FEBRUARY. 43 



ment, as if the bomb-shells of a besieging army 

 were demolishing the roofs, and rendering it 

 even death to walk the streets ! Then for a 

 scene of awful grandeur upon the glorious 

 ocean ! That which, but an hour before, was 

 calm and sun-bright, a variety of vessels ly- 

 ing at anchor, or sailing to and fro in serene 

 beauty, then is a scene of sublime and chaotic 

 uproar ! the waves rolling and foaming, and 

 dashing their spray over rocks, pier-heads, 

 houses, and even over the loftiest towers and 

 churches too, as I have seen it, to an amazing 

 extent, till the water ran down the walls like 

 rain, and the windows, at a great distance from 

 the beach, were covered with a salt incrusta- 

 tion the vessels meanwhile labouring amidst 

 the riotous billows as for life, and tugging at 

 their cables, as if mad for their escape. Many 

 a beautiful, many a wild, many an animating 

 spectacle is to be witnessed on the shores of our 

 happy isle in such moments. What anxious 

 groups are collected on the quays of populous 

 ports! What lonely peril is encountered on 

 distant strands, where the solitary fisherman 

 picks up a troubled and precarious livelihood ! 

 Then too for the most animated scene which 



