The gale which has swept over this part of the
Atlantic has caused wide destruction by sea and land. That trees have been torn up, walls blown down, and men or women carried out of their path by the force of the viewless air, are only some of the most trivial incidents of its power. The greatest ravages have been committed on the sea-shore ; and amongst the calamities which have already been recorded the loss of the Royal Charter is the most deplorable. That blame could be imputed to the Commander, none will think ; and yet there are certain questions respecting the course which he pursued: he passed Queenstown without a pilot ; he remained off the coast of Anglesey hugging a lee shore in a hurricane ; and he performed a manoeuvre something like club-hauling so as to place a strain upon one cable which the two could scarcely bear. That he did for the best no one will doubt ; and it is also certain that he was an able, bold, and conscientious seaman. The vessel was in truth sacrificed to the fury of the elements—" the fury of the elements," we say, in a narrow view which contemplates only particular incidents ; forgetting that it is this whirl of the ele- ments which beats up the stagnant materials of corruption, sweeps the whole atmosphere, and renews the life of the globe.
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