Memorials of the Sea Part 13

But not to antic.i.p.ate further another opinion, which may serve for a conclusion of these records, I proceed again to quote from Mr. Drew, who, after speaking, in summary, of his life as a seaman and a whale-fisher, noticing very approvingly his improvements in the whale-fishery, and the benefits conferred by his experience and observations on navigation and commerce, proceeds (writing, it will be observed, whilst the subject of his memoir was yet living,) in these commendatory terms:-

"In the career of this man we behold the progress of natural genius and superior talents, surmounting every impediment, and conducting him from a team of oxen and the plough to wealth and reputation, and to the highest honours that the whale-fishery can bestow.

"To this it is pleasing to add, that, instead of imitating the conduct of too many engaged in his profession, ascribing success to _luck_ or _fortune_,-Mr. Scoresby, throughout the whole of his dangerous course, acknowledges the overruling Providence of G.o.d, and does not forget, though an inhabitant of time, that he has an interest in eternity.

"Of benevolent inst.i.tutions he is the patron and friend, and the poor of Whitby have experienced his bounty. The diffusion of the truths of Revelation throughout the world has his best wishes and his [most liberal]

support. He views Christianity, not merely as a system of ethics, but as possessing a soul-transforming power, which renovates the heart and regulates the life, and as that alone which can make men wise unto salvation."

Reader! If _very_ much has been said, in the foregoing pages, in respect of superiority of talent, and energy and originality of mind in the individual whose acts and adventures it has been my object to describe, the statements and facts adduced will, I trust, be found to justify the terms made use of; but if commendations beyond what some might be disposed to yield, have, in any case, been bestowed, or if admiration extending to partiality may have appeared to characterise any of my comments, I would confidently ground my claim on your indulgence in consideration of the circ.u.mstance, that the revered subject of these records was

MY FATHER!

Printed by M. MASON, Ivy Lane, Paternoster Row.

FOOTNOTES:

[O] The inexperienced mechanic is liable to be puzzled with the action of the _wedge_, because of its being estimated, in some modes of its application, in the _double_ proportion of its length to that of once its thickness, giving to it, _apparently_, twice the force of the other mechanical powers. It may not be unfitting, for the sake of our young readers, to explain the little difficulty. The wedge when acting against one fixed and immoveable body for the removal of another body, has then, only, the like force as the lever,-a force proportionate to the extent of s.p.a.ce pa.s.sed over, in driving, by the length, with respect to the increase in the thickness, of the wedge; but when acting for the separation of two bodies, both moveable, both sides then become effective, and it necessarily exerts double that power. And so does the lever. For if the lever be employed in like manner, the action in separating two moveable bodies will be just double that of its ordinary action where the fulcrum is absolutely fixed. This, indeed, is obviously the same with all the mechanical powers.

Action and reaction being equal, the power exerted in raising or moving one heavy body must be exerted reversely against the earth, or other fixed body serving as a fulcrum to the lever, or for the attachment of one extremity of a tackle or series of pullies, or for the securing of the capstan spindle. Let the attachments of the machine and its object, however, be both afloat, and then any of the mechanical powers, like that of the wedge, will have an efficiency of double that of its ordinary operation where one part is a fixture.

[P] This important work not being yet brought to a completion,-the ultimate and abiding influence of the alterations cannot be accurately predicted. The entrance of the harbour, by the new extension of the east pier, having been narrowed, perhaps too considerably, a temptation is offered to cast the terminal length, or head, in a bell-mouthed fas.h.i.+on more easterly. If such an arrangement were made (as my intelligent connection, Mr. Jackson of Whitby, suggests) it _might_ produce a very mischievous effect by giving a broad fan-tail exit to the escaping ebb-tide waters, and so diminis.h.i.+ng their force at the very point where concentration and compactness of efflux are of the greatest importance in scouring the entrance and keeping it clear of sandy deposits.