To those who do not
go to sea I will give one hint; if a man is sent home on the long
journey over the North Sea, he not only suffers grievously but he loses
his employment, and his family fare badly. _If he be transferred to the
hospital ship his place is filled for a little while by one of the spare
hands whom the Mission sends out, and his berth is saved for him._ I do
not deny that the scheme is rather impressive in the magnitude of its
difficulty; but then no man breathing--except its originator--would ever
have fancied, five years ago, that the Mission would become one of the
miracles of modern social progress. If comfortable folks at home could
only see how those gallant, battered fishermen suffer under certain
circumstances of toil and weather, they would hardly wonder at my
putting forward the hospital project so urgently. By rights I ought to
have spoken about other branches of the Mission's work, but the
importance of the healing department has overshadowed all other
considerations in my mind. To Dare, and Dare again, and Dare always, is
the one plan that leads to success in philanthropy as surely as it leads
to success in politics or war. Those who have undertaken to civilize
our Deep Sea fishermen must continue to dare without ceasing; they must
_educate_ the thousands of good men and women whose sacred impulses lead
them to aim at bettering this blind and struggling world; spiritual
enthusiasm must be backed by material force, and the material force can
only be gained when the great, well-meaning, puzzled masses are
enlightened.
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