arriving at your father's conclusions, though from different
premisses, inclined my course in this direction, where perhaps I
shall see as little.

One thing, however, I HAVE seen; and it was with pleasure the
more indescribable, that I was debarred from treading the land
which my eyes were permitted to gaze upon, like those of the
dying prophet from top of Mount Pisgah,--I have seen, in a word,
the fruitful shores of merry England; merry England! of which I
boast myself a native, and on which I gaze, even while raging
floods and unstable quicksands divide us, with the filial
affection of a dutiful son.

Thou canst not have forgotten, Alan--for when didst thou ever
forget what was interesting to thy friend?--that the same letter
from my friend Griffiths, which doubled my income, and placed my
motions at my own free disposal, contained a prohibitory clause,
by which, reason none assigned, I was prohibited, as I respected
my present safety and future fortunes, from visiting England;
every other part of the British dominions, and a tour, if I
pleased, on the Continent, being left to my own choice.--Where is
the tale, Alan, of a covered dish in the midst of a royal
banquet, upon which the eyes of every guest were immediately
fixed, neglecting all the dainties with which the table was
loaded? This cause of banishment from England--from my native
country--from the land of the brave, and the wise, and the free--
affects me more than I am rejoiced by the freedom and
independence assigned to me in all other respects. Thus, in
seeking this extreme boundary of the country which I am forbidden
to tread, I resemble the poor tethered horse, which, you may have