the public judgment about other matters, it is with
real satisfaction, and without claiming any merit but that of attention
to my duty, that I can conclude this account with an observation, which
facts enable me to make; that our having discovered the possibility of
preserving health amongst a numerous ship's company, for such a length
of time, in such varieties of climate, and amidst such continued
hardships and fatigues, will make this voyage remarkable in the opinion
of every benevolent person, when the disputes about a Southern Continent
shall have ceased to engage the attention, and to divide the judgment of
philosophers.[20]

[Footnote 20: We cannot better express the importance of the
preservative measures adopted during this voyage, and therefore the
value of the voyage itself, than by quoting a passage from Sir John
Pringle's discourse on assigning to Captain Cook the Royal Society's
Copleyan medal, a distinguished honour conferred on him, though absent
on his last expedition, shortly after having been elected a member of
that illustrious body. "I would enquire of the most conversant in the
study of bills of mortality, whether, in the most healthful climate, and
in the best condition of life, they have ever found so small a number of
deaths, within the same space of time? How great and agreeable then must
our surprise be, after perusing the histories of long navigations in
former days, when so many perished by marine diseases, to find the air
of the sea acquitted of all malignity, and, in fine, that a voyage round
the world may be undertaken with less danger, perhaps, to health, than a
common tour in Europe!"--"If Rome," he says in conclusion, "decreed the
civic crown to him who saved the life of a single citizen, what wreaths
are due to that man, who, having himself saved many, perpetuates in your
Transactions, (alluding to Captain Cook's paper on the subject), the
means by which Britain may now, on the most distant voyages, preserve
numbers of her intrepid sons, her _mariners_; who, braving every danger,
have so liberally contributed to the fame, to the opulence, and to the
maritime empire, of their country?"--An acknowledgement so judicious
finds a response in every breast that knows how to estimate the value of
human life and happiness, and will not fail to secure to the name of
Cook, the grateful applause of every succeeding generation.--E.]

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