The Earthquake, However,
Must Be To Every One A Most Impressive Event:
The earth,
considered from our earliest childhood as the type of solidity,
has oscillated like a thin crust beneath our feet; and
in seeing the laboured works of man in a moment overthrown,
we feel the insignificance of his boasted power.
It has been said, that the love of the chase is an inherent
delight in man - a relic of an instinctive passion. If so, I
am sure the pleasure of living in the open air, with the sky
for a roof and the ground for a table, is part of the same
feeling, it is the savage returning to his wild and native
habits. I always look back to our boat cruises, and my land
journeys, when through unfrequented countries, with an extreme
delight, which no scenes of civilization could have
created. I do not doubt that every traveller must remember
the glowing sense of happiness which he experienced, when
he first breathed in a foreign clime, where the civilized man
had seldom or never trod.
There are several other sources of enjoyment in a long
voyage, which are of a more reasonable nature. The map
of the world ceases to be a blank; it becomes a picture full
of the most varied and animated figures. Each part assumes
its proper dimensions: continents are not looked at in the
light of islands, or islands considered as mere specks, which
are, in truth, larger than many kingdoms of Europe. Africa,
or North and South America, are well-sounding names, and
easily pronounced; but it is not until having sailed for
weeks along small portions of their shores, that one is
thoroughly convinced what vast spaces on our immense world
these names imply.
From seeing the present state, it is impossible not to look
forward with high expectations to the future progress of
nearly an entire hemisphere. The march of improvement,
consequent on the introduction of Christianity throughout
the South Sea, probably stands by itself in the records of
history. It is the more striking when we remember that only
sixty years since, Cook, whose excellent judgment none will
dispute, could foresee no prospect of a change. Yet these
changes have now been effected by the philanthropic spirit
of the British nation.
In the same quarter of the globe Australia is rising, or
indeed may be said to have risen, into a grand centre of
civilization, which, at some not very remote period, will rule
as empress over the southern hemisphere. It is impossible
for an Englishman to behold these distant colonies, without
a high pride and satisfaction. To hoist the British flag,
seems to draw with it as a certain consequence, wealth,
prosperity, and civilization.
In conclusion, it appears to me that nothing can be more
improving to a young naturalist, than a journey in distant
countries. It both sharpens, and partly allays that want and
craving, which, as Sir J. Herschel remarks, a man experiences
although every corporeal sense be fully satisfied.
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