4. The Royal George, 108 guns, one of Lord Howe's fleet, and commanded by Admiral Kempenfelt, after service in the war with America returned to Portsmouth, England, and requiring repair, was not put into dock, but heeled over, a common mode in those days. She was, however, heeled over too far; the water rushed into the ports, and down she went with the loss by drowning of nine hundred out of the eleven hundred men, women, and children on board. The loss occurred August 29, 1782.

It was not in the battle;
No tempest gave the shock;
She sprang no fatal leak;
20 She ran upon no rock.

His sword was in its sheath;
His fingers held the pen,
When Kempenfelt went down
With twice four hundred men.

25 Weigh the vessel up,

30

Once dreaded by our foes!

And mingle with our cup

The tear that England owes.

Her timbers yet are sound,

And she may float again

Full charged with England's thunder,

And plough the distant main.

But Kempenfelt is gone,

His victories are o'er;

35 And he and his eight hundred

Shall plough the waves no more.

36. After the disaster many of the guns were fished up, but no attempt was made to raise the ship. In 1817 divers made a fresh examination, but the ship could not be raised. In 1839 the hulk was blown up by gunpowder, and the harbor cleared of the obstruction.

VERSES

SUPPOSED TO BE WRITTEN BY ALEXANDER SELKIRK,
DURING HIS SOLITARY ABODE IN THE ISLAND OF
JUAN FERNANDEZ.

I AM monarch of all I survey,

My right there is none to dispute;
From the centre all round to the sea

I am lord of the fowl and the brute.
5 O Solitude! where are the charms

10

That sages have seen in thy face?
Better dwell in the midst of alarms
Than reign in this horrible place.

I am out of humanity's reach,

I must finish my journey alone,
Never hear the sweet music of speech,
I start at the sound of my own.
The beasts that roam over the plain,
My form with indifference see;

15 They are so unacquainted with man,
Their tameness is shocking to me.

20

Society, friendship, and love,

Divinely bestow'd upon man,
Oh, had I the wings of a dove,

How soon would I taste you again!

1. Selkirk is generally supposed to have been the actual shipwrecked Englishman whose narrative gave birth to Robinson Crusoe.

My sorrows I then might assuage

In the ways of religion and truth, Might learn from the wisdom of age, And be cheer'd by the sallies of youth.

25 Religion! what treasure untold
Resides in that heavenly word!
More precious than silver and gold,
Or all that this earth can afford;
But the sound of the church-going bell
These valleys and rocks never heard,
Never sigh'd at the sound of a knell,

30

Or smil'd when a sabbath appear'd.

Ye winds, that have made me your sport, Convey to this desolate shore

35 Some cordial endearing report

40

Of a land I shall visit no more. My friends, do they now and then send A wish or a thought after me?

O tell me I yet have a friend,

Though a friend I am never to see.

How fleet is á glance of the mind! Compared with the speed of its flight, The tempest itself lags behind,

And the swift-winged arrows of light. 45 When I think of my own native land, In a moment I seem to be there ; But alas recollection at hand

50

Soon hurries me back to despair.

But the seafowl is gone to her nest,
The beast is laid down in his lair;

Even here is a season of rest, And I to my cabin repair. There's mercy in every place, And mercy, encouraging thought! 55 Gives even affliction a grace,

And reconciles man to his lot.