Impressions of England; or, Sketches of English Scenery and Society — John Shaqi
Impressions of England; or, Sketches of English Scenery and SocietyCoxe, A. Cleveland (Arthur Cleveland)
History
Impressions of England; or, Sketches of English Scenery and Society
Coxe, A. Cleveland (Arthur Cleveland)
England -- Description and travel
It reminded me of the massive promontory opposite Breakneck, as we
descend the Hudson, towards West Point: but the thought that it was
another land, and an old as well as an ancestral one, strangely mingled
with my comparative memories of home. There is something like dying and
waking to life again, in leaving one’s home, and committing one’s self
to such a symbol of Eternity as the Ocean, and then, after long days and
nights, beholding the reality of things unknown before, and entering
upon new scenes, with a sense of immense separation from one’s former
self. Oppressive thoughts of the final emigration from this world, and
descrying, at last, “the land that is very far off,” were forced upon
me. We doubled the dangerous rocks of Skerries, and began to coast along
the northern shore of Anglesea: and then, with my perspective-glass, I
amused myself contentedly, for hours, as I picked out the objects
presenting themselves on the land. Now a windmill, now a village, and
now—delightful sight—a Christian spire! It was night-fall when our
guns saluted the port of Liverpool, and our noble steamer came to anchor
in the Mersey.
Our voyage had been a very pleasant, and a highly interesting one.
Extraordinary icebergs had been visible for several successive days, and
had given us enough of excitement to relieve the tediousness of the
mid-passage. Our two Sundays had been sanctified by the solemnities of
worship; and the only mishap of our voyage had been such as to draw
forth much good feeling, and to leave a very deep impression. One of the
hands had been killed by accidental contact with the engine, and had
been committed to the deep with the Burial Service of the Church, in the
presence of all on board. A handsome purse was immediately made up for
the surviving mother of the deceased; and the painful event tended
greatly to the diffusion of a fraternal sympathy among the entire
company. We became as one family: and now, before retiring for the
night, I was requested, by those who remained on board, to offer a
solemn thanksgiving to Almighty God, for our safe deliverance from the
perils of the sea. This it gave me pleasure to do; and the words of the
Psalmist rose in our evening devotions, “Then are they glad because they
are at rest; and so he bringeth them unto the haven where they would
be.” The noble vessel in which we had accomplished our voyage now lies
many fathoms deep in the sea. It was the Arctic.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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