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Rh bosom, shaken with the conflict of contending passion, and trembling with exhaustion rather than repose; while a thousand vain cares and feverish hopes are rocked to and fro on the restless surface. The heavens were equally unsettled; the dense purple, lighted by the large bright moon, was broken by huge masses of clouds—some dark, as if the thunder still lingered in their gloomy recesses, while others, fragile and snowy, seemed to harbour nothing rougher than a summer shower, enough to bathe but not to spoil the rose.

The general aspect of midnight is calm and solemn; the lulled spirits unconsciously are subdued by the deep repose. Not so this night. The keen air from the water made exercise necessary to circulate the blood; and somewhat of cheerful exertion is connected with a fresh gale and a quick walk. The light, too, was wavering and uncertain, as the heavy vapours sailed by and obscured the moon; and her mirror, the ocean, at one moment glittered with her silvery beam, and the next was left in total darkness.

The scene greatly harmonised with the young Englishman's mood; from its wearing a likeness to the human lot in general, he, by a common process, began to associate it with the fate peculiarly