him so high a place in oratory as the fiery
Canning, nay, they even consider him as subordinate to
the sophistical Gladstone, and other modern speakers. But
this judgment is probably mainly based upon imperfect
delivery and outward form, otherwise it would only prove
the defective taste of the English. Many of his speeches,
even those only delivered at an election or a dinner, are
real masterpieces of manly eloquence and delicate taste,
overflowing with spirit and humour. Without being a
learned man or a pedant, he yet represented the advanced
epirit of general education and enlightened humanity as
hardly any other -English statesman, and yet he was a
genuine Englishman in mind and manner of life. He was
as indefatigable in the hunting field as at the desk, and
exercised all the more influence over his nation, because
he was its genuine son. As regards his personal character
as a man, he had no enemy. He charmed even his oppo-
nents, and together with his amiable consort, the widowed
Lady Cowper, stood, so to speak, at the head of English
society. He was a real aristocrat, but upon a larger scale
than the heroes of the Gaeta shield. He understood how
to appreciate every species of power and superiority, not
confining himself to that of birth, and in society he was
amiability itself, as every one will testify who experienced
the affability of his manners. Whenever he visited his Irish
estates he was idolised by his tenants and employes. There
could not be a more generous landlord. If Lord Palmerston
was surpassed in some respects by others as a statesman
he could perhaps, on the whole, measure himself with
any, and he excelled them all in immensity of influence
upon the fortunes of the world. Even if England still con-
tinue to increase in civilization and opulence, she may yet,
as other larger States also rapidly augment, perhaps not
long retain her present commanding position in the world

and may be that in future ages the name of Palmerston
will bo synonymous with her greatest glory. From one
generation of Englishmen to another the saying will be
handed down. We aro all proud of him."

BRUSSELS, Oct. 19 (Evening.)
The Independanec Beige of this evening comments
as follows on the death of Lord Palmerston :
His loss will be considered as a public calamity. Tho
Promoticura., av4i.
mind—his courago in meeting face to face, sometimes with
jaunty raillery, more apparent than real, difficulties and
dangers before which other statesmen recoiled—a valuable
aptitude in presaging the fluctuations of public opinion,
and in following them when the interests of England or
those of his own ambition advised ; these were the quali-
ties which, during a most active political career—he was
in Parliament at the age of 23—had made Lord Palmerston
the most popular man in his country, and, finally, the
keystone of the arch which maintained the balance of
parties in that period of transformation through which
England, and Europe with her, are at present passing.