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Article COLLEGE MUSINGS. ← Page 2 of 8 →
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College Musings.
vessel , I made a very fair breakfast on arriving at the hotel . 1 observed that this is no meagre unsubstantial meal in that " snug-tight-little island . " There is a peculiar mode of conserving herrings , a fish that forms one of its staple articles of trade—which makes a most exquisite dish . Living of every description is remarkably cheap and abundant . Wines , spirits , and teas , which pay in England high custom-house and excise dutiesbeing free from import here ; and the privilege of protecting
, runaway debtors from the mother-country having been abolished , Douglas has become a great resort as a watering-place for visitors from the opposite shores of England and Ireland . After doing ample justice to the breakfast , I strolled out to take a survey of the town and harbour . The quay , or more properly speaking perhaps , the pier , is the grand promenade . From its extremity , where there is a lighthouse to point out the entrance of the portwhich is
, narrow and very rocky , you obtain a fine view of the beautiful bay , extending with a graceful sweep for three miles—the shore studded b y elegant marine villas in detached terraces , and , on the slope of the hill which rises to a great elevation , stands in the dignified position of an ancient fabric , Mona Castle * formerly the seat of the Duke of Athol , then sole possessor and feudal lord of the isle . It is a fine old mansion commanding a magnificent view of the bay and the channel ; and
when "kept up" in baronial style was no doubt a place of regal grandeur . It is now , with all the fiscal rights , privileges , and proprietorship in the soil of the whole island sold , 1 believe b y the reigning duke , to government . But the immunities , from the operation of the
excise laws , which render it so cheap a residence for families with a prescribed income , are still preserved . In the upper part of the town ascending from the harbour , new streets of private houses are erecting every season . Such is the alteration of the place ; and towards the road to Castle-town , the capital of the island , the Nunnery , so called , where General resides , and another gentleman ' s residence , with the grounds and groves of each , form a finished ornament to the town .
The hotels are remarkably good , and during the summer months want not for supporters , for every tide brings upon its bosom shoals of steampackets from Liverpool or Dublin thronged with passengers . For " the study of mankind , " I think I never obtained a better or more various collection of the species . 1 could reckon at the ordinary ( to speak English ) of my hotel , a poet , a painter , an actor , a physician , a lawyer , a sailora soldiera merchantin shorta host of every denomination
, , , , , barring the canaille . The different sentiments of each upon any one given topic , if committed to paper , would have created a perfect Babel of opinions . It almost made me think there could not be found any two persons who would exactly agree on any one particular subject . This manly and sociable freedom of intercourse introduced me to the acquaintance of a new arrival , whom I quickly discovered to be a peripatetic like myself . He was seniorbut his manners
many years my , , conversation , and sentiments so won upon my romantic fancy , that , when he observed he intended making a tour of the island on foot , I esteemed it a privilege to be admitted his companion in the same design . On the following morning , therefore , at five o ' clock , whilst the greatest part of the inhabitants were buried in sleep , we found ourselves merril y pacing together thc road to Castle-town , twelve miles to the south-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
College Musings.
vessel , I made a very fair breakfast on arriving at the hotel . 1 observed that this is no meagre unsubstantial meal in that " snug-tight-little island . " There is a peculiar mode of conserving herrings , a fish that forms one of its staple articles of trade—which makes a most exquisite dish . Living of every description is remarkably cheap and abundant . Wines , spirits , and teas , which pay in England high custom-house and excise dutiesbeing free from import here ; and the privilege of protecting
, runaway debtors from the mother-country having been abolished , Douglas has become a great resort as a watering-place for visitors from the opposite shores of England and Ireland . After doing ample justice to the breakfast , I strolled out to take a survey of the town and harbour . The quay , or more properly speaking perhaps , the pier , is the grand promenade . From its extremity , where there is a lighthouse to point out the entrance of the portwhich is
, narrow and very rocky , you obtain a fine view of the beautiful bay , extending with a graceful sweep for three miles—the shore studded b y elegant marine villas in detached terraces , and , on the slope of the hill which rises to a great elevation , stands in the dignified position of an ancient fabric , Mona Castle * formerly the seat of the Duke of Athol , then sole possessor and feudal lord of the isle . It is a fine old mansion commanding a magnificent view of the bay and the channel ; and
when "kept up" in baronial style was no doubt a place of regal grandeur . It is now , with all the fiscal rights , privileges , and proprietorship in the soil of the whole island sold , 1 believe b y the reigning duke , to government . But the immunities , from the operation of the
excise laws , which render it so cheap a residence for families with a prescribed income , are still preserved . In the upper part of the town ascending from the harbour , new streets of private houses are erecting every season . Such is the alteration of the place ; and towards the road to Castle-town , the capital of the island , the Nunnery , so called , where General resides , and another gentleman ' s residence , with the grounds and groves of each , form a finished ornament to the town .
The hotels are remarkably good , and during the summer months want not for supporters , for every tide brings upon its bosom shoals of steampackets from Liverpool or Dublin thronged with passengers . For " the study of mankind , " I think I never obtained a better or more various collection of the species . 1 could reckon at the ordinary ( to speak English ) of my hotel , a poet , a painter , an actor , a physician , a lawyer , a sailora soldiera merchantin shorta host of every denomination
, , , , , barring the canaille . The different sentiments of each upon any one given topic , if committed to paper , would have created a perfect Babel of opinions . It almost made me think there could not be found any two persons who would exactly agree on any one particular subject . This manly and sociable freedom of intercourse introduced me to the acquaintance of a new arrival , whom I quickly discovered to be a peripatetic like myself . He was seniorbut his manners
many years my , , conversation , and sentiments so won upon my romantic fancy , that , when he observed he intended making a tour of the island on foot , I esteemed it a privilege to be admitted his companion in the same design . On the following morning , therefore , at five o ' clock , whilst the greatest part of the inhabitants were buried in sleep , we found ourselves merril y pacing together thc road to Castle-town , twelve miles to the south-