The sudden departure of Paul was not forgotten,
however; for it continued the subject of wonder with all for weeks, though
little more was said on the subject.
The ship was soon abreast of the Hook, which Eve compared, to the
disadvantage of the celebrated American haven with the rocky promontories
and picturesque towers of the Mediterranean.
"This portion of our bay, at least, is not very admirable," she said,
"though there is a promise of something better above."
"Some New-York cockney, who has wandered from the crackling heat of his
Nott stove, has taken it into his poetical imagination to liken this bay
to that of Naples," said John Effingham; "and his fellow-citizens greedily
swallow the absurdity, although there is scarcely a single feature in
common to give the foolish opinion value."
"But the bay above _is_ beautiful!"
"Barely pretty: when one has seen it alone, for many years, and has
forgotten the features of other bays, it does not appear amiss; but _you_,
fresh from the bolder landscapes of Southern Europe, will be
disappointed."
Eve, an ardent admirer of nature, heard this with regret, for she had as
much confidence in the taste of her kinsman as in his love of truth. She
knew he was superior to the vulgar vanity of giving an undue merit to a
thing because he had a right of property in it; was a man of the world,
and knew what he uttered on all such matters; had not a particle of
provincial admiration or of provincial weakness MI his composition; and,
although as ready as another, and far more able than most, to defend his
country and her institutions from the rude assault of her revilers, that
he seldom made the capital mistake of attempting to defend a weak point.
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