The Rhode-Island Republican. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1809-1841, 1830-10-21
MERRY TERRY.
BY wa. LrG6ETT, ESQ.

BY wA. IFG6ETT, ESQ.
"liis breast with wounds unnumbered riyen.
His back IN esrth, his face To Heaven.
Fallen Hassan lies--his unclo,ed eye
Vet lpwering on his enemy,
As 1.-THE hour that sealed his fate.
Surviving leit his queuchless hate:
And oer hnn bends hls iae, with brow
As dark az his that bled below"
.S"hs' spin us ayarn, Jack, my boy.n
s"'u u eur'y-headed. rosy checked Young
midshipnan, to old Jack Palmer one even.
ing, US We were running down the Spanish
'main' before as sweet n breeze as ever
hiied t"'galant sail. Jack Palmer was
an old sea-dog. and clever fellow. at least
N me old Yankee sense ofthe word. He
nae seen NIL sorts OF service, and knew all
roris oi stories. which were perha ns not the
less a'nhs'ng for their want ~ gramInar, :, snd
'heir abundance nf sea phrases. Tie was
masters mate OF the gun deck; but when
called upon for a story BY Rosy Willy.--
the name of the little rceicr that had asked
Jack Tor yarn--hs business for the dev
was hnished; the grog had been served ,he
pm slowed away in the spirit. room. and ,h,.
Key oil the hatch returned 10 the ma.,a,
IL was pleasant evening. too. and AS !,
vas only three bells of the second don
Saich, and of course oo early 10 prn &,
JACK sat down on the fo'casiie chest. and
slEnihed MS Willingness 10 comply. He was
immediately surrounded BY a knot of md
shipmen, eager to listen, aud, after The us
nal.nchmnaiy of fresh qnid, he began
- follows:
MerrFiii Terry, or rs they used To call
MN, Tor shortness, Merry Tcrry--and y
rlgut good name IL was, TOR he was as gay
lark as ever gave life and animation to
astecrage mesa tahlc--was one OF Tho no
blest mlddies that | ever knew. He was
az iull OF rigs andjokes as a French man
- war is OF music, and they were quite as
harmless, too; foi Merry never said any
thing To hurt shipmate's feelings. and no
one ever thought of getting angry at bis
inn. There wasn't ree,cr in Tho whole
iieet that didn't favor him all he could: for
Merry had delicate cons,itn,ion and
c"n'nn tstand the rough and tumble Of the
service, as wen as some. But he was no
sku'k, and, blowThigh or blow low. Merry
never shrank from his watch. When the
the relief was called at night, whether. i,
was calm or storm, all sail or close rceiad
'opsaii and fnresoil, it male no difference.
an deck he always was before the sound
would be out ofthe bell He didnttnmble
up The batchway either. as some Of yunr
reefcrs do. with your -hsnds IN ynar beck
cts. and yonr bow ports half shut, or fi,mb
ing at your hutton holes, like green harp
at gaskrt. but mp he sprung, wide awake.
and rggcd from clue 20 caring. as IL ali
dressed To 90 ashore on liberty. AsIsnid
afore, every body from stem 10 stnrn. liked
Ierry Terry, or for the matter of that.
from one end Of the navy list to The other
all except one man. As for the sailors il
would have done your heart geod to see
how they watched his eve wh hen he Ind
charge of the deck. a. If they wanted to
spell out his orders before he had time to
speak 'cm. They would do more for sin
gle look OF Merry. than for sll the curses
ana dams OF The skipper, though backed by
the ooatswain's mate, with the cats in his
hand. ltwnsn't from any fesr of him, you
may be sure, FOR don't b'icye Merry ever
stopped mans grog, or as much as gave
him cross word, in his lfc:bnt il was from
pure love and respect. When he spoke. to
sure, there was something in his tone and
manner that seemed to say he must p. obey.
cd; q when he looked at man no had been
cutting mp rnstics, though he did'nt frown.
or swell. or try 10 look big as | have seen.
some officers yet there was ,ha, in his eve
that mado the stoutcst quail. |, was lust
50 among the REFERS at,he mess table. II
Two of them wassky larkng or qnarrellinp
or doing anything nngentemanly, Merry
would Just look at them, and they would
a 1T at Il al
dog vane IN a calm. said every body
loved him: remember once, when we were
beating mp the Straits with Levanter dead
a head, and blowing SO heavy il almost took
the very buttons off your jackets, that Mer
ry, some how or other. happened to fall o.
vcrboard. He had been standing on the
taffrail, with bis quadrant in his hand, try
ing TO get chance at a lunar, when al Of
OF sudden, the old hulk made a heavy lee
lurch. and away he vents plash into the wa
fer.--Though there vas sea running. hike
go many mountains chasing each other. vet.
before YOU could say Jack Robinson, no
less than four stout fellows were overheard
after him. IL liked 10 have gone hard with
the whole five, for 1t was more ths u The
stoutest swimmer could do To keep his head
above board, and before We could cleara
way the starn boat, tho we didn't stop to
cast off the gripes, but cut and slsshed
way, they was almost ont Of sight to lee.
ward. OldTom Bowman. the qnaner gun
ner, and Bill Williams, the captain OF the
io'casile, made cut to reach Merry jn,t s.
be was gong down the lasttime; & though it
was as much as their own lives was worth,
they held him up iiIl the boat came 10 their
assistance. wei remember the JOY Of all
hands when the boat pulled up under the
starn, near enough for EN- to see ihs, Mer.
~ was in il; and when they hooked on the
tackles. don't b'lleve that ever a ships
crew ran away with the falls with as much
good will. as onrs did that evening. in run.