by Diane Fontaine Maury-Corbin

“ If you be at first a little skeptical as to this order and arrangement, taking the harmonies of nature for discord, you will soon feel satisfied that the machinery of the universe — that mechanism which gives nature her powers to act — is, in all its parts, the expression of one thought, as much so as the works of a watch are of one design ”

“ In our ignorance our horizon is very contracted: mists, clouds, and darkness hang upon it, and self fills almost the entire view around, above, and below to the utmost verge. But as we study the laws of nature, and begin to understand about our own ignorance, we find light breaking through, the horizon expanding, and self getting smaller and smaller. ”

“ The machinery by which the forces of the universe are regulated and controlled is exquisite; and if it be instructive to study the mechanism of a watch, or profitable to understand the principles of the steam engine, the contrivances of man’s puny intellect, how much more profitable and instructive must it be to look out upon the broad face of nature and study that machinery which was planned and arranged in the perfection of wisdom. ”

“ And so it is in the moral world: the progress of man must be upwards and onward, or downward and backward. His mind cannot stand still. There is no such tiring as a stationary condition for the human understanding. To stand still is death; to go backwards is worse.
“With the advantages of the good training which you have received here, you cannot go amiss for subjects of study and improvement. The rock at your feet, the plant in every walk you tread, the air that surrounds you, the insect that flits across your path, the stars that look down upon you, all are suggestive of knowledge. ”

“ Botanists tell us of some: they say that certain plants have not the power of scattering their pollen — it is glutinous, and will not fly with the wind — but as the insects come to suck the flower it adheres to them, they, lighting on other blossoms, deposit it them in the right place for germination; nay, students of these things go so far as to say that the fig crop of Smyrna, which alone supports thousands of human beings, could not be brought forth if a certain little insect were to fail, regularly and at the right time, to perform certain offices for this plant. ”

“ Movement, progress, is a law of the physical world; here rest and decay are correlative terms. The stars cannot stand still and keep their places; a planet by going back would be hurled into destruction, and even the plant of the earth that ceases to grow straightway withers and dies. ”

“ The assistants, wearied with watching, have retired to rest, and there is not a sound to be heard in the building save the dead beat escapement of the clock, telling the footsteps of time in his ceaseless round. ”

“ When the Spirit of GOD first moved on the face of the waters, the physical forces that produce the works of nature were brought into play. The wonders, the harmonies, and the beauties of creation are but the display of these forces. As exhibited in the aspects of nature, they are never ceasingly instructive. ”

“ The forces displayed in the blade of grass, in the wing of the bird, and in the flaming path of the comet as it whirls around the sun, are all adjusted with equal nicety and care. Chance has nothing to do with the works of nature ”

“ All that energy, professional skill, and seamanship could do to weather the storm and save the ship had been done. The tempest was still raging, resources were exhausted, the working parties were ragged out, and Captain William Lewis Herndon foresaw that his ship must go down.
Still there was some cause for hope: he might save life, even if he lost ship, mails, and treasure. He was in a frequented area of the ocean, and a passing vessel might come to the rescue of crew and passengers if they could manage to keep the ship afloat till the gale abated. ”

“ She ran down to the sinking ship, and though very much crippled himself by the gale, promised to lay by. She passed under the steamer’s stern, spoke, rounded to, and kept her word.
The Central America’s boats were ordered to be lowered — the Marine had none that could live in such a sea.
Now came another trying time: the boat scenes of the steamer Arctic had made a deep impression upon Captain Herndon’s mind; they now crowded into remembrance. Who of his crew should be selected to man the boats? Would they desert him when they got off from the ship in the boats? ”

“ You have finished nothing here; you have only been clearing away rubbish and preparing the foundations; and notwithstanding that you have been under the eyes of the best masters, and have laid your foundations of the best materials and in the most scholarly manner, yet, like the foundations for any other superstructure, unless built upon, they will soon grow weak and be frittered away. ”

“ Have they not their appointed offices to perform in the economy of the universe? And has the insect any more ability to resist the power of instinct than a good seed in good ground has to resist the forces of germination? ”

“ The instrument is set, and as the moment draws near, the stillness becomes more and more impressive. At last I look — IT IS GLORIOUS ! A pure bright star is marching through the field to the music of the spheres ”

“ During the lowering of the boats and the embarkation of the women and children, there was as much discipline preserved among the crew of that ship, and as much order observed among her passengers, as was ever witnessed on board the best regulated man of war. ”

“ HEROIC DEATH OF WILLIAM LEWIS HERNDON.
In consequence of Matthew Fontaine Maury’s Inca Papers, and because of Maury’s urgency on the subject, the Navy Department organized an exploring expedition for the Amazon and its tributaries, and placed it under the command of Lieut. William Lewis Herndon, U.S.N., who on his return from South American wrote a most instructive and valuable book, entitled, “Exploration of the Valley of the The Amazon”. ”

“ The impression is very common, that when a young man leaves college he has finished his education; but do not, when you return home, crowned with the honours of these schools though you be, give in to this notion even for a moment ”

“ Captain Herndon, USN, chose to go down into the depths of the sea with his ship, the SS Central America.
Crew and passengers worked manfully, pumping and baling all Friday afternoon and night, and when day dawned upon them, the violence of the storm was still increasing. ”