The Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1822-1829, 1827-06-05

rescue from oblivion, few 81 the nigh
" lies of one who. bad he committed his
sublime inventions TO the press, instead
Of modestly employing than Tor the eds
iicatiou and delight of those private CIR.
/ eles which he sometimes honured with
ms presence, had eclipsed the whole
galaxy of liats. But alas Inc is dead !
Colonel Nimrod is dead The day
that witnessed the extinction of that ~
NJ luminuy Of the sporting world, was
i day Of rejoicing 10 all the birds IN the
air aud all the fishes in the soa. Ali
securely may'sl thon gambo now on
yonder pleasant slope, thou noble stag,
Tor Nlm cd Is no more Spf,1d out
Yof glitterng wings inpeaee, y bright
inhabitants OF ether onl you, y lltlt
fishes aud ye great sPrats, sh ms, le-
viathans, whlte-bal, whales. sport free
| ~ IN your watery homes, Tor Nmros is
no more Well might it be 10 hem
| day of jubilee when their unplata led
destroyer was destroyed IA me II was
day of Iamontation and so1owine. |
knew linn well. With what delight
have listened 10 his aSla4aling Nara
ives, each sentence worth whole vol
umo oitruth ana now imputiently have
! +, upon such occasions, turned from the
eaptious lover fmdler-ot llet who has
petulandy whispered mc--''rs all ii
lie, and whit then : The Fairy
Queen is d lie, the Midsummer NIGHTS
Dream is lie yet neither Sponsor
nor Shakespeare are stigmat1od as liars.
Why then should the opilhet he, in
lis opprobiuus and offensive sense, be
applied TO those eNtcmpore prose lnyen-
tons of any feseller IN the realms If
Imagination, which were they measured
nnt by lines aud svllablos, and commit
= 10 paper, would be called Poems Z
/ = E mY u'He poets are, III IA rert1in
SENSE Dars; ind ain with poets are
travellers into countries whlGhueyer cX-
,sted, seea o. sights which hive never
been seen; doefs OF deeds winch wore
never done and sen merely WIS Coz
lionel Nlmro1 he was an eNlempore
prose poet. Such liars, would say Ii
as generally, are your only interesting
liale-tollef, Tor nothing is 50 insipid as
the bare truth aud the truth Of THIS IS,
i that we seldom meet with "A true story
worth telling. This may appear to be
a startling opinion, but moss 3plc cn-
certain il, and are often une5nsciou,ly
led 10 express lt.--~Of = hundred real
adventures, nlneiy-nue arc not worth
relating : and the common enlogy he
stswed on any real occurrence which
happens TO be somewhat OUT of the usu-
al way, is, thai II IS as interesting as a
romance ; in other words, Ihat that par
tlenlar fact Is is interesting is fiction
or, 10 come a once 10 tho point, thai
that true story as interesting as fit were
II lie
Bnt am DEPRESSING from my purpose
winch is simply 10 record TWO or throo
ot the most exquisite Of nc many admit
rablc lies have heard delivered bvmy
! laie lamcnted iriend, Col. Nimrod
md, outrageous and oxtravagant rs they
will appear, do most positively assert
that | repeat Them, as nearly as can,
IN bis own words. His manner oil mar
rat.ng those marvellous tales, of which
lle always WIS himself the hero, W S
perfectly easy and assured, aud wa.
calculated 10 impress his hearers with a
conviction that, at least, he entertained
mol the slightest doubt Of their truth
lie seldom described his feal8, or tIe
accidents Of his life, as subjects 10 b,
wondered at; they were casually mott.
cod, as the turn Of the conversation
[ might afford occasion, and as mere mat
tiers Of every day occurrence. II, in.
deed, any one expressed MORO thar
usual degree of astonlshmont, or exclai.
med, That's rather extraordinary
Colonel y his reply invariably was
Extraordinary, SIR : why ! Know il is
extraordinary but III take my oath
that am IN all respects the most extra
ordinary man that God ever let live
a BhoKGN 3EAD.--l was one day
standing with him at his window when d
man was thrown from his horse
There's a broken head for him, Colo.
mel, SAID J. am the only man il
Europe, sir, he replied, that ever had
a broken head--to live after il. wa.
hunting near my place in Yorkshire
my horse threw me, and was pitched
head foremost, upon scylho that had
been left upon the ground When /
was taken up, my head was found to be
literally cut IN two,and was spread over
my shoulder like pair OF cpauloues.
That was broken head
Acw mode Of enecntag Writ
Something having occurred in CON
yersation that led TO the subject Of ar
rests, he started up and exclaimed,
Gentlemen, have been arrested often
or than any man in England Once un-
der most atrocious circumstances. You
must know that | was lodging at Stew
en's wife was with me.--One morning