)
Should die with traitor branded on, his fame.
His hand enfolds a small cornelian seal,
A portrait of his queen,--on which his eyes
Are fondly fix'd. The final word is given,
And Murat falls: ah! who would be a king!
* * H.
* * * * *
COAST BLOCKADE MEN.
(_For the Mirror._)
Maturin in his fearful romance of _Melmoth_, has well exemplified the
change of character and frequent subversion of intellect occasioned by
untoward circumstances. The human mind, like a woody fibre, when
submitted to the action of a petrifying stream, gradually assimilates
the qualities of its associates. This truth is strikingly verified in
the persons of the men on our blockade stations, for the prevention of
smuggling. They are a numerous race, and inhabit little fortalices on
the coasts of our sea-girt isle, which to an imaginative mind would give
it the appearance of a beleagured citadel. The powerful, but still
ineffective means resorted to by government for the suppression of
illicit traffic, sadly demonstrates the degeneracy of our nature, and
may be seen in full operation on the coast between Margate, Dover, and
Hastings.
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