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Strew'd you (still mindful of th' unshelter'd head)

Burdens of straw, the cattle's welcome bed?

Thine heart should feel, what thou may'st hourly see,

That duty's basis is humanity. Of Pain's unsavoury cup though thou may'st taste

(The wrath of Winter from the bleak north-east,)

Thine utmost suff'rings in the coldest day

A period terminates, and joys repay. Perhaps e'en now, while here those joys we boast,

Full many a bark rides down the neighb'ring coast,

Where the high northern waves tre

mendous roar, Drove down by blasts from Norway's icy shore.

The sea-boy there, less fortunate than thou,

Feels all thy pains in all the gusts that

blow;

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Increasing pleasures every hour they find,

The warmth more precious, and the shelter kind;

Warmth that long reigning bids the eyelids close,

As through the blood its balmy influence goes,

When the cheer'd heart forgets fatigues and cares,

And drowsiness alone dominion bears." BLOOMFIELD.

till I had reached the village of These thoughts filled my mind N-, where memory reminded me of the fate of poor Jane S the daughter of a respectable innkeeper there.. It may form a lesson for the female mind; and although many men may laugh at the story, and ridicule me for introducing it, still it must interest

every feminine breast that is not callous to the sufferings of its own sex; and I am proud of my country in this particular: for, notwithstanding all the witty effusions against the scandal, illthe women of this isle, I would nature, and other ill qualities of fain inquire where is the country upon earth, whose females can boast of so much real modesty, real affection, and true charity, as the blooming females of Great Britain. Ever may these be their characteristics; ever may their the best that human nature can breasts glow with these sensations, feel.

Jane S, at the age of nineteen, was as pleasing a female as the eye would wish to gaze on; she had not, perhaps, all the dazdames, but there was a diffidence zling beauty of more polished in her manner, an unassuming benevolence in her countenance, that was far preferable to it. About this time a young man

came to reside in the village as the foreman to a large manufactory; he possessed a fine person, and a remarkably insinuating address, which made his company much sought; and in his pleasurable parties he frequently used the house of Jane's father: this led him into the company of the unsuspicious fair one, to whom he soon paid his addresses, and at length solicited her hand. She, loving him as she did, with all the fervour of true affection, easily promised for herself; but her father was not so easily persuaded. He very properly recollected that this young man was a total stranger; who, or what his friends were, was totally unknown; it was indeed ascertained that he was a native of a northern county, but there was altogether such a degree of mystery about him, that, added to a report which had been circulated, of his having already got a wife and family in some distant part of the kingdom, induced him to give a positive denial. Madly infatuated, poor Jane listened to the persuasive language that fell from the villain's tongue, left her father's house, was united to him, and continued to reside in the same place, though unnoticed by her father or her friends. The motive which evidently had induced her husband to this conduct, was that of her being the only daughter of a man he knew to possess considerable property, some of which he hoped to obtain. Two years elapsed, and Jane had brought him two children; when positive inteligence reached her father of the residence of the wife and children this miscreant had deserted; he immediately journeyed to the place, and discovered them in a state of the most abject

misery, partly supported by the parish, and partly by the poor woman's labour. During his ab sence, this fiend in human shape having already found he should not be able to obtain any money from Jane's father, and dreading prosecution now that he knew the abode of his deserted wife was discovered, left poor Jane pregnant of her third child, after having plundered her of every thing he could, and it is supposed got off to America, for he has never since that time been heard of.

Jane's father, on his return, found his daughter in a dreadful state of anguish. He instantly took her back to his own home, where every thing has been done to alleviate her sorrows; but the wound is too deep ever to be healed: she is like an early flower blighted by the bitter blast; and the only solace of her anguished moments is to hang over her uofortunate infants, down whose unconscious cheeks often fall her tears of agonized sensibility. Her miserable situation brought to my memory these lines:—

"But, ah! on Sorrow's cypress bough

On Death's cold cheek will passion glow? Can Beauty breathe her genial bloom? Or music warble from the tomb?' OGILVIE.

If this plain, matter-of-fact story should be the mean of snatching but one infatuated female from the grasp of duplicity and iniqui ty, I shall be more than happy; for, alas! the fair sex are but too often sacrificed to beings who are totally undeserving of them..

A degree of fog began now to prevail, and I did not think it advisable to extend my ramble; I therefore faced about, and began my return home, where I shortly

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All wore the gloom of Winter's bitter

sway,

Dark as December's dull and dreary day!

Those minds alone have Nature's sweets enjoy'd, Where Pleasure's wild abuses never cloy'd;

Nor too much sorrow overcame their' pow'rs,

24. Mr. Chivers, of Clapham Common, killed by his gardener.

FEBRUARY.

3. The battle of Eylau between the French and Russians fought: the slaughter was very great on both sides, and both claimed the victory.

23. A dreadful accident happened in the Old Bailey at the execution of Holloway and Haggerty for the murder of Elizabeth Godfrey for stabbing Richard Mr. Steele in November 1802, and Prince; when, from the prodigious pressure of the crowd, twenty-eight persons lost their lives, and a still greater number were dreadfully bruised and wounded. See page 113.

25-28. The unsuccessful attempt on the Dardanelles and the city of Constantinople made by the squadron under Sir J. T. Duckworth.

MARCH.

ham by a court-martial, for quitting his 6-11. The trial of Sir Home Popcommand, without orders or authority station with the squadron under his from his superiors; of which charge he was found guilty, and adjudged to be severely reprimanded.

20. The city of Alexandria in Egypt surrendered to the English troops under

To blunt the ecstasy of heav'n-bright major-general Frazer.

hours."

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25. The late ministry resigned their offices by his Majesty's cominand; when the duke of Portland was ap pointed first lord of the treasury; lord Hawkesbury, lord Castlereagh, and Mr. Canning, secretaries of state; and (on the 27th) Mr. Percival chancellor of the exchequer.

27. The parliament prorogued. 29. The proclamation for the dissolution of parliament signed by his Majesty,

MAY.

2. A duel was fought near Combe Wood between sir Francis Burdett and Mr. Paull, when Mr. Paull was severely wounded in the leg, and sir Francis shot through the upper part of the thigh.

6. The election for the city of London commenced, which was expected to be rery warmly contested; but Mr.

1

i

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5. The election for Yorkshire closed, when Mr. Wilberforce and lord Milton were declared duly elected.

14. The decisive battle of Friedland fought between the French and Russians, in which the latter lost above 30,000 men, and 80 pieces of cannon.

22. An armistice concluded between Russia and France.

24. The conference between Bonaparte and the emperor of Russia on a raft in the middle of the Niemen.

29. The return of sir Francis Burdett for the city of Westminster celebrated, on which occasion sir Francis rode in a lofty car from his house to the Crown and Anchor tavern in the

Strand.

JULY.

7. The duchess of Brunswick landed at Gravesend.

16. The emperor of Russia arrived at St. Petersburgh, after having concluded the peace of Tilsit.

26. Bonapare arrived at St. Cloud, having returned from the army in Poland.

AUGUST.

3. The first division of the English fleet employed in the expedition to Copenhagen arrived off the castle of Cronberg in the Sound.

16. The English troops landed on the island of Zealand without opposition.

29. Orders issued to detain ail Danish vessels, and send in all ships of that nation.

SEPTEMBER.

7. The city of Copenhagen, surrendered after a bombardment of three nights, and the English fleet and army took possession of the fleet and arsenals of Denmark, and of the city of Copenhagen.

12. Intelligence received from lieutenant-general Whitelocke that an attack made by the British troops on the town of Buenos Ayres having completely failed, a convention had been entered into to evacuate South America within two months on condition that all the prisoners should be restored.

18. The powder-mills at Feversham blew up, and six men and three horses were killed.

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VOL. XXXVIII.

5 A

POETICAL ESSAYS.

ELEGY

WRITTEN BENEATH A PILE OF RUINS.

[After the Manner of Gray's Elegy.]

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Grav'd on the rugged stones we scatter'd find,

The sacred praise of souls for ever fled.

Yon frowning turrets now with ivy crown'd,

Those gloomy cells with waving moss

o'ergrown,

Might once confine a warrior re nown'd,

Or echo'd to a penitential's moan.

The vaulted chapel that was once so grand,

That echo'd with the pealing organ's sound,

Where once the pious monk, with uplift hand,

Or bent in meek devotion to the ground.

But now, alas! in ruins all are seen,

And scatter'd fragments burst upon the sight,

Whilst nought is heard but the dread raven's scream,

Or birds ill-omen'd hov'ring thro' the night.

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