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XII.

HARRY STOE VAN DYK, ESQ.

THIS highly-gifted but ill-fated young man, whose lamp of life, burning too fiercely, was too soon extinguished, was a descendant of the celebrated Sir Anthony Vandyke; to the portraits of whom he bore a strong resemblance. He was born in London about the year 1798. His father was a native of Holland; his mother of the Cape of Good Hope. They came to reside in London about the year 1797. Mr. Van Dyk was principal owner and captain of a ship, in which he made voyages between London and Demerara. On the passage home of his last voyage, he was boarded, on the southwest coast of England, by a French privateer, commanded by the celebrated Captain Blacke; and after making considerable resistance, in which he was severely wounded, was taken, carried to France, and confined in one of the French prisons, where he ultimately died.

After the death of her husband, Mrs. Van Dyk resided in Newington, and young Van Dyk went to school, for a short time, in the neighbourhood. For two or three years, however, he was unfortunately subject to very little control. At about the age of sixteen he became a clerk to a merchant in the city, in which situation he remained only a year and a half; for his habits at this, and, indeed, at every other period of his life, were quite unfit for business; as may easily be conceived, when it is known that at so early an age he formed a plan, in conjunction with some of his young friends, to act plays in a little private theatre at Walworth; and was by far the best performer of the party. He always retained a strong and decided predilection for the stage, was well acquainted with every character that Shakspeare has drawn, and almost

as well with those of every other celebrated dramatist since his time. He would indeed have tried the buskin in public; but his own opinion was, that his figure was not suitable, as he considered himself to be too tall and thin.

Shortly after, Mrs. Van Dyk quitted London for Demerara, with her family, to take possession of a plantation there, which was, in consequence of her husband's death, involved in some difficulty. She, however, succeeded in her undertaking, resided in Demerara for some years, married, in 1817, Dr. Page, a gentleman of the medical profession, and died not long afterwards; when the subject of this notice left the colony for Holland, and lived at Westmaas, near Rotterdam, about three or four years, with a clergyman who was intimately acquainted with his father and mother, and of whom he acquired his knowledge of the Latin and French languages. He often related anecdotes of "the Dominie," as he called him, and spoke of him with much esteem and affection.

Mr. Van Dyk returned to London in the year 1821, depending for his support on remittances from his brother, who, after the death of his mother, occupied the plantation in Demerara, which, owing to many untoward circumstances, afforded him very precarious and insufficient means; and for the last three or four years of his life it is presumed he did not receive any supplies from this quarter.

He commenced writing poetry at an early age. Some of the small pieces published with his "Theatrical Portraits" in 1822, are among his earliest productions. There is much discrimination in some of these portraits. As a specimen of them, we subjoin the character of one of the best comedians on the stage.

"MR. W. FARREN.

"I never knew so young a body with so old a head.'

SHAKSPEARE.

"Each day's experience confirms the truth,
That old men, oft-times, love to play the youth;

But age, that chastener of human pride,
Forbids their arms to lay the crutch aside;
And art, with all her power, cannot erase
One furrow'd line or wrinkle from the face;
Nor, when th' elastic bound of youth has fled,
Impart new lightness to their tott'ring tread.

"But rarely do we find the young delight,
In casting off activity and might,
To play the dotard, with his falt’ring knee,
And palsied hand, and shrill loquacity;
To bow the head, and bid the manly throat
Emit a tremulous and small, still note;
And hide the lustre of a fiery eye
With a pale film of dull senility.

"Yet FARREN has done this, so chastely true,
That whilst he lives, Lord Ogleby lives too!
His would-be youthful gait, his sunken chest,
His vacant smile, so faithfully exprest,
His hollow cheek, nay, e'en his fingers, show
The aged man and antiquated beau.

"Yet, he to passion's topmost heights can climb,
Can touch the heart, and make e'en farce sublime.
Behold his Lovegold, when the treasure 's gone,
Which had been all on earth he doted on:
Behold his Item,* when, with hurried air,
He sues to Clement, who rejects his pray'r,
And leaves him to his anguish and despair.

"Or would you laugh? then see his foolish knight†,'
Too vain for quiet, yet afraid to fight;
Who, with Sir Toby, nightly breaks the peace,
By getting drunk with toasting Toby's niece.
In sooth, few men upon the stage can tickle us
With such a sample of the true ridiculous:
His antic capers, his affected grace,

His braggart words, and pilchard-looking face,
Would put old Care and all his imps to flight,
And call forth laughter from an Anchorite.

*In "The Steward."

Sir Andrew Ague-cheek.

"Or would you wish historic truth to see?
Look at his Frederick*-'tis identity!
Like him in form, in visage, and in years,
In dress, deportment, habits, he appears;
And wanders onward, with impatient tread,
'In the same figure like the king that's dead.'

"Oh! 'twere as easy to form pearls from dew,
Or gold from sand, or ebony from yew;
Or plant a vineyard on the raging seas,
As hope to rival him in parts like these.
And O! ye actors! be assured of this,
That 'twere as easy (take it not amiss)
To change the fam'd Bonassus to a weasel,
As equal FARREN in Sir Peter Teazle."

Mr. Van Dyk contributed miscellaneous compositions to various periodical works; and especially to the first series of "The London Magazine." In conjunction with Mr. Bowring, he, in 1825, translanted a considerable portion of the "Batavian Anthology;" and had done much towards bringing that work, in a second volume, down to the present time. Each of the translators obtained a very handsome medal from his Majesty the King of Holland, through his ambassador in London, with a flattering letter, acknowledging the receipt of the copies which had been forwarded to his Majesty.

In the early part of 1827, he published "The Gondola," a collection of light and entertaining stories, after the manner of Boccaccio. The Gondola is the name of a vessel, supposed to be bound for Barbadoes. To beguile the tedium of the voyage, the passengers relate some of the previous adventures of their lives. The captain is then called upon to contribute to the general amusement; and the tale which he tells exhibits Mr. Van Dyk's powers so advantageously, that we will quote it.

"THE BLACK TRADER.

"THE second voyage I ever made was in the Good Intent, f Glasgow, bound to Puerto Rico. I have reason to remember * Frederick of Prussia, in the "Two Pages."

it, for the awful and solemn mystery that attended it has impressed it deeply on my memory, and few who were with me have forgotten the perils and horrors of that fated passage.

"We had light but favourable winds for the first five weeks, and the captain and passengers were anticipating a speedy end to the voyage, when one night, as we were running about seven knots an hour, Gibbie Allan, who had the watch upon deck, saw a light to leeward shining upon the water, or rather a snowy streak, as it appeared, at the distance of little more than a cable's length from the vessel. The captain, although he imagined it to be only the foam of a wave, immediately ordered Gibbie to heave the lead, but he found no bottom; and the man at the helm, who at the first alarm had altered the ship's course by the captain's orders, was now commanded to steer on as before. At that moment, a large black-looking vessel, which none of us had previously observed, came sailing swiftly over the white spot towards us. Our captain hailed her, but no one answered; and indeed not a soul was to be seen upon her deck. Her sails, like her hull, appeared to be perfectly black; and she seemed wandering like a dark spirit over the restless billows of the ocean. That's an ill token,' said Gibbie, as he followed the departing vessel with his eye, that's an ill token, or Gibbie kens naething aboot it. As sure as we are on the waters, yon 's the Black Trader, and few who meet her, be they gentle or simple, can boast much of a prosperous voyage. Aw is no' right, and some o' us will find it sae afore the morn.' As he concluded, seven small pale blue lights were seen dancing on our deck, near the forecastle, and, having remained for a few seconds, suddenly disappeared. The captain started, and, muttering something to himself, paced up and down in a hurried and agitated manner, whilst the rest of those on deck eyed him with evident curiosity and apprehension. We had now just approached the glittering streak that I spoke of, when suddenly the vessel struck, but without suffering any material injury. She struck a second time—the rudder was lost: a third time—the foremast and bowsprit were swept away. The cries of the passengers, who were

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