Just before the steamer went down, a row-boat was heard approaching. Herndon hailed her; it was the boatswain’s boat, rowed by “hard hands and gentle hearts,” returning from on board the brig to report her disabled condition. If she came alongside she would be engulfed with the sinking ship. Herndon ordered her to keep off. She did so, and was saved. This, as far as I have been able to learn, was his last order. Forgetful of self, mindful of others, his life was beautiful to the last, and in his death he has added a new glory to the annals of the sea.
[A handsome monument to his memory stands in the Parade-ground of the Naval School at Annapolis.]
FOOTNOTES:
[14] By permission of Mrs. Corbin.
[15] By permission of Mrs. Corbin.
WILLIAM GILMORE SIMMS.
1806=1870.
William Gilmore Simms was born and reared in Charleston, South Carolina. His early education was limited; he was for a while clerk in a drug-store and then he studied law. But his decided taste for letters soon induced him to devote his entire time and attention to their cultivation. He wrote rapidly and voluminously, and produced poems, novels, dramas, histories, biographies, book-reviews, editorials,—in short, all kinds of writing. He was editor of various journals at different times, and did all he could to inspire and foster a literary taste in his generation. His style shows the effect of haste and overwork.