iew of almost all the
blessings that render life desirable; the charm that binds man to
society, the medicine that cures a wounded spirit, and the cordial which
reanimates and brightens the intellectual faculties of the philosopher
and the poet; in short, the health-inspiring draught, without which the
o'ercharged spirit would sink into earth, a prey to black despondency,
or linger out a wearisome existence only to become a gloomy misanthrope,
a being hateful to himself and obnoxious to all the world." With nearly
as much alacrity as the lover displays when, on the wings of anticipated
delight, he hastes to seek the beloved of his soul, did I, Bernard
Blackmantle, pack up my portmanteau, and make the best of my way to
Southampton, from which place the steam boat conveys passengers, morning
and evening, to and from the island. Southampton has in itself very
little worthy the notice of the lover of the characteristic and the
humorous, at least that I discovered in a few hours' ramble. It is
a clean well-built town, of considerable extent and antiquity,
particularly its entrance gate, enlivened by numerous elegant shops,
whose blandishments are equally attractive with the more fashionable
_magazines de modes_ of the British metropolis. The accommodations for
visitors inclined to bathe or walk have been much neglected, and the
vapours arising from its extended shores at low water are, in warm
weather, very offensive; but the influx of strangers is, nevertheless,
very great, from its being the port most eligible to embark from for
either Havre de Grace, Guernsey, Jersey, or the Isle of Wight. The
market here is accounted excellent, and from this source the visitors
of Cowes are principally ~143~~supplied with fruit, fish, fowl, and
delicacies. The steam boat is a new scene for the painter of real life,
and the inquisitive observer of the humorous and eccentric. The facility
it affords of a quick and certain conveyance, in defiance of wind and
tide, ensures its proprietors, during the summer months, a harvest of
success. Its advantages I have here attempted to describe in verse, a
whim written during my passage; and this will account for the odd sort
of measure adopted, which I attribute to the peculiar motion of the
vessel, and the clanking of the engine; for, as everybody knows,
poets are the most susceptible of human beings in relation to local
circumstances.

THE ADVANTAGES OF STEAM.

If Adam or old