Wisconsin tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1847-1854, 1848-06-02
From Bentleys Miscellany.
THE TWO FUNERALS OF NAPO-
LEON.
BY ROBERT POSTANS.

BY ROBERT PosTANS.
But where is ne, the champion and the child
Of all that's great or little, wise or wild?
Whose game was empires. and whose stakes
thrones.
Whose table earth-whose dice were human
bones?
Behold the grand result in yon lone isle,
And, es thy nature urges, weep or smile.
BYRON.
The change from the calm to the tempest
from the deep and impressive soltudes of
the ocean, to the busiest haunts of men from
savage to civilized life, are prominent exam
piles OF the mutations to which seamen are
liable. And these events sometimes follow in
such rapid succession, and are of such varied
import, that even their narration appears as
though decked in the borrowed hues of fic-
ton. To use an uneasy metaphor, sailor
may be said to be naval knight-errant, with
the ocean for his steed, upon which be rides
In quest of adventure. Thus mounted, he
sometimes stumbles upon sights as rare, and
scenes as beautiful as any that are to be found
in the story books of yore; and perhaps there
are but few who will deny that the pages of
Dampier and Captain Cook are as full of
chyalry as the Chronicles of Frossart, or
that before the majestic daring of Columbus
all knighthood pales.
These notions received additional strength,
as my eyes fell upon the subJoined sentence
inscribed in an old log book, which had just
then discovered, somewhat midewed and
moth eaten, at the bottom of a sea.chest.
The Free Trader Home7card Bound, MAY
5h, 1924.
A MEMORABLE EVENT OCCURRED THIS DAY.
Apparently, at the time these words were
written, it was supposed they would be sutfi
cient to recall to the memory, at a future pc
Rod, the circumstance they so briefly record
ed, for my old journal said nothing more a
bout it. True, it was further stated lower
down on the same page with genuine nauti cal
brevity under the head of Remarks.
"AlE useful sail SET
Bent the best bower"
Pumped ship"
81 stranger in sight" to which was add
ed -
Lat. by observation l6s minutes 30 sec
onds south, Long. 5 minutes 80 seconds
vest
Assisted by the latitude and longitude, as
well as by the date, made two or three des-
perate dives into the stream Of time, hoping
to rescue from oblivion the - event. and, af
ter hard struggle, succeeded in bringing to
the surface of my memory, the leading incl
dent, and then the whole affair floated thro
my mind with all the freshness of yesterday.
And, perhaps. it will be as well to state, for
the information of the general reader, that on
the day in question, the Free Trader was
running before the southeast trade wind, o.
yer that aqueous portion of our planet, which
rolls between the Cape of Good Hope and the
island OF St. Helena.
From what has been stated. it was evident
that the - memorable event" had been dis
missed in too summary a manner, and, in
deed, circumstances, after the lapse OF a quar-
ter of century, have induced me to take up
the scanty detail at that moment, when the
morning sun first broke upon the white caps
of the waves, with the Indiaman upon their
crests tipped and gded with his light.
! 1t was my morning watch, and l recollect
/ leaning over the capstan, and lapsing into one
of those paradoxical states, when although
attending to nothing in particular, yet almost
every object within the range Of our senses
undergoes sort of dreamy observation. |
could see the man at the helm, and note how
/ firm be kept the plunging ship in his hand,
his sinewy grasp seemed by secret inteli-
ssuce TO impress his viii upon the vast mass
of the vessel. Without disturbing the pro-
cess of observation, 4 shoal OF porpoises would
occasionally rush along, pursuing their ear
nest and busy passage with velocity. COM
pared with which the progress Of the swift