Genre Adventures. Page - 1
n examined
by some of the best Judges, and is thought qualified
to write them.
His Excellency THOMAS HUTCHINSON, Governor.
The Hon. ANDREW OLIVER, Lieutenant-Governor.
The Hon. Thomas Hubbard, | The Rev. Charles Chauncey, D. D.The Hon. John Erving, | The Rev. Mather Byles, D. D.
The Hon. James Pitts, | The Rev. Ed. Pemberton, D. D.
The Hon. Harrison Gray, | The Rev. Andrew Elliot, D. D.
The Hon. James Bowdoin, | The Rev. Samuel Cooper, D. D.
John Hancock, Esq; | The Rev. Mr. Saumel Mather,
Joseph Green, Esq; | The Rev. Mr. John Moorhead,
Richard Carey, Esq; | Mr. John Wheat ey, her Master.
N. B. The original Attestation, signed by the above Gentlemen,
may be seen by applying to Archibald Bell, Bookseller,
No. 8, Aldgate-Street.
*The Words "following Page," allude to the Contents
of the Manuscript Copy, with are wrote at the
Back of the above Attestation.
P O E M S
line, "seein' hestarted so arly on the sea he can't tell when he wasn't there himself."
"How was that matter, Bill?" asked one of his messmates. "They say youhave kept the captain's reckoning, man and boy, these fifteen years."
"That have I, and never a truer heart floated than the man you seeyonder leaning over the rail on the quarterdeck, where he belongs,"answered Bill Marline.
"How did you first fall in with him, Bill?--Tell us that," said one ofthe crew.
"Well, do ye see, messmates, it must have been the matter of thirteenyears ago, there or thereabouts, but I can't exactly say, seeing's Inever have kept a log and can't write; but must have been about thatlength of time, when I was a foremast hand on board the 'Sea Lion,' asfine an Indiaman as you would wish to see. We were lying in theLiverpool docks, with sails bent and cargo stowed, under sailing orders,when one afternoon there strolled alongside a boy rather ragged anddirty, but with such eyes and such a countenance as would m
ocean. However, some footsteps were heard, and Abbe Rose, againmistrustful, saw a man go by, a tall and sturdy man, who wore clogs andwas bareheaded, showing his thick and closely-cut white hair. "Is notthat your brother?" asked the old priest.
Pierre had not stirred. "Yes, it is my brother Guillaume," he quietlyresponded. "I have found him again since I have been coming occasionallyto the Sacred Heart. He owns a house close by, where he has been livingfor more than twenty years, I think. When we meet we shake hands, but Ihave never even been to his house. Oh! all is quite dead between us, wehave nothing more in common, we are parted by worlds."
Abbe Rose's tender smile again appeared, and he waved his hand as if tosay that one must never despair of love. Guillaume Froment, a savant oflofty intelligence, a chemist who lived apart from others, like one whorebelled against the social system, was now a parishioner of the abbe's,and when the latter passed the house where Guillaume lived with his
nts; they were trusted to hired attendants; they were allowed a deal of air and exercise, were kept on plain food, forced to give way to the comfort of others, accustomed to be overlooked, slightly regarded, considered of trifling importance. No well-stocked libraries of varied lore to cheat them into learning awaited them; no scientific toys, no philosophie amusements enlarged their minds and wearied their attention." One wonders what would have been the verdict of this writer of fifty years ago on education in 1905. She goes on to tell us of the particular system pursued with the boys in order to harden them for their future work in life. It was not considered either necessary or agreeable for a woman to be very strong. "Little Francis was at the age of ten months removed from the parsonage to a cottage in the village, and placed under the care of a worthy couple, whose simple style of living, homely dwelling, and out-of-door habits (for in the country the poor seldom close the door by day, except in bad we
tha fidelity and care which proved he felt his own existence identified withthat of a man who claimed so close a right in his person; and just as theclock struck ten, he and the negro last mentioned mounted the sluggish andover-fattened horses, and galloped, as hard as foot could be laid to theearth, several miles deeper into the island, to attend a frolic at one ofthe usual haunts of the people of their color and condition.
Had Alderman Myndert Van Beverout suspected the calamity which was so soonto succeed his absence, it is probable that his mien would have been lesscomposed, as he pursued his way from his own door, on the occasion named.That he had confidence in the virtue of his menaces, however, may beinferred from the tranquillity which immediately took possession offeatures that were never disturbed, without wearing an appearance ofunnatural effort. The substantial burgher was a little turned of fifty:and an English wag, who had imported from the mother country a love forthe humor of
d under the Brooklyn Bridge span at Dover Street and turned into South, where Christmas Eve is so joyous, in its way. The way on this particular evening was in no place more clearly interpreted than Red Murphy's resort, where the guild of Battery rowboatmen, who meet steamships in their Whitehall boats and carry their hawsers to longshoremen waiting to make them fast to the pier bitts, congregate and have their social being.
Here, on this day, the wealthy towboat-owners and captains are wont to distribute their largess to the boatmen as a mark of appreciation for favors rendered,--a suggestion that future favors are expected,--and here, also, punch of exalted brew is concocted and drunk.
An occasional flurry of snow swept down the street as Dan reached the entrance. Murphy was out on the sidewalk directing the adornment of his doorway with several faded evergreen wreaths, while inside, the boatmen gathered closer around the genial potstove and were not sorry that ice-bound rivers and harbor had
to strength. I think the two of them are rather aghast at their own daring; they've been planning, all the way home, how they're going to get the "goods" through the Customs.
Mr. Armes mentioned to me the proposition he and the Second Mate had in mind. This was after they'd bought the stuff, and I told him it would not interfere with anything I was doing, and they could go ahead. Only, if the Customs dropped on the saccharine, they must own up and pay the fine themselves. For I was not going to have the ship fined.
This was on the bridge, and he grinned at me, warningly.
"Sst! Remember the man at the wheel, Sir!" he said.
The row they had to-day came about through Mr. Armes proposing to hide the st
p>"Lost your captain and both mates! How in the name of Fortune did that happen?"
"Well, sir, you see it was this way," was the reply. "When we'd been out about a week--we're from Liverpool, bound to Sydney, New South Wales, with a general cargo and two hundred emigrants--ninety-seven days out--when we'd been out about a week, or thereabouts--I ain't certain to a day or two, but it's all wrote down in the log--Cap'n Somers were found dead in his bunk by the steward what took him in a cup o' coffee every mornin' at six bells; and Mr Townsend--that were our chief mate-- he took command o' the ship. Then nothin' partic'lar happened until we was well this side o' the Line, when one day, when all hands of us was shortenin' sail to a heavy squall as had bust upon us, Jim Tarbutt, a hordinary seaman, comin' down off the main tops'l yard by way o' the backstays, lets go his hold and drops slap on top o' Mr Townsend, what happened to be standin' underneath, and, instead of hurtin' of hisself, broke t'other man'
"Steer, Dom," exclaimed Otto, with a look of surprise; "how can you talk of steering at all, without oar or helm?"
"I must make one of the floor-planks do for both," returned Dominick.
"I say," continued the boy, "I'm horribly hungry. Mayn't I have just a bite or two more?"
"Stay, I'm thinking," replied the other.
"Think fast then, please, for the wolf inside of me is howling."
The result of Dominick's thinking was that he resolved to consume as much of their stock of provisions as possible in one meal, in order to secure all the strength that was available by such means, and thus fit them for the coming struggle with the surf. "For," said he, "if we get capsized far from the shore, we have no chance of reaching it by swimming in our present weak condition. Our only plan is to get up all the strength we can by means of food. So here goes!"
He untied the bundle as he spoke, and spread the contents on his knees. Otto--who was, indeed, a plucky little fellow, a