Page:The life of Matthew Flinders.djvu/525

 which must have stirred his deepest interest, as for example the majestic comparison of Satan's flight:

"As when far off at sea a fleet descried      Hangs in the clouds, by equinoctial winds       Close sailing from Bengala, or the isles       Of Ternate or Tidore, whence merchants bring       Their spicy drugs; they on the trading flood,       Through the wide Ethiopian to the Cape,       Ply stemming nightly towards the pole: so seemed       Far off the flying Fiend."

To these characteristics may be added a passage illustrating the view of our navigator concerning the marriage state. It must be confessed that when he wrote it (June 30th, 1807) his experience was not extensive. He left England when he had been a husband only a few weeks; but the passage is interesting as conveying to his wife what his conception of the ideal relation was: "There is a medium between petticoat government and tyranny on the part of the husband, that with thee I think to be very attainable; and which I consider to be the summit of happiness in the marriage state. Thou wilt be to me not only a beloved wife, but my most dear and most intimate friend, as I hope to be to thee. If we find failings, we will look upon them with kindness and compassion, and in each other's merits we will take pride, and delight to dwell upon them; thus we will realise, as far as may be, the happiness of heaven upon the earth. I love not greatness nor desire great riches, being confident they do not contribute to happiness, but I desire to have enough for ourselves and something to assist our friends in need. I think, my love, this is also thy way of thinking."

In the few concluding months of her husband's life, Mrs. Flinders had him beside her under circumstances that were certainly far from easy. Their somewhat