The Sun.
London, England, 1868-05-14 00:00:00

A NOBLE DEED.

During a dark and stormy night the schooner
William Barker, of Whitby, while attempting some
time ago to enter the harbour of that port struck the
east pier, causing her to drive heavily on the
rocks behind the pier, south of the harbour. Im
mediately the perilous position of the vessel was
seen the rocket apparatus was brought into use,
.as neither lifeboat at Whitby could, in conse-
quence of the heavy sea then running, approach
the rocks; but just as the hawser was being got
on board the vessel, a heavy sea struck her, which
drove her round a projecting point of rock out
of sight, . thus rendering it impossible to fire
for the second time a rocket on board. At this
juncture it was found that the only means left to
save the unhappy crew was by descending a cliff
on to a narrow ledge of rock nearly 300 feet above
the sea. This was safely accomplished, with much
difficulty and risk, by Mr. IV. T.
Quigley,
chief officer of the Coastguard, J. Dixon, and
eight other men, who had a hawser attached
to them, and which was used in turn as a lo,vering
line. At length, and after considerable difficulty,
owing to the darkness of the night and the preci-
pitous cliff, the crew of three men were hauled
up in a very exhausted state, the master having
had his leg broken. The vessel shortly after-
wards went to pieces, and there is no doubt that,
in the absence of the prompt and courageous ser-
vices of the c fficers and men above referred to, the
shipwrecked crew must have perished. The Na-
tional Lifeboat Institution has presented to Mr.
Quigley its silver medal, accompanied by a copy of
its vote inscribed on vellum, and a handsome re-
ward has been given by the institution, the resi-
dents of the locality, and others, t) the nine men
who assisted him.

The Daily News maintains that the reason why
Christianity does not exercise more influence over work-
ing men is that they so seldom get a sight of it. If one
of their number goes to a church or chapel, he hears read-
ings from a book which propounds a scheme of life as
settled in its principles as any which a Rothschild or a
Goethe could have proposed to himself ; ho hears of a kind
of men who are happy in doing the will of God, to have
cast the burden of life on Him, and' confess themselves
strangers and pilgrims here, and have a treasure laid up
in heaven, counting all earthly possessions and delights
dross for the excellency of the compensations they have
found in relations of the highest blessedness, and which
are to outlast sense and time. The reading done, the
visitor may hear the whole congregation take up the same
sentiments transmuted into the glowing language of a
hymn. Perhaps he is touched by the sublimity of the
ideas, and desires to know more of this new and nobler
life. But to whom is he to turn ? Where are the men
who live it? Can they be found, got at, spoken to, and
made to speak intelligently of its springs, its progress
and its issue? In nineteen cases out of twenty the expo-.
riment would be a failure, and a man of common discern-
ment would soon come to understa,nd that those who had
raised his hopes could render him little help. They had
been saying that which
,it was held to be proper to
say, but all in a figure, or in a conventional language,
which it was well understood was not to be carried be-
yond the doors of the sacred building. Pilgrims as they
were, their tents were as solid as other man's houses. If
they " nought a country," it was one they would gladly
not see for a long while to come. It is this discovery of
the unreality of religious profession which weighs lika
lead on the hearts even of the most susceptible, and, more
than anything else, hinders the spread of religion.
THE CASE OF CRUELTY TO A CHILD AT MARGATE.
—We understand that Mrs. Loma , who was conrictei
at the January Dover quarter sJssions for cruelty
to her child, Agnes Lomax, and sentenced to twelve
months' imprisonment, has since given birth to a
child. The child, however, died, and Mrs. Lomax has
since become insane, and has been sent to a lunatic asylum.
—MaiMone Journal.