Gleanings through Wales, Holland, and Westphalia. 4th ed. To which is added, Humanity; a poem. 5th ed

THRO'JGJC

WALES, HOLLAND, AND WESTPHALIA.
FOURTH EDITION.

TO WHICH IS

HUMANITY;

A POEM.

FIFTH EDITION.

•>—

BY

Mr. PRATT,

VOLUME I.

" See, content, the humble Gleaner
«• Takes the fcatter'd ears that fill."

LONDON :
PRINTED FOR T. N. LONGMAN, PATERNOSTER-ROW.

1798,

ADVERTISEMENT,

To offer to the Publick a book of entertain-
ment and of uje, for the underftanding, 'the fancy,
and the affections , various in matter, and in manner
unhackneyed — to check the heady current of national
prejudice in Tome Inflames, to animate genius and
liberal thinking in others ; to encourage the glow of
rational liberty, and to curb lawlefs irregularity in
all: to combine Jubjetls for profound 'reflection with
amufing remarks, and with the calamities of war to
contrafl the comforts of peace ; diverfifying and re-
lieving the whole by appropriate narratives, and ad-
ventures, and imagery, has been the endeavour of the
author in theje Volumes : and he could not but con-
fider the pleajure he had in writing them, in fome
Jort, an earnefl of their furnijhing proportionate
fatisfaftion in reading. The rapid difperjicn of the
firfl,Jecond, and third editions in times like the/e, and in
an age of trips and tours — and the favour with whkh
the work has been diflinguijhed by perfons of all
parties, encouraging the belief that, after long abfence
from the prejs, the author has not again come forward
unadvijedly. This has invigorated his befl efforts
to render the prejent imprejjion more worthy its
honours.

VOL. r. a in

ADVERTISEMENT.

In deference to the counfel offome rejpeftable cri-
ticks, the author has entirely revifed the latter part
of the Third Volume, which fainted the atrocities of
the beginnings of the French Revolution •> and for
the Jake of Jhuddering humanity, as well as in juftice
to the more manly Jyjlem of government now prevail-
ing, he has abridged, or wholly left out many of th$
inftances of horror : And the particulars he has Juf-
fered to remain are for the fake of example to fur^
rounding nations.

. — The author avails himfelf of a hint he has received
as a further proof of the refemblance betwixt the Welch and
Germans, mentioned in page 233, vol. 3, noticing the colony
from the Low Countries, planted by Edward the Third, in
Wales, where evident veftiges of their race, manners, and Ian,
guage, are vifible to this day.

(fcfT As the fenfe in which the word Chivalry is ufed in a paf-
fage, page 235, vol. 3. has been pointed out as liab>. to mifcon-
ception, the author muft obferve that he did not, thereby, intend
to exprefs the chivalry introduced into Europe in the eighth and
ninth centuries, but merely as the beft word he could felecl: to
defcribe that enthufiaftick ardour which has led men in all ages
to great and heroick atchicvernents.

DEDICATION.

DEDICATION.

JDUT that the Author knows TRUE
GENEROSITY is ever governed by TRUE
DELICACY, he (hould with Pleafure and with
Pride, enrich his Work with an Account of
Aftions, that would juftify him in changing
the humble Title of his Book into fomething
expreffive of the copious Harveft, which
Talents, Virtues, and Misfortunes have been
continually reaping from the Bounty of an
Individual, whofe Powers, though large,
are far lefs ample than his Inductions, to
do good.

a 2

Without

Vlll DEDICATION.

Without farther Obfervation, therefore,
THESE LETTERS,

NOW COLLECTED INTO VOLUMES,

ARE OFFERED
/

AS A TESTIMONY OF SINCERE RESPEC^

FOR GENERAL CHARACTER-,

AND AS A TRIBUTE OF GRATITUDE

FOR PARTICULAR KINDNESS',

TO

RICHARD BARWELL, Es<^ M. P.

INTRO-

INTRODUCTION.

IT is neceflary to premife, that the
unforefeen delays which have attended this
publication, have given time for great and
material alterations in that part, an inconfider-
able one, indeed, which relates to the fyftem
of the French Republick. Softening gradu-
ally from wildnefs, ferocity, and tyranny,
from the laft excefles of more than favage
rancour and affaffination, into the milder
forms of refiftance to authorities, which they
are ftill determined to queftion ; the obferver,
who before regarded that people with feelings
of utter abhorrence and of complete indig-
nation, as an horde of robbers and of mur-
derers, trampling down every law of Nature,
and Nature's God ; muft view them in their

a 3 now

X INTRODUCTION,

now altered ftate, with different eyes and with
different fentiments.

It was impoffible for an honeft man to fee
what was adting on the bloody theatre of the
French nation, while fuch an example of
human degeneracy as Roberfpierre fitted the
fcene and conducted the drama, without exe-
crating every meafure adopted by that Scourge
of Mankind-, but it would be as palpable an-
abfurdity to confound their former with their
prelent conduct, as to compare utter darknefe
with the manifeft rays of returning light.

The author cannot, in any one featisre,
foften the juft portrait he has drawn of the
horrors which, to the point of time he held
the pencil, deformed their devoted land.
Neither can he, with feelings that would

4 fatisfy

INTRODUCTION.

XI

fatisfy his own heart, omit the opportunity of
foftening many of the {hades, and of expref-
fing a wifh, interesting to every fibre of that
heart, and he trufts of millions more, that
the pi&ure not only of the bleeding land
alluded to, but of every other over which the
fword of defolation is yet drawn, may foon
exhibit in the beft light that PEACE WHICH

IS MORE GLORIOUS THAN VICTORY.

The greater part, however, of, thefe pages,
being written on lefs local, and of courfe,
more comfortable, becaufe more humane
fubjefls — -the beauties of nature and of art — -
will lofe nothing of their intcreft, by being

thus " mixed with bafcr matter ;" for fuch

>

war mud ever be confitfer^d, vyhether fi\}(h$d

\vith ,conq\ieft, or humbled by defeat. The

a 4 utility i

XII INTRODUCTION.

utility, indeed, of fuch obfervations-, as are
defigned to

" Guide the traveller on his

and affift him in the article of expence, &c.
&c. muft of courie be practically fufpended.
For while every path abroad is clogged with
blood, it is to be prefumed that few, even of
thofe who are difpofed to quarrel with their
country, will, uncalled by duty, forfake that
happy land in whofe bofom, amidft all their
difcontent, they ftill find a SECURE AND

PEACEFUL HOME.

On a return to that peaceful homey after
looking for fo long a time on its turbulent
contraft in other lands, the Author hefitates
not to confefs, that he felt all the ardour of a
Briton, and amidft the laudable enthufiafm of

that

INTRODUCTION.

that character, woo'd once more the Mufe of
Sympathy, to pay her honeft tribute to the
country, which, in comparifon of others,
he found, literally, what that Mufe had
called it,

" Th' afylum of the fufFering earth/*

With the facred effuiions then, that on this
convi&ion flowed from his grateful heart, he
(hall open his remarks — in the courfe of
which he flatters himfelf no narrow preju-
dices of any kind will be found. On the
contrary, prejudices will be ftrongly com-
bated, whether the growth of his ovvn or of
any other country.

BENEVOLENCE OF ENGLAND,

ADDRESSED

TO

ALIENS AND NATIVES.

THESE VERSES,

DESCRIPTIVE Oy THE CHARACTER OF

THE BRITISH NATION,

ARE,

NOT HUMBLY, BUT PROUDLY,

FROM A CONVICTION OF THEIR TRUTH,

INSCRIBED

ALIENS AND NATIVES

OF ALL PARTIES.

O D E

BENEVOLENCE OF ENGLAND,

i.

STRANGER ! would'ft thou ALBION know ?

Afk the family of woe.

Afk the tribes who fwarming round,

In her arms have fuccour found ;

Or, if one of that fad band,

Thou haft fought her facred land,

To thy Heart thou may 'ft refer

For BRITANNIA'S character!

If that heart hath pow'r to feel,

This glorious truth it will reveal :

* This Ode was finely recited by Mr. Pope at Free Mafons'-
Hall, on its firft appearance in a feparate form.

Be

C *K ]

Be thou the humbled child e'en Care will own,
Or the illuftrious ruin of a throne,
'Twas not thy rank or ftation — 'twas thy GRIEF,
Spread her protecting arms to offer thee relief.

Yet, flranger! had'ft thou brought her mines

of wealth,

Or come beneath the Jmile of Heaven,
In all the gay feftivity of health,

Thou had'ft but baught what me has given :
Nor had thy purchased welcome been fincere,
But never can'ft thou doubt her homage to thy
tear.

in.

* / 1

Behold th' immeafurable train of care,

Exil'd, like thee, to our BRITANNIA come I
She, their fure refuge in the laft defpair,
The Child of Sorrow's univerfal Home.
Her Peafants with her Princes vie
Who fhall fofteft balms fupply :

Tbefe.

t[ xxi ]
Thefe their Palaces beftow,
And fcepter'd Grief forgets its woe ;
Thofe uplift the lowly latch,
And beckon forrow to their thatch,
riend to the wretched ! ALBION'S equal eye
Warms like the Sun, ALL human rnifery.

IV.

But, favour'd Stranger ! would'fl thou know yet

more

Her temper — fee her in the grace of Pow'r :
Oh ! if, by fome reverfe of fudden fate,
Conqueft again fhould on her Banners wait, •
And her now exulting Foe
Yield to all-fubduing woe,
And in the hour of need her aid implore,

From vicVry fallen to diflrefs,
The Lion rage of ALBION would be o'er,

Prompt to Pardon and to blefs -,
Her mighty heart, would by the warmth of

love,
Melt to the foftnefs of the mated dove..

VOL. i. b Ye

v.

Ye fragments of each plundered coaft !

Check the Mufe, if here fhe boaft,
No, ye fad Band ! who midft your ruins fmile ;
Ye own, for ye have felt, the Genius of our
Ifle:

ALBION fuccours all who figh,

Such is her EQUALITY.

i

VI.

Sure, Pity's angel at her birth,
Breath'd bounty in her foul to temper Pow'r,
And bade her be, in deep Misfortune's hour,

TbJ afylum cfthejuff'ring Earth.

VII.

Say ye, who with her fpirit proudly glow,
Her native fons — fay, have ye in her laws,

Ye who have dar'd to hope for Heaven below,
Found, as her earthly mark, fome venial
flaws ?

Nobly

[ xxiii }

Nobly reform them — but, with filial hand,
Devote yourfelves to fave a generous Land.
Who, in an hour like this, but would his force

impart —

His arm, his blood— to guard a parent's heart ?
Say ye, who now defended by her Laws,

Ye Strangers in her gate, would ye not rife,
As her adofted Sons, to aid her Caufe,

And, dying, triumph in the facrifice ?
Yes ! ye have feen the wretch, howe'er op-

prefs'd,

To her fhelt'ring bofom fly,
As if it were their tender mother's breaft,
And there as in a cradle lye.

via.

And fhall thofe whom (he has bread,

Nurs'd in her arms, and at her bofom fed;

Shall her own Sons, whom firft fhe taught to

know

The aweful Rights e'en of that Alien's woe>
And all the facred truths which lye
In the rich code of Hofpitality •,

b 2 Sfeali

t XX'IV 3

Shall they, forgetful of the precepts giv'n,

Call down the^ " THANKLESS CHILDS" dread

curfe from Heav'n ?

Ah ! no ! To fa ye her from a threatened Wound,
What hofts have perifh'd on the reeking ground !
Nor mail th' embattled Thoufands that remain
Ina6tive view this crifis of their fate :
Her Patriots with a manly pride,
All little quarrels thrown afide,
All petty ftrife for place or power,
The contefts of an idle hour,
Shall with one foul unanimoufly great,
By wifdom and heroick deeds embalm their
Breth'ren ftraight !

IX.

Nor ye, her Patriots, doubt BRITANNIA'S care:
Nor think fhe will with fatal rafhnefs, DARE
To wafte the treafure of her children's blood :
Alas ! already has the crimfon flood,
Like life's rich ftreams drawn from their parent

fource,

Profufely drain'd the all-fupplying heart,
The mafs impoverilhed in its wholefome courfe,

Afld'check'd the action of each nobler part !

This

X.

This awefdl truth fhe feels in every vein,

And feels it with an anxious mother's pain ;

*
And though to guard inviolate her Land;

Her Laws, her Life, fhe claims the filial hand,
Ev'n while fhe views her loyal Sons in arms,
She trembles with a parent's fond alarms :
With pride fhe fees bright FREEDOM grace her

Throne,
Nor grudges other States the buffings of her

own !

She wars alone with ruthlefs ftrife
That dooms the Orphan and the Wife,
To dungeons, chains, or death,
Becaufe the Sire who gave them breath,
Or the lov'd Lord in trembling terror flew^
Profcription and his fate in view !
And what their crimes ? Too ofc the chance pf

birth,

Sublimer genius, or fuperior worth !
Foe to the cruel means — but to the END
BRITANNIA and her BRITONS are a friend..

b Oh!

xxv

Oh! ne'er would ALBION quench the facred

flame,

Divinely bright ! that gilt her path to fame,
Ah no ! when the dread thirft of blood is o'er,
And ruthlefs rage fhall ftain the caufe no more,
With honeft joy our ALBION lhall embrace
Her Gallick foes, and own them of a kindred

race!

XI.

But when fair honour's voice — 'twill be a voice

from Heav'n —

Shall cry Hold ! hold ! the fow'r toff are is giv'n,
Thy Land, thy Law, thy Liberty fecure,
The ofFer'd Olive now will Peace enfure :
O ! mould me /to, with fell difnatur'd rage,
Wafte one rich drop of gen'rous ENGLAND'S

blood,
The Mufe that freely gives this votive page,

Will pour indignant Cenfure's broadeft flood •>
Ev'n though, like ROME'S firm Sire, to be

fincere,
Jufticc fhould ftrikc her victim with a tear !

THE

[ xxvii ]

THE GLEANER'S RETURN.

Connected with thefe fentiments is a view
at Home. During the courfe of the war, twice
did the Author revifit the benevolent land here
praifed. The date of his firft return will
be afcertained, when he obferves, that the
cannon of Dumourier almpft fhook the
battlements of the pleafant and kindly re-
membered little frontier town, the * Brielle,
of which no fpanty Gleaning will be
found in its place. Doubtful, however, of
events, he did not wifh to abide the chance of
being taken by the French, whom his country
had irritated j he remained, therefore, on the
apparently unfafe fide of the water's edge, till
felf-prefervation bade him fet fail for the
other j for even as he fat in the cabin of
the Packet-boat, in which he embarked, the
fire and fmoke from the befiegers and the
befieged at Williamftadt, feem^d tp purfuc

» In Holland.

b 4 th?,

[ xxxviii ]

the tracks of the veffel, and made her tremble
on the waves.

She reached, however, the coaft of Albion
without any adverfe rencontre, and the Author
felt himfelf again, literally -, on terra firma*
This happened in an advanced part of the
fpringi he looked at the gardens of fome
cottages, running down almoft to the rim of
the Ocean at Harwich.

A few hours before he had witnefled, even
at Helveotfluice, the internal, the domeftick
foe of Holland, unnaturally and almoft openly
affifting the machinations of the foe without.
The difaffected patriots of the difunlted Pro-
vinces, had fpiked feveral of the cannon,
mutilated the corn-mills, and caft obftrudions
in the way of the water- works, fhould it be-
come neceffary to open the Dutch fluices.
He had the mortification to behold the
Englifh troops, who were fent to affift the

caufe

[ xxix ]

0iufe of thefe very people, received with an
air of chagrin by fome, and of poorly-diflem^
bled fatisfa&ion by others 5 -and although
Breda had been taken on the one fide, and
Williamftadt attacked on the other, infomuch
that the Republick was almoft rent in twain,
there was fcarcely a foldier or a citizen who did
not wifh the tranfports that brought over the
brave auxiliaries, with a Prince of the Englifh
realm at the head, at the bottom of the fea.
He even overheard a Dutch burgher exclaim,
while the veffel filled with his noble country-
men were dropping their anchors, " the devil
" Jink every one of ye ! * you have no bujlnefs
here!"

At the time of gaining the harbour, the
weather had been fo ftormy, and the fea
ran fo high, there could not be a fafe landing

> This is a pretty general opinion the Author finds at home
as well as abroad.

made

xxx

made for the troops, who remained, therefore,
on board the fhips near three days. Had you
feen, reader, how the redoubted patriots of
the Dutch enjoyed this temporary diftrefs
of the brave fellows, who unufed to the fea,
fuffered the more, you would have prefumed,
that, inftead of the troops coming to their
protection, they were attempting to land only
to make them prifoners ; nay, I am perfectly
fatisfied, that a general wreck of near two
thoufand of the fineft men in the world, would
have been a greater joy to numbers of the
perfons, at that time aflembled, than what
did, for the moment, really refult from their
afliftance*— the Salvation of the Republick.

* The Dutch patriots even then called it their Jlavery* Their
country being now in captivity, they are become free men.
How long it may be before they figh again for their former
Jlavery it is impoflible to determine. So true is it that

<« Our very wifhes give us not our wilh."

From

[ xxxi ]

From a variety of malicious actions and
expreffions, the Author is free to fay, that
could they have poifoned the water, or dared
they to have envenomed the food, they would
have been glad to do either.*

After an abfence of fo many years, his
return at fo fingular a moment, when the
emigrant enemies of this country fued for its
pity and protection, and fued not vainly, was
attended with thofe fentiments which, on his
fecond return to his native land, produced the
Ode. He had been witnefs to the ravages of
many fair countries, to the deftrudtion of
many beautiful towns, majeftick caftles, mag-
nificent churches, and the terror, defolations,
and deaths of numbers of the human race;
and although the fcenes, which at that period
of the war had pafled under his eyes, were foft
and merciful in comparifon of thofe he has

* The Dutch are certainly an induftrious but a moft grumb-
ling hive.

7 Jince

fmce viewed, and of which alfo defcriptions
will in due order appear: the contraft was
powerful enough for him, or for any man
fo circumftanced, to have bleft the Briti/h
fhore, honoured the Britifh King, and ve-
nerated the Britifh government, had he not
been born under their aufpices, had he even
been their foe /

For the reverfe of this pidture then, he
looked at home. In the midil of the moft
vigorous preparations for war, he felt him-
felf in the bofom of peace. The failors were
linging, as it were fitting out for vidtory, on
the rigging, regulating the top, or guarding
the bottom of their veffels. The foldiers
were merry in garrifon, or fmiling on their
poft. The huzza of God fave the King, re-
echoed to the waves ! French politicks were
fcouted, and good old Englifli maxims were
recited with hereditary veneration. If even
at that hour, treafon prophancd the realm,
it was confcious of no lefs fhame than

weaknefs*

[ xxxiii ]

weaknefs ; and, like other unclean and rave-
nous beafts, it fhunned the day. If ever the
Voice of loyalty were general, it then refounded
through comparatively the happieft land. The
contraft empowered the Gleaner to feel it in
all its force. In paffing a little high-road
village he faw a train of children of both
fexes, not forced into the fervice of the Con-
vention, at that time a new Council of Blood*,
not carrying in their feeble hands the mangled
heads or limbs of the brother or lifter infants,
on whom they bad elaborated a murder : but a
little battalion of boys and girls of Briti&
growth, who, catching the fpirit of the
times and of the country, formed themfelves
into volunteer bodies, and employed their
fcanty allowance of play hours in a kind of
military nurfery. Their pocket-money went
to purchafe drums, whittles, wooden fwords,
fpears, guns, and other inftrurnents of mimick
War. A pair of colours feemed to have been

bought

[ xxxiv ]

bought at the price of a flowered Sabbath-
day flip and Sunday waiftcoat -y and a fmart
martial-looking lad, of about ten years of
age, was the commanding-officer.

Guefs, reader, the nature of the Author's
fenfations. Confider the countries he had
left, and that to which he returned; and
when you are better acquainted with his
ufual habits, you will not wonder he forgot
that he had farther to go, and in the warmth
of the welcome oblivion, which, though it
loft him a place in the coach, was no deduc-
tion to his pleafure, he followed the little
troop round the town like a new recruit.
When it came to a flop, the youth who
commanded made a fpeech, which was a
morfel of moil exemplary loyalty indeed ; for
it blefled the king, and then blefled God for
bleffing the king at the end of every fentence.
Though they were by no means mercenaries,

they

[ XXXV ]

they folicited a little help from the company
around, juft to anfwer military exigencies.
The fmall corporal prefented his cap, to
which all the birds of the air appeared to
have right loyally contributed a feather. The
Gleaner's mite was not withheld. Indeed he
was heated enough to have a&ually enlifted,
had they invited him to join the corps. He
left them with reludtance after they difbanded
for the night, which he pafled at a little
publick houfe in the village. Here he met
with an honeft, kind-hearted flipflop of a
land-lady, a love-fick, pale-faced maiden,
who faid Jhe hated politicks, and a landlord
who faid be was a profound politician. He
had amufement at the moment in Jketching
them; but as their counterparts are to be
feen in almoft every publick houfe, he fhall
wifli them to be as well as they are harmlefs,
and pafs on. He had intended to revifit
London. Some unexpe&ed events deter-
mined

[ xxxvi ]

mined him to another route, and refolving to
remain in the track of foreign intelligence,
he repaired to a place whither two motives
guided him : Firft, its being a fmall fpot
near a great pafTage-town ; and fecondly, in
a part of England he had never vifited.
Having time to fpare, you fhall judge of his
fatisfadions. He will endeavour to make
you think you are a fpeftator of a Day's
gleaning in his native land. He began to
compare all he had viewed in other places
with the fweetly varied fpots before him, not
fo much with refpedt to their beauty as their
fecure tranquillity. With regard to the fur*
rounding refidents he was amongft ftrangers,
but they were human beings and his country-
men ; or they were happy domeftick creatures,
under the protection of an eafy government,
He knew no one : yet by a certain magick
that works in the heart of every philanthropift,
and without meriting that character, he fears
6 no

[ xxxvii ]

no man can be a patriot, he feemed to be
interefted about every body : and all the ob-
jefts which his eyes could reach his heart
feemed to embrace-. It appeared, on this
lingular occafion, as if he had met with a
large part of his own family, whom he had
never before encountered : and coming from
foreign lands, where anarchy and ruin had
taken up their dwelling, his heart bounded
to behold all thofe who were at length
brought fo clofe to him, in the fulleft enjoy-
ment of their lives and properties. In other
countries, . he had often feen the hired fer-
vants, the peafants, and farmers, imperioufly
ordered to leave their own, or their mailer's
affairs, and labour in the pleafure-grounds,
or palace of fome petty prince, whofe whole
principality fometimes does not meafure to
the acres of a good Englifh domain. But in
England, the feed which the hufbandman
had fown, he was preparing to reap j nor is
VOL. i. c it

[ xxxviii ]

it in the wiLh or the power of a monarch to
plunder him of a moment. His toil is his
own, fo are the fruits of it. And while he
is getting in the copious harveft, the expec-
tations and efforts of the year are, in many
other parts of the globe, feized on by lawlefs
hands, or clotted by gore to prevent it. The
carol of the law-defended fubjett touched all
the chords of the Author's heart ; the birds
that flew over his head feemed lefs indepen-
dent, and to have lefs of " perfeft freedom,"
A party of haymakers were at the moment
following* the laft well-heaped load, or fport-
ing on its top, their rakes wreathed with tri-
umphant garlands, while a feaft in the open
air, and within view of. the finiflied hay-
ftacks, awaited them. Every fy liable in the
delicious defcription* of the Britiih Maro
was illustrated.

How different is the jovial fcenary in the

* " Now fwarms the village o'er the jovial mead/1 &c.

2 poet's

[ XXXIX ]

poet's defcription, from the inhuman yell of
Ca Ira, in the accurfed times of Roberf-
pierre ; for then was his horrible power in
force ! oppofite even as the fong of rural in-
nocence, and the diflbnent roar of guilt and
rapine over-running the fields ! It was a
pleafant, an interefling fight ; it warmed the
bofom of the Author to its inmoft recefles ;
he was in humour with every thing; the
comfort-looking huts, the ample downs, the
fhcep that fed upon them, the foft and peace-
ful-feeming inclofures, the ftretches of wood,
water, and garden-grounds, the captivating
interfperfed villas, the aweful manfions and
good old halls of hofpitality, the very cluck
of the Englifli houfehold fowl, and the do-
meftick rookery. He fpoke to every labourer
with the voice of a countryman and friend.
The charm was indeed heightened by a vifit
to the Englifh cottages; the appearance of
the fturdy fwains and blooming damfels who
c 2 inhabited

inhabited them*— fo utterly different, in air,
drefs, complexion, fhape, and language, from
the peafantry he had quitted.

Such is the journal of a flowery day's fen-
fations, in returning to the land whofe
fcenary, places, and perfons, by a fort of
indefinable attachment, not only appears to
belong to us, but of which one feems to be a
part. Perhaps they were not the lefs agreeable
to the Author for the pains that affli&ed his
feelings in other countries. How he wandered
over, gazed on, and lingered in the fcene !
He had fled from a repining and oppreffed
people, oppreffed beyond any power of relief,
and took fandluary with the peaceful and
contented. All feemed natal. The trees that
(haded, the fun that warmed, the earth that
received him, and the air he breathed !

And are there thofe who would reduce all
this into >a wildernefs ? Ye Britons, be not

deluded

deluded into mifery ! Even that which may
be a good caufe to one nation may be de~
jftrudtivc to another.

Had the moft clamorous, the moft difcon-
tented, half the opportunities of the Author
of thefe Volumes, they would, even with all
its errors, think England the happieft coun-
try, and themfelves the happieft people now oft
the face of the globe. As to faults, he can onljr
repeat the wiffi he has earneftly breathed' in
the Ode, 'that they may be " tfOBLY re-
formed/'

The author could have Wifhed, however,
to have found the benevolence of the country,
celebrated in the Ode, more uniform; and
that, while it was holding out the hand of
hofpitality to diftrefled aliens, who had been
driven from their homes, it had ceafed to
inflid tyranny and flavcry on a yet more
numerous body of unfortunates. He grieved
c 3 to

to obferve, even on his fecond return, an
*evil which, long before his fetting out, was
deemed inconfiftent with the mild, humane,
and, generally fpeaking, wholefome prin-
ciples of the Britifh Government, and which
he had heard difcufled on the Continent
with every mark of wonder and reprobation.
It is almoft needlefs to fpecify, that he alludes
to the immitigable ferfecution of more than
half of the inhabitants of the globe, merely
becaufe they differ from their perfecutors in
complexion.

And yet we rank ourfelves amongft the
generous lovers of freedom, and have bled in
her facred caufe at every pore. It is fome-
what humiliating, however, that the very
men we are fighting on the ground of im-
puted barbarity, and confidering too we have
fo long debated the fubjedt in the great af-

* The Slave Trade.

fenbly

[ xliii ]

fembly of the nation to find that this fa-
vage foe, againft whofe ferocity we have
raifed the arm, fhould have done that gene-
rous adt in a fingle day, which Britons have
been fo many years talking about. It cannot
be denied that the French people have got
the ftart of us in giving real freedom to that
unhappy race of beings, who, though they
have unqueftionably all the rights of men,
are treated as hearts of the fields^ without
any rights at all-, nay, as condemned cri-
minals, who have, by the profcription of
crimes, forfeited not only thofe rights, but
every kindred claim that attaches tojpecies,
or even fprings from common charity. The
Gleaner certainly has been amongft the firft,
as will appear on the face of this Work,
to reprobate fuch parts of the French mea-
fures as juftice, no lefs than philanthropy,
muft rejedl ; but he was one of the firft to
honour them for this part of. their condudt.

c 4 Their

[ xliv ]

Their plan of Equality there was great, glo-
rious, and exemplary ; and even if it were but
intended as a ftroke of policy, it ought, like
Abraham's faith, to be imputed to them as
righteoufnefs.

' It ifc difficult to conceive indeed how the
fons of avarice can bring their feeble argu-
ments to carry any weight, when in the
oppofite fcale are to be placed all the motives
of common honefty, and every principle of
juftice and of reafon. And yet* on coming
home, the author could not but regret to
hear the fame unwarrantable, unfeeling, and
fordid arguments for continuing this iniquitous
tyranny* that had been polluting the publick
humanity of the country fo many years. Nay,
the truly worthy* mover of the Bill for
doing away this enormity, has it feems been
Mrajjed out with the perpetual checks his

* Mr. Wilberforce.

benevolent

benevolent plan received. It has been put
off from time to time, till moft probably it
will totally die away. And all this in defpite
of the moft liberal fupport from men of all
parties, led on by Pitt, Fox, Sheridan, &c*

No wonder then that the Lyre has failed
to effedt what the beft and brighteft Powers
of the Britifh Parliament feem to have reliiv-
quifhed in defpair. As a laft effort however,
the Author will place his mite a fourth time*
• — -and as much oftner as an indulgent Publick
may encourage the re-publication of his
work — in the way of being feen by fome of
the advocates of this unblefled, unchriftlan
trade $ and ihould but one purchafer, or falef-
man of his fpecies, be moved to pity and re-
drefs the wrongs of one enflaved fellow-crea-
ture, he will triumph in having put an end
to the captivity of that one ; or, if a niggard
tafk-mafter ftill holds him in bonds, deaf to

* See HUMANITY, a Poem.

the

[ xlvi ]

the voice of nature and confclence, the at-
tempt will have been made, and both con-
fcience and nature fhall unite to foothe the
difappointment. Bitter, already, has been that
difappointment ; for he who praifed the BE-
NEVOLENCE of Albion had hoped me would
have extended that freedom which me loves,
and which is the bafis of her happinefs, be-
yond the narrow circle of her own land ; but
as that is not the cafe ; it feems a duty im-
pofed by compaffion and juftice on every
man, to awaken the publick mind, fo far as
in him lies, to a fenfe of what it owes to this
important fubject. Imprefled by a fenfe of
which, the Author's fheaves fhall be crowned
with a wreath of HUMANITY.

•

THE introductory parts to oiif fheaves
having hitherto been employed in home-felt
fubje&s, there will be a fort of propriety in
clofing therewith. On which idea, our pre-
liminary matter fhall conclude with a Glean-
ing of the Englifh Stage, which feems, like
many other things, to have undergone a revo-
lutionary fhock; and like fome others, we will
not now fay all, to be by no means the better
for it.

MODERN THEATRES.

MODERN THEATRES.

JUONG abfent, Britain, from my natal ifle,
Once more I fought and haiPd thee with a fmile j
And tho' I found thee 'midft the ftorms of fate,
So fweet thy pity to th' unfortunate,
The fympathifmg Mufe thy zeal admir'd,
And paid the tribute * filial love infpir'd;
For though a wanderer, can the Mufe e'er roam
Where thou, O land rever'd, are not her parent

home ?

Yet, as I knew thy griefs, I thought to fee,
Ev'n in thy fports fome marks of gravity:
Since all the Shores I left were bath'd in blood,
And thy own children's veins fupply'd the flood,
Methought 'twas ftrange, in contrail to the time,
To view thy Stage one mighty Pantomime /
And thy chafte Drama, long a nation's pride —
The Mufes fpurn'd — take Momus for a guide.

* Alluding to the Ode to the Benevolence of England.

T'was

C Hi ]

'Twas ftrange in every fcene HIS pow'r to trace,
And note his monkey grin on ev'ry face.
Say, is it thus my country hides her care ?
Tries me by arts like thefe to cheat defpair ?
Thus when Jhe dreaded her impending doom,
Prop he tick pageants mark'd the fall of Rome.
Well fung the fage * fublime, whpfe prefcient eye
Forefaw the hour when Scenick Truth ihould fly
Before the changes of a finking age,
And gaudy folly fhould ufurp the Stage ;
On flying cars when cc Sorcerers Ihould ride,
" Where royal Lear had raved, and Hamlet died."
That hour is comey confirm'd is Fauftus' fway,
And many a fhining bubble marks his ways
Inflead of heroes drawn from Rome and Greece,
A fcore. of Harlequins crowd every piece $
Inftead of awefql Phoebus and the Nine,
A Grecian Droll, or Roman Columbine j
The Tragick Mufe, although by Siddons graced,
In the New Booth, is fo obfcurely plac'd,
That 'mongft the motley crew fhe holds a rgnk
Betwixt the Macedonian Mountebank,

Dr. Samuel Johnfon.

Satrap

Jatraps all hair, and Amazons all wig,
And dumb Darius, dying to a jig :

[ift'ry herfelf, whofe adamantine page,
Aweful gave back the image of the age,
Now with her childifli fports profanes her dead,
And plays the Romp, a fool's capon her head,
Dances the hay, while Ofllan-Pantaloon
Leads on Fingal to ad fome vile buffoon.

For thee, poor Comedy ! the art's forgot,
Which once the fportive fcene from Nature

caught,

Thy ftrokes of wit are now the haul, the flap,
And thy Ghoft rifes from a mummer's trap:
Then murder'd Humour haunts the ftage each

night i
Then glare the wounds of fenfe to aching fight.

To make an author or an actor great,
How brief, how new, how fimple the receipt !
Give to your Hero all the bully air ;
Croud trick on trick, and let him boldly /wear}
A dozen damns in ev'ry aft, at leafl ;
Oaths, quaintly vollied, are a glorious feaft ;

VOL. it d But,

But, above all, remember tofurprize,
For chiefly there the art of writing lies ;
With more than hocus pocus, ev'ry fcene, .
Like jugglers' ball, fhould hold a cheat within,
Something fo odd* abfurd, yet done fo neat,
Nature difowns, yet laughs at the conceit :

Nor failx for that gives fpirit to your fable,

/

To let your hero overfet the table, ,

Tofs down the tea-board, fmafh, or force a door,

Rare jokes that fet the Playhoufe in a roar !

&. fluffing fcene too might enhance the treat 3

Fine jeft, to fee a modern actor eat !

And if hadrink as faft,, with jokes between,

'Tis the perfection of the modern fcene !

In. life to gorge and fwill fome cenfure draws,

But on the ftage are certain of applaufe.

Note^too, your Hero fhould work hand and fooV-

And tear up ancient order by the root:

Inverting good old plans, once deem'd fo wife,

Laugh all. to fcorn, if you would win the prize ;

For he's now thought the moft diverting

creature,

•
Who writes, and afts, bled, times ! mofl: out o£

Nature.

And

t Iv ]

And is this fitting ? while a bard * yet lives,
To whom her richeft flores wrong'd Nature

gives ;
Whofe magick powers thefe trickfters could

defeat,

And inftant drive them from the realms of wit;
Who with the (lighter! waving of his wand,
Could re-enthrone the Drama's rightful band !
O ! would he prove again that Drama's friend,
Soon would the reign of Merry Andrews end.
But dill the Patriot veils the poet's charms,
And Love affifts to fteal him from our arms.

• TJT » fr Tr»T «%! r J \F¥

Then blefs'd the Mufef, whofe magick has

imprefs'd

Once more the moral on the publick breaft ;
And bled the a6lor{, whofe tranfcendant art,
In baby times, like thefe, has reach'd the heart y
Reach'd it by manly, not ignoble ways,
And bid revive the power of ancient days !
KEMBLE, all hail ! thy wonder-working fkill,
Without om ribald jeft, has made us feel 5

* Sheridan. t Cumberland. $ Kemble.

d a Wak'd

t w I

Wak'd in the foul a generous fenfe of woes,
Ev'n in an age of Sights and Puppet-Shews !

Hence, may redawning Nature open wide
One Revolution, worthy Britain's pride.
The STAGE REFORM — methinks I fee com-
mence,

Once more, the reign of Reafon and of Senfe ;
Feeling and Fafhion, union rare, fhalljoin,
By FARREN'S power, to foften and refine;
And Elegance with every filler grace,
Their beams fhall play from her enchanting face
While JORDAN, IkilPd alike, by wond'rous art,
To move with natural joy or grief, the heart,
Once more lhall bid fimplicity appear,
Chaftife our mirth, and dare to raife our tear :
We Jiail, 'tis true, the fun's enlivening powers,
But court no lefs the aid of tender {bowers.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

LETTER I.

JL HE Title explained — Converfation 'betwixt the
author and bis friend on tourifts and travellers —
Plan of Literary Gleaning fettled — The author's
convention with the friend to whom thefe letters
are addrejftd.

LETTER II.

The deliberate and dajhing traveller contrafted, and
their oppofite charatters developed — Refolution of
the author to become refidentiary in the places y and
among ft the people to be defcribed — General plan
of p oft -haft c travellers — Scenary of Wales, p. 7.

LETTER III.

Hints to young painters, en the fame and fortune of
a piftorial tour threugh North and South Wales
— Beautiful landscapes for the pencil and the pen
-^Abergavenny — Brecknock — Caermarthen, &c.
*— Compliment to Pennant and Gilpin — Sea-pieces
5 Rock

CON T E N T S.

Rock-work — New and old faffage — Laugberne—*

— Llanelthy — Swanfea. p. 15,

LETTER IV.

The romance of nature — Scenary of Mahuntleth —

. The author's enthufiajm defer ibed and vindicated

— Traits of characters and conftitution — The flea-

Jures of a -poetical mind — The exquifite beauty of this

fart of North Wales. p. 22.

LETTER V.

The ride from Mahuntleth to Dolgelthy- — A valley, —
Pretty Welch feafants — CaJ "cades and Baths of
Nature — Mountain of Caer Idris — Cajlles in the
Air — Other Co/lies — Pleasures of imagination
realized — Particular inftancey and general character
of Cambrian hojfitality — Welch gentry, farmers^
feafants. p. 28,

LETTER VIf

The Beauties of -Barmouth — Roman fick approach- to
it — Tts rejemblance to the rock of Gibraltar—
Surrounding Jcenary — The Jea — The 'beach— The
Hack mountains — The happy valley ~All trades

in

CONTENTS,

in a cottage — The female barker and family—

S* -J ' 7 7* '

Cambrian 'loyalty. P • 3 9-

LETTER VII.

r a T

four lack to Abereflwith — Hiftgry. of the author's
horfe, addreffed to men — Apology to the criticks
for that hiftory — Every man's hobby ^horje Jacked
— Story of a fijherman, his family ', and friend —
A heath — A hurricane — The_rparing fea — And
the blazing hearth. " p. 53.

.ix '
JLETTER virrr

\ •iwfct-— vi'v^A ^\i^A
Life, death, and char after of a friend— Reader y

fafs this letter if thou art only a man or woman
of the world*, but if thou haft fancy, feeling, and
an heart, Jeleft an uninterrupted 'hour to ferufe M
twice. p.. 8.1.

LETTER IX.

;
Abcreftwith deJcrib'ed—The place and country con-

t rafted to Barmouth-— Welch cuftoms— Price of
froviftons, and other expences, jiated, with a
view to (economy and refidence — All cheap, places
more, or lefs deftroyed by Englijb folly and vanity

— Various

IX CONTENTS.

—Various injlances — Welch courtftif — Welch
Church -yards. p. 94.

LETTER X.

Welch fuperfiitions — The Jea roaring for three days-

together, to announce a Jhipwreck, or drowned

Jailor — The lighted candle walking before you,

Jelf-Juftained — The groaning voice coming out of

the earth) &c. — The madnejs of methodifm in

Wales. p. 1 1 6.

LETTER XI.

.

^Welch f airiest—Their Exploits — Refidences — Difpo-
fit tons — The author threatened with them — The
fairy -haunted chamber — Vifit to a Welch priefty
who was fairy -ridden — Pontipool Jcenary — Fef-
tinicg Jcenary — Lord Lyttleton, and more fairy
•tales. p. 128.

LETTER XII.

Fefliniog—Lord Lyttkton's dejcri-ption of this en-
chanting, and, as the peafants think, enchanted
village, examined — Charafferifticks of the author
' — bis -peculiarities — Lord and Lady Clive — •
Their neighbourhood, and their characler by their
neighbours. p. 158.

LETTER

CONTENTS.
LETTER XIII.

' Welch Pool — Montgomery — Powis cqftle — -Hijlory of
the decayed Englijh merchant^ and his daughter—
Iranf actions of a London phyfidan in Wales^ and
anecdotes of the late John Howard. p. 180*

LETTER XIV.

Char after ef John Howard — His perfonal Habits—
His philanthropy to man and beaft — Vifit to him in
Bedfordshire — Various anecdotes of him collected
In that vifit — His Angularities defended and win*
dicated — His fuperannuated horfes. p. 204.

LETTER XV.

The Triumph of Benevolence, f acred to the Me-
mory of the late John Howard — Motives for the
republication of that poem. p. 225*

LETTER XVI.

Welch Bards — Modern and ancient — Afjociations and
Cuftoms of the former — Manners and cuftoms of
modern and ancient Welch harpers— Welch druids
<—>Anglefea. p. 229.

LETTER XVII.

Welch Lakes — And monumental reUques — Welch
Inqutfithenefs — Hofpitality of the Welch Nobles
VOL. i, e — Lord

CONTENTS.

— Lord Newborough—The author's adventures on
the road—Andtbe happy Weavers. p. 240.

LETTER XVIII.

Verfes confecrated to the virtues of the late Jonas
Hanway. p.

LETTER XIX.

More verfes—And various Gleanings for the Af-
fetfions. p. 288.

LETTER XX.

The fame. p. 290.

LETTER XXI.

Hiftorical perplexity — A differtation on Biopraphers
— From hiftorian A. to hiftorian, &V. — Farewell
to Wales. p. 295.

LETTER XXII.

Welcome to Holland— Confer afted with Wales—The
ancient hiftory of the Dutch Republick—With re-
fleftions, profaick and poetical. p. 302.

LETTER XXIII.

Hiftory of the old Bataviam continued— Cuftoms—
Manners — Diver/ions. p. 315.

LETTER

CONTENTS.

LETTER XXTV.

Their ancient marriages— funerals— -fuptrftitions and
legi/lature. p. 327.

LETTER XXV.

Poetical bandeau, by way of twining round the
firftjheaf. p. 336.

CONTENTS

OF THE

SUPPLEMENTART GLEANINGS.

LETTER I.

A vifit to feveral Frontier and other German and
Dutch towns^ previous to the breaking out of the
war — More emigrant hiftories — with a character
of Louis the XVIth — An interefting evening, in
which the Map' of the world is examined by the
Company — Dumourier's cannon — A fea adven-
ture, in the courfe of which the author gleans the
national French character > as to the imprejjions
of Profperity and Adverfity—Obfervations on
the impolicy of the new French Syfte?n, fo far
as it refpecls national or dome/tic happinefs — The

beauty

jx{v CONTENTS.

beauty of order — The deformity of anarchy— Cha-
raffer, and i)erfes by a French emigrant of
diftinfiion. p. 347,

LETTER II.

Review of the Dutch troops, by the Stadtholder—
The elements no refpecler cf perfons — A field
day in the rain — Reflection* on the advantages
»f Little over Great People, p 352.

LETTER III.

A letter on different fubjecls, rejpeffing the Dutch
— Their modern Marriages and Deaths — The
writer gleans a trio of travellers, a fair of which
are authors; the one denominated in this our Jheaf,
Mr. Blank — being literally what that word
cxprejfes — Mr. Prize, for a like reafon, and Mr.
Blank-and-Prize, becaufe he is a compound of
the two others — A tribute of jiiftice to the Pencil
and Character of De Loutherberg, p. 382.

GLEANINGS

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

LETTER I.

TO THE HONOURABLE MRS. B,

South Wales.

1 \

HEN I mentioned to a learned and
elegant friend my defign to pafs fome years on
the Continent, he cordially took my hand, and
thus addreffed me :

cc You are going to travel : travelling, like
cf love, makes authors : authors make books :
<c men, women, and children, publifh at home,
" what they have feen or heard abroad $ — Ergo,
cc were not you already an author, it would b«
*c expeded of you to write a book.'* &*.

i: 13. Ql-^l:jsl -ffa6d ;b*»rf

To travel then, and to publifli, are become
things of courfe, faid I? " As much fo,"
rejoined my friend, " as caufe 'and efFedb." It
would be difficult, however, I prefume, to prove
that though they may be equally in order, they
are equal in value ; for, to multiply copies of
copies cf copies, is, furety, adding to the bulk of

VOL. i. B an

2 GLEANflNGS THROUGH W^LES.

an evil that " has increafed, is flill increasing,
" and ought to be diminished :" I admit your
obfervation, proceeded I, that every body pub-
lifhes travels, but am in doubt about the ufe of
the inference j for, if people who leave their
own country predetermined to make a book out
of what they meet with, what they fee, or feem
to fee, in others, it either is an argument againfl
the farther overftock of the literary market, or
a politive proof that the innumerable travelling
bookmakers •, who have " beat the beaten road"
thefc thoufand years, have told us nothing we
did not know better before; and, hereupon, a
pretty curious queftion arifes : How far thofe
who have undertaken to conduct our perfons
and purfes through countries, remote or 'near,
have proved themfelves true or falfe guides ?
how far readers who have taken abroad with
them fuch publications as the Vade Mecums of
their refpective tours, have found themfelves
more or lefs perplexed and milled,, than if they
had been left to their own ignorance, and to the
experience which, however dearly, perhaps more
truly, corrects it ?

" You think then," refumed my friend, that
" an arifwer to thefe interrogations would deter-
cc mine the propriety of giving, or refilling to
cc give, another book of travels to thofe already

cc publilhed :

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES* 3

*r publimed : You imagine that a new edition
*c every ten years of the firft and only original
" work, marking the frefh modes by way of ad-
cc denda, would preclude,, and render ufelefs, all
cc the labours of imitative travellers ?"

I told him, this would be,- perhaps, going too
far, but that were the replies to be made by thofe
admirable criticks the eye and the pocket, we
fhould " fee feelingly" that our knowledge by no
means increafed in proportion to the number of
our books on the fame fubjecT:. cc It muft be
" acknowledged/' interpofed he, " that the re-
gions, not of facl, only, but of fairy land, have
been over-run with travellers : Every thing,
" therefore, of either ufe, or ornament, might be
" fuppofed, at this time of day, to

" Live in defcription, and look green in fong :"

" But the truth is, that much is always left to be
cc found by him who is diligent to feek -, and that
" of the innumerable travellers who have gone the
"fame roads, there are few who have not added
cc fomethingto our flock of information, or amufe-
" ment -, and, moreover, that every perfon of
cc talents is in reality., original, either in the matter
or manner of exerting them ; no two people,
even of equal abilities, employing them
on the fame occafion, feeing or feeling
B 2 *c the

cc

cc

4 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES*

" the very lame objects, or occurrences, irt
" the fame way -, fo that there muft be, I fay,
cc a degree of novelty in every work not fer-
cc vilely purloined from what the plagiary had
" neither candour to avow, nor ingenuity to
" improve. But, even granting that the greater
<c crop of general obfervation has been gathered
" by others who have made their intellectual
" harveft abroad, and, brought it home pro
" bono pullico, let me remind you by the
cc help of an allufion borrowed from hufbandry,
cc that the vigilance of the farmer has never
" yet been able to clear the ground of its
te produce, fo as to leave nothing where-with
" to reward the induftrious gleaner : Some ears
" of the valuable grain efcape the jealous rake
" even of avarice itfelf, and where the fields
cc are fpacious, there mud always be fomething
" worth ftooping for, even where the labourers
*c are many."

Pleafed and encouraged by this mode of rea-
foning, I exclaimed, Be it fo then; another
Bock of Travels Jhall be written^ and, to fhew my
gratitude for the prefent converfation, the work
mail owe its title to an idea that is this moment
fuggefted by the agricultural images you have
fo agreeably played with. I will call my book
that is to be, GLEANINGS, &fa gathering up

whatever

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. £

whatever may be left to humble induftry, or
excurfive curiofity, in the path of my wander-
ings,— now and then deviating into the fields of
fancy, mixing thus my wheat with fuch flowers
as grow in its neighbourhood, whether in hedge-
rows or gardens, whether the productions of
art or nature. Good!" cried my friend, rub-
bing his hands together, '* and at length you
" mail bind your colle&ed gleanings into
". fheaves~-that is, volumes— and prefent them
" neat as imported from the foreign markets, to
« JQW friends and enemies. To both of whom,"
added he fmilingly, and with a brifker friftion
of his hands, (C they will fupply food of a dif*
*c ferenfc kind, the one banquetting on whatever
*c you fet before them with hearty good- will,
<c the other fatiating on the bed you can offer,
** with as hearty malice. Jkfides," continued
he, €€ you will thus furnifh a feaft to yourfelf^
fc and be entertained while you entertain. /
u will have it /i?^-Farewell : Be fyre you write
(C a book, and do not return ;o me till you can
rc come 'volume in band,"

He departed, without fuffering me to fay
more, afTerting that the belt proof of my regard
for him wpuld be given in my adoption 'of his
Councils,

B3 The

6 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

The councils were wholefome, and I lhall fol*
low them. Before my leaving London it was
fettled, at another converfation with the fame
friend, that my Gleanings were to be difpenfed
by parcels to him, that he was to put them into
the granary — that is, his library— till their bulk
increafed fufficiently to be of publick ufe, and
not a month was to pafs without a fmall jheaf
being fent to him. Alas ! it was decreed that,
ere the firfi ' month was expired, this amiable
counfellor and friend mould go

f ' To that bourne from whence no traveller returns.'*

The imprefiion made upon me by his death
would, perhaps, have induced me to give up an
idea, which could not be purfued without a
fentiment of regret for the lofs of him who in-
fpired it, had I not reflected that there exifled
ftill another, whofe mind, no lefs than my own,
required amufement j and, at length, to con-
clude, that the bed mode of teftifying my efteem
and veneration for the deceafed, would be to
fulfil his wifhes; even while I fulfilled yours,
my dear furviving comfort, at the fame time.

To thefe ends, I now addrefs to you, from the
mofl beautiful part of the gritim Empire — for
fuch I think we may fairly call the pr-icipality
pf the . ancient Britons — the firrt offerings . of

my

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 7

rny Gleanings. An humble employment, per-
haps ! — to colleft ear by ear, as it were the
•refufe of what others have either overlooked or
negletted : but if, out of this lowly occupation,
you and I, my excellent friend, in the firft in-
fiance, and my readers, in the fecond, when the
corn is gathered into fheavcs, and bound up,
Jhould be able to make that bread which
flrengthejieth the heart, or prefs from the fcanty
vintage that wine of life, which exhilarates, and
gives a cheerful countenance in the drooping
moment :— - if it affords the tranfient fweets of a
foreign more, when the flowers at home are with-
ered or defpoiled, I lhall not have {looped in
vain.

Adieu, my friend ! Our convention is fettled,
<md you fhall foon hear from rne again.

LETTER II.

TO THE SAME,

South Wale*.

it behoves a Gleaner to be diligent,
deliberate, and not hurry over his ground like
thofe who come to a full cropy and whom
abundance makes carelefs, I have refolved, not

B 4 only

8 . GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

only for your fake, but my own, to (lay alvifcys
fome days, frequently fonie weeks, and not fel-
dom fome months in every town, city, or village
from whence I mail write: an rnverfion of the
general rule. Inflead of adding to the long lift
of foft-hafte travellers, I am determined to per-
form my journies at a foot-pace rather than a
full gallop, convinced, from a deal of experience,
that, although " he who runs may read/7 he who
rides, as it were exprefs, through a country, cannot
write any thing worth the attention even of a
running reader — At leaft, it becoaies a queftion
worth anfwering, Whether the deliberate mode is
not more likely to difcover and dclcribc what
merits communication, than the helier-Jkelter
fafhion of writing on the fpur, whip, and wheel^
accounts of people and places ? I am of opinion,
it is ; and I have the fupport of good old
people, and good old proverbs in Latin and
Englifh. " Feftina lenti" fays the one— cc H&
" ftumbles wbo goes fafty echoes the other. To
believe, therefore, that He who cf moves Jloty,
moves Jure" is a reafonable conclufion. Indeed,
I have wondered, that fo very few of my emi-
grating countrymen have been of this way of
thinking. On the contrary, they hurry through
the deflined courfe, as if they were running a race
againft time, and were to perform fuch a given
portion of it, within the hour by a flop watch.

The

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES, g

The moft pleafantly fanciful at leaft, of all
modern travellers, in his inimitable " Journey,"
has given us, in his own fportive manner, 3
catalogue pf travellers, with the epithets proper
to, and characleriftick of, each; fuch as the fen-
timental, political, idle, diligent, <?/ cetera \ but
he has not, to my recollection, faid any thing
about the deliberate, or more correctly fpeaking,
the residentiary traveller, who fets out on a plan
of fojourning in the parts of the world he
defcribes, and mixes in the focieties of eacl}
Jong enough to obferve accurately manners, cu£-
foms, and events. The infinitely diverfified
modes of thefe mud be overlooked, feen very
partially, or not feen at all, by the modern Mer-
curies who go at full fpeed to the grand point of
their deftination — fome of the capitals ; — and
fcarce give time for the horfes to be changed at
the intermediate ftages : or, if they are under the
veceff'Jy to (lay a night at any of thefe, the moft in-
quifitive of them ftroll thro* the ftreets, or faunter
round the ramparts, while the Jupper is preparing ;
the reft throw themfelves on chairs and fophas
till aroufed by the return of their companions,
\vho generally come back difTatisrkd with their
ramble ; and, if they write at all, fit down be-
twixt deeping and waking, and infert, in the
meagre journal of the day, a drowfy, yet fple-
netick account of what ttcy- met with in their

walk $

10 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES*

.walk ; depending on the fexton as the hiftoriarj
of the buildings, and on fome chance paffenger
as the intelligencer of the inhabitants, environs,
police, &c. &c. At day-break the next morn-
ing they are off, fcarce allowing time for fwaU
lowing a comfortlefs cup of coffee, fquabbling
with their hoft for extortion, curling the country
they are under the immediate protection ofj
and difgracing the manners of their own. This
done, they continue their expedition as upon life
and death, and often, — alas, how much too often !
• — finifh their folly, their fortune, and their tour,
at the fame time : for it is not till after their
return to their native country, that thefe dajhing
travellers difcover, that their mofl precious
things-^-time, money, and talents — have been
wafted to receive only contempt, fatigue, and
vexation in return — a fad barter !

But not to circumfcribe the inutility ^f rapid
travelling to thefe cyphers of fociety, who in all
countries are infignificant, the remark I fear,
and the cenfure, involve, in fome degree, per-
fons of a different defcription j in as far as the
cuftomary method of writing pcft, on the policy,
and practice of nations, muft be injurious to the
moft refpectable abilities, which cannot intui-
tively know occurrences, characters, and ufages,
that arife out of time, place, end rirc umftances ;

and

CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 11

Und cannot — except to a lucky traveller indeed,
3nd to him very occafionally — happen, while
arrangements are making for the accommoda-
tion of man and horfe between ftage and ftage ; ,
and when all one can expe6b to fee are the moil
flight and ordinary objects that float, like weeds
and offal on the ftream, on the furface of the
places through which we pafs. Neither is the
human mind, whatever be its powers, well dif-
pofed to paint fcenes and incidents when the
body is worn down by the day's travel, and the
ipirits jad.ed by the fatigue of motion : yet, if
we look at the dating of our modern travels, the
avowed objects of which are cuftoms and man-
ners, we fliall find that mod of the obfervations
are the productions of the moment, written amidft
the duft and hurry of going from the fpot de-
fcribed to another, which is, in due time, to be
difpatched in the fame way. Is it therefore to be
wondered at, if we frequently find the common
effects of an over-hafty judgment — miftated facts^
and falfe inferences ?

All thefe convictions have flrengthened me in
the refolution of being a refidentiary traveller,
making a reft in every country which I defign to
glean. This, you will fay, my dear friend, is in
character, but I fcruple not to affert, on an ex-
perience, which I hope to make you partaker of,

that

12 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

that tour-makers of the firft diftin&ion and
refpec~cabiluy> have lefc unnoticed many things
highly worthy their and the publjck obfervation,
and which could not have efcaped, had they
fuifered their patience J:o keep pace with their
penetration.

The illuftration, of this, I sruft, you will gather
35 we go along,

The fcenary of Nature, in a fumrner drefs, i%
a volume open to every eye, and a copious page
may be read at a. glance. The, mod nimble tra-
veller might luxuriate as he runs by them, ami
his landicape, though but the etching of an
inftant of time, muft, if he has fkill to catch
the objects as they rife before him, and richnefs
of genius to tint them, be various and delightful,
Here, the border of Brecknockfhire, which
begins juft where what is new called England
owns its boundary, I was enchanted with the
frft view, but difcovered at a fecond, third^
fourth, onward to a fortieth, in various ex-
curnons to and fro, during a fix months' refi-
dence, a thoufand and ten thoufand particular
charms which a firft general furvey could never
afford. I devoted an equal proportion of time
to the northern as to the ibuthern divifion of this
paradifaical principality -3 going to the extreme

verge

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. ig

verge both ways, and traverfing backwards and
forwards to look at their beauties in different
feafons of the year; and it is the refult of thefe
repeated vifits, which at the prefent moment, I
give you : I give it you^in the grateful warmth
of my heart, for pleafure received, not without
an earneil hope, at the fame time, that you^ and
others who have tafte and affections to relifh the
blooms of nature, and patriotifm enough to ad-
mire them not the worie for appertaining to their
natal iflandy may be tempted to enjoy the fame
fcenary.

That Wales hath a claim to pre-eminence on,
the fcore of romantick beauty, can only be doubted,
by thofe who have never traverfed it, or who,
traverfing, rather run a race than make a regu-
lar tour. It is certain, that feveral detached
fpots, in feveral different Engliih counties,
exhibit to the eye of the traveller as much of
fimplicity, here and there as much of the fub-
lime, and frequently more of cultivation: but
then thofe are to be confidered as picked and
chofen places, and are, therefore, particular:1
whereas, the natural graces of Wales, the fpon-
taneous fragrance of the wild herbs and flowers,
the unreftrained redundance of the foliage, and
the unlaboured fertility of the fouthern foii> are
general. They often expand from one (hire to

another

14 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

another with fuccefllon both of the beautiful-
and fublime, fometimes to the ftretch of thirty
or forty miles, in the progrefs of which the
fancy and the heart, the underftanding, and all
the higher emotions of the foul are, by turns>
regaled and delighted. Hence it is impofllble
for a traveller of a juft tafte not to catch plea-
fare and inftru&ion from that cndlefs variety of
land and water, hill and valley, dizzy afcent,
and apparently fathomlefs precipice, which, in
Merioneth and Caernarvonshire, v/ould ftrike his
eye at almoft every hour's journeying. The tra-
veller of imagination would feel an unwonted
glow of head and heart, perhaps, in a warmer
degree, and of a more fafcinating kind, than the
traveller of merely a juft tafte. The poetick and
pictorial traveller, endued with the enthufiafm
proper to thofe characters, would have a more
animated pleafure from a furvey of fuch fort of
beauties, than a perfon who has been in the habit
of deriving his fatisfadtions rather from the
refined labours of art, than the eafy operations
of nature : but all degrees of underftanding and
feeling, nay the foul itfelf, would be gratified in
a tour through Wales, allowing time to do juftice
to nature and themfelves : and, indeed, none but
the moft worthlefs or difllpated of human kind
could obferve, within the limits of a morning's
ride or walk, fuch an affemblage of natural won-
ders,

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 1^

ders, viewed at any period of the year, without
tailing a pleafure of that moral kind, which, in
looking above or below, muft pronounce the
objedts of divine origin. I have flood gazing
on fome — Snowden and Plinlimmon, the vale of
Cluyn, for infbance, till they feemed of them-
felves to fay — Traveller ! well rnayeft thou gaze :
we merit your pious admiration— for we are of
God!

But my enthufiafm is running my letter into
too much length. Invoking, therefore, the
blefling of that God on you, I bid you for the
prefent — adieu.

LETTER III.

TO THE SAMS.

South Wiles.

A YOUNG painter of genius in a furnmer
tour, from Abergavenny to Milford Haven,
South, and from Aberconway to Holyhead, in-'
eluding the I fie of Angle fey, North, taking into
his route the intermediate landfcapes and fea-
pieces right and left, and making thofe paufes
which are neceflary to exad obfervation, and
thofe deviations from the beaten to the unfre-
quented

*6 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

frequented track, where, indeed, the charter
"beauties of nature are to be found, ras if they
modeftly withdrew from the gaze of every
common paflenger, could not fail returning
home richly ftored with materials for the winter
exercife of his fmifhing pencil. Or more pro-
perly advifed, and duly ambitious of being juft
to nature as his original, and to himfelf as her
imitator, were he to employ the winter only in
giving to his firft fketches a more correct form,
then in fucceeding fummers to meliorate and
improve, to catch new graces which new ver-
dure may pofllbly have given them, to beftow
that mellowing, which the mofl vigorous mind
and brighteft fancy derives from preciiion, with-
out which, indeed, every compofition of human
art can hope but tranfitory fame ; were he then
to occupy his fecond winter to the laft polifhes,
then fend them to Somerfet Houfe, I will ven-
ture to fay, he would exhibit to his country,
one of the moft beautiful, one of the moil valu-
able collections that had, till then, been feen in
the moil felecl: of her cabinets ; accompanied
by this peculiar honour and novelty — that it
was taken from an original properly her own :
a truth which nineteen out of twenty who had
never feen that original would be far from fuf-
pecVing : nay, I am furthermore convinced that
even the beft judges, the mod celebrated artifts,
6 under

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. iy

under the like predicament, would diftribute
the different landfcapes to as many different
countries — appropriating the fcenary of one to
Savoy, a fecond to Laufanne, a third to the beau-
tiful Pays de Vaud, and fo on : for all that cha-
rafterife thefe lovely countries, aflemble in the
principality of Wales. The Cambrian excur-
fion I have here recommended to the young and
ingenious artifb of my country in particular,
would, were they to travel pencil in hand, unite
the merits of the patriot to the talents of the
painter, and be productive of objects no lels
worthy the lovers of their art, than the lovers
of their country. It is hence, that I would in-
cite thofe who are bleft with abilities, and who
incline to devote them to the mufe of painting,
to a journey of deliberation through Wales, be-
fore they go farther from home; convinced,
that if the fludy and imitation of nature, only,
were, as it obvioufly is, the perfection of their
art, a great deal of that time and money, which
is expended in getting to the ufual feminaries,
and fcenary, might be favedj for I repeat, that
this little appendage to the crown of England,
contains, within itfelf, the richefl ftores for the
pencil which can be contented with nature, or
with nature's God.

Does the painter look for the broad and beau-
VOL, i. C tiful

l£ CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

tiful cxpanfe of the fea, v/ith all its attendant'
rocks, terminating towers, romantick fhell-work,
and furrounding fhores ? They await him on
the coaft of Wales at innumerable openings,
They falute him at the new and old paiTage,
even as he firfl fets his foot on the Cambrian
foil. He meets them again, in various parts of
Caermarthenfhire : they fmile on him as he vi-
fits the mouldering caftle, and romantick fcenary
of the fweet village of Laugharne, in that coun-
ty.— At Kidwelly and Llanelthy, they again
regale. Swanfea offers them to him in all the
pride of charms, that have drawn the admira-
tion of the £afhionable world. They accom-
pany, refrefhj, and delight him, even to Mil-
ford-Haven, where they lofe thernfclves in un-
bounded ocean. Nor are the marine objects
ieis beautiful in die northern diftricts. At
Towyn, Abereftwith, Caernarvon, Harleigh,
Penmprva, Bangor, Anglefey, Barmouth, ^:c.
they increafe in every grace of the grand and
.the minute.

Does the youthful cnthufiaft pant after the
Tublime beauties peculiar to the land ? Here
they are in the mod profufe abundance. The
mountains are here, whofe immenie height
illuftrates and juftifies that bold imagery of the
Poet, whofe defcriptions would appear the work

of

CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 19

\of fancy, and of fancy run riot, to all thofe who
have never yet looked at the a'ipiring fublimities
of nature as they prefent thett^Mves in Merioneth-
{hire, and other northern parts of this ifland. The
truth and the deicription of it, are thus t&fc&ljr
given ih the poetry of Goldfmith,

" As fome tall cliff, tliat lifts its atoeful form,

" Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the floral ;

" Tho' round its bread the rolling clouds are fpread,

'« fctfcrrial furifhine fettles 'on its head."

The clouds, indeed, feern fometimes to iflue
from the feet, and fometimes from the bowel*
of theie mountains, in patting the {learning fides
of which the traveller is, on the brighteft day*
involved in the thickeft mift, while the fummit
of the mountain above, and of the valley bek>w>
are gilded by fun- beams, which the vapours have
not fullied.

Or, languiflics our child of genius for the
mountain Cataract, whofe white foam is preci-
pitated by the torrent down its romantick, but
rugged fides, till it reaches the diftant vale,
where it rolls over the dark rocks, made yet
darker by the thick oaks that overhang them;
the deeped green mofs growing on the parts of
rock not wafhed by the turbulent, but laved
only by tht gentle waves that occafionalty over-

c 2 flow

20 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

flow them? Would he wifh to hear a beauty
that he could not paint, the defcription of
which he muft refign to the poet, namely, the
ftunning found of the fame Cataract, foftened
by degrees into the flill, fmall, and fweet voice
of the rill, which deals gradually out of hearing
along the woody dingle, where it dies away ?
If his genius leads to thefe, they are to be met
with in Wales. I have clambered up the
mountains, where they were paflable to human
afcentj I have followed the found of the tor-
rent, from the firft deafening impetuofity, to
the laft of its meanders through the valley ; and
have been paid for my excurfion by innumerable
beauties, which nature hides, as it were, in her
nooks and corners, and denies the fight or fcent of
to every one who does not deem them worth
fearching for. It is alrnoft a partiality unwarranted
to point at any place in particular, where thefe
charms for the true lovers of nature may be difco-
vered ; fo generally are they diftributed throughout
the principality: but if I am juftified in giving the
preference to any. fpots, I ihould mention Merion-
ethlhire, and the country about. Pontipool, as moft re-
plete with thefe beauties — thefe and a thoufand more.

-

It is impoflible for me, indeed, to give ade-
quate fketches of the countlefs charms a tra-
veller of genius, will difcover in this route, The

moft

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 21

mofl vivid defcriptions of Gilpin, joined to the
folid narratives of Pennant, fhould rather ani-
mate, than difcourage, to the journey. The
living eye of fuch a traveller fhould not be con-
tented with any thing fhort of the living vo-
lume ; in every page and pafTage of which, na-
ture will here prefent him with fomething to

admire and imitate fomething which, though

admired and defcribed before, will fupply new
defcription, new imitation. In truth, the pro-
per objects of genius can here never be ex-
haufted, nor genius itfelf fatigued with repre-
fenting them. So redundant are the fports of
nature in this happy foil, that with a flight
change of your point of view, the fame fpot of
ground will afford a fet of landfcapes: Taken
from the top of the mountain you may fketch
the valley apart, and it is fufHciently enriched
to fill your canvafs, and call your imitative
powers into the warmeft exertion •, taken from

the valley you have another feparate picture

the firft, interefting, foft, and delicate : the fe-
cond, noble, animated, and fublime ; join their
feveral beauties by drawing them in a middle
direction between both, and, reverencing nature
and yourfelf, you will prove the truth of my
repeated aficrtion, that it is unrieceflary to quit
your native empire, to gain the wreathe of immor-
tality as a painter.

c 3 Excufe

S2 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

Excufe me, I beg of you, for thus enlarging
on thefe beauties, with a view to bringing them
upon canvafs -, but befides that I know you both
love and cultivate the art in private, many of our
mutual friends, amongft which is the enchanting
Pe Loutherberg, and the brother of the ingeni-
ous Barrett, worthy the relation fhip, are publick
ornaments of it. I am perfuaded that if the
former of thefe artifts were to vifit the fcenes I
have here alluded to, his moft glowing and juftly
celebr,ated landfcapes from Switzerland,, which we
have ib often admired in his defcriptions, as
well, as on his canvafs, would have companions
of Welfh extraction highly deferving that ho*
nour.

But it is time to commit my- long letter, upon
paintings — which you may,. perhaps, call an epif-
tle to- pajnters^-tQ the poft. Farewell then for th§
prefent,

LETTER iy.

TO THE SAME.

North

VV HAT I have already faid, and what. I
ftill wifli to communicate, in regard to this finely
romantick country, is, as I before noted, rather

the

CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 23

the refult of the remarks I made fbme months ago,
than what occurs at the prefent time.

The fcenary of Mahuntkth is in the true flyle
of aweful grandeur, flupendous rocks rifing above
one another in barren fublimity, and forming a
natural rampart round the town ; in the neigh-
bourhood of which, you ride through one of the
moft lovely vales even your imagination can
conceive j the more delightful for coming un-
expectedly ; as, on your firft leaving the town,
you are prepared only for rocks; inftead of
which, you enter a lane, about half a mile from
the village, which fhuts you from the farther
view of both rocks and village ; and conducts
you along a green recefs, continuing for many
miles, almoft every flep of which introduces
a frefh beauty, Wood, water, hill and vale,
can fcarce take a form; the found of ftreams,
the carol of birds, the diverfity of foliage, can
hardly be fancied, by the moft enthufiaftick
lover of nature, which blends not in this ihort
cxcurfion. Every thing blooms around you ;
the mountains vegetate to the top ; all the tints
and lhades of verdure arc in your view ; neat
white cottages, and pretty farm-houfes, with
here and there a modern villa, or ancient mafti-
fion, introduce themfelves to your eye, as you
move on, at fuch acceptable- diftances, and in

c 4 fuch

fi^ GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

fuch happy fituations, that even a mat ter-of -faff
traveller) muft forget all common -place circum-
flances, and wifh to be refidentiary. What then
muft be the effect of fuch fcenary on the children
of fancy ? The poetical traveller, for inftance,
would be fo rapt and entranced, that, giving
himfelf up unrefervedly to the enchantments
that furroundedjiim, he would feel a fort of at-
tachment to every object that contributed its
beauty to the fcenej nay, he would be abfo-
lutely in friendfhip, in alliance, with the woods,
as if he had vegetated with them. A fober ci-
tizen, who mould obferve a true lover of nature
under fuch influences, would pronounce him,
mad ; yet, in this kind of delirium, arifing from
an heart and imagination delighted, and, as it
were, carried beyond themfelves by the charms
of nature, there is a pleafure, which, what is
properly underftood by the words, cc a fober ci-
(C tizen," never knew. Such a lover of nature
as I have juft mentioned, would, with felf-gra-
tification, and grateful thanks to the bounteous
beftower^ triumph in this excefllve fenfibility of
vegetable beauty. He would tell you it began
from the'firft hour he could diftinguifh betwixt
flerility and bloom. A garden, a wood, a rill,
an immenfe mountain, an almoft untrodden
path in a valley, the interminable ocean, the
contra&ed ftream, and all that nature inherits,

were

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 25

were my delight, would he exclaim, when my
love of them was rather inflinfb than obferva-
tion. The paflion, Cf grew with my growth, and
" ftrengthened with my ftrength." — It ftrewed
rofes over the years of my youth, and made me
often forget the numberlefs thorns which envi-
roned them. The years of manhood that have
ftrengthened my reafon, have in no degree
abated my fmcere — I had almoft written my
tender — delight in thefe charms of the creation.
And would any one call this vain glory, why,
would he demand, fhould I not glory in the
affedtion I bear to fuch objects ? And why
fhould that glory be deemed vain ? Do they not
lead from things temporal to things eternal ?
from earth to heaven ? from creation to the
Creator ? Is not, therefore, the adoration I pay
to them a virtue ? A part of religious worfliip ?
At the time I was enveloped— emfaradifed let
me call it rather, — in this blifsful folitude, I felt
that it was a time more detached from the drofs
of the world, and more pure than probably the
beft fociety could have made it. Will the man
of cold fenfe pronounce all this vifionary ? No.
It is fubftantial— to me at lead it has been the
fource, and, I hope, will continue to be, of the
higheft fentiments and contemplation. May I
live only while I am fenfibly alive to the beau-
ties of nature ! For, in the hour this affection

quits

*6 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES,

quits me, the facred fenfe of the great Author
cfthefe beauties, — which my fenfibility of them
kindles in my foul, which everr the lowlieft
fhrub, or fimplefl blade of grafs now infpires —
could no more afcend1 to the power from whom
I received this fenfibility, than the autumnal
leafy that has withered on the ground^ can again
mount and Eourifh on the tree from which it
has fallen !

Do you not feel, indeed, that the pleafure of
which 1 have been fpeaking, is amongil the few
that belong to the poetical mind, in balance of
the nirmberlels evils which are infeparable from
the votaries of the mufe r

But you have been mufe-led too long. I could
here, in defcribing what I know to be by friend's
fenfations on this fubjecl, defcribe- my own ; but
\ve will return to the fweet (hacks that kindled
the enthuiiafm, left it fiiould feduce me into
felfifh obfervations. I really abhor egorifm,
but in letters that mix- the hiftory of feelings
with that of our wanderings, it is the moil dif-
ficult thing in the world not to be an egotift.
All that can be fairly expecled, indeed, in tra-
velling epiftles, is to make, as it were, our ab-
fent correfpondent enjoy what we have enjoyed,
make our pleailircs his own, and^ if ever he

takes

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALKS. 27

takes the fame route, warn him to efcape the
inconveniencies we have encountered. In this
character of a friendly direction-pod, I may be
ufeful: Take courage, therefore, and accom-
pany me once more into the woods of Mahtmt-
leth, and let me inftru6t you, by the way, that
this is a little market town, in northern Cam-
bria, in the road to Abereftwith, a town in fome
reputation as a bathing place. If you, who, I
know, pay an annual viflt to the fea nymphs,
mould direct your watery courfe hitherward, I
charge you in the name of Nature, to make 3
day's paufe at Mahuntleth, where you will find
good accommodation, and dedicate it to wood
nymphs, in the fylv.an> fcenes I have been de-
fcribing : remembering, only, to take the horfe^
road to Dolgelthys another place abounding in
vegetable beauty. The diftance from Mahunt-
leth to the laft-named tow.n, this bridleway,, is
fcarcely feven miles, not to be complained of
with a fteed you- have faith- in, and even, if the
horfe had forfeited your confidence fifty times,
while your eyes efcaped you would forgive him
for fliewing you fo many delicious fcenes ? what
js better, he would annihilate the fenfe of danger,
by making you. forget both his errors, and thofe
of every body elfe. Do you not perceive that my
fancy is again kindling ? An hazardous time to
re-enter the woods ! Is it not to be feared I mall

lofe

»8 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

lofe myfelf in them ? Suppofe then I allow my-
felf time to cool before I venture again into this
wildernefs of fweets ? It may be as well perhaps
for us both. Adieu then.

LETTER V.

TO THE SAME.

North Wales.

AFTER about two hours riding in this
charming country, you come to a fpot fo exqui-
fitely delightful, that it feems impoffible for a
poet, or a lover, whether his miftrefs is nature,
or a pretty woman, or indeed for any traveller,
who has enough of romance to keep in motion
thofe paflions, which, like wholefome breezes,
fhould always ventilate to prevent the mafs from
ftagnating j— it is in fhort, impoffible for any but
the fordid worldling, not to paufe in this place,
and wifh to pafs the evening of his days in its
vicinity :

^ Ducere folicitse jucunda oblivia vitse."

It is a part of the valley defended by an im-

menfe fcrecn of many coloured rocks behind, out

of which fpring, here and there, a few hardy

fhrubs and flowers 5 ftupendous crags, which the

i hurri-

CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES* 29

hurricanes have thrown from a ridge of moun-
tains, whofe mutilated heads are ftill in the clouds.
Some of thefe crags have been Hopped midway,
where, though they menace a farther defcent
when aflailed by the next florm, they have flood
the fiege of the elements unmoved, for ages.—
Other vaft and mismapen mafles have found their
way to the bottom, and lie at the fide of the road
— to the left of which is a broad flream of water,
here foaming into natural cafcades, and there
difplaying a bafon fo untroubled and limpid, that
you languifh to bathe in it -, which you might
very fecurely do, for it is, in many places, fo
fhaded, and, if you follow the labyrinths, will
guide you to retreats, where lofing the foot path,
you reach a recefs where the Graces might bathe
without alarm. Had Thomfon's Mufidora
chofen this fpot fhe might have

(f Stripp'd her beauteous limbs
*' To tafte the lucid coolnefs of the flood,"

;

without the leaft hazard of being furprized by a
Damon — unlefs his refidence in the neighbour-
hood, gave him knowledge of the fecret haunt—-
orj »s in Damon's Cafe, he was remarkably
fortunate. pror Damons there are, even here, I
can allure you, ai.j. Mufidoras too, amongft the
peafantry in particular, tin. fwa;ns being as
hale, happy a fet of round-faced, ryfy-cheeked

youths,

30 CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES*

youths, and the damfcls as well-featured a face of
white-toothed, black-eyed, red-lipped lafTes, as
in any part of the world.

I fhould not omit to tell you, that the natural
ralcades, and tranfparent baths, before defcrib-
e<i, are fo tinted by the refractions of the light
and Ihade, and the variegated rocks, fpars,
Ihells, &c. at the bottom, that the water itfelf,
as well as the flooring, if you wi!l give me *eavc
fo to call it, exhibit all the colours of the rain*
bow, in no kfs inimitable dies. This is a na-
tural beauty I never law imitated by the painters ;
perhaps, the imitation of it is impracticable :
indeed, I do not remember ever to have feen it,
in nature, equally perfect as in this valley. Nor
is it lefs worthy note, that the foliage of the
fine woody mountains that rile above thefe wa-
ter works of nature, in nobly fublime contrail
of the no leis natural rock-work, on the oppo-
fite fide, is not lefs diverfified than the ftream.
The vegetation is of every hue of which green
is capable; and an adequate idea of its effe6b
muft be as difficult for the pen as the pencil
Let it be added, that your eye, befide r^v al-
ready mentioned beauties, take '** cne cete-»
brated Caer-Idris, one -* ^ loftieft of the
Welch mountain-* the ^mmit of which, like
its fame*"* rivals, Snowden and Plinlimmon, is

covered

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. £1

covered with eternal fnow : while nuniberlefs
Bocks of fheep, — whofe fleeces, bleached by die
wind blowing frefli from the heavens, are fcarcely
lefs white than that fnow — feed, frolick, and
repofe, on its ample fides. The eye aches to
view the top of this mountain giant, and the
brain turns -dizzy as it furveys, by a foddcn
tranfition, the depth of the valley below. Habit,
however, familiarifes both thefe natural wonders j
and yet they .fee in for ever new.

My imagination was at work, to build jwft
fuch a comfortable refidence on this fpot, as
might hold all thofe whom I loved, and who
had tafte to fliare with me its beauties : among!*:
thefe, you, my dear friend, were not forgotten.
The above ingenious artift had already confe-
crated an apartment to you, fuch as mufl needs
have given you content. I had allotted another
adjoining to yours, to our charming friend,
Mrs. L. S. whole fpirit fo accords with yours j
and permit me the flattery of thinking with my
own. This pleafant caftle in the air went
brifkly, though infcnfibly, forward as I rode
on, and the edifice was begun and finifhed in
the mod commodious manner poiTible, with all
appurtenances thereto belonging, fuch as good
fare, good furniture, good wine, and good
friends, in about a quarter of an hour : The

6 herds

32 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

herds and flocks that grazed on Caer-Idris, I
had appropriated -, fome fine oxen at feed in the
paftures below, were, with the paftures them-
felves, mine alfo : in fhort, I had fitted up my
place for the reception of company^ and began
to exult in the work of my own fancy, when,
cafting my eyes to the left from that fixed
ground-loving reverie in which they had been
involved in during thefe operations, I difcovered
exactly fuch a manfion ready made to my hands.
Confider the ftate, the heat of mind, in which
I made this difcovery, and wonder not if, in the
firft moment, I fancied I faw only my own edi-
fice.— It itarted to my view, precifely, when I
had given it the lad aerial finifhes : it was em-
bofomed in trees, juft as I would have it : in a
word, it was, to all intents and purpofes, fuch
as I had been erecting and adorning. I need
not tell you, who know my foliloquizing way,
that I was fauntering onward all this while —
cc Sometimes fad, and fometimes flow," as the
poet fays. — Truly, it was a very odd fenfation I
felt, on being obliged, at laft, to confefs, that
it was actually a houfe of more folid materials
than imagination commonly works with. How
lhall I defcribe this to you ? I was pleafed to fee
fo pretty a villa in fo happy a fituation, as well
as to find that others had tafte as well as myfelf :
but I was a little mortified— forgive me — to

perceive

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 33

jDcrceive any one had, as it were, built upon my
ground, and fuperfeded me. Ye rigid people
'of the world, I pray your pardon : which of you
has not erefted his airy cattle^ been delighted
-while it was in progrefs, triumphed in its com-
pletion, and mourned its fall ?

My chagrin, however, was but of a moment.
I had been fufficiently amufed with the fhadow,
and was foon in friendmip with the fubftance, I
had foon reafon to be fo. The proprietor of this
marifion, with a child in each hand, was {land-
ing at his gate. He had one of the mod in-
viting countenances I ever faw : it encouraged a
flranger to begin converfation, and to afk any
queftions, with an afiurance of their being gra-
cioufly anfwered. On rny firft greeting, he
came down to the road -fide, and, with an ur-
banity that would have graced a court, entered
with me into difcourle. On hearing my eulogy
on the beauty of the place, and receiving my
felicitations on the enviable fltuation of his villa,
he begged I would confider myfelf as the matter
of it, as long as might be agreeable or conve-
nient to me, afluring me of the moft unfeigned,
welcome if I could put up with cottager's fare.
To ftrengthen his invitation, he obferved, that
the furrounding objects could not, poffibly, be
duly fecn at one view ; — that the colouring of

VOL. r, D the

£4 CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

the water, its repofe, its rapidity, the contraft
of the barren and fertile mountains, and of the
rocks, had different beauties at different times of
the day, and that after a night's refrefhment I
ihould find them far more inte retting; adding,
that there were many others which lay out of the
common track, in the like ftyle of foftnefs and
fublimity, and to -which he would be himfelf my
conductor in the morning, on the condition of my
being his gueft that night. This was offered with
fo frank an air, with fo much unqueftioned dif-
intereftednefs, that I intreat of you and your
party, if you ever take this tour, to make your
beft bows and curtfeys to this hofpitable cottager.
His villa is about the midway between Mahunt-
leth and Dolgelthy 5 but it is impofiible it ihould
cfcape your notice ; for without thefe mementos,
I am fare here would your foot be fixed, and here
your heart would warm.

Nor is this hofpitality rare in this country. It
anciently, you know, formed its charac~teriflick»
Modern manners have not altogether refined it
away. I witnefied its exiftence, during my tour,
In a great many inftences. In taking the exer-
cifes of the field, for example, every farm, every
cottage, is yours, as places of repofe and refrefh-
ment, and the bounty extends to your .dumb com-
panions as well as to yourfelf-— milk, butter,

cheefe,

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES, § 35

cheefe, and barakerk, oat-bread, a clean cloth,
a platter of hung-beef, a jug of beer, and a can
of cyder, are placed before you, as matters of
courfe, without afking for, and your being a
flranger is a fufficient recommendation -, nay,
you would be thought cruel to fuffer from fa-
tigue, hunger, or bad weather, while fuch fhelter
and entertainment were within your reach. As
this is amongft the fafts which a refidentiary tra-
veller only could know, and as it is really a truth,
that runs through the country, elpecialiy the nor-
thern parts, I feel myfelf the more bound to men-
tion it. Nor is it confined to the low and middle
ranks only. People of family arc every where
under a prefcriptivc neceflity of keeping up cer-
tain forms, but with refped to Wales, a very
flight acquaintance would fecure a moil cordial
reception in the houfes of the gentry and nobi-
lity: and many of thefe live in the folid fafhions,
and keep up the good old cuftoms of ancient
days — ftill retaining their hawker, their harper,
their domeftick bard, &c.

A venerable man*, member for the very county
which fupplies the fcenes I have been defcribing,
may be quoted as an inftance* His flate of health

* Mr. Vaughan, member for Merioneth (hi re, who died fin ce
this letter was written.

D 2 has,

36 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

has, for fome time, cc check'd the genial current
cc of his foul 5" but his houfe has been long the
temple of good humour, hofpitality, and cheer-
fulnefs, in a ftyle that might put to the blufH
the proud referves, and felfifh pomps of upftart
greatnefs, and mulhroom pretenfions to ftate and .
diftindion.

Suchj in very general expreflions, are the far-
mers, peafants, and gentry, of the country, which
gives a title to the Heir Apparent of one of the
moft valuable crowns, and to one of the moft ac-
complifhed Princes in the Chriftian world. It
were undoubtedly to be wifhed, that, with equal
truth, I could pay an equal tribute to the pea-
fantry, farmers, and gentry, in England; but I
fear the unbought, difmterefted urbanity of thefc
to ftrangers, whether of their own country or of
any other, muft be looked upon rather as excep-
tions than general rules. When I reflect upon
the fubftantial charities and benevolence of the
people of England, on all great occafions, I tri-
umph in being, myfelf, an Englifhman; but I
ihall never ceafe to regret, my friend, that in the
fpontaneous courtefies, the little impromptus of
civility, that grow out of the wants and wilhes
of the moment, and are to be gratified by dif-
penfmg with all formal referves, tedious intro-
ductions, and fufpicious balancings, the Welch,

the

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 37

the Scotch, the Irifh, the French, and many other
people are their fuperiors,

Whence can this take its rife ? Is it pride, dif-
truft, an apprehenfion of being deluded ? Is it an
infular kind of refervation ? A (hutting up of the
heart till it is woo'd and won ? Or is it a mixture
of all thefe ? Whatever be the caufe, the effect is
to be deplored : for much pleafure is loft to him
who has too much etiquette, fear, or dignity to
ftoop to immediate occurrences -, the opportunity
of doing a kindnefs is loft in a moment, and if our
doors are to be opened only to receive a friend,
and a ftranger muft bring credentials of his being
entitled to the en pa/font benevolence, by being
known to fome of our friends and neighbours,
though unknown to ourfelves, a thoufand urbani~
ties, which might have been fhewn,muft be omitted,
A temper betwixt the extremes of French offici-
oufnefs, and Englifh phlegm, would form a good
middle character. From many obfervarions, dur-
ing my late intercourfe amongft all ranks in this
country, lam difpofed to think thatWclch courtefy
is the happy medium, fo far as goes to the recep-
tion of, and good offices Ihewn to ftrangers. The
fire of the French at firft fight, is too hot to laft ;
the froft of the Englifh takes too much time in
thawing, and, though their bounty is but the
more folid and effectual, when the ice of their
D con-

3$ GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.'

conftitutional — perhaps only atmofpherical — re-
ferve is diflblved, like certain fruits of the earth,
after the fnow that long covered them is melted,
the occafion is paft away, and the object that flood
in need of our temporary exertions, may have gone
even beyond the reach of our beft lervices, while
the fires of benevolence are kindling. Not but I
know many happy exceptions j amongft which I
fhould not fcruple, were I called upon, by way of
challenge, to produce a native of the <c gloomy
fc island," as foreigners fometimes call it, who to
peculiar tendernefs of the affections for particular
and private friends, unites a large, and indeed uni-
verfal philanthropy, the effeft of which extends
courtefy, gentlenefs, and generous actions to peo-
ple of all nations, difpenfing kind words and good
deeds, wherever they are implored, I mould name
yourfelf — and not without exultation, that I have
the honour to be your friend. — Adieu.

P. S. I mail leave the northern, and return to
the fouthern part of Wales to-morrow, with intent
to take a little fea- bathing, before I entirely quit
the country. I will give you the reft of my Glean-
ings from the court of Neptune.

LETTER,

CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 39

LETTER VI.

TO THE SAME,

Barmouth, North Wales.

I HAVE, as the date will fhew you, altered
jmy route: to which I have been induced by a with
to pay my parting tribute to the place from which
I now addrefs you. The road from Mahuntleth to
Dolgelthy, I truft, mylaft has made you acquainted
with: that from Dolgelthy to Barmouth, a fpace
only of ten miles, can, like the other, be done full
juftice to only by your own eyes, for its beauties
are fo manifold and extraordinary, that they lite-
rally cc beggar defcription." Suppofe yourielf
mounted on your horfe, or feated in your carriage
on a clear genial day, as able from health, as di£-
pofed from tafte and temper, to enjoy the beauties
that offer the mfelyes $o your view. Under fuch
happy circumftances thefe ten miles would be the
fliorteft, and the rnoft pleafant you have psft in
your whole life* New paftures of the moft exu*
berant fertility, new woods rifing in the majefty of
foliage, the road itfelf curving in numberlefs unex-
pected directions^ at one moment fhut into a ver*
dant recefs, fo contracted that there feems neither
carriage nor bridle way out of itj at another the azure
P 4

^0 GLEANINGS THROUGH

expanfe of the main ocean filling your eye — — on
one fide of you, rocks glittering in all the colours
of that beauty which conftitutes the fublime, and
of an height that diminilhes the wild herds that:
browfe, or look down upon you from the fummits,
V/here the largefl animal appears infignificantly
minute — on the other hand, plains, villas, cottages,
venerable halls, or copfes, with whatever tends to
form that milder grace that belongs to the beau-
tiful.— Such are fome of the objects you will meet
with in your excurflon to Barmouth ; on your ar-
rival at which place, fo far from your profpects
terminating with your journey, they open upon
you frefli attractions, which are as fingular as un-
expected.

This little fea-port eonfifts of a fmgle irregular
ftreet only, one fide of which is built upon the
folid, rocky mountain, that is of fo ftupendous
an height, that the firft view of it, upon the
traveller's entrance into the village, or taken
from the fea fide, makes him not only tremble
for himfelf, but for the aerial inhabitants. Out
of that mountain rock are their habitations
formed, and though the confidence is rather
weak than ftrong, as, after much drought or rain,
it will crumble under your feet as you tread on it,
the houfes are in excellent repair, am} feem, like
thpfe that refide in them, to fet winds and waves

at

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 41

at defiance. The villagers are, probably, more
hardy than their native mountains — much more
fo, I mould judge, than their crumbling rocks,
if their weather-beaten complexions, and hard
hands, which, in my familiar, character-exploring
way, I have fometimes fhaken, may be confidered
as famples. You feem to be careffing a man of
iron, and that iron appears to be covered with a
leather, that has undergone a procefs and taken
the tan of the material, with which our Englifh
waggon whips are commonly made. The chief
food of the peafantry is fifh, which is had in the
greatefl abundance > and it may be reckoned
amongft the pleafant objects of the place, to fee
the natives in their little fifhing boats, on a fine
morning, when the fea is calm. If you look at
them from the rocky fide of the village, the boats
feem like buoys, and the people that guide them
are fcarcely perceptible. The village itfelf,
viewed on the contrary from the ocean, is the
moft picturefquc you can imagine. On account
of the excellence of the beach, it is an admirable
watering place, and a good bath may be had
almoft every day. In tempefluous weather, the
afTemblage of objects, taken together, is the
moft fublime of any in the principality. The
dark (hading and ftupendous height of thefe
rocks, which overhang the ocean j — the mountain
bjllows, that afcending midway, dam againft

them*

42 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES,

them, as if difappointed in their ambition to
reach the fummit $ — the veiTels that feem croud-
ing into the harbour, and almoft taking fhelter
in the houfes upon the beach -, — the buildings on
the rocks, meanwhile, Teeming to demand no
protection, but to mock the fiorm — the innu-
merable quantity of fea birds that enjoy it j—
all thefe go towards the fcenary — and if thunder
and lightning are added to it, which are very
frequent accompaniments, the reverberation of
the found amongft the rocks, the terrlfick charms
of the flames on the objects, both on fea and
Jhore, with the intermingled roar of the waves.*
fmifh the climax, if I may fo call it, of the true
fublime. You may, perhaps, afk, if this fcenary
is not in every mountainous country, near the fea,
pretty much the fame ? I anfwer, certainly, in a
degree : but here it is the fuperlative degree of
aweful grandeur ; and all I have hitherto feen of
the magnificence of nature, in the time of her
trouble, has been comparatively feeble to her
exhibitions in and about Barmouth.

But it is time, that I bring both you" and myfelf,
fefe down from thefe Alps of Cambria, where
you may, perhaps, think 1 have (laid with you
too long, particularly when the black mountains
were wrapt in ftorm, and the nature of the
fur rounding objects made me in danger of be-
coming

CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 43

coming poetical, which is a rock worfe, to the
fober- minded reader, than any I have mentioned i
yet on which, too many travellers fplit. Never-
thelefs, I have only cropped a few of the flowers
which others failed to gather. Jn traverfing a
fpacious garden, even with an avowed intent of
forming a bouquet, it is impoflible, amidll a
profuijon of fweets beftowed in " the prodigality
of nature/' not to leave or overlook many flower-
£&, and particular fpots of exquifite beauty and
fragrance. To pluck and to examine thefe, and
occafionally to borrow from others, what may be
honourable to them in the repetition, as authors,
and agreeable to you, as a reader, is the " head
*< and front" of my office as a Gleaner.

From the labours of the late Mr. Grofle, you,
and every reader of tafte, are fo well acquainted
with the abbeys, caftles, and other reliques of
antiquity, and of the time of more deftructive
men, in the fhapes of Kings, Protectors, &c. who,
jike death, Cf put all things under their feet,"
that I lhall not attempt to reconduct you to thefe
remains of power, prieft-craft, and fuperftition.
Indeed, were I inclined to fearch diligently, it is
doubtful whether I mould be able to pick up a
fmgle ruin; that accurate -antiquary having left
jiothing for my gleaning. Neither fhall I fay

any

44 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES,

.any thing of Snowden, — nor afk you to accom-
pany me to the country, where

«' Huge Plinlimmon rears his cloud-topp'd head."

Both of which have been introduced to you in the
beft manner, by Mafon and Gray, the latter of
whom pofFefTed a genius loftier, and more fublime,
than the mountains he defcribed.

A few objecls, however, nearer the ground,
remain for me ; and if you will condefcend to
accept fuch humble offerings, after the giddy
heights, and fearful precipices, from which I
have juft let you down, they are at your fervice.
A quiet walk in the valley, after clambering
j and buffeting with dorms, may relieve you.

Suppofe, therefore, by way of mewing you a
fpecimen of the hardy manner in which the poor
natural inhabitants of thefe craggy abodes live,
you flep with me into a hut belonging to one of
the Barmouth peafants. In point of fituation it
might vie with any hermitage, cot, or palace,
that prieft, peafant, or prince ever fixed on for
refidence. A noble beach of the fined fand
iprcads itfelf at the bottom': the ocean, yet
nobler, extends in front, with all the feenery
that moves on the face of the waters j the clifljs
of Cardiganshire bound the profpect to the right;

to

GLEAN IKGS THROUGH WALES. 43

to the left are feen thofe of Caernarvonlhire*
Clofe at its foot a rill,, which is for ever heard but
never feen ; the fhrub wood and weeds of a little
half-cultivated piece of garden ground bidding
defiance to the moft narrow infpeclion j and clofe
at its back is part of that immenfe and continuous
rock on which one half of the village is erected j
but as thole are on the fummit, this is at the
bottom. The fides, and far the greater part of
this hovel, for it is little better, are fo thick with
ivy, that, at a fmall diftance, nothing but that
romantick evergreen is to be difcovered. A novel
writer, or a lover, or a mifanthrope, could imagine
nothing half fo congenial to their penfive dif-
pofitions : it belongs to neither of thefe perfon-
ages. Enter it and furvey the inhabitants.
Perhaps there never was contained, in fo fmall a
fpace, fuch a variety of occupations going on at
the fame time : nor, probably, fuch a number of
Jiving beings crouded in one cottage, conlifting
not of one floor only, but one very contracted
room; and that room built barn famion; with
more light from the large gaps in the thatched
roof, than from the window. Its walls were of
avowed mud, for not fo much as a common
white warn ever attempted to conceal their real
competition. The family confided of fourteen
perfons, of which, three were too young to relieve
their poverty, though juft old enough to fmile

at,

±6 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES*

atj and difregard it — the reft were, as I faid,
bufily employed. The father of the family was
making nets, the mother of it was fhaving one
of the innkeepers of the place — of her more anon
— the eldeft fon was weaving ribbons — the eldeft
daughter weaving cloth — the fecond fon was
mending a petticoat, that, for variety of patch-
work, might triumph over Otway's hag — the
fecond daughter was attempting to repair what I
guefs might have been intended for her father's
breeches, in his younger days, and was now to
be converted into a pair for his heir apparent—
the third daughter (he had but three fons) was
combing the head of the fourth, who was, with
no lefs induftry, knitting a pair of {lockings —
the fixth girl was making bread — the feventh was
making broth, that is, a collection of potatoes,
carrots, and other vegetables — the eighth, and
lafl:, was rocking the cradle of the youngeft child
with her foot, and dandling another in her arms—*
while the fifth was making firft experiments at the
fpinning-wheel.

The tatters which were thrown over thefe
poor artizans, were even more bare and ragged
than the furniture, which confided of only three
miferablejbeds; of which one only had curtains,
and thofe ef yellow ftufF> in fo ruinous a ftate,
that—- as the Copper Captain fays of the rats— •

the

GLEAMINGS THROUGH WALES. 47

the moths and other vermin " had inftincYively
« quitted them/' — There was a fourth bed, of a
little dirty looking flraw, in a corner of the
room, with a covering of old facks. Never did
I fee fo much indigence, and fo much indtiftry
united; for though the latter was unremitted,
the low price of labour, and the number to be
fupplied from it, and the tender years of moft
of the labourers, made the fource inadequate to
the demand upon it; but neither, the indufiry,
nor the indigence, had banifhed the virtues, or
the felicities: They were, indeed, within this
lowly refidence, in a more flouriming flate thaa
is generally to be found in prouder dwellings.
All the varieties which characterife happinefs, in
different minds and ages, were prefented before
me. The Father, while he conftrucled his net,
taught the alphabet to one of his fmaller chil-
dren, who was armed with an horn-book. The
matron Urongly recommended the laft piece of
cloth of her eldeft girl's making to the inn-
keeper, whofc chin me was reaping; thus, con-
triving to carry on two bargains at the fame
timej and it is not eafy to defcribe to you. the
fatisfadion with which the good man of the
houfe ki(Ted the dirty face of the child, on her
getting through her letters without mifcalling or
forgetting more than fixteen out of the twenty-
four; or how the good, woman chuckled, whea
3 her

48 GLEANINGS THROUGH WAEES*

her encomia of the linen conquered the reluc-
tance of mine hoft, who not only promifed to
become a purchafer of the cloth, then under
hand, but to fpeak favourably of her daughter's
handy-works to the gentry at his houfe. The
joke, however, which was, meanwhile, carrying
on between the fecond fon and daughter, about
the inverfion of their ufual occupations, which
was a thing agreed on out of pure fport, fup-
plied a mirth yet more ardent. The convention
was cc Sifter, if you will repair my breeches, I
" will mend your petticoat. One good turn
*c deferves another." Accordingly, both went
to work j during which, a thoufand ruftick repar-
tees, and fallies of uncultivated wit, which made
up in harmleflhefs what they wanted in bril-
liancy, patted in rebound $ but the jet of the
joke lay in a ftruggle, that happened between
them in the progrefs of their bufmefs \ the bro-
ther declaring his fifter was a bunglers where-
upon, there arofe a pleafant contention, wjiich
was of ferious confequence to the breeches ; for
they were torn in twain, and, furthermore, fo
rent, as to be unfit for either father or fon : this,
though no trifling lofs to a family under fuch
circumftances, made the jeft fo much the better,
that the father forgave the misfortune, for the
fake of the pleafant manner with which it was
brought about i afluring me* that there was

more

IN'GS THROUGH WALES.

Lore 'wit in that girl who had torn the breeches,
and more flynefs in the young dog that was laugh-
ing at it, than I could believe. The mother fhook
her head, faying, they were always at fome mifchiefj
and would be the ruin of the family 3 but patted
the girl on the cheek, and clapped the boy on the
back, while ihe paffed the cenfure on them. Thus
does the tendernefs of nature adminifter equivalents
for the poverty of her meanefl offspring. The reft
of the family were no lefs fuccefsful in mixing
amufernent with buiinefs. The little flocking-
knitter was telling to the bread-maker a ftory of
the lights being feen, and the groans heard, when
there was no perfon to carry the one or to make
the other : a fuperftition, by the bye, that is inte-
refling to children of a larger growth, than thofe
who were then liftening to it, and of which in its
place. The little cradle rocker was finging a lul-
laby to the fuckling, which was hugging an half-
flarved kitten in its arms. Find me a family at
once fo happy and numerous, my friend. When
the inn-keeper was gone, I fat down in the fhaving
chair, and from that day have never ceafed to wifli
there was at lead one female barber in every town
I pafied through. This, however, and another at
Mahuntleth, were all I ever met with in my life,
and both of them beat the men, at a beard all to
nothing.

VOL, r. E Itruft

£0 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

. I trtrft that you, who I know are delighted
with the fight of Cf happy human faces," where-
ever they can be feen, will not be difpleafed at
my having taken you into this humble abode. It
may ferve to mew you, as a fpecimen, the chear-
ful and inceflant labours of the induftrious poor;
for there are very many of this defcription in
Wales, and they are the more meritorious, as,
though there is infinite poverty, t4iere is fcarcely
any appearance of it in the whole principality ;
it being a general, almoft univerfal principle
of the rich, to take care of the poor — a principle
which, like every other good, is often abufed.
For the number of common beggars, through-
out every part of Wales, is aftonifhing : they
come in tattered tribes to your doors, from
which they never go away if they have no worfe
faults than idlenefs and indigence, without being
relieved. It would even be thought impious to
refufe them. Profiting hereby, there are whole
families, who fubfift folely on the charity of
their better-fupplied neighbours. The begging
brotherhood of Saint Francis are not more
vagrant, nor more fuccefsful in their rnendU
catory pilgrimages: and it is not uncommon
for the parents, who happen to have fome
compun&ion, on the fcore of afking alms,
while they are able to procure the means of life
by their labour, to fend out their children to

fhift

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. jt

fhift as they can, while they themfelves are at
work : preferring this cafual, and difgraceful
mode of fubfiftence for their children, to the
honeft induftry by which they procure their
own maintenance. There is, however, as you
may fuppofe, a material difference, even in the
poverty of the induftrious, and that of the idle ;
the former, as in the example of the barber of
Barmouth, covering the moulders of his family
with remnantSy which certainly fpeak variety of
Induftry i while the latter, though they are
neither afhamed to beg, nor fteal, and of courfe
get their clothes with much lefs trouble, fuffer
them to get into tatters, merely becaufe they are
too lazy to mend them before they are irrepara-
ble. My friend, the barber, indeed valued
himfelf on his true Britifh blood, very ferioufly
afTerting, that notwithstanding his prefent con-
dition, he was the firft of his family, that had
ever gained his bread by the fweat of the brow;
and that his father facrificed . the eftate, which
Ihould have defcended to his pofterity, to an act
of generofity to the unfortunate Prince, meaning
the Grandfon of King James the Second, who,
he added, pointing to an ahnpft worn-out print
of him, that hung on the wall, was more obliged
to his father, and better deferved it, than he dare
tell me. " Not/' continued he, " but I am
a true friend, and loyal fubjecl:, to his Majefty

JL 2 King

^2 CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

King George; but that poor Prince" — agairf

pointing to the print — cc was a difappointed out-
cad man, wandering up and down this country,
and I am proud that my father opened his door
to him, though he let out at the fame time what
plucked up the hopes of his family by the roots.
Hereby -hangs .a forrowful tale, mailer/" faid he,
fighing, cc but it is of no ufe to, trouble you with
it: and as for me, it is but doing fome thing in-
ftead of. nothing, for my living, which is all the
difference you know, Sir, betwixt a poor man
and a gentleman -, fo work away my lads and laflfes,
work away old Dame Partlett — for, as the fong
fays,—

" Tire xvorld is a well furnlfhed table—
" Where: guefls are promifcuoufly fet."

.

lung the mother of the family : Continuing the,
*une,-

f( We all fare as well as we are able,"
.

carolled the elde-ft daughter, who had really a fine
voice,

*' And fc ramble for what we can get."

.

Chorus, boys.anji girls, chqrus WHere the refV of
the labourers took up the burthen, and the cc long*
loud laugh" fucceeded, which not only ." fpoke the
vacant/' but the happy foul. I joined in it; with all

6 my

CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES, £g

Heart, and refolved to recommend as many cuf-
tomers as I vcould to the independant cottagers*
And I hereby beg they may be had in remem-
brance, whenever either you, or your friends emi-
grate to this part of the world, and mould want
either nets ; fhaving, in the eafieft manner; home-
fpun ribbons; home-knit ftockings; petticoats
repaired •, or breeches destroyed. Adieu,

LETTER VII,

•JTO

SA^IE

I

South Wa!e«.

HAVE now re fumed my fouthern
route, and write to you from Abereflwith, in
my way to which I met with another little cot*
tage enterprife fo defcriptive of that happinefs,
in the moft lowly ftations of life, of which people
in the affluent, or even in the middle ranks, of this
variegated world have no manner- of idea, that I
cannot but imagine a relation of it will be wel-
come to you, whom I know to delight in viewing
all fides of the human picture, particularly fuch
as reprjefertf any part of the happinefs of human,
beings.

* 3

You

£4 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

You are yet to learn that I performed, and am
ftill performing this Cambrian expedition upon
the back of my old faithful fteed, now in the
twenty-fourth year of his age : a creature beft
calculated, of all others, for the purpofes of a
deliberate and refidentiary traveller, having
every difpofition in the world to allow his mailer
time for obfervation and reflection. His cha-
racter is very truly given in the words of the
good old axiom — cc flow and fure." His own
hiftory is fufficiently interefting and eventful to
find a place in a heart like yours ; and, in abridge-
ment, I will here give it you. The whole life
of this poor flave, till within the two laft years,
has been a continual trial of ftrength, labour,
and patience. He was broken to the bit by a
Yorkfhire jockey, to be rode, the moment he
was fit for fervice, by an .Oxonian fcholar, who,
whatever might have been his learning in the
abftrufer fciences, was little converfant in the
rudiments of humanity, though they are level
with the loweft underftanding, and founded on
the tender code of that great Law-giver who has
told us, cc a juft man is merciful to his beaft."
During the very firft vacation, this fprightly
youth fo completely outrode the ftrength of his
fteed, that he fold him on the fame day that he
regained his college, at the re-commencement
of the term, for two guineas, to one of thofe
3 perfons

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 55

>erfons who keep livery ftables, and at the fame
[me have horfes to let. It was not eafily poffi-
>le for a poor wretch, fo badly fituated before, to
change fo much for the worfe : and of all the
fates that attend a hackney horfe, that which
belongs to the drudge of a publick univerfity is
the mod fevere : it is even harder than that of
the fervitors of the college. He remained in
this fervitude, however, fixteen years, during
which he was a thoufand times not only prieft-
ridden, but parifh-ridden, and yet was rarely
known to ftumble, and never to fall. Is it not
queftionable whether half the parimioners; or
even the priefts (with reverence be it fpoken)
could fay as much for their own travels in the
rugged journey of life ? His mailer, rather from
policy than compafiion, thought it rnofl for his
future intercft to allow his four-footed fervant a
fliort refpite, and he was accordingly favoured
with a month's run in what is called a fait
marm j but, before his furlough was expired, he
was borrowed by fome fmugglers who then in-
fefted the coaft, and who made him the receiver
of contraband commodities, as well as aider and
abettor in * practices, which, like many other
underhand actions, are beft carried on in the
night time. I fay borrowed, becaufe, after a
winter's hard work, in the company of thefe
land-pirates, the horfe was thrown up by his

£4 temporary

56 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

temporary employers in the very marfli out of
which he had been prefied into their fervice,
and a leathern label, on which was marked this
facetious intelligence, fattened to his fetlock,
€< Owner, I have been fmuggled." By thefe means
.he unexpectedly came again into his .quondam
matter's pofleflion, out of which, however, he
departed the fummer after in the fociety of an
old fellow-commoner, who, after many years
clole confinement in the cloifters, was difpofed
to relinquiiri them in favour of a piece of church
preferment in Norfolk, which happened to be in
the gift of a lady about his own itanding in life,
and who, in the days of her youth, avowed fo
ftrong a partiality for this gentleman, that her
father, difapproving her alliance with a perfon
who had only the hopes of a curacy before his
eyes, thought fit to clog her inheritance, over
which he had complete authority, with a/ formi-
dable condition of forfeiting the whole eftates,
Ihoulci me 'marry a fon of the church : fhutting
out, hereby, the whole body of divinity to ex-
clude the aforefaid individual member. . Faith-
ful, however, to the merits of the man who had
won her heart, f(ae was glad c to find that the pa-
rental tyranny which had tied her hand, had
left free her fortune ; me, therefore, took the
firft opportunity to prefent the object of her
early choice with the only piece of fervice in her

power :

CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 57

power: a prefentation to the living of which (he
was become the patronefs ; thinking this a better
evidence of her ftill-exifting partiality, than if
fhe had fet fortune at defiance, and facrificed not
only- her own advantages, but her lover's, to the
gratifying a pafllon which would have impover-
ilhed both. An example of tendernefs this, well
worthy the imitation of more romantick minds*
It was to .be inducted to this living that our
learned clerk now journeyed on the ancient
fleed, whofe memoirs I am writing ; and as he
did not intend K> reyifit the banks of Ifis, and
had often been fecurely carried to a neighbouring
chapel, where he officiated, on the back of this
identical horfe, he purchafed him to the intent
that he mould get into a good living alfo. But
the turbulent part of this poor brute's adven-
tures was not yet performed. His patron died
without himfelf deriving what might have been
expected from his benefice -} and foon after the
deceafe of the mailer, the fervant fell into the
hands of a marj in the fame parifh, who, to a
variety of other en4eavonrs t;q fubfift 4 large
and needy family, added that of letting out oc-
cafionally a horfe. Our hero, flill unbroken in
either knees or conilitution, was deemed fit for
his purpofe •> and being thought of little value,
was obtained at an eafy price. His new mafter
removed foon after to Lowefloft, which you know"

is

58 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

is a confiderable fea-bathing town, in the county
of Suffolk, where the toils impofed by his Oxford
tyrant were more than accumulated ,- for, befides
dragging a cart all the morning with loads of
bread (a baker being amongft the bufineffes of
his mailer,) he was, on account of his gentle dif-
pofition, the horfe fixed upon to take a couple
of gouty invalids in the bathing machine, after
the more vigorous divers and dippers had finifhed
their ablutions. In the afternoon he was har-
nefTed to the London poft-coach, which 'daily
paft from Loweftoft to Yarmouth. The next
morning by day-break he came with the return
of the faid coach, and was then ready for the
diurnal rotation at home, unlefs a more profitable
offer happened to take him another way. Four
years of his life were pafled in this miferable
round of labours, and it was at this period of his
hiftory that he and I became acquainted. I was
then on a vifit to one of the * beft fcholars, and
beft men in the world j and being in want of a
little horfe exercife, my friend mentioned to me
this poor but honeft flave ; recounting to me, at
the fame time, what I have now dilated of his
ftory -y adding, that he did not exa&ly know in
what condition he might be at that time, but that
he could anfwer for what was left of him to be

* The venerable tranflator of Sophocles, Efcl.ylus, and

Euripides*

good;

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES

good ; which is much more than can fairly be
i

faid of a third of thofe who are nearly worn out
in the bufmefs of the world.

My affedtions were engaged, and I was pre-
determined to make a prefent to them of this
horfe, for a fight of which I immediately fent
my fervant; but when he was led to the door
of my friend's houfe, and though my refolution
to mark him for my own grew firmer, as I gazed
upon his pity-moving carcafe, I totally gave up
all ideas of his utility. The owner himfelf, con-
feffed he was almoft done up, at which thought a
long figh enfued, and a confefiion that he had
been the chief fupport of the family, obferving,
while he patted his neck, that the poor fellow
might be faid not only to carry his children's
bread to be fold, but to make it. — " But it's all
over with you now, my old boy" — continued the
baker — cc you may get me through the autumn,
mayhap, and then" — What then, faid I ? " He
muft hobble away to the kennel" — To the ken*
nel ? <c Even fo, mailer — What muft be, muft be :
I can't afford to let him die by inches; and if
I could, I don't fee the humanity of that : better
give him to the dogs while they can make a meal
of him, and pay me a fmall matter for their en-
tertainment.— He will, however, carry your ho-
nour this month to come creditably/'

Pre-

6« f,tEAN'IXGS THROUGH WALES.

Predetermined, as J faid, to fpare the remains
of this poor wretch, I bought him on the fpotr,
convinced that it would be difficult to find any
other perfon who would receive him on any
terms. Hjs appearance was fuch as would have
justified Rofmante in refu/ing his acquaintance
on the etiquette of comparative poverty. The
afTociation would have difgraced that celebrated
fpectre 5 nor did Quixote himfelf exhibit fo woe^
fuj a countenance. If ever, therefore, I coul.4
boaft of an action purely difinterefted, and which;
had unalloyed cornpafliQn for its bafts, it was the
giving five times more than he was worth, that is
to fay, five guineas, for this old horfej intendr
ing only, at the time, that }ie fhould pafs the re-
fidue of his days in peaceful indolence, broken
in upon only by the infirmities of life, and die a
natural death. To this end I obtained for him
the run of a friend's park, where I confidered
\i\rn as a refpectable veteran retired on a penfion.
In this .verdant hofpi|al }]e remained* itnfought,
unfeen, a whole year; at the end of which, being
invited to pafs the Chriflmas with the noble and
generous owners of the park aforefaid, I paid 3
vifit alfo to my penfioner, who Ii^d grown fq
much beyond Jiimfelf on their unmeafure4
bounty, that he feemed to be renovated. Da
not wonder that I fcarce knew him in his im-
provements^ for he appeared not to know rurfi-

felf,

GLEAN' INGS THROUGH WALES. 6i

fel£ The poor fellow's very character was in-
verted -, the alteration reached from head to heel :
he neighed, fnorted, kicked, and frolicked about
the pafture, on my firft attempt to flop him, with
the airs of a filly-foal. I reminded him that he
ought to deport himfelf more humbly, confide r-
ing the melancholy fhuation from which he was
but recently delivered; yet fo far from paying
any attention, he turned from my morality with
another fnort of difdain, tofTed up his faucy head,
and threw up his heels, wholly forgetting, like
other ingrates, his former condition. Like them
too he appeared to confider the world now made
for him : and, therefore, betwixt jeft and earned,
I was refolved once more to Ihew him he was
made for the world.

The very next day I caufed him to be taken
from his green recefs, and performed the tour
of the environs on his back. More airly, more
pleafantly, I could not have been carried, nor
towards the. end of the ride, more foberly. The
fpirit which he mewed in the paftures was but
as the levities of a hearty and happy old age in
tlie plenitude of uncurbed leifure; like the
gaiety of a veteran, who, finding himfelf in
health, might take it into his head to finifli in a
country dance i but thefe are fallies for a mo-
ment. Ah! rny friend, how many poor ftarvbg

wretches.

62 CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

wretches, worn down by their cruel tafk-maf-
ters, goaded like this horfe by the cc whips and
fpurs o'th'time," and driven out of one hard
fervice to another, might, like him, be refcued
in the extremity at fmall expence, and by the
hand of bounty be protected from farther ri-
gours ! even till they were renewed for a fer-
viceable, inflead of a difeafed, old age ! How
many half-famifhed, hard-ridden creatures of
the human race, I fay, might, in like manner,
be replenifhed ! Reject not this long (lory — this
epifode — this heroi-comi-epic if you pleafe—
but I cannot allow you to call it a digrefllon.
You will admit it to be in point when you arc
given to underftand, that on this very „ horfe,
thus reftored by a little indulgence, I have mea-
fured a thoufand miles, and find my aflbciate in
fufficient heart to meafure a thoufand more. In
the four-and- twentieth year of his age we fallied
forth 3 and if the mafter had in courfe of hig
travels made as few trips, as few falfe fteps, as the
fcrvant, he might be a match for the fafeft goer on
the road of life.

Should this correfpondence reach the pro-
feflional criticks, think you that I mould " fcape
<c calumny" for taking up fo much of their time
about an old horfe ? And why mould I not pay
an old faithful companion, to whom I owe

much,

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 63

much health, much happinefs, this grateful
cfFufion ? If the Rofmante of Cervantes had
tore wit, the cat of Montaigne more wifdom,
and the afs of Yorick more fentiment, none of
them could be better qualified, as I before told
you, for a deliberate traveller. He was, in
Jhort, nay he is, being at this very minute at
feed before me — the horfe in the world for a
Gleaner. A month's clofe connexion and con-
verfe with each other, before . I fet out on this
tour, in little experimental excursions, gave
him fuch an infight into my habits, that we
perfectly underftood one another by the time
we fet out on our northern expedition. He
follows me when I wifh to be on foot, waits for
me at a gate or hedge, without tying, when I
imagine there is any thing glean-worthy out of
the main road j and when, as is my cuftom, I
fit down to take minutes of my obfervations,
or luxuriate on the fcenary around me, although
he has never difcovered any remarkable relifh
for thefe fort of banquets, he contents himfelf
with picking a dinner from the <vrafs on the
road fide, or, if this agrement is wanting, he
takes a comfortable nap as he ftands, and leaves
me to my reflexions ; after which, though often
fuddenly aroufed, he wakes in the fweeteft tem-
per in the world, and is perhaps the only com-
panion a traveller of my difpofuion could go a

long

£>4 GLEAXIXGS THROUGH WALL?.

long journey with, and not be extremely com-
plained of: I have fometimes fet out at an early
dawn with the intention of travelling, even in
my fauntering way, at leaft twenty miles, but
the beauty of the day, the abundance of the
objects, and a frame of mind to enjoy them,
have with difficulty permitted me to reach the
firfl village, town, or . cottage — for I flop any
where, and am at home every where. Where
is the manor woman who would find this fup-
portable ? Where is even the beaft who would
not think it a little trouble fome ? I never, how-
ever, faw my poor old fellow even look as if he
had leis patience or philoibphy than myfelf.
And mall not fuch a horfe, for once in my life,
be made the chief fubjecl: of a letter? How
many worfe topicks have filled folios ? Forgive
me, my friend, I would not build a palace for
him were I as rich as Caligula, but I would,
under your aufpices, dedicate to him this part
of my prefent epiftle, arTuring you, if in my
correfpondence you find any fpirit, novelty,
Iport, or information, as you flatter me you do,
the meek pliability of this aged thing had his
fhare in producing it. As to the criticks, Ihould
I come under their lam. for the trefpafs, I fhalt
only beg them, as they value their own hobby-
horfes, and love to praife them, to boaft how
well they carry, and how much fafer and better

they

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 6j

they go through this dirty world -than their
neighbour's, to bear, this once, with the hiftory1
of mine. But I promifed you another cottage
adventure, which this hiftory has thus long poft-<
poned. You fhall have it now.

In effect, it was a reflection on the grotefque
fituation to which both man and horfe were re-
duced, that brought upon you this curious mor-
fel of equeftrian biography. I fet off from a
lone houfe, on a fandy heath^ very properly
called the barren ifland, about a mile on the
Abereftwith fide of Aberavon, where I had
palTed a flormy night, rendered yet more trou-
blous by there being every hour brought, to the
Ferry-Houfe> the dead bodies of fifhermen
who had perifhed in a temped^ which a few-
nights before had wrecked a number of vefTels
on the coaft of Wales. It was the feafon of the
herring fifhery, in progrefs of which there are
man) misfortunes of this fort, and of other
kinds j for a bad feafon, or, which is tantamount,
bad luck, will ruin a whole family, fametimes
a whole village^ the ible dependence of which
being the herrings, the ftaple commodity of the
inhabitants. At the time of my quitting the
barren ifland the clouds made the faired pro-
mifes, and a beautiful rainbow flretched its arch
acrofs the heavens to confirm them, but I had

VOL. i. F not

66 GLEANINGS ^THROUGH WALES.

. not gone a league, before all thefe fair promifes
were broken, and my clothes were completely wet
through, notwithstanding my horfe did the beft in
his power, for both our fakes, to prevent it.

We took fhelter at a moft miferable-looking
hut at the fide of the heath, and accepted the
protection it offered, with as entire good will as
if it had been an eaftern palace. My horfe was
obliged to crawl into a kind of out-houfe, where
a fwine-driver and his pigs had the inftant be-
fore taken refuge, and* while I was reconciling
my ftced to this fociety, a Jew pedlar with his
pack, and another traveller and his dog3
crowded in. Neceffity, as Shakfpeare fays, brings
one acquainted with ftrange company : not that
thefe are the words of that immortal Bard, and of
courfe my memory has injured even the fentiment 5
but you, who have literally his beft fentiments txy^
heart, can do him juftice.

A being, fcarcely human in appearance, in-
vited me to enter the hut. I enter'd. — Its in-
habitants—How mall I defcribe them ? Fancjr
fome thing which alTembles the extremes of filth,
jpenury,, health and felicity — <• perfonify thefe
amongft men, women, and children— give to
each of them forms and features, which i confer
a fort of grace and beauty on £he houfehold o£

the

CLEANINGS' THROUGH BALES'. 6/

the barber of Barmouth by comparifort. Put
all this filth,, penury, health, and felicity into
motion^ and having formed your group, ima-
gine that you fee it unfhod, unftockinged, un-
capped, and nearly unpetticoated and unbreech-
cd. Young and old were bufied in counting
the firieft and frefheft herrings I ever faw, that
inftant brought in from the fiihing-boat. The
father of the family, to whom the boat belong-
ed, declared he had never had fo profperous a
voyage -, and, though he was almoft blown"
away, he would hazard twice as much danger
for fuch another drag : cc Look what a fize they
are of, and how they fhine, my boys artcf
girls— 4'faith, they feern'd plaguily afraid of the
hurricane, and came in moals to the nets as if
they took flicker in them— little thinking, poof
fools, that this was a jump from the wat£r tor
the fire ; and now I talk of that, here put half
af dozen of them into a pan, for I am deuced
hungry, and mayhap this gentleman may be fo
too; and if fo be that he is, he (hall be as wel-
come to a frefh herring and a brown bifcuit as
myfelfj — what fay you, rhy heart of oak?"
continued he, clapping me as familiarly on the
ihoulder as if I had been his mefimatc, and in-
deed treating me as hofpitably as if I had been
fo, and we had both efcaptd from a wreck to
his cabin. Perceiving my dripping iituariorr,
? 2 he

£8 CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

he faid, " Come, Ihipmate, dofF your jacket,
put on this rug, come to an anchor in that cor-
ner, warm your fhivering timbers with a drop
of this dear creature, which will make a dead
fim fpeak like an orator — there — another fwig—
don't be afraid of it — one more— and now you
will do while your rigging and canvas are dry-
ing."

All this time, mine hoft of the hovel flood in
his fea-drench'd apparel, on my reminding him
of which, he cried out fmilingly, cc Ah ! you are
a frefh-water failor, I perceive, and would take
a deal of feafoning, before you were good for any
thing; but for me, all winds and weathers are
alike to old Jack, while I can get good filh abroad,
and good Mem at home; fo fry away, Molly, for
the wet has made me as hungry as a mark, and
though I have drank like a whale, I mall now
eat like a lion— and I hope you will do the fame,
mefTmate." By this time, mine hoflefs fet before
us our dim of herrings, which, with oatmeal
cakes, potatoes, and buttermilk,., furnifhed one
of the heartieft dinners I ever ate ; after which,,
the failor made me partaker of a can of flip— s
fung a fong, about the dangers and hardfhips of
the fea- faring life ; and made me take notice, that
he was the happy father of a cabin full of chil-
dren, that I might fee another was upon the

flocks $

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 69

flocks ; and that if it pleafed God to fend him a
dozen fuch pieces of good fortune every year, for
a dozen feafons, he fhould be as able, as he was
willing, to procure a fnug birth for every one ;
and meantime, mailer, we will have another lip of
grog to drink fuccefs to the herring fifhery'.

Our regale was interrupted by the fudden ex-
clamations from without doors, of— " She's loft,
fc flic's loft— fhe can't weather it — fhe .mud go
" to the bottom — there is not water enough for
" her to come in, and the wind blows like the
<c devil in her teeth — fhe's finking — the next fea
"will finifh her." All the cottagers ran to the
beach, --which was within a few paces. I follow-
ed inftinftively. The hurricane was again re-
newed, the feas ran mountain high, and a fmall
coafting vefiel was ftruggling with them. In a
few minutes the ftrand was covered with numer-
ous, but not idle fpe&ators. The whole of the
villagers hurried to give affiftance. Amongft the
croud, I difcovered both the pig driver and the
pedlar, whofe fituation I had begun to relate to
my kind-hearted hoft : but the moft afiiduous of
the whole multitude, was a young woman, who,
while the tears ran- down her cheeks, was amid
•the firft to leap into a fmall boat which had been
anchored on the beach, and in which theTnafter
of our cottage and three others, refolved to truft

F 3 them-

«o QLEANINGS THROUGH

themfelves to offer fuch afllflance as was in their
power. The wind did not abate of its fury, but
fhifted a few points more in-fhore ; this, perhaps,
to a veflel of greater burthen, might have been
fatal, but was, in fome fort, favourable to the
little bark in diftrefs. She had, by tacking, gain-
ed a fr.ation parallel to a part of the harbour,
where me might run afhore, which me did at
length without much damage : and the only thing
BOW to be apprehended, was the lofs of the boat
that had gone out to her fuccour. The people on
board the veflel were almofl inftantly on land,
and one of them being mewn the boat, and told,
at the fame time, that me went out to the relief
of the erew, was amongft the moft active to
throw out a rope, and try to return the favour
intended him in kind. The fame circumftance,
however, which brought in the vefTel, prefently
befriended the boat, whp venturing to fet her
fgil, was, after a few defperate rolls, impelled
over the billows, and driven as it were, head-
long on fhore : but not before the failor, who
had been handing out the rope, perceived the
female in the boat, on which he threw himfelf
en the ground, in the eagernefs of catching her
in his arms. You already feel they were lovers :
they were more. The bands of matrimony had
united them the week before. The very fiming-
boat, which was now driven on more, was the

mutual

CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 71

mutual property of the two fathers, who had
agreed to give up each his ill are to their fon and
daughter, as the wedding portion: two of the
men in the little fkiffwere the fathers : the pro-
fits of the herring feafon were to be the children's
fortune. How thin are the bounds that feparate
the extremes of happinefs from the exceiTes of
rnifery ! the former, however, were now realiz-
ed: the veffel brought in a good freight, the
fathers were faved, and the children were happy.
They all refided, and, were, indeed, natives 01
the village 5 but mine hoft, whofe houfe was near-
eft to the place of landing, and had a heart fuffici-
cntly expanded to fill a palace with people that
ftood in need of hofpitality, infifted, that as foon
as the Little Sally and Jack, which, it feerns, was
the name of the fiming-boat, could be kft for
half an hour, they mould pafs it with him : this
being agreed to, all hands went to work upon
the Little Sally and Jack, and if I had not been
apprehenfive that my ignorance in what was to
be done, would rather have confufed than aflift-
ed, my poor aid mould not have been with-held.
Matters being put to rights, and lefs mifchief
done than might have been expected, the com-
pany fet off for the hut of my generous hoft, who
took a hand of each of the married lovers, walk*
ing between them; and told them, he hoped, that
as they had fo well efcaped Davy's Locker this

F 4 time,

72 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

time, they would tumble in a hammock together
thefe fifty years. A frefn fupply of fifli was im-
mediately ordered into the pan, my landlord,
fwearing a terrible oath, that on this occafion —
for there was a ftrict friendfhip between him and
the parties preferved — the old faying mould be
verified, as to their fwimming thrice : accord-
ingly, for their fecond ocean, it was determined
that the bowl, which, fome years before, had
commemorated an efcape from a mipwreck in
his own fortunes, mould now be filled to the
brim, to celebrate the fuccefs of the Little Sally
and Jack. I was prefled to flay and take my
fhare, on pain of being deemed too proud to be
happy amongft poor people -, and on obferving,
that my fteed all this time was in a ftate which
reproached me for faring fo fumptuoufly, mine
hoft ftartihg up, declared, that though he could
not ride, he loved a horfe next to a man, and
that if mine would put up with a mefs of bran
inftead of hay, of which he had none, and a
draught of ale inftead of water, he mould be as
welcome as his own foul. I took him at his word,
and ftaid to witnefs and join in the feftivities, till
there was juft enough of the evening left to reach
Abereftwith. I would have offered a fmall token
of acknowledgment for what I had received, but
that I faw a tremendous frown gathering on the
brow of my hoft, and an oath quivering on his

lip,

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 73

lip, which frightened me from my defign, and
made me only take his hand, with an afllirance,
that I would never pafs his houfe without flop-
ping to fee if all was well on board, and how the
herring fiihery fucceeded. This fo pleafed him,
that he made the bowl go round to my health, and
wifhing another gale of wind would blow me into
his hovel, as often as I mould come along fide of
it ; then led out my horfe, held my flirrup while I
mounted, and huzza'd me in three hearty cheers,
till I was out of fight,

My dear friend, how fallacious, how contracted,
are our judgments on that part of human nature,
which we have not had opportunities of feeing,
and which, therefore, we too often fuppofe does
not exift ! We lay much of what are called the
courtefies, civilities, and interefling humanities,
to the account of education : we conceive, that, to
enlarge the human heart, we fhould refine it :
in fhort, we are extremely apt to circumfcribe
elevated action to elevated life ; or at befl, to
confider the nobler effufions, when they proceed
from low-born and uncultured men, as excep^
tions to a general fordidnefs, and vulgar way of
feeling> as well as thinking. You will not fufpect
me of an over-fondnefs for what is termed low
company : the error of my life is perhaps to
have paft too much of it in the /ociety of what

i-s

74 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

is called high company ; for what, commonly
fpeaking, does it fhew us, but the fmooth fhil-
lings that Sterne has fo finely defcribed, as rub-
bing out all character and imprefTion in the
aft ofpolifhing? I love, however, to mix with,
and, as it were, blend myfelf in all ranks and
orders of men; to fee, converfe with, and weave
myfelf into their moft familiar habitudes; and
as I never yet could bring any other perfon
exa&ly into the fame way of thinking, I have
purfued this inclination for the mofl part alone ^
till, by long ufage, folitary travelling, though I
truft you will allow me to be of a facial difpofi-
tion, is become agreeable to me. And fuffer me
to fay, that I think I have derived from this
very fingularity, a more thorough infight into
nature, the hearts and manners of human kind,
than if I had gone the grand tour in what is de-
norninatecl the beft company. By means of my
humbler, but lefs encumbered, mode of travel-
ling, I am a? free to obferve what is pafling as the
birds that fly over my head : , like them, I (top
to amufe myfelf .with a fong, regale myfelf with
gleaning what J feel to be folid food, but \vhich
grew up in places where another traveller woulcj
not go to look for it : like them, I enjoy the blaz-
ing hearth, and partake the crumbs of the pea-
font, or paufe to obferve upon the magnificence
luxuries of the prince, J pafs, in rapid

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES,, 75

tranfitions from one to the other. In a circui-
tous way, revifit the fcenes I have left, renew my
acquaintance with particular perfons and places,
glean the characters and hearts of the poor an4
the rich, break in upon them unawares, without
a formal notice, which gives folks time to put on
the mafk of the world, and receive me in dilguife,
I love to take them by furprize, and fo difcover
my welcome. It delights me to life the latch of
a cottage, fuch, for inftance, as I have been ddr.
fcribing, towards night-fall, and to fee the hearts
of the inhabitants fly out fuddenly to greet me.
And to treat my friends in higher life in like

manner to fteal into their familiar, family

rooms, unexpectedly, and almoft unfeen, at hours
they are moft likely to be gathered together.
When a year's abfence is ^xpedled, it delights
irie to cut it fhortj fometimes to cut it in half,
fometimes even in quarters. Can there be any
thing more pleafant to the traveller, than to fee
the countenances of a whole family, of whatever
condition, and of whatever country;; — for what
points or boundaries of earth or water can fee
limits to a temper that cultivates the kind, the
good, and the ingenious., wherever it meets
them ?— to fee, I fay, the countenances of fuck
lighten up at your fudden appearance, and each
perfon contributing to .your welcome — one offer-
ing cc the ready chair," another refrefhment, &c..

&c.

^6 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

&C. and thus, as I faid, feeling yourfelf at home
with the worthy and hofpitable in all countries ?
I protefl to you that I bear a good-will, border-
ing on friendlhip, for even the trees, or hedge-
rows, that have formerly afforded me fhade in
furnmer, or fhelter, fuch as they had to beflow, in
winter, and I do not pafs them by in my returns
without a fmile, and fometimes a nod of acknow-
ledgment.

Ami exhibiting traits of an humourift in all
this ? Be it fo: if they ferve to keep me in fpite
of many vexations from the world, in humour
with it-, if they open my eyes to the beauties
of nature, and my heart to the author of them :
if, in the cultivation of new friendfhips, they
help me to forget, or forgive at lead, old enmi-
ties ; if, in a word, they enable me to draw both
from folitude and fociety thofe fatis factions
which, though unfelt or unknown to others, are
extremely appreciated by me, would you wifh
me to forego them, in complaifance to thofe
who think they are right-on travellers, and I a
mere idler by the way, becaufe we perform our
journey —the fame ftiort journey, alas ! with
refpect to human life — in a different manner,
and with different degrees of expedition, as well
as by different roads ? No. You have too much
i! jfophy, too much toleration, too much af<

fection

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 77

fe&ion about you, not to let every man amufe
himfelf, in his travels through life, in his own
way 5 and with refpect to myfelf, you would be
in friendfhip with the moft inanimate objects —
with a clown that opened the door of his hut
to me, but for an hour, amidfl the Apennines to
lighten the toils of afcending them, or with the
fimpleft fhrubs that faved me, but a minute,
from the cc pitilefs ftorm" in the deferts of
Arabia.

In return, every thing that contributes to your
cafe, comfort, or happinefs, is interefting to your
friend ; and were you to tell me, that a poor fpar-
row that fat on your houfe-top gave you pleafure
to have him among your domeflicks, I muft mourn
the fate which mould bring that fparrow to the
ground.

How have I been feduced into thefe delinea-
tions of myfelf ? — I know not. But I remember,
that they grew out of an apology I was making for
flopping fo frequently on the road, going back-
wards and forwards fo irregularly, and vindicating
the humble companions amongft whom I every
now and then throw myfelf.

In the courfe of our correfpondence you have
.had reafon, I truft, to approve of the paufes I

have

78 CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES,

have made in the moft lowly dwellings. At th£
lad reding place^ for example, did I not bring
you acquainted with a fet of as humane, open-
hearted, fincere, induftious, and innocent crea-
tures, as ever ftruggled with the winds and waves
for a fubfiftence ? Expofed to the moil furious
elements, do you not feel that the gentlefl and
the heft are mixed up in their corrrpofitions, even
while their lives are paflcd in the rudeft occupa-
tions ? Do you not fee that the harder! hands,
and the fofteft hearts belong, frequently, to the
fame perfons? Are not hofpitality, good faith,
good neighbourhood, and every focial virtue,
that would emblazon a court, fhut into that clay-
built hut I have fo lately left ? And are you not
in alliance with the whole party ? Does not your
heart warm to every individual member of it,
though you will probably never know them but
by my report ? Does not your attaching fenti-
ment extend, in a manner, to the very veflel that
brought the happy pair again together, and to
the adventurous fkiff that braved the tempeft for
her relief ?

Had I not been a deliberate, if you will have it
fo, a fauntering traveller, and of the temperament
I have pourtrayed, you would have patted your
whole life, perhaps,, without knowing there was

fudi

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 79

fiich a group in exiftence, hid, as they are, from
high-minded obfervers.

There is a beautiful fentiment, fome where in
Shenftone's profe volume, which purports, that
he never cafls his eye over a fpacious map, but
he fancies that in fuch and fuch countries are
numberlefs amiable perfons he would like to
know, and concludes with a figh of regret, that
k is impoflible he ever fhould. The traveller
of my caft, certainly (lands a better chance of
hitting upon fome of thefe, than he that is in
and out of the country, as fad as horfes, off
wheels, can cafry him ^ and, of courfe> though
he pafles by as many amiable people as eveir 3
generous heart could expect to find, knows as
little about them as thofe wheels, or horfes.
Whatever, therefore, you were before, I let you
down, from this moment, as aeon vert to refiden-
tiary travelling: and,, moreover,, whenever you
next examine your map, to trace th<3 wanderings
of your correfpondent, you will be pleafed to
know, what you certainly did not know before,
that upon the fide of a barren heath, at the edge
of a roaring fea, between Aberavon and Abereft-
with, there (lands a folitary hut which would
open to diftrefs as readily as to profperity, and
affords its impartial bounty to whomfoever is in
want of it. Ah, that truth would warrant our

faying

80 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES,

faying fo much in praife of half the houfes, that
have the moft room to fpare, and the beft accom-
modation to beftoW, in the great city of Lon-
don, or any other great city !— - — but, as Gowper
fays, very fweetly, though, perhaps, a little
quaintly, —

" God made the country, and man made the town."

After all, there are good people every where, if
we take the trouble to look for them ; and to
expect them without trouble, or refearch, in a world
like this, is prepofterous. As cities have their vir-
tuous characters, cottages have their villains, and
whatever cenfure.is general, it is in life^as in litera-
ture, perhaps,—

" Ten cenfure wrong for one who atfs amifs.*'

At lead, the practice of condemning in the lump,
and erecting our panegyrick on cottages, on the
ruins of old threadbare fatire on courts, is my ab-
horrence. In either ftation, one of your principles
would be a juft object of the love I bear you. Is
this a letter or a volume ? Left in looking back,
you mould afk what it is about ? I will abruptly
end it by bidding you adieu.

LETTER

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 8t

LETTER VIII.

TO THE SAME.

Abereftwith.1

1 RUE, my friend, I plead guilty to your
accufation of filence : it has been a whole month
fmce I laft addrefled you ; but I underftood by
yonrs, which came to hand foon after mine was
difpatched, that you were in your bed of fick-
nefs, and that heavy grief for the lofs of one of
the earlieft adopted, and moil dearly loved of
your friends occafioned it. I have the moft
rooted diflike to interrupt, or to be interrupted,
in the aweful duties and inclinings of cjiftrefs on
ihiefe occafions. It is ufual, I know, to write a
very long epiftle of condolence, and confolatio'n
on fuch" cafes : but did not the intentio'n fanclify
the practice, I mould pronounce it impertinent,
if not impious. It is obtruding upon our forrow-
in its fabbath. One whom we have long valued,
long converfed with, will be feen by us in this
world no more ; the day that bereaves us, and
the days of mourning that fucceed it mould be
kept holy. It mould be hallowed with our tears.
Such tears often " do us good,'* or, at worft,
they do us lefs harm than an unfeafonable at-
tempt to wipe them away. And fuch efforts are
VOL. i. G always

8« GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

always more or lefs ineffedtual : the eloquence
of Cicero, cloathing the morality of Seneca,
would neither reach our hearts, nor convince
our underftandings, under the recent impref-
fions of grief for the death of a long-tried, and
long- loved friend. The ordinary applications
are packs of proverbs, and firings of maxims,
which tell us what we know to be true, and
impracticable. Had I infulted you with any of
thefe, I fhould have difhonoured both the living
and the dead. I am not to learn, that you have
" the virtue to be moved," and that her you
xnourn, had a double claim on your tender re-
gret— her own admirable qualities, and her vene.r
ration for yours.

As there is a point, however, beyond which
forrow fbould not pafs, fo is there one that
ihould bound the falutary nknce of a friend.
That point is, methinks, arrived to you, and to
myfelf. Your, favour, by the poft of yefterday,
convinces me —

«« Difcretion hath fo far fought with Nature,
" That you with iuifeft forrow think on her;
" Together with remembrance of yourfelf."

Your obfervation, that there was a refemblancc
betwixt me and the deceafed, in the conftru&ion

of

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 83

of our minds, or, at lead, in the formation of
our tafte, is extremely flattering; particularly hi
an hour like this, when you have been, as it wfere,
embalming the qualities that moft pkafed you in
the latter, with your tears. I remember you wa's
formerly of this opinion. The difference of out
ages made nothing againft the fimilitudc of our
fpirits. The few days I patted in the company
of this fecond De I'Enclos, at your houfe, in the
winter of -, were amongft the few that hur-
ried away from life without feeling one moment
too long. Shall we ever forget the enthufiafm of
fyrnpathy, that by an involuntary impulfe threw
us into each others embraces, on our difcovery,
that we both held long converfations with out-*
felvcs, and as regularly went on with queftion
and anfwer, as if we had been in the heat of
debate in a room full of company? You remem-
ber, iikewife, I truft, our fatisfaftion on find-
ing that we had been both fet down for people
out of their wits, and that we mould both de-
fcend to the grave with the reputation of having
been diftra&ed ; that is to fay, having had the
power of extracting fwcets from thofe flowery
trifles, which others, who are as pleafed with
trifles not a whit better themfelves* reckon
amongft the weeds of life.

Her journey to the tomb of her grandmother,
c 2 from

84 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

from whofe bounty fhe had received many valua-
ble things, and from whofe pious conduct in life
the rich legacy of a virtuous example, is never
to quit either your memory, or mine, my dear
friend. The diftance between the fpot where
fhe herfelf lived, and that where her venerable
anceftor was buried, the difficulties fhe encoun-
tered on the way, and the pleafure of accom-
piiming her purpofe, were all circumftances to
intereft her excellent heart: but how was this
pleafure augmented by the little adventures fhe
met with in the village, where the bones of this
amiable relative were depofited ! Her own elo-
quent manner of relating is neceffary, to give
the portrait of both the caufe and effect, on than
occafion. The face and figure over which
Beauty's great deftroyer, Time, could gain but
a partial and imperfect victory fhould be before
you, to feel the fulnefs of her happinefs, on her
hearing from the whole neighbourhood, who
had her in remembrance, a long detail of the
worthieft, kindeft actions. She, made the tour
jof the village, and in aim oft every houfe, faw
or heard of fomething to make her proud that
fhe fprung —

" From unattainted blood,
tf And claim'd a birthright to be good."

What,

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 85

What, indeed, mud have been the tranfport of
a mind like her's, on gathering from one poor
family, that to the deceafcd they owed their
prefervation from a prifon; from another, the
portion of a daughter ; from a third, a timely
refcue from the jaws of poverty, and fo on in
benevolent fuccefilons ! This village too was the
abode of her early days. How vivid were the
piftures me drew of her revifitation to the fcenes,
which had made upon a fufceptible heart the
firft imprefiions, and which half a century's ab-
fence had not power to impair! Like a lover,
faithful to his firft affections, me told us, you
know, how me faluted many of the green lanes,
alleys, and old inhabitants as friends, for whom,
though long parted, me retained a kind remem-
brance : me paid particular refpeft to the yews
that fhaded her relation's grave, and had a long
interview with fome elms, now grown into (lately
trees, which were of her own planting: fhe
called them her children, and told them (he re-
joiced to fee them do well in the world, and
profper.

But that which had more magick for me on
this occafion, was, I confefs, the very points
which your very fober, fenfical people, who are
vain of their rationality, would be the leaft
fatisfied with — the romantick means (he ufed to
G 3 bring

£6 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

bring this journey of her heart to bear. Nothing
could favour it more — even a writer of romances
could not, • — than the character and difppfition
of the refident clergyman of the village, who,
in anfwer to her letter of enquiry refpefting the
pofTibility of a few days' accommodation, and de-
fcribing the motives, fent her a preffing, and, in-
deed, irrefiilible invitation to his own houfe -x
alluring her, at the fame time, that himfelf, and
every part of his family, entered fo cordially into
the virtuous fpirit of her intended adventure,
that they were defirous to give it every encourage-
merit and affiftance 5 begging her, withal, to re-
jwember, that the moment fhe entered thi€ Parfonage

of • fy fhe was at home> becaufe, wherever

there is fimpalky, there is natural affeftiony and, of
courfe, though perfonal ftrangers before, they meet
en the tterms of near relations, whom a wifer and
Better Birefior tha^ Chance, has at laft brought
together.

Her firft grand point being thus carried, and
fo much in her own way, the reft was of no dif-
ficult attainment 5 for though Mr. L. S. herhuf-
band, is 4 fna.a of the world, and well knows
how to traffick with it, the fpirit of trade had not fo
far abforbed the fpirit of conjugal love as to
innocent difpofitional impulfe his
to follow, Tk* Quixotifm before

mentioned,

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 87

mentioned, indeed, appeared to him carrying
the joke too far, and it was no eafy matter to
make him believe the fair Quixote ferious. His
reafoning upon it was fo chara&eriftick of the
man of bufmefs, that it formed the fine ft contraft
to the ideas and expeditions of the woman of
genius.

** What ! my dear, take a journey of an hun-
dred miles to vifit the grave of your grandmother !
— Write a long rig-me-role epiftle* which I
dare fay, is very fine, and all that, to a man you
never faw ! Why, what fort of anfwer can you
expect ? Depend on it the gentleman will fet you
down as a mad-women, and fo write you no anfwer

at all."

fi i # • * '

And when the anfwer did come, " All I can
fay, is," added Mr. L. S. <c he is as mad as you,
Go by all means," continued hey heartily
laughing in a good-humoured manner; " pray
go, wife, for 'tis pity two houfes mould part you.
Have your frolick out I beg ; only if, when you
get together, you ihould make one another
worfe, and ihould wifh for apartments nearer
Moorfields, drop me a line, and I will do the
needful .»'

Our heroine, you know, was too much in
c 4 earneft

88 -GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

-earned to be laughed either out of her feelings
or her objefl, and fet off, at " peep of dawn/'
on her expedition. The worthy family more
than juftified their promifes; and the congenial
fpirits, which were thus made known to each
other, enjoyed a higher cc feafl of reafon," or
at lead, cc flow of foul/' than they had ever be-
fore experienced. On her return, Mr. L. S. re-
ceived her with the fame good-nature he had
fufifered her to depart, and contented himfelf
with pleafantly obferving, that as me had over-
flayed her intended time of coming back many
days, he hoped me was as happy as me had ex-
pelled to be 5 on which, <c my dear/' cried he,
embracing her, ?* I have only to fay, that your
fine fentimental people of genius, about love,
friendlhip, fympathy, congeniality of fouls, and
all that, are the mod forward, thoughtlefs, and
impudent folks in the world; for I could no
more go to a flranger's houfe, and feel myfelf at
home in it, without having any manner of bufi-
nefs with the family, than I could fly in the air,
—I hope, however, you have had the grace to
invite them here by way of fer contra, for we are
devilifhly in arrear to the gentleman at prefent;
and as, J trufl, I am a tolerably honed man,
though, thank God, no genius, I mall be glad
to afiift you in paying the debts you have con-
tracted with all my heart. But now tell me

fairly

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 89

foirly as 'tis all over*'— added he — cc did you find
it anfwer ? Was not you plaguy fick of each
other, of yourfelves, and of your old granny into
the bargain, before you had been there three
days, only you were afhamcd to own it for fear
of being laughed at ?

<f Sick, tired !" reiterated Mrs. L. S. " why I
was in Paradife ! and we could have pafled our
whole lives together without knowing a weary
moment ! Tired ! there was not a dry eye in the
whole family when I got into the carriage to
come back •> and for my part I thought I fhould
have broken my heart."

*c I thank you for the compliment, however,
with all my heart"-r-replied the hulband — taking
off his hat, and making her a bow4-^-cc In Para^
dife was you ? well, that is amazing 1 for I know
I ihould have been the moft miferable fellow in
the world— r-neverthelefs, invite the ftrange gentle-
man and his ftrange family here, that we may
fettle accounts and ftrijve the balance— I have no
more to fay upon it/'

How wonderful, my dear friend, is it to confider
the variety of human minds ! We are told, there
are more different forts than of mofs.— Ought
we not rather to ^y that the forts are as nu-
merous

£0 GLEANIN'CS THROUGH WALES.

merous as the fands on the fhore ? In every Tingle
family, there are ufually as many different taftes
and tempers as there are perfons; and if in fome
there happens to be a family likenefs in feelings,
as in features, though the refemblance may be
ftriking in fome things, there is almoft always 9
marked difference in others; and with refpect to
pains and pleafures, the means of avoiding the
one, and of promoting the other, are as diverfified
as the objects which produce them : nay, the fond
prepoffeffion we have for our own amufements
and purfuits, gives us fo ftror.g a prejudice
againft thofe of other people, of other difpcfitions
and habits, that we too often want candour and
toleration enough to fuffer our neighbours to be
happy in their own way. Perfons of a vigorous
faftey and a warm heart accufe thofe who are lefs
ardent of being infenfible; while thefe, on the
other hand, cenfure tlo$ cenjnrers> as eccentrick and
vifionary -, on both fides, with as little reafon as
we fhouid condemn the gre-hound for wanting
the fagacity of the pointer, or the pointer for
being lefs fwift than the gre-hound; each being
gifted by nature with the talent and quality beft
accommodated to its eafe and felicity.

An ingenious friend of mine, who, by the
bye,, takes many curious ways of making up his,
own happinefs, is ufed to fay, whenever he. meets

with

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 9^

with, or hears v,f, any thing that does not ac-
cord with his plans of acting and thinking, cc then
wuft be people of all forts." Now ;:s there is cer-
tainly room enough in the world for all forts of
people, it feems rather felfifh that we fhould joftle
againft each other in the journey we are all
taking, ie fall out by the way," becaufe fome
are able or willing to go fader than others; be-
caufe one takes delight in the objects which
another paffes unnoticed. All that can fairly be
faid on that is, fhould any one be difpofed to
find fault, they are my objects, friend, though
they are not your's : I was born to relifti them,
you were not •> when we come to your's, I pro-
rnife that you mail (top to enjoy them as long as
you pleafe; and though poffibly I mall find as
little fatisfaction in them as you do in mine, con-
fidered in themfehes, yet the thought of their
giving you pleafure fball make me endure them ;
meantime I truft you will bear with mine.

Can any thing be more equitable ? Can any
thing be more eafy? yet half the bickerings of
the human race, in civil affairs, proceeds from a
fcorn of this fair dealing between man and man ;
each inCfting not only in taking the road he
himfelf likes beft, but that others, of tempers
and buiinels utterly different, and whofe ob-
jects, perhaps, lit in a quite contrary route, muft

take

g2 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

take it too 3 and, if they refufe; be fet down as
obftinate mortals that are refolved to go their
own ways.

I do really think this a very unreafonable
mode of proceeding, efpecially, as I before faid,
there are objects fufficient for us alls and, cer-
tainly, I may with as much propriety quarrel with
a perfon for having a different complexion, as a
different tafte, and juft as rationally expect he
fhould, to humour my caprice, take my fkin,
and throw away his own, as to caft off thofe
feelings which naturally belong to him, and put
on mine: yet the beft and kindeft-hearted people
often difpute the point. W^re the worthlefs
only engaged in and hurt by the ftrife, and were
the matter in debate only a choice of vicious
purfuits, one might be content to let them battle
it out; but I have feen, indeed every body fees,
many inftances where perfons of good minds and
uncjerftandings, yet differing in the mode of ex-
ercifing them, have fo little refpeft for what
pleafes others, and fo great a veneration for what
pleafes themfelves, that unlefs they are all pleafed
with the fame thing, they effectually take care
that there mall be no pleafure at all. Ah ! my
friend, how many elopements, feparate main-
tenances, divifions in friendmip, diforders in the
church, and. difturbances in the fbtte, has this

felf-

GLEAXINGS THROUGH WALES. 93

fclf-willed tenacioufnefs occafioned ! Unquef-
tionably, cc the aim and end of our being" is
happinefs ; but it is to be found, affbciated too
with equal innocence, in ten thoufand times ten
thoufand paths,

•* Each happy in his own :"
fr The learn'd is happy nature to explore,
" The fool is happy that he knows no more,
f ' The rich is happy in the plenty giv'n,
" The poor contents him with the care of heav'n ;
" See the blind beggar dance^ the cripple ling,
" The fot a hero, lunatick a king ;
*' One profpeft loft, another ftill we gain,
•* And not a vanity is giv'n in vain.
ft What'er the knowledge,' pafiion, fame, or pelf,
" Not one will change his neighbour with himfeif."

; y&w ^gfrftsfift v yffi ot

All this is, the very perfection of jpoetry, and it has
a confiderable degree of truth ; but though each
is thus " happy in his own," there is not one of
the characters here defcribed, who is not, at
times, out of humour even with himfelf, becaufe
his neighbour is, or wimes to be, as happy as he,
but begs leave to borrow it from another fource.
Surely this is not afking too much, and yet it is
" hardly granted."

Poflibly, my highly endowed, and highly re-
fpected friend, I may, all this time, have been
forcing you out of the path of your contempla-

tions

94 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES*

tions into mine; but I had a better motive for
it than moft intruders can give ; and I truft my
defign is in fome meafure anfwered. Our defires
and aversions, you know, are for the moft part
the fame. I exult in the refemblance ; and
wherever we are of oppofite ideas, I am fo fatis-
fied you have the beft reafons for your oppofition,
that I immediately fet about examining my own
ideas, and have been more than once the better
for the fcrutiny. In life, and at death, I will
thank you ! Farewell.

P. S. I have a month's Gleanings to prefent
you with, and fhall lay the whole fheaf at your
feet in my next. It would be doing a violence
to my feelings, were I to mix any matter with
this letter, not in keeping with the object to
which it is facred. You can account for this.
Adieu.

LETTER IX.

TO THE SAME.

Aberefhvith.

JL HIS town is neither good nor bad. The
ftreets are beyond comparifon the dirtieft I ever
faw, a proof of which is their being at this mo-
ment indided by th« inhabitants. No wonder,
a there-

CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 95

therefore, if ftrangers complain. Indeed, they
muft be rugged and unpleafant at all times, for
the country here is flat, ftony, and rugged. The
environs are neither barren nor fertile, and the
only walks, or in truth walkable places, are thofe
at the end of the town, round the ruined caftle,
another, round the church-yard, and another,,
very fhort, by the fide of the harbour. The
beach is impaffable, and the bathing places dif-
ficult and unchearful. In fine, it is in almoft all
relpe&s the reverfe of Barmouth, except that it
has the advantage in the number of houfes, and,
of courfe, in the company. I fhould not hav£
thought any thing here worth mentioning, had it
not been to give you a few hints by way of
directory, not to kt the greater popularity of
this place draw you from Barmouth, where your
bath will be more comfortable and your agremens,
from the furrounding obje&s, out of all com-
parifon whatever.

For want of other allurements, I chofe this
place, to throw together the obfervations that
were fcattered about my notebook, refpe&ng
certain cuftoms, ufages, and a variety of other
things, it may be proper for a traveller to be
apprized of, particularly the articles of expen-

In

g6 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

In the firft place, it is a fettled ufage and cuf-
torn, throughout the principality, for the trad-
ing part of the people to over-reach you in your
little marketings or bargains with them ; that is
to fay, they will alk all ftrangers/ of genteel ap-
pearance, about a third more than they would
afk a native or countryman ; but even allowing
this, you will have almoft all the necqfFaries, and
moft of the luxuries of life, at leaft, by a third
cheaper than, with very few exceptions> in the
cheapeft parts of England : at firft you may put
up with a little extortion, which will diminifh
as you become reiidentiary. All places, as they
get into reputation for any beauty or convenience,
and are, therefore, the reforts of people that,
fince they can afford to travel, are fuppofed to
be wealthy, grow dear, at firft imperceptibly,
till, in a few years, that commodity which you
could procure for fixpence, is. not to be obtained
for a fhilling, and fo on in proportion. . This is
remarkably verified in Wales. Ground, houfe-
rent, and the neceffaries of life, are fo much
raifed in price fmce my firft tour in this .country,
about twelve years ago, that were not the fact
univerfally admitted, I Ihould be afraid you
would fufpecl me of profiting by the licence exr
j>efted to be taken by travellers, were I to menr
tion the comparative difference betwixt that

time

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES* q^

time and the prefent, in both North and South
Wales.

Neverthelefs, a good cconomift might, in the
family way, even at the prefent day, make one
hundred pounds tell in this country to three hun-
dred in any other, belonging, properly, to England.
I here fpeak, however, of comparative prices in
the fmaller towns and villages ; in the cities, the
eftimate muft be about two to one in favour of
Wales. In Gaermarthen and Caernarvon, for ex-
ample, the one a principal town to the fouthward,
the other northward, you get fifh, fowl, butchers'
meat, eggs, bacon, and firing — certainly the grand
articles in domeftick eftablimment — on an average,
at the following rates : ®&Z>

Salmon, frefh and fine, from the j. d.

market, per pound ...... o 2

A fine turbot, ditto ... 8 ;*&&* Q ^ .

Fine cod, each . . . .^ ^ v V o Y

Eggs, eight, nine, ten, for . -•. '"'. ; o --'^
Couple of ducks, or fowls, fit

for killing ......... i o

(Veryoften) . . . . * • .'• :*"-:«y o 10

Chickens half grown, each for . . . o 3

A fat goofe, or turkey, each . . . . i o

Bacon, per pound ....... o 5

Beef, mutton, &c. &c. ..... o j

Coals, or rather culm, per bu/hel . . o 2

vot. j. H In

98 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

In little villages higher up the country, both
ways, the cheapnefs, for want of a market, is
ftill more extraordinary ; if we except the re-
mote places of England, near the fea-coaft, and
certain parts of Cornwall and Yorklhire, this
flatement, which you may depend on as the
correct refult of refidentiary remark, will con-
vince you that this principality is not more abun-*
dantly fupplied with the ornamental than the ufe-
ful : and that, as thofe who have tafte, fortune,
and talents, could not be more gratified than in
vifiting it on the fcore of romantick beauty, fo
they, who found it expedient to retrench, to
narrow their eftablilhment, _and yet to diminifh
none of the comforts to which they have been
accuftomed, could not any- where find a more
peaceful, plentiful, and healthy retreat : With
this additional agrementy that almoft all places are
fo furrounded by good neighbours, and there is
really fuch a difpofitional, as well as hereditary
hofpitality, amongft the native gentry, that a new
fettler never need to be in .want of agreeable
fociety.

I infill upon this, the rather, as it is not more
the chimera of perfons of genius, going into
foreign countries for fine fcenary, than it is for
jpeople of fmall or broken fortunes, to gather
the wrecks of their property, and carry them

alrgad

GiMANlNGS THROUGH WALfeS. gg

Abroad, on the falfe fuperftition that they may
there fooner repair their ruins, and, as it were,
rebuild themfelves and families, than in any part
of the Britifh dominions. I muft own that, al-
though 1 have travelled too much, not to have
rubbed off all the little, or gfeatj national pre-
judices, that cling to my honeft friend John
Bull, and although, I have had abundant reafon
to prove^ that Providence has been far more
equal in its indulgences to all the inhabitants of
the* globe, than flay- at- home people cari ever
be made toi believe, I am Englimman enough
to adopt that fentiment of a brother wanderer^
which advifes us riot to fpend more money out
of our own country than is neceflary. Methinks,
indeed, it is but fair to give our own country
the preference, where advantages are, at leaft^
equal. Thus, if a family finds an arrangement
in London, or any of the provincial towns n<?
longer fupportable, and Can accomplim all the
objefts, of a change of place, as well at the end
of two hundred, as two thoufand miles, I hum-
bly conceive, that the5 fhorteft cut ta the land
of economy is the bert; in which, the good old
maxim of choofing the leaft of two evils is con-*
firmed by common fenfe. Should any of your
friends, therefore, henceforward, find fuch re-
tirements worth looking after, they may be
found in almoft any part of the principality,

H a north

iOO GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

north or fouth, two hundred miles from the
Britifh capital^ and if the other hundred be
added, the expence of making it, would, in the
end, be well repaid by the beauty of the coun-
try, and the reafonablenefs of provifions. Houfc
rent is likewife a very important article. A
friend of mine occupied an exceeding large,
well-furnimed houfe, fufficient for his numerous
family, and had more than enough of garden
and orchard ground to fupply it with vegetables
and fruits, and pafturage for a couple of horfe$
and a cow, at the yearly rent of 25!. free of
taxes. I faw many others on a fmaller fcale at
15!. and 20!. Unfurnifhed houfes* with land
enough to pay a considerable part of the rent,
and referves for your own ufe, may be had in
the moft beautiful fituations at a proportionate
rate. You will pleaie to note> that this is not
meant as characteriftick of partial places, but as
general information with refpeft to ;he whole
country.

The exceptions to the rule are made not fo
much by the people of Wales, as thofe of Eng-
land and Ireland ; the imprudence of whom I
(hall enlarge on in its place. At prefent I fhali
content myfelf by obferving, that when they
have loft their eftates, it would be well for
them, if they could contrive to lofe the folly by

which

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 101

which their infolvency was produced. But, un-
fortunately,that prodigal fpirit which attended
them in affluent, accompanies them in (lender
circumftances ; and wherever they go for re-
fuge, they carry their expenfive ideas and habits
along with them, abfurdly fuppofing, they can
reconcile their former notions with their prefent
lyflem of economy; as if, like a perfon in a
fever, they imagined a cure could be performed
by merely changing their pofture. A great deal
more is necefiary in a family reform, than quit-
ting the haunt of its former follies or misfor-
tunes. They come into a new country, find it
reafonable, take the firft opportunity to play
off their pride againft their poverty; fhew the
people they mix with, that they frill wifh to be
looked on as perfonages of diftin&ion ; boaft of
what fortunes they have already fquandered,
and what they can ftill afford to lavifh; put the
natives firft upon extortion, furniming them
with the bint to cheat, and then, but too late,
quarrel with them for taking it. Thus deep
play, late hours, and every excefs of London
and Dublin, are, at the time I am now writing,
together with clubs, and other town-bred luxu*
ries, in the high ton of folly in many places, where
the inhabitants grow rich and roguiih by fup-
plying them, I extremely diflike personality,
or could give you no inconfiderable catalogue

HJ Of

jp2 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

pf ruftick gaming hpufes, White's, Brookes'?,
&c. in the yery heart of Cambria. Inafmuch,
therefore, as they have degenerated from the
fimplicity of ancient manners, and from the
honefty of ancient maxims, into the refinements
pf the world, on which we fo much pique oiuv
felves, the fault is originally our own, and we
xnuft take the confequeqces. Luxury is a wide
ipreading evil, my friend, and foon pafles from
one country to another, making profelytes as it
goes. Aflure yourfelf it has travelled into this
country, and has its yotaries in the mountains.
They contain more than one farmer, who, in
imitation of their Englifh brothers of the plough,
Jceep their geldings for the chace, and fide-fad-
dle pads for the laidies of the dairy, who feather
their caps for the fineft of the farmers' wives
and daughters, whqm we have feen at the rural

afiemblies and , a&ing the characters

of dutphefles, for that night only. Although
fome twenty years back, when the town had
not quite journied fo far into the north country
Welch- ward, at leaft thefe new -made gentry
were contented to trudge on foot ten or a dozen
miles, after the duties pf the morning were
over, to a ruftick hop, at the fummons of a
blind harper -, and the dames and damfels
thought themfelves well off if they could get
into one of the carts, or mount by pairs on the

back

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. io$

back of one of the cart-horfes, to give the'
Corydons of the hills the meeting. The cor-
ruption flops not at amufement : it extends to
bufinefs ; the firft muft be fupplied by the lafi :
but as this cannot be done in the way of ordi-
nary, it muft be effected by extraordinary means*
Supernumerary horfes, drefies, &c. are not to
be maintained at the old market profits : thefe,
though equivalent to the necefTaries, are inade-
quate to the luxuries of life ; and luxuries once
indulged, foon become necefiaries : for where
is the fwain that having, as it were, flown over
the mountains on a hunter, will ftoop again tcr
weep over them on " Dobbin, or the foundered
"mare?" or where the nymph who will, for the
fake of economy, difmount her feathers, and ex-
change again the glaring folly of Ihewy attire, for
her wheel of cottage induftry ? It is out of the na-
ture of pleafingly pernicious effeds to expecl: it i1
ergOy the price of their commodities muft be
raifed : and it is but reafonable, that we, who
occafioned the folly, ftiould contribute to its
fupport.

As we advance, however, into the interior
parts of the country, and the farther from the
route of modim travellers, always the* better-
as we get more into thofe unfrequented places,
from whence " the fober wifhes" of the inha-

H 4 bitants

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

bitants have " not learned to ftray," and which
none but literary and gleaning travellers delight
to explore, we find this hardy and happy race
of people rejoicing, like their country, in the
fimpleft charms of nature ; and Mr. Gray, who
made a philofophical tour of Wales you know,
muft have made numberlefs living reafons, in the
courfe of it, to exclaim —

," Since ignorance is blifs,
«*'Tis folly to be wife!"

and to fee the fentiment brought to the teft :
truth indeed warrants our carrying the fenti-
ment much farther : for in this cafe the wifdom
of the world i$ worfe than foolifhnefs, — it is
knavery.

I have feen groups of poor people in the fe-
qucftered fpots of both North and South Wales,
fporting among the precipices, or in the glens,
with a <c content fo abfolute," as to look on any
objects lefs in a ftate of nature than themfelves
as unwelcome: at the fight of an unexpected
man of the world, they will run into a rocky
cavity, like a rabbit into its hole, or plunge
into the thickeft fhade of the valley, as if they
were efcaping from a beaft of prey. Were they
to know what a fnaky train of paflions are pro-
bably folded up in the bofom of tha; well-dreffed

world-

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 105

worldling, which never crept into their breads,
they would often have reafon to believe he was the
mod dangerous monfter they could encounter, and
double their diligence to avoid him.

And here amongft the ufages and cuftoms, I
muft not omit to inform you, that what you
have, perhaps, often heard without believing —
refpecting the mode of courtjhif amongft the
Welch peafants, — is true. The lower order of
people do actually carry on their love affairs in
bed, and what would extremely aftonifh more
polilhed lovers, they are carried on honourably,
it being, at leaft, as ufual for the Paftoras of
the mountains to go from the bed of courtfhip
to the bed of marriage, as unpolluted and mai-
denly as the Chloes of fafhion; and yet, you
are not to conclude that this proceeds from
their being lefs fufceptible of the belle faffion than
their betters : or that the cold air, which they
breathe, has cc froze the genial current of their
(C fouls." By no means •> if they cannot boaft
the voluptuous languors of an Italian fky, they
glow with the bracing fpirit of a more invigo-
rating atmofphere. I really took fome pains to
inveftigate this curious cuftom, and after being
affqred, by many, of its veracity, had an op-
portunity of attefting its exiftence with my own
eyes, The fervant-maid of the family I vifited

in

JO6 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. ^

in Caernarvonshire, happened to be the object of
a young peafant, who walked eleven long miles
every Sunday morning, to favour his fuit, and
regularly returned the fame night through all
weathers, to be ready for Monday's employment
in the fields, being fimply a day labourer. He
ufually arrived in time for morning fervice,
which he conftantly attended, after which he
efcorted his Dulcinea home to the houfe of her
matter, by whofe permifilon they as conflantly
pafied the fucceeding hour in bed, according to
the cuftom of the country. Thefe tender fab-
batical preliminaries continued without any in-
terruption near two years, when the treaty of
alliance was folemnizedj and fo far from any
breach of articles happening in the intermediate
time, it is moft likely that it was confidered by
both parties as a matter of courfe, without ex-
citing any other idea. On fpeaking to my friend
on the fubject, he obferved that, though it cer-
tainly appeared a dangerous mode of making
love, he had feen fo few Irving abufes of it, dur-
ing fix and thirty years refidence in that county,
where it, neverthelefs, had always, more or lefs,
prevailed, he muft conclude it was as innocent as
any other. — One proof of its being thought fo by
the parties, is the perfect eafe and freedom with
which it is done -, no aukwardnefs or confufion
appearing on either fide; the moft well-behaved

GLEANINGS THROUGH WA-LES. 107

and decent young women giving into it without
a blufh, and they are by no means deficient in
modefty. What is pure in idea is always fo in
conduct, fince bad aftions are the common con-
fequence of ill thoughts -, and though the better
fort of people treat this ceremony as a barbarifm,
it is very much to be doubted whether more faux
fas have been committed by the Cambrian boors
in this free accefs to the bed-chambers of their
rmftrefies, than by more fafhionable Strephons
and their nymphs in groves and fliady bowers.
The power of habit is^ perhaps, ftronger than
the power of paflion, or even of the charms
which infpire it; and it is fufficient, almoft, to
fay a thing is the cuftom of a country to clear it
from any reproach that would attach to an inno-
vation. Were it the practice of a few only, and
to be gratified by ftealth, there would, from the
ftrange conftruction of human nature, be more
caufe of fufpicion; but being ancient, general,
an4 carried on without difficulty, it is, probably
as little dangerous as a tete-a-tete in a drawing-,
room, or in any other full-drefs place, where
young people meet to fay foft things to each
other. A moon-light walk m Papa's garden,
where Mifs fleals out to meet her lover again/I the
(onfent of her farents, and, of courfe, extremely
Agreeable to the young people, has ten times the
peril.

Amongft

10S GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

Amongft the cuftoms that had peculiar attrac-
tions for me, was the tender veneration paid,
externally at lead, to the dead ; the church-yards
being kept with an attentive decency which we,
in vain, look for in many other countries. There
is fomething extremely limple and pleating in
the idea, as well as in the practice, of ilrewing
flowers and evergreens over the graves of depart-
ed friends and relations. Every Saturday, forae
of the furvivors perform the eftablifhed duty at
the family grave. This confifts in clearing it of
all weeds, repairing the mould, dreffing the ver-
dure, mending the little fences of white tiles or
fhells that furround it, and, in mort, putting it
in order againft the Sabbath; then the whole
parifh are to be eye-witnefies of the pious caret
of each other. I have feen graves fo diligently
cultured, as every week to have been planted with
the choiceft flowers of the feafonj others have
been ornamented with the more permanent fhrubs,
and the little hillocks facred to infants have, lite-
rally, beilowed on them

*' All the inccnfe of the breathing Spring!"

Several good purpofes are anfwered hereby. I
will recount fome of them to you in the words
of a Pembrokelhire widow, whom I lately faw
decorating the graves of her hufband and a
child, their firft born, who died in the -fame

' year.

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 109

year. The following is a faithful copy of our
converfation.

Your employment muft be very interefting to
you.

" It is our way in thefe parts, Sir. Some
think it a trouble : I have no pleafure now that
equals it, yet I am fure to have wet eyes all the
time it is doing."

The relations then, at whofe graves you are
performing this fadly pleafing duty, muft needs
have been very near and dear to you.

<c They could not be more fo. This was the
beft hulband, and the moft honeft man in Wales ;
and the rofes and violets, which I have juft been
fetting at the head and feet of this grave, are not
fweeter or prettier than the poor little girl who
lies under them. But they are in a better place,

and I ought to be happy, and fo I am."
j

Here fhe wept very bitterly.

I fee yonder, an old man entering the church-
yard with a large bundle of young plants which
he can fcarcely carry.

" That man is in his ninety-third year, and
has buried all his family : the lad was a grand-

fon,

110 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES*

fbn, to whofe grave he is now going, and which
he will make like a garden before he leaves it*
Almoft all that end of the church-yard are bis
deady and he is very neat and nice about the
graves of all, but the grandfon's the moft."

Then Jie was the favourite of the family : as
the laft and youngeft, perhaps, he was the poor
old man's Benjamin.

cc On the contrary, he loved him the leaft, and
fome think, that an unlucky blow given by the
old man was the caufe of the young man's death,
but it cannot be proved, fo he efcapes : but by
his care about the poor young fellow's grave, our
townfolk imagine his confcience fmites him;
though, for that matter, we all drefs our dead
here, whether we love or hate them ; it is quite
a fcandal to let a Saturday pafs, without making
every grave as clean as ourfelves for the Sab-
bath."

It is a very commendable cuftom, and I wifh
with all my heart, it were adopted in England,
where, too generally fpeaking, the repofitories
of the dead are mockingly violated. Horfes,
cows, fheep, are often fuffered to feed upon the
grave i nay, the parfon himfelf frequently turns
his pad to fatten on his deceafed parifhioners.

This

Ill

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

This you will fay, is being prieft-riddeti with a
vengeance : flill worfe, the hogs of half the
parifh are allowed to rootle up the earth and
bones.

cc BlefTed be God, the bones of my dear, dear
babe and hufband, do not lie in England !"

And as to clearilinefs in other refpedts, that
article fo properly an object of your care, is very
rarely attended to with us. The- weeds and
nettles are permitted to choak up half the graves
in a church-yard, and every other fpecies of neg-
ligence and filth is thrown there, as if, inftead
of being the decent receptacle of the forefathers
of the village or town to which it belongs, it
were the common fewer of the parifh. Some
few indeed are kept a little more orderly, be-
caufe they are either publick walks, and have
therefore a degree of fafhion, or the bifhop of
the diocefe is refidentiary there ; but even thefe
exceptions are for the moft part confined to the
path-ways, and the green avenues that made
them, the reft of the fpot being left in a condi-
tion both fhamelefs and indecent. In the ncr»

them diftricl: of mire, two church-yards

were indicted as nuifances by the parifh, and a
third, much nearer to the feat of magiftracy fu-
preme, was in fo abominable a ftate, that the

clergy-

112 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

clergyman and overfeers, after many fruitlcfs
complaints on the part of the inhabitants, were
cited to anfwer accufations in the Spiritual Court*

cc Good heaven ! we want no overfeers, bifhops,
or fpiritual court, to make us keep our dead
(which furely, Sir, are a part of ourfelves, whe-
ther above the earth or under it) as free from fuch
as we can. If the grave we clean holds a good
relation, we fhew our gratitude in our diligence :
if a bad one, our conftant attention is a mark
that whatever trefpafTes he or fhe may have com-
mitted againft us, they are forgiven. If a nettle
or weed was to be feen to-morrow in this church-
yard, the living party to whom it belongs, would
be hooted after divine fervice by the whole con-
gregation. I would part with my laft farthing
rather than fee thefe two little heaps go to ruin :
nay, except a few feet of earth I cultivate for
ufe, I decorate my garden with flowers and
fhrubs only for my dead, and look upon it to be

as much theirs as if they were both alive."
$bi

The good woman here finifhed her difcourfe,
during the greater part of which, fhe was on her
knees, plucking up every thing which was un-
feemly, freirming the mould, faftning the loofe
tile -work, and forming with a mixture of mater-
nal and conjugal tendernefs, the rofe-lips and

2 violet

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES

violet roots, into forms expreffive of her af-
fe&ion.

I cannot tell you how much I was moved. Nor
is it necefTary. You have an heart, that has a
beating facred to fuch incidents.

This cuftom is, I believe, peculiar in European
countries, to Wales, and the Swifs Catholick Can-
tons $ but in the latter,. to an iron crofs is fufpended
a bowl, containing holy water, with which the re-
latives fprinkle the graves of the deceafed as often
as they come to church,

Shakfpeare fays, and with his accuftomed
fweetnefs-—

<f With faireft flowers, while fummer lafts,
*' I'll fweeten thy fad grave ; thou (halt not lack
«' The flow'r that's like thy face, pale prirarofe,
•' Nor the azure harebell like my veins; no, nor
" The leaf of eglantine, which, not to flander,
" Outfcented not thy

I truft, my friend, you will long continue your
good wifhes to the Pembrokclhire widow.

It is in this part of Wales, that the women
drefs their heads in a peculiar manner; they
wear a cumbrous gown of dark blue cloth, even

VOL. i. I in

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

in the midft of fummer ; inftead of a cap, a large
handkerchief is wrapt over their heads, and tied
under the chin : in other places, the women as
well as the men wear large hats with broad brims,
often flapping over their ihoulders.

Thefe gleanings, however, in the church*
yard, are a little out of place, for when I was on
the fubjed of Welch courtfhips, I ought to have
immediately gone to Welch weddings ; this
being, you know, the natural order, unlefs you
are of opinion with not, a few, who afiert that
marriage and death are pretty much the fame
thing j and that the former is only burying the
living inftead of the dead. Many of my fair
countrywomen, I fear, think the latter would be a
refource to them.

The ceremonies of the Cambrian peafants, in
the unpolifhed parts of the country, are no lefs
fingular than thofe at their wooing. The friends
and relations of both parties, not only teftify
the ufual demonftrations of joy during the day-
time, but keep it up the whole nights the men
vifitors putting to bed the bridegroom, and the
females the bride ; after which the whole com-
pany remain in the chamber, drinking jocund
healths to the new-married couple, and their
pofterity, finging fongs, dancing and giving

into

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

into every other feflivity* fometimes for two or

three days together*

•»

Prepofterous enough you will fay ! but as this,
generally fpeaking, happens to a man and wo-
man but once in a life, and gives now and then an
holiday, that is, a few hours or days' reft from
labour to a race of harmlefs, hard-toiling crea-
tures, it may be difpenfed with. Their relaxations
are few, and our own many. There is, undoubt-
edly, lefs refinement, perhaps, lefs delicacy in
theirs ; but are they not as innocent, as reafonablc
as ours ?

" A little fofter, but as fenfekfs quite,"

Of you who are always—

« bleft yourfelf,

" To fee your fellows blcft,"

I need not afk allowance for the ftrange, but un-
offending ufages of thefe humble children of
nature. Pride looks down upon them; yet is
not pride more truly an object of pity ? But for
thefe clods of moving earth, as they are arro-
gantly called, feeling themfelves contented in
their <f happy, lowly,0 fituations, what would
become of that helplefs part of the fpecies, who
neither, « toil nor fpin ?" How frequently does
it happen, that an honeft hind, who fecms
i 2 fcarcely

Il6 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES'.

fcarcely diftinguifhable from the foil which he
works into bread, is of more ufe in the great com-
munity of mankind, and, of courfe, a better
member of it than a whole generation of thofe
conceited beings who fpurn his cottage, and
fquander the noble inheritance of their anceftors
amidft the vices of refinement ! How preferable
the virtues of rufticity !

LETTER X.

TO THE SAME.

I ASSERTED that the lower order of peo-
ple in this country are fuperftitious. They
were fo at all times. Anciently its contagion
tinftured the more enlightened. One of the old
hiftorians very gravely recounts numberlefs pre-
ternatural inftances of cafualties, which he con-
ftrued into divine judgments. Amongft others,
he tells us, that in the region of Ivor, the third
prince of Wales, there happened a remarkable
earthquake in the Ifle of Man, which much dif-
turbed and annoyed the inhabitants ; and in the
year following that it rained blood both in Britain
and Ireland, infomuch that the butter and milk
refembled the colour of blood. What fangui-
nary torrents, my friend, muft have fallen to
have thus changed the nature of the grafs, and
iterally to make " the green one red V He adds,

theft,

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 117

thefe accidents of nature might probably pre-
fage fome tumults and difturbances in the king-
dom. The fame author, I remember, afierts, that
as a prognoftick of the death of Elbodius, arch-
bifhop of North Wales, there happened a very
fevere eclipfe of the fun, and the year following
there was an eclipfe of the moon, and upon
Chriftmas-day ! and thefe he confiders as por-
tents that boded no good to the Welch affairs.
By way of making out the predi&ion of the ef-
fect of thefe fatalities, we are folemnly informed
they were followed by a very grievous and gene-
ral murrain of cattle, which impoverifhed the
whole country, and the year preceding, A. D.
8oS, was marked by the Weft Saxons laying
the city of St. David's in afhes. Thus it is,
my friend, that foothfayers of every age firft
frame their prophecies, and then inveterately
fulfil them ; for the very next good and evil event
that takes place, is brought in evidence of what
was foretold, and however abfurd in the nature
of things, or contradictory to the point in quef-
tion, at the time is tortured and twifted to
anfwer the purpofe of illuftration. Hence the
mod improbable, phyfically fpeaking, the mod
impoflible and heterogeneous circumftances are
forced into contact; and effects are traced to
caufes with which they have no fort of connec-
tion.

13 The

Il8 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

The prefent defcendants of Cadwallader are
true to the faith of their forefathers on this ar-
ticle. I faw it operating during my refidencc
amongft them in a thoufand ways; but in none
more than in the inftance which follows. In a
little village betwixt Caermarthen and Haver-
fordweft, beautifully warned by the ocean, I
walked by the fide of the fea, where a mixed
multitude were gathered on the beach. I en-
quired the occafion, and was told, that the pe-
culiar roaring of the waves to the weftward, in-
dicated that fome fatal accident would foon befal
certain poor creatures out at fea: for that, in
the memory of the oldeft man living, the bil-
lows were never known to make that hideous
noife from that quarter, without being fucceed-
cd either by the wreck of a vefiel, or the de-
ftruction of fome of the crew, or both : that
this being the firft day of the roaring, the dif-
after would probably happen in the courfe of
two days more, three being the ufual term of
thefe grumbling notices; and therefore they
were now come down to the beach, as well to
fee whether any vefTel had hoifted fignals of dif-
trefs, as, if too late for afTiftance, to receive their
dead, mould any of the bodies be thrown on
fhore. The time at which this happened was
that of the herring feafon, when, profiting by
the previous calm weather, a great many fifh-

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

ing-boats were out ; and it is by no power that
I have over language, nor indeed in language
itfelf, to give you a juft idea of the confternation
of many perfons of both fexes now gathered to-
gether, mod of them being wives, children,
mafters, or relations of thofe whofe deftiny was
thus denounced by the troubled fpirit of the
waters. The fifhing- boats, however, in the
courfe of the next day and evening, all arrived
fafe, with their crews, and with fingularly good
cargoes. Some other veffels, which had flood
farther out to fea on coafting voyages, took
Ihelter in the fame harbour, till the ftorm mould
ceafe, or* rather till the fair weather mould be
more confirmed ; for it had confiderably cleared
and calmed before they pointed their canvafs to
the more. All they wanted was a flight repair-
ing, which could not be conveniently given at
fea. The little fiflnng-fmacks performed fevc*
ral lucky excurfions after this; the other barks
proceeded on their refpective voyages, and,
though in the mean time, there were not heard
any more prophetical growlings, the people
were not in the leaft ftaggered in their belief of
,fome calamity having happened, roundly aflert-
ing, that the voice of the ocean was always ora-
,cular$ that its mouth was opened by GOD ; and
that it could not therefore utter the thing that
was not. Another evidence was, that more

i 4 than

120 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

than one inftance was within the recolle&ion of
every man, woman, and child, in the parifh.
About a month after, happening to pafs through
this village in my way back from Milford Ha-
ven, I underflood, from the landlord of the inn
where I flopped, that, notwithftanding my in-
eredulity about the roarings, the fea did not
roar without reafon -, for the bodies of two failors
were floated into the harbour the very day after
I went away. This you are to know was above
three weeks after the temped ; but on my ven-
turing to doubt the connection betwixt the
effect and the caufe, on account of the diftance
of time, mine hoft grew ferioufly angry, and
afked me whether I was a believer or an hea-
then? I did not think proper to reply to this
angry queftion, convinced that a man, predeter-
mined -either to believe, or difbelieve, — whether
in politicks, religion, or any other matter— har-
dens his heart againft every thing that does not
feed his faith, and is prepared againft all argu-
ments, human or divine; and, like a cat pent
up in a corner, is only more fpiteful and refo-
lute, as it appears difficult to break away. Juil
as the Oilier was leading my horfe to the door,
a couple of failors came to the inn, and, in pre-
fcncc of my landlord, informed me, that they
were brotjier and uncle to the aforefaid dead
mariners, who had deferted after mutiny, were

brought

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 121

brought back once, and pardoned; then threw
themfelves overboard, thinking to fwim alhore,
and would have been hanged if they had not
been drowned, as 'twas on board a king's (hip.
Thus you fee the poor fea was made to fympa-
thife with thefe offenders; unlefs you can bor-
row a little of my landlord's faith, and believe
that it drowned them in a judgment, and then
fent forth its roarings, to iliew its fenfe of fuch
wickednefs as a warning to others. <c There!"
exclaimed mine hoft with much exaltation, " is
not the thing plain enough now ? Was the fea in
the right or not ? But fome folks will never be-
lieve till a judgment falls on themfelves !J> Per-
ceiving a tempeft gathering in the countenance
of this friend of the roaring fea, I thought it the
wifeft way to leave him in full poffefiion of a
faith which had certainly the merit of being
impregnable to all attacks from within or
without.

A fecond fuperftition* univerfally prevalent
in South Wales, is of a nature no lefs extraor-
dinary. You will fcarcely meet with a peafant,
or even a manufacturer, who does not pretend
to have heard the groan, or figh, of a voice rufh
like a fudden wind from out of the earth 5 and
fometimes entering into a very long and folemn
harangue on the topick, either of this world or
2 the

122 GLEANIN'GS THROUGH WALES.

the next. Sometimes it aflumes the tone of *
friend, fometimes of a foe j fometimes it is the
well-known found of a perfon living -, but more
\jfually one that has been in the grave long
enough, one fhould have thought, to have done

with converfation.

\

A third object of Cambrian credulity is, that
of a lighted candle fpringing up before you,
without a moment's warning, and going the
way of your intended walk or ride for a number
of miles together ; for it perfectly knows the
road you are to take : and what is no lefs fmgu-
Jar, the candle is carried by fome invifible agent,
who was never known to make his appearance ;
though fome fay it moves by a power of its
own. With refpeft to the moral agency of
thefe, it is generally allowed by the believers,
that both the voice, and the light, are fent on
<c errands full of love.*' The firft is thought to
be literally a warning voice , and the laft, with
a little more difficulty, though nothing is, in
the end, too arduous for fuperftition, is made
to be no lefs fubfervient to the purpofes of
a faith which even in its excefles leans to
virtue.

For this reafon I have feldom attempted to
argue down, or treat lightly, theft and other

little

•GLEANfNGS THROUGH WALES.' 123

little traditionary credulities in conftant circu-
lation amongft the uneducated part of mankind 5
fince I am perfuaded, that what they Want in
philofophy they make up by a much better
thing ; for there is almoft always a fenfe of re-
ligion, accompanying thefe village legends. A
perfon who fees, or feems to ; fee, thefe fights,
or hears thefe founds, is too fenfibly affected by
his imaginations to mix immediately in worfe
weaknefTes. The invifible voice will never
argue in favour of a guilty deed; nor the vifi-
onary candle conduct the man it attends to
fcenes of debauchery. On the contrary, the
former will more furely fuggeft repentance to
the erring fwain, and the other light him on his
way to at lead harmlefs thoughts and actions.
Could we, therefore, fay to fuperftition, cc thus
cc far malt thou go, and no farther," the fimple
.of life and of heart might enjoy thofe little wan-*
derings uncontrouled,

But fuperftition, like power, is amongft the
encroachers we dare not trull. Indulgence
makes her bold and unreafonable, till in the end
Ihe becomes the parent of the word diforders to
which the human foul is incident. You will
hardly fuppofe that the moil foaming fectaries
infeft the innermoft recefles of this country :
the methodifts of all denominations make the
6 moun-

lj^ GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

mountains reverberate with their fulminations,
louder than the anathemas of Rome, and that there
is fcarcely a village, or a dozen fcattered hamlets,
which receive not twice or thrice a week the effu-
lions of a ftrolling preacher.

Something more affecting than ruriofity, has
made me feveral times an auditor of thefe flam-
ing difcourfes, which are held in barns, flables,
or the open fields. It feems incredible that
half the congregation mould be contained in
the villages ; but the fad is, that on the preach-
ing days, the people come pouring in from all
quarters within the diftrict, and vales and
mountains give up their inhabitants. I mall
not fpeak to you of the doftrine, which is pretty
much the fame every where -, and England is
fufficiently over-run by thefe itinerants to make
its jargon familiar to every one; except that
both the doctrine, and the way of delivering it,
is more vehement and vociferous in Wales than
I ever remember to have witnefied elfewhere.
In fpeaking of the Lamb of God, the preacher
afiured his hearers, that if they were fmcere be-
lievers, they would feel it move, and hear it
bleat within their hearts j that, if lifted up by
the Holy Spirit, they might fee it j that if they
folded up their hands, they might reach it,

touch

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 12,5

touch it, and embrace it, as he did, under di-
vine affiftance, at that moment.

Previous to this laft round in the ladder of
fanaticifm being gained, like the Delphick God,
cc his voice enlarged, and his form was more
" than ruffled ;" but on mounting the climax,
his bellowings could be equalled in horror only
by his contortions. No bull, driven into mad-
nefs by annoying dogs and more diffracting
men, fo flounced or fo fhifted his attitudes, or
roared with fo much mingled rage and agony:
but if the phrenzy of the preacher could have
been furpafled, it would have yielded to that of
the congregation •, the tears, fighs, and yellings
of which, accompanied by the extravaganzas
of aftion, really threw at fober diftance all that
I ever faw, all that I ever heard of human or of
beftial violence.

I do not know whether this intemperate zeal
obftrudbs or promotes the induftry of thefe poor
creatures; whether they return to their feveral
occupations with more or lefs affiduity, after
thefe ebullitions; but as the preachings begin
about noon, and continue fome hours, it muft
abforb a great deal of that time, which might
be paft in more ufeful, though lefs violent la-
bours 3 for I dare venture to fay, the hardeft

work

12,6 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES*

work they were ever put to for a day together,

never fo wafted their animal fpirits, drained

their mufcles, or wearied their limbs, as two
hours paft in this religious fury.

But even this is better than the oppofite ex-
treme of fitting arrogantly loofe to all religions ;
or, what is worfe, fcoffing at the faith of others,
and affe&ing to have none . ourfelves : errors^
into which the fons and daughters of fimplicity
rarely fall. It is referved for the children of
refinement, to fpurn at all things holy. With
them religion is a mighty convenient, well con-
trived bugbear, to keep the flaves of the world
in order, juft as birds are feared by a maukin ;
but that more enlightened fouls cannot be ex-
pected to give into the illufion : fo that the
rich, the profperous, and all thofe who have
received the greateft bounties and indulgences
at the hands of Providence, are the only perfons
who think themfelves exempt from the duty or
neceffity of acknowledging it.

1 My friend, I have lived in the world, and
travelled over it, long enough to be convinced,
that what fuperficial pretenders call philofophy,
has done infinitely more" mifchief than either
ignorance or fuperftition. Every conceited
fpark that has courage enough to avow himfelf
an Atheift, and juft wit enough to fport the old

thread-

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 127

threadbare arguments in fuppoft of ft, is now a
philofopher; that is, he can laugh at the jeft he
breaks on religion, and repeat with vivacity, the
blafphemous£0;/-w<?/,f that others have made againfl
the author of it : not reflecting that indecency
in wit, like immodefty in beauty, is a bafe pro-
flitution of thofe facred gifts which are truly de-
lightful only in proportion as they are innocently
cxercifed.

But this irreverence of things holy, is by no
means the effed either of true philofophy, or true
courage : for both thefe are friends to piety ; and
there is as much difference betwixt a common-
place Atheift, and a Chriftian philofopher, "as
betwixt an hero and a coward. Pretenders to in-
fidelity are, indeed, always cowards : they are
afraid of their own confciences, the, Cf compunc-
tious vifitings" of which they attempt to efcape
by a loud laugh, as children and common coun-
try people endeavour to difguife their terrors in
pailing through a church-yard in the dark by
making a noife, or whittling as they run. Look
at the modern affedter of philofophy, that is of
infidelity, in his hours of ficknefs, or in the
moments of death ! Did thofe friends or rela-
tives, who are then behind the certain, ever re-
port fatisfa&ory or confident accounts of the
philofophy, of the^expiring guilty ? The inftances

are

128 CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

are rare, even where the moft illuftrious philofo-
fher-atheifts have died, without either formally dif-
avowing, or by implication believing their mifera-
ble fyftem !

Will you not then come into my apology for a
village fuperftition under certain reftriclions ? Sa-
cred be the vifionary candle, and the fancied voice I
They may lead perhaps to the paradile of fimpli-
city, but will not feduce the eafy of faith into the
paradife of fools.

May faith, philofophy, and the virtues, which
are their offspring, be your guide ! Farewell.

LETTER XI.

TO THE SAME.

JL REJOICE to hear, by yours, that you are
well amufcd with the fubjeft of my laft •> for I
have not yet done with it. I have in referve an-
other Welch fuperftition, by way of bonne-
louche •> for, if I can give it to you with any of
the impreffions it made on me, you will find
it more entertaining than any I have yet re-
counted.

Contrive to be fcrious, I beg of you, while in

fober-

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 129

iobernefs I acquaint you, that queen Mab, and
all her Elfin train, however banilhed out of
England, have at all times had both houfe and
land in Wales. There is not a more generally re-
ceived opinion throughout the principality than
that of the exiftence of fairies. Amongft the
commonalty it is, indeed, univerfal, and by
no means unfrequently credited by the fecond
ranks. My infatiable curiofity in tracing this
fact, has enabled me to difcover it in more than
one inftance among the firft. During my refidence
in Glamorganfhire, I was told of a clergyman,
who had not only a belief in thefe little creatures,
but who had written a book containing a great
many of their exploits. The gentleman who
gave me this information was acquainted with
the author, to whom I was introduced, but was
apprized by my conductor, as we walked along,
that he was generally thought to be cc a little
cracked." As I well know that all forts of
people, who follow up any purfuit or paflion out
of the common track of action, or fentiment,
with the enthufiafm necefTary to excej in it, are
accounted more or lefs out of their minds, and
as I have, myfelf, been long in the enjoyment of
this reputation — for furely it is a kind of fame to
fuffer in the opinion of the cold and unfeeling
for one's warmth of heart— I laid little flrefs
upon this part of my guide's information. The
VOL, i, K fubjed;

CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

iubjecl: which the author had chofen, and the
folemn manner in which he treated it, went
much more in my mind to impeach his judg-
ment than his intellect 5 but as every man has his
hobby-horfe> a fairy tale, is5 perhaps, as pleafant
to carry one to fairy land, as any other ; fo I
made my bow to him without prejudice ; for juft
as his friend, my companion, had finimed this
very friendly account of him, we came within
view of his parfonage, at the door of which he
was regaling himfelf with a pipe. We entered
into familiar converfation almoft immediately
after we had changed the civilities of meeting ;
for he had been apprifed of our coming, and was
fo full charged with his favourite topick that he
went off like a rocket. The firft {hot being his,
I had no opportunity to return it, till he had
mod folemnly attefted every ftory of his book to
be apoftolical. He related, to me as much fup-
plementary matter, intended to enrich a fecond
edition, as would have made an eighteen-penny
pamphlet of itfelf. But our Parfon rode his fairy
pad fo furioufly, that it not only rode away with
him, but with our dinner ; and though I have all
poflible difpofition to indulge people in thefe
fallies, hoping for, and infilling upon the like
complaifance, when I am gallopping away on
my own poney, I felt fuch an incorrigible defire
on this occaflon to weigh " folid pudding againft

the

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES'. 131

the empty praife" of thefe little imaginary
beings in Eltin Land, that I left the good prieft
to his " lenten entertainment," and made the
bed of my way back to a more eleemofinary
banquet.

Did I not tell you, quoth my introducer, as
we went home, that the poor man was mad ?
though I think he was more compos to-day than
I have ever known him. Indeed ! replied I, if
this is his lucid interval, what muft be his per-
fect diffraction ? O, this is nothing, anfwered his
friend; I have known him run on about the
fairies till he has foamed at the mouth like a mad
dog, and fworn that there were then a thoufand
in the room with him, vifible only to himfelf,
on account of his great refpeft for them } and I
remember once, on our townsfolks laughing at
him in one of thefe fairy-fits, he fell into a paf-
fion, and faid, he would make thefe little mif-
chiefs pinch and haunt them by day and night
for their tauntings; and, as/ure as you are alive,
continued my guide, upon two of the company
fnapping their fingers, and faying, they neither
cared for him nor the fairies, he made them both
repent it: for that very night, and all the next
day, the poor men were fo tormented by thefe
little devils, God forgive me, that they were
oblied to make intereft with Parfon — — -»

K: 2

1$2 CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

the gentleman we have juft left, to get them off
the premifes.

Then you believe in their exiftence yourfelf ?

Heaven forbid ! that I mould not. I have
been fufferer enough by them, I know, to have
my creed well fettled in that refped;. But to
tell you the truth, they always had a fpite againfl
me and my whole family; and for a trifle which
would not have put a fly out of temper.

• What did you do to vex them ?

'Only barred up a window next to the room
where you flept laft night.

What objection had they to that ?

Why, they ufed to throw up the faih every
night, and fleal every thing they could lay their
hands on.

Are they fuch difhoneft brats! The little
rogues ! who could have thought it ?

The greateft thieves in the world, Sir, little as
they are.

Are you ferious ? Do you really believe in
them r

Believe !

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES; 133

Believe ! I wifli you would to-night fleep in the
barred room, that's all.

With all my heart.

I would not advife you. You had better not.
I wifh I could throw it out of my houfe, without
pulling the whole building to pieces.

I'll venture, however. A,,

No you fhan't. I won't have your life nor
your limbs to anfwer for -, befides, the little toads
begin to be tired of hankering about, and if I
keep it clofed another year, I expect they will find
another haunt; for they don't fancy any apart-
ment but that.

If there be a fimilarity in the faith of you, and
your friend on this article, why laugh at him, o?
confider him as out of his fenfes ?

Let us call a better fubject, Sir ; for, you fee,
we have got fafe home, and if you are half as
hungry as I am, you will think a fpare-rib of
pork, which I expect to find on the table, though
betwixt hot and cold, is worth all fairy land.

Thus it is, my friend, we are accurate criticks,
K 3 in

GLEANINGS THROUG.fi WALES,

in difcovering and expofing the weakneftes of
others, but are quite blind to our own, though of
the Jame fize and kind. How 'true it was from
the beginning ! How true it will be to the end !
that " we fee the mote in the eye of our
Cf brother, but difcover not the beam in our
cc own."

Believing that I had fallen, partially, amongft
the votaries of the fairy legions, by meeting
with two men, who, though of different man-
ners and characters, had nearly the fame degree
of ^credulity.; the one a worfhipper from fear,
the other from reverence ; I refolved to fee
farther into the fubject, before I concluded the
opinion about thefe airy fpirits to be general :
for Jto tell you the truth, I came with a mind
little favourable to admit the impreflions which
Camden and other Cambrian biographers had
ittempted to make upon it. Shall I confefs^ that
I not only contefted the fad itfelf, as to the
agency of thefe beings, as fincerely as I did
thofe gentry of Liliput, about their own fup-
pofed fize anc} dimensions, but I thought the re-
port of thefe hiftorians likewife a fiction allowed
to travellers as an indulgence, in the way that we
grant a poetical licence to the votaries of the
mufes? Having, therefore, an equal degree of
leifure and curiofity, I was fixed to make farther

. . inqui-

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

Inquiries ; accordingly, the day following, I ac-
cepted the offer of an agreeable and' intelligent
companion, who propofed an excurfion to the
hills in the neighbourhood of Pontipool, which
had been immemorially celebrated for the an-
cient and modern haunts of this tiny people. In
this little tour the beauty of the day, and of the
country, rich in whatever could gratify a travel-
ler, I collected abundant living evidence that the
belief in thefe fmall perfonages was folemn- and
general. <c Thofe," faid my afibciate, pointing
to a chain of ftupendous, and even Alpine hills
to the left, cc thofe, though I believe it not, are
thought to be every night traverfed t>y thoufands
of fairies; the centre part of the middle moun-
tain is called their table, and on nurnberlefs
green circles, which grow greener tinder their
footfteps, they are faid to revel." We entered
with freedom feveral little picturefque cottages,
fcattered round thefe delicious hills and vales,
and I perceived that on the fubjecl: of fairies, the
creed of every peafant was the fame: in every
hut I found fuperftition had a feat : but I found
that better, at leaft, more hofpitable guefts, were
alfo the inmates : health, happinefe, fimplicity>
induflry, innocence, and paternal love. The
heart-echoing kifs, which a labourer gave to M*
twelfth child, the nurfeling, while fix others
were gathering round him, after a feparation

K 4 only

tn6 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

only of a few hours, and while bread is all his
utmoft toil could work out of the mountains, was
a fight that might have taught wifdom to a philo-
fopher, envy to avarice, and humility to a monarch.
It reached my very heart. It will not be remote
from yours j but to move, to melt it, in the
fame degree, you muft make a vifit to the fairy
mountains, and on fuch a day, amidft fuch fcenary,
have your mindfofle/ed with fuch objects upon the
fpot where they grow.

It is fmgular, that there are particular places
all over this country, where the malign influence
of the fairy tribe has made the people look
upon them as under a fort of fpell. Thus if
we put the collective accounts together, we fhall
perceive, that the fairy race are rather bad
than good neighbours : for you will hardly meet
with a Welch peafant who is not provided with
fome inftances to their difcredit, within his own
knowledge. It is incredible to what lengths the
malice of thefe fprites will go, if we are to be-
lieve the afieveratrons of the fwains they live
amongft: inftead of being in good fellowfhip,
as . might be expected of well-difpofed fairies,
they take, delight only in cheating and annoying
them. There are feveral houfes, particularly
fome antique halls, which are fo ill-famed for
being haunted by the faries, that the pooreft

perform

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 157

perfons in the country would rather fleep unfhel-
tered, and

(t Bide the pelting of the pitilefs ftorm,"

than have the fineft apartments therein : I am
certain they would not pafs a fmgle night in any of
thtk profcribed places for the fee-fimple of the ef-
tates thereunto belonging.

The outrages faid to be committed nightly by
the fairy generations, exceed the pranks of that
order of young fellows, or old fellows with
young follies, known by the fpirited names of
bucks and bloods j and their thefts and depre-
dations about the country, furpafs thofe of the
gypfey tribes : with this aggravation too, that
there is no conftable to take them up, nor any
juftice able to make them keep the peace, or
commit them to the houfe of correction, or even
bind them over to better behaviour. They are
above all law, and of courfe, beyond the reach
of an ad of parliament j which is certainly a
great hardfhip on the Welch peafants, who,
though over-run with them, and put nightly
into bodily fear, can neither fue for trefpafs, nor
recover damages, nor make them pay for an af-
fault !

Their malicious devices would fill as many

folios

138 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

folios as Sir John Hill's Vegetable Syftem, and
their petty larcenies are as numerous. And thefe
are not confined to the neighbourhood of Ponti-
pooF, but extend northward to the boundaries of
the Principality. I heard of their naughty doings
again ifi Merioneth fnire, Caernarvon, and An-
glefey ; not only the firm belief in their ex*
iftence extending to thefe places, but as thorough
a conviction that they are, with very few excep-
tions, as arrant a pack of Little Pickles as any in
the world, and a kitten with a cracker at its tail, or
a bird with a firing to its kg, is more likely to findl
reft in the hands of a parcel of fchool-boys than a
poor fwain or damfelin the clutches of an offended
fairy,

It was impofTible in thefe enquiries not to have
often in mind the many beautiful defcriptions of
Shakfpeare : and my old friends, Puck, Peafe-
blofTom, and Robin Goodfellow, were frequently
playing their waggeries in my fancy ; but little .
did I fuppofe' when I have been delighted with
thefe perfonages, that there was a part of the
world appertaining to my own country, where
a countlefs number of really mrewd people be-
lieved as firmly in the existence and potency of
thefe creations of fuperftitioo, as in that of their
God.

I have

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

I have forborne the relation of a thoufand fad and
tnerry fairy tales, the refult of my refearches into
this curious fubjeft, becaufe one is as good as a
thoufand 3 and that one you fhall have here as a
fpecimen of the red,

In my way to England, I ilept a night in thfc
village of Feltiniog, and being the only travel^
ler then in the houfe, had the choice of the bed-
chambers, I fixed upon that which I thought
the mofl commodious, and after I had taken my
folitary repaft, was preparing to retire, when my
landlady made her appearance, and faid, that
Ihe could not anfwer it to her confcience to let
me go to reft, without telling me that the apart ^
ment I had chofen, though the bed in her houie,
had the misfortune to be troubled by the fairies ;
that had I been an ordinary ilranger, fhe ftiould
not have mentioned it, but being recommended to
her houfe by one of her beft friends and cuftomers,
fhe felt it her duty to apprife me of the circum-
ftance $ after which i might do as I pteafed.
She concluded this aweful intelligence, by in-
forming me, fhe ha4 foundly rated the chamber*
maid for her careleflhefs in fhewing that apartment*
the door of which was never opened but when the
inn was full of 'company, and not another bed to be

Whether

140 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

'Whether it proceeded from that queer propen-
fity in human nature, to do what you are warned
not to do, or from a fpirit of refiftance to thefe
limplicities of faith, I do not know ; I can only
tell you, that my landlady's caution determined me
not to profit by it. I thanked her, however, for
the hint, and defired to be fhewn to the haunted
chamber, declaring to her, at the fame time, that
I had been fo great an admirer of fairies, ever lince
I read one of our great Poet's account of them,
that I was perfectly fatisfied they would rather
look on me as an old acquaintance than a ftranger,
and treat me as fuch : and furthermore, as it was;
exceflive cold weather, if fifty, or an hundred of
the little gentlefolks were difpofed to pafs the
night with me, they would be extremely welcome
to part of my bed, and I did not doubt but that,
fliould this be the cafe, I mould be able in the
morning to give a very good account of my bed*
fellows.

For that matter, 5ir, faid mine hoftefs, one of
your great poet-men, and who was a lord into
the bargain, took a fancy, like wife, to that very
room, where he flept three nights, and pad his
days where you are now fitting, after clamber-
ing up and down the mountains for hours
together.

Well,

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 141

Well, and did he make any complaints of the
common difturbers of that chamber ?

He was too mild and fweet-tejnpered a gen-
tleman to make complaints about any thing ;
but on my afking, if he faw or heard more than
lie wifhed, or found his window thrown open, or
any of his things tofTed about the room, or any
pattering of little feet, or, in fhort, any fairy
work going forward ? He fhook his head, and
faid, it was almoft impofllble for a man, he faw
plainly, to be in the mofl retired parts of the
world, but he mufl be annoyed with bufy bodies,
and impertinents that would be afking queftions,
and forcing themfelves, uncalled, into company.
— This was pretty plain, I think, Sir,

I think fo too, and will, therefore, go to bed
landlady ; for you have mentioned a reafon, for
my preference of that chamber, that out-weighs
all the fairies of Merionethfhire, were they ever/
one, at this moment, making merry in my bed*
The great poet you allude to was Lord Lyttle-
ton : I know he was at Fefliniog, and am glad to
find that accident has conducted me to the fame
inn, and even into the fame apartment. I have
read what he wrote here.

he was always

^ poor dear gen-
tleman,

142 GLEAKINGS THROUGH WALE'S.

tleman, when he was within doors, and when he
was without, he ran up and down hills and dales
in fuch a manner, though neither young nor
ftrong, that folks, hereabouts, thought him a
madman ; but his valet de Jham told us, he was
only a poet, and was making a book about us
Welch people, and our country : though what he
could find here worth putting in a printed book,
I cannot think 5 yet, he was quite befide himfelf
with joy, and often told my hufband, that we
ought to think ourfelves very happy, as we lived
in Paradife : for that matter, we do not live
amifs, confidering a poor, lone place ; we get
fifh and game of all forts in plenty, and now and
then> can mew a joint of meat with any body,
as your honour fhall fee if you mould like to ilay
with us as long as the Poet Lord.

Finding that the good woman had no other
idea of Paradife than that we mould there be
fure of the befl provifions, and choicer! rarities
for the palate, — which idea is, by the bye, to the
full, as refined as that of numberlefs inhabitants
in polite cities,— I again bade her good night, and
\vithdrew to the haunted chamber*

I declare to you, that the honeft people who
are terrified about thefe little fellows, yclept
fairies, never more earneftly wifhed they might

be

CLEANINGS THROUGH WALKS. 143

be free from their vifitations than I did for their
appearance; at the fame time, that I defpaired
of being honoured by this fairy -favour. Never-
thelefs, I was kept fome hours from the Jeaft de-
fire to fleep j the night was piercingly cold, but
it was 'about the third quarter of the moon,
whofe frofty clearnefs, threw into the apartment,
precifely that fort of elfin-light which thefe little
perfonages • are faid to love ; and certainly, if
they have any human fenfations about them, or.
are at all fenfible to the change of feafons, on
their tiny frames, which, by being fo often feen
in frcpria perfona, muft be occafionally corpo-
real, a fnug birth in a warm bed-chamber would
be preferable to any thing they could meet with
on fnowy mountains or in icy vallies. I had
neither talked, nor thought myfelf into expec-
tation or hope ; yet whofoever follows up an en-
quiry of any kind, with lindiminiming ardour ' of
curiofity, will be lefs difpofed to (lumber than
he whofe investigations have attained their pro-
pofed end.

As I lay in this wakeful flate, I ran over all
the pretty things that have been faid by our Poets
on the fairy fubjeft.

I repeated, aloud, feveral of the favourite paf-

fages from the beautiful poems of Parnell, in bis

6 " Fairy

144 GLEANINGS ^HROXJCH WALES.

cr Fairy Tale/' and in the cc Ode to Indifference.'*
I invoked the fprices even by the Spirit of Shak-
fpeare, which, I cannot but believe, has a po-
tency far fuperior to their own. In this mufing
mood I remained till the peep of dawn, when
it is admitted, that thefe children of darknefs, like
all others of that call and character, jleal off. I
therefore, compofed myfelf to a fhort fleep, after
which, I rofe with an intention to profecute my
journey.

The very moment I got down ftairs, my land-
lady took notice that I looked very poorly, " and
no wonder," faid me, " I was fure your honour
could not fleep, for all your braggadofia -, I heard
you, Sir, talk to the fairies for half an hour toge-
ther -, our rooms are parted only by a thin
boarded partition. I warrant you had your room
full of them \ don't deny it, Sir, becaufe I heard
you fpeak to them as plain, and, indeed, louder
than I now hear myfelf: nay, if it had not been
for fear, I would have come and knocked at your
door, for they cannot bear to be furprifed at any of
their tricks."

It feems I had been taken in the fact of je-
citing the verfes, which my landlady interpreted
into addrefles to the fairies ; for as to repeating
at fuch a time of night, and in fuch a chamber,

for

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

for my own diverfion, it could neither enter vo-
luntarily, nor be driven coercively, into her
head, without admitting at the fame moment
the moft thorough conviction of my infanity.
Befides this, there is fomething fo unwelcome
in combating any notion a perfon has taken up
and is pleafed with, that I contented myfelf
with leaving the matter open to the good
woman's interpretation, by faying, in the words
>of Beatrice : <c I confefs nothing, and I deny
nothing.0 It was therefore taken for granted,
that I had not only feen, but difcourfed with the
fairies all night ; that I had intreated them to be
civil s that I had begged pardon for not before
having faith in them j and that, if they would
fpare me only that once, I promifed to build a
temple for them, to kifs their cc tiny footfteps,
cc and to worfhip them for ever," To this effect
did mine hoftefs conftrue the different recita-
tions -, many of which, you, who are verfant in
all that our great bard, and the minor poets,
have fung or faid on the fubjecl, will recoiled
to be applicable to the occafion, particularly the
following pafTages :

" Ye "Elfin fprites,

" Come now a roundel and a fairy fong,
** Come fmg me now afkep, then let me reft/'

This, my landlady faid, was begging what
VOL, i. L they

146 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

they never granted, for they always broke peo-*
pie's reft when they got into their bed-chambers.

After I had laid about an hour, without any
vifitant, I invoked Queen Mab herfelf, and in
language which, had fhe been within hearing,
fhe mud have anfwered in perfon, or been looked
on as a fairy of no tafle or genius :

" Thou art (I know) a fpirit of no common rate,
«' Thou canft give fairies to attend me ftrait j
" Canft bid them fetch me jewels from the deep,
ft And fing, while I on preffed flowers do fleep.
" Hop in my walks, and gambol in my eyes ;
" Feed me with apricots and dewberries.
" With purple grapes, green figs, and mulberries :
" Steal for me honeybags from humble bees ;
" For my night-tapers crop their waxen thighs,
" And light them at the fiery glow-worms' eyes,
"And pluck the wings from painted butterflies,
" To fan the moonbeams from my fleeping eyes."

Yes, yes, quoth mine hoflefs, J heard you beg-
ging and praying them to fetch you fruit and
honey, but the deuce a grape or morfel even of
bees-wax you get from them. You foon was of
that opinion too, your honour, I fancy, for you
gave them their true character foon after. I
judge Ihe interpreted the malign properties attri-
buted to them by our great bard in the fubfe-
quent lines, which, I remember, I repeated with
a fort of malicious energy, as if filled with their

fubjecl:,

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 147

fubject, I felt myfelf piqued at their refufing to
pay me a vifit. We know a thing is not very
little likely to happen, and yet we work up our
wifhes to a warmth fo fairy-like, as to be fre-
quently difpleafed and difappointed that it does
not. Who has not found this unreafonable fally
in himfelf ?

What ! will none of you appear ye little tor-
mentors, cried I, in my foliloquifing way ?

" This muft be the fpite,
" Or I miftake, of that fhrewd knavifh fprite,
" Call'd Robin Goodfellow,
" That frights the maidens of the villager/,
" Skims milk, and fometimes labours in the quern,
" And bootlefs makes the breathlefs houfewife churn,
*f And fometimes makes the drink to bear no barm,
" Miflead night-wanderers laughing at their harm.*'

I have heard of your pranks, my little matters,
continued I, and prefume you are upon fome
now. Each mifchievoufly employed, I warrant
you :

" Some to kill cankers in the mufk rofebuds

'« Or war with rear-mice for their leathern wings

'* To make them coats !

And as for you, Mafter Puck,

" Up and down then up and down,
" You are fear'd in field and town :

•r Over

148 01EANMNGS THROUGH WALfcS.

" Over hill, over dale,

" Through bufh, through briar,

«r Over park, over pale ;

•' Through flood, through fire,

• ' You do wander every where ;

" Swifter than the moon's fphere,

** You do ferve the fairy queen,

" To dew her orbs upon the green."

Nay, I have heard you boaft you could

" Put a girdle round about the earth
" In forty minutes.

My landlady told me they were capable of
taking all fhapes; but fhe gave into the com-
mon notion of their tripping off, at day-break.
On her afking my opinion of this very gravely,
I with no lefs folemnity pretended to believe it
in the general, but that a very great Poet in my
country, greater than her friend, Lord Lyttle-
ton, and who had a mighty veneration for all
thefe little perfons, declared, that although many
of them

" Wilfully exile therafelves from light,
«' For fear that day ftiould look their fhames upon ;
" Yet there are fpirits of another fort,
" Who with the morning light have oft madefport;
** Who, like a forefter, the groves may tread,
" Even till the eaftern gate, all fiery red,
•• Opening on Neptune, with far bleffing beams,
" Turns into yellow gold his falt-green dreams."

Your

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES, jjg^

Your fine poet-men feldom fpeak fo as a poor
body can tmderftand them, laid the good wo*
man j all I know is, our W«lch fairies are fcen
only at night; but I am glad you believe in them
or they would do you an ill turn before you get
home. Now, though I had as much belief in
the wall and moonfhine of Pyramus and Thilbe*
I pretended my faith was fixed: I was a con-
vert.

By way of prefent comfort and future fecurity,
however, mine hoftefs promifed me, on my ex-
prefling a defign to pafs another night under her
roof, to put me into the yellow room, to which,
(he allured me, the little tormentors had a par*
ticular objection. Determined to humour the
jeft, I affedted to be highly fatisfied with this,
and me then told me the ftory of a neighbour
who had loft a cheft of drawers, and feveral other
pieces of furniture, which were found, after
many days, above a league off upon one of the
enormous druidical ftones, as at the top of an
high mountain i where, added me, not an hun*
dred men could drag it 5 and that, therefore, it
muft be Jprigbted away by fairies. I/pon my
mewing tokens of furprife, that theie rniferable
Lilliputians mould be more powerful than an
hundred men, my landlady informed me that it
was all done by magick, and that they had been

L known

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES,

known -to move trees, and carry away men and'
horfes out of their warm beds, and fet them faft
in the middle of a quagmire, or drop them on a
bare heath merely by charming ! As I wifhed to
fee a little more of this fairy land than was to be
difcovered through the windows, of my inn, I
ended the convention, by obferving to my hof-
tefs, that this was carrying the (light of hand to
a wonderful perfection indeed -, and it would b$
highly worth while for Meffrs. Jonas, Breflaw,
and the other Prejlo-pajs gentlemen, who five by
enchanting, to come and make a few improve-
ments in the art of magick, or Cf delicate decep-
cc tions," as they have been called by the frofef-
Jors in conjuration.

Such a fall of fnow had happened in the night,
in addition to what was on the ground before,
that: though the fun did the beft that it could for
me at that feafon of the year, neither my old
horfey nor his matter, were difpofed to proceed
that day any farther, at leaft together ; fo I made
a tour of the mountains and vallies on foot; ve-
hernently refuting all offers of a guide, whom in
a ramble of this kind I have all my life cpn-
fidered as an infupportable interruption ; for it
is. amongft my fupreme pleaiures to find out the
rwonders and beauties of Nature with my own
tQ reafpa afeoyt them with my own under.-

Handing,

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. i$L

ftanding, and to extract all the knowledge they
are able to give me out of themfelves, before I
aflc other people ; who officioufly tell you every
thing before you come to it; and then, it is ten
to one, but their account of the fact and the fact
itfelf, is at leaft as wide from each other, as
would have been my own unaflifted conjecture ;
befides that it deprives me of the fkafures of
conjecture, which are-^to an inquifitive mind,
that is, to a mind that likes to anfwer its own
queftions,-*-always fomething. Moreover, I have
found thefe common-place hiftorians of the vil-
lage, or country, to be not a whit more ufeful,
though full as learned as thofe biographers in
great cities, appointed to explain the wonders of
St. Paur$ in London, or St. Peter's at Rome;
their explanations being nearly as illuftrative of
the objects, as the elaborate commentators on the
text of Shakfpeare, or the Holy Bible. The
volumes of Nature and Religion, my friend,
rarely require any of thefe darkling elucidations;
for both are fo fimple, and fo intelligible, that
in general, he that runs may read and underftand
them; and, wherever there are difficulties in
either, they are ufaally made worfe and more inT
tricate, by bungling guides, who confound con-
fufion. For all thefe reafons I perambulated the
environs of Feftiniog alone, and thus added an-
other inftance of my obftinate adherence to my

L 4 own

1^-2 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

own pflns, which produced a portentous fhake
of my landlady's head.

Jufl as I was going out of the door, me hinted
that the young peafant me defigned to accom-
pany me, was thought a goodjcbolard, and could
talk Englifh by the hour together. Had it been
pofliblc for my former refolution of being a foli-
tary, to have received any acceffions of ftrength,
this intelligence would have the more determin-
ed me; for the affectation of fcience, amongft
common people, produces fuch infufferable jar-
gon, that it is even more naufeating, than the
pompofky of pedantry itfelf. Had the guide
only fpoken Welch, or been gifted with abfolute
filence, he might have had his ufe, juft to keep
me from two or three pitfalls into which I tum-
bled head over heels in the courfe of my walk,
the fnow having treacheroufly covered their fur-
faces, But to efcape thefe little cafualties, at the
expence of having one's ears aflailed by a good
Jcholard) while the ftupendous works of Nature
were inrolled in volumes before me by the Divine
Author ;— unfullied volumes that reached almoft
to the fkies — would have been blafphemy. For
never, furely, in any part of his creation did the
Creator difplay himfelf with more aweful mag-
nificence, with more aftpnilhing grandeur, than

in

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 153

in the precincts of the little village of Feftiniog
on the day that I made my furvey of it.

This, you are already apprifed is the place,
the Summer drefs of which Lord Lyttleton fo
agreeably defcribes. He tells us, that at the
time he vifited it, it was in the perfection of
beauty. " From the height of this Merionethfhire
village, which is the moft lovely one my eyes ever
beheld, you have/' fays his Lordfnip, cc a view
of the fea ; the hills are green, and well (haded
with wood : there is a delightful rivulet which
winds through the bottom, on each fide are
meadows, and above are corn fields, on the de-
clivities of the immenfe mountains j at each end
are mountains flill higher, which feem placed
there by nature to guard this charming retreat
againft any invaders. With the woman one
loves, with the friend of one's heart, and a good
fludy of books, one may pafs an age there and
think it a day. If one has a mind to live long,
and renew his youth, let him come and fettle at
Feftiniog. Not long ago, there died there an
honeft Welch farmer, who was an hundred and
five years of age : by his firft wife he had thirty
children, ten by his fecond, and four by his
third ; his younged fon was eighty-one years
younger than his eldelt ; and eight hundred
6 perfons,

GLEANINGS THROUGH W.\LcS-

pe'rfons, defcended from his body, attended his
funeral" .

My fecond vifit to this happy vale in the
fpring, juilified the above luxurious account.
Its afpeft, when covered with fnovv, gave to the
refpe&ive objects, a" fublimity, which cannot be
done juftice to, but by the .memories of thofc
who have feen a country abounding with afpir-
rng mountains and humble glens, and every
other grand irregularity of Nature, under the
domination of froft and fnow. Thefe, in fiat
countries, prefcnt nothing but one uniform,
uninterefting wafte ; amidft the mountains there
is the cataract, which refills the powers of ice ;
the variety of ground, that throws even the ice
itfelf, and the fnow, into a thoufand fantaftick
forms -y the hardy pe^fants that bra.ve the wea-
ther in a manner utterly unknown to fouthern
regions ; the adventurous animals, that, im-
pelled alike by the element and their appetite,
dig the fhrub on the points of the rocks, hunt
for the perilhec} herb through mountains of
fnow piled on mountains of earthy an4 an infi-
nity of objects there only to be ob/eyved.

Full of this kind of imagery I paft feveral
hours of the coldefl day; but therewithal the

brighteft

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 155

bfighteft of winter. The fnow ha.d drizzled for
about half an hour, but more radiant funfhine
fucceeded; yet the froft was fo much ftronger
than the thaw, that the flakes encrufted on my
hat and cloaths as they fell, and I was as com-
plete an icicle on my return to the inn as any
of the furrounding objects,

The furrounding objects, indeed, on my re-
turn were in perfect contrail to thofe without
doors. The whole peafantry of the village of
Feftiniog appeared to be got into the publick
houfe, where the blazing hearth and vacant
hilarity fet froft and fnow at defiance. Thefe
happy groups are very frequent in North Wales,
and particularly in thofe feafons when the rigor-
ous elements drive men more upon their inter-
nal refources. This, indeed, was an extraordi-
nary occafiqn. The Member for Merioneth, in
which county ftands this fweet village, had
given a fat fheep, and a barrel of home-brewed
to the poor of every parifh within his diftriQ: to
counteract the inclemency of the froft ; and this
animal was roafting whole in the kitchen, while
the guefts, in blifsful expectation, were gathered
together in a room adjoining. All that could
beat an alarm to appetite, or give to appetite
gratified its moft perfect tranquillity, was at
work ; an harper played the Triumph of Wales

in

156 GLKANINGS THROUGH

in 'one corner, a poet fung his own compofi-
tions, in imitation of the ancient bards, in the
other, feveral Welch damfels joined in chorus -,
the firft foaming jug of ale was drank off to the
founder of the feaft •, the fnow fell faft, and was
drifted on the windows, and the warmth of
heart that reigned within, when the roafted
fheep made its appearance, was more than
enough to baffle the rigour of a December"' in
Siberia.

You know enough of my difpofition to be
certain I mixed in thefe jovial doings with all
my heart. Without Haying to be afked, I faw
that I was welcome. I was in a land of holpi-
talitys and had I not been fo, the company
were, at the moment, too replete with feitivity
to be churlifh to a ftranger. Could one enter
the houfe of a mifer while he was enjoying him-
felf on the bounty of a friend, he could fcarcely
fliut his heart to one that wiihed to be happy
alfo. Happinefs is naturally benevolent : and
as the poor in their hours of relaxation are,
perhaps, the happieft of the happy> fo are they,
when they have any thing to give, the moft
bountiful of the generous. Many of thefe will—
1 have known them to do it — fhare their laft
fhilling; their laft meal, with a good will, as
fervent an urbanity, and as courteous, as if they

were

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

157

were only dividing with you the fuperfluities of
their ordinary table. The poor of Wales are,
on all feflive occafions, the kindeft of the libe-
ral. <c I ate, drank, and was merry/' and in
procefs of the evening, every gambol that
health, innocence, rufticity, and good fellow-
fhip, let loofe from toil, could devife, took its
round. Since the days of Cadwallader, to thofe
of the prefent Prince of Wales, there never was
feen a more comfortable fet of human creatures
on a more ftormy night, through which many
of them had to feek their way to their habita-
tions, in the different huts that were fcattered
on the mountains, or in the valley. But this
idea did not break in upon the prefent mo-
ments, which were devoted to joys, that, in
(weet oblivion, abforbed the future. You re-
member the winter evening of the Englifli pea-
fants, defcribed by Thomfon : It was now real-
ized in Wales. The charming lines came to
my memory as I fat at the feftivalj and they
again recur at this inftant : they are at the end of
my pen. You would not forgive me for driving
them back: Here then let them flow on the
paper :

*' Meantime the village roufes up the fire :

" While well attefted, and as well believ'd,

" Heard folemn, goes the Goblin-ftory round :

0 The rutal gambol and the ruftick mirth ;
( "The

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.
" The fimple-joke, that takes the fliepherd's heart,
" Eafily pleas'd ; the long, loud laugh, fincere;
«' The kifs fnatch'd hafty from the fide-long maid,
«c On purpofe guardlefs, or pretended fleep:
" 1 he leap, the flap, the haulj and, (hook to notes
'« Of native mufick, the refpondent dance.
" Thus jocund fleets with them the winter night. y*

After this harmlefs merry-making, which was
certainly as paftoral, as if it had been the Arca-
dia of primitive times, each departed to his
home, and were fo effectually fenced within, by
hilarity and good cheer, againft all annoyance
from without, that, I fufpect it was neither in the
power of froft, fnow, or fuperftition, to chill
them.

I do not know {he time when I pafled an even-
ing more to my fatisfadtion ; nor when I crowned
the night with more quiet reft, in defpite of fairies
and fairy tales. May yours, my friend, this and
every night, be as undifturbed, and preceded by as
pleafant days !

LETTER XII.

TO THE SAME.

IF we examine Lord Lyttleton's defcrip-
tion ofFeftiniog, fhall we not think him a little
unrCafonable ? and, in one or two paflages, not

quite

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

quite correct as to fentiment ? " With the wo-
man one loves, the friend of one's heart, and a
good ftudy of books, there is furely fcarce a
man in the world, whofe mind is fitted to relifh
them, but would convert Arabia Infelix into a
Paradife. There needs no fuch happy vales as
that of Feftiniog, to render a perfon fo envi-
roned with heart-felt refources, more than con-
tent. I argue that even in abfence of thefc, at
leaft the lad article, many a year might pafs
without a v/eary moment. No. I renounce
the thought in the very inftant that I have ex-
prefled it. I feel, that if the ftudy of books
might be difpenfed with, the focial, bofom joys
which the two other fources afford, may not be
given up." His Lordfhip is in the right. The
charm of feeing others happy, and being one of
the party, made me for a little while forget that
the beft part of their felicity proceeds from
domeftick happinefs. The^men were furrounded
by their families ; and fuch as were not, I re-
member, had lefs jocund countenances, and
feemed " maimed of half their joys.'* On find-
ing that the fnow continued to fall violently,
had you feen how the mothers folded up their
little ones, and how the fathers forced their
great coats on the ihoulders of their mothers,
and almoft dripped themfelves to fortify their
wives and loves againft die cold -, in particular,

had

l6o CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

had you obferved, as I did, how a young fellow,
after putting the handkerchief that tied his own
neck, on that of a lafs whom he loved, carried
her in his arms to the merriment of the whole
company, and defiring every man to do as he
didx while in a frolick, betwixt the tendernefs
and glee of their hearts, they fet off with the
women in the fame manner, the mountains re-
verberating with the " long, loud laugh, fin-
cere," you would have flood at the door as
long as I did, and have been as little fenfible of
the cold.

Ah ! my friend, there is nothing to be long
enjoyed in the ab fence of thofe who are dear to
us ! — I feel that I am renewing the happinefs of
the fcenes I have been pleafed with in my jour-
neyings, by defcribing them in correfpondence
to you and other of my friends : nay, I felt,
while they were patting before me, that I mould
again take delight in them, when I prepared them
for the poft; and I have often amufed myfelf with
thinking as I rode by a beautiful profpe6t, met
with agreeable people, or gave way to the ema-
nations of a tender difpofition, how ftrongly will I
point, and recommend all thefe to the friends of
iny heart !

Pr'ythce, tell me, does abfence foften the

memory

C'LEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

itiemory of injuries received ? Does it take off
the edge of that indignation we naturally feel for
diofe who have ufcd us ungratefully ? I have
left --behind me, now fome hundred miles, more
than a few perfons, the recency of whefe unkind
thoughts and practices towards me ought t@
prevent my ceaing to think of them 9 I do not
ceafe to think ; but I think of them every day
with lefs afperity. My fenfe of their injuftice
is the fame : perhaps it is the more -impreffive
the oftener it is reflected upon ; but there i*
fomething in my nature either fo excefiively
tender or weak, that, without affectation, I allure
you, if, in the particular conduct of an avowed
enemy,- — one, far inftance, who has faid and
done all that an enemy can or dare do and fay,—
there is, on my recollection, a fingle trait of
good-will or good-nature {hewn to rne prior to
the date of his enmity, and I have a memory
very faithful and retentive to kindnefs, I faftes
Upon that trait as a fort of refource from the
pain of thinking on the .general tenour of his be-
haviour. Nay, if I have ever paired any happy
days or hours in the fociety of thofe who have
afterwards made me pafs many comfortlefs or
bitter ones, it is not eafy to exprefs how I feel
within me a propenfity to fink the memory of
the latter, and take refuge in the former. This-,
J have reafon to believe, hath not a relifli of be«-
VOL. i. M nevolencc

l6* GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

rievolence in it, becaufe my ideas of the ill-treat-
ment I may have received are unaltered; of
courfe, the perfons of fuch as have occafioned it,
are no lefs irkfome to thought : but it is a great
relief to me, from that very mifery of dwelling
on the dark fide of human nature, where there is
but a ray of light to turn it on the other. For
this reafon, though it is a felfilh one, perhaps, I
am hourly more convinced, that I am not made
for long refentments : for to you and to God, I
declare that, though I have not parted many
years from fome who, I have too many induce-
ments to think, feek to do me an ill-turn, for
no other caufe that I can recoiled!:, but that they
have injured me too greatly ever to forgive me ;
I cannot pay them in kind, by meditating ill-
will, or even ill wifhes. And though, as I ob-
ferved above, there is neither " the milk of
" human kindnefs," nor any other foftening
quality in all this, but to get rid of the uneafy
fenfations that accompany even a juft revenge, or
the contemplations which lead to and prepare it,
it is at lead fo far a greater felicity in tempera-
ture than the bias which difpofes a man to brood
over his wrongs, and lie in wait, as fome minds
have fliewn a power of doing for months, years,
half a long life, till opportunity gives efFeft to
accumulated vengeance. To obtain, at the end
of only one year, the moft compieat revenge

over

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 163

over thofe moft injurious, I would not exchange
this conftitutional gift of tendernefs, felf-love,
or whatever you think fit to denominate this
capacity, of preferring pleafknt to difagreeablc
refleclions.

I would claim a much greater degree of merit
from the eternally unfading frefhnefs with which
I remember my abfent friends, did not their vir-
tues, talents, or kindnefs to me, preclude all
fort of merit even on that fubject, and make
that remembrance a fimple act of juftice. But I
may at lead fay, that my memory of them is
green and immortal as the laurel, and triumphs
over abfence, adverfity, and even over the more
oblivious power that often attends on prof-
perity. The deliberate traveller muft either be
worthless himfelf, or afibciate only with thofe of
that defcription, if in his route he does not find
forne who have demands on his admiration for
their genius, on his pity for their misfortunes,
or on his friendfhip for their good offices. Of
all thefe \ have had my fhare ; but, believe me,
none have, or ever can have, power to impair
the fentiment with which I retain every impref-
fion due to thofe from whom I am feparated.
My fc untravelled heart" turns to them even
when filence has been conftrued into neglect,
and I appear to have forgotten them. Each of

M 2 them

164 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

them comes to my memory with a fondnefs
which often makes my heart ache, that human
life, and its contingencies, permit not the power
of giving as frequent exprefiion to kind wifhes as
they are felt and excited. In years of greater
leifure and fuller health, the delights of corre-
ipondence more than compenfated for the quan-
tity of time employed in fuftaining it. I neither
feemed nor defired to have any other^ employ-
ment than to receive and reply to the letters of
my friends. Every poft brought me the continu-
ed hiftory of their joys and forrows ; and I gave
mine in return with an ardour that doubled the
former, and took from the latter at leaft half
their flings. But, alas I the wants of health, of
time, or of happinefs,

" Check'd the genial current of the/**/'

\vhich is an inftrument of the <f foul/* peep*
heavy, and incefTant too, are the taxes which
certain incidents of life levy upon us. Many of
thefe may make us facrifice the fweeteft occupa^
tions of th£ heart on the altar of more fevere
exercifes; but never have the moft violent of
thefe extinguished one fpark of that tendernefs I
bear to thofe from whom I am divided ; and
eVery hour proves to me, that I recoiled the
virtues, the talents, and endearments of old
friends, as affectionately as if this maturity of

my

CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 165

my life was engaged, like its earlier youth, only
in the exchanges of perfonal or epifloiary pro-
fe (lions. Ah ! could my powers keep any pace
with, or bear any proportion to, my inclinations
on this fubjeci, a correfpondence, regular as
that I keep up with you, my friend, fhould at-
tempt the amufement of every other whom I
love. If by my filence, I am fuffering in the
opinion of any on the idea of that filence being
induced by motives lefs cogent than that depri-
vation of health, leifure, and fpirits, which
make fuch frequent breaks in the lettered inter-
courfe I carry on with you, my loved friend, and
a very few others, could they look into my foul
£t this moment, could they enter into its thoughts
almoft every moment of every day, they would
not fimply acquit me of raifing new friendfhips
on the ruins of the old, but confefs, that I re-
fledted on their merits as warmly, and on their
failings — when I -thought on them at all — as
candidly, as in the moft glofly feafons, of at-
tachment.

How have I rambled into thefe felfifli deve-
lopements ? Muft I needs call them by fo harfh
a name ? In abfence many delicate apprehen-
fions afiail us. The very phyfician that recom-
mended the exercifes of my pen fet very unfociai
bounds to them -9 for he knew, that the very

M 3 poilurc

l66 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

pofture of writing was,, if long continued, per-
nicious to that inveterate pain and malady in my
breaft, which has fo inceffantly vexed me. It
Hops theprogrefs of my publick engagements -a it
continnes to limit my private communications -,
and though my mind and body are relieved when
I can in any meafure furmount thefe bofom evils,
and I am daily gleaning a little more of health as
I go along, — I am never fo churlifh as to keep
an unbroken hour to myfelf, but invariably devote
the belt part of it to you and to others whom I
appreciate ; and, in the feafons that I cannot do
this, I at leaft think kindly of you.

Accept then thefe pages of felf-defence ; for
I know that the fpirit of accufation has gone
forth againft me on the article of correfpon-
dence : and if any thing could induce me to be-
lieve your welcome flatteries as to the merit of
thefe letters, I fhould derive the greatefl joy from
the hope, that, if I adopt the propofal you have
made of publifhing them, I might acquire a fen-
fible gratification by uniting publick with pri-
vate favour.

Forgive me, and return with me to Feftiniog ;
or rather to my Lord Lyttleton's defcription of
its attractions : amon°:ft which he feems to
reckon kngevity. I fear, however, this is a

com-

CLEANrNGS THROUGH WALESA 167

complaifance he was difpofed to fhew the coun-
try. Thofe who have long lived in towns, afifume
the ideas and feelings of a poet, happy though
but for a few weeks or days, to forget that they
are men of the world. Country church-yards
are amongft the objects moft travellers vifit
tranfientlyj and when we have tafted the rural
breeze, luxuriated in its profpefts, and been
frefhened by a change of air and objects, we na-
turally enough conclude that we have left the
abodes of difeafe, langour, and untimely old
age i and have, at length, found the regions of
perpetual health, and of life equally happy and
long. From experience, neverthelefs, of the
fallacy of fuppofing our " days of nature" are
more in number when paft in the made, than
amidft the " hum of men." I have regretted,
I know not how often, that in this cafe, as
in many others, truth and poefy are fo much
at variance.

I ufually pafs an hour amidft the manfions of
the dead, in every town or village at which I
paufe ; and I am, you know, a paufing traveller ;
J always have been fuch; but if graves and
lomb-ftones are to be confidered as the faithful
regiftcrs of their refpective pariihes, and, I be-
lieve, they are to be pretty much depended
upon, for all our little vanities are there ufelefs,

M 4 and

1-68 CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES*

aad even the buried beauty there confefTes fi
age — the village annals will, I believe, have
little to boaft of the antidote of zephyrs, or the
anodyne of whokfome labour, after undiiturbed
repoie. I have more than once had the curi-
ofity, in this country and in others, both at
home and abroad, to compare the daces of life
and death, as they are ftated in the burial
grounds ; and if I have fometimes been inclined
to think the country church-yard* on a calcu-
lation of equal inhabitants, the repofitory of
fewer young, and of more advanced old age, I
have on the general average found, that the
aHertiori of a Celebrated tourift on this fubjecl:
is founded in fad. It is commonly fiippofed,
he fays,- that life is longer where there are fewer
opportunities of luxury > but a cottager grows
okl over his oaten cakes, like a citizen at his
turtle feaft. A poor man is, indeed, feldom
incommoded by corpulence. Poverty preierves
him from finking under the burthen of himfelf,
but he efcapes no other injury from time. In-
ftances of long life are often related, which
thofe who hear them, are more willing to credit
than examine. To be told, that any man has
attained an hundred years, as in the cafe Lord
Lyttleton has related, gives hope and comfort
to him who (lands trembling on the brink of
his own clima&erick. Length of life is, indeed,

diflributed

CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

diftributed impartially to very different modes of
life, in very different climates; and the moun-
tains have no greater inftances of age and health
than the low-lands; nor can villages., and fmall
towns, produce more examples than great cities,
on a comparative average. Even in the village*
receptacle of the dead at Feftmiogy the infant, the
youth, the mature-man, and the veteran, lie mix-
ing their aflres together ; and the inftance which
his Lordihip has recorded, is amongft the very
few, who have materially exceeded the human
fpan.

But in this little country there live thofe,
•whom for the fake of human kind, a benevo-
lent traveller could not but wifh might continue
in the world,, till the world itfelf fhould be no
more* The fnow-clad mountains of Cambria,
my friend, have not affrighted the fpirit of
philanthropy from vifiting their inhabitants -5
nor has the thick-ribb'd ice, that fometimes places
an impafTable gulph betwixt a man and his neigh-
bour,

" Frozen the genial current of their fouls/*

The torrid zone boafts not more glowing

hearts, nor more animated natures. It would

be an herefy committed again ft the beauties of

the creation, to leave Wales without vifiting the

4 fcveral

170 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

feveral delicious domains that appertain to my
Lord Powis and his family ; efpecially that part
which is emfaradijed by Lord and Lady Clive.
I make free with that word, as moft expref-
five of the fact : for the two noble perfons lad
mentioned, have literally raifed a paradife around
them. But though you will fee wood, water,
hill, and dale, manfion-houfes and cottages, in the
moft enviable abundance, all thefe are but
fecondary to another kind of beauty, which is
here to be feen in perfection. Were you, for
example, to make a circuit of the towns and
villages adjacent to the feat of Lord and Lady
Clive, and enter every houfe where either in-
duftry, indigence, ficknefs, forrow, or misfor-
tune, had entered before you, you would hear
the voice, or fee the tear and frnile of grati-
tude pouring forth die heart-felt praifes of this
noble pair. I know not when I have paft a
more delightful hour, than that which I fpent on
the road from Okely Park to Welch Pool. My
eyes were gratified with every grace of nature and
art in vegetable beauty ; my ears were regaled, yet
more voluptuoufly, with a number of village annals
that have made me think more highly of human
nature ever fince.

I encountered one of Lord dive's neigh-
bours, and here follow, verbatim, the anfwers
3 he

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 171

he gave to my enquiries. You are juft to pre-
mife, that we are jogging on in a very neigh-
bourly way, through his lordfhip's park, on a
fine day, and in the fined month of the year ; and
that having converfed fufficiently on the only ac-
quaintance-making topick which renders ftrangers
companionable — namely, the weather — we flruck
into other fubjects, drawn, principally, like moft
converfations on the road, from the furrounding
objects.

cc Yes, Sir," cried my aiTociate, in anfwer to a
remark I had made on the beauty of the park
through which we were, as I faid, taking our
way, Cf It is full of good ground, has fome thou-
cc fand pounds worth of good timber, a brave herd
cc of deer, and game in abundance. All thefe to
cc be fure are good things, but the folks to whom
" they belong are better than all of them. I am
cc not a prejudiced perfon, never wanting a favour
" of lord or lady. I never received one, but
cc from my own induftry, fince I was born: I
" therefore may fpeak."

No doubt you are an independent man. cc As
cc an independent man then I inform you, that
<c when either the lady or the lord, to whom this
<c domain belongs, leaves this world, all the
fc hearts within a fcore of miles round them

" ought

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

« ought to break for it. As for my lady, it
cc would comfort your foul, and make it better,
<c if it wants mending — begging your pardon —
<c to fee fo fine, fo pretty, and fo good a creature
<c go her rounds of loving-kindnefs, fometimes
u on foot, fometimes on horfeback, and flop-
cc ping at every hut and cottage, attended by all
€f her children, by way of making them take after
" her.'*

•v

And what is the end of thofe circuits ? cf No-
tc thing on earth but to make the poor rich, the
cc fick well, and the fad merry. I have often
" thought^ — God pardon me — when I have beheld
cc her ladylhip, and four or five of her young
cc ones open the door of a miierable dwelling,
" which fome of your great folks .would not
cc deign to look at, that it was more like an angel
** from heaven, and fome little children, who,
cc dying innocent, became cherubims, than human
cc creatures. — Then they are as affable as if the
c* poor things they make comfortable were their
<c equals ; and, in Ihort, inftead of fpending their
cc time at a looking-glafs, as thoufands do, who
<c have not half fuch handfome faces to look at, or
ic their fubfhnce in the follies of the age, they
" may fairly be faid to keep a kitchen, cellar, and
" warehoufe, well ilored with good things for thofe
" that want them."

That

THROUGH WALES.

That is ftrange indeed : for commonly fpeak-
}ng, to want the comforts which a fine houfe
can fupply, is the only objection, my good friend,
for with- holding them : for which reafon, I pre-
fume, it is that the very knockers on the outfide
of the doors of great men's houfes, are held by
the iron-headed lion, tiger, or fome other bead of
prey ; and that even if a poor vifitor is fo
forely impelled by necefTity, as to brave this ern^
blem of feverity without, and having the hardinefs
to knock, fhould thereby gain admittance within,
he has generally to encounter another beaft of
prey in office, whofe orders are, to fuffer thofe
only to gain entrance, or at leaft to pafs, who
bring no wants but thofe of which they can pay
- for the gratification : Nay, our town refinements
are carried yet higher; for, as, if neither the
iron nor brazen-headed monfter before the doc-r
nor the Cerberus behind it, were fufficient
guards to repel the fighuigs of the forrowful, or
the cries of the indigent, the very hiftory of a
man's grievances, either of mind, body, or
eftate, are forbidden to obtrude themfelves on
the nerves and feelings of the great perfonages
who inhabit thefe great houfes ; and if a letter
is not fafhionably folded up, fuperfcribed in a
ftyle of fafhionable illegibility, and imprefTed
with arms that certify the writer to be a peti-
tioner for nothing but what he can purchafe by

fome

1/4 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

fome commodity equivalent to that he receives,
whether of courtefy or commerce, the letter is
thrown out of doors, or referred to a reader of
all papers fufpected to be filled with the com-
plaints of thofe poor devils who throw them-
felves on the barren foil of a great man's huma-
nity. All fuch papers being found guilty of
containing tales of diflrefs, and petitionary re-
prefentations of calamities of any kind, are con-
demned to lie on the infpector's defk, or to be
given up to the derifion of the domefticks, who
fatten in the fervants' hall; but on pain of
lofing their places, thefe pauper appeals, and
mendicant manufcripts, are kept from the maf-
ter and miftrefs of the marifion, who cannot
have their delicate fenfibilities mocked by the
rniferies of their fellow- creatures; and imagine,
that when they fubfcribe to the publick hpfpitals,
inwhofe tell-tale books the names of the contrir
butors are pompoufly and oflentatioufly inferted,
they have fulfilled the whole duty of great men
and great women.

<c

The great people 1 have been fpeaking of/'
continued my companion, " are not of that de-
" fcription. I remember a paflage in one of the
<c Spectators, the only books, except the Bible
cc and Common Prayer, I ever read, or ever
" mall read, that juft fuits. them $ and as I gqt

" it;

CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 175

it by heart when I was firft ftruck with its

force, I will repeat it to you — c If they have

not the pomp of a numerous train, they have

every day they live the confcioufnefs that the

widow, the fatherlefs, the mourner and the

ftranger, blefs them in their prayers : they give

up the compliments which people of their own

condition could make to them, for the plea-

fures of helping the afflicted, fupplying the

needy, and befriendiug the neglected. Thus,

keeping ftill to themfelves more than they

want, they give a vafl refufe of their fuper-

fluities to purchafe heaven, and by freeing

others from the temptation of worldly want,

carry a retinue with them thither/ — I could

employ twice the time it would take us in

getting to Welch Pool, were I to tell you of

one third of the good things that I know to

have been done by this noble family. They

apprentice out the orphans, give portions to

young women in marriage, grant annuities to

the widows, put their old fervants into farms

on their own eflate, and, though, too often

impofed on are ftill as bountiful as if they

had never met with an ungrateful perfon."

There was fomething in the manner of this
my fellow-traveller, fo illuftrative of the matter,
that both at once co-operating on my heart,

brought

ff

*7& GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES,

brought tears into my eyes i w hich being per*
ceived, and the caufe miftaken, the honeft hifto-
rian of the place caught hold of my horfe'S
bridle with one hand, 'and of my arm with the:
other, exclaiming, — " Perhaps you one way of
« other ftand in need of the help of this noble
<c couple, for there are decayed gentlemen as
<c well as decayed tradefmen; and if it be fo, I
** ihould be very forry that Lord and Lady C.
<c are both from home at this time on a vifit to
<c Lord P. I fay, I Ihould be very forry for this,
*c had I not a tolerable good houfe in the neigh-
<c bourhood on t'other fide Pool, where you
*e may wait the family's return, which is ex-
** peeled on Saturday."

iJi <£f

The influence of a good great man's hofpita-
Kty is more extenfive than we imagine, and it isf
in general a fuh^cient motive of virtue, that it
makes others emulous to cf do like wife." Had
time and circumflances permitted, I would have
humoured this honeft man's mifconception and
gone home with him, As it happened, I could
only very truly aflure him, the tears he obferved
ori my cheek werethofe of pleafure ; and that,
though I was now conflrained to take a different
road, if ever I again met him in the journey of
life, that pleafure would be increafed, and in,
the mean time I had a new fburce of moft agree-

able

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 177

able reflections, for which I fhould bear an hearty
goed-will to all the inhabitants of Okely Park,
and its environs, while I had a being. .

Soon after this, he turned up a bye lane,
which my companion faid would take him a fhort
cut acrofs the country to his houfe, which, as it
did not fuit me to make a (lop at now, would be
equally at my fervice another time.
1

In the direct road, I had about three miles to
Pool, from the place at which we parted, and
though the fcenary merits all that travellers have
faid of it, even to the luxuriant defcription
which Lord Lyttleton has given of Powis Caftle*
which is the fore-ground object under your eye
all the way; I looked at, it then, almoft without
feeing it, my mind's eye being employed on
what excels in lovelinefs all the caftles and pro^
fpects of the earth — a good heart engaging itfelf
in acts of gentlenefs and mercy for the fake of
goodnefs. A fingle deed defcribed by my travel-
ling companion, in the daily benevolence of
Okely Park, is fufficient to overfet the felfifh
fyftems of Rochfaucault, Mandeville, and all
the herd of Satirifts on Human Nature, that
ever fordidly narrowed its fair proportions ; for
after all they can fay, Pope is right, when he in-
fifts that felf-love and focial are the fame. Is
VOL. i. N r*oc

CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

not the pleafure you will receive, even from the
fimple recital of fo much real virtue, purely
benevolent ? Is not the gratification I feel in
writing it a fpirit of benevolence alfb ? and if
either of us, in the courfe of our day, fhall have
added but a mite to the eafe, accommodation,
or comfort of any one mortal, of even any one
animal, to which we have the power of doing
good, will it not drew upon our pillows thofe
rofes which fhall fweeten our repofe, and prove
to usy that it is not for our own fakes alone, that
we have " done that which we ought to have
" done ?" But I need not prefs this argument in
defence of the motives of benevolence, on you,
my dear friend, whofe whole life is a refutation
of every attack that has ever yet been made on
the principle that governs the focial virtues*
Long, very long, may it continue to you a fource
of happinefs I Adieu.

N. B. Whenever you vifit Welch -Pool, you
will be called upon by Nature herfelf to vifit
Powis Caftle which is in its vicinity. The
noble owner being now frequently the inhabi-
tant, and having laid out in improvements, more
than the three thoufand pounds which my Lord
Lyttleton confidered as necefTary to making it one
of the moft auguft places in the kingdom ; it
commands the admiration of every traveller,

and

GLEAN ING 3 THROUGH WALES.

and juftifies the poetical language in which it
has been juftly celebrated. It ftands on the
fide of a very high ' hill 5 below lies a vale of
incomparable beauty, with the Severn winding
through it, and the town of Welch-Pool, termi-
nated with fublime mountains : the oppofite fide
is beautifully cultivated half way up, and green
to the top, except in one or two hills, whofc
fummits are rocky, and of grotefque fhapes, that
give variety and fpirit to the profpect. Above
the cattle is a long ridge of hills finely fhaded*
part of which is a park -, and flill higher is the
terrace^ up to which you are led through very
fine lawns, from whence there is a view that ex-
ceeds all defcription.

It will not give a bad finifhing to this faithful,
though glowing picture, • to underftand that Lady
Clive and the Earl of • Powis, are of the fame
family, and not more nearly allied in blood than
by their virtues. — As you furvey Powis Caftle
you will think of this, and feel every beauty
of the place expand on your heart from the
recollection.

N 2

LETTER

GLEANINGS THROUGH" WALES*-

LETTER XIII.

TO THE SAME.

YOUR affections are touched: you tell
me that you cannot pay due homage to the parks
and caftles I have defcribed juft at prefent, but
that you would take a pilgrimage at Okely bare-
foot, and that you wouM do fo were Okely in
the defarts of Arabia, to offer the incenfe of a
throbbing heart to the Lord and Lady of the
domain. You even bid me give you a poft's re-
fpite from defcription, adding, that your heart is
'brimful, and feels a blifs, edging upon pain from
its excefs. I have obeyed you. Four pofts have
pad by, during which you have been delivered
up to the undiflurbed enjoyment of your feelings.
Your letter of yefterday breaks the truce I had
made with your heart by requefting me to pro-
ceed.— Still in conformity to your willies, I will
go on -, but as you fay your mind is even yet
more open to the charms of philanthropy, than
accounts of fine fcenary, in which are to be feen
only the charms of nature, this is the moment,
as it is the place, to offer you a little hiftory,
which I have often intended to fix upon paper,
and which deferves for its intrinfick worth to be
engraven by the regiflering angel, on leaves of

adamant.

^GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. i$*

adamant. But in the very outfet I have afted
•unfkiifully, for I have roufed your expeftatioa,
and wound up your curiofity before-hand, inftead
of taking them by furprize, and thereby have
rendered the gratification more difficult. Your
iheart is prepared for ,its imprefiion, and to anti-
cipate an emotion is to weaken it. As an author,
I have done wrong : as a man you will pardon
me. I felt the force of the fads 1 was about to
dilate too fen-fibty to be upon my guard. My
affe&ions were too much warmed to think of
taking your's captive, by any flratagems of cold
dexterity. To write my letter over again, would
injure the glow that is now animating my bofom,
and would be an artifice, fome-thing like pra<5ti-
fing on your fenlibility. Accept then the {lory,
juft as it rifes from my heart to my pen, and
without canfidering how much a more adroit ar-
rangement of the incident might have moved
you, take it as an inftanoe of my love for you,
that I ftand not upon the ceremonies of compo-
fition, but give you my correfpondence— " warm
" from my heart, and faithful to its fires." I
.have only further to premife, that every fentence
x)f the enfuing fcenes, records an unadorned,
unaflifted truth, and that the only Injury they can
luffer will be frojn the defects of the relation;

A merchant of coflfide^ble eminence in

* 3 don

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

don was reduced to the fltuation of poor Bafianio,
and from precifely the fame run of ill-luck in
hisfea-adventures:

" The dangerous rocks,
" Touching his gentle veffel's fide
" Had fcatter'd all his fpices on the ftrearn,
" Enrob'd the roaring waters with his filks,
ft And not one veflel 'fcaped the dreadful touch,
" Of merchant-marring rocks."

To thefe mifcarriages abroad were added fimi-
lar calamities at home. Several great houfes
broke in his debt, and with the wrecks of his
fortune, gathered together, he left the metro-
polis, and took refuge in the mountains, of
Montgomeryfhire. A little girl, then but nine
years of age, his only furviving child, was the
fole companion of his retreat, and fmiled away
his misfortunes. The care of her education was
his mod certain relief from the corroding reflec-
tions of the paftj and the certainty of her pof-
fefling at his death fufficient to prevent a good
mind from the horrors of dependence, foftened
his thoughts of the future 5 the prefent was rilled
up with the delights of feeing her ambition yet
humbler than her fortunes, and literally bounded
by the objects that fur rounded her. To tend the
flowers fhe had fet with her own hand, to nurfe
the fhrubs me had planted, to fport with and
iced the lamb me had dotntfticated, to fee it

follow

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 183

follow her in her rambles, and to liften to the
. melodies of Nature as they murmured in the
waters, or echoed through the woods, were her
chief amufements without doors -, and by a thou-
fand love-taught duties to make a father forget
that he had ever been unhappy, or unfortunate,
her deareft ftudy within. Of her perfonal at-
tra&ions 1 fhall fay little : a fmgle line of Thorn -
fon gives the £rueft image of them, and of the
tma(Fe$:ed mind by which they were illumined :

" Artlefs of beauty, flie was beauty's felf."

It is not eafy to be wretched in the conftant
ibciety of perfect innocence. The company of
a. beautiful child, wholly unpolluted by the world,
affords one the idea of angelick affociation. Its
harmleffnefs appears to guarantee us from harm :
we reflect, nay we fee and hear almoft every mo-
ment it is climbing our knees, playing at our
fide, engaging our attentions, or repofmg in our
arms, the words and a6ts of an unfpotted Being 5
and one can fcarcely be perfuaded any real ill can
befal us while a companion fo like a guardian
cherub is near. When the babe is our own-
fay, ye parents, how the fenfation is then exalted !
— Which of you, having at your option the lois
of the ampleft fortune, or of the feebleft infant,
would not cleave to the laft, and refign the
-jformer? or, if any of you balanced a moment,

N 4 would

184 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES,

would not one lifping word, one cafual look,
turn the fcale in favour of nature, and make
you feel it a crime to have hefitated ?

Such were the fentiments of the merchant,
and under their chearing influence he lived many
years •, during which, a few mountain peafants,
an old relict of his better days, as a fervant, who
had been nurfe to the young lady, his daughter,
were the only objects with whom he converfed.
So powerful is habit, that we aflimilate to per-
fons, places, and things, that, on our firft intro-
duction to them, we might imagine neither phi-
lofophy, cuflom, nor religion, could make fup-
portable. We are furprifed to find we attach tQ
them, even to endearment. In time, even our
former habits, no lefs flrong in us, are but
flightly remembered, and thofe purfuits, diver-
iions, and focjeties, without which it once ap-
peared impoflible we fhould ever pafs a day, are
yielded for others, that it then would have been,
thought as impoflible even to be endured. Our
merchant would have deemed the company of a,
monarch an intrufion, and the jargon of the
Exchange, which had for fo many years been,
mufick to his ears, could not now have been borne.
I have here given you fome of his own expreflions.
At length he fell fick. His daughter was then
in her eighteenth year. The diforder was of 3

gradual

CLEANINGS THROUGH WALEST

gradual kind, that threatened to continue life
after one has ceafed to love it, and to clofe in
death. He lingered eleven weeks,, and the old
domeftick being rjow fuperannuated and almolt
blind, his daughter was at once his nurfe, his
cook, his confoler, and might truly be faid to
make his bed in his ficknefs. She wanted not the
world to teach her the filial duties. Her own
pure heart fupplied them all, and her own gentle
hands adminiftered them. But now, for the firfl
time in her exiftence, me added to her father's
anguilh. It almou;; kills me to look on you, my
only love, faid he, with an emphafis of forrow,
and burfting into tears. I am fure, replied me,
falling on her knees at his bedfide, it has ajmofl
killed me to hear you fay fo, and if it would
make my deareft father better, I would kill my-
felf this moment, and truft in God's mercy to
forgive me. Ah ! my chile), you rniftake the
caufe and motive of my regrets, refumed the
parent — the thoughts of leaving you without;
prete&ion — there is the bitternefs I am not
going to be left, faid me, rifing haftily, I have a
prefage you will be well foon, and I am a great
prophetefs, my beloved father. Be in good
fpirits, for I am fure you will recover : I have
fent to Montgomery and Welch- Pool, and to-
morrow I am to have the two bed doctors in
Wales.

Your

l86 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

Your goodnefs is always a comfort, my darling,
replied the defponding merchant, but two thou-
fand Welch doftors could not fet me again on my
legs. — If, indeed, I were in a condition to procure
— but that's impoflible ! — •

Procure what ? whom ? — nothing is impofli-
ble, anfwered his daughter with the moil eager
hafte.

I have an idle and romantick faith in the only
man in the world that knows my conftitution, and
he is as far beyond my reach as if he were out of
exiftence.

Good heaven ! you mean Dr. ******, exclaimed
the daughter. I have heard you often fpeak of
his having twice before faved your precious life,
for which I have had him in my nightly prayers
ever fince, and lhall go on blefling him to the
hour of my death. O that I were a man to fetch
him !

The father preffed her tenderly in his feeble
arms, in acknowledgement of her affeftion ; but
told her, that, from a multiplicity of other
claims, it would be as impoflible for the Doctor
to get down to Wales, as for himfelf to go out
of his fick bed to London. Do not, therefore,

let

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES, 187

let us think of it, my child, continued the father,
fincc it is only the aggravation of a vain wifh to
know that it muft end in difappointment — Jam re-
figned.

Notwithftanding this declaration, the merchant
receiving no manner of benefit from the Welch
Doctors, and being unable, indeed, to pay for
their continued attendance, without an injury to
that fcanty fund, out of which he had to draw
all the neceffaries of life, he often fighed out in
a voice of pining, as it were, involuntarily, the
name of ******. The found of that voice, lan-
guifhing for that which might pofiibly change its
tone to gladnefs, penetrated the foul of his
daughter, who needed not fo pathetick a memento
of her father's wifhes to make her bitterly regret
her inability to gratify them. The poor gentle-
jnan grew worfe, and expreffing a deiire for
fomething which he imagined might afford a
momentary relief, his Amelia, fo was the young
lady named, took the firft opportunity of his
being competed, to go into the neighbourhood,
in fearch of a perfon to fetch it from Montgo-
mery. A little road-fide publick-houfe, about a
mile from her father's cottage, appeared the mod
likely place to find a mefTenger. Thither me
repaired, and arrived juft in time to take fhelter
from a fudden dorm that fell with great violence.
' 2 At

1&8 GLEANINGS THROUGH WAL£S,

At the moment of her entrance, there were none
but the old hoft and hoftefs in the alehoufe, but
in a very few minutes after, it filled with labourers
and pafTengers, who, like herfelf, fought protec-
tion from the hurricane : during the fury of which,
however, fhe had too much companion to men-
tion her wifhes, for fhe was amongft thofe whofe
nature would not fuffer her to " turn an enemy's
cc dog out of door at fuch a feafon," This necef-
fary delay, neverthelefs, greatly encreafed her un-
eafinefs, and fhe kept watching the rain, and the
hoped return o-f fine weather, at the window.
Seeing no profpect of its clearing, fhe determined
to do that herfelf, at all hazards, which fhe could
not afk another to perform, and to be herfelf
the mefienger $ to which end me defired to know,
whether the road fhe faw from the window wa.s
the neareft and mofl direct to Montgomery,
or to any other town, where there was an apothe-
cary's fhop, and what might be the diftance to any
fuch place ?

The affecting voice in which thefe quefliotis
were demanded, and the prevailing appearance
of the fpeaker, gained her an interefl in every
hearer and beholder, feveral of whom knew and
acknowledged her for a neighbour •, mingling
their expreffions of good-will, with numberlefs
Hind enquiries after her iick father, for whqfe
f languifh-

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. igg

languiming fituation, they unanimoufly declared
their pity and regard, and whole death, if it
fhould pleafe God to (hatch him away, they fhould
long lament.

This laft obfervation bringing to mind the
image of her father's danger more clofely, the
trembling Amelia loft all thought of herfelf, or
of the weather, and thanking every body around
her for their civility, while her lovely face was
covered with her tears, fhe had got the latch of
the door in her hand, and was preparing to
hurry out on her commiffion, according to the
inftru&ions me had received, when a traveller
who had not opened his lips during the conver-
fation 'of the peafants, but fat drying, himfelf at
the fire, rofe; up fuddenly and begged permif-
fion to fpeak to her. She went with furprize
and tottering fteps into an adjoining room where
he ufed to her thefe very words :

" One of your neighbours, young lady, has
told me you have been for many years the bed
daughter in the world, to the bed father, who
has been once the richeft, though now .the
pooreft man in Wales, confidering you and he
are to be fupported as gentlefolks. It is plain
to fee, there is a great deal of diftrefs upon your
mind, and it is natural to guefs the caufe of it

may

190 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

.may be removed. I am not, by any means, a
wealthy man, but I have had my.fliiire of evils
diffidently to make me feel for the unfortunate,
and I have always, thank God, a fqme thing to
fpare for the mitigation of honeft diftrefs, in
whatever country it is prefented to my view. I
beg you will preient this trifle, (giving her a
bank bill) witk compliments, begging the fa-
vour of his making ufe of it, till it may fuit his
circumftances to return it. — I have no manner
of occafion for it till about this time next year,
when 1 will call to afk after his health, which,
I hope, will long ere that be re-eltabliihed ; and
if it mould not at that time be convenient to
make reftitution of the loan, we will put it off
till the year after, when I will pay a fecond
vifit to you •, as I purpofe paffing through this
country into Ireland, where I have concerns
annually. I am now going to London/*

The laft fentence feemed to annihilate the
reft. The very name of London had, at that
inflant, more charms for Amelia than it could
ever boaft of creating in the head of any Mifs
in her teens, who had her mamma's promife to
pafs a winter among the fine folks, and fine
fights, with which it abounds. But it drew the
attention of Amelia, from fuperior motives. It
was the refidence of her poor father's phyfician,

on

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 191

on whofe heart fhe now reiblved to make an
attempt, by the medium of the generous flranger,
who fhe rightly judged would fufFer his bounty
to take any direction fhe might wifli, and to
whom me dated the merchant's anxious, but
hopelefs de fires,

You have juft the foul, my dear friend, to-
fuggeft the ecflafy of Amelia's, on hearing that*
this much- wifhed- for phyfician, was an intimate
acquaintance of the traveller ; and all the inte-
refts of an old affection fhall be tried with the
doctor, exclaimed the flranger, as foon as I get
Co town, on condition that you will now go
home to your father with this purfe; and as an
afTurance, that although I am an ufurer, I will
receive neither principal, nor intereft, till he is
very able to pay both.

He did not give the aftonimed Amelia rime
to refufe, but feeing the weather inclined to
remit its rigours, he put half-a-crown into the
hands of the peasants to drink the young lady,
and her fick father's health j and ordering hi*
horfe to the door — mounted and proceeded on
his journey.

Does not your bounding- heart afTure you his
feelings would have defended him from beflow-

192 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

ing a thought on the " peltings of the pitileft
ilorm," had they continued to rage ? And does
it not alfo inform you, that this fair pattern of
filial piety was proof againft the war of ele-
ments ? the funlhine of benevolence, had, in-
deed, fo animated her, that its fudden and
intenfe rays, might have been too ftrong for her
tender frame, had they not been moderated by
a mower of tears. She had fcarcely regained
her cottage, indeed, when, overcome by her
{enfations, flie fainted in the arms of her aged
nurfe, who had been mourning her delay.

~

Alas, my -friend, what fragile creatures we
are ! How much at the difpofal of contrary
events ! How totally the vafTals of forrow, and
of joy ! How little able to encounter the ; ex-
tremes of either ! But you will not eafily forgive
exclamations that detain you from poor Amelia,
whom I left in diftrefs, to indulge them. My
heart is but too often the mafter of my pen, and
guides it as it lifleth. Let me haften to make
atonement, by informing you, that our lovely
fufferer on her recovery, had the pleafure to
find her father had dozed beft part of the morn-
ing, and though he miffed her from his apart-
ment, when he awoke, he told the nurfe, that
he hoped fhe was taking a little neceiTary reft

in

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 193

in her own room, where he defired fhe might
remain undifturbed.

This gave her opportunity to manage her
good fortune, of which fhe rcfolved to be fo
excellent an economift, that the fupply me had
received mould anfwer the wifeft and happieft
purpofes : fhe recollected that the day before
fhe met the benevolent ftranger, her father had
received by the poft a bank-bill to the amount
of the quarterly divifion pf his annuity; of
courfe a farther reinforcement was not imme-
diately neceflary ; on which account fhe had to
regret, that the flurry into which her fpirits were
thrown, had hindered her from perfifting in her
refufal of the loan, to the acceptance of which,
however, fhe was fomewhat reconciled^ when
fhe reflected on the condition annexed to her
borrowing it; anc^ an idea, which juft then
ftarted to her imagination, of the manner in
which it might be appropriated, completely
fatisfied her feelings on the occafion. She con-
fidercd the gentleman's bank-bill as the luckieft
fund in the world to ferve as the phyfician's fee,
in cafe the generous flranger mould prevail on
him to come, and to that facred ufe her heart
devoted it. The fum was fifty pounds. A re-
compence which her ignorance in the price of
medical advice in the golden climes of England
. i, O led

1^4 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

. led her to fuppofe would be all-fufficient for a
journey down to Wales. Alas ! were a regular
charge to be made out by Doftors W, R, G, F,
L, or any other of the popular fons of Efcula-
pius, in London, for fuch a tour from the grand
mart of cuftom, the 50!. would fcarcely be
thought by thofe meflieurs a more than fufficient
fum to pay travelling expences. In many parts
of the continent, indeed, where a fhilling value
in coin that has lefs of filver in its compofition
than would be found in the analyfis of a filver
penny, is received as a fettled gratuity for run-
ning a German mile, 50!. would cut a handfome
figure in phyfick, and go very far towardfc curing
a whole city of an epidemy fo far as prefcriptions
could aflift in its recovery.

As, however, the vifit of Dr. ****** was a
point more " devoutly to fye wifhed" than ex-
pected, it being the middle of a very hard winter,
Amelia thought it prudent to conceal the little
adventure at the publick houfe from her father,
whofe malady, neverthelefs, rather increafed than
abated ; and his love of life being in effect his
love for his daughter, he could not help occa-
fionally regretting his impaflable diftance from
the only man by whofe aid there might be a
chance of refilling his difeafe. There is, you
know, . a fort of fuperflition which often runs

through

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 195

through a family in favour of its family phyfician.
Nor is it altogether without fupport from rea-
forij fmce the perfon who has long been in the
fecrets of our conftitution, and familiar with our
habits of living, muft, in all general cafes, be
better able to apply the proper remedies than he
who is called into our bedchambers, when there
is a difeafe in it, and when he fees us for the firft
time under its influence : befides which an old
phyfician is commonly an old friend, and unites
the lenitives of affection to the catharticks of fci-
ence ; no wonder, then, that we have faith in
him ; and faith, you know, is a great doctor in
itfelf, performing a thoufand cures, which the
highefl profeflional (kill has not been able to ac-
complifh without it.

You will readily believe, that the bountiful
flranger did not break his promife to Amelia,
He kept it indeed fo religioufly holy, that in lefs
than ten days from the date of his departure,
our pious daughter received a meffage, purport-
ing that a perfon at the publick houfe begged to
fpeak with her. You, my friend, whofe fancy
is ever warmed by your affectionate heart, will
immediately conclude what was concluded by
Amelia, that it could be only the much-defired
Doctor, who had thus delicately, to prevent the
ill effect of furpri?e on the fick merchant, an-

o 2 nounced

ig6 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

riounccd his arrival. If fo, you are in the right*
However inconfiftent with the Ipirit of bufinefs
fuch a long journey might be, it was perfectly
in unifon with the fpirit of benevolence by which
Dr. ****** was moved, to determine upon it the
inftant the cafe was ftated to him, and execute
what he had fo determined with all the difpatch
necefTary to an affair of life and death, and the
life and death, moreover, of an old and unfortu-
nate friend. My good little girl, faid he, on
the entrance of Amelia, — who gliding from her
father's bedfide with Sylphid fteps, ran with du-
teous hafte to the village inn- — My good little
girl, I am come from . Heaven ! inter-
rupted Amelia, falling on her knees, you are
come from heaven to make my father well.— -
Under the aufpices of that heaven, I truft I am,
refumed the Doctor. Let us fly this inftant,
exclaimed Amelia, in the animated accents of
nature. — Let us do all things in order, replied
the Doctor, in the language of friendly difcre-
tion, otherwife we mall do more harm than
good. I prefume I am not expe&ed ? Amelia
bowed a negative. Then my fudden appearance
would make thy father worfe, child, continued
the Doctor. No ; go back to him, and tell him
an old friend of his from London, and who has
particular bufinefs in this part of Wales, means
to pay him a vifit on the fcoreof ancient amity,

and

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 197

and will take cottage fare from him in his cham-
ber. The name of this old London friend will
then be a matter of amnfing conjecture, in the
midft of which thou, child, may'ft fuggeft that
thou fhouldft not wonder if it were me, telling
him as much of the adventure that I find hap-
pened at this inn, between thee and the gentle-
man who brought me thy menage, and with it
the flory of thy virtues and misfortunes, to fup-
port and to relieve which would have brought
me ten times as far: but we have no time for
profefiion; I am come here to praclifej fo fare
thee well, my good little maid. — All that I have
premifed will be the work only of an hour, at
the end of which I will be with thee.

She kitted his hand fervently, and without
fpeaking a fingle word, fprung up, and might
rather be faid to fly than run to the cottage,
though the paths thereto were loft in fnow. Her
father was fitting up in his bed, fupported by
pillows, which the aged adherent had made fhift
to place in the abfence of his filial nurfe, who
gently chid the old woman for taking her proper
bufinefs out of her hands -, but that, if her father
had found a moment's cafe by this usurpation
of her natural rights, me would forgive the
ufurper. — She then entered on her errand, which
me managed fo well as to make the old friend's
' o 3 name,

198 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

name, after much pleafant conje&ure on both
fides, the fubject of a wager ; the father ob-
ferving, that if it fhould prove to belong to the
Doftor, Providence had fent him to reward the
virtue of his daughter, who, on her part, main-
tained that it would be chiefly owing to the value
which heaven itfelf would fet on her parent's
life. This amicable ftrife had put the invalid
into unwonted fpirits, and thereby, perhaps, not
only prepared the way for the cure of a fever on
the nerves, but laid the beft foundation of it.
The poor gentleman did not dare to lay any ftrefs
on the poflibility of a vifit from the phyfician,
and yet a faint blufh of hope denoted that he
fhould think himfelf molt happy to lofe his
wager.

. At this aufpicious crifis it was, that our Doctor
made his entre, faying, as he advanced to the bed-
fide, ". My efteemed friend, I am come to return
my perfonal thanks to thee, for having me in thy
thoughts when thou wert too fick to remember any
but thofe who are dear to thee, and of whom thou<
haft a good opinion. Give me thy hand, and,
without entering into long hiftories, let us fee if
in return for thy kindnefs I can make thee well
again. Yes, this pulfe I forefee, before I have done
with it,

Shall

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

Shall temperately keep time, and beat
More healthful mufick.

'99

Thofe eyes have I fee ftill the fpirit of life in them,
and this heart fhall yet bound with renovated en-
joyments."

The emotions of Amelia during thefe favour-
able prognostications, no words can tell you.
The merchant was flrongly affected. The doctor
perceived that his patient was recoverable both
in the maladies of body and mind ; and as he
was no lefs a philofopher and philanthropift than
a phyfician, he could with equal fkill prefcribe
for each. He was one of the people called
Quakers ; and to a perfect knowledge of the
world, of his profeffion, and of the human heart,
united all the honeft plainnefs of the character.
The merchant's diforder was, as I have faid, a
fever on his fpirits, of which the fymptoms
were, as ufual, want of appetite, latitude, watch-
fulnefs, and dejection of mind : a pulfe flow and
creeping, difficulty of refpiration, and a dread, yet
hope of death.

I need not tell you that in this difeafe the
catharticks of the mind, fuch as exhilarate, en-
liven, and amufe the patient, are the moft ef-
fectual remedies, and fuch as were adminiftered

o 4 with

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

with uncommon fuccefs on the prefent occafion.
In lefs than a fortnight, the Tick man not only
was in a condition to leave his bed, but his
chamber, and play his part in the cottage par-
lour, in a thoufand little frolicks that Amelia and
the doctor devifed to entertain him. In the courfe
of the third week he refumed his accuftomed
exercifes j and under the cordial fupports of his
friend and child, he could afcend the moun-
tains that environed his habitation. In the
middle of the fourth week, his fpirits and
ftrength were fo well reflored, that in returning
home to dinner, after a walk of fome miles, he
jocularly propofed to run againft the doctor and
Amelia for a wager ; which being agreed upon
by the other parties, he fet off and outran them
both. It was in the afternoon of this victorious
day, that the good doctor intimated the neceffity
of his return to town; good-humouredly ob-
ferving, that, although by a lucky arrangement,
he had left his fick and wounded in very good
hands with a brother phyfician in London, he
could not trefpafs any longer without fear of
being fet down by the college as a deferter, and
he muft therefore repair to head-quarters in the
morning.

The reafonablenefs of this was admitted : yet
the merchant fighed, and Amelia wept. The

doctor

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. POl

doftor knew it muft be done, and he faw that
his prophecy, as to his friend's recovery, was
fulfilled to his heart's content; but there is a
fympathy in generous regret, and his eyes were
not more dry than Amelia's. In defpite of ex-
ertions the evening pad heavily away ; the morn-
ing did not rife without cafting clouds on every
countenance. The hour, the almoft inftant, thaf
was to fcparate the cottagers from their prefervep
approached.

Friend, faid the doctor to his patient, as ho
heard the wheels of his carriage advancing,
fince I faw thee laft in the great city, I have
profpered exceedingly. All thofe families to
whom thou tookeft me by the hand, were more
for thy fake than mine on my lift. Some meritj
however, or infinite good fortune, I muft needs
have had, fince, from a yearly gain of one
hundred, I have increafed my income to feveral
thoufands per annum ; and yet I do not take fee$
for one in forty of my prescriptions. — My houfe
h too large for my family. — Wilt thou come
once agatn, into the bufy world with this moun-
tain bloflbm, and occupy fbrne of my apartT
ments? — This as thou wilt — At prefent I muft
give thee a few words of parting advice, and
muft rely on this damfel to fee that it is adopted,
fhou art fo much thy former felf, friend, that I

fear

202 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

fear not a relapfe -, but to fortify and ftrengthen
thee in my ab fence, I have written and made up
a prefcription which I am convinced hits thy
cafe exaftly. Hearing fomething of thy maladies
from the friend who conveyed to me thy Ame-
lia's mefiage, and forming a judgment foberly
thereupon, I brought with me fuch drugs as I
thought could not be readily procured in thy
neighbourhood. They lie, however, in a fmall
compafs, even in this little box, yet being com-
pounds of peculiar ilrength, they will laft thee,
J judge, for at leaft a year to come, probably
more — if they mould not, thou knoweft where
to addrefs the prefcriber for a frefh fupply.
There, friend, take it, but do not open it till
thou fhalt feem to wifh for fomething of a cordial
nature. It will then, I have no doubt, do thec
good,

He received their tearful embraces, and de-
parted. You are impatient to lift up the lid of
the box. When it was opened by the merchant
and his daughter, they difcovered two feparate
pieces of paper ; the one a prefent from a phy-
fician in London, the other from the ftranger
who had given him an account of this little
family.

I muft not deny you the gratification of know-
ing

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES, 203

ing that the father recovered, and the child add-
ed to his blefiings and her own many years ; in the
fmiling courfe of which, the young lady's virtues
attracted the affections of a very wealthy and worthy
gentleman, whofe power and inclinations not only
enabled the merchant to make reflitution of the
generofity received from the phyfician j but to
niake alfo the refidue of that man's life, from whom
he derived the belt and lovelieft of wives, as happy
in profperity as it had been reipectable in misfor-
tune.

There is an air of romance about this little
hiftory, better fuited to the fpirit of the days of
chivalry (when to fally forth in queft of the un-
happy and of the oppreffed, and to relieve them,
was a vital part of the education — nay, and even
of .the religion, of a gentleman) than to the
prefent times, which, though perhaps not lefs
diftinguifhed for liberal actions than any age
whatfover, lefs encourages that Quixotifm in
benevolence, which marked the character of
former aeras. On your Jieart I need not prefs my
repeated aflurances of the fimple truth of the
above tranfactions. You will eafily credit words
and deeds, of which you are yourfelf fo capable :
indeed, to your feelings there will be nothing
furprifing in all this; for you will follow the
good old rule of judging others by yourfelf.

Indeed,

1O4 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

Indeed, I am perfuaded, that the wonder will
ceafe and die away in every heart you think fit to
snake partaker of thefe faffs, when given to un-
derftand, that they proceeded from a phyfician
who was the means of converting an highway-
man, who had violated the publick faith, into a
man who was afterwards chofen to guard the
publick faith, by holding a place of the higheft
frqft in one of the publick treafuries of his coun-
try > and that the doctor's colleague in the
bounty, fhewn to our merchant and his Amelia,
was no lefs a benefactor to human kind than the
late Mr. Haw A REV, who happened, on the day
that he was driven for fhelter into the village inn,
which was then graced with the prefence of
Amelia, to be returning to England from one of
his ufual tours ef benevolence to the different pri-
frns of Ireland and Wales. My friend, farewell.

LETTER XIV.

TO THE SAME*

Sf
INGULAR, indeed! that you mould be

peruMng the account of the death of the philan-
thropift mentioned in my laft, at the moment
that you received my letter, and that on the
morning of the fame day you mould have fallen

in

CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES,

in company with Dr. ******, Of whofe tour of
loving kindnefs I had prepared for you ib ample a
detail.

Things of this fort are occafionally fo well*
timed that there feems more in them than our
philofophy can find out- It is impofllble to hear
that the King of Terrors has taken out of the
world one of the befl men that ever entered it,
for fuch Mr. John Howard unqueftionably was,
without quitting one's fubject, whatfoever it
might be at the time of receiving fuch intelli-
gence, and fattening upon that which adds a frefli
proof to the certainty of that hour which is ap-
pointed for our own difiblution. The lofs of the
dearefl objects, one by one, as they drop from
us, makes, perhaps, the approaches of that hour
lefs formidable, inafmuch as we thereby feel our
ties to life diminifhed. The friendly intercourfe
that fubfifted betwixt me and the good Howard,
is amongft thofe pleafures of reflection which,
though at the prefent moment dafhed by painful
regrets, will be cheriflied for ever. I picked up
many things refpecting him well worthy of m^
gleaning-hand in the courfe of our converfations :
fome of which I fhould fend you, were I not
certain that there will be more than a plenty of
biographers follow faft upon his funeral ; ^and
more lives, like more laft dying- fpecches, is «ari

evil

fo6 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

evil that is levied on every great man's afties. A few
only of his particular habits, as they occur at the
moment, mail wait upon you.

Howard had many fingularities, but very few
affectations. It was fmgular for a mere mortal
man to go £bout doing good for the fake of
doing it; to devote. hi? fortune and his life to
explore the moft neglected and the moft forlorn
of the wretched, and to relieve them " accord-
cc ing to their feveral neceffities" — to begin the
work of benevolence where other people's bounty
commonly ends it — in a prifon. All this, I fay,
was very fingular, but wholly void of affecta-
tion. Further, it was fingular, deferving that
word, indeed, inafmuch as in human hiftory
it is without a parallel — to put himfelf to the
greateft perfonal inconveniencies, and to en-
counter the greateft dangers, often of life, itfelf,
to accomplifh the propofed ends of his philan-
thropy, lince ip is notorious that he traverfed
the earth without any confideration of political
diftindions, or the nature of climate, in fearch
of his objects \ by which perieverance and intre-
pidity of refolution, he overcame all impedi-
ments that would have deterred many excellent
perfons from attempting the like enterprizes;
and have made even thofe faint by the way
who, with like good hearts, but with lefs firm

minds,

CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 207

minds, would have found themfelves unequal to
like undertakings. Yet in Howard this was
altogether unaffc6ted. And before any man
fets down any part of it to a love of being par-
ticular, or to a love of fame arifing therefrom,
let him well and truly examine his own heart,
his own difpofition, and fee that he is not hunt-
ing about for an excufe to his own want of
benevolence, or to his own vanities, in being
bountiful, by lowering the principle of benevo-
lence in another. Let it not be imputed to
John Howard, as a dilhonour, that he had ene-
mies, who while they could not but applaud the
blefTed effects of his virtue, laboured to depre-
ciate the caufe : the Saviour of the whole ivorld,
whom, perhaps, of human creatures he moft
correctly imitated, had the fame ; and to refem-
ble his divine example, even in the wrongs that
were heaped upon his facred head, is rather glory
than (hame.

He was fingular in many of the common ha-
bits of life: he preferred damp fheets, linen,
and cloaths, to dry ones 5 and both rifmg and
going to bed, fwathed himfelf with coarfe towels,
dipped in the coldeft water he could get;
in that flate he remained half an hour, and then
threw them off, frefhened and invigorated, as
he laid, beyond meafure. He never put on a

great

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

great coat in the coldeft countries; nor had
been a minute under or over the time of an
appointment, fo far as it depended on himfelf,
for fix-and-twenty years. He never continued
at a place, or with a perfon, a fingle day beyond
the period prefixed for going, in his whole life ;
and he had not, for the laft fixteen years of his
exiitence, ate any fim, flefh, or fowls nor fat
down to his fimple fare of tea, milk, and rufks,
all that time. His journies were continued
from prifon to prifon, from one group of wretched
beings to another, night and day ; and where he
could not go with a carriage he would ride, and
where that was hazardous he would walk. Such
a thing as an obftruction was out of the quef-
tion.

There are thofe who, confcious of wanting in
themfeives what they envy in others, brand this
victorious determination of fuffering no .let, or
hindrance, to flop him from keeping on in the
right way, as .madnefs. Ah, my friend, how
much better v/ould it be for their neighbours,
and for fociety, were they half as mad ! Dif-
tradtions they doubtlefs have, but it is to be
feared, not half fo friendly to the interefts of
human kind. Indeed, all enthufiafm of virtue
is deemed romantick eccentricity, by the cold-
hearted.

3 With

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 20$

With refpect to Mr. Howard's perfonal fingu-
krities above defcribed, though they were
certainly hazardous experiments in the firft in-
ftance, it was not ufelefs for a man, who had pre-
refolved to fet his face againft wind and weather,
and after paffing all forts of unhealthy climes,
to defcend into the realms of difeafe and death
to make them.

Some days after his firft return from an at-
tempt to mitigate the fury of the plague in
Conftantinople, he favoured me with a morning
vifit in London : the weather was fb very terri-
ble, that I had forgot his inveterate exaftnefs,
and bad yielded up even the hope, for his own
fake, of expecting him. Twelve at noon was
the hour, and exactly as the clock, in my room,
ftruck it, he entered; the wet, for it rained tor-
rents, dripping from every part of his drefs, like
water from a fheep jirft landed from its wafhing.
He would not even have attended to his fitu-
ation, having^ fat himfelf down with the utmofl:
compoftire, and begun converfation, had I not made
an-oierof dry eloaths, &c.

c« Yes," faid he, fmiling, " I had my fears,
cc as I knocked at your door, that we fhould go
cc over the old bufinefs of apprehenfions about a
cc little rain water, which though i^ does not run

VOL. r. P •

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES*

cc off my back, as it does from that of a dack,
<c goofe, or any other aquatick bird, does me as
cc little injury 5 and after a long drought is
fc fcarcely lefs refrefhing. The coat I have now
" on has been as often wetted through as any
cc duck's in the world, and, indeed, gets no other
*f fort of cleaning. I do allure you, a good
*c foaking fhower is the beft brufh for broad
" cloth in the univerfe. You, like the reft of
"my friends, throw away your pity upon my
" fuppofed hardships with juft as much reafon
Cf as you commiferate the common beggars,
ct who, being familiar with ftorms and hurri-
cc canes, neceffity and nakednefs are a thoufand
cc times, fo forcible is habit, lefs to be compaf-
" fionated than the fons and daughters of Eafc
" and Luxury, who, accuftomed to all the en-
ec feebling refinements of feathers by night, and
" fires b y day, are taught to feel like the puny
<c creature ftigmatifed by Pope, who Ihivered at
cc a breeze. All this is the work of art, my
** good friend; nature is more independent of
<c external circumftances. Nature is intrepid,
" hardy, and adventurous; but it is a practice
" to fpoil her with indulgences, from the mo-
" ment we come into the world — A foft drefs,
" and foft cradle, begin our education in luxu-
" ries, and we do not grow more manly the
**jnore we are gratified: on the contrary, cur
7 •" feet

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

*< feet muft be wrapt in wool or filk, we muft
cc tread upon carpets, breathe, as it were, in fire $
"avoid a tempeft, which fweetens the air, as
<c we would a blaft that putrifies it, and guard-
<c ing every crevice from an unwholefome
<c breeze, when it is the moft elaftick and bracing,
<c lie down upon a bed of feathers, that relax the
<c fyftem more than a night's lodging upon flint
*<• ftones.

" You fmile," added Mr. Howard, after a
paufe, c< but I am a living inftance of the truths
cc I infift on. A more c puny whipfter* than
*' myfel£ in the days of my youth, was never
<c feen. I could not walk out of an evening
tc without wrapping up : if I got wet in the feet
cc a cold fucceeded ; I could not put on my fhirt
tc without its being aired -, I was, politely, en-
ec feebled enough to have delicate nerves, and
<e was occafionally troubled with a very genteel
Cf hectick. To be ferious, I am convinced that
<cwhat emafculates the body debilitates the
cc mind, and renders both unfit for thofe exer-
cc tions, which are of fuch ufe to us as focial
€C beings. I, therefore, entered upon a reform
cf of my conftitution, and have fucceeded in
ic fuch a degree, that I have neither had a cough,
cc cold, the vapors, nor any more alarming dif-
" order, fince I furmounted the feafoning. Prior

P 2 t9

WALES,

•cc to this I ufed to be a mifer-able dependent oft
<f wind and weather; a little too much of either
" would poftpone, and frequently prevent — not
ef only rny amufe meats, but rny duties; and
f< every one knows that a pkafure, or a duty,
" deferred, is often deftroyed. Procra&ination.,
" YOUN-G very juilly called the Thief of Time.
cc And if prefied by my affc6Uons, or by the
€f neceflity of affairs, I did venture forth in de-
" fpite of the elements, the confequences were
f< equally abfurd, and incommodious, not fel-
" dorn gjfHictive. I muffled up even to my
cc noftrils ; a crack in the glafs of my chaife was
*f fufficient to diftrefs ms ^ a fudden flopc of the
cc. wheels to, the right or left, fet me a, trembling ,.
fc a jolt fe-emed like a diflqcation > and the fight
<c of a ban^ qf.grecipice, near which my hprife
*c QJ; carriage was tq pafs, would diforde^ n^e: ft>.
" much that I would order the df^ver to ftop,
" that I svght get out and walk .Ixy the difficult
cc- places. Mulled wines, fpirituous cordials,
cc, and great fires, were to comfort m^ and keep,
" out ti^e. 90^ a^ iff Is called, ^ every ftage ;
Jf and if ^ fejlt t^e; ^eaft c^app, in my feet, or
,<c othejj par4(S;9£ I^JT body, dry ftockings, h'nen,
<c &c. wejre tjp l?e inftantly put ou; the pe^ijsv
" of the day were to be baffled by fomething
" taken ho4; gqiag. to bed, and before J purfued
?$ my journey the next morning, a dram was to

" be

CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

*< be fwallowed down to fortify the ftomach. In
" a word, I lived, moved, and had my being, fo
*< much by rule, that the flighteil deviation was a
** difeafe.

<c

<c

•"
<f
<c
«c
<c
<c
<c

<c

f<

<cc

Cf

c Every man," continiied Mr, Howard, <* muft
in thefe cafes be his own phyfician. He
muft prefcribe for, and pradife on, himfelf.
I did this by a very fimple, but as you wiH
think, very fevere regimen; namely, by de-
nying myfelf almost every thing in which I
had long indulged. But as it is always much
harder to get rid of a bad habit than to edn-
tracl itj I entered on my rfefbrrft gradually;
that is to fay, began to cHminifli hly ufu£ in-
dulgences by degrees. I found that a he^iv^
meal, or a hearty one, as it is termed, and a
chearfud glafs, that ii to faj-^ one ihor£ than
does you good, made me incapable, or at bed,
difmclined jto any tifeful .ek6ftioft for fome
hours after dinrfcer,j and if the diluting poWeri
of tea aflafted the work of a difturbed digeftion,
fo far as to reftore my faculoies^ a luxurious
fupper comes f6' tlofe updti it that J was fit for
nothing but diffipation, till I went iti a luxtiri-
ous bed, where I ^nlfhed the enervating prac-
tices? by flfceping eight, t£n, ind fomctirti^s a
dozen hours on the ftretch. — You W-iH hot
wonder, that I rofe the next morning with the
pj w folids,

314 GLEAN1NCS THROUGH WALES.

cc foiids relaxed, the nerves unitrung, the juices
<c thickened, and the conflitution weakened. —
« To remedy all this, I ate a little lefs at every
(C meal, and reduced my drink in proportion. It
<c is really wonderful to confider how impercept-
gf ibly a fingle morfel of animal food, and a tea-
cc fpoonful of liquor deducted from the ufual
" quantity daily, will reftore the mental func-
" tions without any injury to the corporeal : nay,
*c with increafe of vigour to both. I brought
€f myfelf, in the firft inftance, from dining upon
€C many dimes to dining on a few, and then to
cc being fatisfied with one -y in like manner, in-
<c ftead of drinking a variety of wines, I made
<c my election of a fingle fort and adhered to it
** alone.

" In the next placed—but I fhall tire you.J>

I intreated him to go on till I either fhewed by
word or action that I was weary.

He proceeded thus :— cc My next bufinefs was
<c to eat and drink fparingly of that adopted dim.
<c and bottle. My eafe, vivacity, and fpirits
cc augmented. My cloathing, &c. underwent a
<c fimilar reform j the effect of all which is, and
cc has been for many years, that I am neither
f< affected by feeing my carriage dragged up a

" mouh-

cc

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 215

€c mountain, or driven down a valley. If an
" accident happen, I am prepared for it, I mean
" fo far as refpects unneceflary terrors; and I
rc am proof againft all changes in the atmof-
rc phere, wet clothes, wet feet, night air, damp
beds, damp houfes, tranfitions from heat to
" cold, and the long train of hypochondriack
cc affections.

cc Believe me, we are too apt to invert the rc-
cc medics which we ought to prefcribe to our-
" felves — thus, we are for ever giving hot things
" when we fhould adminifter cold. On my go-
cc ing down to my houfe laft week in Bedford-
cc Ihire, the overfeer of my grounds met me
" with a pail full of comfortable things, as he
<c called them, which he was carrying to one of
f c my cows, jthat was afflicted forely with, as he
<c called it/a racketty complaint in her bowels.
•" I ordered him to throw away his pail full of
cc comforts, and take to the poor beaft a pail of
" cold water. — Cold water, your honour, ex-
" claimed the man, with every mark of confter-
cc nation -, would you kill the poor dumb crea-
<c ture? Why, fhe is in fuch defperatious pain,
" that I don't think a bucket of iheer brandy
cc would have any more effect upon her than if I
<c were to pour it againft a dead wall. — No mat-
cc ter for that, faid I, take her a pail of water !

p 4 Suppofc

2l6 GLtANIKGS THROUGH WALES.

<e Suppofe, honeft friend, flie had all her life run
<c wild in a foreft, and fell into the ficknefs un-
cc der which fhe now labours, doft thou think
" that nature would ever carry her the hot com-
<c forts you have got in that pail ? — Nature, your
" honour!— but with fubmiflion, nature muft,
(€ when either man or beaft is fick, be clapped
<c on the back a little : if not, nature will let
" them die. — Not fhe, truly $ if they are recover-
<c able, fhe will, on the contrary, make them
«c well. Depend upon it, fhe is the beft phyfi-
cc cian in the world, though fhe has not taken her
" degrees in the college; and fo make hafte
w to throw away what is now in your pail and
<f fill it as I directed $ for whether my cow die
<f or live, fhe fhall have nothing but grafs and
" cold water. Though the poor fellow dared not
" any longer refift, I could fee plainly that he
" put me down as having loft not only my fenfes
" but my humanity. However, the cow did
" very well -y and I am fatisfied that if we were
cc to truft more to nature, and fufFer her to apply
<c her own remedies to cure her own difeafes, the
cc formidable catalogue of human maladies woulcj
" be reduced to a third of their prefent number.
" Dr. Sydenham, I think, reckons fixty differ-
<c ent kinds of fevers, for example $ of thefe I
cannot fuppofe lefs than fifty are either brought
about, or rendered worfe by mifapplication of

" improper

cc

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

ft improper remedies, or by our own violation of
«c the laws of nature. And the fame I take it may
<c be faid of other diforders,"

He now pulled out his watch, telling me he
had an engagement at half pad one, that he had
about three quarters of a mile to walk to it, that
as he could do this in twenty minutes, and afc if
then wanted feven minutes and aim oft an half of
one, he had exactly time enough, ftill to fpare to
ftate the object of his vjfit to me—" Which is to
fc thank you very fincerely," faid he, taking my
hand, " for the honour you have done me in
<c your verfes : I read them merely as a compo-
'* fition in which the poetical licence had been
" ufed to the utmoft: Poets, you know, my
<c dear Sir, always fucceed beft in fiction,"

You will fee by this converfation, that it was
about the time when the Englifh nation had
been emulous of commemorating their refpect
for this great and good man, by erecting £
flatue, towards which I had contributed my
mite, by devoting to the fund the profits of my
}htle Poem, called " The Triumph of Benevo-
fc lence;" and while I am touched very fenfibly
with even the recollection of the publick favour
which crowned this little work, I very fincerely
attribute a great deal of its fuccefs to the popu-
4 larity

2.1 8 G LE-AN I NTGS THROUGH WALES.

larky of a.fubjecl in which every lover of humanity'
took fuch an intereft.

In reply to Mr. Howard, I afiured him that
he ought to be, and doubtlefs was, confcious, the
liberty allowed a poet was never more unnecef-
fary or lei's made ufe of than on the occafion
alluded to ; and that if an agreeable fiction was
any teft of the poetical art, I could pretend to
none from having very clofely, as his heart
could not but at that moment tell him, adhered
to truth ; and that I afTured myfelf he would
admit that truth is the fame, whether exprefled
in profe or verfe. I added, that it was my
earneft hope there was no ground for an idea
which had gone forth of his refufing the offering
of gratitude, which his country was preparing for
him.

'

j cc Indeed but there is," anfwered he, with the
moil lively earneilnefs j cc I was never more
cc ferious than in my refufal of any and every
€C fuch. offering, and for the fimpleft rcafon in
"the world; namely, my having no manner of
" claim to it. What I do, have done, or may
<c hereafter do, is, has been, and will always be'
v matter of inclination, the gratifying which
** always pays itfelf ; and I have no more merit'
C5 in employing my time and money in the 'way<

" I am

cc

GLEANINGS -THROUGH WALES.

I am known to do, than another man in other
occupations. Inftead of taking pleafure in a
pack of hounds, in focial entertainments, in
a fine ftud of horfes, and in many other fimi-
lar fatisfactions, I have made iny election of
different purfuits; and being fully perfuaded1
a man's own gratifications are always more or
lefs involved in other people's, I feel no de-
fire to change with any man, and yet I can
fee no manner of pretenfion whereon to erect
a flatue. Befide all which, I have a mofl un-
conquerable averfion, and ever had, to have
publick exhibitions made of me, infomuch,
that I proteft to you, it has coft me a great
deal of trouble and fome money, to make this
infignificant form and ugly face efcape a pack
of draftfmen, painters, &c. that are lying in
wait for me."—

Unlefs you had perfonally known Mr. How-
ard, it is impofllble you mould have the fmallefl
idea of the pleafant manner with which he fpoke
on his own perfonal fubject. — Cf I have detected
c< a fellow at work upon this face of mine, ugly
ff as it is," faid he, cc even as I have been
(f walking in the ftreets of London •, and if a
t€ hackney-coach has been within call, I have
" popped into it, drawn up the blinds, and fat
" fiiug till I have got to my own door, and then

I have

GLEANINGS THFxOUGH WALES.

" I have leaped out and run into my own houfe
** as if I was apprehenfive a bailiff was at my
" heels. Nay, I have often had my door itfelf
" infefled by a lurking artift who was literally
** in wait to take me off. But one day fince my
*' return a trick I played one of thefe takers-ofF
" diverted me excefiively. You muft know I
<c am a great gaper at the novelties that are con-
ec tinually preiented at the print-mops in this
€( great city •> I was (landing at that of Carring-t
" ton Bowles, in St. Paul's Church-yard, the
cc other day, to look at fome political caricatures
" very pleafantly executed, when happening to
cc caft my eye fide-long, I difcovered a fellow
" operating on my phiz with all his might.
" Perceiving himfelf caught in the fa&, he low-
" ered his paper and pretended to be like myfelf
*c and a number of others, looking only at the
" prints. I was juft then in the humour to pay
fc off this deception by another; fo feeming,
" like him, to be wholly engrofTed by a figure,
*f calkd Scotch pconomy, well calculated to
cl provoke the rifrble mufcles, I threw mine
" into fuch contortions, and gave fuch fudden
<{ changes from one deformity to afiother, that
<c had my painter etched any one of my features
" in its then pofkion, the refemblance betwixt
*4 my adual felf, and the copy would have been
*•' juft as ftriking, as— I could defirc it to be.

^ The

THROUGH \YAU3. 22i

f< The painter, however, at length ptrgeived
<c the ftratagem, and failing, as if he gave me
f( credit for it, put his pencil into his pocke.t
<c and went away. I own 1 enjoyed the joke,
" and have fince pradifed itA nfiqre than once,
<c with no lefs fuccefs."

YQU will, doubtlefs, throw thefe fellies
his fmgula,rities, my friend j buv they are by no
means to be ftigmatized as affe Nations, From
a very intent obfervation on Mr. Howard, I am
perfeftty f^tisfied, that as there were few who
a&ul like himfclf, the proportion of thafe whp
felt in the fame way the ordinary refute of thefe
actions was not greater. That h^ was wfenfibk
to- hc^ft praife cannot be fopppfecj, without
depriving him of emotions which the n^oft in-
genuous modefly may indulge, and which are
ia4e<rd ^tpopgft t,he moft Aatqrai pleafures of the
fyuman «>ind ; but to court the refutation of t>e-
nevolence, by fufferiag the lucre of it ta mix
\tifb: an^x of his motives, or ft ill wo^rfe to make
it, as, alas, too ma^iy people cfo, a firft grea$ caufe
of being, bountiful, argues an envy or a, depra-
vity in thofe who impute to hini %h vanities.
In a word, if ^ver a humaA being CQuJd 1^ ^rul/
faid to " do good, and blufh t;q $n4 it &a^,>f it
was the Ut£ Mr,. John Hpvwd,

I pre-

£28 CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

I' prefume you have heard, that amongft his
other fingularities is to be enumerated his gene-
rous care of his fuperannuated horfes. He had
a range of paftures facred to the old age ofthofe
who had carried him pleafantly, or worked for
him honeftly and induftrioufly till they were no
longer fit for fervice. This is the moment when
horfes are, in general, either fold at an under
price to people who are conflrained to allow no
touch of pity to predominate over that charity
which begins at home ; or elfe they are deftroycd
and given to the dogs, their m afters alledging
that it is an act of humanity. Our Philanthro-
pift's humanity never leading him to kill an old
fervant, he turns his ufelefs- horfes into the afore -
faid pafttwes where they remain happy penfioners
on his bounty for the reft of their lives.

I was much delighted on walking over thofe
grounds with the generous mafter of them, to
fee twenty or thirty of thefe quadruped pen-
fioners enjoying themfelves in perfect freedom
from labour; and in full fupply of all that old
age requires. Each of the fields has a comfort-
able fhed, to which the inhabitants can refort in
the hard weather, and are fure of finding the:
rigours of the' feafon foftened by a well-furnimed
crib of the beft hay; and a manger either of bran,
or corn, ground, or fome other nourifhing food.

Chejica

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES

Chelfea hofpital is not better accommodated:
the day on which I made the circuit of the paf-
tures was one of the fined of Auguft \ fome of
the penficmers were renovating in the fun, others
repofing in the ihade ; but on the approach of
their benefactor, .all of them that could move
with eafe, actuated by a fpirit of gratitude worthy
of imitation, came towards him, invited his at-
tentions, and feemed very fenfible of their fitua-
tion. Some, whofe limbs aimed refilled their
offices, put themfelves to no finall difficulties to
limp towards him, and even thofe, who, being
confined to their hovels, might be fairly faid to
be bed-ridden, turned their /languid eyes to him,
and appeared fenfible of his pity and careffings.

" Thefe have been all very faithful creatures,
" Sir," faid he, cc and who have ftrong claims
" upon me : that poor fellow who has now fcarce
cc a leg to Hand upon, was the conftant -compa-
cc nion of my peregrinations for 'fix-ahd^ twenty
" years, and was as proud and prancing as he is
" now. humble and decrepidj and the iron-grey
" invalid which you fee yonder, dragging * his
" flow length along,' was in the days of his
" youth fuch a roving, riotous fellow, that no
" gate or hedge could keep him within bounds,
(C and (t was a day's work fometimes to catch
" him; nay, when he was caught, it required

" more

224 GLEANINGS THROUGH

" 'more addrefs and horfemanfhip than ever 1 was
<c mailer of to make him underftand that the
fc philofophy of a parfon's pad had more charms
" for me than all the Bights of Bucephalus, or
<c even of Pegafus himfelf. Look at him now.
" The morality of the contrail is obvious."

In this manner he went on, enumerating the
feveral qualities and hiilorical anecdotes of the
feveral penfioners. The one Ml defcribed, he
told me, cc was at no time a horfe for him, and
" would not probably have been amongft his
<c penfioners, but that he had been once rode by
<c a relation of his, a young, agreeable rake,
<c who valued him for the very points that made
" him ufelefs to me, his fkittiihnefs and impe-
** tuoiity; all which, he aflerted, were the fure
<c marks, both in man and beail, of a generous
<f fpirit, high heart, and noble difpofition.
" Now, as my little frolick-loving coufin was
cc precifely of this character himfelf, and after
<c a mad, but not vicious career of fifteen years,
<c confolidated into a very good man, I fuffered
<* the horfe and his mailer to reform themfelves
cc at leHure, and wiih with all my foul, that half
<c the reformed rakes about town had turned out
« fo well, after fowing their wild oats, as did
«c this young gentleman and his favourite deed,
** who, for the eight laft years of his fervitude,

" was

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 225

" was a pattern of fobriety to horfes and
riders. "

I do not recoiled any other fingularities re-
fpecting this extraordinary man: but if what I
have here fet down gives you a curio fity for
more, I have no doubt but it will be amply gra-
tified, as there needs no ghoft to foretel us, there
will be an hiftorian for almoft every anecdote arid
incident in his life ! Luckily he is one of the
fubjects which can never be exhaufted ; and as
Dr. Johnfon once faid to me of his friend Gold-
fmith, — cc he was one who cannot be too much
" praifed or lamented/' And never, perhaps,
was the famous expreflion of Hamlet more ap-
plicable, though quoted on ten thoufand occa-
(ions, than to Howard : —

" He was a man, take him for all in all,
'* We may not look upon his like again!"

LETTER XV.

TO THE SAME.

AT is a very high fatisfaclion to give
you pleafure ; it increafes my obligations to you,
for it increafes my happinefs. Your 1 aft letter,
therefore, wherein you exprefs fo vivid a fenfe
of the Howardine fcraps I fent you, could not
VOL. i. Q^ but

2,26 ! GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

but be moft welcome : neither can I refufe the
flattering compliment you pay to my mufe, in
clefiring a copy of the tributary verfes ihe paid .
to our Great Philanthropift at the time that the
Britifh empire, which he fo much adorned and
dignified, was preparing its memorial of national
exultation. You tell me that you have applied
to the bookfellers, and to the publifher of this
little poem, in vain. Had I known your wiflies,
I could have prevented your having any trouble
to gratify them on this occafion, having long
known the poem was out of print, and as long
been applied to for fending it again to the prefs,
but the fale of the former editions having
anfwered the end of fomething enlarging the
fund, which was intended to defray the expences
of the ftatue, and that defign being fulpended
by Mr. Howard's wifh, that it might not be
carried into execution, I confidered that the fub-
jecl: was too local to warrant a re-publication
when that locality was taken away : amongft a
few partial friends, therefore, I diftributed the
copies that remained of the prefent which was
made me by the committee, who publifhed the
poem, and referring only a fingle copy for my-
felf, I thought no more about it. The death,
however, of the meritorious man who was the
fubjedj the report that prevails of the com-
mittee's completing a defign which can no longer

affect

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

227

affect the delicacy of Mr. Howard ; the pleafure
I take in obeying your commands, and the de-
fire I have to preferve my tribute to this excel-
lent character in my correfpondence with you,
united with the confidence which the approba-
tion of the world on the original publifhing gives
me j are all motives fo perfuafive that to combat
with, or to refift them, might appear an affecta-
tion more unpardonable than the indulgence of
my vanity, at a moment when it is connected
with my duty to the dead, my friend (hip for the.
living, and my gratitude to the publick. Under
fuch fupports and fuffrages, my dear friend, I re-
publifh in this place, " THE TRIUMPH OF BENE-
VOLENCE :" not, however, from the referved copy
I fpoke of, but from memory, that copy being
amongft the manufcripts miffing or loft, ftolen
or ftrayed, with my trunks, which, as well as my-
felf, have been upon their travels, but by a fet
of contretemsy have not been my fellow travel-
lers. I hope, however, as amongft other mat-
ters they contain the literary labours of fome
years not yet publifhed, including the materials
for cc Society," on which the publick have a
claim, I hope, I fay, we mall meet, ere it be
long, like old friends, and part no more; — the
rather, as fome of the characters in thofe un-
finifhed performances are left in a very forlorn
fituation, out of which no hand but mine can

0^ 2 properly

228 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES*

properly extricate them. A heroine is in a deep
fwoon, and a hero at his laft gafp, in tragedy,
but can neither die nor recover without my af-
fiftance : two whole families are thrown into a
labyrinth of perplexities, and have no chance of
extrication but from the author who involved
them, but who was <f cruel only to be kind." In
fhort, all thefe good people are wandering in
their feveral diftrefTes, and look to me only for.
confolation: join with me, therefore, I beg of
you, that they may fpeedily be conduced from
the crofs roads of life — pardon the pun for the
fake of having the philofophy to fport with my
misfortune—and, by making ufe of the enclofed
clue, help me to fet them in the right way.

I am this moment interrupted in my defign of
tranfcribing the poem, which, however, fhall
wait on you fhortly. In the mean time, look
into your own generous heart for all thofe prin-
ciples of affection and fympathy you bear me,
and be afFured, while you furvey them, you are
looking at the faithful counterparts of thofe
which animate the breaft of your friend.

LETTER

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

229

LETTER XVI.

TO THE SAME. *

THE TR UMPH OF BENEVOLENCE,

I.

W HAT lofty found through echoing Albion rings !

What raptur'd notes, as if by angels giv'n ?
What thrilling airs, as from celeftial firings,
Pour> in full tides, the harmony of heav'n ?

II.

From publick gratitude the notes arife,
To honour virtuous HOWARD while on earth :

While Providence yet fpares him from the fldcs,
Th' enduring ftatue fhall record his worth.

III.

jhitjl *ii vsm i'5 .v

; | J.nV7

<{£rn Ih'.V

Lo, Albion's ardent fons the deed approve :
Wide o'er the realm to fpread the gen'rous flaii

A fpirit Jike his own begins to move,
And all the virtues kindle at his name.

• IV.
This, this the moment, Britons, ye fhould chufe, ' .'t"T -J- *\-

While the fair ad nomodeft blulh can raife;
The good man's abfehce (hall our love excufe, a*; *
' And give the god-like luxury of praifc.

V.
By heav'n commiflion'd, now our patriot flies

Where Nature fcourges with her worft difeafe ;
Where Turkey's plague-devoted victim lies,

fpotted deaths load every tainted breeze,

With

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

VI.
With love unbounded, love that knows no fear,

Wherever pain or forrow dwells he goes ;
Kindly as dew, and bounteous as the fphere,
His focial heart no poor diftin&ion knows.

VII.
Ah ! what is friend or foe to him whofe foul,

Girding creation in one warm embrace,
Extends the faviour arm from pole to pole,

And feels akin to all the human race ?

VIII.
To all the human ! all the brutal too,

Bird, beaft, and infeft blefs his gentle pow*r,
From the worn fteed repofing in his view,

To the tame redbreaft warbling in his bow'r.

0

IX.
Well may the fpirit of the iflc arife

With loud accord its beft good man to grace ;
Well may the ftatue point to yonder Ikies,

And call down cherubim to guard the place.

X.

Ye pomps of Egypt moulder faft away,
Ye Roman vanities your arches hide :

Ye Gallick pageantries, profufely gay,
Ye tombs, ye triumphs, here refign your pride.

XI.

Not — not to grandeur tow'rs our deftin'd buft,

No mufe we bribe a fordid wreath to twine
Round the frail urn of infamy in duft ;

bid our incenfe deck a villain's Ihrine.

Nor

.GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

XII.
Nor yet to Pride the venal ftatue raife,

Preferving aflies Virtue had forgot ;
We bid no trumpet found a bad man's praife,

Nor memory reftore what time Ihould rot.

XIII.

Nor to the flave of gold, though largely grac'd
With all that wealth or folly could beftow,

With all that vanity on duft could wafle,
Living and dead alike fair virtue's foe.

XIV.

Nor yet for thee, thou tyrant of the plain,
Illuftrious fcourge and butcher of mankind !

Whofe murth'ring hands whole hecatombs have flain,
Thy glory gath'ring as it thins thy kind.

XV.
Not e'en to thee, O Fred'rick, tho* thy name,

Idol of Pruflia, now is breath'd in iighs,
Tho* foremoft in the lift of fanguine fame,

Exulting vift'ry claims thee in the ikies!

xvi. iix:

Ah, no! the monument our love would rear| «y;

Is to the man of peace, who may defcend
Ev'n at this moment into dungeons drear,

The prifoner's guardian, and the mourner's friend.

XVII.
To noxious caverns, and abhorrent caves,

Deep-fcooped vaults, and flow- confuming cells,
Where wretches pace alive around their graves,

And hollow echoes ring their endlefs knells.

To

232 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES,

XVIII.
To fcenes, where all th' antipathies aflail,

Which inftinft, reafon, nature, moft would Ihun,
Haunts of the fiith-fed toad and flimy fnail,

Behold the friend of man undaunted run.

XIX.

Ev'n now, perchance, he bears fome viflim food,

Or leads him to the beams of long loft day ;
Or, from the air where putrid vapours brood,

Chaces the fpirit of the peft away.

XX. ,
Where deadly venom pbifons now the gale,

The new-born zephyrs foon he bids to glow ;
Where the heart fickens, foon (hall health prevail,

Where the lake ftagnates, living waters flow.

XXI.

For who, Benevolence! thy power mail bound ?

Thy guide, the God, of what fhould'ft thou defpair ?
Let vice (till deal her defolation round,

Virtue ftiall rife the ruin to repair.

XXII.

That may deftroy, but this was born to fave;

And while a warrior lays a nation low,
While one proud Caefar, would the earth enflave,

Onehumhle HP.WA^D would a heay'n beftow.

XXIII.
lx>, as by touch divine, before him flies i oV

Fever that feizes on the burning breath,
The icy power that kills with (hiv'ringfighs,
And thirft unquenchable that drinks its death.

And

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES, 233

XXIV.

And torpor, wrapt in his Lethean fold,

And fwoln Convulfion, with his eye-balls ftrain'd ;

And purple Tumour loathfome to behold,
And plague-ftruck Phrenfy, foaming unconftrain'd,

XXV.

All thefe, defended by no Theban charm,

No mail fave that which purity fupplies,,
Our Chriftian hero meets without alarm,

And at each ftep fome giant mifchief dies.

XXVI.
Quit Pruflia, quit thy Fred'rick's crimfon (hrine,

With olive garlandsjoin our white-rob'd band j
At HOWARD'S ftatue, how unlike to thine,

Full many a fainted form (hall duteous ftand.

XXVII.
At thine, perchance, (hall loftier trophies rife,

The regal banner, and the blazing car ;
Sculpture more gorgeous emblems (hall devife,

And adulation gaudier rites prepare.

XXVIII.
High o'er the tomb the ftoried war (hall glow,

The black'ning fiege, and defolated tow'r j
The viclor's carnage redden all below,

To mark the bloodrtraeks of ungovern'd pow'r.

XXIX.

Rage, glory, havock — all the foldier train

Their fpears inverted, (hall in marble frown j
Unnumber'd captives clank the brazen chain,

And death hirafelf embrace a favourite's urn.

Then

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES*

XXX.

Then as In martial pomp the youths pafs by,

Ev'n the cold tomb (hall kindle hoftile fire,
To arms, to arms, each madd'ning chief {hall cry,

And Frederick's aihes future wars infpire.

XXXI.
Yet, ah ! not laurel'd youths, nor chiefs alone,

To Fred'rick's fanguinary Ihime (hall go ;
For there the execrating fire ihall groan,

And there the orphan melt in filial woe,

XXXII.

There fhall the virgin, with affliftion wild,
At dead of night explore the monarch's tomb;

The wailing matron claim her murther'd child,
Whofe ghoft lhail rife to meet her in the gloom*

XXXIII.

There the pale {hade {hall join her deep defpair,
And fill with loud complaints the founding aifle j

Fierce from the vault the pageant trophies tear,
Conqueft deplore, and fpurn th* accurfed fpoil*

XXXIV.
Welcome, thrice welcome Pruffia, to the pride

The mould 'ring, honours of the grave afford $.
Britain, from thefc indignant turns afide,

Wooes private worth, and leaves the fcepter'd lord.

XXXV.

The raufe, no vain idolater, difdains,

Proud of her tiuft, to proftitute her fires,
l^t minions wafte on pow'r their meteor ftrains,

Till flatt'ry naufcates, and till echo tires,

The

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

235

XXXVI.
The fweet memorial of one gentle deed,

One pang prevented, or one wrong redrefs'd 1
A gen'rous raorfel at the poor man's need,

A forrow foften'd, or a figh reprefs'd :

XXXVII.
One artlefs rhime, a record fmall and dear,

That graves thefe virtues on the village ftone :
Where love retires to med th* unwitnefs'd tear,

SurpafTes all that ever armies won.

XXXVIII.
O Panegyrick ! if thy Frederick's name

One peaceful tribute has fomem'ry giv'n ;
Direft to that th* uplifted trump of fame,

For that when tombs are duft fliall mount to heav'n.

XXXIX.

And, ah! behold whatvifions of the Ikies

Rob'd in the pure ferenity of light,
To confecrate our HOWARD'S ftatue rife,

And mark the holy fpot with fond delight.

XL.

Mercy, her lighteft footfteps here mall bend,
Fearing to crufh fome harmlefs infeft near:

Humanity her foft'ring wing extend,
With Pity, foftly fmiling thro* her tear.

XLI.

And Charity mall come with Seraph air,
And pleafing Melancholy pace around,

And warm Benevolence be ever there,
And Chriftian Meeknds blefc the hallow'd bound.

-I JrrrA

Here

236 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

XLII.
Here, too, fome mortal vifitants— the wife

Parent, or child reftor'd, their joys fliall tell ;
Here fharp remorfe fhall wail a guilty life,

And hardnefs learn for human woes to feeh

xLiir.

With picas offerings, hither fhall repair

What once was want, contagion, and difeafe ;

Reftor'd to all the liberty of air,

Here fhall they hail the renovating breeze.

XL IV.
And Diffipation, as he pafltes near,

Abafh'd that vice has ravifh'd all his {tore,
Confcious, fhall drop the penitential tear,

And fpu*n the follies which deny him more.

XLV.
And Avarice too fhall here ftifpend his art,

His bofom looting from the; fullen ore ;
The flatue fhall fubdue his niggard heart,

And the rock gu-fti in bleffings to the poor.

t '

And Envy, devious from her wonted plan,

Taught by the ftatue, e'en a foe to feve,
Shall tell her fnakes to fpare one virtuous man,

And own his goodnefs ere he reach trie grave.

XLVII.
But fliould fome blood-polluted hero come,

Flufh'd with the crimfon wafte his fwordhas made,
Meek HOWARD'S ftatue on- that fword fhall gloom,
Till tears- fcall feemto trickle on the blade,

And

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

XLVIII.
And many a wond'ring traveller (hall paufe,

To hail the land that gave a HOWARD birth ;
Tilljealoufy itfelf aids virtue's caufe,

Prompting the fpirit of congenial worth*

XLIX.
Here too the willing mufe fhall oft retire,

To breathe her vows in many a graceful line,
From the bleft ftatue catch fublimer fire,

While infpiration hovers o'er the ftirine.

L.

Thou, to whofe piaife thefe. honours gather round.
Receive this tribute From thy country's hand,

Thou, who alike by vice by virtue crown'd,
Accept the homage of thy native land.

LL,

Andtho' the memory of thy deeds fhall bloom,
When fculpture's proudeft boaft (hall be no more,

When urns, like what they guarded, meet their doom,
And time o'er adamant exerts his pow'r :

LII.

And tho* thy modeft goodnefs fhuns its right,

Tho' blufhing it would fhrink from juft applaufe,

Vnfeen would blefs like (how'rs that fall by night,
And fliew th' effect while it would hide the caufe :

LIU.
True to the aweful charge by juftice giv'n,

Fame (till will follow with her clarion high,
On rapture's pinion bear the found to heav'n,

Nor fuffer virtue fuch as thine tp die.

And

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES

LIV.
And well that wond'rous virtue has been fung,

In deathlefs lays by Briton's lofty bard,
Hymn'd by a lyre that feraphs might have ftrung,

For Hay ley's mufe has giv'n her fair reward.

LV.
But feeble all that mortal man can raife,

Feeble the trump that peals each honour'd name,
Feeble a Hayley's lyre, a nation's praife,

And all th* applaufive notes of human fame.

LVI.
Yet take our pledge, tho* mixt, alas ! with earth,

Then hear the pray'r that whifpers in thy bread,
That voice from heav'n alone can fpeak thy worth,

A recompenling God will give the reft I

My friend, I have obeyed yoir^ It is pleafing
to me at this moment to reflecl: that I enjoyed
the friendfhip of the valuable and extraordinary
man who gave birth to thefe verfes. I thought
fo while I had the benefit of his converfation,
but I think of it now more feelingly as a benefit
I can partake of no more^ How infinitely touch-
ing is an idea of this fort of deprivation ! How
anxioufly does the foul fly about for fuccour on
fuch occafions 1 She takes refuge in a thoufand
circumftances little attended to while the good
we have loft was in our poilefTion. We take a
retrofpedt of the difcourfes which have patted
3 between

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

between us and the friends deceafed, the very
places where we met are in a manner confe-
crated 5 their perfons, manners, accents are be-
fore us : We kindle ourfelves into an enthufiafm
of forrow, but feel that fuch cc forrow is hea-
" venlyj" — it literally lifts us above the earth;
it truly and neceflarily fets our affections on
things above : we are moved, we are awed.
And after all, but for thefe warnings — thefe
proofs of the " attenuated thread," on which
hangs the life and death of what is precious,
what carelefs, arrogant wretches fhould we
be! — How independent even of heaven itfelf!
Alas, with all thefe checks are we not fuffici-
ently headflrong, prefumptuous, and vain ? and
inftead of being as the folemn poet of the night
finely calls us, the Cf penfioners of an hour,*' do
\ve not feem proudly to think that time and
fpace are our vaflals, and that inftead of being
in a few years, poffibly in a few moments,
vanquifhed ourfelves, is not the creft uplift-
ed as if we could put all things under our
feet ?

LETTER

240 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES,

LETTER XVII.

TO THE SAME.

manners are lefs worn away
by time, and the varying modes of life in Wales,
than in mod other countries. There is a harper
in almoft every village, and more than a bard
to every mountain. The poetical enthufiafm
has defcended from the earlieft to the lateft
generation, with no lofs of its original fervor at
leaft; for the Cambrian poets have monthly
meetings and annual feftivals, on which there
is a ftrife in rhime which makes the very rocks
poetical, I received a card of invitation to one
of thefe, and was much amufed with the novelty
of the ceremony. About a hundred and thirty
bards afiembled at a publick houfe in the village
of Penmorva, in Merioneth (hi re. Twelve judges
were appointed to decide of the fuperiority of
the poems, the fix beft of which were to have
prizes, the one an arm-chair decorated with the
enfigns of Apollo; a fecond a chaplet of laurels
befpread with gold leaf, and fo on: only five-
and-twenty bards were to recite, and each reci-
tation not to exceed twenty minutes. This I
foon found was a very proper reftridion, for

had

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. £41

had the poefy been equal to the vehemence of
delivering it, ,had the fenfe echoed to the found,
Phoebus himfelf might have been proud of his
votaries. It was, however, a very merry aflbci-
ation ; and though only half a dozen could ob-
tain prizes, every man went away about daylight
well fatisfied with others and with himfelfj for if
each happy candidate was pleafed with prefent
fuccefs, each unlucky one was whiipered to by his
felf-love, that the next meeting would atone for
the difappointment. Thus,

ft Not a vanity is giv'n in vain."

And we are to be convinced of every thing but
our want of merit in the art we cultivate. This
good opinion of ourfelves is not only to be reck-
oned amongft the painted clouds that beautify our
days, but incites us to induftry and emulation in
the fcience or occupation we purfue.

The bards of old are too famous, and you arc
too well read in their (lory, as it has been given
in modern and ancient performances, to ftand
in need of much information. . Old Carodoc
(Craddock) of Lancarvon, whofe book was ori-
ginally written in Britifh, and fublijhed in Eng-
lifh, by Dodor Powel, as it is quaintly called,
has /urnifhed the bell as well as the earlieft ac-
count of them : and it appears that one of the

VOL. if R ancient

4tp -GtEAKIN-G-S THROUGH WALESV

•ancient Princes of Wales, named Grufiydtfir
(Griffith) ap Conan, who died about the year

.irj6> to the grief and difcontent of all his fub-
jefts, amongft other wholefome laws and ftatutes
enabled in his time, reformed the diforders and
abufes of the Welch minftrels.

Of thefe minftrels there were three forts; the
firft compofed feveral fongs and odes of various
jneafure* whereinr lays Craddock, appeared not
only the poet's (kill, but alfo a vein, which the
Latins call Furor Foeticus. Thefe of the firft
order likewife kept the records of the gentle-
men's arms and pedigrees* a very facred truft
amongft thefe defendants of Cadwallader in
former times : on which account they were held
'in -great veneration both by their brother poets,
and by the people. The nex* were fuch as
played upon inftruments of muficR, chiefly tMc
harp and the crowd, the latter of which, Prince
^Griffith, who defcended from "Irifli parents, and
was born in Ireland,, brought with him from
that country; and who, not contented with
giving his Welch fubjecls the inftrument, fent
over for fome of the belt performers upon it^
and although the Welch contend for the honour
of the invention, it feems to belong principally
to thofe very Hibernians. The laft fort of
Welch minftrels and bards were to fing to an

inftru-

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 243

inftrument played by another. Each of thefe,
by the fame ftatute had their feveral rewards
and encouragements allotted them: their life
and behaviour was to be fpotlefs, otherwife their
punimment was very fevere, every one, on proof
of a well-founded complaint, having authority to
correct them, even to a deprivation of all they
had. They were alfo interdicted entering any
man's houfe, or to compofe a fong upon any one,
without the fpecial leave and warrant of the party
concerned.

Thefe regulations gave virtue to amufement,
by adding morality to mufick and poetry. It
muft be confefled, that although the harmony,
as well focial as vocal and inftrumental, flill
remains in a certain degree, the morality, fo far
as fobriety and temperance is a part of ethicks,
is a little the worfe for wear. The orgies of
Bacchus generally finim thofe of Apolio at the
fcftivals of the modern Welch minftrels, who,
after the poetick trials of the day, eat and drink
like fo many aldermen at a turtle feaft. For-
merly bard and minftrel united in the fame
perfon, at lead frequently : at prefent the harper
and the poet are for the mofl part diftincl:. The
poet, like the harper, is Hill welcome wherefo*
ever he goes; both migrate in a pleafant wan-
dering kind of life from one place to another,

R 2 making

GLEANINGS THROUGH WAL4S.

making fometimes a circuit of their neighbour-
ing hills and vallies, and fometimes of the whole
principality. They travel with the harp at their
backs, or their works in their pockets. They
enter a h«ufe without invitation, and are con-
fidered as one of the family while they flay,
which is feldom lefs than a week at a time. If
any little domeftick incident happen while they
are inmates, it is celebrated on the fpot : if the
event be fortunate, the bard greets it by a gay
and fpirited impromptu ; and the harper hails
it with his mofl lively ditty. If it be diftrefsful,
they commemorate h by an extemporaneous
degy, and attempt to foften it by foothing
founds. The marriage of children, the death
or ficknefs of parents, a fair profpecl of harveft,
an untimely froft, and in mort almoft every
change and chance of human life is either gra.-
tulated or bewailed. This practice is not with-
out its ufe 3 it excites to good neighbourhood;
it prevents the induftrious labourer,, as well as
.his employers, from wandering abroad for thofe
-relaxations and recreations which they find at
home. .The village hinds and hulbandmen can
have a dance and fong at their own cottages and
farms, and all the family is regak'd, invigorated,
.and amufed, at a very fmall charge, merely
-that of the occafional entertainment of the bard
-and, harper: on a fcale of comparative expence,

how

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES, 245 .

liow much cheaper, a$ well as more free from
hazard, is this than the county town balls, to
w-hich the high-drefTed farmers' daughters re-
pair monthly in chaifes, or on their brothers'
hunters, in all the extravagance of the lateft
faihions ridiculoufly imitated? In a word, thofe
mufico-poetical vagabonds are a very happy and
ufeful fet of people; and it is wonderfully plea-
fant for a refidentiary traveller, particularly if,
he is alfo a perambulating one, to be fure no£
only of hofpitable reception, but to be gratified
with mufick and fong into the bargain wherefo-
ever he makes a paufe •, for it may very truly
be faid in this country, that " every ftranger
cc finds a ready chair/' With refpeft to myfelf,
I have to render my acknowledgment? even to
fome of the untoward accidents of life for car-
rying -me into, feveral agreeable fcenes and ad-
ventures: for inftance, a mower, a fudden turn
of weather from intenfe heat to cold> or vice
verfdy a confiderable diftance from a town or an
inn 3 thirft, hunger, or the want of any thing
that offers but the fhadow of an apology for
making another's houfe my own, has ofterj been
matter of felicitation to all parties 5 and J hays
fometimes fought the (belter of a few minutes,
but found it impoflible to quit it for days. The
harper always gives a zeft to every meal by a
tune j and in the evening, the bard, though

R 3 often

2^6 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

often an unlettered votary of the mufe, offers
the bed poetry he has to beftow. Brevity and
diipatch are recommendations in the word of
times j for while a jug of ale or cyder is drink-
ing, the bard will make a flanza of gratitude
for it. While fupper is drefiing, he is ready to
ferve it up with a copy of verfes in praife of
Benevolence. And though it may happen, that
neither the mufick nor the poetry have charms
for the faftidious critickj they are not deftitiite
of attraction for the philanthropift.

The northern part of the principality is faid
to have been the moft famous at all times, as it
is at prefent for the bards. A very curious
contention, indeed, is reported to have taken
place betwixt the North and South poets, in
11^6. Lord Rhys (Rice) Prince of South
Wales, fays the hiftory, made a very great feaft
at Ghriftmas in his caitle of Abertrifi, which he
caufed to be proclaimed through all Britain,
Ireland, and the iflands adjacent, fome con-
fiderable time before 3 and according to his in-
vitation many hundreds of Englifh, Normans,
and others, were very honourably received, and
courteoufly entertained. Amongft other tokens
of their welcome, the prince caufed all the poets
throughout all Wales to come to his caflle, and
for a better diverfion to the company, he pro-
vided

•CLEANINGS XKRaU'CH WALES. 247

vided chairs to be fet in the hall, in which the
bards being feated, they were to anfwer each
other in rhimei and thofe that overcame the
reft in this pitched engagement of poetical re-
partee, were rewarded with rich prefents. The
North. Wales bards obtained the victory, witk
the applaufe of the whole company -, and amongft
the harpers .alfo, .between whom there was 4
fimilar ftrife, the prince's ow# fervants were
accounted the moft expert.

You may be fare I did not fail to include
amongft the objects of accurate attention, the
moft attra&ive of all that Cambria in ancient
times moft venerated, the Druids* In my re-
fearches on this fruitful fubjcft, though J wa$
very highly gratified, I found nothing fuffici-
>ently new to glean. A tour through Anglefey,
which I made in the company of a very intelli-
gent man, who, luckily for my purpofe, was
mounted on a horfe, that like my own, had
long fmce adopted the mode of deliberate tra-
velling, prefented to me a full view of all the
reliques of druidical antiquity (till to be feen i&
the ifland. The places of facrifice, where the
jblood of human victims was devoted by craft to
fuperftition 3 the enormous pile of rocks, undejT
which they erected their fanguinary altars 5 the
craggy heaths once covered with their tem^
* 4

248 CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

pies, and the remains of thofe immenfe woods
wherein they performed their tremendous rites,
were all vifited with an eagernefs of curiofity
which the fubject is fo well fitted to infpire. I
really felt a facred kind of horror as I traverfed
the ifle, celebrated for fo many ages as the
theatre of religious rapine ; and although at
every ftep I was reminded of fome act more
characteriftick of an aflaflin, or of a murderous
banditti, than of the minifters of a religion pure
and peaceful, at every ftep I experienced that
folerrin fenfation which mixes itfelf with every
object of antiquity, over which poetry has
thrown a charm. The power of the mufc is
manifefted, perhaps, more in this than in an)r
thing elfe. In that fober Hate of the mind
which fits us for feeing objects in their natural
fize and colour, whether we are reading or re-
flecting, a fact is decided upon by reafon, and
pronounced either good or evil according to its
actual tendency. From this decifion one would
fuppofe there could be no appeal : prefently
there comes a fair ufurper, calkd Imagination,
who, by the flighted waving of her wand, hurls
reafon from the throne, vaults into it herfelf^
and governs with a fovereignty, at once fo ab-
folute and agreeable, that we deliver up ourfelves
to her enchantment, and even affift her in drag-
ging the lawful monarch at the wheels of her,
* chariotj

CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

chariot, in which we fuffer ourfelves to be cai%
ried over fairy land, the happy flaves of her
ufurped authority.

Thus can we only account for the veneration
we bear towards thofe whofe memory is ftained
by deeds which reafon muft for ever condemn,
I was 'hot to learn that the Ilk of Anglefey was
the chief haunt of thofe barbarous beings, whofe
defpotifm and cruelty furpafled the rage of the
panther famifhing for prey : that a more bloody
race of ruffians never infefted humanity than the
Druids s that they covered the moft horrid enor-
mities with the impenetrable mafk of religion;
and yet fo effectually had Mafon, and other
poets, aflifted our love of antiquity, to make us
go over to the fide of imagination, that I honour-
ed the very name of Mona, and looked at the
reliques of the woods and caves, which had fo
often refounded with the myfterious incanta^
tions, wjth a not unpleafing horror. Thus
fafcinated,

'• Ev'ry old poetick mountain

" Infpi ration breath'd around,
" Ev'ry fhade and hallow'd fountain

'*', Murmur 'd deep a folemn found ;"

and even in places, where, had the mind been
pnfeduced, I mould have ihuddered at the

bare

GLEANaNGS THROUGH WALES.

bare remembrance of the enormities praftifed
therein,

" Bright-ey'd Fanty, hov'ring o'er,

*' Scattered from her piftur'd urn,

•* Thoughts that breathe, and words that burn."

Such are the triumphs of the mufe ! We are
called reafonable beings, my friend: but how
vaft is the empire of Imagination, and how
fweet is our captivity ! what a pity that it ihould
fo often be falfe and fatal ! To you may fancy
ever be a friend, and in connection with reafon $
or if they ever feparate, be it only like the part-
ing of much-loved affociates, who make fliort
excursions to different places, but return foorj
into the arms of each other ! or while fancy
carries you into adventures, may Mentor
attend on TelemachusJ

LETTER XVfIL

TO THE SAME.

1 o the fuperftition of the Welqh
tains> may be added that of their lakes and mo-
numental ftones. The former are extremely-
numerous ; but a coundefs variety of febles
mingle in the hiftory of each, The ftones arc

of

GLEANINGS TifROUGH WALES. 251

of fuch prodigious magnitude that they arc not
likely to be moved, but by that commotion
which mall fubdue the world itfelf ; they are of
fuch incredible bulk, that it is aftoniming by
what united power they were at firft dragged to
the cloud-capped hills on which they (land, and
have Hood for many centuries. A traveller who
tells you the fingle ftones meafured from feven,
eight, to ten, and fixteen feet high, is modeftly
within the truth ; and it is alfo true, that fifty
yoke of oxen could not poffibly move fome of
them, much lefs climb with them up the fearful
afcents whereon they certainly were originally
placed by human art and labour. No wonder,
therefore, that the traditionary account of the
peafantry is, that the devil himfelf fet them up
there. And of the mountains thcmfelves, on
the very fummit of which thefe enormous flones
are piled one upon another, it has been juftly
obferved, their refemblance is fo great to the
Alps, that, except from the language of the people,
a traveller could hardly avoid thinking he is
patting from Grenoble to Sufa, or through the
country of the Grifons ; but with this exception,
that in abundance of places you have the moft
beautiful vallies in the world, and fome of them
of very great extent, far exceeding thofe fo
famed amongft the mountains of Piedmont and

Savoy,

, The

GLEAN* INGS THROUGH WALES, t

•The Welch are of a moft inquifitive temper.
They ftare, and flock round a flranger as if he
were the inhabitant of another world, juft ar-
rived amongft them. If he make the flighteft
advance to difcourfe, they ply him with quef-
tions, and are never fatisfied with anfwers, till
they unlock every part of his hiflory. At firft I
tQok this to be confined to a few curious people i
but I found in the end it was the cuftom of the
country. You meet a Welchman on the road,
or join him in the chat of a minute at your inn,
«^-*cc Whence come you ? where go you ? what
is your name ? where were you born ? what is
the object of your journey ? are you in bufinefs ?
are, you out of it ? how long have you been from
home ? how long do you flay abroad ? are you
a fingle man ? have you a family ?" are interro-
gatories that tread on the heels of the firft falu-
tation; and thefe, if replied to, are followed too
by others more clofe, and, if poftlble, more
impertinent. Nor have you any way of fhaking
the enquirers off, but by an inveterate filence,
and this they refent by fuch a torrent of frefh
queries, that even filenae is no fecurity 5 and
you muft either bear -to hear alj they have to
afk, or take refuge In retreat. Horace's trou-
blefome fellow was not more importunate. But
all this is without the fmalleft intention to of-
fend; on the contrary, it is often with a defign

to

CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES-, .3*3

to be fociable ; but chiefly, I believe, has no
motive better or worfe than the gratification of
fimple curiofity. It is, however, very worry-
ing, and has now and then provoked me to an-
iwer fharply. At a place called Towy, a man
whom I met at the inn where I baited, fo urged
me with queftion upon queflion, that I was ma-
Jicious enough to put the mod bitter farcafms
into my refponfes* Queflion — Where did I
come from ? Anfwer, The other world. Where
was I going ? — Out of hearing. What was my
name ? — Namelefs. WThere was I born ? — In the
moon.

Till this anfwer the fellow did not feem to feel
that I was laughing at him ; but it had the effect,
for he foon after ended his perfections by faying,
come from where I would, I was a merry gentle-
man, and he wifhed me good day.

If ever you fhould be fpnghted by one of thefc
Welch querifts, or by a vexer of this defcription
in any country, my plan may be worth adoption.
You might be led to fuppofe this over-curious
propenfity was in the .way of their hofpitable
turn of character ; but if you can agree with
me, that it originates not in any fufpicion or
fear of deceit, you will place it in the long lift
of inconfiftencies which blend in humajv charac-
ters, without conceiving it to be a parodox.

How

2,54 GDEANTIN'GS THROUGH WAI>ES.

How often do we -meet the moft apparently,
nay abfolutely, imcornpatible properties com-
pounded in the fame mind ? Avarice with pro-
digality, pride with humility, charity with fel-
fifhnefs, vanhy with diffidence, and a love of tire
world with profound retirement. I could illuftrate
*each of thefe apparent contradi&ions by proofs
perfonal taken from the catalogue of our mutual
acquaintance, but what better would be inferred
than fo many frefh convictions of the okleft fact,
that the beft people are ftrange compounds, and
that the world is a garden where not only, in a
general fenfe,

" Weeds and flowers promifcuous fhoot,"

but where, by the fide of the faireft, fvveeteft
flower, and almoft twifted round it, grows that
weed which is moft baneful to:it: one would
think they could not live or thrive in the fame
foil; yet we perceive they flourifh very neigh-
bourly together. Have you never, my dear
, friend, found the rofe and nettle take root in
: the fame temper? — the fragrance and beauty of
rthe one incommoded by the flinging properties
, of the other! Yes, you reply, but then it is the
:bufinefs of the gardener, Education, to pluck
uop this ill -aborted afifociate, .and to leave the
.rofe to bloflfom either in folitude, or better
.fociety. In vegetable culture this may always
4 do 5

CLEAKING-S THROUGH WALES,

do; in moral gardening it is to be managed
nicely, left in eradicating a favourite folly, or
eonftitutional weaknefs,, we injure the native
virtue that is near it. No,, my friend, v/e muft
be content rather with meliorating the foil than
deftroying its natural productions ; if fome of
thefe are utterly obnoxious to the valuable plants
and fhrubs, which are the pride and riches of
the ground, they " muft be hewn down and caft
"Into the fire/1 for Jucfa " tares will totally
" chofck the wheat;" fucb weeds will blaft the
rofe worfe than a canker. But if they are lefs
ambitious of doing mifchief; if they are all but
the frailties of our nature, fp ringing up amongft
our virtues, let them be c6nfidered as forming
the tiffue of the human character; where the
coarfe and fine, the worfted and the filk, are ne-
'cefiary tonhe general flrength of rhe piece:

f( "When ftraw-like errors lean to virtues fide,
«• Ah! check ye bigots, check your furious pride,
•'Some venial faults, from fordid natures ftart,
*c And fpring up only in the gen'rous heart ;
«« As florid weeds elude the labourer's-' toil,
" From too much warmth and richnefs of the foil;
"\While meaner fouls, like Zembla's hills of fnow,
" Too barren prove for weeds or flowers to blow."

SYMPATHY."

Your pardon for this felfim quotation. Is it
not in point? It repeats, perhaps, the allufion,

but

CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

b.ut it Teems to gain force by the repetition. It
is fo excefiively painful to be finding fault with
poor human nature continually, that it is quite a
relief to one to plead her caufe, and become her
apologift for thofe trefpaffes which are at all de-
fenfible. Heaven knows there are plenty of
faux pas > where, to attempt her excufe would be
to partake her crimes.

Be fatisfied, then, that the conftitutional hof-
pitality of the Welch receives no chcc% from
their conftitutional inquifitivenefs : the former
is, indeed, fo very general, that the ftory which
a gentleman, who made the tour of Wales in
1774 relates, is not in. the leaft to be doubted,
It is told to mew that a man may travel through
the whole country, with a conftant fuit of re-
commendations from one hofpitable houfe to
another. The fubltance of the ftory is this : —
A gentleman of the neighbourhood of Mahiint-
leth, a little town in the extreme Weft angle of
Montgomeryfhire, and which I defcribed to you
in one of my letters, introduced himfelf politely
to the company, and hearing they travelled to
fatisfy their curiofity, civilly offered to gratify
it. They afked him if there was a good houfe
at the next ftage ? He anfwered there were
many; Mr. Lloyd's, Mr. Powell's, Mn Edwards's,
&c. They ftill enquired which was the beft

houfe ?

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 257

houfe ? He replied they were all very good. To
make him explicit, they perfifted in afking him,
whether either of them was as comfortable and
proper as that in which they were converfing,
meaning the village inn. Sir, faid he, with a
peevifh furprize, mould you take this houfe for
a gentleman's ? They quickly explained them-
felves, and begged his pardon.

It would be unjuft in me to omit telling you,
that the Welch are not only lovers of hofpitality
in themfelves, but fincere admirers of it in others,
and if a kindnefs has once been fhewn them,
they never lofe the imprefllon of it. One in-
ftance, out of many, I will recount. In the
vicinity of Caernarvon, .is one of the feats of
my Lord Newborough. Faffing this one mifera-
ble cold day, when the fnows were frozen on the
mountains, I could not help exclaiming in the
hearing of the honeft Welchman, who was at
that time my guide acrofs the country — Would
to heaven that houfe were a publick one ! Ah,
Sir, faid my guide, with a figh, and crack of
his whip, it was one in former days, that is to
fay, it was a houfe for the good of the publick,
as every body who wanted entertainment, either
for man or bead, was welcome. O, there was
rare doings at Newborough- hall, when my
Lord , God blefs him, was at home : he is

VOL. i. S abroad

2^8 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

abroad now, and has been (the more is the pity,
both for rich and poor) many years; but we ex-
pect him back foon, which will make fuch a joy
in Wales, as has fcarcely been known fince that old
mountain (meaning Snowden, which is vifible
from the houfe) was no bigger than a mole -hill!
You muft know, Sir, I am William Jones,
continued this grateful fellow, I am one of his
Lordfhip's tenants — that little farm on the other
fide is rented by me, where, if your honour
pleafe, I will fhew you that I have not lived fo
many years under fo good and generous a mafter
without benefiting by the example ; and though
I cannot fet out my table like my Lord Newbo-
rough, my old dame will give you a clean cloth,
fome new-laid eggs, a curious dice or two of
bacon, and as brave a mug of ale, or tankard
of cyder, with a dam of brandy, as ever was
drawn, and we will drink the health and fpeedy
return of my mafter to old Wales. — God knows,
I will drink it — juft as I wilh it — with all my life
and foul.

He went on to affure me, that as the day of
Lord N — 's departure from this country was the
moft miferable, fo would his return be the molt
blefled to his fervants, tenants, friends, and all
defcriptions of people — that for his part he felt
a comfort to get his bread on the ground that

belonged

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

belonged to fo good a mafter, and even to walk
upon his land, and that he never patted by the
deferted manfion-houfe without thinking of the
obligations which he and a thoufand others had
received from the generous owner.

He then proceeded to juftify, by inftances of
goodnefs, this exalted character, in the courfe of
developing which, he difcovered a moft ex-
cellent heart, and not uncultured head, belonging
to himfelf; but difplayed fo many marks of an
enlarged benevolence in his mafter, that before
he had half finifhed his eulogy, my affections
warmed towards the noble proprietor of New-
borough-hall, and I could not but join the re*
grets of honeft Will Jones that he was abfent.

Thele little road-adventures, which are fo fre-
quently rifing out of furrounding objects, I miift
once more remark are amongft the richeft grati-
fications that can happen to a traveller of my
tafte and temper. They are, indeed, a fource of
almofl daily pleafure and exercife of the focial
principle : they frelhen, as it were, one's whole
heart j and fo occupy the bed 'part of our feel-
ings, that if roads are bad, and the weather
fevere, we perceive all ruggedneffes and rigours
fmoothe off 5 and if the way be without difficulty,
and the weather fine, and the country through

s 2 which

260 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

•which we pafs beautiful, the whole is rendered
more delicious by a little regaling cafualty of
this fort. December has not often prefented a
more bitter day than that on which I received a
delineation of Lord N — from William Jones,
but fome of the traits created a kind of fummer
in my bofdm, and the reft of the journey to
Caernarvon was the happier for it. 'Tis even
now fweet to remembrance, and is regiftered
amongft the riches of my fheaf.

There is a great deal of character in this
country; and much of that original wit, humour*
and oddity, amongft the lower ranks, which the
late Henry Fielding fo much delighted to de-
fcribe. Out of abundance I mall give only two
fpecimens, each of which has fomething fb dra-
naatick, that were I about to write a comedy, I
fhould be ftrongly tempted to hitch them into
the fcene ; and as I met with them both in the
fame day their portraits mall be drawn in the
fame letter.

r • -» • . «v - • * :

As there is a lady in the cafe {he claims my
firft attention. 1 beg, therefore, to introduce
the widow Bowyer to you. Suppofe your cor-
refpondent taking his afternoon tea at a little
publick-houfe, betwixt Welch-Pool and Shrewf-
bury, and. the widow, ray landlady, thus offi-

cioufly

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 261

cloudy fhewing herfelf off, by way of recom-
mending herfelf and her houfe. — Would you
have the idea of the fpeaker before you — Imagi-
nation muft body forth a neat little old woman
of the true Welch architecture, and drefied in
the fafhion of her country — a blue Yorkin,
black broad brim beaver, fcarlet petticoat, and
apron of black fhining fluff, dropping a deep
but rapid curtfey at every fentence. — " I hope
you find your tea good, Sir — I always have the
beft of tea, Sir, (curtfey.) — Perhaps, your
honour's goodnefs would like a (lice of cheefe
and hung beef — (curtfey — both at the cbeeje and
beef.) — I am notorious for them, Sir, (curtfey.)
—I am a widow woman, at your fervice, Sir,
(curtfey) buried my hufband, (curtfey) about fix
weeks ago, (curtfey) — an ailing man, Sir, (curt-
fey) — always weak and wankly, (curtfey.) — Could
do nothing for many, years, Sir, (curtjey .)—*•
Palfy, your honour, (curtfey) coft me many a
bright pound j — (curtfey) but 'tis always fome-
thing for a woman to have a hulband in the
houfe— (curtfey.) — Servants think nothing of a
ione woman — (curtfey >) they do juft as they
pleafe with them, your honour knows— •
(curtfey.)

" Ah, poor David," continued flic, after a

{hort.paufe, feeing me difpofed to hear, but not

53 to

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES,

to anfwer. — cc Ah, poor dear David, he ufed to
fit, Sir, (curtfey) in that very arm chair, Sir,
(curtfey) where your honour fits now 5 and though

I had to lead him up flairs and down put him

to bed, and take him up — poor foul, helplefs as

an infant^ frill I liked to be doing for him. —

Davy, I ufed to fay — Davy — you'll never go on
your legs again, I fear — -you*!! never be the man
you have been— "

(By way of parenthefis, let me look in the
information that, although I do not continue to
infert the curtfeys, it is to be noted, that the
good widow went as regularly on with her reve-
rences as with her flory, and that every dafh you
meet with is fubflituted to prevent interruption
for a curtfey ; the long dam being exprefflve of
an obeifance nine deep, the fhort one, of the
little dropj or bob minor.)

<f We were notorious for being happy, Sir, —
and our houfe, Sir-— though thatched, Sir — is

notorious all over the country, Sir and if

your honour fhould be provoked to flay the
night, Sir, — you fhall have as good a bed as ever
was laid on — poor David died on it, Sir, — we
are notorious for our beds — me and mine

have lived here hundreds of years — the finefl air
\n the world-— kill all our own meat — cut all our

own

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

own garden ftuff— grow all our own wheat-
make all our own bread — brew all our own beer.
— In fhort do every thing for ourfelves, with-
out being beholden to any body. Thus,

your honour fees, we are the moft notorious
people on the road."

The whole of the foregoing felf-defcription,
pafled without the fmalleft encouragement or
reply ; my landlady ftanding all the while curt-
feying, nodding, crying, and laughing; for I
mould have obferved to you, that at every drop
of her knees me gave a nod of her head, and
that whenever me mentioned David's infirmities
me made up her face and voice into a moft pity-
moving whine, which gave way, however, to a
more pleafant twift of her odd little countenance
and tones when me fpake of the notorioufnefs of
her houfe.

My tea, and her talk ended together, when I
told her that I was thoroughly convinced me had
not obtained a notorious character without rea-
fon; but that I found her fo entertaining, and
as the evening was too far advanced to think of
puriuing my journey towards Shrewfbury, I
would avail myfelf of the many good things for
which her houfe is notorious, on condition that
§4 me

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

ihe would favour me with as much of her com-
pany as poffible, and put me into any bed but
that which poor David had fo lately died upon —
the reflection of which circumftance would pre-
vent my taking any repofe.

I gave it this turn to fave the good widow's
feelings, and I ventured to invite her, becaufe
I imagined her houfe affairs would draw her
nods and curtfeys to feveral other travellers,
who now came to pafs the night. Unluckily,
however, fhe refolved to compliment me with
her dead David's bed, and though I could have
wifhed it put upon a longer quarantine, it was
impoflible ; for fhe aflured, (nod and curtfey as
ufual) cc that not only gentry — but nobility-
Hot only 'fquires — but barrownights — not only

barrownights — but lords •• — not only lords

— but dukes (here a nod that

threw her head into her bofom, and a curtfey
that almoft overfet her) — and that even the
Prince — » _0f the Princi-
pality (nod) (nod-> (nod) the

Prince of Wales hirnfelf —

(curtfey} , (curtfey) - (curtfey) —

might lie in that bed — ."

Had the corpfe of David been ftretched ftill
upon the bed, you fee I muft have taken part of

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

it; I therefore yielded, and the good widow-
woman went nodding and curtfeying through
the reft of the evening in perfect good humour.
Her manner muft lofe much in narration, but I
am convinced had it been dramatifed, and fhaped
to the talents of one of our comedians, it would
have fet at lead the galleries, and perhaps the
whole houfe, in a roar.

Notwithftanding this, none of her other cuf-
tomers then in the inn, feemed to be flruck with
what had fo much diverted me: one bid her do
more and talk lefs — another faid, he fuppofed,
fhe looked on her converfa^ion as part of the
entertainment, and would charge it in. the bill —
if fo, he muft decline any more of it. The au-
thor of this obfervation was a wag, who pen-
haps, thought he was alfo a wit ; a third could
not help wilhing fhe had as good talents for
filence as making a noife. An hundred others
might have entered and departed without being
a whit more amufed j but as I am convinced the
lover of character would not have paffed my
widow- woman without a note of remark, I can-
not but believe you, and your friends will ex-
cule, nay, thank me, for making her a little more
notorious.

One man only of the company was wholly

fiJent,

266 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

filent, and he had the beft reafon for it ; namely,
an intoxication that wholly deprived him of the
power of fpeech: two of the others juft men-
tioned were his afibciates, who had been to Haver-
ford weft on foot, to fave as much as pofilble of
that money which they had appropriated to the
releafe of their friend, the drunken man, who had
been two years a prifoner for debt in the gaol of
the above-named town, and they were all three
natives of Wales, working under the fame mafter
at Shrewfbury.

As our widow woman's general fitting room
ufually ferved her, like the merry cobler's in
the ballad, " for parlour, for kitchen, and hall 5"
there being no fire-places in the other apart-
ments above or below -, we all were of the fame
mefs, while we were partaking of which, (the
late prifoner excepted, who was as incapable
of eating as converfing) one of the travellers —
he who had his fears that my landlady would
make him pay for her eloquence — thus opened
upon me.—

" You muft know, Sir," fays he, addrefilng
himfelf to me as familiarly as if we had been
old acquaintance, " the poor fellow who is now
fnoring in the chimney corner, is Davy Morgan,
as honed a little man as any in Wales, and

put

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. o£^

put into "durance vile" for another man's debt;
but we have worked him out, and in a few days
we fhall be able to fhew him to all friends round
the wrekin : in the mean time, poor Davy is
gone tipfy with the thought of it : but you mud
not think the worfe of him for that ; I hope his
getting into gaol and out of it, once in his life,
and being a little hickfius doxius upon it, (once
in his life, I fay) will not make you think the
worfe of him. Come, little drunken Davy, here
is your health, my boy, as you can't drink, I'll
drink for you ; any thing to ferve a friend fleep-
ing or waking ; fo here's to you in a bumper
that holds both our portions, my little fleeping
Taffy."

This bumper was emptied and filled with
fuch rapidity, that, if there be any truth in a
head full of liquor, the account which was now
given by both the comrades at fupper of the
fnoring Davy Morgan, did credit to the hearts
of all three. I gathered from the torrents of
information now poured out much fatter than
even the ale, that Davy Morgan had been
bound for a friend, whofe treachery had plunged
him not only in a prifon, but in the ruin confe-
quent on the lofs of his time ; which ufed to be
induftrioufly employed — that his companions
had been in the habits of friendfhip, labour,

and

268 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

and diverfion with him, many years 3 that by
his imprifonment they were deprived at once of
their playmate and fellow- work man j and that
therefore they had a meeting one day to fee
what could be done between them, towards
getting their friend out of cuftody. The refult
of their conference was a generous but fecret,
treaty, to ufe every means in their power to
obtain his liberty: but the fum for which he
was confined exceeding abundantly their fi-
nances, for they were all but journeymen weav-
ers ferving under the fame matter, they made
an attempt on the mercy of the creditor, in the
hope of fuch a compromife as they might be
able to advance; reprefenting to him, that the
misfortune of the prifoner was brought upon
him wholly by an act of good-nature, and on the
faith of the man who had betrayed him ; and
that therefore, in effect he was punifhed not
only for the vice of another but for his own
virtue.

This appeal, however, failed -, and at a fecond
confutation, (till held without the knowledge
of the captive Davy, they entered into a folemn
compact to put by one-third of their weekly
wages, till a fum fufficient to effect the poor
man's enlargement fhould be accumulated.
« We were both brother-bachelors, Sir," faid
2 one

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 269

one of them, cc and fo could do this without
pinching any body but ourfelves — Will Griffith
there, indeed, was to be married when he could
afford a fet of linen, a wedding dinner, and a
weaving loom, and had got a few good pounds
fnug in the box, which his intended gave him
as a token ; but the generous-hearted girl, who
is an honour to her country "

" She is a Welch girl, Sir," exclaimed Mr.
Griffith, €€ and here's her health with all my
" foul."

v • 'ts'fc

" I fay, Sir," refumed the other traveller,
that this brave wench, on hearing the (lory of
poor Davy, and the plan to relieve him, infifted
on her not being the hindrance but the pro^
moter of his liberty ; declaring, that fhe waa
ready to contribute an equal ihare of her little
favings towards effecting that good work, and
that by way of encouragement to her lover,
Griffith, fhe would give him the difpofal of her
hand, as foon after Davy could attend at the
wedding as he thought proper to demand it."

i j ',;,,',). 3&

" Till the moment after fhe faid this, Sir,"
faid Griffith in rapture, " I did not think it
had been poflible to love her more dearly—
here's another bumper to her."

"To

2/0 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES,

" To make fhort of the flory," continued the
other, " to work we went, ay, and worked
double tides for double pay, and Kitty Lewis,
who worked too, kept the box. Every Satur-
day night we put in our favings, and counted
at the end of every quarter. Not a fyllable of
this to Davy -, though we took care in the mean
time he ihould not want, for while the grafs
grows, you know, Sir — Well, thus we went
merrily on — no matter how long — till we had
enough, then, watching for the Paflion week,
when there is no work done, you know, off we
fet from Old Salop to Haverford, where poor
Davy was taken as he was trying to get over to
Ireland, and was fhut up. Griffith and I, who
were born in the country, knew every inch of
the ground ; and to fave money for better ufes
than throwing it away upon horfe-flefb, we
footed up after the fafhion of our country, car-
rying our fhoes in one pocket and {lockings in
another. When we got to the White Hart,
which is a very good inn, directly oppofite to
the prifon, we did not flay to refrem till we
had paid a vifit to Morgan. Our hearts were
at our lips as we crofTed over the way to him.
The poor fellow was fucking in the frefh air
through the grating, which, being on the
ground floor, we could fee and fpeak to one
another. I thought Davy would have leaped

through

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 2/1

through his bars to get at us, though he looked
pale as death, and his beard was grown like one
of your Hermits. He threw out both his hands,
which we took hold of, and told him they were
as cold as clay : but my heart is as warm and as
much your's as ever, my boys, faid he, in a
terrible feeble voice ; and if I remain here for
the reft of my life, as I fuppofe 1 mail, I will
fall down night and day on my dirty draw, to
blefs Providence, that it has fent me the only
two men I love in the whole world."

-

<€ Don't tell me, Davy, faid Griffith — you
remember Will thefe were your words — don't
tell me of flaying here the reft of your life—,
we do not intend you fhall remain here another
day •, if we can help it, not another hour. We
come with a ftrong box, my little Davy, that
fhall change your dirty ftraw into clean feathers,
and thofe damn'd ugly looking bars into a
warm glafs window •> but this is wafting time-
where Js the gaoler? — let us do our bufmefs firft
and talk afterwards.

..4'>-oIKl

" Hereupon Griffith went in fearch of the
keeper, and I explained matters to Davy, who
was in a furprife paft fpeaking, only he cried
like a child, and fometimes laughed again like
a madman, though when he came to himfelf,

he

2/2 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

he faid he was afhamed to diflrefs us, and fuch
nonfenfe -, to which I only anfwered, never
mind, when we get our old fellow-workman
amongft us again, we will foon weave it up, I
warrant you : and to tell you the truth, Davy,
faid I, we have both had a fore lofs of the Tongs
you ufed to fing at loom, and neither of us
can do any longer without you.

" Prefently, Sir, Will Griffiths returned with
the gaoler, who, though he feemed a glum,
gruff*, growling looking fellow, he had contrived
to make fmile, as if he was half as good-hu-
moured a fellow as Will himfelf.

cc Ay, money works miracles, you know,
Sir" — exclaimed Will, who thus ended the
ftory. — c< A bribe out of my Kitty's amber-box
made the keeper of our poor Davy haften to his
releafe with almoft as much glee as myfelf ; and
as foon as the law charges, which were, fome-
how, as heavy as the debt, though nothing ap-
peared to be faid or done but clapping the poor
fellow in prifon, and leaving him there : — as
foon as thefe were fettled, I fay, we took the
bird out of his cage, and carried him in triumph
to the White Hart, where we paiTed one of the
merrieft evenings of our lives. We have kept
it up ever fince : as poor Davy's legs had been

of

GLEANINGS THROUGH \VALES. 273

of no life to him for fo long a time, they refuted
to do much for him, even now that they were
untied, as one may fay, fo we got him into the
flages as far as they went our way, and when
we were obliged to crofs the country, we put
him upon a horfe, and at laft, after a jovial
journey, here we are at the widow Bowyer's,
thank God ! within half a dozen miles of
Shrew/bury, and Kitty Lewis. That being the
cafe, we will, if you pleafe, Sir, have one more
bottle to the health and happinefs of all parties :
the amber-box holds out Hill, and here it is at
the fervice of any honeft fellow that wants it,
though we never faw him before in out lives,
and mould never fee him again. As to Kitty, if
me takes me without a milling, me takes me fot
myfelf : unleis we were both fick at the fame
time, we can never be in need of bread, becaule
the hands of either can earn it $ and as to loom and
linen they may be waited for, and what the Wed-
ding dinner may want in fineries, it mail make Uj>
in good plain fare and good appetite."

Will Griffith having finfthed his fpeech, kifT-
ed the amber-box with great devotion, fwore it
mould not be long ere his labours filled it again,
and then fliook me heartily by the hand, obferv-
ing, that he could fee I liked the hiftory he had
been recounting, as it had made me fhtd tears

VOL. i. T more

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

-more than once in the telling; and whenever I
am touched to the heart with any thing, faid he,
I always cry.

Davy Morgan waked, and was all the better
for his nap. His comrades greeted his return
to life, as one of them called it, with three
cheers, three bumpers of the notorious widow's
ale, and three fuch flaps on the . back, that he
muft have been actually dead not to have fhook
off all remains of (lumber. And now he had one
advantage over his friends, who had facrificed to
Liberty in fo many cc potations pottle deep," that
they literally fell martyrs on the floor to their
affe&ions, and the excellent home-brew'd of the
widow, who exhibited in the courfe of the tale
many inftances of a good heart, by dropping a
very low curtfey at every mark of the generofity
of .the young weavers, giving them a grateful
nod at the fame time -, declaring that if the widow's
mite would be accepted by Davy Morgan, the
amber- box mould not be forgotten.

I- really regret that Davy's pleafant compeers
were now rendered fo incapable as to require the
fupports of .the good widow, myfelf, and even
of Dayy himfelf, to conduft them to bed. Davy,
on his part, was quite renewed; and underftand-
ing from Mrs. Bowyer that I had heard his ftory,

foon

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 275

foon juflified his departed friends' eulogium, of
being a very pleafant, grateful, an<J good-hutnoured,
as well as ingenious fellow.

Prefently, the widow reminding us it was mid-
night, I intreated to drink a glafs of good wiihes
to the company, as well fleeping as awake, and
then promifed to retire. One more tankard was
therefore drawn -, but it was fo relifhing to Davy,
that he took it nearly off at a draught, not only
from love of the liquor but of his friends. A
fecond tankard was therefore brought, but un-
luckily the hearty vifit paid to the other came
too fuddenly on Davy's recovery from the former
libations, and his fober fenfes begun to relapfe.
The widow winked in her wicker chair — that line
you may think has cajled in — :>

*• . apt alliteration's artful aid ;"

but I afiure you it was accidental — the widow fell
afleep — Davy held the tankard in his hand; and.
without attending to a third or fourth perfon
being in the room — probably without knowing
there was any body but himfelf prefent, indulged,
and difplayed himfelf . in a foliloquy, which, if
you will pleafe to advert to time, place, and fore-
gone circumftances, may divert you. I flop you
from it only while I aflert that

T 2

276 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

" I (hall nought extenuate,
" Nor fet down aught in frolick."

A whole year's converfation could not, to my
mind, better have pourtrayed the man.

« Now, Davy Morgan, is the time to fhew
thyfelf a great fool or a fenfible little fellow.
Twice to-day haft thou been out of thy wits for
joy, and art but juft come into them again
enough to be forry for it. Beware the third time.
The ale is certainly good — there's no denying it
—(Here he lifted the tankard almoft to his lips)
I could drink every drop of it wkh the greateft
pleafure.j — It is but lifting the tankard half an
inch higher, opening my mouth a little wider—
in this manner — and it would be gone paft re-
covery, as King or Prince Denmark fays —

" To drmk, or not to drink ? — that is^the queftion;

" Whether 'tis better for thee, Davy, thus to fufFer

•• The flings and arrows of outrageous thirft,

" Or by thus plunging in a fea of ale,

" Tippling, to end it? — to drink! and fleep

*' No more ; and by that fleep to end

" The head-ache, and the thoufand natural fliocks

" That tippling's heir to— 'tis a confummation

" Devoutly to be wiili'd — to drink and fleep —

" Perchance be drunk again I— ah! there's the rub!"

No, damn it, Davy, don't make a bcaft of thy-
felf any more to-day, there's a good little fellow.

Thou

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 277

Thou art at prefent merry and wife. Keep fo,
my lad, for the honour of Wales, and for the fake
of the good fortune that has dragged thee out of
thy hole into the land of freedom — Down,
tempter, down."

Here he lowered the tankard, but with fuch
hafte, that he fpilt part of its contents on his
chin, the fweet and favory fmell of which fo
quickened appetite, as Milton faid of Eve, when
the grand tempter prefented the forbidden fruit,
that poor Davy Morgan felt the original fin was
entailed on him. He again held the tankard up
to his lips and could not but tafte. In that pe-
rilous inftant he exclaimed — •" Davy, why don't
you pull it away with all your might — (here he
began to fip) — why don't you fay — Satan, in the
lhape of a tankard of beer, avaunt — (here he
fpoke with his head in the mug) — why don't you
dam it to the ground — have you no honour-^no
refolution — no philofophy-^-no confide ration--*-
no gratitude ? (a great gulp between each of,
thefe queftions). Fie upon you — when a tankard
is before you — you have no more ftrength —
thought — idea — nor — nor — nor — (gulps Conti-
nued)—nor — any thing of that kind-*than—
than — than — (gulps) an infant."

At this moment a lamentable cry was heard at
T the

278 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

the door, accompanied by a loud rapping. On
opening it, a poor creature appeared half-
famifhed with cold : it was the poft-boy betwixt
Pool and Shrewsbury, who, being feized with
the cramp in his ftomach, came to get a dram.
He had fcarcely time to defcrihe the nature of his
complaint, before Davy Morgan applied a reme-
dy, by thrufting the poker, which happened to
be red-hot, into the tankard -, and then pouring
the ale, thus heated, down the fhivering man's
throat — execrating himfelf all the time, as a pro-
digal who had been wantonly wafting that which
might now have been fo much better difpofed
of. — cc See, you rafcal/' faid he to himfelf,
<c what comes of your guggling — you deferve to
be fent back again to prifon you do.'*

The poor poft-boy foon felt himfelf renovated,
for the widow added a gill of her notorious
brandy to Davy's burned ale -, after which he
again mounted his horfe, faying, he Ihould foon
fetch up loft time, and hoped God would always
blefs thofe who, he fwore, had faved his life.

- n

Davy Morgan, however, kept abufing him-
felf for fome time after, but I contrived to pacify
him by afTuring him, if he could parody Ham-
let's celebrated fpeech fo pleafantly, I mould
think he defer ved to get tipfy as often as he

chofe.

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 279

chofe, though it were to be with ne&ar or tokay.
Begging, therefore, he would forgive himfelf this
time, we all went to reft.

The morning brought us all once more -to-"
gether ; and our breakfaft, • for I was now one of
the party, was a very fober one. In the middle
of it there happened an incident which fo accu-
mulated the interefts of the little drama, that it
added another notoriety to the houfe of the cour-
teous widow. This was the entrance of a very>
handfome young woman, in a blue riding habit
and draw bonnet, bound tight with a pea-green
ribbon, which was fattened gyp fey fafhion , and
difplayed fuch parts of a pretty countenance, as
made the fpeclator defirous to fee the whole-
Such a blufh as has a thoufand times ten thou-
fand been fecn, and felt, by lovers, but never
juftly defcribed, even by them, for who can paint
like Nature ?• One of thofe indefcribable graces
of that

" Eloquent blood,
Which fo diftinftly wrought,
That you might almoft fay her body thought;'*

fuffufed itfelf over her fine, and -by no means

inelegant countenance, at the fight of the man

of her heart, feated at table with the chofen friend,

T 4 to-

GLEANINGS THROUGH

towards wjiofe ranfom from captivity fhe had
herfelf fo generoufly contributed. This young
perfon was in the fervice of an eld lady of for-
tune who was blind ; a calamity which this
attendant, who, you perceive, was no other than
Kitty Lewis, greatly mitigated ; for being her-
felf the daughter of a Montgomeryshire farmer
of fome credit, and a girj of no mean talents,
befides the culture of a gqo4 education, fhe was.
well calculated to entertain thofe who could not:
entertain themfelves, and was, therefore, very
juftly confidered by her lady rather as a friend than
a fervant.

The moment that Davy Morgan's enlarge-
ment was effected, Will Griffith wrote her word
©f it, and mentioned the time & which he fliould
regain Shrewfbury: but ^ceidents en the road
detailing, him, Ritty then, for the firft time,
juaeb her Lady confidential. She declined doing
fo till the object of her lover's journey was at-
tained, willing that the honour of it Ihould not
be fhared with any but the trio, th^t projected it.
The old lady, ho,we?er> W£$i as K^ty afterwards
told me, touched even to tears $ nor did fhe
fuffer thofe -uesofpity to melt away or dry up
without egeet.

Ifem ibt Po^l peft-bey, with

whom

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES

whom fhe was acquainted, that his life had been
loft but for the humanity of a merry gentleman,
whole name, he underftood, was David Morgan,
then at the widow Bowyer's ; from which infor-
mation fhe drew the natural inference, that her
lover had got fo far on his journey with his gene-
rous companion and liberated friend -, but that
flopping fo near the place of their deftination
might proceed from fome little difficulty that
money might remove. This latter idea was fug-
gefted by the good old Lady, who was now in the
fecret of the amber travelling -box, and who kb-
fifted that Kitty mould be herfelf the bearer of a
re-enforcement 5 but to take care to prefent her
bounty- money in a way that fhould not Ipoil the
plot, by an appearance of a fourth perlbn's com-
ing into it, deliring at the fame time that the
parties might, immediately on their arrival at
Shrewibury, repair to her houfe j and that the
adventure mould not want a finifh, fhe per-
mitted Kitty to make the excurfion in a poft-
chajfe.

Kitty was now feated by her lover's fide ; but
was far too happy with her errand, and with the
view of the obje&s of it, to partake of our break -
fad; neither did Will Grffith feem to take any
food but that which love and friendship provided
for his honeft and ^ffe&ionate heart. The bill

2 was

a8& GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

was foon demanded by Kitty Lewis, when the
widow declared it was paid. cc It is paid/' quoth
the good woman, cc by the merrieft night and
happieft morning I have ever had.— I will take
no money. — Yefterday and to-day mall be noto-
rious. What you have had, you are welcome
to — —and a thoufand thanks into — the bar-
gain. (Thefe thoufand thanks were exprefTed

by almoft as many nods and curtfeys.) You need
not take out your amber-box, Mr. Griffith —
nor you your purfe, Mifs Kitty—what's your
name— *I am notorious for telling the truth, and
what I fay, I fay — fo God be with you — (nod and
curtfey}—2xi& fend you health and wealth,- and
grace to do well — and pray none of you pafs the
King's Head without calling — I can do a good
turn as well as another — fervant— your fervant— -
fare ye welWgood bye — I wiili ye all a good

day —and a pleafant ride to Shrewfbury— and

next market-day, mayhap, you may fee me."

During this ipeech fhe was nodding and curt-
feying off the company — helping them to hats,
flicks, packages, and hurrying them out of her
houfe to prevent them infifting on the payment
of the bill, which Kitty fettled in another room,
whither Ihe and the generous widow went to
confer. The young woman was diffident about
entering the poft-chaife, and Davy Morgan, who

had

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 283

had cried for joy almoft the whole time of break-
faft, was apprehenfive that the proud Salopians
would laugh him to fcorn to go from a gaol into
a carriage ; but Kitty gave it as her opinion, that
their refufal to profit by her Lady's goodnefs
would be an affront never to be forgiven 5 ob-
ferving, that as to the fcorners, they mutt have
little claim to attention who did not feel that an
honeft man, who had been put into prifon for
facrificing himfelf to his friend, was entitled to
go home in the moil honourable manner; and
that, for her part, me thought fuch a man had
better claim to a triumphal entry than Julius
Caefar, Alexander the Great, or any other illuf-
trious butcker of antiquity 3 in as far as a friend
to mankind is more deferving of honourable dif-
tinctions than an enemy.

This adjufted the difficulty, and after making
hands all round, the four friends fet off for
Shrewfbury> where they pafled the day in high
feftivity under the aufpices of the good old Lady,
who declared, that although Providence had de-
nied her the pleafure of beholding fuch happi-
nefs, it had not taken away the power of feeling
it to the bottom of her heart.

I ftayed no longer after them than while I
congratulated myfelf and the courteous widow,

on

284 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

on- the little adventure which had patted at her
inn, which I afiured her would render it noto-
rious to me for ever ; and that I would make
the circuit of Wales in much harder weather
than it then was, to obtain fuch another night
and morning. You, who are fo verfed in the
jnooks, corners, and bye-places of my character,
will not doubt my ufmg a dire&ion I had ob-.
tained from the young weavers to pay them my
refpe&s at home. I found them all afiembled
at the houfe of Will Griffith, who told me with
rapture too great to help it overflowing at his
eyes, that Kitty's Lady ha,d in fitted on his not
waiting for the happy day while his labour mould
regain a fum equal to what his friendfhip had
fo properly difpofed of ; but; that ihe would her-
felf advance fufHcient to make then* happy im-
mediately, on condition that, Kitty was to con-
tinue her fituation, and Will himfelf to accept
an apartment in her houfe $ declaring, that fo
many years7 attention to a poor, old, blind wo-
man, who could not even move from one room
to another without the aid of that worthy girl,
demanded all the kindnefs flic could Ihew her;
obferving moreover, that Griffith had, in his
late journey, fhewn himfelf fo defer ving of her,
that (he was refolved on the fatisfadlion of know-
ing they were united before fee died j and that

{he

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 285

{he was, in fome meafure, the means of bringing
them together.

Fortunately, my dear friend, my engage-
ments made me residentiary in Shrew'fbury a
fufficient timt to witnefs this pieafant 'event;
but I truly believe, that had no other point de-
tained me, that one would not have fuffered me
to depart till I had attefted the felicity of William
and Kitty.

It tnuft, neverthelefs, be confefTed, that were
I in this correfpondence, addrefiing only that
part of your difpofition which fits you to " fhinfc
in courts,'v and grace a drawing-room, it Would
have been finning pad forgivenefs to carry you
into a common ale-houfe, and ififtead of leaving
it after a little refreshment, detaining you there
all night in low company; but when I look on
myfelf, as making an appeal to that part of your
character which bids your beating heart exult in
the happinefs of your hutnbkft fellow-creatures ;
amongft whom are often found, by thofe who
are not too lofty minded to look for them, in
lowly dwellings, thofe feelings of which the moft
nobk born might be proud ; I have no fyper-
cilious taunt to fear, but the moft ingenuous
thanks to expect, for thus (topping by the Way
Whenever an honeft heart is to be pourtrayed,

whether

286 GLEAN I-NGS THROUGH WALES*

whether it is the property of a princeorapeafant.
Certain I am, that your affe&ions have long
fmce dropped your tributary guinea into the am-
ber-box, -with a prayer that it may never be
empty -, that the notorious widow has, in your
grateful fancy, received your nods of refponfe
and approbation 5 that poor Davy Morgan's
tankard has been twice filled with good wifhes,
for the comforting draught he gave the half-
perifhed poll-boy ; that Will Griffith and his
friend have received your homage for their ad-
venture at the gate of Davy's prifon -, that even
the blind old Lady has had your blefllng -, and
that the young people will be long remembered
by your fympathizing heart. Adventures like
thefe, my friend, are unimportant only to thofe
magnificent triflers who think they are wife when
they are only vain ; and as much of human com-
fort proceeds from humble circumftances, we
may juftly conclude with the poet, in thofe en-
chanting lines I have fo often read to. you ; and
which are the more appreciated, inafmuch as I
loved the author, heard them recited by his own
lips a very few weeks before I loft him for ever,
and know how truly he felt, what with fuch
exquifite beauty he has defcribed : for Gold-
fmith was one of the very few poets of nature
who wrote only from his fenfations, and did ~not

facrifice

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 287

facrifice the plain honeily of genuine feelings to
decorate his rhymes :

" Yes, let the rich deride, the proud difdain,

" Thefe fimple bleffings of the lowly train,

" To us more dear, congenial to the heart,

*' One native charm, than all the glofs of art ;

«f Spontaneous joys, were nature has the play, •

" The foul adopts, and owns their firft-born fway ;

" Lightly theyfrolick o'er the vacant mind,

*' Unenvied, unmolefted, unconfin'd."

With what energy and enthufiafm did the
bard, though by no means a graceful reader, re-
peat the lafl four verfes : and on the evening I
heard them delivered, he threw down the manu-
fcript on his writing table, in his abrupt way>
faying, " in troth, this is all as true a^s if it was
(< in profe," and as I have faid before, and ihall
continue to fay to the end of my life- —

" Thefe little things are great to little man !"

Are not you of his opinion, my honoured cor-
refpondent ? I can anfwer for you in the fulleft
affirmative. Long may you live to enjoy the
joys of others '!— They are your own ; for with
you, felf-love and focial are indeed the fame. .

J.ETTER

288 GLEAKINGS THROUGH \V

.LETTER XIX.

TO THE SAME.

Y ou infift upon a copy of the lines,
which were annexed to the cc TRIUMPH OF
" BENEVOLENCE/' — a triumph which, you juftly
obferve, Jonas Hanway ought to fhare with John
Howard: and, indeed, it feems no lefs a point
of inclination than of juftice, to attempt pre-
venting the fate which commonly attends fugi-
tive poems when published fingly, for, like the
fybyl's * leaves, they are fcattered about with
the winds and tides of occurrence, and with no
difparagement to my verfes be it fpoken — fince
it is the deftiny of others, which the loftieft
mufe might be proud to own, they are as fre-
quently .found at the bottom of a trunk as in a
library 3 and often, what we in vain offer money
for to the bookfeller, we get of the paftry-cook
for nothing*

The little monumental tribute offered to Han-
way, indeed, might perhaps efcape this annihila-
lation, by the care which love of the man may
have taken of it in the private cabinets of friend-
fhip ; and, I believe, it is to be found in feveral

* So fays Lord Bolingbroke.

of

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 289

of the periodical and other publick collections
of the year in which it appeared : but, I own, I
feel a fentiment too tender for vanity, that //,
like the poem it follows, fliould ftand a chance
to "travel down the ftream of time," in a cor-
refpondence with my friend.

STANZAS,

SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF JONAS HANWAY,

AND thou bleft Hanway! long thy country's pray'r,
Exulting now in kindred worlds above ;

Co-heir of Howard! deign the mufe to hear,
Tho' angels greet thee with a brother's lore.

Far tho' remov'd from this diminifti'd earth,
A crown of glory beaming on thy brow;

The God who fix'd it there to note thy worth,
Bids the rapt lyre with all thy fpirit glow.

And ah ! behold what grateful myriads come,
While tears of ecftafy and anguifh flow ;

Their blended incenfe pouring on thy tomb,
To mark an empire's joy, an empire's woe,

Clofe to thy Howard, O congenial (hade !

On the pure column mail thy buft be plac'd ;
Though deep in ev'ry bofom is pourtray'd

Thofe holy records time fhall ne'er erafe.

The gen'rous plan that publick virtue draws,

The fair defign that charity imparts,
The genius kindling in religion's caufe,

Cherifti their champion in our faithful hearts,

VOL. I,

U

At

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.
At HAN WAY'S buft the Magdalen mall kneel,

A chaften'd votary of companion's dome * :
With pious awe, the holieft ardours feel,

And blefs the founder of her peaceful home*

And O Philanthropy ! thy heaven-rais'd fanef,
Shall oft avow the good man's zeal divine,

When bounty leads a poor and orphan train
To clafp their little a#ms round HAN WAY'S fhrin«.

Tranfcendent energies of grace fublime,

Whofe magick goodnefs work'd with double pow'r ;
Cradled the outcaft babe, who knew not crime,

And bade the {inner turn and blufh no more.

Ah! full of honours, as of years, farewell!

Thus,, o'er thy afhes, {hall Britannia figh ;
Each age, each fex, thy excellence (hall tell,

Which taught the young to live, the old to die.

LETTER XX.

TO THE SAME.

Y,
ou thank me for my poetry, with-
out being aware into what a fcrape your acknow-
ledgments have led you. The grant of one re-
queft paves the way for frefh application j I have
a refiftlefs defire to fend you more effufions of
the mufe j and fo far from being of the .general
opinion, that a little of verfe fhould be relieved
by a great deal of profe, I think the mind is
never fo well difpofed to receive poetick impref-

fion,

* The Magdalen Houte. f Foundling Hofpiul,

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES;

fion, or rather to feel imprefilon continued, as
when it has been touched and warmed already
by fubjects worthy of the lyre : or, if the emo-
tion already excited fiiould be found too folemn,
the gayer mufe may be permitted to ftep in and
foften, but not deftroy, the pathos. For thefe
reafons I have chofen this letter for the infertiori
of fome fpontaneous lines which have not yet
met your eyes, or thole of the publick. You
have -long fince, I truft, agreed to accept my
correfpondence as a literary cabinet, in which I
am permitted to place, for your amufement and
information, whatever I can find worthy of pre-
fervation : peradventure I may fometitnes fend
you articles, which you may deem neither pro-
per objects of curiofity or care; in which cafe I
muft appeal from the fe verity of your judgment
to the lenity of your candour. What I have
now to give, indeed, is, I confefs, not a little
out of time, as you may one day know, but has
the advantage of being perfectly in place ; for it
happened in this very country, in this very town,
that I felt the emotions defcribed in the following
ftanzas. You will confider me in one of my
foliloquy perambulations by the fea-fide, and
my mind ftrongly faflened on by many of thofe
bitter reflections which baffled, at intervals, all
the powers I invoked to difpel them. Placing
me in fuch a fituation, you will not deem the fen-

u 2 fations

eg2 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES*

'fations I indulged for a few moments unnatural
nor were they lefs ftrong or fmcere, for being
made as they were in verfe. Though profe has,
been deemed, perhaps falfely, the language of
truth, that divine power lofes none of her
charms by borrowing a drefs from poefy :

i.

ON the brink of the beach as I filently roam'd,
My forrows I mark'd on the wave-foftcn'd fand ;

Loud blew the wild winds, and the white billows foan/d,
And threw the fait fleeces of furf on the ftrand.

II.

Faft flow'd in the tide, yet regardlefs I ftood,
And felt the white billows advance to my feet ;

The fand-marks of forrow were loft in the flood,
And the fpray of the ftorm on my bare bofom beat*

III.

In the ftory of woe not a thought could I trace,

Not the wreck of a word — and I faid to the fea—
Ah! if thus you the ftory of woe can efface,

Your bounty might fure be extended to me I

IV.
If here I remain, on thy billow-beat fhore,

No friend near at hand in falfe pity to fave,
My woes, like their ftory, would quickly be o'er,

And both owe to thee, foaming ocean ! a grave*

V.
The billow roll'd on, when fomething within,

More ftrong than the ocean, thus feem'd to reply :
Man KO murder Jhall do— e'en in forrow 'tis fin !—

I felt the command, and obey'd with a figh *.

* An ingenious young artift, Mr. Effex, has done the author the honour to
,et this Sonnet to mufick that powerfully correfponds with the fentiment, and
has infcribed his competition to her Grace the Dutchefs of De?onftiire.

Ah,

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 293

Ah, my friend! may none of the incidents,
to which fenfibility is heir, tempt your firm mind
beyond its ftrength, even for a moment; but if
it mould, as our fouls, no lefs than our bodies,
are very cc fearfully and wonderfully made/' may
the facred order mentioned in the concluding
ftanza of thefe fea-fide verfes, imprefs you alfb
with an aweful fenfe of their being amongft the
words fpoken by GOD, and give you energies to
bear the miferies of life ! — I cannot but take
notice of the ufe of thofe great truths, which it
is the part of education to engrave on our me-
mories, while that regifter is moft favourable to
imprefiion. The moral fentiments which we re-
ceive in childhood cf grow with our growth, and
flrengthen with our ftrength:" they are fo many
lefibns for the government of the heart in which
they are fixed j every precept we are taught to
treafure up in our memories, in the eartieft pe-
riods of our lives, comes by degrees into prac-
tice, and ferves not only to afilft us to fubdue
vice, but to animate virtue, till fhe feels proud
of her difficulties. And hence I am ferioufly
led to believe, that we derive more real good,
real virtue, and real wifdom, from that little
fyflem of morals, which We gather from the firft
books that are put into our hands, after we lay
afide our horn-books and primers, than from all
our elaborate ftudies afterwards 5 and I am per-

u fuaded

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

fuaded more true heroes, ftatefmen, and which
is far better than either, honeft men, have been
formed by -£Efop, Phaedrus, Gay, and Robinfon
Crufoe, and by the hiftories which take only
half a day in reading, than were ever modelled
by thofe hiftories which demand the ftudy of
half a life •> and it has long been a doubt with me,
•whether Jack the Giant Killer has not made
more courageous officers, and better generals (I
am fure he has lefs mifchievous pnes) than,
Julius Casfar or Alexander the Great.

For myfelf, I confefs, I am indebted to the
poets, whofe maxims were imprinted on my infant
mind, for the heightening of every joy, and me-
liorating every forrow that has fmce befallen me.
And I particularly remember, that fome palTages
from Robinfon Crufoe tended more effectually
to fettle my mind to the difpenfations of Pro-
vidence, on the evening of the day in which
I wrote the verfes that accompany this letter,
than perhaps, it would have been in the power
of Seneca, Socrates, or any of the moft renowned
phiiofophers of ancient or modern days to afford
me.

•

In fine, my friend— if we expect pleafure we
muft make up our minds to pain. They are
twins, and Dr. Young is right :

fc Complain

CLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

Complain of grief! complain thou art a man I

Our only leffon is to learn to fuffer,

And he who knows not that, was Born for nothing,"

LETTER XXI.

TO THE SAMP.

JL ou may have perceived, my dear friend,
that fmce I have been taking you out of Wales,
we have been gradually taking leave alfo of our
obfervadons on that principality : in fhort, I do
not remember any other points which are gleanabk.
With refpect to the ancient and modern hiftory
of the country, it is well known to you. Hiflo-
ries, indeed, of every country are fo numerous,
that a reader is puzzled to make his felection.
But the fault to be found with alrnoft all hiftorical
and biographical writings, is not more their,
number than their bulk, which is, for the moft
part, produced by extraneous matter, not more
necefiary to the body politick than an excrefcence
to the body natural* Hiftorians indulge them-
fclves in thofe fuperfluities from various motives •»
amongft which national prejudice, and the defire,
the neceffity, or the pride, of becoming at once
a great folio or quarto author, are not the
leaft

ku 4 I have

296 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

I have often thought that all the hiftories now
extant, with refpect to the facts really necefTary
to defcribe the productions of art, or nature, or
the progrefilve rife and fall of flates, or their
fudden revolutions, might be comprefled, with-
out being crouded into, at moft, the number of
volumes allotted to the hiftory of any particular
country, according to the modern fafhion of
writing.

By way of example, let us take that of Eng-
land. Would it not be better to give the facts
in the ftrongeft and fhorteft way : offer the in-
ferences in the fame ftyle, and leave the reflec-
tions in a great meafure to the reader ? It would
at leaft be a decent compliment to his under-
flanding, and fave him money. If indeed it
could be proved, that the reflections made by
the hiftorian, Mr. A. were decifive, and would
fettle the reader's mind on the fubjecta it would
be mighty well; but unluckily the hiftorian,
Mr. B. comes upon you with feven or eight
more volumes of reflections, in which he flatly
contradicts the hiftorian, Mr. A. and throws
the reader in a ftrait betwixt two. Now, as no
man tumbles into a difficulty, without accept-
ing any help that is offered him to get out of it,
the poor reader feeks the aid of the hiftorian,
Mr. C. who refutes the reafoning of the other

two

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 297

two with fo much good writing, that after the
like quantity of good reading, the iludent wifhes
to fix his faith on this middle man, in the hope
of going fafe and . fure between the two ex-
tremes.

Unfortunately, however, fome judicious friend
or other recommends to him as a better guide
than either of the three, that admirable hifto-
rian, Mr. D. who, with great force of language,
gives the lie direct to all that went before him,
and either awes or frightens his readers into a
belief of him only. And here perhaps he might
fix his biographical creed, but that another
friend puts into his hand the excellent work of
the hiflorian, Mr. E. in whom the fpirit of
contradiction is no lefs fulminating again/I the
other betrayers of the truth. By the greateft
good fortune, however, he meets in the hiflo-
rian, Mr. F. a ftrict conformity of opinion with
Meffrs. A. and B. diflenting only in a few
points. He very naturally wifhes, therefore, to
come to a fort of compromife with thefe three
hiitorians, by dividing his faith between them :
but, alas ! while he is making up his mind to
this, he is told of a production fuperior to all
that ever went beforej or fhall come after —
even the work of that delectable hiftorian, Mr.
G. an author, he is afTured^ who carries the

energie$

2C$ GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

-energies of convi&ion in every page, and who
does not merely diflance his competitors in the
biographical career, but is to keep them out of
the reader's fight for ever. He fets cc doggedly
" down/' as Johnfon calls it, to this grand under-
taking, and reads it with an eagernefs propor-
tioned to his expectation of being made eafy for
life on the artick of his historical faith : he is
fafcinated with the ftyle, the characters, and the
picturefque ernbellifhments, and with a winter's
hard reading gets to the end of the book -, but
by no means to the end of his labours -, for, in
the courfe of the performance, he finds fo many
reafons to diibelieve what he before credited,
and to credit what others taught him to difbe-
lieve, that confufion is confounded, and Chaos
is, indeed, come again. What lhall he do
next? Much fludy, and many- authors have
made him almofl mad.

But in this diffracted ftate he finds relief only
in trying to eject the mafs of contrary opinions
from his head, and to try that fcience, no lefs
hard in literature than in love, to forget. He
is reduced to the ridiculous neceffity of making
a memorandum not to remember !

Perhaps he now gives himfelf a fummer's re-
cefs from reading hitlories, but is taken by fur-

prife

GLEANINGS TIIPvOUGH WALES; 299

pr ife in the winter ; to enrich which there is put
forth in weekly numblers fo compleat a hiftory,
on an entire new plan, and by a Jotiety of gentle*
meny amongft whom are thofe well-known hif-
toria^. Meffrs. H. I. J. K. L. M. N. O.
and federal other illuftrious perfonages of the
Alphabet, that as it is to be paid for imper-
ceptibly, and to anfwer the great end of fixing
his hiflorical belief on an immoveable bafis, he
muft needs become both purchafer and reader.
Amongft fo many counfellors it is to be fup-
pofed there muft be wifdom, efpecially as moft
of them are marked out to the publick by fome
honorary diftlnctions $ fuch as A. M. D. D.
LL. D. F. R. S. &c. &c. But before the
numbers are half completed, he makes a dif*
covery not a little mortifying to a man who has
been at fuch pains to get at the truth ; namely,
that this very gentlemanly aflbciation are airy
nothings, to whom the publifher has given a
local habitation and a name, to confer plaufibi-
lity on a catchpenny performance. And now,
for the firft time, he makes an approach towards
comfort, by feeling his indignation excited
againft the fabricators of thefe fplendid nonen-
tities.

At length, having tried all the hiftorians from
great A to awferfand, he perceives there is no

cfcaping

300 GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES.

cfcaping from the puzzle but by felefting his
own fads, forming his own conclufions, and
putting a little truft in his own reafon and
judgment.

For all which confiderations, I mall not pre-
tend to point out to you another Hiftory of
England and Wales. I fhall limply obferve,
that old Caradock's book, obfolete as now it may
be thought, feems to me to have been the grand
fource from whence all fucceeding biographers
have drawn their mofl ufeful information.

" Truth, they fay, lies in a well."

Into this hiflorical well of Caradock, authors
have let down their empty buckets far more
than a century, and drawn them up full; but
though they have drank largely, they have fel-
dom had the gratitude or honefty to confefs to
whom they were indebted.

Thus, my valuable friend, we have travelled
together irregularly, indeed, and without any
fettled directions; but I truft not unpleafantly,
nor wholly unprofitably, and for a coniiderable
time, over one of the moft delightful countries
in the univerfe. In our little tour, we have
been diligent to add a fheaf to the copious har-
veft already carried home to the great florehoufe

of

GLEANINGS THROUGH WALES. 301

of the Britifh empire, which ought to be proud
of the bright and beautiful appendage which we
have been gleaning. We have picked up fome-
thing for the head and for the heart. And I
truft you would join my regrets in bidding
Cambria adieu, did you not alfo join me in the
hope that we fhall one day fee the original of
the pi&ure, whofe principal features I have co-
pied -y and fee it together. Meantime, I cannot
better take my leave of it than by confirming,
with the moft grateful fatis faction, the following
juft and fummary account : that the Welch are
very hofpitable, and the people in general, very
obliging to ftrangers ; that they are willing to
tell every thing that belongs to their country,
ready to Ihew all that is worth feeing, and to
give you hearty invitations to refreih you by the
way. In a word, they receive you well in their
houfes, treat you very handfomely, and leave you
nothing to defire while you are their gueft.

Farewell, then, to this gentle country, and
farewell to you,

LETTER

302 GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND*

LETTER XXII.

TO THE SAME.

JL HE effect of contraft is univerfally con-
fefTed, and its power could not be well called
forth more impreffively on the eye, the heart,
and the imagination, than by a rapid tranfition
'from the beautiful mountains of North and South
Wales, to the everlafting flats of Holland ;
from the exquifite woodlands and vallies" of
Brecknock, and the fublimities of Snowden and
Pltolimmon, to the uniform levels of land and
water, which fo juftly entitle the greater part of
the territory of the Dutch to the epithet amphi-
bious. I write to you amidft profpefts and places
fo very different from thofe I have recently left
and defcribed, that it almoft feems as if I were
addrefiing you from a new world* The paufe,
however, which has been allowed to my com-
munications, more than fix months having
clapfed fmce I lad wrote, will evince that I do
not prefume to give you new pictures of new
people and new places, till I have given time to
fmilh the drawings, and prefent to you tolerable
likenefles. In a word, the flop that has hap-
pened in our correfpondence may ferve to ftiew,

that

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND. 303-

that I hold my purp.ofe of continuing to be a re-
fidentiary traveller here as well as elfewhere ;
and that I .defign to glean the Continent in
•the fame diligent and deliberate way, that I
have gleaned particular parts of our beautiful
ifland.

A French totirift gives his readers the follow-
ing curious reafon for not making any remarks
upon Holland. cc I can give you," fays he,
" very little that is new refpeding a country,
which, in truth, has no refemblance to any
other i but of which a fufficient knowledge may
be gained, without having feen it at all, for the
little induction it can fupply."

Now this very circumftance of a country re-
fembling no other, is the rnoft convincing one
that could be given, that it mufl afford the
greateft novelty of obfervation ; and fo far from
a truth is it, that he who has not feen or read of
it can have a competent idea of it, that I do n8t
believe there is a country in the whole world
that is lefs to be guefied at, or that is more fer-
tile of curious, amufmg, or inftructive remarks.
Much has certainly been faid of it: much re-
mains to be faid. It has yielded plentiful crops,
but it will ftill yield no fcanty gleanings. Re-
member this is faid on the experience of half a
2 year's

304 GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

year's refidence in the Republick, before I even
begin to write down what "I have feen, felt, or
underflood: and during this fpace of time I
have examined what others aflert with no lefs
zeal than induflry, and with exactly the view
that led me to infpect all the publications re-
Ipeding Wales, namely, to render my own the
better, the wifer, and the more entertaining by
their afliftance, whenever it could be called in
to ftrengthen, enrich, or illuftrate — a view which
will guide and govern me to the end of my jour-
neyings, even though I mould purfue them to the
end of the earth.

The ancient hiflory of this country is liable to
the complaint I brought againft that of England ;
being fwelled from oclavos to quartos, from
quartos to folios, and running from five volumes
to five-and-twenty per work. Being firmly per-
fuaded, that the eiTence of all this may be con-
iblidated in at moft five -and- twenty pages, I truft
you will accept of what follows on the rife and
progrefs of this fingular country, and its origi-
nal inhabitants. It will at lead fave you a great
deal of unprofitable reading, and give you in a
fmgle morning or evening, as much information
as I have been able to collect from a month's
ftudy. Nor will it, I truft, prove unamufing to

one

CLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

one who attends fo much as you do to the in*
fancy of men and things.

About a century> then, before the common
ara, the Cimbrians and Tutons fuddenly expa-
triated themfelves from the Cherfonefus, now
known by the name of Jutland, and the ides of
Conan, at prefent denominated Denmark. A
violent and unexpected inundation, as it is faid,
but more probably too excefiive a population for
their native country to fupport, or perhaps, an
ambition to eftablifh another, induced this fingu-
lar emigration. Be that as it may, men, women,
and children, of all ages and defcriptions, bacle
an everlafting adieu to the places of their birth ; and
like a torrent overflowing its banks,- they carried
away with them almoft every thing, and every body
in their path; for divers other nations incited by
their example, and, perhaps, inftigated alfo by
fimilar motives, joined them on the way, ^nd
fpeedily afTociating, entered into the fpirit of this
romantick expedition.

Amongft the perfons whom thefe rovers met
with in their paflage, were the anceftors of the peo-
ple, in whofe country I have now begun to make
my hiftorical refearches.

The old Batavians were the rnore ready to en-
VOL. i, X tcr

306 CLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

ter themfelves volunteers in this adventure,* as
their own country, ever more or lefs at the
mercy of the mighty waters, was, at that par-
ticular moment, invaded by an influx of the
German Ocean, which threatened not only their
goods and habitations, but their lives. The
Roman hiftory fhews us the ravages which thefe
wandering multitudes committed in Spain and
in Gaul, and how, for a length of time, they
triumphed over all the generals which the impe^
rial city fent to oppofe them, till that memora-
ble epoch, when Marius exterminated with fire
and fword the innumerable fwarms that covered
the provinces.

The countries from whence thefe fclf-banifh -
cd banditti came, remained utterly depopulated ;
nor was it till feveral ages after that another fet
6f emigrants feized the fame country, and rofe
by degrees a comparatively happy and fuccefsful
nation, on the very ground where fo ma'ny
thoufands of former adventurers had perimed,
the victims of their ambition. The Cimbrian
nation, till that period, appeared to be anni-
hilated. Tacitus informs us, that in his time
there remained only the memory of their en-
terprize.

'The Batavians inhabited the banks of the
3 Adrian a,

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND. 307

Adriana, now called the Ader, a river which
runs between Hefle and the country of Waldec.
Thefe people, long harafTed by their avaricious
and ambitious enemies, refolved to explore a
more peaceable fituation. The great ifle of
Rhine, as it was then called, and which, as I
have already obferved, had loft its inhabitants,
was the place to which thefe new adventurers
directed their fteps. Encouraged and conducted
by the chiefs of their religion, they landed un-
der favour of a prosperous voyage, on that pare
of the ifland which had been deferted -} and fads-
fied with a country that had been forfaken by its
original inhabitants, they determined upon fet-
dement. The plan was attended with fuch
fuccefs, that, although we find in fubf<?quent
ages various other people fixing there alfo, thefe
new colonifts alone rendered the land they oc-
cupied famous, and it was; thefe only who gave

it the name of Batavia.

. ,

A fhort defcription of this ifland of Rhine, as
it was anciently called, is neceffary ; and the
beft appears to be this ; that it is a country
detached from the Continent by the Rhine. The
right arm of the river (till preferves its name,
and according to general opinion, rolled its ra-
pid waves into the bofom of the ocean from the
place now called Katwick. The left arm is

x 2 de-

308 GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND-

denominated the Waahl, whofe flreams prefently
join thofe of the Meufe, which alfo finds its way
to the fea by another vaft opening. Hence it
appears that Batavia, now the United Provinces,
extended about twenty-feven leagues in length,
and feven in breadth. Many refpedtable authors
contend for a greater fcope. Some infift that
the left arm of the river, which loft itfelf at
Katwick, fubdivided into feveral other branches,
forming a variety of lakes, the moft confiderable
of which was called Flero, and a duller of fmall
iflands, of which the moft important was that of
Schilling.

It is certain then, that what was anciently
called Batavia, included a very great part of the
provinces of Guelderland, Holland, and Utrecht.
At the fame time it feems to be an opinion,
wholly unfounded, that the Batavians were long
content with the circumfcribed limits which
were bounded by the left arm. of the Rhine.
They pafled into what was then called Belgic
Gaul, between the Meufe and the Waahl. , They
foon pofiefled themfelves of the whole of Guel-
derland and Holland, and fpread themfelves
over the delightful country now denominated
the dutchy of Cleves. There is reafon to be-
lieve they carried their eftablifhments even as
far as Zealand, at leaft fo much of it as was then

habitable :

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND. 309

habitable : and, in fhort, it is manifcft, that the
people which the Romans called, perhaps a little
confufedly, Batavians, formed by far the greater
part of the ancient inhabitants of the United
States of Holland,

The people called Freezelanders made their
appearance on the ftage, about the fame time,
and acted a no lefs important fcene in the great
drama of politicks. They poffefTed the pro-
vinces of Freezeland, Overyffel, and parts adr
jacent,

;

You >vill join my exclamation about the pro-
grefs of this extraordinary race of powers !—*
Originally a horde of miferable wanderers quit-
ting one hofpitable foil for another ; choofmg
an apparently impracticable fpot, and attaching
themfelves to it, as if proudly determined to
make the barren ground, and a world under
water, fruitful even to abundance. It is fcarcely
to be credited thefe are the people, who on a
trembling quagmire founded a more noble city,
in defpite as it were of nature herfelf, than the
imperial Czar : for who that has feen Amfter-
dam, but muft give it the preference to Peterf*
burgh ? There is true fublimity in the idea of
iupporting one of the moft magnificent cities in
Europe, on rafts of timber placed upon an enor-

x mous.

310 GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

mous bog : Matter of fad 'is compelled to bor-
row ftrength from imagination to believe fuch a
miracle, wrought by the toil, induftry, and per-
feverance of human beings ! And indeed reafon
feems to ftruggle againil her own convi&ion,
when me fandions every word of the following
apoftrophe :- — "How wonderful!" fays the au-
thor of it, "that in a country without a flone or
a pebble, there fnould be flone edifices the moft
magnificent! Without forefts, or an oak tree
(two little woods excepted) the Dutch navy
Ihould be the fecond in the world ! that without
arable land they mould fupply half of Europe
with corn, and with a tra£ of country free-
ly larger than an Englifh county, they mould
raife men and money to make themfelvcs of
importance in the eyes of the firft power in
Chriftendom !"

V - ' .

How often, my friend, when I have feen the
truth of thefe obfervations, have I called to mind
a mod beautiful remark of the excellent Dr.
Johnfon, on the united effecls of refolution, in-
duftry, and perfeverance ! " The power offer-
fifting is indeed aflonifhing, fmce all the per-
formances of human art, at which we look with
praife or wonder, are inftances of the refiftlefs
force of perfeverance. It is by this that the
quarry becomes a pyramid, and that diftant

countrie s

CLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND. 31 j

countries are united by canals. If a man were to
compare the firft effect of a fingle ftroke of
the pick-axe or fpade, with the general defign
and laft effect, he would be, overwhelmed by a
fcnfe of their difproportion -, yet thefe petty
operations, inceffandy continued, at laft fur-
mount the greateft difficulties, and mountains
are levelled, and oceans bounded, by the flender
force of human beings !"

The people we are confidering ftrongly Jlluf-
trate thefe fentiments, more particularly where ir
is recollecled, that their fucceffors are almofl the
only race now in Europe, who have preferved,
amidft all the convulfion# of paffipij and of
power, their liberty and their country.

: . \.»f>i» f\QCCl <j tT5VO«0:"i

The beft manner in which I have ever
this honourable truth explained, is to reflet- that
the flate itfelf was founded on liberty' and relir
gion, that it was reared up by induftry and ecov
nomy, and has flourifhed by its commerce and
fituatlon. The bigotted maxims of Philip the
Second, the introduction of the inquifition, and
the erecting fourteen new bifhopricks in the Low
Countries ; the unrelenting rigour of Cardinal
Granville, and the fucceeding cruelty of the
Duke of Alva, together with the council of
twelve, called the Council of Blood, and the
x 4 execution

GLEANINGS fHROVGH HOLLAND.

execution of Counts Egmont and Horn, were
the caufes which drove the people to throw off
the yoke, and gave rife to the union of Utrecht.
Per/evering valour, joined to the political aflift-
ance of other powers, has been the means of
prefer ving their independence; while the de-
cline of the Venetian navy has made them the
common carriers of Europe ; and the wars of
Flanders, and fituation of Holland, have con-
fpired to render it what it now is. The Dutch,
likewife, by the fuccefs of their arms againft
the Portuguefe in India, and by their treaties
with the natives, in procefs of time, drew the
whole trade of India from Lifbon, which was
before the ftaple of the trade to the eaft.

Holland, moreover, is moft admirably fituatecj
for the commerce of the Baltick, which includes
Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Ruflia, Poland,
and the North coaft of Germany j while they
fend merchandize into the interior parts of the
empire, and Auftrian Netherlands, by thofc
watery mines of wealth to them, the Maes, the
Rhine* and the Scheld. — Thus you perceive the
greatnefs, and much of the vigour of this coun-
try has arifen from a wonderful concurrence of
favourable circumftances — from a long courie of
time — from the confluence of ftrangers, driven
either by perfecution, or invited by the. credit

of

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND. £13

of their government— from the cheapnefs of ,
carnage, by the medium of their canals— from
the low interefl of money, and dearnefs of land,
which confeqiiently turn fpecie into trade — from
particular traffick carried on at particular places,
each town valuing itfelf for fome Ipecifick branch
of trade : as Delft for the Dutch porcelain, Sar-
dam for fhip- building, Rotterdam for the Scotch
and Englifh trade ; Amfterdam for that of the
Straits, Spain, and the Eaft-Indies -, and the
whole province for the herring fimery. They
are alfo indebted much to their intenfe applica-
tion to their navy, to their vaft nurferies for
their failors, and to their oriental acquifitions.
Such are the circumftances that have confpired
to make this little Republick the admiration of

the wqrU.

'> sh^y

When I next write to you, we will refume our
fketches of the ancient inhabitants, the founders
and forefathers of this fingular country : parti-
cularly in their exercifes, cuftoms^ dre|Tcs,-and
habitations; in all which we fhall difeover a
much ftronger refemblance to our own progeni-
tors, than all our good countrymen may be dif-
pofed to allow. Affuredly, my worthy compa-
triots ought to be the moft grateful people to the
Great Fountain of all good things of any upon
the face of the earthy for the Hay-at-home part

of

314 GLEANINGS THROUGH HOX,lAKD.

of them, which is always the majority, cannot
be perfuaded that he has imparted the light o{
his countenance, or fed with his replenifhing hand*
any of their fellow-creatures in a nearly equaj
degree. The happy ifland they inhabit has alone,
they fuppofe, enjoyed his favour j and to tell them
that there are in any other parts of the univ-erfc^
as bright a fky,as generous afoil,as wholefome laws,
as beauteous profpects, hearts as brave, hands as
ingenious, or heads as wife, would, be confiderecj
as amongft thofe liberties which travellers, like;
poets, are allowed to take with truth.

I mud own the inflammable parts of my nature
are apt to take fire, when I hear my friend John
Bull thus drefs out for univerfal admiration, and
homage, his idol Old England, and, applying a,
verfe of Pope, I cannot but alk —

" Has GoJ, thoii fool ! work'd folely for thy good ?"

And I am convinced, my friend, amongft the beft
advantages of travel, mould be reckoned its en-,
abling us to <c vindicate the ways of God,JJ by
firll difcovering and then defcribing the impar-
tiality of his beneficence, not only as to his crea-
tures, but as to the climates appointed for their
refidence -, and thus proving that he is, " an equal
God, the God of all."

ADIEU.

BETTER

CLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

LETTER XXIII.

TO THE SAME.

Y.
ou juftly charge me with a digreflion in

laft letter, and at the fame time honourably
acquit me. In giving you the hiftory of the
prefent flourifhing Hate of the commerce and
its caules, I have a little anticipated that part of
my information, which mould have been gleaned
afterwards : but the obfervations appeared ap-
pofite to the place where they are introduced,
and I think none of their effects can be loft by
your being in poflefiion of them a few pages

fooner.

. tp'^jfK/ ^:jru{, &uW '.-bo:>

Let us now take up the tangled thread of the
early hiftory of the Batavians. Originally Ger-
mans, they partook of their cuftoms, manners,
and language, frequently their names, and com-
monly their interefts. They were, as Yorick
would fay of them, " of the firft order of fizcs/*
their limbs mufcular, their moulders broad, their
eyes blue ; yet their countenances fierce : better
^ble to endure the rigours of cold than the
languors of heat; penury than carej the fatigues
of pleafure in the chace, and the pleafures of
ambition, or of plunder in the toils of war, than

the

316 GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

the labours of agriculture and domeflick economy.
They could more eafily fupport famine itfclf
than the corrodings of forrow, from which, in-
deed, they were pretty fecure while there was
enough left on the face of the earth to fuftain its
inhabitants. The old Batavians, like the Arabs,
could never want what others could fupply.
The fpontaneous good which nature refufed to
bellow, ready cut and dried to their hands, in
the country they had now made their own, they
fought and feized upon without any diftinftion
of meum et tuum in another. And, indeed, what-
ever could nqt be had without trouble at home,
they ravilhed abroad ; the law of might over-
coming right, being the only one they acknow-
ledged: and I fancy, my friend, this fummary
code was pretty univerfally adopted in all the
countries of the globe, till the favage of our own
fpecies, or man in a (late of nature, and as
the caftle-builder, Roufleau, calls it a ftate of
equality, was taught a very different leflfon of
jurifprudence. Natural man, and man made
focial, no doubt, are different forts of perfons j but
with all the boafted refinements, civilizations^ and
meliorations of the latter, what a favage he muft
(till be to require fo many thoufan,d volumes,
afts of parliament, ftatutes in little, and flatutes at
large, to keep the ftill unfubdued part of hi?
nature commonly honcft! Did ever the wildeft

courfer

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND. 317

courfcr of the woods 5 did ever beaft of prey
require fo much training, trammelling, muzzling,
chaining, coaxing, correcting, wheedling fpurn-
ing, whipping, goading and haltering ? And
after all, bound hand and foot, and tongue and
teeth as he is, he continues to get loofe from his
keepers, the lawyers, and fitap, fcratch, and bite
moft furioufly. Is not this fo felf-evident a truth
that before one man dare truft another; one
friend enter into negociations of any kind with the
denizen of his bofom ; though he may have been
nourilhed with the fame milk, and been rocked
in the fame cradle — muft not the aforefaid keepers
double lock and bolt, and . bar, and chain every
door and crevice of the connexion they are about
to form ? and how often does one or the other,
in defpite of all this caution, find a loop-hole to
creep out at ? Still more, can the gentleft of gentle
creatures, delightful woman herfelf! formed as
fiie is by love, and for love, can even me, who
feems to wifh or require only bonds of filk, and
fetters of rofes, thrown about her by Cupid, as
if in fporti alas and alas, and alas a thoufand
times I can this fair being, with any fafe^ty,
truft, or be trufted in fettling that tender point,
which is to determine, by an honourable union,
the weal or woe of her life, till the wrecks of
our original nature are tied together by contracts,
fettlements, provifos, conditions^ &c. &c. left
6 any

318 GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

any one of the cc nice dependencies," of two
efpoufed hands and hearts fhould be invaded and
broken ? A domefticated tyger, whofe nature it
is expected may break out, is lefs watched, lefs
dreaded, and lefs manacled than a modern fine
gentleman, or — but remember I am \vhifpering
this — a modern fine lady.

You will have reafon t6 accufe me of a fecond
digreflion. Forgive me. I own thefe poor old
Batavians are fadly interrupted, but you are to
confider a Gleaner as a fad wandering being, and
always {looping to fee what he can pick up ; one
ear of corn lying here, another there, it is im-
poflible he can go ftrait forward, you know, and
I once again warn you not to expect it. Nor is
it to be defired. My fheaf, which I mean to
interweave and bind with flowers of all kinds, and
of all countries, would want variety, and only
prove fit for cc daws to peck at." I am ambitious
to add fweetnefs to ftrength.

Even the fports of the old Batavians partook of
their averfion to labour. Thofe games, which
flattered with the hope of being acquired with
little difficulty and lefs attention, were in confor-
mity to their difpofitional indolence, which they
fometimes fuffered to put at hazard the only
thing they truly valued— their liberty. They

confumed

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

confumed their excefs of leifure in feafts, carou-
fals, and deep — a long trance of the latter being
often necefiary to prevent the -effects of the other,
as what they ufually began in good fellowlhip
ended in bloodfhed.

How different, I cannot but repeat, from the
race of the fame men in progreflive ages ! How
different even from thofe who in the age imme-
diately fucceeding the firft fettlers became, as in
our own ancient hiftory, often the formidable
enemies, and often the powerful auxiliaries of
Rome ! And yet how widely removed from their
hardy, induftrious, indefatigable pofterity, the
late; and prefent pofleflbrs of all that proportion
of the globe which appertains to the Dutch
nation !

In taking a comparative view of ancient and
modern Holland, we cannot but be ftruck with
great aftonifhment' at the contrail. When the
provinces were in their infancy— when a little
colony of emigrating Batavians made their elec-
tion of a part of the world often chofen and as
often renounced, as an impracticable foil, the
wants of nature were accommodated by nature
herfelf, with all the facility thefe her indolent
children required. They found the waters -teem-
ing with fifh, and the land covered with cattle ;

no

320 GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND*

no cities, arid few towns ; the ancient German!
regarding the firft as large> and the latter as fo
many fmall prifons. The camp was at once their
refidence in peace and war, and a field was,
luckily for their fupine tempers, covered with
temporary habitations, without much toil. They
could pitch an hundred tents in lefs time than
they could conftrucl: one regular houfe, and could
moreover move them at will from one province
to another : while many preferred the bare
ground, whofe carpet was fpread ready to re-
ceive them, to any other dwelling-place, living
like the beafts they fed on, as commoners of
nature,

" Their footflool earth, their canopy the flues !'*

Long after their primary fettlement, when there
were about ten colonies within and without the
ifland of the Rhine, each colony cantoned in
the impaflable moors rather than fuffer the
fatigue of moving farther. Were it poflible for
their hiftorian Tacitus to come from that
" bourne whence no traveller returns/' and take
a furyey of thofe provinces he wrote about in
his life-time, and which I am now gleaning for
my friend — were he to obferve the then impafla-
ble moraffes that extended their dreary wafts
from province/ to province, and to furvey the
then ufurping and ufelefs waters which inundated

the

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND. 321

the drooping, the almoft drowning country,
•now converted into a noble republick, embellifhed
with fome of the mod magnificent towns in
Europe, thickly interfperfed with beautiful
villages :

" The flow canal, the yeliow-bloffom'd vafe,
*' The billow-tufted bank, the gliding fail,
'* The crouded mart, the cultivated plain :'*

Were he, my friend, to have been the compa-
nion of my journey through Holland, North
and South, and traverfed with me the fine coun-
try of Gueldres — of all which I fliall write you
in their place — and yet more, were he to behold
thefe very provinces inhabited by the defcen-
dants of thofe very Batavians, who, though
endued with every power to fuffer every extre-
mity and to overcome it, refufed either to toil or
Jpin ; now filled with fwarming multitudes,
whofe characteriftick is perfevering induftry, and
who, while they have brought every branch of
commerce, perhaps to its higheft perfection,
have not been unmindful of the elegant arts ; he
would fcarcely be able to find a trace of bis Bata-
vians, except in the unaltered feature of heredi-
tary courage.

In the drefs of the ancient pofleflbrs of this

country, we find a refemblance to that of the

VOL, T. Y ancient

3*2 «LEAN1N<*5 THROUGH HOLLAND,

- ancient Britons. Children of nature, they de«
pcnded on their common parent to furnim them
as well with raiment as with food ; the fkin of a
bead fattened with a wooden peg or a pointed
thorn, was wrapped about them. Their chiefs
had, by way of diftinftion, a veil made of the
fame, and fo tight, that they feemed as if cafed
in iron. The women were difcriminated only
by the addition of a thin veil, bordered with
purple. Moft of them difcovered from blifsful
ignorance of harm what the knowledge of the
world, in its poliihed flate, from confcioufnefs
conceals. The arms, neck, and bofom, were
always difplayed. Their hair, though naturally
of an ardent brown, was deepened by red ochre.
They formed their trefles into feveral large
braids, fattened at the top of the head with
field flowers, not unlike the prefent mode, but
they fornetimes fuffered the hair to' flow in all the
liberty and abundance of nature. The men's;
beards were permitted to grow till they reached
the waiftj but on the downfal of an illuftrious
enemy, flain by their own hands, they were cut
fhort both before and behind.

When they began to domefticate, and could
be prevailed on to prefer a fixed refidence to a
moving tent, they built a local habitation where -
cver they found the cleareft fountain, the moft

fhady

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND. 323

fhady thicket, or moft fruitful meadow, but al-
ways on an eminence either natural or artificial,
to guard them from the inundations common to
the country the/ had chofen. They were, of
courfe, long ignorant of the innumerable arts by
which civil fociety is embellimed and advanced.
Even when they began a little to civilize, the
care of providing for the neceflaries of life—
their only care — was lefc to the flaves, the freed
men, or the women.

Their education was fuited to the flmplicity of
their purfuits. Natural courage was taught as
the firft of virtues that ought to be cherifhed ;
and a dexterous defence of the body from the at-
tacks of an enemy as the beft of arts. Perfonal
agility, intrepidity in combat, and contempt of
death, were the three grand points to be ac-
quired. Their conftitutions, fo fluggifti in times
of peace, took fire at the very thoughts of war.
They would traverfe the deeped fnows, and,
under arms, would plunge through the moft tur-
bulent rivers without even breaking their ranks.
Their horfes were neither fwift nor flrong ; and
being accuftomed always to run a tilt in the
ftraight line, without having the fmalleft idea of
the military evolutions, of fo much importance
in the modern, art of war, their principal force
and dependence was, of oourfe, in their infan-

y 2 try.

324 GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

try* When they were arranged in regular order*
of battle, they placed their wives and children in
the rear, and always certain groupes of both
within view, as well to fuftain and excite the
valour of the combatants as to afTift the wounded,
and to animate the whole army by intermingled
fhouts, cries, and acclamations. It was common
to fee wives, mothers, daughters, and lovers,
rum amidft the thickeft dangers of the bloody
field, carry off the dead, fuccour the dying, and
fuck the reekin'g wounds of an hufband, father,
lover, or brother. Actions of this kind are
mentioned in our own hiflory as great and glori-
ous inftances amongft individuals -, but in the firil
approaches to the importance of this little repub-
lick, fuchheroickatchievements were common to
the fex, and hundreds ofBoadicea's and Eleonora's
were to be feen performing wonders in the fame
army : nay, it was a part of their office to purfue
and overtake the fugitives, make them return to
the charge, and either contribute to victory, or en-
counter death*

You may eafily believe, my friend, that the
effect of fuch eye-witnefles of glory and difgrace
would be great : you feel the ftropg and lively
intereft it muft have produced on the minds both
of the timid and the brave ; that it muft have
converted cowards into men., men into heroes,

heroes

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND. 325

heroes into conquerors ! And you will, at the
fame time allow, that we mall in vain look for
equal enthufiafm, equal prowefs, amongft thofe
modern mercenaries who fell their very blood to
an unknown matter, in whofe fervice they en-
gage with bis enemies for daily bread. Inftead of
taking the field like the bold Batavian, at the
command of the generous, at lead of the glow-
ing paffions, inftead of fighting an enemy, and
embracing a friend on the fame heart- felt princi-
ple, the hired foldier moves on mechanically to
action, without any other idea than to obey. In
this automaton ftate, he is conducted by his
mafter, fro tcmpcre, to conqueft or defeat — Of
the former he mares not, neither defires to mare
the glory ; nor of the other does he incur or
feel any part of the infamy. Few are the real,
fcarcely any the adequate reafons, which juftify
the horrors of publick war: but the mercenary
is left without the fhadow of an apology. It is
not a neceflary for his life, becaufe that might
be fuflained by converting the (Irength which is
demancjed of him in battle to the arts of peace :
his plunder is but a robbery licenced by the arti-
cles of war, and the murder which he commits
in action is a butchery in cool blood. Neither
pf rfon nor property, king nor country, bid him
unftieath the fword or fire the mufket, fpring the
inine or dig the trenches : be is an inveterate

Y 3

326 GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

bravo, a common ftabber to any man that bids
up to his price : that done, his matter has but to
fay — <c Look, ye flaves — thofe are my enemies,
whom 1 have hired you to maflacre : kill as
many of them as you can." On a fimilar com-
pact, in perhaps the next campaign he turns his
arms againft the fide he before efpoufed, and goes
on in this manner letting himfelf out firft to one
leader, then to another.

In thefe reflections you fee your correfpon-
dent's opinion of mercenary troops. I dare fay
it is your's, for you can never approve of a
man's ftanding to be murdered, or to murder
with no better reafon than that it is his trade,
and that his bloody work is paid for. War is at
beft an Hydra calamity ! Every man has fome
country, Tome chief, fome relatives. If he muft
take up arms let it be for thefe. At any rate let
him fight on fomething like a principle 5 but the
mercenary's name points out his infamy. But it
is faid a mercenary troop is often brave. Would
it were in a better caufe ! Yet how I argue ! Were
your life endangered, my friend, and were the
danger to threaten it in a diftant land, far— far
from your friends — far from me, I would be-
come a mercenary myfelf, and fight for an hun-
dred different pay-mafters to reward the man who
would fave you ! Adieu.

LETTER

6IJEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

3*7

LETTER XXIV,

TO THE SAME.

the article of marriage I have to
inform you, that the ancient JJatavians qonfi-
dered it as infamous to conned themfelves in
that ftate before each party had reached the
twentieth year. The conduct of the courtfhip
even to its final fettlement, was ever in the pre-
fence of the principals of the two families about
to enter into the alliance. This might make love
very moral, but fureiy not very entertaining. In
the nuptial offerings the bridegroom always took
the lead. They ufually confifted of a yoke of
oxen, 4 war-horfe caparifoned, a fword, a lance,
and a buckler ; ftrange love-gifts you will think
for a bridal prefent 1 But thefe warlike fymbols
taught, or were intended to teach, the bride tp
elevate herfelf on every great occafion above the
imputed weaknefs of her fex, to partake the la-
tours and dangers, as well as the laurels, of her
lord, in war and in peace, in life and in death*
Having thus armed the fair warrior, the bride
prefented her offerings which refembled thofe of
her hufband, whom fhe accoutred for the field
with equal gallantry, that each might defend the
other. Very Gothick to be fure j but perhaps
after all nearly as good-fenfical as the prelimi-

Y 4 nariet

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND

haries of toys and trinkets, filks and fattinsj
with which a modern Britifh bride, or even a
modern Batavian' lady — of whom in due time— is
loaded.

As the new-married couple could cafily pro-
cure fubiiftence in "their flock-herds, and fruits
of the earth, and game of their forefts j for part
of their territory was then well wooded •, befides
their corn-cakes, and a kind of beer, which the
Batavians in the moft early times were wont to
make from their grain, there was little fear of
wanting an healthy offspring, which, however
numerous, knew no other bread than that of the
mother. Then, my friend, Refinement, a very
puny and puling babe, and of a very delicate
conftitution, was but juft born, and had not
amongft other unnatural ideas, fuggefted that of
committing the pledges of our love to the boforrj
of a ft ranger.

Their funerals partook of the fame fimplicity.
The corpfe of a diftinguifhed perfon was burned
upon a kind of pyre, always ' with their arms (a
marriage gift), and very often with the horfc
that had carried them to battle. A verdant hil-
lock, a grafly eminence, at once covered and
marked the fpot where their alhes were depofited.
The natural affections, too, were in their fimpli-

city— *

CLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND. 329

city — of courfe in, their energy. The women
honoured the deceafed with fuch tears as refine-
ment feldom fheds, and breathed over the grave
with fuch fighs as fafhion rarely heaves ; while
the men mourned their dead by more filent for-
row, and no lefs profound regret.

' In regard to religion, the ancient Batavian and
the ancient Briton had fomewhat of fimilitude.
Through all the deep difguifes of fable, which
in barbarous ages have always disfigured the
truth, one may difcover among the Germans, as
among the Celtes and the Gauls, the idea of one
God Supreme, the principal, and the preferva-
tion, and the providence of all. But in the moll
remote time we do not find thefe people had
either temples or idols, holding it equally pre_
fumptuous, profane, and abfurd, to attempt re-
frefenting or enclofing the Deity. They rufhed
into the thickeft forefts in fearch of certain trees
they confidered to be facred, under whofe made
they flew their victims, and too frequently,
Druid-like, mingled the ftreams of human blood
with thofe of the animals they facrificed. It
does not feem probable, if we except the fun,
moon, and fire, that they had any of the divini-
ties common to the Romans. Their Woden was
different from the Qden of the Scandinavians,
who at firft confidered this famous perfonage as a

hero.

330 CLEANIXGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

hero, then worfhipped him as a God. Woden*
Oden, and God, were perhaps names fynonimous,
to fignify Deity.

Nor had thefe people lefs veneration than our
own forefathers for certain oracles and footh-
fayers. Thefe were confulted on all occafions
of difficulty and danger, and their anfwers were
expected with trembling awe, and heard with
fubmiffive reverence.

As in the fweet country to which I have de-»
voted moft of our hitherto correfpondence, the
ancient Hollanders alfo had their bards, whofe
office it was to fmg and celebrate the heroes of
their country; their romances, tranfmitted with
pious care to their pofterity, not only ferved to>
perpetuate their own exploits; but to incite in
their defcendants an equal emulation. The pro-
phetick poets were principally reforted to in the
day of battle, concerning which fo minute was
the fuperftition, that the prefage of good or bad,
of victory or defeat, or the degrees of either de-
pended on the modulations with which thef«
warlike fongs were chanted, the very moment
preceding the encounter. Like the Romans,
they took alfo a fortunate or inaufpicious omen
from the flights of birds, or the neighing of
horfes, which were fed in confecrated woods.

The

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

The ifTue of a fingle combat, between one of
their own foldiers and a prifoner of war, brought
forth to determine their fuccefs or their mlfcar-
riage, was an omen of the utmofl importance.

Of their publick fpectacles little is to be faid:
Their young men, however frequently exhi-
bited one which you will think pretty extraordi-
nary ; and yet in conformity with the ferocity
of their manners. They would jump naked
into the middle of a fort of theatre, encircled
with lances, leaving only almoft impaflable mazes
between them, for the whole arrangement formed
a labyrinth of fpears. The dexterity confifted
in threading thefe meanders, and performing the
circuit of the whole narrow and almoft indif-
cernible path with infinite rapidity, and with-
out drawing blood : and they thought themfelves
fufficiently rewarded, if by thefe hazardous feats
they amufed the fpectators.

Now, my dear friend, amongft all the peril-
ous arts which have been invented by idle peo-
ple in modern times, to entrap the money of
perfons as idle as themfelves ; fome by fwallow-
ing flint-ftones, fire, &c. I think we have never
yet matched this pleafant exercife of the youth
of old Batavia ; and therefore if the enterprifmg
Aftley, Hughes, or any other great men who

trade

338 GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

trade in the marvellous, could attempt fomc-
thing of this kind with the improvement, per-
haps, of a little drapery to the picture-r-fetting
the tour of the lance-furrounded hero to mufick
— it might give us all the addrefs and agility of
their moft expert tumblers and pofture-mafters,
without any of their, abominable diftortion.

Suppofe you were to give one of them the
hint, and when thefe letters come into volumes
to make him a prefent of a copy, doubling down
the page. By this act of courtefy you would, at
leaft, gain the free entre of a winter's run to all
the jugglers, trickfters, brutes upon two legs,
and brutes upon four! Nay, I know not but the
thing might, with better effect, be brought upon
the ftage, under the title of Harlequin in Old
Holland. Worfe feats have been enacted by the
hero of the wooden fword and truncheon ; and
if he could but once dance round this Batavian
gauntlet al frejco, he might bid defiance to the
hackneyed, worn out purfuits of Pantaloon, and
the fooleries of Scaramouch.

But to leave fporting, and return to our pro-
per objects. It remains only to fay a few words
on the ancient Icgiflation, and publick afTemblies
of the United States. An account of the modern
government mail not be forgotten.

When

CLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND. 333

When they began to legiflate, which was not
till long after their fettlement in this country,
the fovereignty refided in a kind of National
Convention. It was there that their freenoen and.
nobles inaugurated their generals and kings :
there that they ele&ed their centurions, tribunes,
and judges, to diftribute juftice through their
colonies: there that their firfl Diet was efta-
blilhed, either at new or full moon, when all
fubjects were difcufied, and proportions made
for peace or war. The unanimity of the fuffrage
determined the meafure : if the fpectators clap-
ped their hands it was adopted -, and if a tumul-
tuous murmur followed the propofal it was
rejected.

In the origin of this little fenate every man
appeared armed. When the youths had gained
a certain age they, were admitted as members,
and on the day — if I may be permitted to ufe
parliamentary language — that they took their
feats, they were presented with a javelin and
buckler. They were then to be confidered as
connecting the characters of fenator and foldier,
and were expected to contribute their fervices to
the government, and defence of the ftates. ^

With refpect to the monarchy of the rude ages
of the Batavian people, the name of king has

been

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

been too generally confounded with that of chief.
Whatever was then his title, his power exceeded
not that of the firft citizens there was always an
appeal from his authority to the fenfe of the
publick : and if his elevation infpired any fen-
timent, or carried him into any action that wore
but the femblance of tyranny, or that trenched
upon thofe to whom he owed his diftin&ions, he
was inftantly marked and controlled as one who
had violated his truft, and incurred the penalty
of fuch forfeiture.

The legiflature of the country demands a few
more obfervations ; for even the infancy — the
babyhood of Batavian jurilprudence — the moft
wholefome laws were framed, though their code
was little more than what was taught by a fenfe
of natural juftice : and, perhaps, that is con-
fcience at the fame time. The very people who,
in their moft barbarous ftate, fed their indolence
by invafion of publick and private rights, in
procefs of time began to contemplate with hor-
ror and with lhame, a life of lazinefs and rapa-
city. They were induftriousj and on induftry
grew the fentiments both of property and pro-
bity, and they foon enacted laws to reflrain
themfelves as well as others, from the farther
violation of thefe.

They

CLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND. 335

They were, however, fimple and concife. The
fuperior magiftrates in the great diftrich, and
the inferior ones in the towns and villages con-
ducted the procefs. It was carried on without
any fort of difficulty or delay, and, what will
equally confound our modern lawyers, without
any expencc. The caufe was tried in open court,
and invariably ended the day it was begun, with-
out a poflibility of father appeal. Neither writ-
ten laws, nor printed ftatutes were known, or
neceflary to be known. Privileges, rights and
•wrongs, when well defended and fettled in foro
confcienti* remain for ever clear, and were men
as honeft as they are artful, would require but one
hearing and one decifion. A twentieth, or even
a fifth year's fuit in Chancery, would have found-
ed in Batavia like putting off the final iffue
to the day of judgment. But I am aware that
fociety in its higheft ftate of population, power,
and paffion, muft have its wrongs mingled with
its rights ; and they are fo twifted together by a
variety of interefts, that we muft take them,
juft as we find them, worked into the piece. So
may the laws fiourilh and we enjoy their protec-
tion, my friend, without either incurring their
cenfure, or wanting their active interference -,
for, perhaps, as many honeft men have been ruin-
ed by their friendfhip as there have been knaves
deftroyed by their enmity.

4 LETTER

336 GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND!

LETTER XXV,

TO THE SAME.

thus taken a tranfient view of
" the family canvafs" in the long pi6ture-gal-
lery of times paft, we lhall be more amufed to
look at, and better able to judge of the portraits
of the lineal defcendants -, in fine, we lhall, with
more profit and more pleafure, catch the re-
fembling fimilitudes, obferve where the impref-
lion of original character has Been preferved or
loft -, and from this progrefHve furvey inveft our-
felves with the power of comparing progeni-
tors with their pofterity in all that regards the
principles and purfuits of both. Thefe, as I
find fpirits and leifure to arrange and parcel out,
(for remember I have now the pickings of half a
year in my portable ftore-houfe, but lying m
heaps) mall be fent you.

Meantime, as what I have already exported,
will make a pretty confiderable fheaf, I fhall beg
of you to look upon this letter as the band to
make it up ! and as every harvefl-home is ac-
companied by figns of fatisfaction that the grain
is got in, fuch as garlands, fongs, &c. &c. as

not

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND. 337

ftot even the humbleft Gleaner, who has picked
her fcanty portion from day to day through all
the leafing: feafon, but adorns the laft handful
with a few field flowers, and carols over them as
fhe bends her way to her cottage. I propofe to
crown our little harveft-home, my friend, with
a wreath of poetry, to which there appertains
along ftory; but which, I perfuade myfelf, a
mind like yours will find mort in the narration^
when the time is ripe to cc aflc your hearing pa-
tiently/' as the player fays in Hamlet.

Much haVe I for your fancy, your feelings,
your affecYion ; much for your information, and
fbmething for your life. Matter foi4 my affec-
tions in Holland ! methinks^ I hear thofe who
have found, or determined to think it barren foil>
tauntingly exclaim ! Any thing that can intereft
my fancy in that region of fogs, bogs, and va-
pours ! then fhall the fpices of the eaft eject their
fragrance from the ditch ! and the rofes of Para-
dife bloom in the fen !

You remember Yorick's beautiful pafTage, be-
ginning— cc I pity the man who can travel from
" Dan to Bathfhebaj and cry all's barren ; and
" fo it is, and fo is all the world to him who
" will not cultivate the fruits it offers," &c.
Be that my anfwer to all fuch children of /pleen,

VOL. i* Z pfe-

338 GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

prejudice, or wilful blindnefs. Be the reft of the
fentence implicating a tendernefs of nature, and
a candour of fpirit fo expreffive of your heart, a
pledge to you, that whenever you make a refi-
dentiary tour of this country, your affections,
your imagination, your feeling, will not want
their proper objects. You will not be reduced
to cf fatten them on the fweet myrtle $" or on
the (f melancholy cyprefs;" but be prefented
with many opportunities of enjoying

" The feaft of reafon, and the flow of foul j"

notwithstanding what has fo often, and by fb
many different people, been faid to the contrary,
that dulnefs and the Dutch nation are become
fynonimous.

I am really concerned to find every where, and
about every thing, the reprefentations of a truth
in many refpects fo different, and in not a few
fo diametrically oppofite to the truth itfelf.
Men, women, places, people, manners, cuftoms,
are all fo drawn into this falfe colouring, and
are. fo thrown out of their due proportions of
mind and body, fituation and circumftance ; here
a caricature, there a figure, fo fulfomely flatter-
ed, that a friend that loves one would be dif-
gufted ; and, in Ihort, things, as they are, fo
very generally differ from what they are faid to
be, that in whatfoever I can, I am fully refolved

to

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND. 339

to form my opinions on the evidence of my
own fenfes, as in all human cafes the only proof
pofitive ; and in whatever falls fhort of this oral
and ocular conviction, dill humanly fpeaking,
to believe whatever is of good report as much as
I dare -, and of evil, no more than I can poflibly
help.

With refpect to the tales of travellers, thofc
of the Genii and Fairies are not more fanciful
or fallacious, when they choofe to throw the rein,
upon the neck of prejudice or imagination,
which they are very often fufficiemly difpofed to
do. The tricks they play on their readers are
the more dangerous, when they are expert enough
at illunon to keep on this fide of the line of
probability, which can neither on or off the ftage
be violated without counteracting the effect in-
tended to be produced.

What would you think of me, faid a fprightly
young man, in a letter to his relation, the Baro-

nefs De S , what would you think of your

coufin and correfpondent, who ftops only to re-
frefh himfelf, and when refrefhed, writes to you
en paffanfy were he, in imitation of many travel-
lers, to give himfelf the airs of a dictator, and
talk of the difpofitions of a people, the cuftoms
of a country, their finance, their government,

z 2 their

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

their paflions, their purfuits, rifquing every
thing, fearing nothing ; not even the derifion
and contempt of the friend he addreiTes ! How,
in fact, is it poffible to avoid fending falfehoods
of one country into another, when running from
country to country, as if in, a fox-chace, with-
out knowledge of the language, without becom-
ing ftationary arnongft the people, without com-
paring the living volume with the dead letter,
with many focial and many filent opportunities,
a true idea> much lefs a faithful defcription of
men and things fhould be given ? If a traveller
en gallop would content himfelf with cc catching
^c the manners as they rife before him at the
*c moment," his etching might often be agree-
able, always jiift, as far as it went ; but he muft
be -an hiftorian, a politician, a philofopher, and
take up his pen to convince his private friend,
and perhaps the world, that he knows or can
know no more of the matter than a courier or a
running footman. I touched on this folly be-
fore, my dear friend, but I have fmce that time
been fo mifled by trufting to falfe guides ; have
loft fo much of my time and my money, by their
'advice abbot the diftribution of it, that— in fine
— left I fbould lofe my temper into the bargain,
-I will only re-aflure you it is not without .reafony
^the United Provinces have been often called the
compendium of the univerfe : and that notwith-

ftanding

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND. 341

Handing a very entertaining traveller has declar-
ed, in a kind of epigrammatick tour, that he
has publifhed — Martin Sherlock — the cardinal
virtue of a Dutchman is cleanlinefs -, his only
Gods, Mercury and Plutus j and as for the Nine
Sifters and Apollo, they were never heard of in
the country -, notwithftanding it is infifted upon
in a volume of our univerfal hiftory, that the
Dutch are cold, phlegmatick, brutal, without a
ray of invention, a fhadow of liberty, genius,
reflection, or forecaft : that love was never known
to figh in the nation -, that the only pafilons are
gluttony and avarice ; notwithftanding even the
Abbe Raynal has condefcended to join the herd
of calumniators j certainement en de periodes ar~
rondies et de belles fhrafes -, I will venter to unite
with a good old writer who vifited this country
near a century ago, when it was comparatively
rude and unimproved to what it now is, and who
juftly remarked, that he who hath obferved the
eafy accommodation for travel in Holland; their
excellent order and regular courfe in all things;
the number of learned men ; the variety of in-
genious foreigners conftantly refiding in, or
pafTing through it ; the abundance of rarities of
all kinds ; the induftry, frugality, and wealth of
the people ; their numerous towns, each ex-
tremely beautiful j their proper laws, and ad-
• rniniftration of juftice ; their incredible number

23 of

342 GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

of (hipping and boats ; a country of little extent,
indeed, and foon parTed over ; but fo replenifh-
ed with objects of curiofity, commerce, pro-
fit, and pleafure, that not to admire it is
to be devoured with prejudice, fpleen, or in-
fenfibility.

My loved friend, where there is tafte, judg-
ment, and a heart, there will be always objects
to employ them. You can, therefore, never find
a fterile fpot on any part of the earth -, and in
thefe Provinces, had you made the tour in them
as often as I have, and flopped as long in each,
you would Hill fay as Titus does to Berenice in
the French play—

" Depuis deux ans entiers chaque jour je la vois,
ts Et crois toujours la voir pour la premiere fois,"

And this reminds me of the verfes which were
to form the bandeau of my firft fheaf, or volume ;
and which you may imagine I have forgot. Ah,
no ! I mall never forget them while I am alive
to the memory of fenfations of gratitude, ele-
gance, or focial pleafure -, for amidft fuch were
they written in the bofom of a numerous family,
from each of whom I found comfort in affliction,
attendance in ficknefs, and felicitations on re-
covery, that made me almoft congratulute my-

felf

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND. 343

felf that I had been both unwell and unhappy.
Of all this I will one day— -

" A round unvarnifh'd tale deliver.".

Meanwhile accept the poetical bouquet, an
offering of juftice to the talents of one of the
family party.

NATURE to Mrs. *******»**.-

ON CUTTING* BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS AND FRUITS
OUT OF CARROTS AND TURNIPS.

MADAM,

THE God who made the world, and faw it fair,
Gave it in truft to my peculiar care;
Prefented with it a conferring pow'r
O'er ev'ry living herb, tree, fruit, and flow'r,
NATURE, he faid, be this my high decree,
No God but I !— no Goddefles but thee.

This law divine all human things confefs'd,
And owns the works of Nature were the belt.
Like NATURE none could bid theflow'ret bloom,
Paint in fuch colours, blend fuch rich perfume ;

* But left you fluAild imagine the Mufe is here facrificing to Gratitude
only, I muft enter a caveat by obferving to you in honeft, plain profe, that
the imitations of Nature here alluded to are really fo beautiful, that if
Nature herfelf did not mi/lake them for her own, fhe need not be afhamed to
oivn them.

24 Mj

344 GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

My pink, rofe, violet, jafmine, feem'd fo fair,
While NATURE triumph 'd, ART was in defpair
Where'er I rhov'd, a thoufand odours flew,
at my touch a thoufand beauties grew.

But my reign ends ; — with rage, with (harne I burn !
Since you my meancft arms againft me turn ;
*Tis time for NATURE to renounce hejrpow'rs,
When from her carrots you can form her Jtow'rs*

And of her vileft turnips of the field —
Yes— robber— yes, 'tis time that I fhould yield—.?
In ona fliort hour you bid a pink appear,
Would keep me hard at work for half a year.

Madam, beware— ah! dread Prometheus' fate !
You've ftole my fire — repent ere yet too late.
turnips and Carrots ! O my burfting heart !
The God that made us both mall know your art.
And this, Ingrate ! to me ! to whom you owe
Unnumber'd other charms : thus, thus, to go,
Thus (leal my paint and pencil ! all my ftore !
, take my throne) fince you've ufurp'd my

THE

CLEANINGS .THROUGH HOLLAND.

345

THE ANSWER.
MRS. #**********, to NATURE,

DEAR MADAM,

WHY this harfh complaint of me ?
Two of a trade, 'tis plain, can ne'er agree.
But if between us rights were fairly fettled
About thefe flow'rs, 'tis I, Ma'am, fhould be nettled.

From Spring's firft bud to Autumn's lateft flow'r,
I own your magick, and admire yourpow'r :
And as I count thofe wond'rous beauties o'er,
E'en with a lover's fondnefs I adore.
Affeftion kindles, warms th' enthufiaft heart,
Till love of NATURE leads to love of ART.

Dear NATURE, " thou'rt my goddefs!" yet 'tis hard
Thou wilt not grant thy vot'ry her reward.
Suppofe yourfelf a moment in my place,
Pray, Madam, let us truly ftate the cafe :
The carrots and the turnips both are thine,
Your's the material, tho* the work be mine ;
And ;f I build, 'tis with your brick and ftraw :
The abettor and the thief both feel the law.
You fay I fteal— who help'd me, Ma'am, to cheat ?
'Tis NATURE at the bottom of the feat.
But e'en in theft you owe my art a favour,
Since my ftolen goods give yours a double flavour,
Nor for my flow'rs ought you to be my foe,
Mine do not come 'till yours are out of blow.

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

A FRIEND,
To NATURE *jrf MRS. **********,

DEAR LADIES,

CEASE your fquabbling ; I advife
You fettle this affair by compromife.
Out of the four, you NATURE, have three feafons,
Which for your full content are three good reafons,
From Spring to Winter your's the fmiling earth,
When fruits and flow'rs by myriads rufh to birth.
But fure the fourth fad quarter, when they fleep,
Die in their beds, or only wake to weep ;
When you yourfelf with cold are half expiring,
And half your works are only fit for firing;
Three difmal months, I truft, you'll not deny
To her who can your lofs fo well fupply,

Work then like fitters, lovingly together,
You take the frailing, fhe the frowning weather ;
When froft or fnow benumb the wonted pow'rs,
Let one fupply the roots, and one the flow'rs.
United thus, in love and frendfhip dear,
You'll make between you — Summer all the year !

SUPPLE-

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

347

SUPPLEMENTARY GLEANINGS.

LETTER I.

TO THE SAME.

'N a furvey of my ftores, however,
under the articles cc Scraps, or Single Wheat
" Ears, and Field Flowers, colle&ed in Holland,
cc and arranged at the Brielle," the place whence
I culled the fragrant Bandeau which binds the
Gleanings I laft fent you, I judge it beft to attach
them to this my firft fheaf. You will, therefore,
receive them herewith in fome Supplementary
Letters, juft as you may have obferved an in-
duftrious day-labourer in the leafing feafon fol-
lowing his gleaning family home, gathering up
the ears that may drop from their pleafing bur-
thens as they bear them to the cottage. And
firft I fhall offer to your feelings fome emigrant
hiftories.

>*' .

Even before the cloud broke into flame it was
really afflicting to fee, in pafling the Frontiers of
Germany, the fituation of the French emigrants,
the greater part of whom were of the firft rank,
and reduced like thofe of the laft, to fubfift on
i the

348 GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

the good faith, and good will of thofe, in whofe
towns and villages they had taken refuge. But
good will and good faith, like all other things,
have their bound!; and like all other things too, are '
fubject to contingence. I ftaid long enough in
the different retreats of thefe unhappy people to
perceive that the protection, at firft offered, was
amongft the objects of this changeable world
that fhew early figns of earthly mutability.
Whether tendered in the beginning by urbanity,
pity, or politicks, the warmth of the welcome
began to abate. I faw but too often the altered
air of the hod cut into the heart of his gueft.
The protections were not, indeed, nay are not
even yet, withdrawn ; but infinitely different is
the being endured and invited, being fuffered to
remain, and folicitecj to continue.

The fevere chagrin which this caufed in an
high fpirited and high-born fet of men, whofe
fenfibility is always in proportion to rank, habits,
and education, may eafily be guefied , but their
endeavours to conceal that chagrin from the people
with whom they have taken refuge, and ye,t more
from the lower orders of their own country, ex-
hibited to the obferving eye a picture truly
touching. Prior to the breaking out of the war
I was at Neuwied and Coblentz, and from thefe
towns I palled into many others while hoftilities

were

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND. 349

were preparing : and I found wherever the French
emigrants were permitted to have cc a local
habitation/' you might fee this inward ftruggle
betwixt blood and fituatlon. I frequently obferved
the expatriated NoblefTe gather together towards
evening in the fuburbs, furrounded by feveral
hundreds of their adherents, not to abufe the
time but to engage in all thofe manly exercifes
which ferved a triple purpofe : Firfl, to hide
their regret from common fpectators : fecohdly,
to obviate for a time the fenfe of their condition :
thirdly, to fupport .and cultivate that ftrength of
body and mind which grief and idlenefs might
impair. I took notice that their fwords were
either at their fides or lying by them, even in
their fports. But* after all this, I have followed
them into their private apartments, where their
minds, no longer on the ftretch, relaxed and
yielded to the truth of circumflance. Yet
without particularizing, the general furvey was
lamentable: Many thoufands of human beings
in the higheft rank, and of the higheft talents,
bred to the enjoyment and expenditure of ample
fortunes, driven from their polfe (lions in the plea-
fanteft, gayeft, and moil agreeable country of
the world, or what very lately was fuch ; of great
natural vivacity, and of habitual elegance, all

of

* I was lodged in the fame hotel with a number of thefe un-
happy gentlemen fome months.

350 GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

of them reduced by, what at lead to them ap-
pears, a virtue in excefs, the love of their king,
their country, the maintenance of their heredi-
tary rights, and the recovery of their patrimo-
nial honours. My friend, however thefe un-
fortunates may fare on your fide of the German
Ocean, I have feen hundreds of them on this
fide, conftrained, like the poor foldier, to take
their cold lodging on a bed of ftraw; their
nourifhment coarfe as their bed; far from their
friends, their wives, their children -, their eftates
confifcated, themfelves exiled.

Was not all this, and much more that might
with too much truth be added, enough to break
down the highefl fpirit and unbrace the ftrongeft
arm ? Stand they not, according to the expref-
fion of a great Divine, " in the firft rank of ob-
" jedts of our fympathy, entitled not only to
cc relief, but refpecl: and veneration ?" A fet of
men born in and inured to far lefs poliming, and
as they are ufually thought, lefs emafculating
circumftances, fuch as a cold country, a rigorous
difcipline, and a lefs ardent temperament, might
feem wanting to fupport this fad reverfe. For
Frenchmen, and more particularly for French
nobility , to bear it with an equal mind (without
taking into the account the rapidity of a tranfi-
tion from the livelieft and moft abundant to the

moft

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

mod gloomy and imfupplied ftate,) certainly
fhews of what thefe once airy fpirits are capa-
ble, when called out by an extraordinary occa-
fion.

From thefe primary furveys, I plainly fore-
faw what has fmce happened : that when thefe
wretched wanderers did come into action, they
would maintain their fhare in the dreadful day
of open rupture as firmly, and as bravely, as if
they had never known a foftnefs or indulged a
luxury. But long before the time was ripe to
enter the field of blood, it would have wrung
your heart to have fcen the unaccommodated
fituation of thoufands, who have fince med their
blood in la Vendee, a name not to be mentioned
without an afTociation of horrors and facrifices,
from which every refie&ing mind mutt turn with
fhuddering fymfathy : for if ever human creatures
were devoted on all fides, thefe are they who
muft everlaftingly fland in the firft rank of vic-
tims; and whether their definition arofe from
the cold delays of policy, or from the malice of
adverfe fortune, the families, the legions, the
armies, the almoft myriads of perfons who found
untimely graves in that ill-ftar'd country, are the
mod to be honoured, compaffionated, and de-
plored. Peace to their afhcs and recompence to
their fouls !

LETTER

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND,

LETTER II.

»

TO THE SAME.

1 HAD fcarcely entered the Hotel on my
firft vifit to this town, when the death of the late
Emperor was announced by ah exprefs, who came
into the inn-yard, from Vienna, illuflrating the ex-
pre (lion of the Great Engliih Poet, where he tells
us a Cavalier had

«f Spurr'd his proud coarfer hard, and rode in blood.'*

Although the deceafed was as well beloved of
his fubjects as it is in the nature of things to be,
it is amazing with what philofophical compofure
this event was received by all who were not per-
fonally or politically interefted. Being myfelf
neither the one nor the other, I mention it but
to tell you the furprife of a very large company,
on my informing them while fitting on a table
d'hote fupper, that as their Emperor and King
was dead, I mould put on my fuit of fables.
For what ? have you the honour to be related ?
Related ! No : but I prefume every gentleman
who can command a black coat, will wear it on
this occafion ; at lead every gentleman who re fides
in the German dominions.

Not

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

Not an individual in the whole empire, replied
my next neighbour, except thofe of the royal
family and its immediate connexions, with the
officers of the houfehold. , ;

: I

Very ftrange, Sir; our Englifh taylors work
double tides to get mourning ready in time for the
general order.

Order ! what are you then commanded ?

Yes: both by etiquette and cuftom. Not a
gentleman, lady, or decent trader in the realm,
will think himfelf entitled to appear, amongft
even his familiar friends, unlefs he conform to
the rule, which in our private parties and pub-
lick places is almoft without an exception. —
Within eight-and- forty hours, after the news
gets to England, its inhabitants will all be as
black as the Styx, and fo remain till another edict
of the Lord Chamberlain, who is our Grand
Maifter of little ceremonies, tells our fympathy
it may aflume a ilighter made, and fix at the
fame time the period of our regaining our robes
of colour.

Monfieur Anglois, cried a profound perfon-
age at the farther end of the table, yours is a
mighty fympathizing nation, truly! but though

VOL, i. A A >ve

3.54 GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

-we love our fovereigns, perhaps, more than you,
we mourn for them in our hearts, and do not
hang the trappings of our forrow on our backs ;
nqr are we fingle in this matter ; our neighbours
of Holland will be no blacker next week than
-ujual (here our German wit fmiled fignificantly)
even though, you know, the alliances of the
Houfes of Orange, Pruflia, and England, com^
pofe a fort of family - compact.

They told me fimply the truth with refpecl to
themfelves and the Dutch ; for, in pafiing back
into the United Provinces a few days after, then
returning into Germany, by way of Weftphalian
Pruflia, I met with but three fets of beings
arrayed in the mourning garb, ,to wit, fome of
the friars, the crows, and the blackbirds. Not-
withftanding which, there feems to me a dig-
nity and decorum in this cuftom which attaches
me to it.

The event itfelf, even in the inftant it happened
feemed in no degree to have checked the defigns
of the emigrants. No form of words can paint
to you the vehemence, the indignation, the al-
rnoft infanity, with which — in a journey through
the different parts of the empire, — I have heard
their grievances difcufled, their wrongs defcrib-
ed, their rights aiTerted, and their ravages anti-
cipated.

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

c ipated. To thefe violences, if there could pof-
fibly be found in the language of pafiions a
parallel, it would be heard in the phrenzies of
the Revolutionifts. Even at the time of which
I am fpeaking both parties were in a ferment,
beyond the reach of perhaps any comparifon in
ancient or modern hiftory. But what is extreme-
ly curious in *his difpute is, that while the emi-
grants infift that they themfelves are made up of
gentry, men of property, and nobility j nothing
being left in France except its refufe : the fa-
vourers of the Republick aver, ^that no man has
left his native land who was worthy to ftay in it :
meantime, allowance being made for thefe over-
charged animofities on both fides, it was palpa-
ble that when the gathering ftorm burft it would
pour down the torrents of human blood which
have fince deluged the land.

In regard to the expatriated French, I can
fpeak to the claims of feveral, to all that admU
ration or fympathy can offer ; and they have
given largely fince, efpecially in the Britifh do-
minions. About the time that the armies of
Dumourier were upon the point of feizing the
Republick of Holland in the furrimer of i79J>
I was, as you well remember, amongft the num-
ber of thofe who did not think it prudent to
Wait the event of a threat, which was expected
A A 2 with

356 GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

with anxiety by every man. But refolved to flay
till the laft, apparently fafe minute, I reforted
to the houfe of a friend, which lying in the
highway paiTage to Helveotfluice, I had an op-
portunity of obferving many hundreds — I might
fafely write thoufands— of thofe who were haften-
ing to England : and as my friend's houle was
partly appropriated to the fervice of his Bri-
tannick Majefty, they were obliged to make a
flop officially; their paflports from Holland to
the Britifh more beng attainable only from this
quarter. And farther, my friend uniting much
private worth with his publick character, very
many of thefe unfortunate perfons were fo " gaily
and fmilingly prefFed to flay," that fo long as
the danger of the French army was not imme-
diate they profited of his hofpitalky for two or
three days together. By thefe means princes,
generals, chevaliers, women of quality, and whole
bodies of the priefthood, paffed under my eye ;
and I had made my Gleaning of their minds,
manners, and pretenfions ; their miferies at home,
and their hardships abroad, before they had gain-
ed our protecting country.

In truth, the houfe above alluded to, gave
them a very favourable imprefilon of Britifh
tourtefy ; for being compofed of the elegant wife
and blooming daughters of my friend, thefe

children

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND. 357

children of misfortune met a variety of agrtmens
well fuited to their prefent circumftances. It
would have charmed you to have feen as I did,
the family endeavours to diflipate the chagrin too
heavy not to be obferved, in the countenances,
and heard in the fighs of many of the fufferers.- —
It was truly piteous to hear this ruined band de~
fcant on their general or particular misfortunes ;
the infinite lofles they fuftained before they left
their own country ; the difficulty and diforder in
which they quitted it -9 the extortions made upon
them both by land and by water in their pafTage.
A Dutch landlord, for inflance, had infilled on a
fmall party pay ing five French crowns for tea, milk,
and a little dry bread !

I was extremely interefted by three Chevaliers
of different orders of merit, who came together
always united by friendfhip, and now more
Itrongly knit by the cement of misfortune. Of
thefe, one produced written teftimonies of -hav-
ing twice faved the life of Louis XVI. . His wife
was left in hazard at Paris ; his faithful domef-
tick who followed him to the wars, was taken
prifoner and hanged at Lifle.- — Another had
efcaped with his lady at Dieppe, but was there
conftrained to leave her, and the third had been
lucky enough to bring away his wife in difguife ;
but fmce had the misfortune to 'underftand that
A A his

356 GL£ANINSS

his children, who were in one of the Provinces
for education, had been feized upon, and brought
to the guillotine to atone for the erimes of their
parents ; the crimes of loyalty to their king, and
faving themfelves from death j trailing that
the innocent children would be no objects of
that univerfal gdift of blood which has fince been
ilTued.

The name of the firft of thefe gentlemen was
St. Leger -, of a noble perfon and a noble mind 5
covered with laurels and the wounds by which
they were acquired. Without gafconade, he bade
me take note of them as they flood difplayed m
different parts of his body— fome received at
Pondicherry in a former war ; fome in Flanders j
moft of them by Britijb foot-, but all, Sir, ex-
claimed the Marquis, (fuch was his title) in
the fervice of my fovereign, and I am fure that
will be a fufficicnt apology to the forgivenefs,
and a fufBcient motive to the protection of your
fovereign.

He renounced the name of Frenchman, he
faid, and gloried that he was of Irifh anceftry ;
<c nor do I renounce only a Frenchman's* name*

* Confidenng him as an officer and friend to the Prince, who
had been his benefaftor, we muft allow him this latitude.

Sir,

CLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND. 359

Sir, faid the Marquis, cc but a Frenchman's lan-
guage, and the very moment I can recover that
of England, I mall deem it diiloyalty, nay, a crime
to fpeak a tongue in common with the traitors
of a king, whom I have defended from my ear-
iieft youth, and whom I will continue to Jove and
honour to my lateft age/'

I think my knowledge of the human heart
warrants me, without too much relying on the
human voice, or human countenance, in aflert-
ing that he fpoke with fmcerity, when he faid
farther, that if he could fave his devoted mafter
by the lofs of his left hand or his right, — extend-
ing both while he afleverated,- — he would offer
them up with joy, and kifs the hand of the man
appointed to cut them off!

His perfonal character of Louis, founded as
he allured me on perfonal knowledge, differed
efientially from the commonly received opinion.
The Marquis de St. Leger reprefented him not
only as a man of general goodnefs, but of gene-
ral knowledge, of great reading, obfervation
and courage. Of the latter he inftanced as fol*-
lows. When the cannon of the enraged populace
were dragged into his palace, and the fwords' of
fifty blood-thirfty hirelings were at his throat,
and when afked by the ring-leaders whether
A A 4 Louis

360 GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

Louis was not afraid? He took hold of one of
the grenadiers' arms, defiring him to feel whe-
ther the .heart of Louis palpitated with any of
the daflard emotions imputed to it ? cc But he
niuft die, Sir/' added the Marquis, <c I fore-
iee, Sir, that Louis XVI. muft foon die. It is
according to the new fyftem that he Ihould b.e
deflroyed : nor will any part of his ill-fated family,
left in France, fare better than h;rnielf ! They are

How far this prophecy is fulfilled, my dear
friend, you need not be told.

In the courfe of the evening on which thefe
converfations took place, the three Chevaliers
took a mtafure perhaps, inadequate and partial of
each other's particular fituation ; each admitted
a fimilitude in general calamity, but each thought
ibme trait of harder and more difficult fortune
.was appropriate in particular to himfelf! The
two who had been compelled to leave their wives
in an enemy's land, of courfe conftdqred their lo.t
as the moft fevere ; while the third, whole 'chil-
dren had fallen facrifices to their parent's fecu-

* The ftrength of the axiom, that felf-prefervation is the firft
of Nature's laws, precludes our aiking why the Marquis, or any
other perfon who forefaw the death, and had been benefited by
the life of Louis XVJ. left him to his fate *

rity,

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND. 361

rity, feemed to think the fate of his two friends
more tolerable than his own.

cc I have the converfation of the Countefs,

my wife, it is true," faid the Count de R ,

*c and no man can be more fenfible of domeftick
confolation than I am ; but as there feems to me
no apparent end to the horrors of France, and as
the flight means with which we have provided
purfelves are already on the decline, I know not
whether death itfelf would not hare been a blef-
fing to me, rather than living to lee my (lender
finances diminifh daily, and the beloved of my
foul condemned to forget, or remember with an-
guifh, the decent pride of hereditary and habi-
tual independence, or be in danger of ftarving
under the eyes of a tender hulband." cc As to
the latter grievance, it can never come to $ajs"
obferved the Countefs, cc while we have both of
us fo much youth, health, and afFeclion. And
though my inward foul bewails the lofs of our
loved children •> yet, as their innocent lives muft
have enfured them eternal happinefs, there are
moments when I congratulate them and ourjehes
on their being placed beyond the reach of the
tygers who now. infeft our country, and who
would have drank their blood. — Yes, dear Count,
their lot is no longer to be deplored, and I have

^Imoft ceafed to grieve for them -y"

During

362 GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

During every fentence of this declaration her
tears fell in abundance, and fhe exhibited all the
agonies of a mother who had loft her children,

while fhe talked of refignation.

i

The amiable family, under whofe hofpitabk
roof thofe unfortunates were now received, tried
the magick of their various accomplimments to
charm away the no lefs various diftrefTes of their
guefls. The different enchantments of mufick,
converfe, and cards, were by turns put in force,
and had their effects : but what feemed moll to
intereft and amufe, was putting together one of
the wooden maps of Europe, invented, it is faid,
for the improvement of the young and happy,
but calculated, as it appeared in this inftance, to
foothe the wretched and the mature. As the
component parts of this play-thing were pre-
fented in diforder, the emigrants began to ar-
range, in progrefs of which they had no little
difficulty. The Marquis was for throwing France
wholly out of the map, being no longer worthy,
he faid, to fill a fpace in the Continent of Eu-
rope. This was oppofed by his friend, who
fattened with a tender fort of mifery on Dieppe,
where he had left his wife, but he agreed
partially to eject Paris: to this propofal, how-
ever, the other after a fhort paufe objected, for
the like rcafon, with the additional one of its

being

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND. 363

being ftill the refidence of his beloved king,
whofe very prifon-houfe was precious. And both
the countefs and her hufband were for preferving
all the cities, towns, and villages which ftill
contained their furviving friends. O had you
feen the pallid hue which feized their cheeks3
and the tears that filled their eyes, as tfyey
pointed to the place where (lood their patrimo-
nial manfion,. and where their murdered children
were born, you would have felt that the recollec-
tion of paft happinefs, and the fight of any dear
fpot in " the mind's eye/' are amongft the griefs
that, however poignant the fenfe of altered for-
tune, cannot be thought of or looked at, without
fome emotions of confolation.

I was myfelf an advocate for allowing France
its place, in the hope that every part of the com-
pany who were its natives, would return to it one
day with honour and joy.

Throw but a lure to the French — give them in
their deepeft affliction the flendereft clue, though
no flronger than a filken thread ; direft but their
hearts to the remoteft hope that the funfhine of
happier and fairer days is or may be in referve,
and the prefent cloud, however obtufe, feems al-
ready to begin difperftng, and you will fee them,
as it were, come dancing from behind it.

The

364 GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

The then improbable,, and now, alas! almoft
impoflible idea of returning to their homes, re-
novated in a moment their before-delpairing
fpirits, and for the reft of the evening they were
lefs affli&ed than thofe who pitied them. I have
obferved many inftances of this felicity of con-
ftitution, habit, or country. How, in all in-
ftances, but particularly in the prefent condition
of their lives and fortunes, are they to be gratu-
lated upon it ?

In the packet-boat, which fome time after
this little adventure took me to England, there
were not kfs than eighty emigrant French on
their pafTage to London. I had reafon to know
that they left other countries either by command
of the governors, or from terror of an approach-
ing enemy -, and that the greater part of them,
fo far from having wherewith to make London a
comfortable refidence, had barely fufficient to
pay their fare at an indulged price over the water.
Yet meeting with % few perfons who had been in
Paris, who defcribed its fplendours, its feducing
elegancies, and its amufing trifles, they forgot
the prefent in the pad, and were by no means
the leafl gay or merry of the crew. Half feas
Over, however, one of the failors defcried from
the maft a veflel of an unpromifmg appearance
bearing down upon us, and favoured by the

wind.

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLADN.

wind. The Captain pronounced it to be a
French privateer, and as far as his glafies could
determine, one that would take them captive
with a fingle broadfide. At the clofe of this in-
formation, he obferved that, though it would be
a vain effort, it was his duty to clear the fhip for
fighting. This was accordingly done, and the
emigrants were not the lead alert in the prepara-
tion, nor would they, it is likely, have been the
leaft vigorous in the aciion; but on fome of
them, the dread of falling into the hands of
their implacable countrymen was fo great, that
in cafe of defeat, they came to the defperate re-
iblve of becoming their own executioners in the
fhort interval betwixt the giving up the packet-
boat and the boarding of her by the conquerors.
The alarm increafed as the veflel approached,
and the refolution became fo folemn, that each
man who meant to adopt it pledged his honour
to his friend. PofTibly it might, in a cafe of
death, be the leaft evil in point of fufferance
and fhame, however it might violate the laws of
morality and religion. It was luckily an unne-
cefTary alternative : for the veflel coming near
enough to be fatisfied me had been in chafe of
an Englifh packet-boat, proved herfelf to be an
Englifh frigate; and foon flood off in the direc-
tion fhe had quitted on firft oblerving us.
(< After all, flic's one of us" cried the captain.
5 The

GLEAMINGS TKROtfGH HOLLAND.

The inftantaneous effect of the remark on the
emigrants would have been aftonifhing to a fpec-
tator not acquainted with their temperament.

Thofe who had the moft defpairing thoughts
had now the gayeft ideas, and fuch as had been
moft agile in preparing for war, gave proof of
agility in the contrary extreme of preparing for
peace, for they leaped, laughed, fung, and even
played as it were, with the edge of the guillo-
tine: one facetioufly obferved, that he fancied
his neck (feeling it,) was too Jhort to be fitte'd to
the inftrument j and another cunningly faid,
though he did not think his neck too Jhort he
hoped it would be long enough before any experi-
ment was made upon it, by Mejfrs. le Republicains 9
while a third gentleman (with a fhrug which
would have afcertained his country, had every
other teftimony been wanting) remarked, fc Ma
" foiy cetie dame Guillotine eft un ferfonage bien com-
<c mode an fervice de ces gueux la ; mats, four moi,
cc il ne me conviens fas du tout du tout :" — Cf On
" my word, that Mr. Guillotine is a mighty
<c convenient gentleman in the caufe of thofe
<c beggarly patriots : neverthelefs, it is not at all
<c to my tafte." In fhort, my friend, if the im-
mediate circumftances of the prefent moment
are not abfolntely threatening -s if good com-
pany, good wine, gay converfation, or any other
6 pleafant

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND. 367

pleafant object of the fenfes, are within the
reach, or in the view of thefe beings, the paft
and future are forgotten. This is not, I am now
convinced, what is generally thought, and as I
myfelf once fuppofed, the effect oflhtle fenfibility,
of much levity, and a total want of folid reflec-
tion j but proceeds in great meafure, as I
have before obferved, from conftitutional feli-
city. Yet you are too well (killed in the equal
laws of Nature and Providence to infer from hence
that the French are, from this bias, more blefled
than the reft of mankind. If they annihilate all
that is gone by, and all that may come, when
the cc Cynthia of the minute" fmiles before
them, they fuffer with a bitternefs of defpon-
dence peculiar to themfelves, all that has afflicted
them, or that may afflict, when the prefent is but
a continuation of their gloom. They then col-
lect all the difaftrous parts of time into one
point of mifery. The pad, prefent, and future
feem, through this focus, but as one mafs, ac-
cumulated like fo many mountains to crufh
them; and they feel the weight of adverfity, if
I may fo exprefs myfelf, in all its tenfes. In the
Englifh, Dutch, and German minds I think it
is different. Amidft the thicken: glooms of their
condition, whatever be their degrees of natural
feeling, they bear the heavy collection of grief
with more equanimity. Either their minds are

ftronger,

368 GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND,"

llronger, or their fenfibility weaker ; and bcfides,
education, climate, and habits may contribute ;
but it brings into equipoife the allotments of
heaven, and the difpenfations of nature, whofe
fyftem is, perhaps, the only poffible one in which
equality can fubfift — the equality of human hap-
pinefs ; fmce me has made it with very few ex-
ceptions, almoft all her children, though not
partakers of the fame felicity, proceeding from
the fame caufes, nearly the fame in effecls. To
bring this matter home to the fcene I have been
relating: had thcfe pafTengers been unmoved in
the degree that a Dutch family felt themfelves
— the males fmoking, and the females fnuffing all
the time upon deck — they would have fuffered
lefs panick at the time of clearing the fhip, and
by the fame rule, they would have enjoyed lefs
when the danger was over :

*< God, in the nature of each being, founds
" Its proper blifs."

And thus it may be pronounced, that one man is,
upon the whole of life, allowing always exceptions,
as happy as another :

" The learn'd is happy nature to explore,

«r The fool is happy^that he knows no more ;

*' The rich is happy in the plenty giv'n,

" The poor contents him with the care of heav'n :

«* See the blind beggar dance, the cripple fing,

«• The fot a hero, lunatick a king.

" The ftarving chymift, in his golden views

" Supremely bkft : the poet in his Mufe."

if

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND, 36$

If then by the very laws of nature, my dear
friend, the univerfally varied fituations of human
life are thus happily arranged, why prefume to
invert her laws by introducing a forced and un-
natural equality ? that is, by making all men
different from what they have been ; by forcing
them from their natural and proper ftations;
and by making them as univerfally difcontented
with their paft and prefent ftate as they have
been contented. Miferably will the founders of
the new Republick be difappointed, if they feri-
oufly conceive that by making the ignorant
learned, or the poor rich, or (dill worfe) by
making all alike, they fhall increafe the felicity
of mankind. By a change of condition they
may make the induftrious idle, and the humble
difTatisfied ; but never can either the difTatisfled
or the idle be happy. There is a paffage from
the noble poem I have juft quoted fo decifive on
this great queftion, which now agitates the
globe, that furely the reafoning is as ftrong and
indifputable as the poetry is fweet and beautiful.
It has all the condenfation of thought, for which
Pope is fo juftly celebrated; and, methinks,
fhould be written in letters of gold in a tranfla-
tion fuited to all languages, and folemnly read
as an article of political, civil, and religious
faith, by a}l the now contending nations, and
indeed, all the neutral nations of the earth* On

VOL. i. B B the

370 GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

the tablet of every BRITISH memory, that has
but a reliih of poefy, it is already engraved ; but
by many, even of thofe who have it by rote, it
feems by the laft accounts you fent me from
England, to have left fo little imprefli'n that,
were I rich enough, I Ihould be fo far from con-
tenting myfelf with the narrow diffufion of thefe
volumes, that I would print the pafTage, and dif-
perfe it amongft my countrymen throughout every
part of the realm i

" Order is Heaves frft law ; and this confefs'd,

*« Some are, and muft be, greater than the reft ;

*c More rich, more wife; but who infers from hence

" That fuch are happier, lliocks all common fenfe.

" Heav'n to mankind impartial we confefs,

" If all are equal in their happinefs ;

«' But mutual wants this happJhefs increafe,

" All nature' t difference keeps all nature1 s peace »

*'• Condition, circumftance, is not the thing,

«' Blifs is the fame, in fubjeft or in, king,

" In who obtain defence, or who deTend,

*r In him who is, or him who wants a friend.

" lieav'n breathes through ev'ry member of the whole,

*' One common blefling, and one common foul.

'* But fortune's gifts, if each alike poffefs'd,

" And each were equal, muft not all conteft r^

'« Fortune her gifts may varioufly difpofe, •

" And thefe be happy caird, unhappy thofe :

" But bea'v'n's jtrjl balance equal will appear t

** While thofe are plac'd in hope, and thefe in fear,

" Nor prefent good nor ill, the joy or curfe,

" Bat future views of better or of worfe,"

Ic

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND. 371

It is more than probable the* late violent
Jrulers of the French were fecretly aware of the
great truths comprifed in thefe fentiments ,• and
that the prefent .more political conductors are no
lefs confcious of their force ; although it may
be ftiil neceffary to make a hue-and-cry abouc
liberty, equality, and confraternity; and when
they have fettled their ambition in the befit and
furefl manner for themjelves> they will, no doubt,
convince the fubordinate claries of the Repub-
lick, that the word liberty in the new dictionary
of France is to mean no more than — an uncon-
trouled and Jovereign- will of certain individuals, in
convention, to govern the reft of mankind -, and that
Confraternity and Equality were convenient cant
words and nicknames, uled in the beginning of
the French revolution as mere tools to work with
by the Republican Mafons, but which are now
become obfolete, and are to be thrown, like
other plaufible trumpery, amidft the common
lumber. And it cannot be doubted but that at
lead ninety-nine out of every hundred perfons
will find, mould the prefent fyftem fucceed in
acquiring any thing like a durable bafis, that the
grand majority have been confidered as nothing
more than journeymen, who, unlefs new work is
cut out for them by their employers, may lie out

* The reader haj in mind that I extend not thi$ to the/^«*.
B B 2 of

G.LEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

of bufmefs for the reft of their lives, with the
aggravated re flection of having thrown themfelves
out of good places under one matter, for the
iriferable trade of building caftles, which, with
refpect to themfelves at lead, will prove to be raifed
in the air. '

To return, however, to the emigrants of that
unhappy country j I muft very diftinctly point
out to you amongft thefe, the Vicomte de Gand,
a man of fuch verfatility of talents, that he ap-
pears to have an appropriate genius for every oc-
cadon •> fmce in the whole courfe of the twenty-
four hours, could the aflembly continue un-
broken, he has powers to occupy them without
fatigue, and to make them glide unperceived
away. — The airy and elegant levities of France,
the folid reflective powers of England, the fof-
tening agrements of Italy, feem to meet, as if by
the common confent of nations, in this man's
character ; and as he fhifts

" * From grave to gay, from lively to ievere,"

in different languages, each country, not only for
the fake of his accomplimments but his virtues
might be proud to

" t Mark him for its own."
Pope. f Gray,

He

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND. 373

He has refided for fome time paft in London,
where you may have had an opportunity to fee
and hear that he is not over-rated in my defcrip-
tion. It is a tribute of juftice due to a man,
from whofe converfation I have received the
higheft focial pleafure ; and although, juil as it
is, it would bring me to the guillotine, were I a
French patriot, it is a tribute which I fhould pay
even to one of tbofe patriots were I to find an equal
afTemblage of great and happy endowments, in-
dependent of their political jargon and madnefs
of the moment. Honeft praife is of no party,
my dear friend; and it is very compatible to ap-
plaud talents and deteft principles in the fame
character. In this inflance, the admiration of one
includes that of the other.

After having faid this, you will be prepared for a^
little poetical gleaning, which my mufe made of
the vifcount as he fat at the table, encircled by a
number of his admirers, each o/ whom he had
enlivened by his wit, improved by his judgment,
or arqufed by his fancy, for, feveral hours. — I have
only to require you will confider it the poetry of
the moment, flowing from the heart into the focial
Current of converfation, and not elaborated by ftudy,

CLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND?
THE CONTENTION.

J* ROM haplefs France to Britain came,
One whom fo many parents claim,
That thofe who know him beft declare,
To fifty fathers he is heir ;
Yet ev'ry fire protefts this fon
Belongs to him, and him alone.

Says WIT, his fparlcling eyes on fire,
Enflam'd that others Ihould afpire,
By heav'n the vifcount's only mine,
1 claim him, firs, by right divine!
Cries FANCY, with affliction wild,
Fearing to lofe her darling child,
Wit ceafe to boaft, I will not (hare
With thee, my juft and Well-known heir.
Then fwift from heav'n the God of Jong
Came down tofwear they both were wrong.
But all that Phcebus loves, 'tis known.
Pretenders that the count's my own ;
f Dance, raufick, poefy, unite

To publifh and fupport my right.

Sage Wi SDOM, then, with folemn face,

Declar'd Apollo muft give place ;

Since 'tis by all the world confefs'd,

WISDOM his cultur'd mind hasdrefs'd.

But FASHION, ELEGANCE, and EASE -i

—Three great, though modern deities — >

Lent him their varied powers to pleafe. J

Said SENSIBILITY* you go

Too far, my rights from nature flow ;

And who, quoth COURAGE, of my part,

Shall rob me of my vifcount's heart;

t In each of thefe the C. de G. is pre-eminent.

Mars

CLEAVINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.
Mars and Bellona both declare,
He's ours by aH the rights of war ;
And by yet greater powers we fwear,
De Gand is our peculiar care.
Jove fmiling heard them from above,
And bade the ftrife conclude in love :
Ye ALL afiifted at his birth,
Exclaim'd the Sire of heav'n and earth,
One cannot boaft beyond the red,
SHARE HIM AMONGST YOU, and be Heft!

And now for a review of the Dutch troops by
the Prince Stadtholder, who is fond of military
difcipline, and in point of bravery and fkill, a
not unworthy defcendant of the illuftrious Houfc
of Orange.

During one of my former vifits at this Brielle-
home, I ufed to call it, on account of the apart-
ment always facred to my returns, happened the
annual vifitation of the Prince Stadtholder, who
yearly makes a tour of the States to infpect his
garrifons, and to review his foldiers. Although
of an athletick and fomewhat dropfical form, and
of a heavy appearance, which indeed is ufually
attached thereto, the mind of this Prince is ac-
tive s and notwithftanding a conftitutional weak-
nefs in his knees, he is faid to be capable of en*
during incredible fatigue. Well is it that he is
fo, for fome trying ones happened to him on the
day above-mentioned : the bufinefs of which in*

B E 4 eluded

376 GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

eluded an examination of the forces of the Rer
publick, both at the Brielle and Helveotfluicet
He arrived at the former about eight in the
morning from h;s refidence at the Hague, which
is a diflance of four leagues. Every body ex-
pefted him in their beft drefies, and for that day
at leaft, in their bed looks. The flreets were
lined with. town militia under arms j the many-
coloured flags of different ftates were waving
over the canals -, and I do verily think more than
two hundred were hoifted on poles at the doors
of the Burghers : every ftreet, every avenue,
every window was crouded with the . fons, and in
yet greater numbers with the daughters of
Curiofity, whofe family is to be found, you
know, in all countries ; and I do afiure you as
many of its branches are refident amidft thefe
torpid Dutch dikes and ftanding pools as near
more rapid waters. In his way to the Brielle,
his Highnefs had two fmall arms of the Maefe
to pafs, but he was no fooner defcried on the
pppofite fide of the firft than the ufual demon-
ftrations of joy, real or counterfeit, began : can-
non were fired from the ramparts, and all the
bells of the churches were in tune to greet
him right loyally., before his perfon could be Jeen,
At length appeared his barge, which by the bye,
was moft curioufly bepainted and beguilt : there
-#as given a general falute of the military (I mean,

tf

CLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLANIX 377

of the regulars) in garrifon : to this fuccecded
$n apparently univerfal huzza of the people. I
particularly remarked one man, who had the
fame morning been pointed out to me as " bor~
riblement patriot " who waved his hat higher, and
fent forth the voice of gratulation louder than
the reft : but it is the nature of every fort of
hypocrify to overact its part, and frequently to
betray what it is, by the very attempt of appear-
ing what it is not.

I faw his Highnefs at a considerable diftance,.
|t was not Cleopatra meeting Mark Antony*,
when ffre failed down the 6ydnos, in the bark
which Shakfpeare has made immortal $ but it
was, perhaps, a much better Prince, and cer-
tainly a much better man, than that Roman,
coming to fee that his bulwarks and their heroes
were in a fit ftate to defend his fubjecls* fhould
defence be neceiTary : as you know moft necef-
fary it was but too fpon.

His yacht -came up the canal to the middle of
the firft flreet, where he landed, and was re-
£eived by the garrifon officers with all due cere-

* The author could certainly on this as on many other occa.
fions, have reforted to claffical allufions by quoting ancient
hiilorians, but that he deems his immortal countryman in general
}he bcft, becaufe the moft correcl illuftrator in the world.

monies.

375. GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

monies. Unfortunately thofe ceremonies are
performed Jans cbapeau (with the hat off ) j but
the elements which are by no means refpeders
of perfons, were in this inftance, as in divers
others, wanting in common civility ; for jufl as
the Stadtholder- Prince landed, a moft violent
fhower of rain burft incontinently on his illuf-
trious head. This torrent had been a long while
collecling, and could one imagine there was any
mifchievous waggery in a matter of this fort, I
fhould fuppofe the faid torrent watched its op-
portunity, to prove that Princes and mighty
men were like the feebleft, as well as meaneft of
mortals in the general defigns of nature. Me-
thought, however, I obferved three of the bare-
headed officers call up a fort of commanding, yet
fretful eye at the clouds, while this drenching
morality was pouring upon them, as much as to
fay, wand cc mall not gravitation ceafe a3 we go
cc by ?" The Prince himfelf bore this " pelting
<c of the pitilefs ftorm," much better. He had
to ftand, hat in hand, in the midfl of it, till he
had fettled the etiquette of receiving and return-
ing at lead fifty fine bows and gracious bendings,
all which he did with the moft magnanimous
compofure, making the Cf big round drops" from
his yet rounder face and facred ears !

In the like refigned way he fet off, breafting

the

CLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND, 379

the hurricane, which, inftead of yielding to his
patience, made head againft him more violently.
fie ran the military gauntlet of courtefy through
all the principal ftreets, and from thence to *
meadow at the diftance of a mile, where tents
were pitched to receive him. I have a very great
objection to take long walks in the rain, albeit
of a rambling difpjofition -, but I made it matter
of confcience to expofe myfelf to a good wetting
on this great occafion. You would not guefs
the grandeur of my foul in fuch a trying hour,
\vere I not to tell you on the faith of an hifto-
rian, that although I was armed with an um-
brella I never Ipread it over my head ; by which
emulative action, I reduced myfelf to the fitua-
tion of the Prince himfelf, except that I had ftill
the advantage of him in the article of the head,
upon which I retained my hat, thus gaining in
comfort what I loft in glory. Indeed, I repented
that I had carried the imitation of my fupcriors
to the other parts of my body, feeing that my
.apothecary's bill (the confequence of taking
cold) was neither paid by the States-General, nor
the Stadtholder, as in the cafe of the military,
whofe pay goes on when they are placed on the
fick lift; efpecially if they become invalids by
doing duty; forme, I did not get a fingle ftiver
to purchafe fugar- candy ! and my cold coft me
in that article and others, the grofs fum of

three

380 GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

three guilders*! But I have purchafed a cure for
my cough, and my ambition at the fame time j
and were great men to fwim up to their necks,
and little men to follow their example, I fhall
never more be amongfl their competitors 5 be-
ing inveterately fixed not to wet my flipper any
more for the fake of ambition -, though for that
of humanity, I hope I fhall ever continue to
venture far beyond my depth into the moft
troubled waters. Many of the officers, amongfb
whom were feveral pretty fellows, looked as if
they would have been glad to take ihelter in the
tents till the hurricane was over; but the Prince
refolved heroically to difpatch the morning bu-
finefs firft, and daihed through all the manoeuvres
with the difpofitions of a cluck ; ail his foldiers
following his example of courfe •> though evi-
dently with fomewhat of the reluftance of a brood
of chickens unnaturally fathered, or rather
mothered upon the faid duck. Prefently the air
cleared, the fun broke out, and the weather be-
came more favourable to the manoeuvres, which
were very adroitly performed, and gave great
fatisfaction to the Prince, who was indefatigable
in his attention and attendance ; he did not finifh
at the Brielle till near three in the afternoon : it
muft have been near five before he got to HeU

* Five fhillings.

veotfluice^

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND: 381

veotfluice, and probably midnight ere he regain-
ed his palace. Such are the taxes which govern-
ments levy upon the governors ; and I have not
the fmalleft doubt, but that this chief military
commander of the Republick, laid his deluged
head that night upon the pillow, heartily weary
of pre-eminence, and awoke to the confoling
thought that he mould not be condemned to pay
fo dear a price for a few huzzas till that time
twelve-months.

My friend, men are in the habit of calling
kings and emperors tyrants, when moft of them,
at lead now-a-days, are inverted with a kind of
impotent dignity, and are in a date of more in-
cefiant flavery dian the meaneft fubjecl: of their
realms; yet are often envied for thofe fplendid
vapours, which are but the mining chains and
trappings of that very flavery more cumbrous
and infupportable : and the hiftory of thrones,
alas, fcarcely furnifhes us with a monarch who
might not exclaim with one of our own Hen-
ries, even as he lies flretched on his couch of
royalty, -

Ah, happy lowly clown,

Uneafy lies the head that wears a crown,"

Adieu.

LETTER.

382 GLEANINGS THROUGH

LETTER III.

TO THE SAME.'

np
JL HE cuftoms obferved in marriages and

burials are fingular. Refpecting the firft, the
parties, if of the middling rank, are drefied in a
fuit of fables on the nuptial day, either to indi-
cate the folemnity of the bond, or as a memento
won, that all hope of conquefl fnould then be
dead and buried, at the foot of the altar.

Funerals are no lefs remarkable. A numerous
body of the burghers, in black gowns and decent
bands, attend the body of every deceafed citizen.
The priefls, paftors, &c. vifit the houfe of the
deceafed, which, even as if it were wholly eva-
cuated, is fhut up, and that with the moft jealous
caution, till the morning of the burial. The
corpfe is brought out by twelve burghers, and
carried by them not on fhoulders, but by hand to
the grave, where it is depofited without any
prayer whatever, though occafionally a fermon
be preached. The mourners look into the
yawning earth that is to hold their relation,
or friend, and then depart. They take off
fhefe " cuftornary fuits of common black/'

and

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND. 383

and mix in the bufinefs or diverfions of the
world.

Amongft the advantages of a refidentiary or a
deliberate traveller, who ftays in a place long
enough, or vifits it often enough to gather its
produce, whether natural or accidental, are thofe
chances which throw you into the path of bro-
ther-wanderers, whether preparing to take the
field or returning home with the harveft ofob-
fervation, from the different quarters of this
wide world of enterprize. Several of thefe, the
Chapter of Accidents has already prefented :
•forne laden with wheat, others only with chaff;
many with flowers, and many with weeds;
and not a few again wi&h a mixture of all
thefe : according to the conilitution of Nature,
which is compounded of good, bad, and in-
different.

During one of my refidences alternately at the
Hague and the Brielle, I encountered two tra-
vellers of very oppofite powers, making as oppo-
fite imprefiions. The one whom by way of
charafteriftick, I fhall call Mr. Blank, is of that
order of travellers who give to every airy unim-
portance an inflated grandeur, and defcribe every
trifle with a pomp of words appropriate only to
that heroi-comick burlefque, or fulfe fublime,
7 which

384 GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND*

which would very well become the mice and the
frogs in the old fable. I foon perceived this
felf-imagined mountain was always in labour,
and brought forth nothing but fome of the
above-named animals ; yet that they were ufh-
ered into the world with all the pageantries of
eaftern phrafeology; as ridiculous and unnecef-
fary as it would be to let off a cannon at a gnat,
which might more eafily be exterminated by a
fillip of the- finger. Mr. Blank has travelled
the Lord knows where, and is going, I believe
in my confcience, the Lord knows not whither -y
for he talks of traverfing regions, cc where
human enterprize " has never yet directed it-*
" felf ; of terra incogrit*) of which human be-
cc ings have no precife ideas of exiftence, but
<c which he is fure do exift, and which it is
*c referved for him and him alone, to explore.'**
Ah, blifsful vanity ! that can thus amufe thyfclf
with the fhining vapours of thy own felf-love,
and thus give

" To airy nothing,

" A local habitation !"

This Mr. Blank travels with his works in his
portmanteau ; enters an inn, calls for pen and
ink in a violent hurry, to write down his laft

f This is Mr. Blank's own account of his travels.

6 thoughts,

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

thoughts, fcribbles at full fpeed, and notes-
joins the publick dining-table — introduces bim~
felf— and, what lie conceives to be the beft part
of him, his works, to the company— -forces his
right and left hand neighbour to be his auditors
*— while the firft courfe is removing he takes care
to fill up the interval with the richeft entremet —
he ferves himfelf up again — begs the company to
hear or read fome favourite paflage, which has
been admired, copied, and got by heart in every
court of Europe $ rehearfed by minor Emperors,
and fpouted by queens Dowager ! but in the
midft of reading, being feized with a new idea,
he Harts up regardlefs of his own appetite, but
happily leaving you to the enjoyment of your's,
runs out of the room, or to the fide-board, or
makes a table of his plate turned topfy-turvy,
and has fcrawled half a fheet of paper before
you can help yourfelf to a glafs of wine $ for
never furely did mortal author produce fiich
" an infinite deal of nothing" in fo little time ;
and he talks nonfenfe as fail as he writes it.
Happy powers 1 but, beware ! during his fcrib-
bling moments make on your part the beft life
of them, or your dinner will be again in danger.
Our author returns to cram you with food that
will add little to your nourimments and, unleis
you prefer his windy banquet to good animal
fuftenance, I fee no efcape but hunger and flight
VOL. i. C c from

. GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

frofn a Well-filled tables unlefs you follow the
example of a pleafant gentleman, who knowing
the difpofition of our traveller, declared himfelf
deaf and blind; regretting at the fame time, in
the politeft terms (on a flip of paper he fcrawl-
ed in a written hint he had received), that he
was thus prevented the honour and advantage of
either reading or liftening to his compofitions.
Do not, however, fuppofe that a traveller who
has encountered fo many more difficulties than
Robinfon Crufoe, or Mr. Bruce, is to be dif-
mayed by a few natural impediments in any of
his auditory : he goes on reciting with the mod
perfevering vehemence $ and as in the above in-
fiance, he fatigues you out of your well-diflem-
bled deafnefs, he wearies you out of every other
aflumed misfortune, by making you at lead con-
fefs that though you, have eyes you will not Jee>
and though you have ears you will not hear. Thus
you muft either facrirtce your appetite to your
politenefs, or your politenefs to your appetite-
Mr. Blank has written defcriptions of countries,
through which he has never pafled ; held dif-
courfes with the inhabitants who never had ha-
bitation; having firft invented and then con-
verfed with them ; painted fufferings with which
it has not yet pleafed the juftice of God to
reward his falfehood $• and incurred many hair-
breadth

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND. 387

efcapes without his ever having been in
danger.

As it is however well obferved, that " nothing
cc can come of nothing/' I fhall haften to repay
you for having made fo cc much ado" about it by
the introduction of another traveller, who will
make his entre under every circumftance that can,
contrail him to Mr. Blank, and whom therefore
I fhall call Mr. Prize. This gentleman comes
recommended to your friendfhip, 'by all the ad-
vantages of good fenfe, heroifm, modefty, and
misfortune. Mr. Prize is one of the few who
was fliipwrecked in the South Seas in the Pan-
dora frigate, and he has been preferved from the
general crufh of his fellow-creatures by encoun-
tering difficulties, from the furmounting which
the refidue of his life feems entitled to every
honour and comfort his country can beftow. But
as in various other cafes, fo in this, his' misfor-
tunes have been productive of many interefting
adventures amongft a people, concerning whom
publick curiofity has been fo much indebted to
the immortal Captain Cooke. Mr. Prize, with
equal modefty and force, related fuclra variety
of anecdotes refpeding the inhabitants of Ota-
heite, that I paflcd from town to town in the
publick boats without perceiving the diftances,
except to regret the flops in the narrative, while
c c 2 we

388 GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND;

we. changed our barges, though this at other times
is no unwelcome interruption. I was earneft with
him to extend the pleafure he had given me,
by publifhing his account as a fupplement to
Cooke. The modefty with which he declined
this, " becaufe the tafk had been already bet-
<c ter performed," was in perfect contraft to
the literary, or rather the illiterate arrogance
with which Mr. Blank had the day before round-
ly aflerted in my hearing, that " if he was ever
cc again tempted to gratify the curiofity of an un-
<f grateful world it Ihould be well paid for j" be-
caufe, added the vain-glorious boafter, " I can-
<c not afford to throw away my time and talents
<c on a work, which, by annihilating all other tra-
<c vellers in the like route, beiides the traverfe of
cc unknown realms, will throw a new light and
" luftre upon hiftory !"

Nothing fhort of the pleafure one derives from
the unexpected diffidence of a Mr. Prize, adorned
with all the blufhing powers of merit, and of
genius unconfcious of thofe powers, could atone
for the difgufting pain one fuffers from the fwell-
ing conceit of a Mr. Blank, who with the proud-
eft opinions coupled the mofl impotent abilities j
for, as the relation of Mr. Prize was given in
the fimpleft drefs of Truth and Wifdom, fo that
of Mr. Blank was tricked off in all the meretri-
cious

CLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND, 389

tious ornaments of abortive labour, panting after
the eloquence it could not reach.

Indeed I never but in one fingle inftance, knew
uncommon talents united with uncommon vanity ;
and that one exception prefented itfelf to my view
the very next day after I had been regaled by the
fociety of Mr. Prize.

That you may have thefe three extraordinary
characters brought as clofe together upon paper
as they were in life, you fhall now have a fketch
of this third traveller, whom, if you pleafe,
we will diftinguifh by the name of Blank-and-
Prize.

Mr. Blank-and-Prize is a Swifs officer of dif-
tin&ion in the fervice of the Prince of Orange.
He unites the fpirit of a foldier and the manners
of a gentleman, to the enthufiafm of a man of
real genius. The powers of that genius, indeed,
like many of his natal mountains in Switzerland,
are fublime without fterility; they flower to the
very fummits; and, like his natal vallies, arc
rich and picture fque, and " fling their fragrance"
into the very bottom of the deepeft glens. He
was introduced to me by a party of familiar
friends who take pleafure in obliging me ; but
having fo lately fuffered from the obtrufion of

Mr.

goo CLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

Mr. Blank, I did not expect a fimilar reparation
to that which I had found in Mr. Prize. The
firft appearance of the man, however, was me-
nacing. He had not been announced a minute
ere he was at the heels of his announcer. I was
introduced to him as a traveller, a man of letters,
and an Englimman. fc I have a refpeft for all
cc thofe characters," replied Mr. Blank-and-
Prize : cc I make my bow to them, even when I
<c meet with them feparately, but when I fee
ct them combining before me in a fingle charac-
" ter, and concentrating in one perfon, as I
<c underftand is the cafe at prefent, J open my
<c arms to receive him in this manner ! "—em-
bracing.

Here he expanded himfelf, pulled me into his
embraces, and gave me the hug of literary bro-
therhood. cc I am myfelf a traveller, a man of
cc letters, and though not an Englifhman, fpeak
<c the language, as you perceive, as perfectly as
cc the beft educated native," continued Mr.
Blank-and-Prize. cc I have traverfed three parts
" of the earth, and am foon to fet off for a tour
<c of the other quarter. I am by birth a S.witzer,
<c glory in my country, and hope and believe it;
<c will glory in me."

J\s he pronounced this, a private of our au-
thor's

CLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

tnor's regiment came in with a box of no incon-
fiderable fize under his arm : he placed it at his
commanding officer's feet, and making the low
military y marched off in a drill ftep.

cc Ay, here are fome of my works ; a fhort
« fpecimen, fir, faid he." He took out the key.
I trembled. He threw open the lid, and brought
forth as many folio fheets of paper, very clofely
penned, as he could grafp. With a no lefs de-
termined hand, he hurried out a fecond, and
then a third bundle, threatening Jucb an attack
upon my patience and politenefs, as my fubmif-
five and often fuffering nature almoft funk
under ; and yet I would go, and have many a
time gone, very far indeed to let every man and
woman have their humour

The weather was extremely hot and ill-adapt-
ed to any very fevere trials of attention. I had
ever" an ^verfion to that clafs of authors who are:
tddiffed to read their own works ; and to be
hedged into an enclofure where there is no room
for any body but the author to move a foot or a
finger, perhaps for feveral hours together, to the
deftru&ion of my dear fun-fetting ramble, or
twilight ftolen vifit to nature or the moon, with
whom I have, you know, nightly afllgnations.
Did not all this threaten too much ? Had there

been

392 CLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND

been but a loop-hole left for apology, I would
Jiave crept out at it. But the meeting was con-
certed by my friends, on purpofe pour me fairt
flaiftr, purely to oblige me. Martyrdom,
thought I !

Having rapidly turned over about an hundred
leaves,. Mr. Blank-and-Prize faid (ftill turning)
*c I fee you are impatient for me to begin. I
€€ will not keep you on the rack much longer.
cc Come then, come, I will have mercy on you*
" You (hall then have a little of my account of
** Switzerland firft, then we will trip acrofs the
cr feas to America, and then I will bring you
cc back to Europe ; after which, if we have
" time,, you {hall infpecl: my book of maps and
f< drawings. Let me fee, we have fix hours
*c good, and if I find you deeply interested, as I
" am fure you will be, I will {train a point to
<f pafs the whole evening at this houfe (where I
<c am always at. home), and where though I read
" my works twenty times, they wifli for them
" twenty more."

Guefs my fituation ! a cat pent iip in a corner
never meditated more fell defigns. I could have
{topped his cruel lips by cramming his owa
works down his throat! A foliloquy broke
out in fomething between a grumble and a figlv

How I

CLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND. 393

How ! am I condemned to .bear down the fum-
mer's day and night, and make the tour of Eu-»
rope and America chained to this chair! in fuch
a day as this !

Our hiftorian began. I anticipated periods
of a mile, and yawnings of a league. I was
ntiftaken: not only the genuine matter of the
compofitions, but the manner in which they
were delivered was a treat. Albeit I do not
boaft much of the fuppofed faturnine, or phleg-
matick charafteriftick of my countrymen, and
have poffibly fuffered not a little from indulging
the bias of a contrary difpofition, I do afTure
you my moil headlong Tallies — even when they
have driven me from a plain path and open
country, into the entanglements of an untrodden
wood, in the which, friend and reader, thou
haft often feen me involved — might be deemed
cold-hearted apathy to the deportment of our li-
terary hero while in the act of reading his manu-
fcripts !

He firft took me into Switzerland, and had he
kept me there till now, amidft the fcenary with
which his pen and pencil brought me acquainted,
I fhould have looked on myfelf as a very happy
mountaineer, and him as a delightful guide ! It

VOL. i. Do is

304 GU1AMINGS THROUGH HOLLAND.

is 'as impoffible to read his book without wifhing
to vifit his country, and to poflefs the power to feel
and to defcribe its beauties with the fame force, as
to view with fang froid the exquifite and magick
fcenary of De Loutherbourg.

I cannot repeat the name of the lad-men-
tioned gentleman, without fubfcribing fully to
your eulogium on his talents. He paints to the
foul, cc the cloud -capt hill," the profound valley,
the fcarce- heard rill, the deafning cataract, the
proudeft fublimities ; and all the interefling
minutiae of nature, in her labours, in her paftimes,
in her aweful operations, and in her fports, are
before you. He f laces you onthefyots defcribed.
His pencil carries you where its owner pleafes j
you converfe with the perfons -,_ you lofe fight of
the painter; you forget he is fitting in. a chair be-
fides you, or even defcribing to you the ftory of
his piece. He is loft in the fcene he has painted :
the object he groupes, the ftory he tells, are in
your heart. He perfonifies imaginary, and anni-
hilates actual beings. In ihort, he interefts you
fo much for the abfent, that you neglect- or over-
look the prefent. For himielf, he is frequently
out of fight ; and we have eyes and ears only for
the places and perfonage with whom he brings us
acquainted : but when the charm on the canvafs is
difiblved, and De Loutherbourg comes again into

6 view,

GLEANINGS THROUGH HOLLAND. 395

view, you recoiled that he is not only one of the
beft painters, but one of the worthier! men in the
world. This combines love of the man with
admiration of the artift, and your fatisfaction is
complete.

By a retrograde motion I mail now conduct
you back to the firft field of our obfervation in
Holland (Helveotfluice), in order to carry you
progrefiively to the laft, to the advantage of your
purfe, the eafe of your perfon, and the amufement
of your mind.

I mould apologife for thefe Gleanings being
fomewhat out of place, had I not been previoufly
authorifed in our compact of correfpcndence, to
take what freedoms I pleafed with time and cir-
cum fiance -, to carry you backwards and forwards
as feemed beft unto me -, taking care to arrange
the whole amidfl this cc regular confufion," foas
to give you the greateft variety of entertainment
and information.

END OF VOL. X,

,

D

917

P73

1798

v.1

Pratt, Samuel Jackson

Gleanings through Wales,
Holland, and Westphalia
4th ed.

PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE
CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY