He Was Very
Cheerful Under His Infirmities, And His Way Of Thinking Was Nobly
Disinterested, And Seemed To Be Animated By True Heroism.
He took
leave of us with a degree of cordiality and emotion, which touched the
heart, and might have reconciled a misanthrope to the world." - G.F. -
Who does not see in this noble veteran the radical principles which
characterize a British tar?
There needs indeed, but a little of the
Roman or Grecian painting, to render him a fit stage-companion for
almost any of the ancient heroes; and who can tell, but that in some
distant aera, when the Otaheitan language shall be read and classical,
the drivelling pedants of the south will blazon his fame, as we now do
that of his elder fraternity? G.F. had his eye directed to such a kind
of comparison betwixt Greeks and Otaheitans, in a passage which the
reader will find in the next note, and which is a fair specimen of
that gentleman's lively and entertaining style. - E.
[2] "The view of the Otaheitan fleet frequently brought to our minds
an idea of the naval force which that nation employed in the first
ages of its existence, and induced us to compare them together. The
Greeks were doubtless better armed, having the use of metals; but it
seemed plain, from the writings of Homer, in spite of poetical
embellishment, that their mode of fighting was irregular, and their
arms simple, like those of Otaheite. The united efforts of Greece
against Troy, in remote antiquity, could not be much more considerable
than the armament of Otoo against the isle of Eimea; and the boasted
mille carinae were probably not more formidable than a fleet of large
canoes, which require from fifty to an hundred and twenty men, to
paddle them. The navigation of the Greeks, in those days, was not more
extensive than that which is practised by the Otaheitans at present,
being confined to short passages from island to island; and as the
stars at night directed the mariners through the Archipelago at that
time, so they still continue to guide others in the Pacific Ocean. The
Greeks were brave; but the numerous wounds of the Otaheitan chiefs,
are all proofs of their spirit and prowess. It seems to be certain,
that in their battles they rouse themselves into a kind of phrenzy,
and that their bravery is a violent fit of passion. From Homer's
battles, it is evident, that the heroism which produced the wonders he
records, was exactly of the same nature. Let us for a moment be
allowed to carry this comparison still farther. The heroes of Homer
are represented to us as men of supernatural size and force. The
Otaheitan chiefs, compared to the common people, are so much superior
in stature and elegance of form, that they look like a different race.
It requires a more than ordinary quantity of food to satisfy stomachs
of unusual dimensions. Accordingly we find, that the mighty men at the
siege of Troy, and the chiefs of Otaheite, are both famous for eating,
and it appears that pork was a diet no less admired by the Greeks,
than it is by the Otaheitans at this day.
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