Concluding remarks.—But to enter more fully into these details would be foreign to the purpose of the present work, and several volumes would be required to give the reader a just idea of the sufferings which the inhabitants of many populous districts have undergone during the earthquakes of the last 150 years. A bare mention of the loss of life—as that fifty or a hundred thousand souls perished in one catastrophe—conveys to the reader no idea of the extent of misery inflicted: we must learn, from the narratives of eye-witnesses, the various forms in which death was encountered, the numbers who escaped with loss of limbs or serious bodily injuries, and the multitude who were suddenly reduced to penury and want. It has been often remarked, that the dread of earthquakes is strongest in the minds of those who have experienced them most frequently; whereas, in the case of almost every other danger, familiarity with peril renders men intrepid. The reason is obvious—scarcely any part of the mischief apprehended in this instance is imaginary; the first shock is often the most destructive; and, as it may occur in the dead of the night, or if by day, without giving the least warning of its approach, no forethought can guard against it; and when the convulsion has begun, no skill, or courage, or presence of mind, can point out the path of safety. During the intervals, of uncertain duration, between the more fatal shocks, slight tremors of the soil are not unfrequent; and as these sometimes precede more violent convulsions, they become a source of anxiety and alarm. The terror arising from this cause alone is of itself no inconsiderable evil.
Although sentiments of pure religion are frequently awakened by these awful visitations, yet we more commonly find that an habitual state of fear, a sense of helplessness, and a belief in the futility of all human exertions, prepare the minds of the vulgar for the influence of a demoralizing superstition.
Where earthquakes are frequent, there can never be perfect security of property under the best government; industry cannot be assured of reaping the fruits of its labor; and the most daring acts of outrage may occasionally be perpetrated with impunity, when the arm of the law is paralyzed by the general consternation. It is hardly necessary to add, that the progress of civilization and national wealth must be retarded by convulsions which level cities to the ground, destroy harbors, render roads impassable, and cause the most cultivated valley-plains to be covered with lakes, or the ruins of adjoining hills.
Those geologists who imagine that, at remote periods ere man became a sojourner on earth, the volcanic agency was more energetic than now, should be careful to found their opinion on strict geological evidence, and not permit themselves to be biased, as they have often been, by a notion, that the disturbing force would probably be mitigated for the sake of man.
I shall endeavor to point out in the sequel, that the general tendency of subterranean movements, when their effects are considered for a sufficient lapse of ages, is eminently beneficial, and that they constitute an essential part of that mechanism by which the integrity of the habitable surface is preserved, and the very existence and perpetuation of dry land secured. Why the working of this same machinery should be attended with so much evil, is a mystery far beyond the reach of our philosophy, and must probably remain so until we are permitted to investigate, not our planet alone and its inhabitants, but other parts of the moral and material universe with which they may be connected. Could our survey embrace other worlds, and the events, not of a few centuries only, but of periods as indefinite as those with which geology renders us familiar, some apparent contradictions might be reconciled, and some difficulties would doubtless be cleared up. But even then, as our capacities are finite, while the scheme of the universe may be infinite, both in time and space, it is presumptuous to suppose that all sources of doubt and perplexity would ever be removed. On the contrary, they might, perhaps, go on augmenting in number, although our confidence in the wisdom of the plan of Nature should increase at the same time; for it has been justly said, that the greater the circle of light, the greater the boundary of darkness by which it is surrounded.[674]
CHAPTER XXIX.
EARTHQUAKES—continued.
Earthquake of Java, 1772—Truncation of a lofty cone—St. Domingo, 1770—Lisbon, 1755—Great area over which the shocks extended—Retreat of the sea—Proposed explanations—Conception Bay, 1750—Permanent elevation—Peru, 1746—Java, 1699—Rivers obstructed by landslips—Subsidence in Sicily, 1693—Moluccas, 1693—Jamaica, 1692—Large tracts engulfed—Portion of Port Royal sunk—Amount of change in the last 150 years—Elevation and subsidence of land in Bay of Baiæ—Evidence of the same afforded by the Temple of Serapis.
In the preceding chapters we have considered a small part only of those earthquakes which have occurred during the last seventy years, of which accurate and authentic descriptions happen to have been recorded. In examining those of earlier date, we find their number so great that allusion can be made to a few only respecting which information of peculiar geological interest has been obtained.