tiful allegory of their marriage, in Spenser's Faerie Queene (book 4. canto xi.), where that amiable poet has shown all the delicacy of his soft and beautiful descriptions, together with the fertility of his abundant and appropriate enumerations.

The naval station of Sheerness brought to mind the vicissitudes of political events-the time, when the now degraded and despicable flag of Holland was displayed here in triumph; and the still more ominous period, when the British navy, the conquerors of the world, became, for a while, the terror of their own country. These examples show, that the health and preservation of a country depend on no one of its energies, however mighty: before it can fall, the whole head must be sick, and the whole heart faint; and this dissolution of the body politic may be engendered in peace, in plenty, in power; for its antidote is not any of these, but a general union of the natural affections, a family bond between all the children of the state.

It was not until nine in the evening, that we had got so far into the open sea, as to lose sight of land. At this time, we passed through a large fleet, chiefly West Indiamen; and soon after, the roughness of the waves drove us below deck. The sickness

which now seized me, and which affected all the other passengers, in a greater or less degree, left me very little during the remainder of the voyage. Some writers seem to attribute to the mind a greater power over this disease, than I believe it in general possesses. Neither an attention to the manoeuvres of the sailors, nor fixing my eyes a long time on a point in the mast, nor endeavours to read or converse attentively, were of any avail with me; and I believe that there are some constitutions (particularly those called nervous) which the inverted motions, and swimming appearances of the ship irresistibly affect with this disorder. Such habits of body are often connected with a frame of mind possessing great sensibility, soon irritable, and having its associations easily broken by external impulses. I have heard of a gentleman, with whom this was so much the case, that upon going to see a panorama view of the sea, he felt a return of the sickness.

To persons accustomed to the sea, accustomed to the sea, the accommodation of a Berwick smack may be very tolerable; but they who, for the first time, encounter sea-sickness, must find their suffering much aggravated, by being confined in a small kind of cupboard in the ship's side, which holds two beds, the one above the other,

with a very small portion of room for each. Even these poor receptacles it is not easy to obtain, if the vessel be full. It is therefore the passenger's first business to secure one to himself; in which if he fails, he must be contented to lie in the middle of the cabin, which is the general place of assembling at meals, or in bad weather. At those times, a great number of persons are shut up in a small space, and the foul air and smell, being confined by the precautions necessary to keep out rain, present in themselves sufficient causes of sickness. It cannot be expected, that the delicacy of sailors will greatly improve these circumstances; the captain, indeed, paid every attention in his power to our situation; but the nature of the accommodations rendered it impossible for him to be of any great service. Some defects there are, which might easily be corrected. The cabin destined to the ladies should be attended by a female servant; at present one cabin-boy alone is employed in waiting on all the passengers. There are also instances of filthiness, which it would not be difficult to avoid, such as suffering the bilge-water, when pumped out, to flow about the deck, instead of throwing it over the ship's side. The effect of order and regularity is very

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observable, in comparing this kind of vessel with a king's ship, which, however crowded with men, is always kept in a state of comparative cleanliness.

By eleven o'clock, on the second morning, we were off Cromer, a pleasing village in Norfolk, 127 miles from London, the only part of the coast, for a considerable distance, which at all deserves notice, the rest being chiefly low, sandy rocks, and barren hills. The wind shifted toward night, and drove us back a considerable way; and the next morning we found ourselves becalmed. The third day was fair, and we passed the afternoon on deck, in conversation and amusement, and in the interchange of those civilities, which contributed to alleviate the tedium attendant on sea-sickness. As every one brings a little stock of extraordinary provisions, the communication of these is often a very acceptable kindness. When unable to eat more solid food, we found some eggs, with which the civility of a fellow-passenger supplied us, very palatable.

On the fourth morning, we made Flamborough Head, a very conspicuous promontory in Yorkshire, 212 miles from London; at two o'clock in the afternoon, we were off Scarborough, 237; and before

dark, passed by Whitby, 244. That part of the Yorkshire coast, in sight of which we were this day, is almost entirely " ribbed and paled in with rocks unscaleable," and presents many bold, and many picturesque views. The situation of Scarborough Castle, and that of Whitby Abbey, are not dissimilar: both are seated on eminences overhanging the sea, both in ruins, and both adjoining to considerable towns; but the latter being in more perfect preservation, and of greater architectural beauty, is the more interesting object.

This evening, we were in the midst of a large fleet, of which we counted ninety-two sail from the deck. Such a number of vast machines gliding silently, and steadily over the surface of the ocean, fills the mind with no unpleasing sentiment of solemnity. When we behold great effects produced, as it were, by invisible and inaudible means, we feel a sort of awe, and a consciousness of our own weakness and ignorance, which, as it is natural to man, is, within certain limits, far from being painful. This feeling must be strongest in those, who are totally unacquainted with navigation, and has been therefore used, with great poetic effect, by Dryden in his Indian Emperor, where the Mexican describes