Short of the true meaning and energy of the original: but the elegance of the Arabic cannot be tranflated; he has been led aftray by Travellers in his Notes; but that is not his fault, nor could I have difcovered it, unlefs I had carefully vifited many places mentioned in that furprifing performance. If you are acquainted with Mr. Sale, pray make him my compliments on his furprifing performance, of which indeed I did not conceive any Occidental language capable. I fhould be greatly obliged to him if he would procure me the Gofpel of Barnabas, or a copy of it. I would pay what might be thought by you a proper price for it. Certainly Dr. Prieftley's Enquiries (on Air) will make a work of themfelves, and a valuable one too. is an extraordinary man. I had not the pleasure of feeing him here, or I fhould have that of feeing the Pretender's wife's picture, which he carries about, and fays that it is his coufin's picture. She is only fo by marriage; though, adds he, "fhe fent it to me to Rome, enriched with diamonds. I fent them back, but kept the picture." He requires a particular decree of the Senate of this place, that a fum of money may be employed to buy him a diamond crofs, and fay that that is the recompence for his extraordinary fervices. ing between fome waving ofiers) did I continue mufing upon feene after seene, as the concatenation of ideas reftored them to my remembrance, till as is ufual enough, the original fubject, which gave rife to my reflections, was entirely vanifhed from my mind; and I was awaked from my reverie, by the voice of the two fellows formerly mentioned, and who, in a low and a cautious tone, requefted me to take care of the toils The images of the paft were immediately chafed from the mind, and the exterior fenfe being opened, I beheld clofe before me, and near to the spot where I had before obferved my enchanting little fky-lark to pitch, the nets and apparatus of two bird-catchers; while my ear at the fame time recognized the burft of harmony, which a heap of little captives placed in cages around, or fixed to ductile fprings at apparent liberty, were pouring forth to allure their deluded fellows into fimilar bondage. The two barbarians, it feems, had for iome time been watching the poor little lark, who, allured by the feeds that were fcattered about, was advancing cautioufly, farther and farther, between the nets; and now fearing I might frighten it away as I paffed, they were drawing up the fnare at a hazard, fomewhat fooner than they withed. Alas! it was indeed too foon; but not according to their calculation. I faw the little warbler, whofe fong had fo delighted me, and whofe rapture had awakened fo many pleafing reflections-fo many charming fenfations in my bofom, ftruggling beneath the treacherous net; I faw him feized by the rude hands of the unfeeling clowns, and configned among a throng of his hapless companions to all the woes of cruel flavery, to tafte the joys of liberty no more to mourn, perhaps, his little widowed mate; to mourn, perhaps, his little callow young, who robbed of the fupport derived from his provident affiftance may die with lingering famine. Alas! alas! to what cruelty or injuf tice will not fome men fubmit to obtain the bread of idleness? What cruelty, what injuftice will not pride and luxury thoughtlessly encourage, if its fenfes may but but be gratified with the fruits of inhu- His bride ftill answers from his native manity! Go, land! Still turn indifferent from thefe foreign Whence, while for wretches for your taftes aggrieved, Ye flight each effort to obtain redress, Lifp forth to those by whom 'twill be believed, Your tender feelings exquifite excefs! It gave me however fome confolation` to reflect, while I was thus venting my fpleen, that this fatire did not apply to the whole fex; and that there are many who, in their individual conduct, will not wait the tardy operations of legifla tive humanity, but with the eafy facrifice of a few habitual indulgences, have wathed their hands already of the abomination. Thefe reflections, and the natural tranfition to the affairs and circumftances of a neighbouring nation, now involved in a foreign war, and expofed to the horrors of civil commotions, in fupport of its new conftitution, brought me in fight of a richly variegated profpect, the defcription of which may give fome of my readers an idea of the particular fcene of thefe perambulations." NOT E. INDICATIONS OF COMMERCE. IN fhort, if the varieties of fhady hedge-rows and light-tinted fields, enamelled turfs and fky-reflecting brooks, plains, diftant hills and vallies, had delighted me before, my mind had now an additional fource of employment in the foreft of mafts and fails, fome clofely furled, and fome moving with fwelling majefty before the wind, that prefented themselves above the tops of houfes and of trees, and awakened in my bofom all thofe pleafing, and all thofe troublefome reflections, which a member of a commercial ftate, and a reflecting friend to the general happinefs of his fpecies cannot but indulge on fuch an occafion. Commerce! thou doubtful, and thou partial good! 'Tis true by thee we fwell to wealth and power; And Britain's name, and Britain's arts by thee Are wafted to each region of the globe, Bringing in rich return, their varied tri-. butes 'Tis thine too, Commerce, through thy native land To pour, wide wafting, like a deluge, round, The poifon'd ftream of luxury, rank polluted! The monfter-breeding Nile of hideous vice, From whofe oft ftagnant pools inceffant fpring A loathed mihapen fwarm, which Nature's eye Turns haggard to behold. Thou, Commerce, too, monopolizing fiend! Fatten'ft a few upon the toils of all, And while thy favour'd fons, in Parian domes, Rival the pomp of regal fplendour, lo!, In every town whofe charter'd infolence Barters to Britain's fons the freeman's THE unpleafant parts of thefe reflections were, however, for awhile banifhed from my mind, upon entering a large dock-yard, to which I had now, by a quickened pace, arrived. The buftle of induftry, and the grand objects immediately prefented to my view, engroffed entirely my imagination; and as I had never before taken the opportunity of indulging my curiofity, by infpecting works of this nature, reflection was entirely abforbed in the contemplation of a new variety of fublime and stupendous edifices, which, like floating towns, were were to tranfport their various produc- meet with an entertainment of another tions and inhabitants from clime to clime. kind. In fhort, I here found an old of bread and cold milk, which, as he told me, (and, indeed, his countenance well agreed with his profeffions) afforded him perhaps as much fatisfaction as all the expenfive things, which great folks made their dinners of. Some perhaps deftined to touch at new difbanded Scotch failor, eating his meal and undiscovered fhores, and bring home accounts of manners and of cuftoms yet ftrange to European ears; others, perhaps, together with the articles of traffic, to convey the lights of fcience into defpotic empires; and others, ftill to bring from tranfatlantic regions new leffons of frugal liberty and difinterefted patrio tifm. Now roving over the fpacious apartments of nearly finifhed veffels, my faney was forcibly ftruck with their contrivance and convenience; now looking, from below, or from above, I admired the wonderful magnitude of the objects; and now again furveying the firft rudiments, or skeletons, upon which the artifts were at work, I was loft in aftonifhment at the ingenuity of man, and the wonders his united labours can perform: confeffing, that whatever applaufe the builder of temples and palaces might claim, was due, in a tenfold degree, to the ingenuity of the naval architect. From thence I turned to the contemplation of fome full rigged veffels (if fo thofe may be called of which the fails were taken down) floating in the locks; and as the mind ever turns with delight from the fublime to the beautiful, particularly admired fome elegant little yatchs, adorned with every thing the arts could furnifh for their embellishment. The dead white with which the cabin of one of thefe was painted, the gilt bead that edged the pannels, and the rods of fimilar appearance which went from fide to fide, for the convenience of flinging fuch furniture as the agitation of the fea might elfe overturn, together with the white and gold fringe on the dimity curtains, hanging on the windows, convinced me that a delicate tafte, and an attachment to the boisterous element, are not fo inconfiftent as fome are inclined to believe. THE OLD SAILOR. IN the cabin of one of the larger veffels, up the fide of which I next climbed, I was now not difpleafed to This was a happy preface to one of my temper, and as it is a maxim with me, that there is no human being with whom it is not worth while to fpend a quarter of an hour, I readily encouraged the overtures he made of converfation, and fat myself down by his fide. Now it may be obferved, that there are fome people, who no fooner, through the convenient medium of a flage coach, or any other fortunate accident, come in contact with a new fet of features, than they are immediately fmitten with a laudable curiofity to know as many circumftances relative to the profeffion, private concerns, and adventures of the owner of fuch features as the faid owner for the fake of peace and quietness, and the avoidance of importunity, may be prevailed upon to impart; and who, therefore, though they cannot in common decency, enquire in direct terms, according to the courteous practice of the knights and heroines of romance, your name, profeffion, place of abode, parentage, amours, and fingular adventures, never fail to feize the earliest opportu nity of propofing fome random fuggeftion, in hopes that from the correction of their error, you may be led to the train of information fo devoutly wifhed. Now of this complexion was my prefent companion and as he was a fhrewd fort of fellow, and had withal the benefit of years and experience, he chose so broad and general a propofition to commence with, as he fuppofed could expofe him to no danger of miftake; and telling me he fuppofed I was a tradefman, refted I dare fay in the full affurance that my reply would inform him, whether I had the happiness to measure his lordship for his birth-day honours, or to try on my lady's flipper for the ball. But his felf-complacency was of fhort continuance for Indeed my friend," replied I,, you are mistaken.' I know not whether the little paltry yet he boafted of no exploits; but the vanity of arbitrary and ideal diftincti- modeft indifference with which he spoke ons, had given any involuntary emphafs of battles, cannon balls, and wounds, of triumph to my manner of making this gave me a higher opinion of his valour, brief reply, or whether it was the flavifh than all the fwaggering oaths that were impreffion of thefe fuppofed diftincti- ever thundered forth from under the most ons that operated fpontaneoufly on his formidable cocked hat in the univerfe mind; but certain it is that the old fail- could poflibly have inspired. or began to teftify his confufion by auk-But what charmed me moft in this heward apologies for his mistake. neft Scot,were the evident benevolence of his mind, and the piety and morality that gave a ferious tint to the whole of his conversation; from the firft to the laft of which, nothing like an oath or an indecent allufion efcaped from his lips. The latter of these two circumstances, it muft alfo be admitted, is fomewhat more frequently to be obferved among the lower orders of our northern, than of fouthern brethern; and which, I am much inclined to believe, is more to be attributed to the fuperior information to which I have before alluded, than to any difference in the religious opinions ineul-cated in the two branches of the empire. With refpect to the former, indeed, I was forry to find, that, in fo frank and honeft a mind, as I am fure this poor fellow poffeffes, the influences of habit and profeffional projudice had produced fo confiderable a blot upon his philanthropy, as to occafion him to rank among the proper objects of complaint, the long continuance of peace, with which this country has now been afflicted; and it was not without furprife that I heard a man, who had uttered many things that bore the ftrongest marks of fhrewd good fenfe, talk of this tedious peace as a caufe of the decline of trade and plenty. I do not like to fee one human being fo much humiliated before another, for circumftances that claim no humiliation; and I had the greater reafon to repent of my reply, as I feared the falfe eftimate of my importance might prevent that freedom of converfation from which alone the human heart can be revealed, and thofe fhades and diftinctions of character, which conftitute the vaft and entertaining variety of human nature; I therefore affured him he had given no offence by the mistake, that I should have confidered it as no difgrace to be what he fuppofed, for that an honeft tradefman was a very refpectable character, and that I knew of no character that was entitled to any refpect without honefty; and I concluded with obferving, that though I was not a tradefman, I had nevertheless the honour of earning my livelihood by my own induftry. The manner in which I delivered this, in fome degree, answered the purpose I defired, and fo far reftored the confidence of my companion, that though he did not venture to fish for any farther information relative to myfdf, he fell into a kind of converfation much more to my purpofe, as it gave me fome infight into his character and fentiments, and confirmed the impreffions his phyfiognomy had at firft made, But we are all,' faid I to myfelf, Quixotes in one point of view or another; and however rational we may be upon the main, there is always fome particular fubject with refpect to which we are infane! The good old Scotchman had rather an intelligent mind, with regard to thofe things which had come within the fphere of his obfervation, and feemed to have Indeed I prefently found how little reabeen curious to enquire, and to animad- fon I had to be furprized at his opinion; wert, as far as his opportunities and men- his whole life, from fourteen or fixteen tal cultivation would permit: and with years of age, till now, that he was beregard to the latter, it must be obferved, tween fixty and feventy, having been to the credit of his countrymen, that fpent, between the dock-yard and the they have generally a confiderable ad- man of war: and there can be no doubt wantage over thofe on our fide of the but that money never circulates fo freely, Tweed in fimilar circumftances. as in times of war and tumult, among He had feen fome fervice it fremed:. failors, fhip-carpenters, and the publi cans, |