The Hero of the Humber or the History of the Late Mr. John Ellerthorpe By: Henry Woodcock (1830-)
First Page: THE HERO OF THE HUMBER; OR, THE HISTORY OF THE LATE MR. JOHN ELLERTHORPE (FOREMAN OF THE HUMBER DOCK GATES, HULL), BEING A RECORD OF REMARKABLE INCIDENTS IN HIS CAREER AS A SAILOR; HIS CONVERSION AND CHRISTIAN USEFULNESS; HIS UNEQUALLED SKILL AS A SWIMMER, AND HIS EXPLOITS ON THE WATER, WITH A MINUTE ACCOUNT OF HIS DEEDS OF DARING IN SAVING, WITH HIS OWN HANDS, ON SEPARATE AND DISTINCT OCCASIONS, UPWARDS OF FORTY PERSONS FROM DEATH BY DROWNING: TOGETHER WITH AN ACCOUNT OF HIS LAST AFFLICTION, DEATH, ETC. BY THE REV. HENRY WOODCOCK, AUTHOR OF 'POPERY UNMASKED,' 'WONDERS OF GRACE,' ETC. 'My tale is simple and of humble birth, A tribute of respect to real worth.' SECOND EDITION. LONDON: S. W. Partridge, 9, Paternoster Row; Wesleyan Book Room, 66, Paternoster Row; Primitive Methodist Book Room, 6, Sutton Street, Commercial Road, E.; and of all Booksellers. 1880. ALFORD: J. HORNER, PRINTER, MARKET PLACE. TO THE SEAMEN OF GREAT BRITAIN, TO WHOSE SKILL, COURAGE, AND ENDURANCE, ENGLAND OWES MUCH OF HER GREATNESS, THIS VOLUME CONTAINING A RECORD OF THE CHARACTER AND DEEDS OF ONE, WHO, FOR UPWARDS OF THIRTY YEARS, BRAVED THE HARDSHIPS AND PERILS OF A SAILOR'S LIFE, AND WHOSE GALLANTRY AND HUMANITY WON FOR HIM THE TITLE OF 'THE HERO OF THE HUMBER,' IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, WITH THE EARNEST PRAYER THAT THEY MAY EMBRACE THAT BENIGN RELIGION WHICH NOT ONLY RESCUED THE 'HERO' FROM THE EVILS IN WHICH HE HAD SO LONG INDULGED, AND ENRICHED HIM WITH THE GRACES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER, BUT ALSO GAVE A BRIGHTER GLOW AND GREATER ENERGY TO THAT COURAGE, GALLANTRY, AND HUMANITY BY WHICH HE HAD BEEN LONG DISTINGUISHED. THE AUTHOR. PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. Mr. Gladstone, in a recent lecture thus defines a hero: quoting Latham's definition of a hero, 'a man eminent for bravery,' he said he was not satisfied with that, because bravery might be mere animal bravery. Carlyle had described Napoleon I. as a great hero. 'Now he (Mr. Gladstone) was not prepared to admit that Napoleon was a hero. He was certainly one of the most extraordinary men ever born. There was more power concentrated in that brain than in any brain probably born for centuries. That he was a great man in the sense of being a man of transcendent power, there was no doubt; but his life was tainted with selfishness from beginning to end, and he was not ready to admit that a man whose life was fundamentally tainted with selfishness was a hero. A greater hero than Napoleon was the captain of a ship which was run down in the Channel three or four years ago, who, when the ship was quivering, and the water was gurgling round her, and the boats had been lowered to save such persons as could be saved, stood by the bulwark with a pistol in his hand and threatened to shoot dead the first man who endeavoured to get into the boat until every woman and child was provided for. His true idea of a hero was this: A hero was a man who must have ends beyond himself, in casting himself as it were out of himself, and must pursue these ends by means which were honourable, the lawful means, otherwise he might degenerate into a wild enthusiast. He must do this without distortion or disturbance of his nature as a man, because there were cases of men who were heroes in great part, but who were so excessively given to certain ideas and objects of their own, that they lost all the proportion of their nature. There were other heroes, who, by giving undue prominence to one idea, lost the just proportion of things, and became simply men of one idea. A man to be a hero must pursue ends beyond himself by legitimate means. He must pursue them as a man, not as a dreamer. Not to give to some one idea disproportionate weight which it did not deserve, and forget everything else which belonged to the perfection and excellence of human nature. If he did all this he was a hero, even if he had not very great powers; and if he had great powers, then he was a consummate hero... Continue reading book >>

The Hero of the Humber or the History of the Late Mr. John Ellerthorpe By: Henry Woodcock (1830-)

First Page:

THE

HERO OF THE HUMBER;

OR, THE

HISTORY OF THE LATE

MR. JOHN ELLERTHORPE

(FOREMAN OF THE HUMBER DOCK GATES, HULL),

BEING A RECORD OF

REMARKABLE INCIDENTS IN HIS CAREER AS A SAILOR; HIS CONVERSION AND CHRISTIAN USEFULNESS; HIS UNEQUALLED SKILL AS A SWIMMER, AND HIS EXPLOITS ON THE WATER, WITH A MINUTE ACCOUNT OF HIS DEEDS OF DARING IN SAVING, WITH HIS OWN HANDS, ON SEPARATE AND DISTINCT OCCASIONS, UPWARDS OF FORTY PERSONS FROM DEATH BY DROWNING: TOGETHER WITH AN ACCOUNT OF HIS LAST AFFLICTION, DEATH, ETC.

BY THE

REV. HENRY WOODCOCK,

AUTHOR OF 'POPERY UNMASKED,' 'WONDERS OF GRACE,' ETC.

'My tale is simple and of humble birth, A tribute of respect to real worth.'

SECOND EDITION.

LONDON:

S. W. Partridge, 9, Paternoster Row; Wesleyan Book Room, 66, Paternoster Row; Primitive Methodist Book Room, 6, Sutton Street, Commercial Road, E.; and of all Booksellers.

1880.

ALFORD:

J. HORNER, PRINTER,

MARKET PLACE.

THE SEAMEN OF GREAT BRITAIN,

TO WHOSE

SKILL, COURAGE, AND ENDURANCE,

ENGLAND OWES MUCH OF HER GREATNESS,

THIS VOLUME

CONTAINING A RECORD OF THE CHARACTER AND DEEDS OF ONE,

WHO, FOR UPWARDS OF THIRTY YEARS,

BRAVED THE HARDSHIPS AND PERILS OF A SAILOR'S LIFE,

AND

WHOSE GALLANTRY AND HUMANITY

WON FOR HIM THE TITLE

'THE HERO OF THE HUMBER,'

IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED,

WITH THE EARNEST PRAYER

THAT THEY MAY EMBRACE THAT BENIGN RELIGION

WHICH NOT ONLY RESCUED THE 'HERO' FROM THE EVILS IN WHICH

HE HAD SO LONG INDULGED,

AND ENRICHED HIM WITH THE GRACES OF THE

CHRISTIAN CHARACTER,

BUT ALSO GAVE

A BRIGHTER GLOW AND GREATER ENERGY

TO THAT

COURAGE, GALLANTRY, AND HUMANITY

BY WHICH HE HAD BEEN LONG DISTINGUISHED.

THE AUTHOR.

PREFACE

TO THE SECOND EDITION.

Mr. Gladstone, in a recent lecture thus defines a hero: quoting Latham's definition of a hero, 'a man eminent for bravery,' he said he was not satisfied with that, because bravery might be mere animal bravery. Carlyle had described Napoleon I. as a great hero. 'Now he (Mr. Gladstone) was not prepared to admit that Napoleon was a hero. He was certainly one of the most extraordinary men ever born. There was more power concentrated in that brain than in any brain probably born for centuries. That he was a great man in the sense of being a man of transcendent power, there was no doubt; but his life was tainted with selfishness from beginning to end, and he was not ready to admit that a man whose life was fundamentally tainted with selfishness was a hero. A greater hero than Napoleon was the captain of a ship which was run down in the Channel three or four years ago, who, when the ship was quivering, and the water was gurgling round her, and the boats had been lowered to save such persons as could be saved, stood by the bulwark with a pistol in his hand and threatened to shoot dead the first man who endeavoured to get into the boat until every woman and child was provided for. His true idea of a hero was this: A hero was a man who must have ends beyond himself, in casting himself as it were out of himself, and must pursue these ends by means which were honourable, the lawful means, otherwise he might degenerate into a wild enthusiast. He must do this without distortion or disturbance of his nature as a man, because there were cases of men who were heroes in great part, but who were so excessively given to certain ideas and objects of their own, that they lost all the proportion of their nature. There were other heroes, who, by giving undue prominence to one idea, lost the just proportion of things, and became simply men of one idea. A man to be a hero must pursue ends beyond himself by legitimate means. He must pursue them as a man, not as a dreamer. Not to give to some one idea disproportionate weight which it did not deserve, and forget everything else which belonged to the perfection and excellence of human nature. If he did all this he was a hero, even if he had not very great powers; and if he had great powers, then he was a consummate hero... Continue reading book >>

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