Confined in towns and cities, enclosed in walls of stone and brick, chained
to the wheel of custom, the soul of man becomes contracted and dwarfed. All
around are monuments of human skill, and every thing as little as the human
mind. But when he steps beyond the crowds of life and embarks on the
bosom of the ocean, he begins to see Divinity in its most awful forms. He
realizes the insignificance of the creature and the majesty of the almighty
Maker.
So felt Mrs. Newell, as she stood upon the deck of her vessel and gazed
upon the wonders of the deep. Each wave, as it dashed against the sides of
the brig or rolled across her decks, seemed impressed by the hand of God;
and in these scenes she realized, more than ever before, the grandeur and
glory of Jehovah. She saw him mirrored out in the starry canopy above her
head, and in the liquid mountains which lifted up their forms, and anon
sunk into peaceful rest beneath her feet.
On the 17th of June the Caravan reached Calcutta and anchored in the
harbor. During the passage along the river the vessel was hailed by
boatloads of naked natives, who brought on board cocoa nuts, bananas, and
dates in great profusion; while others were seen on the banks reposing in
the sun, or bathing in the waters of the Ganges, or diving beneath the
surface for the shellfish which are found there; while beyond, the country
was seen in all the beauty of verdure and delight, as ever and anon the
Hindoo cottage and the white pagoda reared themselves amid the trees which
grew upon the shoreside.
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