History of the United Netherlands, 1598-99 | Page 5

can be no sublimer vocation for men of action than to extend the
boundary of human knowledge in the face of perils and obstacles more
formidable and more mysterious than those encountered by the knights
of old in the cause of the Lord's sepulchre or the holy grail--they have
thus embodied in a form which will ever awaken enthusiasm in
imaginative natures, the noble impulses of our latter civilization. To
win the favour of that noblest of mistresses, Science; to take
authoritative possession, in her name, of the whole domain of humanity;

to open new pathways to commerce; to elevate and enlarge the human
intellect, and to multiply indefinitely the sum of human enjoyments; to
bring the inhabitants of the earth into closer and more friendly
communication, so that, after some yet unimagined inventions and
discoveries, and after the lapse of many years, which in the sight of the
Omnipotent are but as one day, the human race may form one pacific
family, instead of being broken up, as are the most enlightened of
peoples now, into warring tribes of internecine savages, prating of the
advancement of civilization while coveting each other's possessions,
intriguing against each other's interests, and thoroughly in earnest when
cutting each other's throats; this is truly to be the pioneers of a possible
civilization, compared to which our present culture may seem but a
poor barbarism. If the triumphs and joys of the battle-field have been
esteemed among the noblest themes for poet, painter, or chronicler,
alike in the mists of antiquity and in the full glare of later days, surely a
still more encouraging spectacle for those who believe in the world's
progress is the exhibition of almost infinite valour, skill, and endurance
in the cause of science and humanity.
It was believed by the Dutch cosmographers that some ten thousand
miles of voyaging might be saved, could the passage to what was then
called the kingdoms of Cathay be effected by way of the north. It must
be remembered that there were no maps of the unknown regions lying
beyond the northern headlands of Sweden. Delineations of continents,
islands, straits, rivers, and seas, over which every modern schoolboy
pores, were not attempted even by the hand of fancy. It was perhaps
easier at the end of the sixteenth century than it is now, to admit the
possibility of a practical path to China and India across the pole; for
delusions as to climate and geographical configuration then prevalent
have long since been dispelled. While, therefore, at least as much
heroism was required then as now to launch into those unknown seas,
in hope to solve the dread mystery of the North; there was even a
firmer hope than can ever be cherished again of deriving an immediate
and tangible benefit from the enterprise. Plancius and Maalzoon, the
States-General and Prince Maurice, were convinced that the true road
to Cathay would be found by sailing north-east. Linschoten, the man
who knew India and the beaten paths to India better than any other
living Christian, was so firmly convinced of the truth of this theory,

that he volunteered to take the lead in the first expedition. Many were
the fantastic dreams in which even the wisest thinkers of the age
indulged as to the polar regions. Four straits or channels, pierced by a
magic hand, led, it was thought, from the interior of Muscovy towards
the arctic seas. According to some speculators, however, those seas
enclosed a polar continent where perpetual summer and unbroken
daylight reigned, and whose inhabitants, having obtained a high degree
of culture; lived in the practice of every virtue and in the enjoyment of
every blessing. Others peopled these mysterious regions with horrible
savages, having hoofs of horses and heads of dogs, and with no
clothing save their own long ears coiled closely around their limbs and
bodies; while it was deemed almost certain that a race of headless men,
with eyes in their breasts, were the most enlightened among those
distant tribes. Instead of constant sunshine, it was believed by such
theorists that the wretched inhabitants of that accursed zone were
immersed in almost incessant fogs or tempests, that the whole
population died every winter and were only recalled to temporary
existence by the advent of a tardy and evanescent spring. No doubt was
felt that the voyager in those latitudes would have to encounter
volcanoes of fire and mountains of ice, together with land and sea
monsters more ferocious than the eye of man had ever beheld; but it
was universally admitted that an opening, either by strait or sea, into
the desired Indian haven would reveal itself at last.
The instruments of navigation too were but rude and defective
compared to the beautiful machinery with which modern art and
science now