ORIGINAL PROTECTION. 101 to lay aside prejudices, to seek the interests of our country, and to clasp each other in the bands of love and amity. Far distant from the shores of Britain be the torch of civil discord, and may she continue to be the abode of harmony and peace to the latest generations! Before I close the letter, justice requires me to observe, that after a certain time an amnesty was granted, of which many availed themselves. And it may be gratifying to curiosity to add a copy of a protection issued at that perilous period, the original of which (soiled by age) I happened to have in my possession: "These are to certify, to all persons whom it doth or may concern, that on the 27th day of May, in the year of our Lord 1686, George Wiche, of Langport, in the county of Somerset, came before me, one of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace of, for, and within the Corporation of Taunton, and did then, in Taunton aforesaid, lay hold of his Majesty's gracious Proclamation of Pardon, which was given at his Majesty's Court at Whitehall the 10th day of March, 1686; in testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, the 27th day of May above written. " WILLIAM BIDDGOOD, Alderman.” It is interesting to reflect, that this bit of paper was the means of saving a fellow-creature from the fangs of Kirke and Jefferies! Yet such was the case, and happy would it have been even for JAMES and his adherents, had these protections been grant 102 MAXIM OF MR. ROSCOE. ed in profusion-it might have prevented the RE VOLUTION. Mr. Roscoe has, in his Lorenzo De Medicis, laid down this golden maxim, "No end can justify the sacrifice of a principle; nor was a CRIME ever necessary in the course of human affairs. The sudden burst of vindictive passion may sometimes operate important consequences on the fate of nations, but the event is seldom within the limits of human calculation. It is only the calm energy of reason constantly bearing up against the encroachments of power, that can with certainty perpetuate the freedom or promote the happiness of the human race!" I remain, dear Sir, Yours, &c. MORNING EXCURSION. 103 LETTER VII. EXCURSION TO A COUNTRY VILLAGE; BRIDGEWATER; ITS CHURCH; ITS TRADE; ADMIRAL BLAKE; ALFRED IN THE ISLE OF ATHELNEY; BATTLE OF SEDGEMOOR; CRUELTIES OF THE VICTORS; REFLECTIONS ON WAR; ANECDOTE; GLASTONBURY; ITS ABBEY; ALFRED LEAVES HIS WIFE AND CHILD THERE; HOLY THORN ; WELLS; ITS CATHEDRAL; OKELEY HOLE; VICTORY OT ALFRED AT EDDINGTON; CHARACTER OF ALFRED, FROM HUME'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. DEAR SIR, THE day I left Taunton I rose at an carly hour, and being favoured with the horse of a friend, made an excursion into the country. It was a beautiful morning; the sun, steadily mounting to reach his meridian height, flung his rays with a moderate intenseness over the surrounding landscape. Nature presented herself to me in an en dearing aspect, and almost every object I beheld, impressed me with sensations of delight. Indeed the charms of a fine morning are indescribable: How foolish they who lengthen night, To view the glories of the skies! 4 The purport of this excursion was to pay a visit to a venerable widow, Mrs. W--e, who resided at a village within a few miles of Taunton, the situation of which was retired and impressive. Her only son had, a few months ago, emigrated to America; being induced, by a prospect of inde 104 RAVAGES OF YELLOW FEVER. pendence, to quit his native country. She shewed me the letter which she had lately received from him, containing the pleasing information of his arrival at New York. The latter part of the letter glowed with emanations of duty and affection; aiming to impress on the mind of his aged parent this consolatory truth, that though the wide Atlantic rolled its waves between them, yet, in the course of every twenty-four hours, the SAME SUN sheds his kindly rays on their habitations! This simple illustration dictated by the warmth of his filial feelings, did honour to his heart. But alas! he is now no more! The melancholy intelligence has been received of the decease of this excellent young man, on the 22d of August, 1799, at Philadelphia. He was cut off in three days by the yellow fever, that scourge of the Western Continent. From this disorder at New York, he had fled, and was on his way to join a friend in Kentucky, after whose society, to use his own forcible expressions, "his soul hungered and thirsted." A near relative soothed his own grief by the composition of the following lines, the unaffected effusion of the heart: No HERO of the ocean, field, or gown, We mourn. Our worthy friend sought not the wealth, Or conscience, some acquire. He, throughout Taught justice, mercy, and humility; But found not in the multitude his kind. He journey'd-thirsting for his distant friend, Brought down-some FRIEND CELESTIAL caught him! T. W. Well did Mr. Burke exclaim, on an occasion of sudden mortality-" What shadows are we, and what shadows are we pursuing!" The virtues of George Wiche will not be forgotten among the circle of his friends, by whom his modest and unassuming worth was appreciated. Be this paragraph sacred to his memory! Upon my return to Taunton, the stage-coach was ready, and my friend and I set off for Wells. We regretted the shortness of our stay in this pleasant town, but we remained long enough to witness their hospitality. In two hours we arrived at Bridgewater, a seaport, not far from the Bristol Channel, whence a spring-tide flows twenty-two feet at the quay, and comes in with so much turbulence, that it is called a raging boar, by the inhabitants. Its church has a lofty spire, from which there must be an extensive prospect of the surrounding country. Hither the Duke of Monmouth, together with Lord Grey, and others of his officers, ascended, to view the situation of the King's troops on the day before the fatal battle of Sedgemoor. Thus used the unhappy Trojans, from the walls of Troy, to survey the Grecian forces, by whom they were afterwards overthrown. The iron bridge which is to be seen here, and which is similar to that in Colebrooke Dale, is a euriosity. In 1724 the Duke of Chandos built a street in this town, with a range of warehouses. The town suffered in the civil wars, and at last surrendered to the |