1827.] [11 ] 



DOZING. 



" Fctium quiet plurimum juval." 

 Dozing very much delights. 



OUR corporeal machinery requires an occasional relaxation, as much as 

 the steam-engine does the application of oil to its divers springs ; and, 

 after a bond-fide slumber, we rise with a freshness equal to that of flowers 

 in the best-regulated flower-pots. But dozing must not be confounded 

 with legitimate sleep, though frequently tending to the same purpose : it 

 may be termed an embryo slumber, that entertaineth the body with the most 

 quiescent gentleness, acting on our senses as a sort of mental warm-bath ; 

 till, finally, the te material man" himself luxuriates in tepidity. 



I enjoyed a delicious doze, a week since, in the dining-room of my uncle, 

 Sir Fiddle Fuz. With respect to my uncle, suffice it to say, that he is the 

 respected possessor of a turretted mansion in the county of Fuz : duly 

 supplied with the ordinary quantum of park, yew-trees, fish-ponds, hounds, 

 and domestics. I shall give the reader an adequate description here, in 

 order that he may the better estimate the heavenliness of my enjoyment 

 premisingthat he will not doze himself ere he has read this chapter. 



I said 1 enjoyed a doze at my uncle's : it was a little between six and 

 seven in the evening, and when the half-emptied wine-bottles were gra- 

 dually disappearing, amid the mantling shadiness of the chamber. The 

 dining-room itself has a drowsiness about it, arising from its antiquated 

 constitution. There is a row of lofty elms fronting the windows, and the 

 shivering sunbeams danced very poetically through their blossomed twigs. 

 On the day alluded to, my uncle, aunt, and a harmless member of parlia- 

 ment, dined en famille. Our mastications were soon concluded my 

 aunt retired and the bottle circulated among our remaining trio. I must 

 remark, by the way, that my esteemed relative is beset with the spirit of 

 vapidity; whether from the spaciousness of his person, or from the vapoury 

 qualities of the " metis divina," I have not yet determined. The Roman 

 Catholic Question, for a while, gave a lively relish to the departing port ; 

 but this gradually melted away in a froth of words. The Corn Laws 

 that everlasting theme for pamphleteering barons came next. The eyes 

 of both host and visitor were momentarily relumed by this hackneyed 

 discussion. As for myself, I shrugged more fondly to the back of my 

 chair, and amused myself by twisting my thumbs till a soporific sort of 

 cloud stole over me, and the fitful grumble of my uncle's sonorous voice 

 became, to speak poetice, like a dying echo or bells upon a far-off w r ind 

 or anything else in the same way. Oh ! reader, didst thou ever doze ? 

 If not, I fairly despair of touching your imagination. There were no 

 candles ; the busy flickerings of light from the fire quadrilled along the 

 walls ; 1 just heard a conclusive grunt from the member ; the darkness 

 seemed to increase in density ; I leaned back and, like a melting snow- 

 ball, relaxed into a doze. That delectable doze ! The wine had deli- 

 cately mellowed my brains, my finger-tips were in a glow, and I felt as if 

 I was being dipped in a basinful of down. Let no one ridicule this 

 grateful homage for a doze : it is a " green, sunny spot" in one's memory. 

 I don't remember my dream exactly ; there was something like a huge 

 bushel of corn, reaching from the ground to the clouds ; but I recollect 

 nothing else. I felt I was not sleeping; but this increased the felicity of 



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