did not induce us to stay longer than was sufficient to recruit
ourselves. We found the dirty inn pre-occupied by unfortunate Irish
refugees: their situation was indeed melancholy; driven from their
country, their friends, and all most dear to them!—And wishing to forget
their past sufferings, the following lines seem applicable to their
situation:
“Oh! Could oblivion’s friendly draught
Soothe all our sorrows to repose;
Nor that intruder, restless thought,
Renew our agonizing woes!
“Then, all unconscious of the past,
The present hour might calmly glide;
Keen retrospect no more be cast
O’er life’s tempestuous, changeful tide:
“Yet Heaven, to all its creatures kind,
With peace can gild the deepest gloom;
And, ’mid misfortune’s wrecks, the mind
May sweet serenity assume.”