Memorials of the Sea: My Father: Being Records of the Adventurous Life of the Late William Scoresby, Esq. of WhitbyScoresby, William
History
Memorials of the Sea: My Father: Being Records of the Adventurous Life of the Late William Scoresby, Esq. of Whitby
Scoresby, William
Fathers and sons -- England -- Whitby; Scoresby, William, 1760-1829; Whaling
They were of course conveyed at once to the safety of the proximate shore,
and, being landed there, the seamen returned to look after their horse and
gig, which were all but submerged. The horse, with no small difficulty,
they got disengaged from its entanglement with the vehicle, which,
fortunately, had still energy enough left to enable them to swim it to the
shore. The gig was then sought after, secured, and floated to the same
place of safety. And, ultimately, the horse was reharnessed by their active
aid; and the two individuals, who had experienced such a providential
rescue, drove forthwith away from the scene of this memorable adventure.
The gentleman was found to be a Mr. M——, nephew to a dignitary of the
Cathedral Church at York; his companion, Mrs. S——, a lady of fortune.
The wife of the one, I understood, and the husband of the other, were also
spending the morning together mutually reciprocating in a social drive; but
they had chosen the common road of the highway, and, of course, ran no risk
of a similar adventure.
One would have been glad to have had to record, in connection with such an
unusual incident, that the preservation from a premature death, by the
sailors’ cheerfully devoted energies, had met with something like a
grateful recognition of the service rendered. The only acknowledgment,
however, which was made for this timely and momentous aid, whereby a
carriage and horse, besides the lives of two individuals in a genteel
position in society were saved, was the reward of a guinea to be divided
amongst the whole boat’s crew. The high-minded philanthropist feels
sufficient reward in the satisfaction of being privileged to be the
instrument of yielding distinguished benefits to his fellow-creatures; but
every right-minded person loves to see some fitting evidence of a grateful
apprehension of benefits conferred. As to the paltry offering to the
sailors, I remember my Father being grieved and vexed,—vexed that they
should have condescended to accept any reward, where the offering, in
reference even to the efforts made, much less to the service conferred, was
so contemptible. As for my Father himself, the opportunity of saving the
lives of two of his fellow-creatures was the source, in itself, of fervent
and permanent satisfaction, affording him, no doubt, one of the most
peculiarly pleasant and grateful recollections of his adventurous life.
SECTION V.—_The Greenland Doctor._
Some circumstances of a more playful nature belonging to the period
embraced by the present chapter may here be introduced, with a view to vary
and perhaps enliven these parental records.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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