*

the "Verelst ;" a vessel, doomed to be wrecked on its return. Of her situation, employment, or course

Her affectionate disposition thus develops itself at the conclusion of this poetical epistle:

"Then blame me not, my friends most dear,

But let me often from you hear.

I'll kiss the lines with heart-felt glee,

When first your letter blesses me."

It seems that this voyage was undertaken in a state of extreme mental agony, which arose from her determination not to marry a husband selected for her by her uncle, Captain Frognall, and to whom she had the most decided personal objection. She missed her "coach and four," but she maintained her independence. Sir Charles Raymond (whom I can just remember when a little boy, from his mulberry-coloured suit covered with snuff, and his giving me several gentle pats on the head, with a large diamond flaming on his little finger) was particularly kind and considerate to her on her departure: acting quite the part of a guardian. It is evident, from some part of the poetical address above quoted, that she quitted England with a heavy heart, and with a deeplyfixed presage that she should return to it no more.

* This shipwreck took place off the island of Mauritius. At midnight the vessel struck upon a reef of hidden rocks, and broke her back right in two. My uncle, Mr. William Compton, who accompanied his brother, the Captain, told me, that so tremendous was the concussion, he was thrown bolt upright in his berth. A melancholy yet instructive lesson is to be learned from the conduct of one individual on board.

of life, from her arrival to her marriage, I have been unable to glean any materials; except that she seems to have had many kind and respectable friends, to whom she now and then showed her gratitude by courting her muse, and sending them her poetical effusions*. If these effusions do not always run on "all fours," they do not betray a hopelessly limping pace.

The only means of safety for the crew was the construction of a raft; which being completed, every body was importuned to jump overboard, or descend upon it as quickly and cleverly as they could-the breakers beating a-head with an astounding uproar. The individual in question had 1500 double gold moors, which he wished to be his companions on the raft. He entreated my uncle, the captain, to take them under his special protection, adding, that "he would not charge him any interest!" My uncle, spurning his offer, told him he had not a moment to lose. The unhappy man could not bear the thought of parting with his mammon. He strapped the bag, in which the moors were contained, to his waist; and making a leap to reach the raft, the weight of the "precious metal" paralysed his efforts. He fell greatly short of the raft, and sunk to rise no more.

* Among these effusions are some of her happiest efforts: they are brief and epigrammatic. That "To Mrs. Mapleloft (a family with whom she was very intimate) on presenting the Author with a plain Gold Ring," begins thus:

"A plain gold ring was such a sight,

It flutter'd all my senses quite;
As thoughts of the connubial kind
Had ceased to occupy my mind."

I give the whole of that "To the fair Diana Coles, on spraining her ancle shortly after her marriage."

"Will you never cease romping, my dear married friend,
Though sorrow and sadness must come in the end?

The single fair damsel may foot it away,
With romping, and gadding, and any thing gay;
But when she is wedded, such doings should cease,
If she hopes to enjoy what is true married peace.

My father was a widower of forty-four when he was united to my mother; whose description of him, on her marriage, may perhaps be endured in its place below*. He was then in command of a vessel

Methinks I behold you, just hopping around,

One foot is quite off, t' other scarce on the ground;
With one finger held up, and a smile on your face,
Which all, to be sure, has an exquisite grace;
When lo! what avails such sad tricks in a wife,
Her poor ancle's sprain'd, and the plague of her life;
As a punishment due, she sits crying with pain,

And vows and declares that she 'll ne'er romp again."

The verses "On the Birthday of Mrs. Wynne, after her Recovery from a dangerous Illness," are in a grave and affecting strain; while those "On presenting Miss Pearson with a Cup," begin in this sprightly

manner:

"This little cup is made for you,

Sweet prattling Sally-will it do?"

Those "Intended for the Tomb of Mrs. H. Ross," commence thus:

"See, cruel Death, with his destroying hand,
Hath cropp'd the fairest flower in Asia's land;
Nor youth, nor innocence could aught avail,
Nor suppliant prayers, nor ardent vows prevail."

But enough. The Rosses seem always to have been the affectionate and constant friends of the author.

* This description is contained in a long and particular letter to her uncle and aunt, Captain and Mrs. Frognall, in England, to whom she first made known the important fact of her marriage, and on the former of whom she wholly depended for her future support. It runs thus :

"I am sure, my dear sir and madam, were you to see my husband, you would be much pleased; for without partiality he has a great deal of true genuine humour: and every one allows that my Captain is a most entertaining companion. For example, he plays on the fiddle, the flute, and the drum:-sings a number of diverting songs; and has a particular nack of telling stories with so much humour, that he would make you laugh from morning till night. And I really think there is no end to them: for he brings out some new ones every day. Added

called the Diana, the size of a large Indiaman. My mother was in her thirty-first year. They were married at Calcutta by the first marriage licence ever granted in India; under the chief-justiceship of Sir Elijah Impey, Knight. The original document is in my possession. For the first two years— at the termination of the second of which I was born -my mother resided wholly at Calcutta, my father making coasting voyages from thence to Madras. Here she received the attentions, and even experienced the friendships, of many leading characters of the place *—secretly, however, sighing for a per

to all this, he is quite of an active temper, and seems to mind his business with great diligence-which is, indeed, a most material thing:-for without it, the pot would boil but very slowly indeed. In short, though I may, perhaps, be called partial, yet I both name him and think him my Tom of ten millions!—for ten thousand is not giving him his full value!" *To the names mentioned in a preceding page, as those of some of her best friends, may be added those of Mr. Carter, Mrs. Palk, Mr. Coles, Captain Patton, and others—which are humourously recorded in a poetical scrap called "The Medley." None of those friends shewed her, perhaps, quite so much affectionate attention as Mrs. Johanna Ross; whose "chit" to her, in my possession, (although her name only is attached-as that of an aged person, from its mode of scription) is as follows:-"How do you do, my dear Mrs. Dibdin? Why am I to be deprived of a sight which you know will give pleasure to your old friend and well-wisher? So many days in the river, and not to call at my home, is something strange! There is a saying, 'out of sight, out of mind.' Some truth in that saying, is there not, dear Mrs. D.? Why yes, says you. Pray come, therefore, and spend the day with me before you go down. Do so, sauce-box-and oblige yours, sincerely, JOHANNA Ross.

"N. B.-Remember me kindly to your lord and master."

A name, yet DEARER to both husband and wife, will be disclosed in a few pages onwards.

manent residence at Madras: for the expense of house-rent, and the frequency of separation, did not contribute to the tranquillity of her mind. Add to which, the intense heat of Calcutta (she is always complaining of the " prickly heat". -a symptom, however, of sound health) made her anxious for a residence where the breeze was less burning, and the adjacent country more picturesque; as well as more immediately connected with her husband's occupations *.

The reader must now be more exclusively made acquainted with my Father; whose adventures, or rather misfortunes, assume, in some instances, almost the stirring character of those recorded in a novel. They are, however, too indissolubly and too sadly founded upon FACT. Some slight mention has

* Of the long and trying separations which these "occupations" necessarily occasioned, my mother's epistles bear frequent and affecting evidence. It should seem that worldly matters were soon beginning to wear rather a rough aspect; for about the anniversary of her weddingday, my mother writes thus to her absent husband:-"After having partaken of a hearty dinner of curry, I have the pleasure to take up my pen to tell my dear husband that I am well, and as happy as can be expected, considering my separation from the one I most love in all the world. My happiness does not consist in any prospect of good fortune. No, my dear; it is owing to a resignation to the divine will-who, in his ' own good time,' will open to view, or bring to pass, more pleasing circumstances than I have lately experienced, or am likely to experience in time to come." She, however, describes with complacency, in other letters, "her never being idle-for what with working, and reading, and writing (in the intervals of receiving friendly visits), the day never passes away unproductively." And in one particular letter she talks of having "just risen from her curry dinner, serenaded the whole time by three sweet songsters in cages."