" Surrounded by delightful scenery, and guarded from the
piercing north winds by the hilly barriers of nature, the spot
seems above all others best calculated to restore the health of the
valetudinarian, whose constitution has become shattered and infirm by
a course of fashionable dissipation, or a lengthened residence in the
pestilential climates of the Indies. "Sweet Bath! the liveliest city of
the land; Where health and pleasure ramble hand in hand, Where smiling
belles their earliest visit pay, And faded maids their lingering blooms
delay. Delightful scenes of elegance and ease! Realms of the gay, where
every sport can please." ~297~~Thus sings the Bath poet, Bayly; who,
if he is somewhat too servile an imitation of Moore in his style, has
certainly more of originality in his matter than generally distinguishes
poems of such a local nature. One of the greatest characters in the
city of Bath was the worthy host of our hotel, the Castle; at whose door
stood the rubicund visage of our Cheltenham friend, Blackstrap, ready to
give us a hearty welcome, and introduce us to Matthew Temple, who making
one of his best bows, led the way into the coffee-room, not forgetting
to assure us that Mistress Temple, who was one of the best women in the
world, would take the greatest care that we had every attention paid to
our commands and comforts; and, in good truth, honest Matthew was right,
for a more comely, good-humoured, attentive, kind hostess exists not in
the three kingdoms of his Gracious Majesty George the Fourth.
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