New-York tribune., 1878-07-22
THE TRIP TO ENGLAND.
VOYAGE AND LANDING.


TIQUITY.
The coast line recedes and disappears, and night
comes down upon the ocean. Into what dangers will
the great ship plunge! Through what mysterious
waste OF waters will she make her viewless pathl
The black waves roll up around her. The strong
blast fills her sails and whistles through her creak-
ing eOrdage. Overhead the stars shine dmly amidst
the driving clouds. Mist and gloom close in the
dubious prospect; and strange sadness settles upon
the heart of the yOyager-who has left his home be-
hind, and who now seeks, for the first time the
land and the homes, and the manners of the
stranger. Thoughts and images of the past crowd
thick upon his remembranoe. The faces of alb
sent friends rise up before him-wbom, per-
haps, he is destined nevermOre to behold.
He sees their smiles he hears their voices;
he fancies them by familiar hearth-stones, in the
hight of the evening lamps. They are very far away
now; and already it seems months instead of hours,
since the parting moment. Vain, now, the pang of
regret for misunderstanding, uDkindness neglect;
for golden moments slighted, and gentle courtesies
left undOne. He is alone, upon the wild sea-all the
more alone, because surrounded with new faces Of
unknown companiOns.-and the best he can do Is to
seek his lonely pillow, and lie down with prayer
in his heart and his lips. Never before did he so
clearly know-never again will he so deeply feel
the uncertainty of human life, and the weakness
hrob of the vast SHIP and the noise Of the breaking
waves around her. and thinks Of the mighty deep be-
meath, and the broad and melancholy expanse that
stretches away on every side, he cannot miss the
iInpTession-grand, noble, and thriling.-Of human
courage skill and power. For this ship is the centre
of a spendidcOnAict. Nan and the elements are here
at war; and an makes conquest of the elements by
using them as weapons against themselves. Strong
and brilliant, the headlight streams over the boil
ing surges. Lanterns CLEAN in the tops. Dark
figures keep watch upOn the fOrecastle deck. The
officer of the night is at his post upon the bridge.
Let danger threaten hOwsoeyer it may, u cannot
come unawarcs; it cannot subdue, without
tremendous struggle, the brave minds and hardy
bodies that are here arTayed to meet it. With this
thought perhaps, the weary voyager sinks to sleep;
and this is his first night at sea.
There is no tediousness of solitude to him who has
within himself resources of thought and dream, the
pleasures and pains of memory, the bliss and the
torture Of imagination. 1t is best TO have few
acquaintanees-o none at a-on shipboard.
Human companonship, at some times land this is
one Of theml distracts by it's pettlness. The
yoyager should Weld himself to Nature, now, and
meet his own soul face to face. The routine OF
everyday life commonplace enough, equally upon
sea and land But the ocean is continual pageant,
filling and soothing the mind with unspeakable
peace. Never, in even the wandest words OF
poetry, was the grandeur Of the sea expressed.
It's vastness its freedom, its joy, and ITS beauty
overwhelm the mind. All things else seem
puny and momentary beside the life which
by this immense creation is unfolded aud inspired.
Sometimes it chimes in the sun, wilderness of
shimmerng silver. Sometimes its long waves are
black smooth, glittering and dangerous Some
times IL seems instinct with a superb wrath, and its
huge masses rise and clash together and break into
crests Of foam Sometimes il is gray and quiet, as
I il in a sullen sleep. Sometimes the white mist
broods upon it, and deepens the sense OF awful mys-
terry by which it Is forever enwrapped. AT night its
surRing biIlows are furTowed with long streaks of
phosphorescent fire or, it may be, the waves roll
gently under the soft light Of stars or all the waste
| is dim save where beneath the moon glorious
| pathway, broadening out to the far horizon, al
| lures and points 70 heaven. One Of the most ex-
| quiste delights Of the voyage, whether by day or
night is to lie upon the deck in some secluded spot
and look up at the tall tapering spars they sway
| with the motion of the snip. while over them the
white clouds float in ever-changing shapes or the
starry consultations drift in their eternal march.
No need now of books OF newspapers or
talk The eyes are fed by every object they be-
hold The great ship, with all her white wings
spresd careening like a tiny saIl-bOat, dips and
rises with sinuous, stately grace. The clank Of her
engnes-ft type Of steadfast industry and purpose
goes steadily on. The song of the sailors" Give
me some time to blow the man down"-rlses, in
CHEEKY melody, full of audacious, liRht-hearted
thoughtlessness, and strangely tnged with the ro-
nance of the sea. Far out toward the horizon
school of whales come sporting and spOuting along.
AT once out Of the distant bank of cloud and mist
n little vessel springs intn view, and with short,
Jerking moYement-tilting up and down like the
miniature bark upon an old Dutch clOck-danees
across the vista and vanshes INTO space Soon
tempest bursts upon the calm; and then, safe
bonsed from the fierce blast aud binding rain, tho
vovager exuIts over the storm battle Of winds and
waters, and the stalwart, undaunted strength with
which his ship bears down the furious floods and
stems the gale. By and by quiet hour is given,
when met together with all the companions OF bis
Journey he stands in the hushed cabin, and hears
the voice of prayer and the song Of praise and, in
the pauses gentle ripple of waves against the ship,
which now rocks lazy upon the quiet deep-and,
ever and anon, as she dips, lac discern through
her open ports the shining sea, aud the wheeling
and circling gulls that have como out to welcome
her to the shores Of the Old World.
The present writer. when first he saw the distant
and dim coast of Britain felt with of forlorn
loneliness. that he was stranger but when last
he saw that coast, he beheld 1t through mist Of
tears. aud knew that he had parted from many
cherished friends, from many Of the gentlest men
and women upon the earth, and from land hence
forth as dear to him as his England is eoun-
try which to see is to love- As you draw near to
her shores you are pleased at once, with the air of
careless finish and negligent grace which every
where oyerhangs the prospect. The grim. wind
beaten hills of Ireland, of course, have first been
passed-hlls crowned, here and there with dark,
fierce towers that look like strongholds of ancient
bandit chiefs and cleft by dim valleys that seem to
promise endless mystery and romance, hid IN Their
oIg IL urli Oua