Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1825-05-19
NO. go

-tne rloter, the ruler OF graves. anu
my old friend was swathed in fine Ii
en-, and pure Grape was cut and crimp-
ed about him-as though to save him
from the worm and the sapping earth.
Twas poor mockery of his humble
state; and yet perhaps il was meant
kindly. Three days after this he was
borne away in hearse, and let out
my grief in tears.
To pass from this, to scene Of
darker color.-It was in W-shire
that l heard medical friend tell of a
death-bed which he had witnessed.
This I did not see, and it does not
therefore perhaps strickly come under
the title of this paper; but the more
especially as the sufferer was almost
unknown to me; but let the reader ex-
cuse it. The man whom I refer to,
was a rich farmer. He was the father
of two natural children (femalesO
whom he made do all the drudgery Of
his house. He was hard landlord, a
bad master, libertine though miser,
a drunkard, a fighter at fairs and mark.
cts; and over his children he used a ty-
ranny which neither tears nor labor
could mitigate.-But he was stopped
in his headlong course. A fierce pain
came upon him; fire ragged in his vi
tai. His strong limbs, which no
wrestler could twist, and no antagonist
lay PROSTATE, shrank before an unseen
foe Fever encompassed him, and de.
lirium; and in his frightful dreams he
called aloud-he shrieked-he wept
like child. He prayed for help
for ease, for little respite. 1t was all
in vain. Myfriend attended this man,
and, though used to scenes Of death,
this terrified even him. He said that
the raving Of the sufferer was beyond
belief it vas the noise Of great ami
NAL, not of man. His eve glared,
and he swore perpetually, & said that
Satan was in wait Cor him, and pointed
towards a corner Of the chamber
When he made an effort, it was like
the struggle Of the tiger. And then he
would listen, and cry that he heard the
dull roll of drums and the stamp OF a
war horse, and the sound of trumpets
-calling-calling; and he answered
and shrieked shat" was coming
And came! "Parce, precor, precor!"
Most of my own friends have died
calmly. One wasted away for months
and months; and though death came
slowly, he came too soon. was told
that Mr.. "wished to live" On
the very day on which he died, he tried
to battle with the great king-to stand
mp against the GOODNESS and faintness
which seized upon him. But he died,
Notwithstanding, and though quietly,
reluctantly. Another friend "a female)
died easily and in old age, surviving
her faculties. A third met death smil-
ing. A fourth was bruised in Italian
earth among flowers and odorous herbs.
A fifth, the nearest Of all, died gradu-
ally, and his children came about him,
and were sad: but he was resigned TO
all fortunes, for he believed in long
"hereafter!''-And so time passes.
There is something inexpressi.
bly, touching in an anecdote which l
have heard of foreign artist. He
was an American, and had come hither
Che and his young wife) to paint for
fame and-a subsistence. They were
strangers in England; they had to tight
against prejudice and poverty; but their
affection for each other solaced them
under every privation, every frown Of
Fortune. They could think, at least,
"all the way over" the great Atlantic;
and their fancy Clittle cherished here)
had leisure to be busy among the
friends and scenes which they had lett
behind. A gentleman, who had not
seen them for some time, went one dayto
the artists painting room, and observ-
ing him pale and worn, inquired about
his health, and afterwards regarding
his wife. He answered, only, "She has
left me-" and proceeded in a hurried
way with his work. She was dead
and he was left alone to toll, and get
money, and mourn. The heart In
which he had boarded all his secrets,
all his hopes, was cold; and Fame itself
was but shadow!-and so it is, that all
we love must wither,-that we our
selves must wither and die away. lis
a trite saying, yet wholesome mora ,!s
belongs to it. The thread OF our nc
is spun: it is twisted firmly, and looks
as it would last forever-Ah colours
are there,-the gaudy yellow ana inc
| ,o,o,;,o rad and bIack-dark as death;
vet It is cut in twain by the shears Of
Fate almost before we discern the peril.
A native of Hibernia, relating to his
friend the dangers and difficulties he
had undergone, both by sea and land,
speaks thus to him, with great serious.
ness: believe, in my soul, John, that
| | have suffered every thing that man
fears but death & expect, il shall
] live, to suffer that also.