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About A Friend of the family. (Savannah, Ga.) 1849-1??? | View Entire Issue (May 25, 1850)
Til riBB m th£ i mm. VOLUME 11. (Driginnl |ketrtj. jo the Memory of Miss Frances G. Butt, of Warren Ga. B T MRS. R. H. RILET. The dew has been rudely brushed from The flower, The bird has been harshly torn from The bower— The frost of December o’er Spring Buds have swept, And o’er the dead blossoms some fond Ones have wept. Sowert thou, fair girl, in the morning Os life, Down stricken when youth with hopes Should be rife, So did the chill winds rudely touch Thy fresh bloom, And scattered thy youth and hopes To the tomb! Thy cheek with the hue of the sea-sliell Wus bright, Yet soft as the tinge on the blush-rose At night, And thy pure brow was white as the lily At morn, Ere its petals are bruised by the wing Os the storm. The seashell tho’ torn from the side Os the waves, A mimic roar keeps of its own Ocean caves, So those to the last a beauty Retained— Os feature and heart most puro And unstaiued. • * Thy thoughts, like the planets by night In the sk} r , Shone brighter when came that dark Hour to die, For tho’ rarely sorrow thy spirit had Bow’d, Its last gushing waters reflected No cloud. Boyond ether heights thy pathway Now lies, Where hearts never bleed o’er earth Riven ties, Then rest thee, dear Fanny, beneath The cold sod, For thy justified spirit this night Is with God ! Glynn County Ga. (Drigittnl €nlt. A CHAPTER OF MY LIFE. BY ADAM VERNE. My health was rendered so feeble in the year IS—, that my friend and physician advised travelling and re maining abroad for some years, ! which my means and no family lies encouraged. The usual resorts on the continent ofEurope were sought, nnd the sickly and artificial excite ments that pass for pleasure, en dured. My valetudinarian and ; morbid feelings longed for some se- O festered spot where I might enjoy pel, and gratify my imagination horn the contemplation of rich land scape scenery, which from its locali ty might also enable me to mingle my pleasure in such society as travellers of mv class in life might command amidst cities, watering lakes, and other fashionable res °rts. I fixed my abode in a c Wmingr cottage ornee in a suburb 01 mviting beauty on the skirt of a Market town in the south of Eng- Pand, and with the aid of clioiee ! books, and an unexceptionable t lo rse for daily exercise, passed ma ny or unruffled hour, indifferent li)0 ut (| le surrounding world, un ited for, and willingly unnoticed. h my solitary rides, inhaling the Slv eetness of the hawthorn hedges iiJ at appeared to infuse new health into my feeble frame, I frequently met a gentleman as well mounted as myself, but riding far more grace fully than I did ; dressed with the greatest care, without the least ap pearance of foppery. The ease with which he moved on horseback Nv as only exceeded by the graceful- his person and demeanor on 00t ’ In our frequent meetings for rcc fcation, although we were per j s ° n % unacquainted, his highbred j manner showed how courtesy can | ° e displayed without the positive Drantrit ta ITitmiture, &tmu nail M, tlje hm nf t’ntijirrnnre, M /Hlamajiip, 3tamn} nnh feral 3ntrllignim personal intercourse through the medium of speech ; his person withal appeared very slight, but of great activity, elegantly formed, complexion dark but clear, and eyes that by their speaking expres sion might have redeemed all other defects had they existed in bis per son. In one of these rides an accident occurred that might have proved se rious to my safety but that bis pres j ence of mind and cool display of courage, enabled him to snatch me from danger. His service changed my taciturnity and from this acci dental cause he soon won my en tire confidence and friendship. His name was Gray. I learnt more of his history as our intimacy increased he was from the Island of Jamaica, where his family had settled many years ago ; his ancestors having re ! sided in the neighborhood near us, ; but were forced abroad during one iof the rebellions, by the harshness i of the successful party that gained : the ascendency, political sins meet ing with neither sympathy among the people, nor clemency from gov ernment. After a longconcealment i. „ & m some foreign land, the crown ex tended its lenity as far as the safety of their persons was concerned ; after which thev removed to the i * Island of Jamaica, where in time they advanced to wealth and con sideration, aided by the recognition of their claim in virtue of the fam ily name to rank among the aristoc racy. The tide of fortune once more ebbed in consequence of the measures pursued towards the West India colonies, and Gray, now the last that survived of the family, al though indebted far less than his neighbors, was made poor by pay ing bis debts, which absorbed the whole of his large estate, so much was it reduced in value, by reason of the clamor of the English peo ple, more zealous to carry out good intentions, than sagacious in finding out that the sacrifice was ruin to the white master and decrepitude to the unsupported black; but politi cal vanity is seldom disturbed by the mischief inflicted, and the mis fortune of the most virtuous, seldom interrupt the sleep of the philan thropist. Gray lingered about the spot, hallowed to bis ardent mind as the home of his ancestry ; he stood isolated ; many bore the same name, but the link ol consan guinity was long ago severed. He sought no acquaintance, and rather bore himself haughtily at the places of public resort, where he often in duced me to accompany him. I soon learned that he was disliked on this account, made more promi nent from his constant presence at races, assemblies, and balls); those deficient in manners and education exaggerated his bearing into pre sumption, so that he was the disliked among the males of a borough town, where the strong lines that kept classes separated in the metropolis, were so faint as scarcely to be tra ced ; one general body of all above the humblest, participated in the amusements, that could not be se lect, and that embraced necessarily much of conceit, ignorance and vulgarity. Gray shunned the ap proach of familiarity by civility so cool, and politeness so marked, as to keep at bay all nearer access to companionship, and so became the object of strong prejudice and dislike, that soon increased to hate. I once more by sickness, was con fined to ray chamber, and he came to serve me, but I pressed, nay in sisted, on bis pursuing his usual re creation and pleasure. I cautioned him (asl thought it an opportunity) I to check what was thought an im- SAVANNAH, GA., SATURDAY, MAY 25, 1850. perious bearing ; to forbear an im pulsive manner and impetuosity of all kind,and to avoid rather than suc cessfully to repel. He looked mor tified, and took my rather ambigu ous counsel amiss. “ What is the reason of this caution, and the mode of communicating it, made wound ing by withholding the circumstan ces which prompt you to offer ad vice ? You must know more than you choose to explain; it is not like you ; nor more friendly to with hold, than flattering to me that you doubt your own discretion in keep ing anything from me.” I said “ my servant had been the involuntary witness in the bar room of the ‘ Kings arms,’ of certain loud threats uttered, to be put in force if the least chance offered. That the dislike towards him appeared loud and general, and that some swore they waited only for a chance to fasten a quarrel upon him. It was necessary he should be made aware that prudence was essential ; hut by going into details, I thought I would defeat the point I sought, by the scorn he might shew in provo king such inferior enemies, to whose level he would not descend, and from a contest of any kind so little could he gained. He was satisfied of my motive after I expressed my hope that my explanation was made, that I might not suffer in his opin ion, hut 1 felt less content for his safety since I made it; he thanked me for the interest I showed in his behalf, said that I might rely on his forbearance; hut his scornfully curved lip and flashing eye be trayed a foreshadowing of mischief and a language that thrilled through my weakened nerves.— My health continued to decline, and I was advised to try the waters of Germany; I saw but little of him afterwards, save at a parting inter view, during which I thought a sternness of demeanor destroyed the former expression of his fine face. We parted, the day before I setoff’ for the continent exchanging tokens of remembrance. He at tached to my watch chain a valu able seal ring with some heraldic symbol connected with his past fam ily history of yore. He said that the disturbance on the Texan bor der invited his presence there to join the brave spirits already bai ling on the Mexican frontier, so that O it was scarcely in the page of prob ability that we should ever meet again. I learnt at the Spa from a conver sation with one who knew us both, the sad events that occurred after my departure, and 1 felt re/ieved that I had been absent so as not to witness the torment on so fine an organization as must have been in flicted on him. Mr. Gray, after my advice, never wss absent from any public place. It appears that on an occasion at a public Ball, he sought out some belle to dance with him, whose head was turned by the im pressive manner ot his address so much so, that she might in accep ting his hand, have overlooked the promise previously given or alledg’d to have been given to the man who had boasted that he only waited for a chance to chastise him. Hawkins, for that was his name.rudely claimed his right with vulgar menace, and swaggering assumption, mixed with his old dislike of the airs and con sequence of Mr. Gray, who treated all this coarseness coupled with threat, with cool contempt and looks of defiance at the whole opposition. It passed away apparently, hut du ring the night a servant delivered a rrfessage to him, that alady wished to see him in the next room ; on en tering the retiring room, he received a blow which felled him to the floor from the cudgel of Hawkins, as it was reported,and immediately after boasted of, and his prostrate body unmanly outraged by stamping in his insensible state upon it. I shall never forget the excited circulation of my blood at this re cital, regardiuga being who so often had told me he considered a blow unrevenged worse than death, and could only be redeemed by blood to the death ! The outrage was so severe on his slight frame, that he was taken up to his room in the hotel still sense less ; some took a malignant pleas ure in turning this into calumny, and few sympathized in his dis grace. They turned from this victim to pursue their coarse pleasure, their nightly indulgence in liquor and de bauch. Some days after this a vio lent quarrel, after midnight, under the excitement of their orgies, fell out between Hawkins, the hero bully, and Blake, a headstrong, stubborn man, who had been de coyed from creditable daily work, by which he had industriously sup ported his aged mother and child, to these nightly brawls; Blake had been wronged in some way by Haw kins, and he swore to have his re venge; it required the combined strength of the company composing these worthies to keep them asun der, from what was likely to be a desperate encounter, made the fier cer by the enormous quantity of liquor each had swallowed ; and when a truce was accomplished the quarred recommenced, and Blake again broke out into menaces, and at each drink an oath was taken to be revenged. Hawkins finally left the bouse, and Blake rose after an interval to follow, and seizing a cane containing a short sword or dagger, sallied forth reeling in pur suit down the street after his man. His companions, as soon as the}’ could procure their hats, which oc cupied a moderate time, followed ; they hastened down the dark and silent street and coming up with the intoxicated Blake, found him pros trate on a man, who on examination proved to be Hawkins, dead, swim ming in blood, which also covered Blakes clothes, and the unsheathed weapon was also bloody ; the party horror-struck seized the now sobered wretch whose protestations were that he remembered nothing of the affair, except falling over something and that was all, but he was not conscious of any murder commit ted by him. Suspicion fell on Mr. Gray, who had by this time recovered, by rea son of the outrage which might have been a motive for revenge, but before any measure regarding him was ripened, it was found he had left England by some Ameri can ship, bis passage having been encarred before even the time that he was attacked, and not a little of evidence could be gathered to com mit him with the murder; while on the other hand the strength of cir cumstances against Blake was irre sistable, by the evidence of his friends, who would, if an oppor tunity had occurred, rather have testified against Mr. Gray. Blake i O J was committed, declaring he knew nothing about it, and leaving his mother and child for the alms-house. Some years passed, and my own hitherto fortunate star was eclipsed. I had passed years of my life in ease and independence, with noth ing to annoy me but the ills that spring from the fatigue of idleness, I, one fine day learnt, on opening mv letters by the steamer, that by the failure of Messr. Griggs, Betts & Cos., my bankers, and the faith less conduct of a friend to whom I had trusted a carte blanche, freely to act as hisjudgment prescribed, in guarding my interest. I was penniless ! but I was yet young, and instead of sinking under the unex pected blow, I turned homeward, and sought by action to relieve my self, I began ‘ westward ho ! ’ rush ing with the crowd to the western coast in search of gold, and the love of adventure. The year of my- life (and I am yet young) lhat found me engaged in the pursuit of gold, was more crowded with stirring adventure than I now can attempt to impart, regarding the western slopes of the continent, and the multifarious swarms that are pre cipitated on this newly awakened land. But a few years hence com paratively, and the successors of our race will have looked back up on our times and will cloth it with romantic interest ; with my pres ent impression, it is nothing but hopes excited, and for the most part miserably disabused by dis appointment, hastening youth in to premature old age, and the wear and tear fearfulty shewing the fur row unnaturally early on its cheek. How often is it, when misery and broken health prostrates the poor wanderer, does fancy in dreams intermit his suffering by conjuring up the scenes of childhood and home, of old and familiar faces, more endeared by the realities of all around. Such dreams are as the mirage of the desert to the thirsty traveller who wakes, hut to wretchedness and want. Davs J pass in disappointment and weigh down the discouraged mind ; then lacked the spirit and enthusiasm that mingled the excitement of war with the fervor of bigotry to sustain the avarice that marked the followers of Cortez ; the sword and lance is now the pick and spade, and the impo sing formula of ceremonial religion, then debased, finds a substitute in the revolting coarseness of gaming and intemperance ; yet the progress of humanity keeps us stainless from the cruelties that tainted their search of gold. Long before time shall have spanned a period, as long as sure their career, and the shore of the Mexican gulf become the busy marts of commerce, with cities sprinkled on the border of its blue sea, crowded with floating vessels, perhaps as different from our ships and steamers as ours are from those that bore the Spanish conquerors, or those from the argossy and galley. The canal that severs the conti nents looking like a burlhened train of rail cars, bearing the products of India or Europe, far beyond the point that the eye reaches* and the Western shores rivaling by its ci ties those on the Atlanticcoast; teem ing with Asiatic emigrants as nil incrous as those that now cross the Atlantic. These reveries passed my waking dreams as I tarried in the city of Mexico, where I had been called, until I could recruit my ex hausted body from excessive expo sure and fatigue. I remained several weeks, and usually dined at a table d’hote, seated near a Mexican of some note ; L heard him enquire of his compan ion if Col. Gray was any belter, and if likely to recover; the friend shook his head. Gray ! it was a common name, and yet the sound struck harsh upon my nerves; years had passed since it affected me; could it by any possibility be my forme r friend ! The enquiry was promptly made and courteously satisfied. It left me still in the dark. ‘He,’ said the Don, ‘is a gallant officer, formerly in the United States army, that had seen desperate ser vice in the Mexican war, but ill health has induced him to resign his commission on account of his being unable to bear the latigue of travel, and his wish to take advantage of the salubrity of the climate, favora ble to pulmonary attack,under which he is sinking.* ‘I will see further,’ thought I, ‘and test the fact,’ and penning a note ol common place courtesy, my willingness to nurse one with whom I claimed some kindred as a coun tryman, and that the name of Gray was endeared to me by past recol lection. 7 sealed it with his “iff. O in a very short time a message came imploring me ‘for God’s sake to come immediately.’ I lost no lime, and being announced, 1 entered the sick chamber. He had previ ously said he wished to have a pri vate interview with a friend, and as 1 “PH reached the bed he held out It is hand, and faintly said, ‘the im pression ot the seal on your letter, shook me much, and told me all 1 wished to know; come and be sealed near me, for lain very fee ble and must soon be released from life. lam grateful once more to see you, though in the last stage of deep consumption; I cannot from this cause narrate what I have passed through and what I have suffered since J saw you,’ and he paused to take breath. His once line counte nance bore the marks of decay and suffering, while yet the repose of firmness and eyes made wide beam ing by disease, almost gave confi dence to belief that death was yet a fa r. ‘ Had Ia wish, it would have been to see you, tor it will save me some writing, and I will crave a favor which you must grant,’ with some emotion I bowed acquiescence and pressed his feverish hand, ‘ thanks my kind friend,’ said he, ‘ The re quest is to attend my last moments, and stand in the relation of my only friend after death. I have sought death in every battle, but could not meet him, save in this lingering way. I must now come to the point. You may have heard of the events that occurred a short time after you left England for the continent?* I ac knowledged by a silent bow. ‘lt u r as I who killed the scoundrel Haw kins, that matter troubles me not, but the remorse of allowing another to suffer, has embittered my life every hour. Nothing but the hope of fall ing in war, which death I never failed to seek, sustained my mind from sui cide. I have, since disease so rap idly has made its inroad, awaited the the hour which cannot be far off*. When I am cold, carry into effect the wishes 1 will intrust to your hands : they ate such as are only in my pow er left to repair the wrong i have done.” He lingered a week longer and passed from life to death without my knowing the moment The paperduly executed was a bequest to the moth er and child of poor Blake which wa3 a handsome competency with the reason assigned, and the deathbed declaration that Blake was an inno cent man. An old lady said her husband was very fond of peaches, and that was his fault. “ Fault madam,” said one, “ how can you ca'l that a fault? ” “ Why, because there are different wavs of eating them, sir. My husband takes them in the form of brandy!” An urchin in a country school, was reading the verse in the testa ment which read thus — he saw Abraham afar off with Laza rus in his bosom.” The boy grave ly spelt it thus: “and-he-saw-a broom-afar-off-with- leather-ears -in- Boston !” NUMBER 12.
