Silent, and chaste, she steals along, Intent upon her destin'd course: Graceful, and useful, all she does, And Heav'n reflected in her face! Now this is not so exclusively applicable to a maiden, as to be the sole property of your Sister Shuttleworth. If you look at Mrs. Unwin, you will see, that she has not lost her right, to this just praise, by marrying you. Your Mother sends her love to all, and mine comes jogging along by the side of it. your friendship, that you could prevail with yourself, in a time of such terror and distress, to send us repeated accounts of your's, and Mrs. Newton's welfare; you supposed, with reason enough, that we should be apprehensive for your safety, situated, as you were, apparently, within the reach of so much danger. We rejoice that you have escaped it all, and that, except the anxiety which you must have felt, both for yourselves and others, you have suffered nothing upon this dreadful occasion. A metropolis in flames, and a nation in ruins, are subjects of contemplation, for such a mind as yours, that will leave a lasting impression behind them. It is well that the design died in the execution, and will be buried, I hope, never to rise again, in the ashes of its own combustion. There is a melancholy pleasure, in looking back upon such a scene, arising from a comparison of possibilities, with facts; the enormous bulk of the intended mischief, with the abortive and partial accomplishment of it; much was done, more indeed than could have been supposed practicable, in a well-regulated city, not unfurnished with a military force for its protection. But surprise, and astonishment, seem, at first, to have struck every nerve of the police, with a palsy-and to have disarmed government of all its powers. I congratulate you upon the wisdom, that withheld you from entering yourself a member of the Protestant association. Your friends, who did so, have reason enough to regret their doing it, even though they should never be called upon. Innocent as they are, and they who know them, cannot doubt of their being perfectly so, it is likely to bring an odium on the profession they make, that will not soon be forgotten. Neither is it possible, for a quiet, inoffensive man, to discover, on a sudden, that his zeal has carried him into such company, without being to the last degree, shocked at his imprudence. Their religion was an honourable mantle, like that of Elijah, but the majority wore cloaks of Guy Fawkes's time, and meant nothing so little, as what they pretended. LETTER LII. W. C. To the Revd. WILLIAM UNWIN. June 18, 1780. Reverend, and dear William, the affairs of kingdoms, and the concerns of individu als, are variegated alike with the checker-work of joy and sorrow, The news of a great acquisition in America, has succeeded to terrible tumults in London, and the beams of prosperity are now playing upon the smoke of that conflagration which so lately terrified the whole land. These sudden changes, which are matter of every man's observation, and may therefore, always be reasonably expected, serve to hold up the chin of despondency above water, and preserve mankind in general from the sin, and misery, of accounting existence a burden, not to be endured -an evil, we should be sure to encounter, if we were not warranted to look for a bright reverse of our most afflictive experiences. The Spaniards were sick of the war, at the very commencement of it; and I hope, that by this time, the French themselves, begin to find themselves a little indisposed, if not desirous of peace, which that restless, and meddling temper of theirs, is incapable of desiring for its own sake. But is it true, that this detestable plot was an egg laid in France, and hatched in London, under the influence of French corruption?-Nam te scire, deos quoniam propiùs contingis, oportet. The offspring has the features of such a parent, and yet, without the clearest proof of the fact, I would not willingly charge upon a civilized nation, what perhaps the most barbarous would abhor the thought of. I no sooner saw the surmise however, in the paper, than I immediately began to write Latin verses upon the occasion. "An odd effect" you will say, " of such a circumstance:"-But an effect nevertheless, that whatever has, at any time, moved my passions, whether pleasantly, or otherwise, has always had upon me: Were I to express what I feel, upon such occasions, in prose, it would be verbose, inflated, and disgusting. I, therefore, have recourse to verse, as a suitable vehicle for the most vehement expressions my thoughts suggest to me. What I have written, I did not write so much for the comfort of the English, as for the mortification of the French. You will immediately perceive, therefore, that I have been labouring in vain, and that this bouncing explosion is likely to spend itself in the air. For I have no means of circulating what follows, through all the French territories; and unless that, or something like it, can be done, my indignation will be entirely fruitless. Tell me how I can convey it into Sartine's pocket, or who will lay it upon his desk for me. But read it first, and unless you think it pointed enough to sting the Gaul to the quick, burn it. |