514 
LAST VOYAGE OF CAPT. ROSS. 
Had Capt. Ross been at this time on friendly terms with his 
nephew, it is perhaps probable, that he would have condescended 
to follow his advice; but there was something 1 degrading and 
humiliating, in the idea of listening to the counsels of an indi¬ 
vidual, who had perhaps transgressed against his high authority, 
or who, in several instances, might have attempted to show him, 
that wisdom and age do not always accompany each other. It 
is a feature of the human character, although not a very amiable 
one, of acting in direct contradiction to the advice of those, with 
whom we are at enmity; as it is a wound upon onr self-love, 
to suppose that we can allow ourselves to be guided by those, 
who have perhaps offended us in some particular point, although 
no offence was in reality intended. In this instance, we will 
give Capt. Ross the credit, to suppose, that he was not so 
grossly ignorant of the management of the ship, as not to see 
that the advice of Commander Ross, was at once proper and 
judicious; but he was determined to verify the Latin adage, 
" Video meliora, sed jproboque sequor," which may be anglicised, 
I saw that it was proper to go to leeward of the berg, but 
1 was determined to go wrong, and went to the windward of it.’ 
The consequences, however, of this accident , were of tho 
most serious aspect; the ship was for a time unmanageable, and 
in a situation, that had the wind come on to blow with violence 
from the northward, the sailors would then in reality have 
been obliged to exclaim, “ Good bye, Victory.” During the 
whole of the night, the carpenters were employed in repairing 
the rudder, and as it could only be performed by lantern light, 
the task proceeded slowly and insecurely; independently, how r - 
ever, of this untoward event, the ship w r as lying all the while 
with her fore foot on the rocks, in the most imminent danger cf 
having her bottom injured, or of falling on her broadside. In 
order to provide against the latter calamity, a hawser was got 
out to the westward—it was a matter almost of life or death—the 
very existence of the Victory depended upon this moment—it was 
either England, or a miserable residence perhaps for an unlimit¬ 
ed time, in a country of desolation and wretchedness—all 
depended on the strength and goodness of the hawser—the 
