LETTERS

ESTHETIC, SOCIAL, AND MORAL.

(I.)

New York Bay-The steamship-Remarks on the character of the passengers-The merchant from Buenos Ayres-The lady from Missouri-Relation of woman to home-Lines to my wife.

AT SEA,-STEAMSHIP ARCTIC, SEPT. 25, 1852.

WE sailed from New York for Liverpool on Saturday, the 18th of September, in the steamship Arctic, Captain Luce commander. The day was bright and beautiful. As the majestic steamer sailed down the broad and noble Hudson, a magnificent scene presented itself. The wide expanse of water which opened to view, the hills and woods of Hoboken, the shipping and the spires of Jersey City, the Battery and Castle Garden, the mighty throng of masts in the East River, the splendid residences and churches of Brooklyn, the frowning fortifications, the boats passing and repassing amid the shipping that floated lazily in the river and in the New York Bay, formed a group of unsurpassed beauty and magnificence. In a few hours we crossed the Bay of New York, passed through the Narrows, and were moving swiftly over the broad ocean.

The introduction of the steamship, in itself and in its relations, constitutes an event of no small moment in the history of man. It is not only an indication of the progress of the arts and of the extension of commerce, but of the advancement of civilization. Those who first discovered the uses and applications of steam, and those who by their expanded thought and generous efforts have secured its highest practical results, have deserved and won the gratitude of men. Why should not the names of Collins and of Cunard, in their appropriate place and degree, be associated on the pages of history with the memorable name of Fulton?

Every thing which exists or takes place not only has its history but its teachings, but the lesson which it reveals will be differently read and interpreted by different minds. The steamship carries not merely merchandise, but MEN; a congregation, or if you prefer it, a cargo of human hearts, each of which has strong and often tender ties, reaching in every direction. Other persons will read different lessons on board the steamship, as it thus carries forth its precious load of immortal beings; but that which I read first and with very deep interest was the great lesson on social humanity. The great problems of SOCIALITY-its foundation, its infinitely varied ties, its mighty strength-were forcibly illustrated by the occurrences which presented themselves.

On the very afternoon of our departure, as I was walking alone on the deck, I encountered a gentleman, whose manners and intelligent countenance arrested my attention. We entered into conversa

tion. Asking me of what country I was, I told him I was an American; and in reply to the same. interrogation put to himself, he said he was a Dane. Pleased to find one who was ready to converse and to yield him his confidence, he sat down with me and told me his history. He left his native country at an early period, and for more than twenty years had been a merchant in Buenos Ayres. He gave me the history of Rosas, whose remarkable but bloody administration of that country is so well known. He knew him well, and expected to meet him in England. "But," said he, "I am going home; back to my native land, back to the enjoyment of early ties and early associations. My mother still lives. I have closed my commercial relations in Buenos Ayres. Having business in the United States, and wishing to see the people of a nation so remarkable, I came this way; but I have sent my wife and children to the place of our future residence, by another and more direct route. After a life of toil and exposure, I wish to spend the remainder of my days in peace, in the bosom of my family." He then took from his pocket a beautiful daguerreotype of his wife, and another of his three children, two beautiful daughters and his little boy, whom the artist had placed between them, and showed them to me; and we gazed upon them together. And I could not help saying to myself, as I saw the strong emotions working in his countenance, "How sacred are the relations of family! How strong and wonderful are those ties which God has implanted in our nature!"

But this was only one of many similar instances

which came under my notice. Strangers on board an Atlantic steamer, and standing in need of each other's aid and sympathy, soon get acquainted. A lady was pointed out to my notice, who had come from the State of Missouri. Her story, as I understood it, partly from her own lips, was this. Her husband was a military man, and some years since, in some of the revolutionary movements in Germany, held the rank of captain. Experiencing reverses, they had fled to America, and established themselves on a farm in Missouri. Even now it would be dangerous for her husband to return; and hence she was travelling with her three little children, unattended and unprotected by their father, on this long journey of four thousand miles, that she might see once more in her native land the faces of her parents and brothers.

The mighty principle of family love, stronger perhaps than any other in our nature, operates in a great variety of directions. Sometimes, in consequence of the variety of its objects, it becomes antagonistical to itself, and has the effect to separate very near friends, and to lead the objects of it into distant lands. On board of our vessel was an American lady, estimable for every virtue, who was leaving her native land and its many pleasant associations and joys, in order to take up a permanent residence in Scotland. I had known her in our own country; had been well acquainted with her parents while they lived, and her brothers and sisters, who are still living; and could not therefore be ignorant, how much she suffered, and how much she sacrificed in fulfilling her purpose. I

asked her one day why she did not take a different course, and permit her husband to go abroad, and transact his business without her. Her answer, disinterested as it was beautiful, was, that undoubtedly her husband would consent to such a course, but that she could not bear to see him spend his life in labor without the consolations of a home. In this generous answer I recognized the expression of a great truth, which seems to me to have a close connection with man's happiness. It is, that man without woman has not, and cannot have, a HOME. He may have a place, a locality, a country perhaps; but a home, the resting-place of hopes and desires, the locality of the heart's sacred affections, he has not and cannot have, without

woman.

And on such a subject could I not speak from my own experience? Could I be insensible, as I thus left my native land, to the ties which bound me to home and kindred? Without professing to be more or less susceptible of affections than others, I am obliged to say, that my heart involuntarily turned to a beloved object in a distant place. Faithful in its homage to its unchanging attachments, it thought of one who thought of me. I gave expression to my feelings; but how inadequate is language to embody and give substance to cherished remembrances and affections!

The wind has heaved the billow's breast;

The ship is rocking on the sea;

And time and tide, that never rest,

Have brought the destined hour to me.

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