Read Ebook: Graham's Magazine Vol. XXI No. 5 November 1842 by Various Graham George R Editor Griswold Rufus W Rufus Wilmot Editor

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This was Bainbridge's last duty afloat. He had now made ten cruises in the public service; had commanded a schooner, a brig, five frigates and two line-of-battle ships, besides being at the head of three different squadrons; and it was thought expedient to let younger officers gain some experience. Age did not induce him to retire, for he was not yet fifty; but others had claims on the country, and his family had claims on himself.

At the time of his death, Commodore Bainbridge stood third in rank, in the American navy; having a long list of captains below him. Had justice been done to this gallant officer, to the service to which he belonged, or even to the country, whose interests are alone to be efficiently protected by a powerful marine, he would have worn a flag some years before the termination of his career. Quite recently a brig of war has received his name, in that service which he so much loved, and in which he passed the best of his days.

Com. Bainbridge was a man of fine and commanding personal appearance. His stature was about six feet, and his frame was muscular and of unusually good proportions. His face was handsome, particularly in youth, and his eye uncommonly animated and piercing. In temperament he was ardent and sanguine; but cool in danger, and of a courage of proof. His feelings were vehement, and he was quickly roused; but, generous and brave, he was easily appeased. Like most men who are excitable, but who are firm at bottom, he was the calmest in moments of the greatest responsibility. He was hospitable, chivalrous, magnanimous, and a fast friend. His discipline was severe, but he tempered it with much consideration for the wants and health of his crews. Few served with him who did not love him, for the conviction that his heart was right, was general among all who knew him. There was a cordiality and warmth in his manner, that gained him friends, and those who knew him best, say he had the art of keeping them.

A shade was thrown over the last years of the life of this noble-spirited man by disease. His sufferings drove him to the use of antispasmodics, to an extent which deranged the nerves. This altered his mood so much as to induce those who did not know him well, to imagine that his character had undergone the change. This was not the case, however; to his dying hour Bainbridge continued the warm-hearted friend, the chivalrous gentleman, and the devoted lover of his country's honor and interests.

It is pleasing to know that this son has since had his life most probably saved, by the timely intervention of the American authorities. A man-of-war was sent to Tripoli, and brought him off, at a most critical moment, when he was about to fall a sacrifice to his enemies. He is dead; having been an enlightened statesman, like his father, and a firm friend of this country; though much vilified and persecuted toward the close of his brief career.

Alas! how few of the gallant spirits of the late war remain! Bainbridge is gone. Parker died in command of the Siren, the next year. John Shubrick was lost in the Epervier, a twelvemonth later; and Beekman Hoffman died a captain in 1834; while Alwyn survived the wounds received in this action but a few days.

On the part of the enemy, in the war of words which succeeded the war of 1612, it was pretended that the Constitution kept off in this engagement. Bainbridge, in his official letter, says he endeavored to close, at the risk of being raked; though the early loss of the Constitution's wheel prevented her from manoeuvring as quickly as she might otherwise have done. When a frigate's wheel is gone, the tiller is managed by tackles, below two decks, and this makes awkward work; first, as to the transmission of orders, and next, and principally, as to the degree of change, the men who do the work not being able to see the sails. There are two modes of transmitting the orders; one by a tube fitted for that express purpose, and the other by a line of midshipmen.

But the absurd part of the argument was an attempt to show that the Constitution captured the Java by her great superiority in small-arms-men; Kentucky riflemen, of course, of whom, by the way, there probably was never one in an American ship. This attempt was made, in connection with a battle in which the defeated party, too, had every spar, even to her bowsprit, shot out of her! All the witnesses on the subsequent court of inquiry appear to have been asked about this musketry, and the answer of the boatswain is amusing.

Another absurdity was an attempt to show that the Java would have carried the Constitution had her men boarded. The Constitution's upper deck was said to be deserted, as if her people had left it in apprehension of their enemies. Not a man left his station in the ship, that day, except under orders, and so far from caring about the attempt to board, the crew ridiculed it. The Java was very bravely fought, beyond a question, but the Constitution took her, and came out of action with royal yards across!

SONG--"I SAW HER ONCE."

BY RICHARD H. DANA.

I saw her once; and still I see That placid eye and thoughtful brow; That voice! it spoke but once to me-- That quiet voice is with me now.

Where'er I go my soul is blest; She meets me there, a cheering light; And when I sink away to rest She murmurs near--Good night! good night!

Our earthly forms are far apart; But can her spirit be so nigh Nor I a home within her heart? And Love but dream her fond reply?

Oh, no! the form that I behold-- No shaping this of memory! Her self, her self is here ensoul'd! --I saw her once; and still I see.

SONNET--THE UNATTAINED.

BY MRS. SEBA SMITH.

Is this, then, Life? Oh! are we born for this? To follow phantoms that elude the grasp! Or whatsoe'er secured, within our clasp To withering lie! as if an earthly kiss Were doomed Death's shuddering touch alone to greet. Oh Life! hast thou reserved no cup of bliss? Must still the Unattained allure our feet?

The Unattained with yearnings fill the breast, That rob, for aye, the spirit of its rest? Yes, this is Life, and everywhere we meet, Not victor crowns, but wailings of defeat-- Yet falter not, thou dost apply a test That shall incite thee onward, upward still-- The present cannot sate, thy soul it cannot fill.

A YOUNG WIFE.

"The lady is beautiful, no doubt. For with all your philosophic knowledge of the world, Gilmer, I doubt whether you would appreciate so highly the charms of a youthful mind were they not united to the loveliness of a youthful person."

Gilmer replied with a smile,

"I think you will find she does credit to my taste. You must let me introduce you;" and the friends having agreed to call at Mrs. Vivian's for that purpose in the evening, separated; Gilmer pitying Lowndes' forlorn state as an old bachelor, while Lowndes could not but be amused to see his friend so enthusiastic in a folly he had often ridiculed in others.

Mr. Gilmer, at forty-two, knew the world as he said; and what is more, the world knew him; and having run a gay career, to settle in a grave and polished middle age, he would now renew life, and start afresh for the goal of happiness; deeming himself, old worldling that he was, a fit match for bright sixteen, and a natural recipient for the first warm affections of that happy age.

But is time to be so cheated? Let us see.

"Yes, my love," said her mother tenderly, "it is beautiful, indeed. How very attentive and kind in Mr. Gilmer to remember that passing wish of yours."

"Oh yes! and what perfect taste too he has," continued the little lady, evidently much more intent upon her present than her lover; and so she flew to her aunt to show the rich present she had just received. Miss Lawrence, a younger sister of her mother, who resided with them, had been absent when this engagement took place; and having examined and admired the jewel to the satisfaction of her niece, said,

"I am quite anxious to see this Mr. Gilmer of yours, Charlotte."

"Are you? Well, he will be here this evening, I suppose; and I dare say you will like him. He likes all those sensible, dull books that you and mamma are so fond of. He'll just suit you."

"I hope," replied her aunt, smiling, "he suits you too."

"Yes," she answered, with a little hesitation, "only he is too grave and sensible: but then he's old, you know," she added with a serious look.

"Old!" replied Miss Lawrence, "what do you call old?"

"Are you quite satisfied, sister, with this engagement of Charlotte's?" asked Miss Lawrence, with some anxiety.

"Perfectly," replied Mrs. Vivian, "more than satisfied. Mr. Gilmer's fortune and station are all I could ask. He is a man of sense and a gentleman. What more could I desire?"

"He is that, certainly," replied her sister, "but I confess I wish that the disparity of years between them was less."

"I am not sure that I do," answered Mrs. Vivian. "His age gives me a security for his character that I could not have otherwise. And the younger the wife the greater the idol generally. Charlotte has been too much of an indulged and spoiled child, if you will, to humor and support the caprices of a young man, and I had rather she were an 'old man's darling than a young man's slave.'"

"If she were compelled to either alternative," said Miss Lawrence.

"Beside," continued Mrs. Vivian, scarce hearing her sister's interruption, "his fortune is immense; and the certainty that she will always be encompassed by every luxury wealth can procure is to me an unspeakable comfort. You cannot know, Ellen, with what idolatry a mother loves an only child, nor can you, therefore, comprehend how anxiously I would guard her from every trial or privation that could beset her path in life. My income is so small that with me she must suffer many privations both as to pleasures and comforts that will now be showered upon her with a liberal hand; and I own I anticipate her marriage with as much happiness as a mother can look forward to a separation from her only child."

The veil is at last arranged, with its orange buds and blossoms, and as the sparkling, white dress floats around her airy figure, a prettier, brighter, more graceful creature has rarely glanced across this world than that beauteous young bride; and Mr. Gilmer as he stood beside her, high-bred, grave and middle-aged, looked better fitted to perform the part of father than of groom.

As his friend Mr. Lowndes gazed upon the flashing eyes and glowing cheeks of the young beauty, and heard the merry tones of her childish voice, and then glanced round at the small rooms and plain furniture of her mother's house, he perfectly comprehended the infatuation of his friend and the motives of his bride.

"Well, Charlotte," said Mr. Gilmer, after they had been married about six weeks, "I suppose our wedding gaieties are nearly over?"

"Oh! I hope not," cried she, looking almost aghast at the idea. "Why they have scarcely more than begun. There would be very little use in being a bride indeed, if it were to end so soon," she continued.

"So soon!" replied her husband. "Why I should think that even you would be tired of this incessant gaiety. I fairly long for one quiet dinner and evening at home."

Finding, however, that her youth was more than a match for his patience, he soon wearied of playing the indulgent lover, and within two months after their marriage he said,

"Charlotte, after to-night we go to no more evening parties. I am thoroughly tired of them, and you have had enough for this season."

She would have remonstrated, but the decision, almost amounting to sternness with which he spoke, startled her, and she only pouted without replying. Her usual resource, to complain of her husband to her mother, was left her, and Mrs. Vivian's spirit quickly fired at seeing her darling child thwarted, and she said with the feeling more natural than judicious in a mother-in-law,

"Tell your husband, Charlotte, that if he does not wish to go, I am always ready to accompany you," and the young wife returned triumphantly to her husband to say, "that mamma would take her to Mrs. Johnson's." Mr. Gilmer could not reasonably object to the arrangement, little as he liked it; but thus Mrs. Vivian laid the foundation of a dislike between her son-in-law and self that took root but to flourish and strengthen with time.

Mrs. Vivian calling soon after on her daughter, found her poring over a large volume most intently.

"What are you reading, Charlotte?" inquired her mother.

And if she was weary of the "grave sensible men" that surrounded his table, he was not less so of her young companions, who chattered and gossiped till his ears fairly ached with their nonsense.

The birth of a daughter at length opened new feelings and hopes to the parents; and the thought "that Mr. Gilmer could no longer treat her as a child, and require her to study and read," added not a little to the happiness that flashed in Charlotte's eyes as she kissed her baby with rapture; and the quiet but deep satisfaction with which Mr. Gilmer contemplated his child, was partly founded in the expectation, "that Charlotte, in assuming the duties and feelings of a mother, would sink the giddiness of the girl in the steadiness of the woman." But little did he know in supposing that youth and nature were thus to be cheated of their privileges by the assumption of the responsibilities of maturer age. That Charlotte loved her infant with the liveliest affection, is true; but it was rather the playful fondness of a child for its play-thing than the passionate love of a mother for her first born; and although she would delightedly fondle the infant for a few minutes, yet easily terrified by the cries of the little creature, drawn forth by the awkward handling of its inexperienced parent, she would quickly resign it to the soothing cares of its nurse, who, in fact, dreaded the sight of the young mother in the nursery. Once, indeed, after having been admonished and lectured by her husband on her new duties and responsibilities, she took it in her head, at the imminent risk of life and limb of her child, to wash and dress it herself, and which was most terrified and exhausted under the operation, mother or child, it would be difficult to say; and very soon she resumed her usual routine of life, only varied by occasional visits to her nursery. Mr. Gilmer, disappointed in the change he had hoped to see in her character and tastes, became more impatient and less yielding than before. Had he, in the indulgent spirit that should have accompanied his age and knowledge of the world, given way to the joyous spirits and excitable feelings natural to her youth, he would have won to himself a heart naturally warm and affectionate, at the same time that he quenched her ardent love of pleasure in satiety. But, too selfish to put that constraint on himself, he expected at once that calm indifference to society, in a girl of scarce eighteen, that was in himself the result of twenty-five years devotion to its frivolities, and his wife's thirst for gaiety seemed to increase in proportion to the difficulties and objections he threw in the path of her enjoyment--and it was but natural that she should escape with delight, looks of grave displeasure, quick words of impatience, and selfish forgetfulness of her tastes at home, for the gaiety of brilliant throngs where she was followed, admired and flattered, and which she enjoyed the more, that the opportunities were rare and doubtful.

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