2
6¢ltrt (gale.
A THRILLING , SEA STORY
BY AN EYE WIT 'ESS..
It was at the close of a sto my due, in the
rear )835, when the gallant frigate Con,lk
•ution, under the command of Captain El
:jot, having on board the late Edward Lit.-
ngstop, then minister at the Court of France,
tad fatuity, and manned by nearly five hull
/ !red souls, drew near the "chop" of English
'haniel. For four days she had been beat
,ug down from Plymouth, and on the fifth,
t evening, she made her tack for the French
oast.
The watch was set at 8 P. M., the captain
.one on deck soon after, and having aster
tined the bearing of Scilly, gave orders to
cep the ship "11111 and bye," remarking it
le same time to the officer of the deck r -thAl
e might make the light on the lee beam . :
it, he stated, he tliongl!t it more than prob
de that he would,pass it without seeing it,
:e then 'turned in,''as did most of the idlers,
ti-id the starboard watch..
At a quarter past nine, P. M.. the ship
Qaded west by compass, when the call of
.ight ho!` was heard from the fOretopsail
-trd
•Where away ?' asked the ollic•er of the
vie
•'.lChree points to the lee how,* replied the
ilcout nom, which the unfmdessional reader
ill—utplerstand-to-nleali -very nearly
lead.
kt this moment the captain appeared and
wk the trumpet
`Call all hands!' was his immediate order
'All handsr whistle,dthe boatswain, with
ie long, shrill summons, familiar to the
ars of all who have eve, been on board a
lan-of-war
`All hands!' sereii - iTeTtlie boatswain's mate,.
nil ere the echo died away, all b« t the sick-
vere on deck
The ship was staggering through' a heavy
; well from the Bay of Biscay; the gale,
which had been Miming several days, had
. ncreased to a severity that was not to be
made light of. The breakers, where Sir
Cloudesly Shovel- and his fleet were destroyed
n the days of Queen A nn, sang their song of
death before, and the Dead Man's ledge
rc
,plied in hoarser notes behind us. To go
ahead, seemed to be death, and to go about
Wits sure destruction. The first thing that
caught the eye of the captain was the furled
mainsail, whiclehe had ordered to be carried
throughout the evening—that hauling up of
which, contrary to the. last order he had
given on leaving the deck,' had; caused the
ship to fall AV leeward two points, and had
thus led her it Cto a position on a 'lee shore,'
upon which a strong gale was blowing her,
in which the chance - of safiqy appeared to
the stoutest nerves almost hopeless. That
sole chance consisted in standing on, to carry
us through the breakers of Scilly, or by a
close graze along their outer edge. Was this
de-gaily-to be the end of the gallant old ship,
consecrated byLmany a prayer and blessing
from the heart of a nation.
‘IVIIy is the mainsail up, when I ordered
it set?' cried the captain, in a tremendous
voice
`Finding. that she pitched her bows under,
I took it in, under your general order, sir,
that the oilier of the deck should carry sail
according to his discretion,' replied the lieu
tenant in command.
`Heave the log,' was the prompt command
to the master's mate.
The log *as thrown.
`How fast does she go7'
knots and a half, sir.' .
'Board the main tack, sir.'
`She will not bear it, sir,' said o cheofficer
of the deck.
`Board the main tack!' thundered the cap
tain, 'keep her full and bye, quarter-master!'
'Aye, aye, sii•L'i •
The tack-was boarded.
`Raul aft , the main sheet!' shouted the cap
tain; and aft it went, like the spreading of
a sea-bird's wing, giving the huge sail to the
gale. •
'Give.her the lee helm when she goes into
the seal' cried the captain.
`Aye, aye, sirl she has it,' growled .out the
old sea•dog at the binnacle.
'Right your helm; keep her full and'byer
'Aye, aye, sir, full and bye she is,' was the
prompt answer from the helm.,
'How, fast does she go?
'Nine knots and a half, sir.',
'How'bears the light ?'
• 'Nearly abeam, sir.'
'Keep her away half a point.'
qtow fast - does she go?' •
;'Nine.knots, sir.'
. ,
'Steady so!' returned the captain.
. 'nay!' aalwcred the helmsman, and all
was silent as the grave _upon the crowded
deck, ; except the howling of the storms, for
the space of time that seemed II) the imagi
nation almost an age.
.It was a trying hour to us; unless we could
carry sail, so as to - go at the rate of nine
knots an hour, we mast of necessity dash
Scilly; and who ever touched upon those
rocks and lived during a storm?
The sea ran very high, the rain fell in
sheets, the sky Wits one black curtain, illumi
nated only by the faint light - which was to
mark our deliverance, or stand a monument
of our destruction. The wind had 4ot shove
whistling—it came in puffs that flattened the
waves, and made our old frigate settle to her
bearings while everything on board seemed
to be cracking into pieces. At this moment
the carpenter reported that the left bolt, of
the fore shroud had drawn. -
`Get on the lull's, and set them all on the
weather shrouds. Reepner at small helm
quartermaster, and case her in the sea,'
were the orders of the captain. -
The tuffs were soon put. upon . the -weatUi
sWrouds, which of course relieved the chains
and channels, lint many an anxious eye was
!turned towards the remaibing bolts, for upon
them depended OM masts) and' upon the
masts depended the safety of the ship—for
with one foot of canvass less she could not
live fifteen minutes.
Onward plunged the over-laden frigate.
and at every surge she seemed Inuit upon
making the deep. the s'ailor's grave, and her
live.bak sides his coffin of glory. She had
hrrn'tittrd-out floston -wherrthe-thermom-
eter was below zero. Ifer shrouds of course,
therefore, slackened at every strain, anti her
unwieldy musts—tar she
.had those designed
for the frigate Cumberland, a much larger
ship—seemed ready to jump out ocher.
And now, while all was apprehension, an
other bolt drew—aint then another—mntilat I
last our whole- stay was placed upon a single
bolt 1e: 1 3,4 than a man's wrist in circumference.
Still the iron clung_to. the_solid__Avntid,_and_
bore us alongside the breakers,• though in
a Most frightful proximity to them, This
trilling incident has never, I believe, been
noticed in public, but is the literal fact—
which I make not the slightest attempt, to
embellish.
' As we galloped on—for I Can comptu•e
our vessels leaping to nothing else—the rocks
seemed very near Us. j)ark was the night,
the white foam scowled around their black
heads, while the spray fell over us, anti the
thunder of the dashing surge sounded like
the awful kn - ell that ocean was singing for
the victims it was eager to engulph.
At length the light bore upon our quarter,
and the bold Atlantic rolled its caps before
us. During this time all was silent, each
officer and man was nt his post, and the
bearing and countenance of the captain
seemed to give encouragement to every per
son on board. With but a bare possibility
of 'saving the ship anti those on• board, he
relied on his nautical skill and courage, and
by carrying the mainsail which in tiny other
situation would have been considered a sui
cidal act, ''he weathered the lee shore, and
saved the Constitution!'
The mainsail was now hauled up, by light
hearts and strong hands, the jib and spanker
taken in, and from the light of the Scilly,
the gallant vessel, under close reefed lop
sails, took her departure, and danced merri
ly over the deep towards the United States.
`Pipe down!' said the captain to the first
lieutenant, 'and splice the main brace.'
`Pipe down!' echoed the first lieutenant to
the boatswain.,
`Pipe down!' whistled the boatswain to the
crew, and 'pipe down' it was.
'How near the rocks - did we go?' said to
one of the master's , mates, the next morning.
He made n 6 reply, but takiiig down a chart
showed me a pencil line between the outside
shoal [aid the Lig& House
.Island, which
i!must have been a small strait for a fisherman
to run his smack through in good weather by
daylight..
For what is the noble and dear old frigate
reserved
I went upon deck; the sea was calm, a
gentle breeze was dwelling our canvass fro'in
our mainsail to royal, the isles of Scilly had
sunk in the eastern waters, and the clouds of
the dying storm were rolling off in broken
masses to the northward, like the flying co
lumns•of a beaten army.
I have been in many a gale of wind, and
lelye passed through seenes,of great danger,
but never before norsinee, have I experienced
an hour so terrible as that when the Consti•
tution was laboeing, with the lives of five
hundred men hanging On a single, small iron
bolt, to weather Scilly on the night of. the
11th of May,, 1835.
During tho4ale, Airs. Livingston enquired
of the.captaiOir,we were in great danger, to
51.1lich he replied, ni soon as lye had passed
eartiele ijrralb.
Scilly, 'You are as safe us yOu would ,be in
the aisle of a church.'
.It is singular that the frigate-Boston, Cap
tain MeNeal„abont the elose.of the Ite'vOlu
/ tion, escaped a similar danger while employ
! ed in carrying out to France Chancellor Liv
ingston, a relative of Edward's, and also
Minister to the Court of St. Clouds lie like
wise had his wife on board, and while the
vessel was weathering a lee shore, Mrs. Liv•
ingston asked the Captain—a rough but gal
lant old fire eater—if they were not in great
danger ; to-which he repliedL---'You had bet
ter, madam, get down upon your knees, and
pray Goa to forgive your numerous sins, for
if we do not carry by this point, we shall go
down in five minutes.'
r6umuroug.
A GHOST STORY.
"'faUm' of sperits reminds me of my ex
perience in that line," said' Sutler, gravely
shakitig the ashes from his pipe.
•
"Let us hear it," I said.
"With the greatest pleasure, Cap'en.
father, you see, had been under the turf for a
good many years. He wasn't a bad man, by
no means ; 4 a kinder heart never beat Ina
his; but he was uncommon fond terbaker.
Fle'd smoke the day out and the day in. He
hadn't an equal In that way except old Sam
Flint. our nearest neighbor, and he was just
about his match ; and they wpuld tell their
tough stories_42.veteia'_after evedit.C. _but,:that
was afore my father died.
"My natural susceptibilities twin' fine, .1
felt rather bad when the old gontli!men'step.-
pedout. I used to lay awake night arter
night and think on't - . - One night in the lust
of the evenin',arter I had turned in, I heard
a-strang knocking on the winder sill,- and
didn't know what on earth to make on't.
"Who's there?' says
"Your father," says a voice..,
mil lie possible,'' says 7.
"It's nothin' shorter," says he.
"how do - you like as fur as you've got'?"
says I.
"Fin nut over and above pleased," says
he.
"I'm sorry to hear it," says L "What's the
trouble ?"
"It's o'enamost impossible to get any good
smoking terbaker," says be, in. , a dejected
voice.
"That's melanehully," says I. "Cant Ido
anything for ye ?"
"Nuthin . to brag on," says he ; "but you
will oblige me by layin' a good piece.of pig
tail on the winder-sil nights when you go to
bed."
"I'll do it, says I.
"I'll feel obleeged," says lie
"Not at all;" says 1; but if it's a fair ques
tion, like to know how you pass yOur time
there r
"It's no offence at all sonny. I set upon
a sunbeam most, of the time playing on the
jerwsharp."
"It-Must be Very amusin'," says I. ‘.llave
you got the old thing with ye ?"
"I aint got nothin' elke," says he.
"Play us up a tune then," I continued.
"With pleasure," says he and so he struck
"That:s rather welanehully," says' I.
"I know it," says he ; "but it's all on ne
&mint of the terbacker."
"I'll get ye some of the raal pigtail," says
I.
, Y
"So do, and I'll give ye something livelier
"next time. --IA ood sonny," he added hi
a More cheerful tone.
"Come again," says I.
"You may rely on't," says he.
"Good night, then," says I. "Don't hurt
youiTelf doing the miscellaneous work, and I
would recoinend you to bring a better instru
ment when you come again." And with
that the old gentleman !tarried away.
'Wid you place the pigtail on the window
sill?" I asked.
"In course I did , tho rant ginewine. "
"And did ho conic after it?"
• "As, regular as night came. I never knew
him to fail, and an uncommon sight of the
stuff he made way with. If all my relations
had come back, and used asJuuch of the
weed as he did, I should have been dead
broke."
"And what kind of tobaco did Sam Flint
smoke at that time?" I continued.
"Pigtail—nothing but pigtail, just like
that used by the old gentleman," said Sutlet;
with a look' irresistibly/comical.
"How was it lout his father's ghost?" I
said one day to Satlei•, as we were alone.
"The' facto' 'the case was," he replied, "I
found it took off the change like all nettle
fo keep my father in terbaelier so I told
Flint all abont,it,, and fixed him if lie could
n't supply the old gentlemen with a pig or
two occasionally for old acquaintance sake."
"I couldn't think .of it," said he, "Pve•got
a large family to i 3 uppoW, and I use an aw
ful sprinklin' of the weed' myself. But I've
got a good pound or two that I'll .sell you
cheap." .
"What kind is•it ?" I asked
said he. •
"Brir,g.it over," says I
"With yleasure," says he. And so the
next day lie brt tight it over and I bought it.
Well when I conic to look it over, I found
some of the identical plugs which I had laid
on the winder sill for the old gentlem3m.—
upon careful inquiry, I found lie had sold
several pounds of the stuff to the neighbors,
and scented to have platy of the same sort
although, afore that, he used to be, hard up
on terbacker, fin• he was as poor as Job and
An oneommon smoker. Arter that time I
didn't lay any more terbacker on the winder
sill, thinking it best to let the old gentleman
depend upon his own exertions for asupply
o' pigtail." •
, SPOON FASHION.
Nearly a dozen years ago I was ou my re
turn to• the old homestead, in the good State
ofConnecticuit, having just completed my
studies as a student of medicine. In com
pany with a goodly number of people, I stop.
ped for the night at a country inn in the town
of 13 ", not being — able to resume my
I journey until a late hour the next day. liar-
L ing always been an adniirer of the country,
L the arrange
!
meat, and my pleasure was enhanced by find
ing, at the well laid supper table, two )(ing
; ladies of surpassihg Loveliness, the, younger
of whom 1 thought the most bewitching little
creature in existence—±a,lad 4.±; were ac
e qnpanied by a young gentleman about my
own twe '
•with whom I could nut but feel con
siderably annoyed. Ile not only engrossed
all their attention, but, lucky dog, as he was,.
seemed determined that no other person
should participate in tlie amusement. An
offer of some little delicacy by myself to the
' yiunger of the two ladies•was frustrated by a
Ma sort of politeness on his part that effect
ually chilled any further attempfs at intima
cy.• r soon left the table, but I could not
drive the image of the lovely being from my
mind. 'Something whispered that we should
become acquainted'at some future time, but
in the interval I felt more than usually un
easy. I longed to be not only an intimate
acquaintance, but an accepted lover, and had
posSessed the wealth of Croesius, I would
unhesitatingly have poured it into her lap.
In the ekcitementunder which I was then
laboring, I thought a walk might do me good,
but on opening the door fbr that putpoac,
found the nignt had set in as dark as Erebus,
and being an entire stranger, there was -no
knowing what mischief I might encounter;
so I made up mind.to compromise the mut :
ter by taking up my candle and going to bed.
-I retired, but for a long time I rolled and
tossed about sadly ; now, one plan by %%Ilia
I might make the acquaintance of the'young
lady would suggest itself, and then another,
until at last I found myself in a state of drea
my languor, neither fairly asleep, nor quite
awake.
I fancied I had heard for the last few mo
ments a sort of light bustle going on near my
bed, but it gave me no uneasiness until some
one sprang into the bed, and clasping her
arms about me, whispered :
Ugh 1 how dreadful cold it is, to be sure,
I say, Julia, we shall have to lay spoon fash
ion, or else we shall freeze!"
llcre was an incident. What to say, dr
how to act was a question not easily solved.
At lust y must° ed courage enough to ejacu•
late :
"Dear madam, here is some mistake, 111—'
The lady did not wait for me to say more.
With a sharp, quick scream, she sprang
from the bed and bolted from the apartment.
I was, Wondering what, the deuce it could all
mean, when a servant brought a lamp into
my room and Picked up ,what, ladies' appal.-
rel she could find about the premises, and left
the apartment. You can well believe, gen
tlemen, that my slumbers for that evening
were far from quiet.
In, the morning, I know not how it was, but
I was viiidly impressed with the idea that
my nocturnal visitor was one of the two la
dies who lad supped with me the evening
previous, but which, I could not conjecture.
I resolved, however, to ascertain on the first
favorable opportunity which might present
itself, and satisfy myself beyond a doubt.
o n t a ki n g my set 4. at the breakfast le
the next morning, I plaeed myself opMsito
the ladies, aad WAS revolving in my min The
incident of the previous evening, when the
younger of the two passed her plate and beg
ged me to favor her with the oysters near
• <
me.
' Certainly, said I, an.' ns the
thought sprang into my mind that she might
be the lady in tinestion, I added, "will you
'take them spoon fashion ?"
Eureka what an explosion. The lady's
face instanAy assumed the hue_of the mini- .
son dahlia, while her companion's seemed as
cold and passionless as I could desire. I was
satisfied that she had kept her own counsel—
I scraped an acquaintance—fell deeply in
love—and when I reached home, I lad the
pleasure of presenting to the old folks my es
timable lady, the presffit Mrs. Maddox.
,f •A young elergical gentleman relates
the following anecdote of one of his Dutch
brethere. The old fellow was about cot
mencing his spiritual exercises one evening,
when to his being a little near sighted was
added the diM light of the country chttßeb.
After clearing his throat and giving out the
hymn, prefacing it with the apology—
The light ish bad, mine eyes ish dim,
I scarce can see to read dish hymn.
The clerk supposing it was the first stanza
of the hymn, struck up the tune in Common
metre
Thu'old fellow taken somewhat aback by
this turn of :auks, corrected his mistake by
say i lig
I didn't mean to sing dish hymn,
1 only meant mine oyes ish dim.
The clerk still thinking it a conitinfNa .
of the couplet, finished in the preceditlf
/221121
The old man at this, waxed wroth and ex
claimed at the-top of his voice :
Tifink" file tletnrs - in yon all,
Dat varli nu hymn to sing at all
ROL At tr show down East, the audience
were suddenly involved in total darkness by
an accidental putting out of, the lights.—
Among the rest teas a newly married coun
, try Jonathan and his pretty bride; and on
the same bench—a stranger to both-- t -sat
gentleman, who profiting by the darkness.
L fell to kissing the bride. Liihc whispered to
her husband—'John,, John ! this ere
a kiSsin' on me 'Tell him- to quit,' sail
John; fOJohn, it seems probable, stood a
-.little in awe of the philosopher from the city,
and found himself, therefore, in perplelxitig
circumstances. 'No, I can't,' whispered the
bride, 'you can tell him.' Make him quit!!
said John, now getting quite excited. 'I
don't like to,' whispered the bride, 'fic's
jwz/'et stranger to !'
Day Cr.orns —Two boys among the black
berry bushes, some mile or two out of town
saw a cloud rising and heard a sound like
thunder. One who was a Tittle timid, said to
the other, 'come Fred, let's go_horne—it then
dent.' The other not wishing to return hoMe
so soon, denied that it thundered at all.
the rumbling noise was again Lorne
on thefresbnig breeze. 'What's that then''
inquired the other.
'Why, Fred. don't you know what that is ?
If you don't I 11 tell you. You know it has
been dry weather for a king time. What
clouds thre'are floating about ' are' as dry as
old sheepskins, and when the wind blows it
rattles them.'
•
A WEAK S•roat.lcu.-1n Gunning's Re
miniscences; we find the following: On one
occasion the ,ViceAlaneellor, Dean
said to me very abruptly, 'You have been
looking at me some time, I know what you
are thinking on ; you think I cat a confound
ed deal 'No, sir,' I said ; am surprised
that you eat of such a variety of dishes:—
`The truth is,' said be, have a very weak
sumach, and when it has digested as much
as it can of one kind of food, it will go to
work and digest some other.' I observed to
lain, 'That the weakness of: his stomach re•
sembled that of Dr. Topping, a physician at
Colchester, who, when agentleinan with whom
he, was dining expresred sti* dissatisfat tion
at his not taking claret; which ; had It en pro
vided expressly for him, answered, have
no objection to take a bottle, or a couple, of
claret, but I have so weak a stomach, I am
obliged to drink a bottle of port first
A PitEcoctooh NATIVE.—The Hartford
Times furnishes the following, striking
OE
. Irish Mother—'Arrah, Johnny, rind where
have yees bin, so long?'
_Native Son—Why, me and the rest of the
boys have been licking an Irishman.'
Mother—'lVait, yeNpalpeen, till per daddy
gets home—you'll be father catching it
Son—!011,. , yon - be blowed t Mies tba
man we've licked!'
[ Exit Mother, with upraised eyes and hand's;
and half-amotbered ‘Qeh hone Job.
ny stalks off whistling 'Hail Columbia 1) •
HEAVY PeNISIIMENT.—An editor became
imlrtial and was created a captain. On pd
rade instead of 'two paces in frontadvance,'
he unconsciously exclaimed ' Cash—two
dollars a year in advance,' .He was court•
martialed and sentonc6l to read his own pa
•
per. -