THE WHITE SHIP
We are going to have a story to-day about something that happened nearly eight hundred years ago.
In that far-away time there lived a King of England whose name was Henry I. He was a great warrior, and his enemies generally had the worst of it in battle. But he was still greater as a ruler, and he made the people of England keep the laws. When they disobeyed, he punished them severely.
A certain scholar wrote down the story of his reign and we have it still. He said Henry "was a good man and great was the awe of him." That is, the people rather feared him because he was so strict. He said, too, that while Henry was king no one dared "ill-do to man or beast."
King Henry was sometimes called the Lion of Justice, because he was so great and powerful, and all wrong-doers were afraid of him.
He had another nickname, too. They called him Fine Scholar because he could read and write. Very few persons in those old days could do these things. The clergy were almost the only ones who went to school and learned how.
We who live now-a-days should be very glad and thankful that we have good schools and kind teachers, and lesson books that are full of interesting things.
King Henry had one son whom he loved very much, indeed. His name was William. He was a fine boy, and the people of England were very fond of him. They expected that some day, when his father died, William would be King in his turn. Indeed, they had already promised Henry that whenever that happened, they would be faithful and true to his son.
Not very far from England is the country called France. A narrow sea separates the two. The English call it the Channel and the French call it the Sleeve—perhaps because it is something like a sleeve in shape.
Henry was very often over in France because he had some possessions there. His father had come from France and conquered England, so he had land on both sides of this narrow sea. Though it is narrow, it is very rough, and sailors have to be very careful in crossing it.
One time Henry and his son had been over in France doing some fighting. They overcame their enemies and made ready to set sail for England. They were about to start when a captain came up to the King and begged him to sail in his ship. He was very anxious to have the honor of carrying him across the Channel. He had carried over the King's father, William the Conqueror, when he went to invade England. He said that he had a beautiful new boat called the White Ship. There were fifty strong men to do the rowing, and they had sails besides. Of course, there were no steam-boats in those old times.
Now King Henry had already made his arrangements, and he did not like to change them. But, to please the captain, he said he would send his treasure in his new ship—the precious things he had taken in war and was carrying home to England. More than that, he said he would let the captain take charge of the greatest treasure he had in the world, his only son, who was then seventeen years old. So William sailed with Captain Fitz-Stephen.
The King was in a hurry to get home, and he started as soon as the tide would let him.
In the White Ship with Prince William a great many knights and nobles sailed. Some of his own relatives were there, and many boys and girls belonging to the chief families of England. They wanted to have a good time, so they had a grand feast on board ship before they started on the voyage. They shouted and danced on the deck, and, I am sorry to say, they drank a great deal of wine. They did one thing that was specially foolish. They made the sailors drink, too. They opened three barrels of the wine and divided it among them. They ought to have known that the sailors would need steady hands to take the ship across that dangerous sea. But they did not think. It grew later and later, and darker and darker, and there was no moon that night. Some people began to be afraid to trust themselves in that ship, and they got off and waited till morning for another one. Most of them, however, were feeling too merry and jolly to be afraid of anything, and away they sailed. The rowers pulled with all their might and the helmsman steered for England.
A man who has been using strong drink, though, is not fit to steer a ship or anything else. It has been found out that after even a very little wine or beer one cannot guide so well, or do anything else properly that needs a clear brain and steady nerves.
Alcohol makes people stupid. We all know that if they drink a good deal of it, it takes their senses altogether away, so that they don't know anything and can't do anything. So, if they drink a little of it, it takes their senses partly away and they are not so bright as they should be. They do not see danger when it comes and then accidents happen.
The helmsman of the White Ship was made stupid by the wine and he was not able to do his work. They had not gone very far before he steered the ship on a rock. There was a terrible crash and a terrible cry, and the water began to rush in through the hole which had been made.
Quickly a boat was lowered and Prince William was hurried into it, and the rowers rowed away with him. But he heard a voice calling for help and knew it was his sister's, so he made the sailors turn back to save her. When they did so, ever so many people jumped in and the little boat could not hold them. They all went to the bottom.
No one escaped from that dreadful shipwreck except one man who held on to the top of the mast till help came next day. When, at last, he reached land he told how the young prince and his sister had been drowned, and also a hundred and forty noble youths and girls, and the Captain and the fifty rowers, and everyone else on board except himself—all because of wine.
What a dangerous drink this alcohol is, and how many accidents it has caused! It sends the brain to sleep so that it cannot do its work, and when that is the case we never know what dreadful thing may happen next.
When anything puts the brain to sleep, we call it narcotic. Alcohol is a narcotic poison. No one should ever use it who wants to pilot a ship, or steer an automobile, or drive a train, or shoot a gun, or run a machine in a factory.
King Henry was a busy man, and he went home as quickly as he could and attended to his work. He was very much surprised that William and the others did not come, and he kept wondering where they could be.
When the sad news reached the palace, no man dared go in and tell the King. At last, they sent a little boy into his room—a page who waited on the ladies and gentlemen—and he fell at the King's feet.
"O, King . . . Prince William . . . the White Ship!"
When poor King Henry understood what had happened, he fell down in a faint. They say that all the rest of his life he was very sad. No one ever saw him smile again. One thing we must never forget about strong drink is this: It does not only bring trouble to the people who use it, but to many others besides. King Henry had nothing to do with the drinking on board the White Ship. He was not even there, and did not know about it. But it caused him to lose his boy and girl, both in one night.
In our days, too, it makes more trouble than any one can possibly imagine. Although the wreck of the White Ship happened nearly eight hundred years ago, it was not by any means the first accident brought on by alcohol. Drink has always done these things. It has always made men's heads dull and their hands unsteady. It has caused them to be hurt and to lose their lives. The strange thing is that, although every one knows it does this, so many people venture to use it. We should all do well to remember the proverb, "Where there's drink there's danger."
"Write it o'er the railroad wreck,
Write it on the sinking deck,
Write upon our hearts the truth,
Let us learn it in our youth—
Where there's drink there's danger."