Page images
PDF
EPUB

was fertile in geographical discoveries, and equally honourable, with those by which it had been preceded, to the sagacity, good management, and scientific skill of its unfortunate commander. The death of Captain Cook took place at Owhyhee, in a sudden tumult of the natives of that island, on the 14th of February, 1779. The news of the event was received with general lamentation, not only in our own country, but throughout Europe. Pensions were bestowed upon his widow and three sons by the Government; the Royal Society ordered a medal to be struck in commemoration of him; his eulogy was pronounced in the Florentine Academy; and various other honours were paid to his memory, both by public bodies and individuals. Thus, by his own persevering efforts, did this great man raise himself from the lowest obscurity to a reputation wide as the world itself, and certain to last as long as the age in which he flourished shall be remembered by history. But better still than even all this fame-than either the honours which he received while living, or those which, when he was no more, his country and mankind bestowed upon his memory, -he had exalted himself in the scale of moral and intellectual being; had won for himself, by his unwearied striving, a new and nobler nature, and taken a high place among the instructors and best benefactors of mankind. This alone is true happinessthe one worthy end of human exertion or ambition -the only satisfying reward of all labour, and study, and virtuous activity or endurance. Among the shipmates with whom Cook mixed when he first went to sea, there was, perhaps, no one who ever either raised himself above the condition to which he then belonged in point of outward circumstances, or enlarged in any considerable degree the knowledge or mental resources he then possessed. And

N

some will perhaps say that this was little to be regretted, at least, on their own account; that the many who spent their lives in their original sphere were probably as happy as the one who succeeded in rising above it: but this is, indeed, to cast a hasty glance on human life and human nature. That man was never truly happy-happy upon reflection, and while looking to the past or the future- who could not say to himself that he had made something of the faculties God gave him, and had not lived altogether without progression, like one of the inferior animals. We do not speak of mere wealth or station; these are comparatively nothing; are as often missed as attained, even by those who best merit them; and do not of themselves constitute happiness when they are possessed. But there must be some consciousness of an intellectual or moral progress, or there can be no satisfaction-no selfcongratulation on reviewing what of life may be already gone-no hope in the prospect of what is yet to come. All men feel this, and feel it strongly ; and if they could secure for themselves the source of happiness in question by a wish, would avail themselves of the privilege with sufficient alacrity. Nobody would pass his life in ignorance, if knowledge might be had by merely looking up to the clouds for it: it is the labour necessary for its acquirement that scares them; and this labour they have not resolution to encounter. Yet it is, in truth, from the exertion by which it must be obtained, that knowledge derives at least half its value; for to this entirely we owe the sense of merit in ourselves which the acquisition brings along with it; and hence no little of the happiness of which we have just described its possession to be the source: besides that, the labour itself soon becomes an enjoyment.

To the example of Cook, if it were necessary, we

VANCOUVER. FLINDERS.

COLLINGWOOD. 135

might add those of others of his countrymen, who, since his time, have shewn, in like manner, the possibility of uniting the cultivation of literature and science to the most zealous performance of the duties of the same laborious profession. For instance, VANCOUVER was a sailor formed under Cook; and to him we owe an interesting and ably written account of the voyage which he made round the world, in 1790 and the four following years. Lieutenant FLINDERS commanded the expedition sent out in 1801 to survey the coast of New Holland, and afterwards published an account of his voyage, accompanied by a volume of charts, which are considered as placing the author in the highest rank of modern hydographers. Nor ought we here to forget the late Lord COLLINGWOOD, second in command to Nelson at Trafalgar, and, in all respects, a man of first-rate merit, who, although he never sent any production to the press, has been proved by his correspondence, published since his death, to have been in reality one of the best of writers. Yet he was only thirteen when he first entered the navy, and during the remainder of his life he was scarcely ever ashore-circumstances which used to make his acquaintances wonder not a little where he got his style. He had always, however, been fond of reading and the study of elegant literature; and he found that even a life at sea afforded him many opportunities of indulging his taste for these enjoyments.

Lord Collingwood may be said to have been, in all respects, a perfect illustration of Wordsworth's fine lines on the character of the Happy Warrior: '"Whose powers shed round him in the common strife, Or mild concerns of ordinary life,

A constant influence-a peculiar grace :

But who, if he be called upon to face

Some awful moment, to which Heaven has joined

Great issues, good or bad, for human kind,

Is happy as a lover, and attired

With sudden brightness, like a man inspired;
And through the heat of conflict keeps the law
In calmness made, and sees what he foresaw:
Or if an unexpected call succeed,

Come when it will, is equal to the need.

He who, though thus endued as with a sense
And faculty for storm and turbulence,
Is yet a soul whose master-bias leans
To homefelt pleasures and to gentle scenes;-
Sweet images! which, wheresoe'er he be,
Are at his heart; and such fidelity

It is his darling passion to approve ;

More brave for this, that he hath much to love."

It does not belong to the plan of this work to notice any living examples; but the names of a crowd of naval officers of our own times, who have distinguished themselves as men of science and learning, as well as skilful commanders, will present themselves at once to the memory.

CHAPTER IX.

Literary pursuits of Merchants. Solon; Guys; D. North; Ricardo.

BUT we must now return to civil life, from the higher walks of which we have already quoted several examples of an attachment to literary and scientific pursuits, in the midst of much occupation; and the attainment of eminence at the same time in the world of letters and in that of politics. We shall find that the cares of ordinary business have also left time to many to earn distinction by their learning and their writings, as well as the toils and anxieties of state-affairs. Perhaps the earliest literary merchant we have on record is the celebrated Athenian lawgiver, SOLON. Although descended from one of the most distinguished families in Athens, Solon found himself obliged, on setting out in life, to attempt the re-establishment of the decayed fortunes of his house, by engaging in foreign commerce. After the manner

customary in those days, he proceeded in person to distant countries along with the goods which he had to dispose of. To a mind such as his, however, the opportunities of an occupation of this kind were invaluable. He returned to his native country not only enriched by the success of his speculations, but fraught with all the learning and philosophy of the countries in which civilization had then made the greatest progress; and fitted to inform and controul his fellow-citizens by the lessons of a new wisdom, made attractive by the charms of eloquence and poetry. He had sought, in the course of his travels, still more anxiously for knowledge than for wealth,

« PreviousContinue »