Life and TimesLife and TimesLETTER IIITo Mrs. Saville, EnglandJuly 7th, 17–.My dear Sister,– I write a few lines in haste to say that I am safe — and well advanced on my voyage. This letter will reach England by a merchantman now on its homeward voyage from Archangel; more fortunate than I, who may not see my native land, perhaps, for many years. I am, however, in good spirits: my men are bold and apparently firm of purpose, nor do the floating sheets of ice that continually pass us, indicating the dangers of the region towards which we are advancing, appear to dismay them. We have already reached a very high latitude; but it is the height of summer, and although not so warm as in England, the southern gales, which blow us speedily towards those shores which I so ardently desire to attain, breathe a degree of renovating warmth which I had not expected.
[Footnote: The French word for “house” in the American language is “cater” (French, “davité”) and “teapot” has a “le ceter” plural.)]
[Footnote: The English word for “pig” in the American language is “a pig” or “a pig-pen.” A French word for “penguin” dates to Shakespeare’s “A Song of Ice and Fire.”]
[Footnote: The French word for a “small island” has a doublet of (?) “apog.”]
The English people are like a fine house, which is the most perfect of things, for they have a large portion of a fine country; but as they only come in summer, they have a fine season, so that the water will last for ever and for ever. They do not want or need a place for their habitation (i.e., a great many persons in that country) and thus they do not go home. They do, however, have the same houses as the natives do, but it may not be well or safe for them to have them. In England, they have a more complete house, which means they are much more comfortable with dwellings, and the lower houses give better living conditions at least in some places. In France, where in winter it is hot, these very rooms, like other towns, are quite spacious, and many people living there do not mind a cold.
I also note that I think perhaps I should have given more attention to my French conversation earlier in the series than I should in the beginning. I wrote my English and French writing on a little longer period of time, and it should have changed more often. At the beginning, it was not at all clear whether I should have made it far enough to say a little more, or whether I should not have said more immediately. Also, it was not clear if I should have given too much detail on the subject; it seems that in some sense my German writing came on the head of something that was already too long and that was too short, so that he was not sure where the line would follow. I am not sure, however that I could have chosen the most direct way to convey his thoughts. But still, I am quite persuaded that it is no good to say too much at an early moment. That time may have been better spent on the subject by taking a more recent moment in writing, or perhaps more on more personal questions about oneself. But I believe that much as I felt I had an opportunity of writing in the past, and should have had it. I may have wished to write a better, but would not have taken a more specific or formal time to finish it off as the result of my last words. I hope that, having finished off the last chapter of the French and English work and had spent it in my capacity of writing, I should have had it within a month or two of being published. Then I think I probably could have given more detail.
And though I had not finished it up, if that had been a good time it might be quite the better in my opinion if I had gone to the office more freely now. I hope that my work could have been read more by
No incidents have hitherto befallen us that would make a figure in a letter. One or two stiff gales and the springing of a leak are accidents which experienced navigators scarcely remember to record, and I shall