306 



DEATH OF YOUNG OGDEN. 



[1828. 



without a step. In a moment they were in the boat, and near the 

 struggling trio who were contending for existence against the ruthless 

 billows. They first pulled for Mr. West ; but as he found no great 

 inconvenience from swimming, he ordered them to assist Ogden and 

 Burton, who, he said, were nearly exhausted, which proved to be the 

 case : for before the boat could reach Mr. Burton, who was just on 

 the point of going down, they saw poor Ogden sink to rise no more. 

 After taking Mr. Burton into the boat, they pulled around for some 

 time over the place where Mr. Ogden was last seen, but all to no pur- 

 pose. That graceful, manly frame was destined to find a resting- 

 place in some coral cavern of the ocean, while his amiable and aspiring 

 spirit soared to the realms of everlasting bliss. 



Thus perished, in the bloom of his earthly existence, a young man 

 who, had he lived, would doubtless have proved an honour, not only to 

 his family, but to his country, and human nature ; a young man whose 

 highly cultivated and accomplished mind was endowed with every 

 manly grace, whose heart was the seat of every manly virtue ; the 

 hope of a widowed mother — the idol of amiable and affectionate sisters 

 —the pride of brothers who contemplated with proud satisfaction the 

 budding promises of his future usefulness. I knew him well. His 

 integrity was inflexible, and for strict veracity I have never met with 

 his parallel ; for he looked upon an untruth, even of the most trifling 

 nature, as an offence against honour and virtue, which no circumstance 

 could extenuate. He was temperate in all things — moderate on all 

 occasions, except in his eagerness to encounter danger. He never 

 shrank from his duty, on the most trying occasions, except that of 

 being required to listen to the language of well-merited praise. In 

 short, he was the exemplary son of a pious mother ; and that includes 

 the highest and brightest encomium of which human language is sus- 

 ceptible. Alas ! for those who loved him ! Theirs is the loss — his 

 an eternal gain. 



As a trifling tribute of affection and respect to the memory of one 

 so universally beloved, the colours of the Antarctic were immediately 

 displayed at half-mast, and minute guns were fired over his watery 

 grave. A manly tear glistened in every eye, and the gloom of mourn- 

 ing sat upon every brow. Nothing was omitted on this occasion that 

 nautical usage or military etiquette has consecrated to such melan- 

 choly purposes. 



Mr. Burton suffered much from the bruises which he received from 

 the rocks against which the roller threw him ; and this I presume was 

 also the case with the unfortunate Ogden, for I knew him to be an ex- 

 pert swimmer. 



December 25th. — I now determined on leaving Mercury Island im- 

 mediately, for I could no longer endure the melancholy scene ; we there- 

 fore got under way on Thursday, the 25th, — the day on which we had 

 promised ourselves a merry Christmas, but which had risen upon us 

 as a day of mourning, — and steered to the south and west, with the wind 

 from south-by -east, and fair weather. The morrow did indeed prove to be 

 ** a melancholy Christmas," as Ogden unconsciously predicted. Every 

 returning anniversary will remind his friends of their irreparable loss. 



