1802.] 
verbial for their abilities.. Fraught with 
the flrongeft powers of mind, thofe diffi- 
culties which impede the progrefs ef moft 
of the votaries of learning, vanifhed be- 
fore him, He but touched the gates of 
{cience, and they flew open for his admif- 
fion. Languages, mathematics, theology, 
natural philolophy, were equally familiar 
tohim. Inthe pulpit his eloquence was 
irrebitible : affifted by flight notes, he 
pronounced difcourfes which left an inde- 
Irble imprefiion on his hearers. ‘The un- 
affc&tednels, the fuavity, and the elegance 
of his manners, captivated all who knew 
him. Notwithftanding the variety. and 
the depth of his knowledge, fo free was 
he from pedantry, that, when in company, 
the fcholar was ever kept back, unlefs 
when unavoidably compelled to appear.— 
But what gave the finifhing grace to his 
character was, that the qualities of. his 
heart rivalled thofe of his head. Active 
in the fervice of his friends, he never al- 
lowed an opportunity'of benefiting them to 
efcape. Benevolent to the poor, he alle- 
viafed that mifery which he had it not in 
his power wholly to remove ;'in fhort, he 
was in every refpect an inftance of what 
unhappily for the world is rare, example 
forcibly illuftrating precept. 
The women in the ifle of Man, with 
fome exceptions, are not remarkable for 
-elegance of form or delicacy of features. 
That fickly languor, fo highly prized by 
our ladies of fafhion, has not yet depreffed 
the vivacity, or rendered pallid the ruddy 
cheeks, of the Manks fair. ‘Thofe fuper- 
ficial accomplifhments which are difplayed 
in England with fo much oftentation, and 
’ that contemptible affectation which is 
their refult, are here little known. The 
€ar is not tortured by the repetition of jar- 
ring notes following each other in one dif- 
cordant jingle ; mor is the eye offended by 
the reprefentation, or, more properly {peak- 
ing, the mifreprefentation of {cenes, where 
the ftreams, in contradiction to the un- 
changeable laws of gravitation, flow up- 
wards—of animals, which are not to be 
found in Buffon—and of plants, which it 
would have puzzled Linnzus bimfelf to 
arrange. ‘The practice of her domeftic 
duties, and the regulation of her domettic 
affairs, conftitute the employment of the 
Manks wife; and if not fo refined as the 
dames of more polifhed nations, fhe is 
perhaps as happy. 
Landed property is very much divided 
in the ifland, There are fcarcely fix men 
who are proprietors of eftates exceeding 
the value of five hundred a-year. _Almoit 
every Mankfman has a cottage, and a field 
Sketch of the Ifle of Man; 109 
large, enough to produce: potatoes to his 
herrings. Let not any young lady, wha 
may honour this little {ketch with a per- 
ufal, imagine that thefe cottages are like 
thofe in which, according to her favourite 
romantic authors, the laughing Loves re- 
fide. Here is no latticed cafement, ‘half- 
hidden by the interwoven branches of the 
honeyfuckle and the jafmine—no neatly- 
thatched roof, over which the creeping ivy 
extends his embracing arms——no beds of 
blufhing flowers, whofe fragrance and . 
whote beauteous tints delight the ravifhed 
fenies—no f{miling cherub, who with curly 
fiaxen locks and glowing cheek fports on 
the adjacent lawn—no graceful female in 
muflin robe, and ftraw hat tied carelefsly 
with ribbon of ceruiean hue, chanting her 
ruftic ditty o’er the brimming. pail :— 
The large ftones which the impetuofity of 
the mountain torrents force from their 
beds, unhewn, and piled in rude order, ge- 
nerally without cement of any kind, form 
the Manks hovel. On entering, you are 
nearly blinded with the {moke which pro 
ceeds from a heap of peat turf in the cen- 
tre of the hut, and the unpleafantnefs.of 
this fenfation is not a little increafed by: 
the efluvia from the herring-barre!, which 
at the fame moment affail your olfactory 
nerves. The interior of the cottage pre- 
fents no very engaging {cene; the appeare 
ance of its tenants is in general dirty, and 
every object imprefles you with the idea of 
poverty and wretchednefs.. And yet, in 
fuch humble dwellings, and in {fo rude a 
garb, content can fpread a charm, the ab- 
fence of which is feverely experienced by 
the inhabitant of the palace, decked out in. 
the gayeft apparel, and feafting on the 
moft delicious viands. 
The internal fcenery of the Ifle of Man 
is far from being beautiful: the great want - 
of wood is 2 principal caufe of this defect 5 
the lines of the mountains are not very 
fine; the rivers, likewife, are fo fmall, 
that they add little to the richnefs of the 
views. But for this univerfal tamenefs 
ample compenfation is made by the gran- 
deur of fome of the rock {cenery on the eaft 
coaft, particularly at Kork-Maughold- | 
head and in its vicinity: the frupendo rs 
_ height of the rocks, their grotefgue forms, 
the diverfity of their combinations, the 
varioufly tinted mofles with which they are 
crowned, the obfcure caverns by which 
they are perforated, the flocks of fea-birds 
wheeling in perpetual circles around them, 
the carelets playing of the waves, which, 
approaching of a brilliant green hue, pre- 
fently lath themfelves into the whiteft 
foam, altogether afford fubjeéts, to imi- - 
Cate 
