Or Envy's pang at glory and success,

Or Beauty, conscious of the spoils of Time,

Or Guilt, alarm'd when Memory shows the crime—
All that gives sorrow, terror, grief, and gloom:
Content would cheer thee, trudging to thine home (*).
There are, 'tis true, who lay their cares aside,
And bid some hours in calm enjoyment glide;
Perchance some fair-one to the sober night
Adds (by the sweetness of her song) delight;
And, as the music on the water floats,
Some bolder shore returns the soften'd notes;
Then, youth, beware, for all around conspire
To banish caution and to wake desire;
The day's amusement, feasting, beauty, wine,
These accents sweet and this soft hour combine,
When most unguarded, then to win that heart of thine :
But see, they land! the fond enchantment flies,
And in its place life's common views arise.
Sometimes a party, row'd from town, will land
On a small islet form'd of shelly sand,
Left by the water when the tides are low,
But which the floods in their return o'erflow:
There will they anchor, pleased awhile to view
The watery waste, a prospect wild and new;
The now receding billows give them space
On either side the growing shores to pace;
And then, returning, they contract the scene,
Till small and smaller grows the walk between,
As sea to sea approaches, shore to shores,
Till the next ebb the sandy isle restores.

Then what alarm! what danger and dismay,
If all their trust, their boat should drift away;
And once it happen'd-gay the friends advanced;

They walk'd, they ran, they play'd, they sang, they danced;
The urns were boiling, and the cups went round,
And not a grave or thoughtful face was found;
On the bright sand they trod with nimble feet,
Dry shelly sand that made the summer-seat;

The wondering mews flew fluttering o'er the head,
And waves ran softly up their shining bed.

Some form'd a party from the rest to stray,
Pleased to collect the trifles in their way;
These to behold, they call their friends around—
No friends can hear, or hear another sound;
Alarm'd, they hasten, yet perceive not why,
But catch the fear that quickens as they fly.
For lo a lady sage, who paced the sand
With her fair children, one in either hand,
Intent on home, had turn'd, and saw the boat
Slipp'd from her moorings, and now far afloat;
She gazed, she trembled, and though faint her call,
It seem'd, like thunder, to confound them all.
Their sailor-guides, the boatman and his mate,
Had drank, and slept regardless of their state;
"Awake!" they cried aloud; "Alarm the shore!
"Shout all, or never shall we reach it more !"
Alas! no shout the distant land can reach,
Nor eye behold them from the foggy beach.
Again they join in one loud, powerful cry,
Then cease, and eager listen for reply;
None came the rising wind blew sadly by.
They shout once more, and then they turn aside,
To see how quickly flow'd the coming tide;
Between each cry they find the waters steal
On their strange prison, and new horrors feel;
Foot after foot on the contracted ground
The billows fall, and dreadful is the sound;
Less and yet less the sinking isle became,

And there was wailing, weeping, wrath, and blame.
Had one been there, with spirit strong and high,
Who could observe, as he prepared to die:
He might have seen of hearts the varying kind,
And traced the movement of each different mind;
He might have seen, that not the gentle maid
Was more than stern and haughty man afraid;
Such calmly grieving, will their fears suppress,
And silent prayers to Mercy's throne address;
While fiercer minds, impatient, angry, loud,
Force their vain grief on the reluctant crowd.
The party's patron, sorely sighing, cried,

AA 2

230

240

250

260

371

"Why would you urge me? I at first denied."
Fiercely they answer'd, "Why will you complain,
"Who saw no danger, or was warn'd in vain?”
A few essay'd the troubled soul to calm;
But dread prevail'd, and anguish and alarm.

Now rose the water through the lessening sand,
And they seem'd sinking while they yet could stand;
The sun went down, they look'd from side to side,
Nor aught except the gathering sea descried;
Dark and more dark, more wet, more cold it grew,
And the most lively bade to hope adieu;
Children, by love then lifted from the seas,
Felt not the waters at the parents' knees,
But wept aloud; the wind increased the sound,
And the cold billows as they broke around.

"Once more, yet once again, with all our strength,
"Cry to the land-we may be heard at length."
Vain hope, if yet unseen! but hark! an oar,
That sound of bliss! comes dashing to their shore;
Still, still the water rises; "Haste!" they cry,
"Oh! hurry, seamen; in delay we die;
(Seamen were these, who in their ship perceived
The drifted boat, and thus her crew relieved.)
And now the keel just cuts the cover'd sand,
Now to the gunwale stretches every hand;
With trembling pleasure all confused embark,
And kiss the tackling of their welcome ark;
While the most giddy, as they reach the shore,
Think of their danger, and their GOD adore.

270

280

290

NOTES TO LETTER IX.

Note 1, page 368, line 83.

Those living jellies which the flesh inflame.

Some of the smaller species of the Medusa (sea-nettle) are exquisitely beautiful: their form is nearly oval, varied with serrated longitudinal lines; they are extremely tender, and by no means which I am acquainted with can be preserved, for they soon dissolve in either spirit of wine or water, and lose every vestige of their shape, and indeed of their substance: the larger species are found in mis-shapen masses of many pounds weight; these, when handled, have the effect of the nettle, and the stinging is often accompanied or succeeded by the more unpleasant feeling, perhaps in a slight degree resembling that caused by the torpedo.

Note 2, page 368, line 94.

And quickly vegetates a vital breed.

Various tribes and species of marine vermes are here meant that which so nearly resembles a vegetable in its form, and perhaps, in some degree, manner of growth, is the coralline called by naturalists Sertularia, of which there are many species in almost every part of the coast. The animal protrudes its many claws (apparently in search of prey) from certain pellucid vesicles which proceed from a horny, tenacious, branchy

stem.

Note 3, page 368, line 101.

Myriads of living points; th' unaided eye
Can but the fire and not the form descry.

These are said to be a minute kind of animal of the same class; when it does not shine, it is invisible to the naked eye.

Note 4, page 369, line 110.

On weeds that sparkle, and on waves that blaze.

For the cause or causes of this phenomenon, which is sometimes, though rarely, observed on our coasts, I must refer the reader to the writers on natural philosophy and natural history.

Note 5, page 371, line 192.

Content would cheer thee, trudging to thine home.

This is not offered as a reasonable source of contentment, but as one motive for resignation: there would not be so much envy if there were more discernment.

THE BOROUGH.

LETTER X.

CLUBS AND SOCIAL MEETINGS.

Non inter lances mensasque nitentes,
Cum stupet insanis acies fulgoribus, et cum
Acclinis falsis animus meliora recusat;

Verum hic impransi mecum disquirite.

Hor. Sat. lib. ii. [Sat. 2. vv. 4-7].

O prodiga rerum

Luxuries, nunquam parvo contenta paratu,
Et quæsitorum terrâ pelagoque ciborum
Ambitiosa fames et lautæ gloria mensæ.

Lucan. lib. iv. [vv. 373–6].

[Sed] quæ non prosunt singula, [multa] juvant.

[Ovid. Remed. Amor. v. 420.]

Rusticus agricolam, miles fera bella gerentem,
Rectorem dubiæ navita puppis amat.

Ovid. Pont. lib. ii. [Ep. 2. vv. 61-2].

Desire of Country Gentlemen for Town Associations-Book-clubs-Too much of literary Character expected from them-Literary Conversation prevented: by Feasting: by Cards-Good, notwithstanding, resultsCard-club with Eagerness resorted to-Players-Umpires at the Whist Table--Petulances of Temper there discovered--Free-and-easy Club: not perfectly easy or free Freedom, how interrupted-The superior Member-Termination of the Evening-Drinking and Smoking Clubs The Midnight Conversation of the Delaying Members— Society of the poorer Inhabitants: its Use: gives Pride and Consequence to the humble Character-Pleasant Habitations of the frugal Poor-Sailor returning to his Family-Freemasons' Club-The Mystery- What its Origin-Its professed Advantages-Griggs and Gregorians-A Kind of Masons-Reflections on these various Societies.