Diana Fontaine Maury Corbin

“ Finally, the aggressive and fanatical spirit of the North came to such a pitch against us, that, just before the Southern people began to feel that patience and forbearance were both exhausted, a band of raiders, fitted out and equipped in the North, came down upon Virginia with sword and spear in hand. They commenced in the dead of night to murder our citizens, to arm the slaves, encouraging them to rise up, burn and riot, kill and slay through the land. ”

“ It would be difficult to say which have suffered, or are suffering, most—the whites from the ravages of war, or the blacks from the so-called kindness of their friends. Hoping to find for them sympathy in the heart of a generous-minded Sovereign, and an asylum in his Empire, here am I, the advocate of Southern immigration, and a humane system of African emancipation in the United States, as the quickest, most certain and best means of affording relief to their sufferings, of giving quiet to this country, stability to the throne, and peace to America. ”

“ I look forward to better days, and trust that time and experience—the great teachers of men under the guidance of our ever-merciful God—may save us from destruction, and restore to us the bright hopes and prospects of the past. The thought of abandoning the country, and all that must be left in it, is abhorrent to my feelings, and I prefer to struggle for its restoration, and share its fate, rather than to give up all as lost. I have a great admiration for Mexico: the salubrity of its climates, the fertility of its soil, and the magnificence of its scenery, possess for me great charms ”

“ He repeated the following prayer of eleven petitions, which he wished each of his children and grandchildren to use every day: "Lord Jesus, thou Son of God and Redeemer of the world, have mercy upon me! Pardon my offences, and teach me the error of my ways; give me a new heart and a right mind. Teach me and all mine to do Thy will, and in all things to keep Thy law. Teach me also to ask those things necessary for eternal life. Lord, pardon me for all my sins, for Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, for ever and ever. ”

“ I only regret that we are not able to send you something of importance on the subject of winds and currents; but we are scarcely yet organized. I hope, however, that we shall yet in time bring one stone at least to that edifice which you have so carefully reared, and that we should follow in the fruitful path which you have opened for us.
Receive, dear sir, the assurance of my entire devotedness, and of my respects.
Independently of the great gold medal which the Government of the Emperor has decreed you, as a mark of esteem for the eminent services which you have rendered to navigation. ”

“ In the general grief which pervades thousands of hearts in both hemispheres, we but give expression to the sentiment of all who knew him when we point to his noble, earnest, and unselfish life as a beautiful illustration of what the most ardent votary of science, animated by lofty Christian principle, may accomplish for humanity. But while Virginia admires the virtues and genius of her lamented son, there is no need that she should show them to the world. ”

“ As a student of physical geography, I regard earth, sea, air, and water as parts of a machine, pieces of mechanism, not made with hands, but to which, nevertheless, certain offices have been assigned in the terrestrial economy; and when, after patient research, I am led to the discovery of one of these offices, I feel, with the astronomer of old, 'as though I had thought one of God's thoughts,' and tremble. ”

“ Your family, I hear, intend to join you either at Halifax or in England. From this I conclude that they do not expect any result from your Mexican scheme—neither do I; and I hope by this time you are in the steamer on your way back to England. The people of Virginia have shown themselves to be as brave as any people ever have been; but courage is coupled, in patriotism, with perseverance in suffering until better times come for Virginia. All who love her for what she has been and what she has done, ought to love her enough to suffer with her and for her sake. ”

“ You recollect that, in the nullification times of South Carolina, Virginia stepped forward as mediator, and sent her commissioners to that State with the happiest results. But we are now in the midst of a crisis, more alarming to the peace and integrity of the Union than those memorable times. We have the people, in no less than seven of those States, assembling, or preparing to assemble, in their sovereign capacity to decide, in the most solemn manner known to them, whether they will remain in the Union or no. ”

“ In contemplating this shipwreck of country, kinsmen, and friends, I recognised among the débris of the wreck the very materials that are required to build, upon good and solid foundations, the Mexican Empire. Never, since the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, has such a class of people been found willing to expatriate themselves. From such a wreck Mexico may gather and transfer to her own borders the very intelligence, skill, and labour which made the South what she was in her palmy days—except her bondage. ”

“ He wrote or composed and dictated his greatest books in his parlour, surrounded by his family, and it seemed sometimes as if he possessed a dual consciousness, so quickly could he abstract or concentrate his mind upon his writing.
Like few great men, he was the greater the closer one got to him. Little children approached him confidingly, and never left him without bearing away some good lesson, so gently and simply taught as to be for ever planted in their young minds. His especial pleasure was to say a kind word and lend a helping hand to young men beginning the battle of life. ”

“ If I could, with just such a system of researches for the sea, sit down in my office and tell the navigator how he would find the wind, at any season of the year, in any part of the ocean through which he wished to sail, am I promising too much when I tell you, that by the plan I now propose the relation between the weather and the crops is as capable of scientific development as were the relations between sea-voyages and the winds twenty-five years ago? ”

“ The law requires every commander in the navy himself a good example of virtue and patriotism; to show in himself a good example of virtue and never was example more nobly set forth or beautifully followed. Captain Herndon, by those noble traits which have so endeared his memory to the hearts of his countrymen, had won the respect and admiration of the crew and passengers of that ship in such a degree as to acquire an influence over them that was marvellous in its effects. ”

“ I have been blamed by men of science, both in this country and in England, for quoting the Bible in confirmation of the doctrines of physical geography. The Bible, they say, was not written for scientific purposes, and is therefore of no authority in matters of science. I beg pardon! The Bible is authority for everything it touches. What would you think of the historian who should refuse to consult the historical records of the Bible, because the Bible was not written for the purposes of history? ”

“ I should rejoice, sir, to present you with a testimonial of my esteem; but, knowing the laws of your country, which do not permit you to accept anything from foreign Princes, I must confine myself to the expression of my sentiments. They are as exalted as your own merits; and, in my official capacity, I may say to you that you do honour to the profession to which you belong, as well as to the great nation which you have the honour to serve. ”

“ I appeal to my friends to help me to right. I have been in the service, as you know, upwards of 30 years; during all that time no complaint of duty neglected, or accusation for any cause, had ever reached the Navy Department against me. In short, whatever my shortcomings may have been as a sinful man, as an officer, accountable only to his Government, my conduct has been without reproach; and yet I have been brought into official disgrace—for what? I am as ignorant as you. The thing has been done by a Board of Navy Officers, sitting in secret, and acting mischievously. ”

“ Now for the last two years I have been urging the Government to make a treaty with Brazil, and to remind her in that treaty that we are her best customers for coffee; that nearly all she produces is consumed in the United States, where it is admitted duty free, and of course the consumption is largely increased thereby. I have urged that we should say to Brazil in that treaty, stop the African slave trade, or we will put a duty on that coffee, and thus lessen the demand for the fruits of slave labour, and so take away from you the interest in the Tariff Act. ”

“ It is now a great many years since you have been so kind as to enrich with your generous contributions the most important institutions—the Admiralty, the Academy, the School of Navigation, and Libraries—of my country. Your immense labours on currents and soundings, and the direction of winds at different seasons and latitudes, have exercised the most beneficial influence on the commerce of nations, by shortening in a surprising manner the passages by sea, and augmenting the security of navigation in all seas. ”

“ The world knows him already. His fame, like his usefulness, has been limited only by the confines of commerce and of civilisation, and history will perpetuate the recollection of his character and achievements. Virginia mourns his loss, and with the loved ones of his household grieves over the sad event which has ended his labours on earth, and rejoices in the assurance that he has been borne from scenes of suffering here to the blessedness and peace of a happier and brighter world. ”

“ There seems to be a vague idea floating in the public mind of the South that, somehow or other, cotton is to enable us to do, if not entirely, at least to a great degree, what other nations require armies and navies to accomplish for them. Because cotton-wool is essential to the industry of certain people, and because we are the chief growers of cotton-wool, therefore, say these political dreamers, we can so treat cotton, in a diplomatic way, as both to enforce obedience to our revenue laws at home and secure respect to our citizens abroad. ”

“ He is also a pattern of noble manners and good morals, because in the guidance of his own life he has always shown himself a brave and good man. When that cruel civil war in America was imminent, this man did not hesitate to leave home and friends, a place of high honour and an office singularly adapted to his genius—to throw away, in one word, all the goods and gifts of fortune—that he might defend and sustain the cause which seemed to him the just one. ”

“ Of all the departments in the domains of physical science, it is the most Christianising. Astronomy is grand and sublime; but astronomy overpowers with its infinities, overwhelms with its immensities. Physical geography charms with its wonders, and delights with the benignity of its economy. Astronomy ignores the existence of man; physical geography confesses that existence, and is based on the Biblical doctrine 'that the earth was made for man.' Upon no other theory can it be studied—upon no other theory can its phenomena be reconciled. ”