Masterman Ready; Or, The Wreck of the Pacific

by Frederick Marryat

  CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE.

  As Ready had predicted, the weather set in fine after the violent stormof which we have made mention. For a fortnight, with littleintermission, it continued fine, and during that time, Ready, MrSeagrave, and William worked from daylight till dusk at the storehouse,which they were so anxious to complete, and were so tired when theirwork was over, that even William did not ask Ready to go on with hishistory. At last the storehouse was complete, thatched and wattled inon three sides, leaving one open for ventilation; the lower part, whichhad been arranged for the folding of the stock at night and during therainy season, was also wattled in with cocoa-nut boughs on three sides,and made a very comfortable retreat for the animals. The winding pathto the storehouse was also cut through the cocoa-nut grove, but thestumps were not removed, as they could not spare the time. All thestores that they had brought round were put into the storehouse, andthey were now ready to take up some other job. It was, however, agreedthat, on the day after the building was finished, they should all have aday's holiday, which they certainly did require. William caught somefish, a turtle was speared and wheeled up to the house; and they notonly had a holiday, but a feast. Mr Seagrave and William had beenwalking on the beach with Mrs Seagrave and the children, while Readywas assisting Juno in cutting up the turtle; they had shown MrsSeagrave the storehouse, and the goats with the four kids had been ledthere, as there was no longer any occasion for them to remain in thehouse. The weather was beautiful, and they agreed to go and examine thegarden. They found that the seeds had not yet commenced sprouting,notwithstanding the heavy rains.

  "I should have thought that so much rain would have made them come up,"said Mrs Seagrave.

  "No, my dear," replied Mr Seagrave; "they require more of the sun thanthey will have till the rainy season is nearly over; a few days likethis, and they will soon be above-ground."

  "Let us sit down on this knoll, it is quite dry," said Mrs Seagrave."I little thought," continued she, "that I could have been so happy in adesert island. I thought I should feel the loss of books very severely,but I really do not think that I could have found time to read."

  "Employment is a source of happiness, especially when you are usefullyemployed. An industrious person is always a happy person, provided heis not obliged to work too hard; and even where you have cause forunhappiness, nothing makes you forget it so soon as occupation."

  "But, mamma, we shall not always have so much to do as we have now,"said William.

  "Of course not," replied Mr Seagrave; "and then we shall find our booksa great source of enjoyment. I am anxious to go to the other side ofthe island, and see what have been spared to us, and whether they havebeen much damaged; but that cannot be until after the rains are over,and we can use the boat again.

  "Look at this minute insect which is crawling on my finger," said MrSeagrave, turning to William: "what a number of legs it has!"

  "Yes, I have seen something like it in old books. How fast it runs withits little legs; thinner than hairs--how wonderful!"

  "Yes, William," replied Mr Seagrave, "we have only to examine into anyportion, however small, of creation, and we are immediately filled withwonder. There is nothing which points out to us the immensity and theomniscience of the Almighty more than the careful provision which hasbeen made by Him for the smallest and most insignificant of createdbeings. This little animal is perhaps one of many millions, who havetheir term of existence, and their enjoyment, as well as we have. Whatis it?--an insect of the minutest kind, a nothing in creation; yet hasthe same care been bestowed upon its formation: these little legs,hardly visible, have their muscles and their sinews; and every otherportion of its body is as complete, as fearfully and wonderfullyfashioned, as our own. Such is his will; and what insects we ought tofeel ourselves, when compared to the God of power and of love!"

  "Let me also point out to you, William," continued Mr Seagrave, "theinfinity of his creative power, displayed in endless variety. Amongstthe millions of men that have been born, and died, if ever yet werethere seen two faces or two bodies exactly alike; nay, if you couldexamine the leaves upon the trees, although there may be millions uponmillions in a forest, you could not discover two leaves of precisely thesame form and make."

  "I have often tried in vain," replied William; "yet some animals are somuch alike, that I cannot perceive any difference between them--sheep,for instance."

  "Very true; you cannot tell the difference, because you have notexamined them; but a shepherd, if he has seven hundred sheep under hiscare, will know every one of them from the others; which proves thatthere must be a great difference between them, although not perceptibleto the casual observer; and the same, no doubt, is the case with allother classes of animals."

  "Yes, William," observed Ready; "I have often wondered over the thingsthat I have seen, and I have even in my ignorance felt what your papahas now told you; and it has brought into my mind the words of Job:`When I consider, I am afraid of him.'"

  "Papa," said William, after a pause in the conversation, "you havereferred to the variety--the wonderful variety--shown in the works ofthe Deity. Tell me some other prominent feature in creation."

  "One of the most remarkable, William, is order."

  "Point out to me, papa, where and in what that quality is mostobservable."

  "Everywhere and in everything, my dear boy; whether we cast our eyes upto the heavens above us, or penetrate into the bowels of the earth, theprinciple of order is everywhere--everything is governed by fixed laws,which cannot be disobeyed: we have order in the seasons, in the tides,in the movement of the heavenly bodies, in the instinct of animals, inthe duration of life assigned to each; from the elephant who lives morethan a century, to the ephemeral fly, whose whole existence is limitedto an hour.

  "Inanimate nature is subject to the same unvarying laws. Metals, androcks, and earths, and all the mineral kingdom follow one law in theircrystallisation, never varying from the form assigned to them; each atomdepositing itself in the allotted place, until that form is complete: wehave order in production, order in decay; but all is simple to him bywhom the planets were thrown out into space, and were commanded to rollin their eternal orbits."

  "Yes; the stars in the heavens are beautiful," said William, "but theyare not placed there in order."

  "The fixed stars do not appear to us to be in order--that is, they donot stud the heavens at equal distances from each other as we view them;but you must recollect that they are at very different distances fromthis earth, spreading over all infinity of space; and we have reason tosuppose that this our earth is but a mere unit in the multitude ofcreated worlds, only one single portion of an infinite whole. As thestars now appear to us, they are useful to the mariner, enabling him tocross the trackless seas; and to the astronomer, who calculates thetimes and seasons."

  "What do you mean, papa, by saying that this world of ours is supposedto be but one of a multitude of created worlds?"

  "Our little knowledge is bounded to this our own earth, which we haveascertained very satisfactorily to be but one of several planetsrevolving round our own sun. I say our own sun, because we have everyreason to suppose that each of those fixed stars, and myriads now notvisible to the naked eye, are all suns, bright and glorious as our own,and of course throwing light and heat upon unseen planets revolvinground them. Does not this give you some idea of the vastness, thepower, and the immensity of God?"

  "One almost loses one's self in the imagination," said Mrs Seagrave.

  "Yes," replied Mr Seagrave; "and it has been surmised by some, who havefelt in their hearts the magnificence of the Great Architect, that theremust be some point of view in space where all those glorious suns, whichseem to us confused in the heavens above us, will appear allsymmetrically arranged, will there be viewed in regular order, whirlinground in one stupendous and perfect system of beauty and design; andwhere can that be, if it is not in that heaven which we hope to gain?"

  There was a silence for a
few moments, when William said, "They say thatthere are people who are atheists, papa. How can they be so if theyonly look around them? I am sure a mere examination of the works of Godought to make them good Christians."

  "No, my child," replied Mr Seagrave; "there you are in error. Few denythe existence of a Deity, and an examination of his works may make themgood and devout men, but not Christians. There are good men to be foundunder every denomination, whether they be Jews, Mahomedans, or Pagans;but they are not Christians."

  "Very true, papa."

  "Faith in things seen, if I may use the term, my dear child, may inducemen to acknowledge the power and goodness of the Almighty, but it willnot make them wise to salvation; for that end, it is necessary, as theApostle saith, to have faith in things not seen."