gedy is to be attributed, so far
as human agency is looked at, to our wretched system, or
_no-system_, of life-boats. The life-boat at Fire Island
light-house, three miles distant only, was not brought to the
beach till between twelve and one o'clock, more than eight
hours after the Elizabeth was stranded, and more than six
hours after the wreck could easily have been seen. When
the life-boat did finally come, the beachmen could not be
persuaded to launch or man her. And even the mortar, by which
a rope could and should have been thrown on board, was not
once fired. A single lesson like this might certainly suffice
to teach the government, insurance companies, and humane
societies, the urgent need, that to every life-boat should
be attached ORGANIZED CREWS, stimulated to do their work
faithfully, by ample pay for actual service, generous
salvage-fees for cargoes and persons, and a pension to
surviving friends where life is lost. * * *

"No trace has yet been found of Margaret's manuscript on
Italy, though the denials of the wreckers as to having seen
it, are not in the least to be depended on. For, greedy
after richer spoil, they might well have overlooked a mass of
written paper; and, even had they kept it, they would be slow
to give up what would so clearly prove their participation
in the heartless robbery, that is now exciting such universal
horror and indignation. Possibly it was washed away before
reaching the shore, as several of the trunks, it is said, were
open and empty, when thrown upon the beach. But it is sad to
think, that very possibly the brutal hands of pirates may have
tossed to the winds, or scattered on the sands, pages so rich
with experience and life. The only papers of value saved, were
the love-letters of Margaret and Ossoli.[C]

"It is a touching coincidence, that the only one of Margaret's
treasures which reached the shore, was the lifeless form of
Angelino. When the body, stripped of every rag by the waves,
was rescued from the surf, a sailor took it reverently in
his arms, and, wrapping it in his neckcloth, bore it to the
nearest house. There, when washed, and dressed in a child's
frock, found in Margaret's trunk, it was laid upon a bed; and
as the rescued seamen gathered round their late playfellow and
pet, there were few dry eyes in