The English Spy, page 459 by Bernard Blackmantle
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ne. Here where luxuriant Nature pours, In frolic mood, her choicest stores, Bedecking with umbrageous green And richest flowers the velvet scene, Begirt by circling ocean's swell, Enrich'd by mountain, moor, and dell; Here bright Hygeia, queen of Health, Bestows a gift which bankrupts wealth.
The Oxford Student--Reflections on the Close of a Term--The Invitation--Arrival at Southampton--Remarks--The Steam Boat-- Advantages of Steam--Voyage to the Isle of Wight-- Southampton Water--The Solent Sea and surrounding Scenery-- Marine Villas, Castles, and Residences--West Cowes--Its Harbour and Attractions--The Invalid or the Convalescent-- The Royal Yacht Club--Circular in Rhyme--Aquatic Sports considered in a National Point of Vieio--A Night on board the Rover Yacht--The Progress of Navigation--The Embarkation--The Soldier's Wife--Sketches of Scenery and Characters--Evening Promenaders--Excursions in the Island, to Ryde, Newport, Shanklin Chine, Bonchurch, the Needle Rocks--Descriptive Poetry--Morning, Noon, and Night-- The Regatta--The Pilot's Review--The Race Ball--Adieu to Vectis.
The Oxford commemoration was just over, and the Newdigate laurels graced the brow of the victor; the ~l4l~~last concert which brings together the scattered forces of alma mater, on the eve of a long vacation, had passed off like the note of the cygnet; the rural shades of Christchurch Meadows were abandoned by the classic gownsmen, and the aquatic sons of Brazen-nose and Jesus had been compelled to yield the palm of marine superiority to their more powerful opponents, the athletic men of Exeter. The flowery banks of Isis no longer presented the attractive evening scene, when all that is beautiful and enchanting among the female graces of Oxford sport like the houris upon its velvet shores, to watch the prowess of the college youth: The regatta had terminated with the term; even the High Street, the usually well-frequented resort of prosing dons, and dignitaries, and gossiping masters of arts, bore