Sir
Alexander Ball quoted the speech of an old admiral, one of whose two
great wishes was to have a ship's crew composed altogether of serious
Scotchmen. He spoke with great reprobation of the vulgar notion, the
worse man the better sailor. Courage, he said, was the natural
product of familiarity with danger, which thoughtlessness would
oftentimes turn into fool-hardiness; and that he always found the
most usefully brave sailors the gravest and most rational of his
crew. The best sailor he had ever had, first attracted his notice by
the anxiety which he expressed concerning the means of remitting some
money, which he had received in the West Indies, to his sister in
England; and this man, without any tinge of Methodism, was never
heard to swear an oath, and was remarkable for the firmness with
which he devoted a part of every Sunday to the reading of his Bible.
I record this with satisfaction as a testimony of great weight, and
in all respects unexceptionable; for Sir Alexander Ball's opinions
throughout life remained unwarped by zealotry, and were those of a
mind seeking after truth, in calmness and complete self-possession.
Pages:
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162