Weekly Trinity journal., 1857-11-28
Ocean Disasters.

mighty. mysterious. and terrible thing is the
oceau-so mighty that when the gale Nus lts
waves and hurls them against the art ana power
of man the proudest ships are whemed SO mys
terous that no human knowledge can penetrate
its depths so terrible that even the earth trem-
bles at it's tread, and the strength OF man covers
and is scattered as chat on its bosom. Mighty,
mysterious, and terrible ocean:
Man marks the earth with ruin, his control
Stops with the shore. for on the watery plain
His wrecks are all thy deed. nor doth remain
| A single vestige of mans ravage save his own,
When, like some bubble burst without groan,
He sinks unknelled, uncoilned, and alone,
But not so sank they who went down in the ill-fa-
ted Central America, n hecatomb whose dying
veil might we'll appcase the llercest iures OF the
storm. Death, at the best, is the most awful sha-
dow in the path of life Prepared as we may be-
! its grim presence shocks u.s. And more awiul
when its blow comes unexpected-when the silver
chord is loosened amid the crash and agony of
great diseases such as earth is called too ire
quently to witness. 1t is terrible enough to be
| wrecked on the earth, but more fearful out upon
! the ocean, where man can but feel, when all
seems we'll, how utterly little and helpless he is
! when the mOUing elements are conJured Tor his
destruction. To stand on the stoutcst deck, far
| from land and know that death is surely coming
! in the gale, the surge or in fire and explosion
! death with all its shapes of horror-what could
be more intimidatmg to the bravest soulT Ter
| rible fate The storm rises, the ocean seethes
and hisses the frail craft strains and crcaks in q
vain struggle with nature. and when the fearful
moment comes, all that paralyze desparlng man
can do is to shrek his own requiem as he is
! plunged into the abyss Our wonder ls not so
much that there is not more order and calmness
in the face of an ocean wreck. but rather that hu-
man beings, brought to such crisis, do not more
! wildly despair. II to shrink from death III It's
ordinary forms be only natural how much more
| natural that man. and more tlmid woman, should
rccoil with horror from death in its most terrible
! form. And such is the death that hovers over
the ocean wreck.
All, if human bravery, if self sacrificing cour-
age is ever lofty and worthy hymns Of praise, it
is when they nerve the heroes Of the sea- to
stand fast to the post OF duty, when that post Is
one of peril and death. The noble 1erndon--to
such he the fate Of fempres might he trusted
ii their own lives were the price OF their hdcllty
Let such be honored by dcathcss remembrance
SO all else may be saved in the hour OF DOOM
they will stand up in the face Of death and dare
to die. Yes, prefer to die at the post OF duty,
rather than live dish0norcd by one gleam OF self
ishness or cOwardice Aye, prefer to dc though
| life be sweet, and their years green and golden
and the tenderest ties pulling at their heart
chords from the far. away home, and beloved ones
who shall see them no more.
Disasters, by sea and land, have ever been and
| ever will be- Their feariulncss cannot disarm
them. They are Il part Of the fortune and desti-
ny of man. He must forever seek to conquer
nature-to subdue and triumph over the elements
and he must at times fail and be overwhelmed
1t is his nature and lotthere Is no especial pro-
vidence about it. The volcano will burst, the
earthquake will tramp. and the tornado will
sweep, whether man be present or not Out in
deserts and wildernesses the great devastating
phenomena of nature appear, equally NJ in the
settled spaces of earth---and So too do the winds
and tempests spur the ocean whether man be
a. hnUn ihnip
course, and if man tempts them he must meet
their sport aud their fury. No forecast can ut
terly hedge him from their pcrils-but every dis
aster may teach him some lesson for his safety
and good 1t may teach him greater care and
prudence when he contends with superior pow
ers Perchance some such lesson mny come from
the late terrible ocean wreck-but above all
other lessons this and oil like disasters, should
teach us how impotent is man-how little in the
hands of God-how pitiful in strength, aud how
poor In all but his immortal hopes, in the hour of
sudden death.--N Y Ledger.