The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1860-03-24
'A NEW srORY ny DICKENS


a NEW srORx ny DICKENS
A terrible yet human story is told 5,
Charles Dickens. Il 10 Of visit, in th,
merry Chrissmss time, TO point on ii.
cosst Of Walss, whence, on tho morning ol
October 2G. 1859, could be seen grea'
ship, struggling With . mountainous sea-
where, that mornings the Royal Charter
bound from Australia, and nearly home
struck and broke, and went down with 6vs
hundred lives. The bodice had ceased g
come in, .as Mr.. Dickens stood and looked
over the quiet sunny sea, the divers wers
still busy seeking the golden treasure, Of
which G350,oD0 worth had been lost, and
up to thas day, $200, 600 worth had been
recovered. What an overwhelming con.
.cep6d8s az majesty Of nature is given by
,thit simple sentence:- So tremendous had
the force Of the ses been, when il broke the
ship, ,tAst it bad beaten one great ingot q
gold deep into . strong and heavy piece 81
her solid iron work, in which, also. several
loose sovosesgns, that the ingot had swept
ii before il, had boon found ss firmly imhed-
ed as though the iron had been. liquid
when they we're forced there
As the dead forms, o, lately buoyans
with the hope Of home and dear friends,
drifted ashore on that bleak coast, the cler-
gyman Of the district, (and this is the hero
Of the story) received them. He himself
when they had been born to the little
church, (forty-four laid there at one time!)
patiently sought among the poor relics not
for plunder, but for some token by which
friends nigh. be able to identity them,
throwing open his own house to agonized
friends. IL this sanctuary Of DEATH" with
weep ng and wailing in every room OF his
house,o says the NARRATOR" my companion
worked alone for hours soemniy surround.
ed by eyes that could not see him, and by
lips that could not speak to him, patiently
examining the tattered clothing, cutting oil
buttons, hair, marks for .inen-any thing
that mish, lead to subsequent Identification
studying facee, looking for scar, a
bent finger crooked toe, comparing letters
sent TO him with the ruin about him, !"
Have all the exquisitely pathetic pages,
which tho pen of the worlds novelist has
inscribed any thing more touching than
this ? o.
ssThe ladies of the clergym ans family,
his wife and two sisters-in-law, came in
among the bodies often. Itgrew to be the
of their lives to doss0. Any. new
arrival of a bereaved woman stimulated
their pity to compare the description
brought with the dead relatives. Some
times they would 20, back to say,sl have
found him. or, thinkshe lies there Per-
baps a mourncr, unable to bear the sight OF
all that lsy in the church, would be led IN
blindfold. Conducted 10 the spot with
MANY compas ssionates words and encour.
aged to look, she would say, with pierre
ing cry,s This is my boy and drop insen-
sible on the insensible Ggare.
Amid these most narrowing scenes-be-
side there passionless corpses, and those
who were dead in heart-in fearful chorus
of lamentations, always rising-the small
so crowded :" the e,villasers bad
begun, to express uneasy doubt whether
they themselves could lie in their own
ground. with their forefathers and decend,
ants. by and by''-wri.ing to all points Of
the kingdom letters Of aSoninins burdon 10
relatives and friends of the lost-his white
surplice hanging up near the door, ready Z.
be put ON At any time for funeral SERVICE,
-th;. unknown man Of God ''used most
sweet and patient diligence, for weeks and
weeks.'' There is no record OF herolsm
truer and more ennobling than this OF the
Welsh parson., His figure, 10 the soft halo
which Genius has put around il, will pass
into the sacred chambers OF his soul where
Florence Nightingale and others, are re-,
member whom is to get new courage ana
new hone. IL was work well betting
that genial, loving nature, which, shining
from his books has made the name OF
Charles Dickens bring in every house, to
nav this tribute to great worth, OF which,
otherwise. the world, whose averages are,
to saw the least, curiously arranged might
never have heard, until all secrets are re-
yesled, and We see in the calm light OF eter-
nal truth and Justice. great heroes OF whom
M account was taken here. The simple
earpestness with which he fulhls his task
of love-the genuine enthusiasm WIN
which be speaks of the "kind ana wnoie-
some face,n and the ''oheerful earnestness
of the good Christian ministers" are beaa-
tiful. A. tho only denials we need care tor
of the old charge against Charles Dick
ems of incapacity to portray the LONELINESS
Of Christian character. :" have never
seen.o - be SAYS, ssanything more delightfully."-
penniue than the calm dismissal by himself
and his household of all they bad undur-
GONE as a simple duty that was quietly done
and ended;" and then this touching passage
from the hand that would not spare Chad
band
ssIn this noble modesty, in this beautifu
simp,icity. in this serene avoidance OF tht
least attempt to improve an occasion
which might be supposed to have sunk 1T
own weight into my heart, 1t seemed 70 nave
happily come, in Q few steps, from tht
church yards with its open grave, mhlct
was the type Of Death to the Gnrist'sn dwell
ling side by side with 1t, which was IN
type of Resurrection. 1 never sinai
think of the former without the latter. Int
two will always rest side by side IN my mem
ory, II had lost any one dear to me II
that unfortunate ship-lf made voyag'
from Australia to look ut that grave IN th'
church. yard-i should go away thankful Il
God that that house was 80 closed to 1t, ant
that its shadow by day, aud its domestl
lights by night, fell upon the earth III wnicl
its master had SO tenderly htid my dea
ones head"
The name of the clergyman is the Rev
Stephen Roose Hughes, of Leuallgo, nea
Moelfra, Aagiesey. The sorrow Of man
bereos. for those lost with the Royal Char
ter. ii soothed by its sound, but the worl
would know it not except through the gen
erous Office of Dickens. Truly he says, i
a burst Of manhood, '.Convocations, con
ferences, diocesan epistles, and the like
will do great deal for Religion, dar
saw. and I,seyen sen they may but dout
it they VI. ever 10 their Masters seryic
half so well, in the time they last as th
heavens hnve seen it done in this black spe
upon the rugged coast OF Wales"
ruEu,RpER.i FEnav ISyEsrIGATIO
ARGUMENT OF HYATT. COUNSEL.
| HYATT after protracted hearing befol