James Bertram Sparhawk
| James Bertram Sparhawk | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:Sparhawk, James Bertram.jpg | |||||||
| Residence | Fernando Po | ||||||
| Occupation | business | ||||||
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Contents
Notes
Office Notes
House Notes
proposed 1868.10.07
Notes From Elsewhere
MR. SPARHAWK'S OLD PLANTATION. This on the leffc is the tenantless house in which 80 April, 1870. my dear friend Bertram has so often laughed in merriest glee, and probably sung, as we have slince heard him, " John Brown's body is now underground, But his soul is marching along/* There hangs still, (ah, too still /) the large bell that used so to frighten the wild deer and parrots, but had such music to the labourers when called to meals and rest. There, amid the ruined timbers, still climb and bloom the wild rose, as if proclaiming the beauty and sweetness of the resurrection. There, before us, is the long and well formed avenue of bananas that make us wonder whether this is really a Paradise Lost, or a Paradise Regained. While, alas ! all around us are abundance of coffee and cocoa plants without a single hand to reap, or a single soul left to enjoy. Fare -thee -well, friend Sparhawk, senior ! We trust thou hast a better plantation in the skies ! Fare-thee-well, friend Sparhawk, junior ! Though seas and land divide us, the friendship of the past still binds us ! (1)
We soon passed a smaller stream, and after ascending a small hill, we had a full view of Mr. Sparhawk*s old plantation, now in ruins. There stood the tenantless house in which my dear friend Bertram had often laughed in merry glee and suffered many a fever. There hung the large bell which had so frightened the wild deer and parrots, and gladdened the hearts of Erumen as they were called to their rice and sleep. There climbed the beautiful wild roses, as if pointing to a resurrection and future life, while all around were abundance of banana, coffee, and cocoa-trees, without a single hand to reap, or a single human being to enjoy. Fare-thee-well, Mend^ Sparhawk, senior, I trust thou hast a better plantation in the skies. Fare- thee-well, friend Sparhawk, junior, though many thousand miles of sea and land now part us, we may yet meet and grasp each other's hand again.