Page:The Wreck of a World - Grove - 1890.djvu/110

94 where we hoped to begin afresh, and reconstruct the world anew. So landed the remnant left by the Trojan war, "relliquiœreliquiæ [sic] Danaum," on the shore of Latium. So landed the relics of Roman civilization on the mud banks of the Lido. But what exiles yet, since Noah and his children, had ever borne with them the whole hopes of the human race, scarcely saved from the wreck of a ruined universe?

The scene was very lovely. All the wealth of tropical vegetation seemed to be concentrated in that small bay, where we rode in perfect security as though in some inland sea. And as we thanked Providence for bringing us safely through all dangers I think there rose in each man's heart some consciousness of the duty that lay upon him, and a determination to do his best to make the new world that was to be purer, truer, honester, happier, less selfish, less greedy, than the old world which we had left behind.

We passed the night on board, and on the morrow we landed. And then ensued a busy scene, each family being eagerly occupied in framing temporary shelters in which to pass a few weeks until more permanent structures could be erected. It was delightful