And, lo! while he was expounding, in set terms, the most abstruse of
his pious doctrines, the head of the tub whereon the good man stood
gave way, and the preacher was lost from before the eyes of the whole
congregation.
_Life of the Reverend Mr Smith, SS_.
Seymour, who was always the companion of Captain M---, whenever either
instruction or amusement was to be gained, now quitted the surveying
party to join Macallan, who still continued seated on the rocks,
reflecting upon the remarkable coincidence which the coxswain had
narrated, sufficient in itself to confirm the superstitious ideas of the
sailors for another century. His thoughts naturally reverted to the
other point, in which seafaring men are equally bigoted, the disastrous
consequences of "sailing on a Friday;" the origin of which superstition
can easily be traced to early Catholicism, when out of respect for the
day of universal redemption, they were directed by their pastors to
await the "morrow's sun."
"Thus," mentally exclaimed Macallan, "has religion degenerated into
superstition; and that which, from the purity of its origin, would have
commanded our respect, is now only deserving of our contempt. It is by
the motives that have produced them, that our actions must be weighed.
That which once was an offering of religious veneration and love, is now
a tribute to superstition and to fear. Well, Seymour," said he,
addressing his companion, "how do you like surveying?"
"Not much; the sun is hot, and the glare so powerful that I am almost
blind. What a pity it is that we had not some trees here, to shade us
from the heat! I should like to plant some for the benefit of those who
may come after us."
"A correct feeling on your part, my boy; but no trees would grow here at
present--there is no soil."
"There is plenty of some sort or other in the part where we have been
surveying."
"Yes, the sand thrown up by the sea, and the particles of shells and
rock, which have been triturated by the wave, or decomposed by the
alternate action of the elements; but there is no vegetable matter,
without which there can be no vegetable produce. Observe, Willy,--the
skeleton of this earth is framed of rocks and mountains, which have been
proudly rearing their heads into the clouds, or lying in dark majesty
beneath the seas, since the creation of the world, when they were fixed
by the Almighty architect, to remain till time shall be no more. Over
them, we find the wrecks of a former world--once as beautiful, as
thickly peopled, but more thoughtless and more wicked than the present,
which was hurled into one general chaos, and its component, but
incongruous parts, amalgamated in awful mockery by the deluge--that
tremendous evidence of the wrath of Heaven. But it has long passed
away; and o'er the relics of former creation, o'er the kneaded mass of
man in his pride, of woman in her beauty, of arts in their splendour, of
vice in her zenith, and of virtue in her tomb, we are standing upon
another, teeming with life, and yielding forth her fruits in the season
as before. But, Willy, the supports of life are not to be found in
primeval rocks or antediluvial remains. It is from the superficial
covering, the thin crust with which the earth is covered, composed of
the remains of former existence, of the breccia of exhausted nature,
that animal creation derives its support; and it is the grand axiom of
the universe, that _animal life can only be supported by animal
remains_. From the meanest insect that crawls upon the ground, to man
in his perfection, life is supported and continued by animal and
vegetable food; and it is only the decayed matter returned to the earth,
which enables the lofty cedar to extend its boughs, or the lowly violet
to exhale its perfume. This is a world of eternal reproduction and
decay--one endless cycle of the living preying on the dead--a phoenix,
yearly, daily, and hourly springing from its ashes, in renewed strength
and beauty. The blade of grass, which shoots from the soil, flowers,
casts its seed, and dies, to make room for its offspring, nourished by
the relics of its parent, is a type of the never-changing law,
controlling all nature, even to man himself, who must pass away to make
room for the generation which is to come."
The boat which, returning from the ship, appeared like a black speck on
the water, indicated that the dinner-hour was at hand; and Price and the
purser, who had come on shore with Macallan, now joined him and Willy,
who were sitting down on the rocks at the water's edge.
"Well, Macallan," said Price, "it's a fine thing to be a philosopher.
What is that which Milton says? Let me see!--sweet--something--divine
philosophy--I forget the exact words. Well, what have you caught?"
"If you've caught nothing, doctor, you're better off than I am," said
the purser, wiping his brow, "for I've caught a headache."
"I have been very well amused," replied Macallan.
"Ay, I suppose, like what's-his-name in the forest--you recollect?"
"No, indeed, I do not."
"Don't you? Bless my soul--you know, sermons in stones, and good in
everything. I forget how the lines run. Don't you recollect, O'Keefe?"
continued Price, speaking loud in the purser's ear.
"No, I never _collect_. I don't understand these things," replied the
purser, taking his seat by Macallan, and addressing him--"I cannot think
what pleasure there can be in poking about the rocks as you do."
"It serves to amuse me, O'Keefe."
"_Abuse_ you, my dear fellow! Indeed I never meant it--I beg your
pardon--you mistook me."
"It was my fault. I did not speak sufficiently loud. Make no apology."
"Too _proud_ to make an apology!--No, indeed--I only asked what
amusement you could find?--that's all."
"What amusement?" replied Macallan, rising from his seat, annoyed at
these repeated attacks from all quarters upon his favourite study.
"Listen to me, and I will explain to you how investigation is the parent
of both amusement and instruction. What is this rock that I am standing
on? Has it remained here for ages to be dashed by the furious ocean?--
or has it lately sprung from the depths, from the silent labour of the
indefatigable zoophytes? Look at its sides; behold the variety of
marine vegetation with which it is loaded. Are they of the class of the
ulvae, confervae, or fuci? to be welcomed as old acquaintance, or,
hitherto unnoticed, to be added to the catalogue of Nature's endless
stores? And what are those corals, that, like mimic tenants of the
forest, extend their graceful boughs! Look at the variety of shells
which are adhering to its sides. Observe the patellae--with what
tenacity they cling to save themselves from being washed into the deep
water, and being devoured by the fishes that are playing in its chasms!
What a source of endless amusement, what a field for deep reflection, is
there in the investigation of this _one little rock_! When you
contemplate the instinct of the different species, the powers given to
them, so adapted to their wants and their privations--is not the eye
delighted, is not the mind enlarged, and are not the feelings
harmonised? Study the works of the creation, and you turn a desert into
a peopled city--a barren rock into a source of admiration and delight.
Nay, search into Nature for a few minutes, and you rise a better man.
Dive into--"
What the conclusion of the doctor's rhapsody may have been is not known;
for, stamping too energetically upon the seaweed on the edge of the
rock, his foot slipped, and he disappeared, with the perpendicular
descent and velocity of a deep-sea lead, into the water alongside of it.
Marshall, the coxswain, who had been astonished at his speech, to which
he had listened with mouth open for want of comprehension, quite forgot
the respect due to an officer, at this unexpected finale.
"Watch, there, watch!" cried the man, and then threw himself down, and
rolled in convulsions of laughter. Price and Willy, whose mirth was
almost as excessive, did, however, run to his assistance, and caught him
by the collar as he rose again to the surface, for it was considerably
out of his depth; while the deaf purser, whose eyes had been fixed on
the ground, in deep attention to catch the doctor's words, and whose
ears were not sufficiently acute to hear the splash, looked up as they
were going to his assistance, and asked, with surprise, "Where's the
doctor?"
The sides of the rock were so slippery, that the united efforts of Price
and Seymour (whose powers were much enfeebled from extreme mirth) were
not sufficient to haul Macallan upon terra firma. "Marshall, come here
directly, sir, and help us," cried Willy,--an order which the coxswain,
who was sufficiently recovered, immediately obeyed.
"Give me your hand, Mr Macallan," said the man, as the surgeon was
clinging to the seaweed; "it's no use holding on by them slippery
_hanimals_. Now, then, Mr Price--all together."
"Ay, and as soon as you please," called out the malicious boatkeeper of
the gig--"I seed a large shark but a minute ago."
"Quick--quick!" roared the surgeon, who already imagined his leg
encircled by the teeth of the ravenous animal.
By their united efforts, Macallan was at last safely landed--and, after
much sputtering, blowing, and puffing, was about to address the coxswain
in no very amicable manner, when the purser interrupted him.
"By the powers, doctor, but you took the right way to have a close
examination of all those fine things which you were giving us a
catalogue of; but now give us the remainder of your speech--you gave us
a practical illustration of diving."
"What sort of sensation was it, doctor?" said Price. "You recollect
Shakespeare--and `O, methinks what pain it was to drown'--Let me see--
something--"
"Pray don't tax your memory, Price; it's something like our country,--
past all further taxation."
"That's the severest thing you've said since we've sailed together.
You're out of humour, doctor. Well, you know what Shakespeare says:
`There never yet was found a philosopher'--something about the
toothache. I forget the words."
These attacks did not at all tend to restore the equanimity of the
doctor's temper, which, it must be acknowledged, had some excuse for
being disturbed by the events of the morning; but he proved himself a
wise man, for he made no further reply. The boat pulled in, and the
party returned on board; and when Macallan had divested himself of his
uncomfortable attire, and joined his messmates at the dinner-table, he
had recovered his usual serenity of disposition, and joined himself in
the laugh which had been created at his expense.