Monmouth weekly herald. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1854-1860, 1855-02-14

novel and lnQeScrlbaSie, and calculated
! to fill.with awe thesstoutest heart.
The sick bay Tor berth) int which he lay
| is entirely set apart to The use of those
who are confinedMo their beds by illness.
Supported by the surgeons, surrounded BY
his weeping and astonished comrades, a
crowd Of spectators looking through the
lattice work which enclosed the room, a
common ijapaned lamp, throwing out a
sickly light, and a candle held opposite
his face by an attendant, was the situation
of things, when our worthy Commodore
made his appearance. And we'll does he
remember the effect produced by SO UNI
common spectacle, especially when fol-
lowed by the utterance Of these words
from the mouth of one loug supposed to
have been dead!
| Commodore Rogers / have sent for
/ you, sir, being commissioned by higher
power, to address you for short time,
and to deliver the message entrusted to
me, when | was permitted to revisit the
earth. Once trembled in your presence,
and was eager to obey your commands;
but now am your superior, being no lon
ger an inhabitant of this earth. ] have
seen the glories of the world of spirits.
am not permitted to make known what
have beheld Indeed, were not for
] hidden, language would be, inadequate to
the task. IT'S enough for you and the
crew to know that have been sent back
to earth to reanimate, for a few hours, my
lifeless body, commissioned by God, to
perform the work I am now engaged in. !"
He then, in language as chaste and APP
propriate as would not have disgraced the
lips or the pen of Divine, took a hasty
view of all moral and religious duties in
cumbent upon the commander Of a ship
of war; he reviewed the vices prevalent
on board ship; pointed out the relative
duties of officers and men. and concluded
| by urging the necessity of reformation and
repentance. He did not, as was feared
| by our brave Commodore, attempt to prove
the sinfulness Of fighting and wars; but,
on the contrary, warmly recommended to
| the performance of their duty to their
country with courage and fidelity. His
| speeches occupied about three-quarters Of
an hour; and if the whole could have been
taken down at the time, they would have
made a considerable pamphlet; which
would, no doubt, have been in great de-
mand. Doctor, now at Boston, heard
all the addresses; only the last. When
he finished with the Commodore, his head
dropped upon his breast, his eyes closed,
and he appeared to pass through second
death; no pulsation, nor the least degree
of warmth, could be perceived during the
time he was speaking. | ordered him to
be laid aside, and left him.
was soon called into the cabins where
| the Commodore required from me an ex-
PLANTATION Of the case on rational and phil
osophical principles. This I endeavored
to giveI but in part succeeded. It
would swell this narrative too much to re-
peat all said in endeavoring to elucidate
| the subject; at least it proved lame at
tempt. For, when asked how this man,
without education or reading, or mixing
in other society than that of common sail
ors, should acquire the command Of the
nurest language, properly arranged, and
ldeliScred clearly distinctly with much
animation and great effect, i gave no re-
| ply; and it was, and ever will remain, in
applicable without admitting supernatural
agency.
| The days Of miracles are passed, and
know / shall be laughed at by many for
dwelling upon or repeating this story
But never since arrived at the years of
discretion has anything taken stronger
hold upon my mind; and that man must
have been made of strange materials, who
could have been an indifferent spectator.
Was he divinely illuminated? Was he
inspired, or was the whole the effect of
natural causes These are questions
which have arisen in the minds Of many,
and must be left for the learned of two
professions to answer. | returned to bed
deeply rejecting upon the past unable to
sleep, when about 9 o'clock, P. NJ, many
hours after Kemble had been laid by,
was called out of bed to visit man taken
suddenly i'll, in his hammock, hanging near
Kemble's apartments.
TWAS an hour when all, but the watch
upon deck, had turned in; general silence
reigned, and all the lights below put out,
with the exception of q single lamp in the
sick mans apartment where lay the re-
mains of Kemble. / had bled the sick
mamie was relieved. Ientered the sick
room before lretired, to replace something
and was turning round to leave It, being
alone, when was almost petrifed upon
beholding Kemble sitting up in his birth,
with his eyes (which had regained their
former brilliancy and intelligence,) fixed
intently upon mine.
| became. for moment, speeches. and
motionless. Thinks to myself what
have done, or left undone, in this mans
case, that should cause him thus to stare
at me at this late hour, and alone I waited
a long time in painful suspense, dreading
some horrible disclosure, when was re-
lieved by his commanding me to fetch him
some water. With what alacrity obey.
ed, can easily be imagined. gave him
q tin mug containing water, which he nnt
to his mouth, drank the contents and re-
turned it to me; then laid himself quietly
down for the last time. His situation was
precisely the same, in every respect. as
before described. The time had now ex-
pired which he had said was given to re-
main in the body.
The next day by noon, all hands atten-
ded, as usual, to hear the funeral service
read, and see his remains consigned To a
watery grave. It was an unusually SOL
emn period. Seamen are naturally SUI
perstitious, and on this occasion their
minds had been wrought upon in a siDcu-
lar manner. Decorum is always observed
by sailors at such times; but now they are
all affected To tears And xuhan Az 49,