Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1836-08-12

B'edt-yIunu Ut u 8Tedt.gTdUu sui
AS for you, George exclaimed one Of
the twelve, addressing his brother in law,
1 expect ] shall see you as dry, withered,
and shrunksn as an old eel-skln, you mere
outside Of q maui and he accompanied the
words with a hearty slap OH the shoulder.
George Fortescue was leaning carelessly
over he side Of the yacht. laughing the
loudest Of any, at the conversation which
had been carried on. The sudden manual
saluta,ion of his brother in law threw him
off his balance. and in a moment he was
overheard. They heard the heavy splash
Of his fall, before they could be said to have
seen him fall. The yacht was proceeding
swiftly along-but il was instantly stopped.
The utmost CONSERVATION now prevailed.
II WIS nearly dark, but Fortescue was
known to be an excellent swimmer, and,
startling as the accident was, they felt Ger
tain he would regain the vessel. They
could no. see him. They listened. They
heard the sound of his hands and feet.
They hailed him. An answer was return
ed. but 10 q faint gurgling voice, and the
exclamation Oh God!' struck upon their
ears. In an instant, two or three. who
were expert swimmers. plunged into the
river, and swan towards the spot whence
the exclamation had proceeded. One of
them was within an arms length of For,es-
cue he saw him-he was struggling and
buffeting the water; before he could be
reached he went down. and his distracted
friend beheld the eddying circles Of the
wave just over the spot where he had
sunk. He Owed after him, and touched
the bottom but the tide must have drifted
the body EDWARDS, for it could not be found !!
They proceeded to one Of the nearest STA
tons where drags were kept, and, having
procured the necessary apparatus. they re-
turned to the fatal spot. After the lapse
of above an hour, they succeeded in raising
the ~lifeless body of their lost friend. All
the usual remedies were employed for re
storing suspended animation, but in vain ;
and they now pursued the remainder Of
their course to London. in mournful silence,
with the corpse of him who had commenced
the day Of pleasure with them in the full
ness of health, of spirits, and Of life Amid
their severer grief. they could not but re
fleet how soon one of the joyous twelve
had slipped out of the little festive circle !
The months rolled on, and cold Decem
Der came with all its cheering round Of
kindly greetings and merry Inequalities ;
and with it came a softened recollection Of
the fate of poor Fortescue; eieuen Of the
twelve assembled on the last day of the
year, and it was impossible not to feel their
loss as they sat down TO dinner. The very
irregn!aritv Of the table, six on one side,
and only FIVE on the other forced the mel
ancholy event upon their memory.
There are few SORROWS so stubborn as to
resist tho united influence of wine, a circle
of select friends, and a season OF prospec-
tive gaiety. A decorous sigh or two, a
few becoming CALCULATIONS, and an iustruc.
tive observation upon the uncertainty ol
life. made up the sum of tender poslhumous
: offerings to the remains of poor George
Fortescue.' as they proceeded to discharge
The more important duties for which they
had met. By the time the third glass OF
champagne had gone round, in addition ia
sundry pn,ations of fine old heck, and cap.
. ilal maderia.' they had ceased to discover
d any thing so very pathetic in the inequality
. of the two sides Of the table, or SD nelan
e anchnly 10 their crippled nunbe Of eleven
=. 1.-THE rest Of the evening passed off very
p pleasantly in conversation, good humored
enjoyment and conviviaiiry, aud it was not
r nIi towards l2 o'clock that poor George
Fortescue' was again remembered
They all agreed, at parting. however,
= that they had never passed such a happy
day, congratulated each other upon lnslitu.
ting so delightful a meeting, and promised
TO be punctual to their appointment the
ensuing evening, when they were to cele
brate the new year, whose entrance they
had welcomed in bumpers of good claret, AS
The Waterman bawled past twelve o'clock!
beneath the window.
They met accordingly, and their gaiety
was without any alloy or draw back. |:
was only the first time of their assembling,
after the death of'poor George Fortescue,
that made The recollection of il painful
for, though but a few hours had interviewed,
they now took their seats at the table as il
eleven had been their original number. and
as if all were there that had been ever ex.
, pected to be there.
5 1t is thus in every thing. The first time
2 a man enters a prison-t the first book an
author writes--ihe fist painting an artist
4, executes-the first battle a general wins
nay, the first time a rogue is hanged-(for
a rotten rope may provide a second per-
Torrance, even Of that ceremony, with all
its singleness Of character) - differ incon-
, ceivably from their first repetition. There
, is a charm, a spell, a novelty, a freshness,
a delight, %inseparable from The first expe
%rience, Changing always excepted be il re
membered,) which no art or circumstance
! can impart to the second. And it is the
! same in all the darker traits Of life. There
T is a degree of %poignancy and anguish in the
, first assaults of sorrow, which is never
found afterwards. In every case, il is
( simply that The first fine edge of our feel
r ings has been taken off, and that II can new
er be restored.
: Several years had elapsed, and. orr eleven
{ friends kept up their double anniversaries
: as they might aptly enough be called, with
scarcely any perceptible change But alas
there came one dinner nj last, which was
$ dark ned by a calamity they never expected
n to witness, for on that very day their friend
= companion, brother almost, was hanged
e Yes! Stephen Rowland, the wit, the ora
b Gle, the life of their little circle, had, on the
d morning of that day, forfeited his life upor
5 public scaffold, for having made one single
h stroke of his pen in a wrong place. IL