A journal of a residence during several months in London

Front matter

OF A RESIDENCE DURING SEVERAL MONTHS

IN LONDON;

INCLUDING EXCURSIONS

CHAPTER I. Voyage across the Atlantic. ... 13

CHAPTER TI. Liverpool— St. George's Chapel— Asylum for the Blind — Docks, &c 26

CHAPTER HI. Ride to Birmingham— Stafford— Wolverhampton- Birmingham — Musical Festival — Braham — Mrs. Salmon — Miss Stephens — Madame Catalani — Ride to London — Dr. Parr — Warwick Castle — Oxford — London. 31

CHAPTER IV. London— St. Paul's— Bow Church— St. Clement's Danes — St. Andrew's, Holborn — Fulham — Bishop of London — Fulham Church-yard — Tombs of the Bishops — Walk to London. 38

CHAPTER V. Hamstead— Statue in Hyde Park— A Radical Parson — Rev. T. H. Home — Christ Church — Preacher at St, Anns — Dr. Rudge— Mr. Irving— Dr. Gaskin— Dr. Watts. . . 48

CHAPTER VI. London Atmosphere — Murder of Weare— Popular Engravings — Caricatures — The Temple — Tombs of the Crusaders — Dean of Winchester. ....... 56

CHAPTER VL Jews of London— Sir J. A. P.— Anecdotes of Lord Thurlow and Bishop Horsley — Magdalen Hospital — Bishop of Durham — Harrow — Author of the Velvet Cushion. . . 64

CHAPTER Vn. St. John's Chapel, Bedford Row— Ride to Ely- Ware — Cambridge — Ely — Chapel of our Lady — Remains of Conventual Church, &c. . ...... 70

CHAPTER VIII.— Cambridge— Professor Smy the— Lectures on Modern History — Feast of the Audit — Rev. Charles Simeon — Professor Lee 78

CHAPTER IX. — Cambridge — ^Libraries — Union Society — Sunday — Catherine Hall — Government of the University — Description of Cambridge — King's College Chapel — Ancient Tower — Observatory — Hobson. .. . . . . .88

CHAPTER IX. Departure from Cambridge — Huntingdon — Burleigh House — Leicester — Rothly Temple — Cardinal Wolsey — Ride to Lutterworth — Cotesbatch — Wickliff — Rugby. . . 101

CHAPTER X. Departure from Lutterworth....Ride to St. Alban's..., Northampton....St. Alban's... .Abbey Church,..Humphrey the Good ....Antiquities and Remains.... Departure for London... .Bishop of St. David's,...Rev. J. Pratt 110

CHAPTER XI.— Ramble about London— Guildhall— Court ot King's

Bench — -Billingsgate Custom- House The Tower Exeter

VIII CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XII. Consecration of a Church— Visit to Higham Hill * — Economy of Londoners — Mr. Campbell the Missionary — Anecdotes—Sunday Morning at Surrey Chapel — Rowland Hill — St. Paul's — Sir Christopher Wren — Church Missionary Society — Rev. Charles Jerram. ... . . . 126

CHAPTER XIII.— Aldenham Abbey— Sir C. Pole— Mr. Marsden— Rev. Mr. Crowther — The Tabernacle — Scene at Lincoln's Inn — Judges of the Courts — Westminster Hall — London Docks — East Cheap — Goldsmith. ....... 136

CHAPTER XIV. Caledonian Chapel— Rev. Edward Irving— British Bluseum — Extortions of English Servants — Editor of the Christian Observer — Diorama — Arch- deacon Blomfield — Earl S. — Barclay and Company's Brewery. . . . . . 145

CPI APTER XV. French and Turkish Pieces of Ordnance— Mr. Wilberforce — Long Acre Chapel — St. Pancras' New Church — St. Mary's, Aldormary — St. Mary's, Islington — General Remarks — Actor in Distress — Contrasts — Percy Chapel — Rev. Mr. Macneil — English Ladies. 155

CHAPTER XVI. Excursion to Richmond — Twickenham — Hampton Court — Cartoons — St. James', Piccadilly — St. Mary-Le-Bone — Dr. Busfield — House of Commons — Attack on the Lord Chancellor — Mr. Williams — Mr. Peel — Mr. Brougham — Mr. Canning — Mr. Robinson. .......... 164

CHAPTER XVI r. Sir T. D. Acland— Dinner and Meeting of the Royal Society — Sir Humphrey Davy — Ely Chapel — Salter's Hall Chapel — Dr. Collyer — Dinner at Mr. Stratford Canning's — Sir James Macintosh — Arch Deacon Pott — Anniversary Sermon — Church Patronage. • . . . . . . 175

CHAPTER XVIII. Parks in London— View from Piccadilly— Hyde

Park Regent's Park Squares — Foundling Hospital — Craven

Chapel — the Bazaar — Art of Walking in the Metropolis Costume of the Bar — St. Martin's-in-the-Fields — Ride to Leicester — Deformity. ....... 185

CHAPTER XIX. Dress of English Labourers — Beggary in London — Dinner Party and Anecdotes — Bishop of Bristol — House of Lords — Funeral of Sir George Collier — Central National School — Lord Kenyon — Manners of the English. ..... 194

CHAPTER XX. House of Lords— Unitarian Bill— Lords Lansdowne — King — Kingston, &c. — Lord Holland — Archbishop of Canterbury — Earl of Westmoreland — Earl of Liverpool — Lord Eldon — Duke of York — Duke of Wellington — Reporters — Eloquence of the English 202

CHAPTER XXI. Indid House— St. Olave's— Charity Children of St. Sepulchre's — Archbishop of Canterbury — Lambeth Palace — British Institution — Bedford Chapel — Archbishop of York — Bishop of London — Dean Andrewes — Dr. Hodgson — Promenade in Hyde Park 209

CHAPTER XXII. Anniversary of the Hospitals—" The Tenth"— Nash the Architect — Birth Day — St. Stephen's, Walbrook — Want of New Churches — Church Missionary Society — Lord Gambier — J. Thornton, Esq. — Lord Barhara — Mr. C. Grant — Bishop of Litch-

CONTENTS. IX

field — Rev. Mr. Sibthorp — Rev. J. Parsons— Rev. Mr. Cunningham —Rev. F. Elwin 220

CHAPTER XXIII. British and Foreign Bible Society— Lord Harrowby — Lord Roden — Count Verhuil — LordBexley — Mr. C. Grant — Dr. Morrison — Rev. Mr. Brandom — Rev. J. Townsend. 230

CHAPTER XXIV. Examination at the Charter-House Rev.

Charles Sumner — Bishop of Limerick — Meeting of the African Society — Lord Lansdowne— T. F. Buxton, Esq.— Hon. Mr. Noel- Bishop of Durham — Rev. Leigh Richmond — St. Luke's Chapel — Rev. Sidney Smith — Drawing-Room at St. Jame's — Anniversary at St. Paul's — Kensington Gardens — Church — Quebec Chapel — Remarks. 237

CHAPTER XXV. Ride to Oxford— Uxbridge— High Wycombe- Oxford — Preachers— Library of Christ Church — Lecture — Dr. Copleston — Addison's Walk — Bodleian Library — Pomfret Statues — Rowing Match— Chapel of New College — S'tained Glass. . 248

CHAPTER XXVI. Oxford— Picture Gallery— Ashmolean Museum — Professor Buckland — Bell of Christ Church — Radcliif Library — High Street — Distant view of Oxford — Cumnor Hall — Annoyances — Return to London. 258

CHAPTER XXVII. London — A Lazy Parson — Spring- and Langan — Anniversary of Charily Children at St. Paul's — Preacher at Audley Chapel — Ballooning — Ascent from Pentonville. . . 267

CHAPTER XXVIII. Rev. Christopher Benson— St. Paul's, Covent ' Garden — Rev. H. H. Milman — House of Commons — Mr. Hume — Mr. Hobhouse — Lord Eastnor — Sir F. Burdett — Sir J. Newport — Mr. C. Hutchinson — Anniversary of the Anti-Slavery Society — Mr. Stephen — T. Macauley, Esq. — Dr. Lushington — Mr. Wilberforce — Duke of Gloucester — Remarks on the Abolitionists. . 273

CHAPTER XXIX. A Highlander— Dinner at Lord C—'s— Conversation — Anecdote of Fox — Dr. R. — London Cruelty — Lock Hospital — Dr. Thorp — Ride to Bath — Reading — Newberry — Marlbo^ rough — Barrows — Melksham — Bath. .... 2C2

CHAPTER XXX. Bath Springs Pump-Room Huntington

Chapel — Beechen Cliff— View of Bath and Environs — -Legendary History — Beau Nash — Squabbles in High Life — View from Prospect Point — Bath Abbey — Wesleyan Chapel — Christ Church — Walk to Claverton Downs — Quarries — Architecture of Bath. . 290

CHAPTER XXXI. Bristol— Brandon Hill— RedclifF Church— Clifton — The Roman Camp — Scenery — Ride to Wrington — Barley Wood — ^Pleasure Grounds and Scenery — Hannah More — Conversations — Remarks. . 304

CHAPTER XXXII. Ride to Bridgewater—Scenery— Bridgewater— Sedgemoor — Glastonbury — Ruins of the Abbey — The Torr — Ride to Salisbury — Fonthill Abbey — Salisbury — Cathedral — .Architectv ure, Monuments, &c. — Return to London — Bagshot Heath — Milita* ry School— Runny-Mead — Rolls Chapel — -Observance of Sunday.

X CO?<ITENTS.

CHAPTER XXXIII. Westminster Abbey— Chapel of Henry VII.— Poet's Coiner — Monuments of Addisoft, Shakspeare, Handel, &c. — Remarks — Excursion to Richmond— Scenery on the River — View from Richmond Hill — Village — Thompson's Grave — Sunday at the Abbey, and St. Mary Woolnoth — Preparation to leave London. 321

CHAPTER XXXIV.— Ride to Brighton— Nakedness of the Country — Brighton — Royal Pavilion — Chain Pier — Steam-Boat — Passage to Dieppe — Vexations on Landing — Hotel du Roi d' Angleterre — Town and Harbour of Dieppe — Costume of Inhabitants — Castle — Departure for Rouen. ........ 330

CHAPTER XXXV. A French Diligence— Setting Off— Hill of St. Aubin — Country — Valley of Malaunay — The Seine — Rouen — View of the City — Cathedral — Church of the Benedictines — Mendicity — Peasantry — Dinner at the Hotel — Departure for Paris— Poatoise — St. Denis— Paris 337

CHAPTER XXXVI. Paris— Streets— Habits and Amusements of the Parisians — The Boulevards— Taste in the Fine Arts — Gardens of the Tbuilleries, of the Luxembourg, of the Palais Royal — Montmartre — View from its summit — Defence against the Allied Forces — Scene in the Suburbs — Disregard of the Lord's Day — Fete of the Assomption — Cathedral of Notre Dame — Mass for the Dead. 343

CHAPTER XXXVII. Ride to Versailles— St. Cloud— Gardens of Versailles — Basin of Neptune — Basin of Apollo — The Rock — Basin of Latona — Grand Trianon — Petit Trianon — RoyalChapel at Versailles-Hall of Hercules — Grand Gallery — Return to Paris. 355

CHAPTER XXXVIIL Cemetery of Pere la Chaise— Promenade Philosophique— Tomb of Abelard and Eloisa — Of Massena — Lefebvre — Serrurier — Ney, &c. — Reflections on the Taste of the French — Dress of the Parisians — Palais Royal — Gambling — Ingenuity of Beggars. , 363

CHAPTER XXXIX. Vincennes— Castle and Moat— Murder of the Duke d'Enghein — View from the Pyramid — Disagreeable Interruption—Wood of Vincennes — Forbidden Ground — Paris — Place of the Bastile — The Thuilleries— The Louvre — Palace of the Luxembourg — Hotel des Invalides — The Bourse — Triumphal Arches — Bridges — Palaces — Fountains 372

CHAPTER XL. Paris— The Elysian Fields— Champ de Mars- Royal Garden of Plants — Caf^s — Restaurateurs — Hotels — Passport — Scene at the Royal Messagerie — Departure from Paris — A J'atalist — View from the Heights of Ecouen — Criel — Clermont — Amiens Cathedral— St. Omers— Calais. 382

CHAPTER XLL Calais— Ramble— View from the Ramparts— Embarkation — Storm — Arrival at Dover — Extortion — Description of Dover — Castle — Cliffs — Ride to Canterbury — Cathedral — Scenery in Kent Chatham — Rochester — Gravesend — Blackheath Approach to London — Arrival at Charing Cross — Reflections. 39 1

CHAPTER XLIL Final Departure from London— Mail Coaches at Islington — Bedford — Singular Humour of the Coachman — River Trent, and Nottingham — H. K. White — Sherwood Forest — Bolsover Castle— Chesterfield— Twisted Spire of the Church— Sheffield—

CONTENTS. XI

Manufactories — Steel — Cutlery — Machinery for Rolling Steel — Departure forYork — Harvest — Sandal Castle — Wakefield — Arrival at York 399

CHAPTER XLHI. York— Sketch of its History— Description of the Minster — Oriel Window — Chapter-House — History of the Cathedral 408

CHAPTER, XLIV. York— St. Mary's Abbey— CliiFord's Tower- Multangular Tower — City Walls— Retreat for the Insane — Churches — Departure — Country — Thirsk — Cleveland Hills — Mount Grace — Yarm — Long-Newton — Rev. Mr. Faber — Sunday at Long-Newton — Stockton-upon-Tees — Durham. .... 414

CHAPTER XLV. Durham— Cathedral— St. Cuthbert— "View from the Cathedral Tower — Remains of Fortifications — Bishops of Durham — Departure — Newcastle — Publick Buildings — Antiquities — Historical Sketch — Departure for Edinburgh — Morpeth — Rinside Moor — Cheviot Hills — Percy's Cross— Flodden Field— The Tweed — Coldstream — Kelso — Lammermoor — Edinburgh. 423

CHAPTER XLVI. Edinburgh— Bishop Sanford— Dr. Buchanan- Walk to Leith — Harbour — Docks — Return by Calton Hill — Nelson's Monument — Prospect — Dr. Dickson — Houses of Worship — St. Giles' — Episcopal Clergy — St. Pauls' and St. Johns' Chapels — Old Town — High Street — The Cowgate — Bridge Street— John Knox. . . , 434

CHAPTER XL VII. Edinburgh—New Town— Prince's Street— Regent Bridge„...George Street....Lord Melville's Monument....The Castle,. ..Portobello.... St. Anthony's Chapel.. ..Salisbury Crag.. ..Arthur's Seat...Craigmillar Castle.. .Holyrood House.. .Royal Chapel... Cemetery of Scottish Kings. ...Legend of the Abbey.. ..Queen Mary's Apartments.. ..Furniture.. ..Murder of Rizzio... .Traces of blood on the Floor.. ..Picture Gallery. .... 441

CHAPTER XLVIIL Dalkeith....Dalkeith House....Melville Castle

....Lasswade....Hawthornden Adventures, &c Roslin Castle...,

Chapel.. ..Ruins.... Scenery... .Return to Edinburgh. ...Dinner at Dr. H. 's....Vacations. .... 451

CHAPTER XLIX. Departure from Edinburgh...,Passage up the Forth....Dalmeny House....Hopetown House....Cambuskenneth Abbey ....Stirling Castle....Walk to Doune....Doune Castle....Walk to Callender.... River Teith.,..Bracklinn....Pass of Leny....Loch Lub-

naig....Loch Vennachar....Coilantogle's Ford Loch Auchray

Bridge of Turk....Arrival at Stewart's....Drunken Lieutenant. 460

CHAPTER L. The Trossachs....Loch Katrine....Ellen's Island.... Views on the Lake.. ..Changeful Appearance of Mountain Mists.... Battle of Beal' an Duine....Goblin's Cave....Scenery on the Banks of the Lake. ...Hut of a Highlander.. ..Loch Arkill....Inversnaid... .Falls ....Loch Lomond. 473

CHAPTER LI. Loch Lomond Steam^Boat, Party Amusing

Scene at Rob Roy's Cave... .Scenery of the Lake....Balloch,...Leven Water.. ..Dumbarton. ...Castle.. ..River Clyde.. ..Intemperance.... Arrival at Glasgow.,..The University. ...Hunter's Museum.. ..CathedreJ Kirk....Description of the city....Suburbs....Bridges....NeIson's Monument. . ........ 480

XII CONTENTS.

CHAPTER "LII. Departure from Glasgow.,..Kilmarnock..,.House of Burns.. .,Reflections...,Mauchlin. ...Sanquhar.. .. Nithsdale....Dumfries....Solway Sands.... Gretna Green... .Carlisle....Sunday....C,athedra]....St. Cuthbert's....Early History of Carlisle....City Walls....Citadel and Castle....Commercial Travellers....Departure,...Penrith....

Kendal Castle....CumberIand Mountains Lancaster....Castle....

Preston.... Arrival at Liverpool,... A. Hodgson, Esq Remarks. 490

CHAPTER LHI. Embarkation....Passengers....Bad Weather....Height of waves in a gale. ...Incident.. ..Appearance of the Sea on and off soundings.. ..Beautiful effects of light on the waves.. ..Idle hours at sea.. ..Land Birds... .Phenomena on the Grand Bank....Whales.... Prognostications of bad weather. ... . 502

CHAPTER LIV. Effects of a Long Gale on the Ocean....Beautiful Land Bird....Gale, and loss of the rudder.. ..Construction of a temporary rudder....Accidents....St. George's Bank....Sunday.... Whales ....Arrival on the Coast....Little Egg Harbour... .Favourable Weather, and arrival in New- York. . 511

CHAPTER I.

VOYAGE ACROSS THE ATLANTIC.

Voyages to Europe have now become of such frequenoy, and are performed with so much celerity in the regular packets, that in ordinary cases, a journal of occurrences can excite little interest beyond the circle of private friendship. Yet, probably few persons have traversed any considerable portion of the globe, without wishing afterwards that they had preserved some memorial of their adventures, however wanting in novelty or general interest ; were it only to enable them to restore impressions which are apt to fade from the memory, amid the busy scenes of life.

We sailed from New-York in the packet ship Cortes, De Cost, commander, on the 8th of September, 1823 ; but anchored within the Hook, the wind blowing strong from the eastward, and rolling in a heavy sea. Our spacious cabin is occupied by three passengers only ; my ship companions being a Lieutenant of our Navy, and an intelligent young Englishman, returning from his travels through various quarters of the globe. After lying two days at anchor, waiting in vain for a change of wind, and growing somewhat tired of our repose, we heard with peculiar pleasure the cheerful cry of the men at the windlass ; and a little after noon, commenced beating out of the channel. A few stretches brought us into the broken, tempestuous sea without the bar, which we soon exchanged for the longer and more regular swell of the ocean. By sun-set, the coast of New-Jersey exhibited only a fain purple streak in the western horizon ; which had entirely disappeared the next morning, leaving nothing for the eye to rest upon but a wide waste of waters, flashing and sparkling under the beams of a brilliant sun. It was the first time I had been out of sight of land ; and if some emotions of a pensive nature came over my feelings, as I looked in vain for a trace of my native land, they were probably no more than thousands have experienced before under similar circumstances, and thousands will experience again.

For ten days after we left Sandy Hook, we had to contend with an adverse wind, and our progress was of course tediously slow. The weather was however for the most part delightful, and our long stretches away to the southward frequently carried us into the Gulf Stream. This is always indicated by a more elevated temperature, both of the water and of the atmosphere ; and generally, by some irregularity in the swell of the ocean. Incidents we have had none to interrupt the monotonous regularity of our mode of life ; and the few vessels we have passed were so distant as to appear like specks in the horizon. We observed one day several fish of the Nautilus, or Portuguese man-of-war species, steering their little barks over the waves, with a steadiness and skill which to me were highly amusing. I had no opportunity of examining them ; but when seen from the deck, they appeared to be eight or ten inches long, and of a delicate purple colour, streaked and veined with pale red. A high dorsal fin, scallopped at the edge, and very much arched, extends the whole length of the fish, giving it at a distance the appearance of a delicate shell-fish floating on the surface. They are said to lie within a point or two of the wind, which they are enabled to do by their moorings, as the sailors call their long feelers ; and in this position, the wind acting obliquely on their little sail, gives them a side-long motion, the only one of which they appear to be capable. One of them under the lee of the vessel I observed to capsize, as he was caught in the eddy of the wind made by the ship's sails ; but after lying for a moment on his beam's ends, he righted and stood on his voyage. As I stood on the deck, watching the motions of these little navigators, probably the first who have spread their sails to the wind, I thought of the exclamation ot the Psalmist, " O Lord, how manifold are thy works ! In wisdom hast thou made them all," and fitted them for the sta» tions they are designed to occupy.

Judging by my own experience, there must be something in a sea life peculiarly calculated to dissipate the mind, and unfit it for a sober application to study. The time passes heavily, because it passes unemployed ; and few are capable of mental exertion, without an immediate exciting motive. While I am scribbling, one of my fellow passengers is practising the gamut with a flageolet, with which he had unluckily provided himself before leaving port ; the other is dozing over a Review ; and altogether, we exhibit a very edifying spectacle of idleness and ennui. Indeed, our living is strictly after the flesh. We eat, and drink, and sleep ; and this is the sum of our occupations. Conversation " grows drowsy like the ticking of a clock," when the labour of thinking is felt to be a burthen. No friendly gale has yet visited us, to diversify the sameness of the scene, and interrupt the stagnation of our thoughts. We have delicious moon-light evenings ; and a more delightful and inspiring scene can scarcely be imagined, than the calm hour of midnight, on shipboard, when the winds and waves are hushed, and the only sounds heard are the light rippling of the waters against the vessel's side, and the measured tread of the watch slowly pacing the deck.

On Friday, the 19th, the wind hauled round to the south, after blowing a fortnight from the eastward ; and for the first time since leaving port, gave a free course to the ship. During this and the four following days, it held in the same quarter, and swept us along from eight to eleven knots an hour, over a smooth sea. On Saturday, we spoke two vessels, one from Bristol and the other from Liverpool, both bound to Nova Scotia. Read to-day the first, and part of the second volume of Las Casas Journal of events at St. Helena. How profound is his admiration of Bonaparte ! He is another Boswell among biographers, only far more idolatrous. His hero, his model, his all-perfect man distinctly avows, that his " internal principles" present no obstacle to suicide ; and this, on more than one occasion. He calls it only " going a little sooner to his God ! !" What a thick moral darkness must have rested on that otherwise lun\inous mind ! What

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could such a being as he expect from an interview with his Maker ; hastened too by his own hand, in defiance of the published canon against self-murder ! His pride, and a faint hope of a turn in publick affairs, kept him from cutting his own throat ! He would not gratify the English ministry so far as to take himself out of the way. His internal principles Were, that death is an eternal sleep ; in maintaining which, he seems to have forgotten his position concerning suicide, — that it was only going a little sooner to his God. And could he seriously believe, that the burning spirit which for fifteen years had kept Europe on fire, and consumed millions of its population — which had worked out human misery on a scale of such magnitude, that mankind absolutely forgot his atrocities in the grandeur of his conceptions — that this spirit would be allowed at death to sink into an everlasting sleep ? The truth is, his thoughts on these subjects were wild, crude, and contradictory in the extreme — a chaos of tumultuary dreams, amidst which his agitated spirit found no certain resting-place. Of the existence of a book containing the Revelations of God, he seems scarcely to have been aware ; and we therefore cease to feel surprise at the childishness and incoherency of his speculations.

Sunday, Sept. 21st. On reading the XlVth chapter of Isaiah, I was struck with the resemblance between the career and fate of the king of Babylon, and those of the modern hero. How terribly grand are the conceptions of the prophet ! No sooner has the conqueror fallen, than praise and acclamation burst forth from the nations ; " the whole earth is at rest, and is quiet ; they break forth into singing." Even the fir-trees and cedars of Lebanon rejoice over the fall of the destroyer. But the poetry rises in grandeur, when the dead hero descends to the shades below. The spirits of the mighty, aware of the crimes of his military career, had impatiently awaited his descent into their dreary domain. Hell from beneath is stirred up at his coming. The shades of kings and chief ones of the earth start up from their couches, and hail his approach with bitter taunts, and in a strain of irony which makes one's blood thrill, as they bend their keen vision on the

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Overthrown man of blood. They affect surprise, that he, the mighty conqueror, the weakener of nations, had at length become like one of them ; and as they move towards him in a procession of slow and mocking solemnity, as if to do homage to his greatness, how is the effect heightened by the narrow and considering look with which they regard him ! How keenly reproachful is the half ironical, half serious exclamation of surprise, at seeing him there — " Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms ; that made the world as a wilderness ! All the kings of the nations, (the righteous ones, doubtless) even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house, (his grave ;) but thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch — thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land^ and slain thy people." What a terrible dramatist was this prophet ! What a lesson for conquerors ! The worshippers of Shakespeare's genius may be safely challenged to produce a parallel, or any thing approaching it, in the characteristics of sublimity and terror. The scene is laid " in the nether parts of the earth ;" the actors are the shades of kings and heroes ; and the action represented is the descent of a spirit, stained with the crimes of ambition and conquest.

It is mid-day ; and our friends in America are assembled for morning worship in the courts of the Lord. In England, the bells are chiming for evening prayers ; but here, our ears are saluted only by the roar of waters. But why may we not join the Psalmist, in summoning the inanimate works of creation to praise God in the firmament of his power. " Let the sea make a noise, and all that therein is. — Let the floods clap their hands, and rejoice before the Lord ; for he cometh to judge the earth."

Nothing can be more delightful than our progress to-day. The heavens are remarkably serene ; the air bland and temperate ; and a strong, steady breeze from the south-west urges us on at the rate of nine or ten knots an hour, with very little rolling motion. About 2 o'clock, however, having reached the eastern borders of the Grand Bank, we were suddenly enveloped in a fog so thick, that we could scarcely 2* "^ see the ship's length ; and our deck and rigging were drenched with mist. The bell is rung at short intervals, to give notice of our approach to any vessel that may happen to be in our way.

The reading of Las Casas yesterday, introduced a discussion relative to the hero of the tale, in which opposite sides were taken by the company. How is it possible that republicans, champions of political freedom and of the sovereignty of the people, can warmly vindicate the military career of that great enslaver, whose only grasp was at power, and who extinguished every kind of freedom but what depended on his own will ! For the sycophants of an absolute monarchy to laud him, is natural enough ; but for republicans to " throw up their caps , and utter such a deal of stinking breath," in praise of their idol, is a striking example of the strange inconsistency into which men are carried by their political prejudices, and their admiration of dazzling qualities, independently of their moral nature.

Monday. — The breeze continues to favour us, and we are gaining on our distance at the rate of two hundred miles a day, through a mist which almost turns day into night. We have made about 26^ of Longitude, equal to a little more than a third of our voyage ; but v/ith such prosperous winds as those with which we have been favoured latterly, we hope soon to greet the cliffs of Albion. I strive in vain to recall the feelings of enthusiasm, with which in my boyhood I regarded that country. Ten years ago, what ecstasy would have been in the thought of seeing Westminster Abbey, and ivy-hung ruins of castles, and mighty London, and Scotch glens — objects associated with our earliest reading and most lasting impressions ; but some how or other, " these visions flit less palpably before me," now that they are apparently so near being reahzed. But so it is. Pleasure, anticipated at a distance, is often entertained with a keener reUsh, than when the fruition of it is at hand.

Good resolutions. — A few days ago, my companions discussed a plan for a more profitable employment of time, which resulted in a resolution to rise at 6, and devote two hours to French and ItaUan. Their operations began and were terminated on the following day ; and now, the bell is resorted to, to summon them to breakfast.

While sitting to-day at dinner, the mate called out at the companion-way — An ice-berg on our lee ! The table was cleared in an instant, and all ran upon deck for a sight of this unexpected phenomenon. The fog held up a little, and disclosed to our view a field of ice, about four or five miles to the northward. We could form no opinion of its extent, as it was concealed in both directions by the density of the fog. The same cause prevented us from deriving any assistance from the telescope ; but as the fog was lifted up at intervals, we could see the surf breaking against the base of the pile. The mass towered to the height of two or three hundred feet, and appeared of a dirty white colour. The partial obscurity in which it was shrouded, added to its terrific grandeur. The irregular front, which was visible through the mist, must have extended along a line of a quarter of a mile, or more. We thought of the fate of the Liverpool packet, which a few years ago struck against an ice-berg, and went down in a few minutes, bvuying most of its passengers and crew in the deep ; and felt thankful for our pi'eservation. Had the floating pile lay in our way the night before, when we were running at the rate often knots an hour, in the midst of a dense fog, our destruction must have been inevitable. Ice-bergs are extremely uncommon in this latitude at this late season of the year, as they have generally crumbled away long before the summer has expired. The one we saw occurred in Lat. 45° 50' and Lon. 43° 20' — a little to the south-east of the Outer or False Bank.