ONE DOLLAR PER ANNUM, INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE.
TOWAN-DA :
gjinrimn fllornmn, fcbtnnrj 10. 1855.
Sdtritfc llottrg.
JOHN BROWN;
01'., A PLAIN' MAX'S PHILOSOPHY*. .
BY CUAKI.ES MACK AY".
I've a crown 1 can spend,
I've a wife and a friend.
And a troop of little children at my knee, John Ilrown ;
I've a cottape of my own,
With the ivy overgrown.
And a garden with a view of the sea, John Brown ;
I can sit at my door,
Bv my shady sycamore.
Large of heart, though of very small estate, John Brown ;
So come and drain a glass,
Jn my arbor as yon pass.
And 111 tell you what 1 love, and what I hate, John Brown.
I love the song of birds,
And the children's early words,
V d a loving woman's voice, low and sweet, John Brown ;
And I hate a false pretence,
And the want of common sense.
And arrogance and fawning and deceit, John Brown ;
i love the meadow flowers,
And the briar in the bowers.
And I love an open face without guile, John Brown ;
And I hate a selfish knave,
And a proud contented slave,
Aud a lout who'd rather borrow than t >il, John Brown.
1 love a simple song
That makes emotions strong. [Brown
And the word of hope that raises him who faints, John
And I hate the constant whine
Of the foolish who repine,
Ami turn their good to evil by complaints, John Brown ;
But even when 1 hate,
If I seek my garden gate,
And survey the world around lue and above, John Brown,
The hatred flies my mind,
And I sigh for human kind.
And excuse the faults of those I cannot 1 >ve, John Brown.
So if you like my ways.
Aud the comfort of my days.
I can tell you liow 1 live so unvexed, John Brown ;
1 never scorn my health,
Nor sell my soul for wealth,
Nor destroy one day the pleasures of the next, John Brown ;
I've parted with my pride.
And I take the sunny side,
l\, r I've found it worse than folly to be sad, John Brown ;
I keep a conscience clear,
I've a hundred pounds a year.
And I manage to exist, and to be glad, John Brown.
jitlettor Cult.
TIKS ©©!L!ka3!im
BY WILI-lAM LKGGETT.
The Active slooji-of-war bad been laying all
becalmed, in mid ocean, and was rolling and
pitching about in a heavy ground swell, which
was the only trace of the gale she had lately
encountered*' The sky was ot as tender aud
serene a blue as if it had never been deformed
with clouds; and the atmosphere was bland and
pleasant, although the latitude and the season
might both have led one to expect different
weather. Since the morning watch, when the
wind, after blowing straight on end for several
davs together, had died suddenly away, there
had not been air enough stirring to lift the
ilogvane from its staff, down which it hung in
motionless repose, except when raised by the
heave and roll of the vessel, as she labored in
the troueh of the sea' ller courses had been
hauled up, ami she lay under her three topsails
braced on the opposite tacks, ready to take ad
vantage of the first breath of wind, from what
ever quarter it might come.
The crew were disposed in various groups
about the deck, some idling away in listless ease
the interval of calm; some with their clotlies
bags beside them, turning it t<> account in over
hauling their dunnage; while others moved fid
getlv about, on the forecastle aud in the waist,
ovcing, ever and anon, the horizon round, as if
already wcarv of their short holiday on the
ocean, and impatiently watching for sonic sign
of a breeze.
To a true sailor there are few circumstances
more annoving than a perfect calm. The same
principle >f our nature which makes the travel
er on land, though journeying without any de
finite object, desire the postillion to whip up
his horses and hasten to the end of his stage, is
manifested in a striking degree among seamen.
The end of one voyage is but the beginning of
another, and their lives arc a constant success
ion of hardships arid perils; yet they cannot
abide that the elements should grant them a
moment's respite. As the wind dies away their
-pirit< Hag; they move heavily and sluggishly
about while the calm continues; but rouse at
the tirst whisper of the breeze, and never gay-
I t or more animated than when their canvas
swells out to it- utmost tension iu the gale.
'hi the afternoon in question, this feeling of
restlessness at the continuation of the calm was
•'')t con lined to the crew of the Active. Her
r 'iuimaii(lor had been nearly all day on deck,
' liking to and fro, on the starboard side, with
quick. impatient strides, or now stepping into
one gangway, and now into the other, and
'''■" ting anxious aud searching looks into all
quarters of the heavens, as if it were of the ut
most consequence that a breeze should spring
np and enable him to pursue his way. Indeed
II was whispered among the officers that there
wfre reasons of state which niadc it important
' my should reach their point of destination as
qi'cdily as possible; though # where that point
or what those reasons were, not a soul on
~ard knew, except the captain —and he was
a man likely to enlighten their ignorance
die subject. Few words, indeed, did any
'm ever hear from Black Jack, as the reefers
:i Aiiauitd him him; and when he did speak,
1 ; it he said was not generally of a kind to
a ; a ke {he m desire he should often break his ta
c'umity.
We was a straight, tall, stern-looking man,
a -' passed the prime of life, as might be infer
'■ Tom the wrinkles on his thoughtful brow
THE BRADFORD REPORTER.
and the slightly grizzled hue of the locks about
his temples; though his hair, elsewhere, was as
black as the raven. His face lx>re the marks
both of storm and battle; it was furrowed and
deeply embrowned by long exposure to every
vicissitude of weather; and a deep scar across
the left brow told a tale of dangers braved and
overcome. His eyes were large, black and
piercing: and the habitual compression and
curve of his lip indicated both lirmucss and
haughtiness of character—indications which
those who sailed with him had no reason to
complain of as deceptive.
lint notwithstanding his impatience, and the
urgency of his mission, whatever it was, the
Active continued to roll heavily about at the
sport of the big round billows, which swelled
up and spread and tumbled over so lazily, that
their glassy surface was not broken by a ripple,
The sun went down clear, but red and ficrv;
and the sky. though its blue faded to a duskier
I tint, still remained unflecked by a single cloud.
As the broad round disk disappeared beneath
the wave, all hands were called to stand by
their hammocks; and when the stir and bustle
incident to that piece of duty had subsided,, an
unwonted degree of stillness settled 011 the ves
sel. This was owing in part, 110 doubt, to the
presence of the commander, before whom the
crew were not apt to indulge iu any great ex
uberance of merriment; but the sluggish and
unusual state of the weather had probably the
largest share in the effect. The captain con
tinued 011 deck, pacing up and down the star
board side; the lieutenant of the watch leuued
over the tafifrel, his trumpet idly dangling by
its becket from his arm; and two quarter-deck
midshipmen walking in the gangway, beguiling
their watch with prattle about home, or gay
anticipations of the future.
" We shall have a dull and lazy night of it,
Vangs,'' said the master's mate of the forecas
tle, as he returned from adding 011 the log slate
another •' ditto" to the long column of them
which recorded the history of the day. The
person he addressed stood on the heel of the
bowsprit, with his arms folded 011 his breast,
and his ga/.e fixed intently upon the western
horizon, from which the daylight had now so
completely faded, that it required a practiced
and keen eye to discern where the sky and wa
ter met. He was a tall, squareframed, aged
looking seamen, whose thick gray hair shaded
a strongly marked and weatherbeaten face, and
whose shaggy overcoat, buttoned to the throat
covered a 'oin that for forty years had breast
ed the storms and perils of every sea. He did
not turn his head, nor wifhdraw his eyes from
the spot they rested on, as he said, in a low
tone, " we shall have work enough before morn
imr. Mr. Garnet."
" Why, where do you read that, Vangs ?"
inquired the midshipman; " there is nothing of
the sort iu my reckoning."
" I read it in a book 1 have studied through
many a long cruise, Mr. Garnet, aud though
my eyes are getting old, I think 1 can under
stand its meaning yet. Hark ye, young man,
the hammocks are piped down, and the w; te'i
is set, but there will be no watch in this night,
mark inv words."
" Why, Vangs, you are turning prophet,"
replied the master's mate, who was a rattling
young fellow, full of blood and blue veins. " I
shouldn't wonder to see you strike tarpaulin,
when the cruise is up, rig out iu the broad brim
and straight iorgs, and ship the next trip for
par-oil."
" My eruisings are pretty much over, Mr.
Garnet, and my next trip. 1 am thinking, is one
1 shall have to go alone—though there's a sign
in the hen vens this night that makes me fear I
shall have too much company."'
" Why, what signs do you talk of, man ?"
said the young officer, somewhat startled by the
quite and impressive tone and manner of the old
quartermaster. "1 see nothing that looks like
change of weather, and yet 1 see all that there
is to bo seen."
" I talked in the same Avav once, 1 remem
ber," said Yungs, " when I was about your
age, as Ave lay becalmed one night in the old
Charlotte East Indiainan, heaving and pitching
in the roll of a ground swell, much as Ave do
noAV. The next morning found me clinging to
a broken topmast, the only thing left of a line
ship of seven hundred lons, which. Avhieh, Avitli
every soul on board of her, except me, had gone
to the bottom. That AVUS before you was born.
Mr. Garnet."
" Such things have been, often, no doubt,"
said Garnet, " and sneli things will be again— i
nay, may hup] ten as you say, before morning.
But been use you were once wreeked in a gale
of wind that sprung up out of a ealm, it is no
reasou that every ealm is to be followed bv
such a gale. Show me a sign of wind and 1
may believe it; but for my part, i see no like
lihood of enough even to blow away the smoke
of that cursed galley, which circles and dances !
about here on the forecastle, as if it was mas
ter's mate of the watch, and was ordered to j
keep a bright lookout,"
" Turn your eyes in that direction. Mr. (Jar
net. Do you not see a faint belt ol light, no
broader than my linger, that streaks the sky
where the sun went down ? It is not daylight
for I watched that all fade away, and the last
glimmer of it was gone before that dim brassy
streak began to show itself. And carry your
eye iu a straighter line above it—do you not
mark how thick and lead like the air looks
There is that there," said the old man, (laying
his hand on the bowsprit, as he prepared to sit
down between the niglitheads,) " will try what
stuff these timbers are made of before the morn
ing breaks."
Young Garnet put his hand over his brow,
and half shutting his eyes, peered intently in
the direction the old seamen indicated; but no
sign pregnant with such evil a* he forebone, or
110 appearance of the wish for breeze, met his
virion. luiputiDg the predictions ol Y angs to
those megrims, which old sailors are apt to
have in a long calm, or perhaps to a desire to
play upon his credulity, he folded uis peacoat
more closely about him, and taking his seat on
the nettings in such a position that he could
lean back against the force-rigging, prepared
to settle himself down in that delicious state of
repose, between sleeping and waking, in which
' he thought he might with impunity doze away
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY AT TOWANDA, BRADFORD COUNTY, PA., BY E. O'MEARA (lOODRICII.
" REGARDLESS OF DENUNCIATION FROM ANY QUARTER."
such a quiet watch as his promised to be. He
had scarcely closed his eyes, however, when a
sound wrung in his ears that made him spring
to the deck, and at once dispelled all disposi
tion to slumber. It was the clear trumpet-like
voice of the captain himself, hailing the fore
castle.
" Sir!" bawled the master's mate.
Have your halyards clear for running, sir!
your elueliues led along, and the men all ut
their stations."
" Ay, ay, sir! sung Garnet 111 reply, and
then muttered to himself, " here's the devil to
pay, and no pitch hot. What is the meaning
Of all this, I wonder? Has the skipper seen
old Yang's streak of brass too? or does he hope
to coax the wind out, by raising such a breeze
on deck?" and lie stepped npon a shot box, and
cast another long, searching glance into the
western horizon, but there was 110 signs there
which to his inexperienced eye boded any
1 change of weather.
" TVeastle, there!" again sounded from the
; quarter-deck, but it was now the voice of the
| lieutenant of the watch, hailing through the
I trumpet.
" .Sir!" answered the mate.
" Send the i'o'castle men aloft to furl the forc
! sail. Quarter-gunners and afterguard, do you
hear! lay aloft—lay out—furl away!"
These and other similar orders were quickly
, obeyed, and stillness again succeeded. But the
attention of all 011 deck was now aroused; and
• every one watched in silence for some less ques
j tionable forerunner of wind than was yet visi
i ble to their eyes. They all noticed, however, j
that the sky had grown thicker and of a dingi- j
er hue, and that not u single star peeped thro' i
the gloom. But there was not u breath of air 1
yet stirring. The topsails continued to llap :
heavily against the masts, as they were swayed j
to and fro by the motion of the vessel; the low- j
er yards creaked in their slings; and the ship
headed now one way and now another, as she I
yawned and swung round, completely at the I
mercy of the swell. The seamen gathered in i
groups at their several stations, and waited in 1
silence the result which all now began to aje
prebend.
But while these fc lings of indefinite fear
were entertained by those on deck, the watch j
below were disturbed by no sneh anxiety. The i
officers in the gun-room were variously oecupi-!
Ed according to their taste and inclinations;
some amusing themselves by reading, some wri- 1
ting, and others stretched upon the chairs or
in their berths, dreaming away the intervals of
rest. The midshipmen in the steerage had gath
ered round their mess-table, and wore engaged
in lively chat and repartee, and in cracking ,
nautical jokes and witticisms upon each other, j
Their discourses was plentifully interlarded with
seaphrases; for these juvenile sons of Xcptune |
however slender their seaman hip in other re
spects, have commonly great volubility in rat
tling olf the technicals of their profession, and ;
a surprising facility in applying them to the
ordinary topics of conversation. With the '
omission of a single letter, the distich descriL- :
ing Hudihras might be applied to them, or, if 1
u poor pun be allowable, it may be said it lit i
them to a t, for
They cannot ojic
Their mouths, but out there falls a rope.
One of the merriest and noisiest of the group |
in the Active's steerage was a little, rose-cheek- i
ed, bright-eyed reefer, whose flaxen hair curled j
in natural ringlets around his temples, and was j
surmounted by a small, low-crowned tarpaulin j
hat, cocked knowingly on one side, in amusing !
imitation of the style of the full grown jack
tar.
" Hullo Jigger, how does she head now?"
cried the little wag to one of the messhoys, as
his band v legs made their appearance down the 1
companion ladder.
'• She head every which way. Misser Burton," j
answered the black, his shining face dilated !
with a pro lig'.ous grin, showing he relished the j
humor of the question. "Itis a dead calm on
deck, you know Mis- r Burton, and de main
yard is brace frat aback."
•• (). 1 see," rejoined tne urchin, " they have
hove her to, Jigger, to give her half a lemou to
keep her from fainting. She has outsailed the
wind, and is luyine by to wait for it."
" Laying by, indeed!" said another; " she is'
going like a top."
" And if she keeps on," added a third, "she
w ill soon go as fast as the Dutchman's schoon
er when she stood into port under a heavy press
of bolt ropes, the sails having blown clear oat
of them at sea."
"Oh, 1 have heard of that schooner," resinn
ed little Burton, the lirsi, speaker. "!( was j
she that sailed so fast, that when they broke j
up her hatches, thev found she had sailed her
bottom off!"
" ller skipper," interrupted another, "was
both master and chief mate, and they made
the duty easy by dividing it between them,
watch and watch."
" Yet the Dutchman grew so thin upon it,"
added little Burton, " than when he got home
his mother and sister couldn't both look at him
at once."
"And his dog," said the other, "got so 1
weak that it had to lean against tiic mast to '
bark!" i
•• Conic, come, take a turn there and belay,"
cried one of the old midshipmen, who was
stretched at full length upon a locker. " Come
you have chased iliut joke far enough. Heave
about, and see. if you can't give us something
better on t'other tack."
" Well, Tom Derrick, if you don't like our
rigs, tip us a twist yourself. Come, spin us a
yarn, my boy, if you huve your jaw-tacks
aboard."
" No, no, Charley Burton, T can't pay out
any slack to-night. " I am as sleepy as a look
out in a calm. My eyes feel like the marine's
when his cue was served so taut, he couldn't
make his eyelids meet. Hullo, Jigger, rouse I
out iny hammock from that heap and hang it
up. You know where it is, don't you?"
"Ki! I wish I had as much tobacco as 1
know which Misser Derrick s hummock is,
eagerly replied the negro.
This characteristic speech produced a hearty
burst of laughter; and in chat and merriment
of this tort the evening slipped away, until :i.
hour for extinguishing the lights arrived, and
the quartermaster came down to douse the
glim.
" Well, Vangs," cried the ever-ready Burton
"it's blowing an Irishman's hurricane on deck,
isn't it—straight up and down, like a pig's
eye?"
"It is all quiet yet," replied Vangs, " but
the sky has a queer look, and there will be a
hurricane of a different sort before you are
many hours older, Mr. Charles."
" Is there then really any prospect of wind?"
asked the midshipman whom we have called
Derrick.
" There is something brewing in the clouds
we none of us understand," answered the old
man, iu his low quiet tone. "We shall have
more wind than we want before long, or 1 am
out in my reckoning."
" Let it come butt-end foremost, if it choses.
and the sooner the better," said young Burton
laughing; "any weather rather than this, for
this is neither ii.sh, flesh nor red herring. Let
it blow, Vangs, and I wouldn't mind if it were
such a breeze as you bad in the old Charlotte,
you know, when it blew the sheet-anchor into
the foretop, and it took three men to hold the
captain's hair on his head."
The old quartermaster turned a grave and
thoughtful look on the round face of the lively
boy, and seemed meditating an answer that
might repress what probably struck him as un
timely mirth; but even while he was in the act
of speaking, the tempest he had predicted burst
in sudden fury upon the vessel. The first indi
cation those below had of its approach was the
wild, rushing sound of the gust, which broke
upon their ears like the roar of a volcano. The
heaving and rolling of the ship ceased all at
once, as if the waves had been subdued and
chained down by the force of a mighty pres- i
sure. The vessel stood motionless an instant j
as if instinct with life, and cowering in consci
ous fear of the approaching strife; the tempest >
then busrt upon her, butt-end foremost as Bur
ton expressed it, and the stately mast reded ,
and ldl over before it, like a tower struck down j
by a thunderbolt. The surge was so violent, |
that the ship was thrown almost on her beam
ends, and everything on board not secured iu
strongest manner, was pitched with great force
toh'cwarp. Midshipmen, mess-table, hammocks ;
and the contents of the mess lockers fell rust-'
ling, rattling, and mixed in strange disorder, to
the lee scuppers; and when the ship slowly
l ighted, straining and trembling in every plauk, j
it was a moment or two before those who had j
been so unexpectedly heaped together in the j
I tends, could extricate themselves from the con- j
fusion and make their way to the upper deck. 1
There a scene of fearful grandeur was pre-1
sented. Th" sky was of a murky, leaden hue, !
and appeared to bend over the ship in a near- j
er and narrower arch, binding the ocean in so j
small a round, that the eye could trace, thro'j
the whole circle, the line where the sickly look- j
ing heavens rested on the sea. The air was |
thick aud heavy; and the water covered with |
driving snow-like foam, seemed to be packed
and flattened down by the fury of the blast,
which scattered its billows into spray as cut-
ting as the sleet of a Docomber storm. The
wind howled and screamed through the rigging
with an appalling sound, t hut might be likened
to the shrieks and Availing of angry fiends; and
the ship lied before the tempest like an affright
ed thing, with a velocity that piled the water
in a huge bank around her bows, and sent it
whirling and sparkling in lines of dazzling
whiteness, soon lost in the general hue of the
ocean, which resembled a wild waste of drift
ing snow.
There was one on deck, however, who had
foreseen this awful change, and made prepara
tions to meet it; and when the tempest burst,
in full swoop, upon his ship, it found nothing
but tiie bare hull and spars to oppose its tre
meitdous power. Leery sail was closely
securely furled, except the fore storm staysail,
which was set for a reason that seamen will
understand; but being hauled well aft by both
sheets, it AVIS stretched stiflly amidships, and
presented nothing but the bolt-rope for the
wind to act. upon. The masts and yards, with
their snug and well-bound rolls of canvas, alone
encountered the hurricane. But even these
were tried to the utmost. The topmasts bent
and cracked before the blast, and the royal
poles of the topgallant masts, which excited
above the cross trees, whipped and thrashed
about like pliant rods. The running rigging
rattled against the spars, and the shrouds aad
backstays strained and cracked, as if striving
to draw tha strong bolts which secured them
to the vessel.
For more than an hour did the Active flee
along in t Lis AVUV, like a wild horse foaming
and stretching at his utmost speed, driven on
ward in the van of the tempest, and exposed
to its fiercest wrath. At length, the first fury
of the gale passed away, and the wind, though
still riigiug tempestously, swept over her with
less appalling force. The ocean, now, as to re
venge itself for it-' constrained inactivity, rous
ed from its brief repose, and swelled into bil
lows that rolled and chased each other with
the wild glee of ransomed demons. "Wave, up
on wave, in multitudinous confusion, came roar
ing iu from astern; aud their white crests,
leaping, and sparkling, and hissing, formed a
striking feature in the scene. The wind, for
tunately, issued from the right point, and drove
the Active towards her place of destination.—
The dumb pall of clouds, which from the com
mencement of the gale, had totally overspread
hhe heavens except in the quarter whence the
blast proceeded, now began to give way, and a
reddish light shorn; out here and there, in long
horizontal streaks, like the gIoAV of expiring
coals between the bars of a furnace. Though
the lirst dreadful violance of the storm was
somewhat abated, it still raved with too much
fierceness and power to admit of any relaxation
of vigilance. The commander hiinscif still re
tained the truuqiet, and every officer stood in
silence atvhis station, clinging to whatever
might assist him to maintain his difficult l'oot
iug.
" Light, oh!" cried the lookout on one of the
catheads.
" Where awav?" demanded the contain.
" Ihad ahead."
" Y\ hat does it look like, and Low far off?"
shouted the captain, iu a loud and earnest
voice.
"Can see nothing now, sir; the glim is
doused."
" Here, Mr. Barton," cried the commander,
"take this night glass; jump aloft on the fore
yard, sir, and see if you can make out an ob
ject ahead. Hurry up, hurry up, and let me
bear from you immediately, sir! Lay aft to
the braces! Forecastle, there! have hands by
your staysail sheets ou both sides. Forevant,
there!"
But before the captain had finished his hail,
the voice ot little Burton AVUS heard, siuriu ,ir
out "Sail oh!"
" What does she look like, and where UA< ay?"
" A large vessel, lying-to under bare poles
—starboard your helm, sir, quick—hard a star
board, or you Avill fail aboard of her!"
This startling intelligence Avas hardly com
municated before the vessel described from aloft
loomed suddenly into sight from deck through
the thick weather to leeward. Her dusk and
shadowy form seemed to rise up from the ocean,
so suddenly did it open to vieAv, us the driving
mist AVUS scattered for a moment. She lav
right athwart the Active's bows, and almost
under her fore-foot—as it seemed while she
pitched into the trough of an enormous sea—
and the Active rode on the ridge of the suc
ceeding wave, Avhich curled above the chasm,
as if to overwhelm the vessel beneath.
" Starboard your helm, quarter-master! hard
a-starboard!" cried the commander of the Ac
tive, in a tone iff startling energy.
"Starboard!" repeated the deep solemn
! voice of Yungs, AVIIO stood on the quarter net
tings, his tall figure propped against the miz
/.en rigging, and his arm AATcatbcd around the
i shroud.
! "Jump to the braces, men!" continued the
captain strenuously—"haul in your starboard
braces, haul! ease off your larboard! does she
come to, quarter-master? Fo'ea-tlg there!
ease off your staysail sheet—let all go. sir!"
These orders Avere promptly obeyed, but it
AVUS too late for them to avail. The Avheel, in !
the hands of lour stout and experienced sea
men, AVUS forced swiftly round, and the effect
of the rudder AVUS assisted by a pull of the
starboard braces; but in such a gale, and un
der poles, the helm exerted but little power
over the driving and ponderous mass. She
had headed off hardly a point from ln-r course,
when she AVUS taken up ly a prodigious surge, !
and borne onward with fearful velocity. The
catastrophe AAUS HOAV inevitable. In au instant
the two ships fell together, their massive tim
bers crashing Avith the fatal force of the con
cussion. ' A wild shriek ascended from the 1
deck of the stranger, and woman's shrill voice
mingled Avitli the sound. All AVUS now confu
sion and uproar on board both vessels. The
Active had struck the stranger broad on the
bows, while the bowsprit of the latter, rushed
iu between the fore-mast and the starboard
fore-rigging of the Active, had snapped her
shrouds and stays, and tore up the bolts and
chuiuplutcs as if they had been thread and ivire.
Staggering back from the shock, she Avas car
ried to some distance by a refluent wave, Avhich
suddenly subsiding, she gave such a heaAy
lurch to port that the foremast—now Avhollv
unsupported on the starboard side—snapped
short off like a withered twig, and fell A\iih a
loud plash iu the ocean.
"The foremast is gone by the board!" shout
ed the officer ol' the forecastle.
"My God!" exclaimed the captain, "and
Charles Burton has gone with it! Fo'castle,
there! Did Charles Burton come down from
the forward?"
"Burton! Burton! Burton!" called twenty
voiees, and " Burton!" was shouted loudly over
the side; but there teas no re ft if.
in the meanwhile another furious billow lift
ed the vessel on its crest, and the tAvo ships
closed again, like gladiators, faint and stunned,
but still compelled to do battle. The bow -of
the stranger this time drove heavily against
the bends of the Active', just abaft her main
rigging, and her boAvsprit darted quivering
over the buhvarks, as if it Avere the arrow v
tongue of some huge sea-monster. At this in
stant aw ild sound of agony, between a shriek
aud a groan, was heard in that direction, and
those Avho turned to ascertain its cause saw as
the vessels again separated, a human body,
swinging and Avrithing at the strangers bow
sprit head. The vessel heaved up into the
moonlight, and showed the face of poor Yiuurs
the quarter master, his back appurautly crush
ed aud broken, but his aims clasjied round the
spar, to Avhich he appeared to cling Avith con
vulsive tenacity. The bowsprit had caught
him on its end as it ran in over the Active's
side, and driving against the inizenmu-t, de
prived the poor Avretch of all power to rescue |
himself from the dreadful situation. While a
hundred eyes were fastened iu a gaze of horror
ou the impaled seaman, thus dangling over the j
boiling ocean, the strange ship again reeled ;
forward, us if to reneAv the terrible encounter, j
But her rnotiou was now slow aud laboring.— j
She was evidently settling by the head; she j
paused in mid career, gave a heavy drunken j
lurch to starboard, till her topmasts whipped i
against the rigging of her antagonist, then ris
ing slowly on the ridge of tho next wave she
plunged head foremost, and disappeared forev
er. One shriek of horror and despair rose
through the storm—-one Avild delirious shriek!
The Avatcr swopt over the drowning wretches,
and hushed their gurgling cry. Then all Avas
still!—all but the rush and whirl of waves as
they were sucked into the vortex, and the voice
of the storm, which howled its Avilcl dirge above
the spot.
When day dawned on the ocean, the Acti\'e
presented a different appearance from that
which she exhibited but a few short hours be
fore. Her foremast gone, her bowsprit sprung,
her topgallant masts struck, her bulwarks
shattered, her rigging hanging loose and Avhi
| tened by the wash of the spray—she looked
| little like the gav and gallant thing, which, at
| the same hour ot' the previous day, nad plough
: ed her course through the sea, despite the ad
verse gale, and moved proudly along under
cloud of canvass, as if she defied the fury of
the elextentv. Now, how changed! how :ad (
VOL. XV. CS'O. 35.
the contrast! The appearance of such of the
officer: nud crew as were moving about the
deck, hsrmonized with that of the vessel. -
I hey looked pale ai d dejected; and the catas
trophe they Lad witnessed Lad left traces of
horror stamped oa every brow, flic Active
was still near the spot of the fatal event, hav
iij<r jetrii 1} mg-tp under a close reefed mainsail,
winch the lading ol the wind hud enabled her
jjo ) "..r. As the o.i Viii advanced, the upper
I deck became crowded, and long and searching
{ looks were cast over the ocean in every dircc
i t:on, in the hope to dis-ov r some vestige of
1 those who had met their doom during the night.
: Such of the boats as had not been staved were
! lowered, and long and patient efforts were
made to discover traces of the wreck. But.
| the search was fruitless, and was at last reluc
tantly abandoned. The boats were again haul
ed up, and stowed; the Aetivefilleduwav,and
, under such sail a.s she could carry in her crip
pied state, crept forward towards her coal.—
Dunne the rest of her voyage no merry laugh,
no lively prattle, cheered the steerage iness ta
ble. The bright eyes of Charles Burton were
closed his silvery voice was hushed—his gay
heart was cold—his messmates mourned his
timeless fate with real sorrow.
; In a lew days, the sloop-of-war reached her
port, and was immediately warped to the dork
yard, where she was stripped, hove down, and
thoroughly overhauled. The officers and crew
lent themselves earnestly to the duty, uud a
short time served to accomplish it. lu less
than a we. k, everything set up and all a taun
to, the ship hauled out again, gleaming fresh
with paint and looking as proud and statelv as
before the disaster. Hut where was she that
hud been wrecked in the encounter? Where,
and who were those that perished with her?-
Fond hearts were doubtless eagerly awaitim*
them, and un.\ious eves strained over the ocean
"to hail the bark that never could return."—
No word, no whisper ever told their fate.—•
lhey who saw them jau-ish knew not the vic
tims, and the deep gave not up its dead.
Sei.miLß.—Tliis mineral product is the key
whieli i-pons the door to chemical manufactures.
I rota it we make sulphuric acid, foil ofivltriol)
and without sulphuric acid many of the largest
factories would cease to exist. By its aid wo
are enabled to produce so many substances,
that the bare mention of them would fill the
whole paper. Bleaching, dyeing, soda-making
metal-refining, electroplating,electro-telegraph
ing, Ac., are primarily indebted to this acid.—•
Many of the most valued medicines could not
be made without it—such as ether, calomel,
Ac. Sulphur being the chief ingredient of gun
powder, modern warfare could not go on com
foi'tubiy without it. A people that docs not
possess luciter matches stands beyond the pale
o! civilization; yet matches cannot be made
without sulphur—riot because matches are dip
ped into melted brimstone before they are tip
pi'd with the phosphoric . otnpoHition which ig
nites them, but because this very material could
not be made without the indirect use of sulph
ur. In England we consume sixty thousand
tons of sulphur annually, which i imported to
tins country from the volcanic rigtaisof Sicilv.
lor pul.tical reasons, the King of Naples has
recent!} prohibited the export of sulphur to
any of the kingdoms now at war. Reckoning
the value of sulphur at JC. r > per ton, implies a
loss ol AoOO.OOO—a pretty liberal " peace-of
fering" from the King of the Two Seicilies!—
This loss of sulphur will be very severely felt
lor a short time in England; but eventually it
will be of great service, as we have as much
brimstone in this coon try as commerce Feouin-s
—-a tact that will soon be made manifest bv
the demand lor it; and when once it is seen
that our own resources are sufficient, the Kig
of Naples ir.us never expect us to go to his shop
any more. It was thus during the last wat*;
that we prevented the French people from tints
ing Jumaca sugar; so they set to and mad"
sugar from beet-root, ai d we have lost so much
trade ever since. Septimus I'iesse.
ARKANSAS fiißt.s.—The Memphis Tlryrf~t
tells the following story of a friend of the edi
tor's who went over into Arkunsas reeeutly, to
attend a '"break down," that is a dance:
" The ladies upon the occasion, were array
ed in their best, with all the gay colors that an
uncultivated ta-tc could suggest. The gentle
men were dressed in horn spam clothes, and
none but our triend had broadcloth upon his
back. During the evening, sweet potatoes of
enormous size, roasted in the ashes were hand
ed round to the company, together with a hand
lul of suit for each guest. A beautiful young
lady soon became smitten with our friend (per
haps with Ids magnificent moustaches,) and r>>-
' solved to dance with hint. Slie therefore tuni
! I'd to a friend, and addres-od her in these
words:
" Sal, hold my tater while I trot round with
that nice hoss what's got on store clothes."
Our friend was clinched according!}; he
.could not extricate himself from the grip of the
rustic beauty, and was obliged to "trot round'*
after her for one mortal hour before he could
obtain a respite from his labors. Me made his
: escape the first opportunity, resolving that he
would never again go to au Arkansas " break
down."
lI OMK POLICY. —If you wish to keep your
town from thriving, turn the cold shoulder to
every young mechanic or beginner of bu aness;
look upon every n w comer with a jealous
scowl; discourage all you can; if that don't do
decry his work, and rather go abroad for wares
of his kind than give him your mouev. Last,
though not least, refuse to patronize the town
papers. Then, "go to seed."
fey- " Perseverance, w said a lady, very ear
nestly, to a servant, "is the only way to ae
eompiiaii great things." One day eight dump
lings were sent down stairs, and they nil disajv
peared, '"Beftv, where are all those dump
lings?" " I managed to pet through them,
ma'am.*' "Why-, how on earth did yon con
coatrivt! to eat so many dumplings?" " By ppp,
severance ma'am/' said Betty.