"But would appoint his Meetings, and he made "Me watch at these, and so neglect my Trade.

""Twas one hot Noon, all silent, still, serene,
"No living Being had I lately seen;
"I paddled up and down and dipt my Net,
"But (such his pleasure) I could nothing get,
"A Father's pleasure! when his Toil was done,
"To plague and torture thus an only Son;
"And so I sat and look'd upon the Stream,
"How it ran on, and felt as in a Dream :

"But Dream it was not; No!-I fix'd my Eyes
"On the mid Stream and saw the Spirits rise;
"I saw my Father on the Water stand,
"And hold a thin pale Boy in either hand;
"And there they glided ghastly on the top
"Of the salt Flood and never touch'd a drop:

1

",,,

"I would have struck them, but they knew th' in

tent,

“And smil❜d upon the Oar, and down they went.

"Now, from that day, whenever I began

"To dip my Net; there stood the hard old Man A "He and those Boys: I humbled me and pray'd ·Â ́ ́ "They would be gone ;-they heeded not, but stay'd: "Nor could I turn, nor would the Boat go by,' "But gazing on the Spirits, there was I; "They bade me leap to death, but I was loth to die: “And every day, as sure as day arose, "Would these three Spirits meet me 'eer the close; "To hear and mark them daily was my doom,

11

"And Come," they said, with weak, sad voices, come."

"To row away with all my strength I try'd,

"But there were they, hard by me in the Tide,

"The three unbodied Forms-and 'Come,' still 'come,' "they cried.

"Fathers should pity-but this old Man shook "His hoary Locks and froze me by a Look:

"Thrice, when I struck them, through the water came "An hollow Groan, that weaken'd all my Frame: "Father!' said I, have Mercy:'-He replied, "I know not what-the angry Spirit lied,"Didst thou not draw thy Knife?' said he:-'Twas

❝ true,

"But I had Pity and my Arm withdrew:

"He cried for Mercy, which I kindly gave,

"But he has no Compassion in his Grave.

"There were three places, where they ever rose,"The whole long River has not such as those,Places accurs'd, where, if a Man remain,

"He'll see the things which strike him to the Brain; "And there they made me on my Paddle lean, "And look at them for hours;-accursed Scene! "When they would glide to that smooth Eddy-space, "Then bid me leap and join them in the place; "And at my Groans each little villain Sprite "Enjoy'd my Pains and vanish'd in delight.

"In one fierce Summer-day, when my poor Brain "Was burning-hot and cruel was my Pain, "Then came this Father-foc, and there he stood "With his two Boys again upon the Flood;

"There was more Mischief in their Eyes, more Glec "In their pale Faces when they glar'd at me: "Still did they force me on the Oar to rest, "And when they saw me fainting and opprest,

"He, with his Hand, the old Man, scoop'd the Flood, "And there came Flame about him mix'd with Blood; "He bade me stoop and look upon the place, "Then flung the hot-red Liquor in my Face; "Burning it blaz'd, and then I roar'd for Pain, "I thought the Dæmons would have turn'd my Brain.

"Still there they stood, and forc'd me to behold "A place of Horrors-they cannot be told— "Where the Flood open'd, there I heard the Shriek "Of tortur'd Guilt-no earthly Tongue can speak: "All Days alike! for ever!' did they say, "And unremitted Torments every Day'

"Yes, so they said :”—But here he ceas'd and gaz'd
On all around, affrighten'd and amaz'd;
And still he try'd to speak and look'd in dread
Of frighten'd Females gathering round his Bed;
Then dropt exhausted and appeared at rest,
Till the strong Foe the vital Powers possest;
Then with an inward, broken voice he cried,
Again they come," and mutter'd as he died,

66

LETTER XXIII.

PRISON S.

Pœna autem vehemens ac multò sævior illis,
Quas et Cæditius gravis invenit aut Rhadamanthus,
Nocte dieque suum gestare in pectore testem.

Juvenal. Sat. 13, 197.

Think my former state an happy dream,
From which awak'd, the truth of what we are,
Shows us but this,-I am sworn brother now
To grim Necessity, and he and I
Will keep a league till death,

Richard II.

PRISONS.

The Mind of Man accommodates itself to all Situations: Prisons otherwise would be intolerable.-Debtors: their different kinds: Three particularly described; others more briefly.An arrested Prisoner: His Account of his Feelings and his Situation.-The Alleviations of a Prison.-Prisoners for Crimes. -Two condemned: a vindictive Female; an Highwayman.The Interval between Condemnation and Execution.-His Feelings as the Time approaches.-His Dream.