Heroism and Cowardice. 37 



Foxhall, Iroquois, and a host of others, made us more humble 

 minded. The lesson to be learned from this not altogether 

 pleasing experience, is that men excel best in what they 

 practise most. If we have at present no pugilist or oarsman, 

 like Tom Sayers or Jem Mace, like Bob Chambers or Harry 

 Kelly, worthy of upholding the honour and glory of England 

 in the 24-foot ring, or on the river, we have the best foot- 

 ball players in the world, some of the best bicycle riders, 

 and the finest jockeys. Though we have done more than any 

 other nation in the advancement of athletics, and of a love for 

 horses, we have no monopoly either of the vices or of the 

 virtues of the human race. If at times we soar to extra- 

 ordinary heights of heroism ; on other occasions we descend 

 to an equal distance into the depths of baseness. The records 

 of our naval, military, and civilian life bristle with feats to be 

 expected more from gods than men ; and yet the columns of 

 our newspapers publish a chronicle of cowardly brutality as 

 dark as the other is light. As I turn over the papers of this 

 month, I read that ' an inquiry was held with reference to the 

 death of John Thomas Bonner, aged six years, the son of a 

 labourer. The deceased began playing by a pond in the 

 Potteries. Shortly afterwards a scream was heard, and when 

 Mrs Bonner ran out she found her boy in the water. The 

 mother's sister followed to the pond, and there saw the 

 woman tearing her hair and screaming for assistance. Four 

 men were also at the spot, but none of them made any 

 attempt to rescue the boy, who was drowned in front of his 

 mother's eyes. Witness said to the men, " Why don't you 

 try and save the boy ? " and one of them replied, " It's no 

 good trying ; the child has gone down for the last time. I 

 am not going to drown myself; the little had no busi- 

 ness there." The man was not called, and the jury returned 

 a verdict of accidental death.' Within a fortnight there have 

 been two diabolical attempts, by bodies of miners on strike, 

 to upset railway trains filled with men, women and children. 

 At an inquest on the body of a boy who was drowned in the 



