The Wilmingtonian, and Delaware register., 1825-07-28
CDEEECTA ATTlMs q.
PROOFS OF AFFECTION.
RELATED ny MR cUnRAN.

When boy | was one morning playing at
marbles in the village bali alley, with light
heart and a lighter pocket. The gibe and
the Jest went galy round, when suddenly
there appeared amongst usa stranger, of a
very remarkable and very cheerful aspect,
his intrusion was not the least restraint up
on our merry little asscmblage; on the con-
trary, he seemed pleased and even delghted;
h. WAS a benevolent creature, and the rays
Of infancy (after all, the happiest we shall
ever see1 perhaps rose upon his memory.
God bless him! see his fine form, at the
distance Of half a century, just as he stood
before me in the little ball alley in the days
Of my childhood. His name was Boysc; he
was the re s,r OF Newmarket. 10 me he
took PARTICULAR fancy. was winning
and full Of waggery, thinking every thing
that was eccentric, and by no means Il mser
of my eccentrcities; every one was wei
come to share off them, and had plenty to
spare, after having trcighted the company.
Some sweetmeats easily brlbed me home
with him. | learnt from poor Boyse my
alphabet, and my grammar, and the rudi-
mtnts of the classics. He taught me all he
could, and then sent me to the school at
Middleton. In SHIRT, he made a man OF
me. Irecollected it was about five and thirty
years afterwards, when had risen to sou.e
eminencc at the bar, and when had seat
i'll parliament, on my return one day from
Court, found an old gentleman seated alone
in my drawing room, his feet faniliarly
placed on each side Of the Italian marble
piece, and hls whole air bespeaking the com
sciousncss Of one quite at home. He turned
round--u gvas my friend Of The ball aiiey. |
rushed nstinctivcly into his arms, and
burst into tears. Words cannot describe
the scene which followed. "You are right,
sir, you arc right. The chimney-picce is
yours the pictures are yours-thc house is
yours. You gave me all have--my friend
my father-my bcncfactor!' He diucd
With me; and in the evening caught the
tear glstenins in his fine blue eve when he
saw poor Jack, the creature Of his bounty,
rising in the House Of Commons TO reply to a
Right Honorable. Poor Bovse? he is nuw
gone-and no suitcr had a larger, depositc
Of practical beneyolcnce in the court above.
A French writer gives neat summary of
the different observances among mankind
relative to mourning and funeral ceremonies.
The Pcr,ians buried the bodies of their dead;
the Scythians ate them; the Indians envel-
oped them, for preservation's sake, Ill a sort
of hacker; the Egyptians embalmed and
dried them, and lent and borrowed money
on these strange pledges. The custom OF
dancing at funerals is only practiced in In
dia, and among savage nations; but funeral
entertainments still prevailin many Euro
pean countries---among Others, solemn and
silent, which does not interfere with the wish
that ali may be forgotten as soon as possible.
We observe more of ostentatious rites for
persons of fconsequence--thcr carriages fol-
low them to the grave; and their horses,
made to fast, seem TO partake of the aiflic-
ton of the occasion--The Orientals went
further; they made the horses in the funeral
professions weep, by blowing particular
powder up their nostrils!