O, where is that mysterious bourne, How far may we go on in sin? How long will God forbear? Where does hope end, and where begin An answer from the skies is sent; It It so happened, as if to give demonstration of these truths, that just at the time when Peter was repeating these lines they passed a dangerous place in the ocean called Dead Man's Key, which place, though it lay so far onwards towards the confines of the Celestial Country, was nevertheless noted for some very terrible shipwrecks. was not far from a group of Islands, on one of which a high mountain lifted itself into the skies, where, at sunset, it shone like a new lighted star, and in the morning caught the earliest rays of the sun, and blazed in them like a dome or pinnacle of the Celestial City. It was said that some Pilgrims of old time had climbed that mountain, and gained from the top a very clear view into the Celestial Country, by means of a telescope which they took with them. But of late, nothing of this kind had been accomplished; and the Islands themselves had very much degenerated from their former character, for they were once in much communion with the Celestial Country, whereas at present there was little or no traffic that way. There was a famous Harbour there, formerly called Humility, having a most safe and delightful anchorage; but the great prosperity of the people in the City on its borders, vastly increasing the price of land, they had encroached upon the harbour very injuriously by made land. A great quantity of drainage from the city had also collected in it, together with banks of mud brought down into it by a river from the interior, and neglected by the people till great shoals were formed; so that in truth the harbour was nearly as much changed as its name, which now was called, after the character of the people, Worldly-Conformity. Peter and John, not being aware of this great change, and marking their course by the King's Chart, steered for this harbour as a pleasant and safe resting and watering place for a season. But they were yet a good way off from it, and had seen nothing of the Islands but the peak of the mountain aforesaid. The wind was somewhat variable, and the progress of the ship, though pleasant, was not so swift as it had been. Nevertheless, the sailing there, in such fine weather, was so delightful, that one might almost be tempted to wish it would never cease. It brought to mind the description they had somewhere seen of a young sailor passing that voyage under like circumstances. The night, he said, was magnificent, and he remained on deck a long time, enjoying its beauties, and gazing on the high land of the Island, which reared itself far above the ocean to the South. The wind was very light, the sea gently ruffled, and their good barque glided slowly along beneath the silver rays of a beautiful moon, illumining their path over the mighty waters, and bringing out in solemn, majestic relief, against the horizon, the elevated Island they were passing. There was something, he said, in the perfect stillness of the night, and in the whole scene around us, that seemed to command our inmost souls to a solemn holy silence before the Almighty Architect of the Universe; the Being whose works by night so emphatically declare his glory, who himself seemed presently saying, Be still, and know that I am God.1 1 Psalm xlvi, 10. CHAPTER XII THE HARBOUR OF WORLDLY CONFORMITY, AND WHAT WHEN they ran into the Harbour and dropped anchor, which they did without any mishap, they were surprised at the gay and brilliant look of every thing about them. The very vessels at the docks looked all as new as if they had been just launched, and had never seen the open ocean; and to say the truth, of a long time most of them had not, but had remained idle till the dry rot had got into all their timbers. By dint of a curious paint of great strength and colour, all symptoms of rottenness were concealed, and the hulks held together; and the inhabitants of the place had an agreement among themselves to sustain each other in this cheat, all things among them being in like manner gilded and superficial. As for the King's own ship, it may well be supposed that by this time she looked black and weather-beaten. There was, indeed, a curious contrast between her weary, wayworn look, and old-fashioned rig, and the showy vessels in the harbour. The truth was, there was another extensive port on the other side of the Island, with commercial relations running to all parts of the globe, and a double railroad direct from that to this city, so that this harbour, being on the side towards the Celestial Country, was of late years almost disused, except for State occasions, and it was a thing extremely rare to have an arrival in that direction. The men of the Harbour proposed to Peter and John to have their own ship newly coppered and painted, but they refused, saying that they had no time for any changes which were not needful, and that they were only anxious to be forwarded on their voyage. When they went on shore, they left the Ship in charge of Contrition and Sincere, with orders to be employed as speedily as possible in laying in what supplies were necessary. When their gig touched the landing, it was proposed to them at once that they should be rigged out in a new dress, and meet the Mayor of the City, who would be glad to do honour to the King's flag; but they felt bewildered by the strange, suspicious appearance of things around them, and were not willing to spend the time requisite for this ceremony, besides that they found it was to be attended with a feast, involving an expense of money as well as time, in which they would not feel justified. They determined to remain no longer than they could help, for the place seemed not at all like the last Harbour belonging to the King, in which they had rested. But it came to pass, as they went up and down the streets, that their spirit was stirred within them as they beheld the manners of the people, and especially some great enormities in the sale of two notable articles in the commerce of the place, Rum and Opium. They were so roused, that they could not help speaking boldly against these things, and in a short time they had a great crowd collected together to hear them. They said they were astonished at the sale of these things in any place that had been under the King's dominion. They affirmed that the traffic would bring upon them utter misery; that though it might seem profitable for a time, yet it was really neither more nor less than the slow murder of men's souls and bodies. They said it was clean contrary to the laws of the King, and that the people might almost as well set up for a liberty to deal in hell-fire, as a freedom to pursue such sinful and ruinous practices. There was evidently a great awakening of conscience under these speeches, for their hearts were full and earnest, and the multitude could not resist the wisdom and spirit 1 with which they spake. Nevertheless some of the principal dealers, being exceedingly enraged at having their profitable business interfered with, took unto themselves certain lewd fellows of the baser sort,2 and having got a marshal with them (for the law of the place favoured them), they made an address to the people, among whom were many workmen of like occupation with themselves, to whom they said, Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth,3 and furthermore the whole riches of our Island are greatly increased by it and dependent upon it, so that the words of these newcomers are not only seditious and treasonable, as being to the reproach of the law of the land, which is supreme, but also greatly to our detriment, and contrary to every man's own personal interests. Thus they worked upon the passions of the people, till the whole town was filled with confusion; and while the baser fellows threw dirt into the air, and some cried one thing, and some another, they seized upon Peter and John, and put them in Bocardo (which was the name of their prison) as disturbers of the peace, and also as guilty of treason for speaking against the laws of the Island. The next day they had them before the high Court of the place, with a jury summoned, and deputies to implead against them; and there stood up to convict them a great man in those parts, whose opinion was wonderfully regarded on all matters touching commerce and the laws of the realm. The great merchants of the town of Worldly Conformity, and also of the grand port on the other side of the Island, made up a large sum for this man, that he might plead their cause valiantly, and put his whole heart in it; and indeed it seemed to delight him, for he went at it with great speech, alacrity, and energy. He said that the doctrines of these men were disorganizing and treasonable, that they were opposing a law of the land, which law was supreme, and being once passed, must and should be obeyed, and being for the high interest and union of both sides of the Island, it should not be spoken against, nor was such a thing to be once thought of as that 3 Acts, xix, 25. 1 1 Acts, vi, 10. 2 Acts, xvii, 5. |