THE unpleasant parts of thefe reflections were, however, for awhile banished 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 ftupendous edifices, which, like floating towns, were to tranfport their various productions and inhabitants from clime to clime. Some perhaps deftined to touch at new and undiscovered fhores, and bring home accounts of manners and of customs yet ftrange to European ears; others, perhaps, together with the articles of traffic, to convey the lights of fcience into depotic empires; and others, ftill, to bring from tranfatlantic regions new leffons of frugal liberty and difinterefted patriotifm. Now roving over the fpacious apartments of nearly finished veffels, my fancy 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 fkeletons, upon which the artists were at work, I was loft in aftonishment 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 some full rigged veffels (if fo those 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 furnish 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. 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 spend 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 circumstances 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 opportunity of propofing fome random fuggeftion, in hopes that from the correction of their error, you may be led to the train of information fo de voutly 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 fo broad and general a propofition to commence with, as he fuppofed could expofe him to no danger of mistake; 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 meafure his lordship for his birth-day honours, or to try on my lady's fhpper 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 vanity of arbitrary and ideal distinctions, had given any involuntary emphafis of triumph to my manner of making this brief reply, or whether it was the flavish impreffion of these fuppofed diftinctions that operated fpontaneously on his mind; but certain it is that the old failor began to teftify his confufion by awkward apologies for his mistake. I do not like to fee one human be. ing fo much humiliated before another, for circumstances that claim no humiliation; and I had the greater reafon to repent of my reply, as I feared the falfe eflimate of my importance might prevent that freedom of converfation from which alone the human heart can be revealed, and thofe fhades and distinctions 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 fhould have confidered it as no difgrace to be what he fupposed, 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 concluded with obferving, that though I was not a tradefman, I had neverthelefs the honour of earning my lihood by my own industry. live The manner in which I delivered this, in fome degree, anfwered 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 myfelf, he fell into a kind of converfation much more to my purpose, as it gave me fome infight into his character and fentiments, and confirmed the impreflions his phyfiognomy had at firft made. The good old Scotchman had rather an intelligent mind, with regard to to those things which had come within the fphere of his obfervation, and feemed to have been curious to enquire, and to animadvert, as far as his opportunities and mental cultivation would permit: and with regard to the latter, it must be obferved, to the credit of his countrymen, that they have generally a confiderable advantage over thofe on our fide of the Tweed in fimilar circumstances. He had feen fome fervice it feemed: yet he boafted of no exploits; but the modeft indifference with which he fpoke of battles, cannon balls, and wounds, gave me a higher opinion of his valour, than all the fwaggering oaths that were ever thundered forth from under the most formidable cocked hat in the universe could poffibly have inspired. But what charmed me moft in this honest Scot, were the evident benevolence of his mind, and the piety and morality that gave a ferious tint to the whole of his converfation; from the first to the last of which, nothing like an oath or an indecent allufion escaped from his lips. The latter of thefe pleafing circumftances, it must also be admitted, is fomewhat more frequently to be obferved among the lower orders of our northern, than of our 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 inculcated in, the two branches of the empire. With refpect to the former, indeed, I was forry to find, that, in fo frank and honest a mind, as I am fure this poor fellow poffeffes, the influences of habit and profeffional prejudice 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 furprise that I heard a man, who had uttered many things that bore the strongest marks of threwd good fenfe, talk of this tedious peace as a caufe of the decline of trade and plenty. 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 !' Indeed I prefently found how little reafon I had to be furprifed at his opinion; his whole life, from fourteen or fixteen years of age, till now that he was between fixty and seventy, having been spent, between the dockyard and the man of war: and there can be no doubt but that money never circulates fo freely, as in times of war and tumult, among failors, ship-carpenters, and the publicans, who live in the neighbourhood of fea-ports; the two latter of, which were the only defcriptions of tradefinen of whom he had any accurate idea. Adieu, good, honest, but mistaken tar! harfh indeed were the cenfor that fhould condemn thy unlettered prejudices, when those who boast so much of their refinement, are so frequently the flaves of as palpable delufions, and the followers even of liberal profeffions can be blinded against the pure light of philofophic liberty, and the genuine principles of fubftantial justice, by a flavish attachment to hereditary maxims, and established precedents! Picturefque Scenery. HAVING fpent (but not wasted I truft) more time in this converfation than I originally intended, I next took my folitary ftation on the huge flood-gates, that detained the water (for the tide was then low) in the principal lock; and while the dafhing of the wave, rufhing from a casual apperture near the fummit, foothed my penfive ear, I indulged the vifual fenfe, with the rich profpects afforded by the luxuriant fhores and busy furface of the winding Thames; not among the leaft delightful objects of which fcene must be noticed, the excellent and magnificent structure which furveys furveys its majestic image, agitated on the fwelling and tranfparent bofom of the paffing ftream:-an edifice in which, I could not but reflect, if the abuse of patronage, and the more favoured claims of pimping lackies, might leave a vacancy for those who are entitled to its protection, the old fai or I had been converfing with ought furely to have been provided with a comfortable lodging. In the pleafing contemplation of the varied fcene now before me, and in recalling to mind the poetical allufions, with which thefe profpects and this famous ftream have fupplied fome of our most admired poets, I continued for a confiderable time in this fituation, till the fun, verging toward the western horizon, warned me to refresh myself with a frugal repaft, and return to the focial delights of my own home. The fplendid appearances of the varied fky, from which the glorious regent of the day had juft difappeared before I loft fight of the rural scene, crowned the rational pleasures of my excurfion; and the adventures I had met with, fimple as they were, and the temperate fatigue I had endured, had an equal tendency to enliven the hour of domeftic converfation, and give fweetnefs to the repofe which I retired at night to enjoy. PARTICULARS of the CHARACTER and PRIVATE LIFE of TIPPOO SULTAN: Written December 1790. [ From Mr. Alexander Dalrymple's Oriental Repertory.] TIPPOO SULTAN is about fortythree years of age, his conftitution much impaired. He is five feet eight or nine inches high; now rather inclining to fat; there is much fire in his countenance; he wears whiskers, but no beard; is very active, and sometimes takes long walks. He has eleven children, of whom only two are married. His difpofition is cruel, his temper paffionate and revengeful. His policy has been ruinous, to his revenues, and hurtful to his government. He fometimes rises at feven o'clock, but more commonly at eight or nine. On halting days he washes and takes medicine; the barber then begins to have him, during which the newfwriter comes in with the letters, that have arrived by the tappauls, and relates the news of the feveral countries, as he has received it. The officer commanding his guard then comes in, and makes his report, after which the adjutants of corps come and make a report of their relpective corps. About 2 twelve o'clock he goes to dinner, which is over in about an hour; he then holds his durbar, and tranfacts all bufinefs, civil and military, until five o'clock; he then gives out the parole, which he takes from the planets or figns of the zodiac, writing it himself in a book, which is depofited with his own guard; where the ad; jutant-generals come and take it: after which he lays down, and fleeps about an hour, rifes and makes his fecond meal: the fecretaries are then called in, they read the letters that have been received during the day, and he gives his orders for anfwering them; all this done, and the letters prepared for dispatch, about two or three in the morning he goes to reft. On marching days where there is no immediate exigency, the army feldom moves before eight o'clock, after Tippoo has taken his breakfast; he goes in his palanquin, on the march, and if any thing particular occurs, he immediately mounts his horse. PIC. |