Windsor and Richmond Gazette (NSW : 1888 - 1954)(about) |
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Saturday 5 April 1902
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::- Happy Mopant.
[J. C L FlTZPATKICK ]
. ??.♦But vfew could rido besido him whoa his blood was ??:V'-'-'fa'iriy 'up— . He would go wherever man or horse could go, The best men are, mouldod' out of, fuulta. . ? \ . . . ? I ' ? —Banjo Patbrson. ? « Wo were informed at the grave that bmh the foh :'deumed -(iffioeVs. kept up bravely. to the lusf, and died lik« inen. Moranl puiltd tho.ha?idkerL-hief off Jim. eyes ? a co»ple of minutfi'a bVioro ih'ev'fire'-l, and faced tho fixing party- Wfi -'*.'. burying tftotu (his afternoon.' — JuBtter irom a corurudu in buuth Africa. . ffy It'i3'nor the intention of t-h& writer here to can vas the justice of the .tenienee parsed- find carried; lo its dread conclusion- up-.' n Harry ? Harbcrd Mar-ant and his companion, but merely within t b«
-brtef npace allotted, to pen a sympathetic notice o£. a man who possessed, many excsilent cbaracteris tics of head fjnd heart, and who, but tlml hes waa'j human and had his fair share of this frailties of | lha world, miglv. hp.ve mace his mark in the j vliterary world, and, according to tha verdict of j quits a number of 'very proper' poo pis, have 'occupied an honored place: in ths community. Let net thoso judge him harshly, however, whose 'knowledge of the maa wa-j bui of a superncw;! nature—who saw him casually «nd knew nothing ;o/ the. trials and tribulations by which he was besot Under a roush exeriar. there existed an abundant:- Rood nature, and a kindliness of feeling towards all mankind, which appealed to shose -?who enjoyed bis cor.fid^rsces ; whilst his merry lau^h. and his parennial m-od humour scarce suf^ ''ficed' t'o hide at any timu to snch as ksiew the. H,ur.ra.wb v;ithia him, How easy it is. lo be suro,: ;'io prophesy' what he ' inii'bt have been,' as, no; doubi, many will most readiiy do whose lots have' , 'been- '.cast in pleasant place?.— .how comforting to' eaggest that the victim himself, is alone to blame for the trouble which has cost him his life. I'er baps., 'tis true; yet, knowing Morant, as I did, I believe that he fully encioised the sentiments of; , Adam .Lindsay Gordon when be wroto— ; For gifts mipHpeat find dcedu undone and resolutiono vairv ''?I'cirenot nuw to trouble— thiti I know, 1 would live the sumo life over if i hud- to h'vs Bgain 7- ?Arid tiib ?(/liariCBB'aro 1 go where moat wen yo. i,. , ..-iyccwrag.&pus, rider and a writer of strong and; ,.vigor6u3,v.ei:se. ;':-a man imbued w.ith many lovable 'traits ot character and. a high. sense of respect for ?\t&A':- opp'a-sitecsei:, Harry Mersut mede ? himself popular w'hertsver he ventured ; and there are, to day, scatleied ihroughotu thia young coatinenu ? of oiirV1 rhHii'y one time acquainrancesof his, in: evtiry; cuclQ of liie, who wib feel sincere Te^ret &-i 'hea'rihgb't bis uniirnely end From Wakett to Windsor, from Penriih so Parkc-s, and from Mus 1 :w;ei!bro6li to Miin'gundi he was known by the quaint .title bestowed upon him during the period .twhen;hewas eogd^ed 'our, back' in the somc; .what, hasatdous occupation of taming young ''hen'sep. And' if the »ooa foin in counlry parts had ''never -witnbssed his exhibitions of prowess in thia '?diieGUOn they had at least heard of his feats o( /?.horserjap-abip or bad read in the press thosci -, -poems fram.nis pen vvhich borG the si«uature of ' V'rhe Breaker.' ! ?o Absolutely unafraid, absolutely careless of danger, and with his face in a condition of perpetual smiles, it tool? iitilo time for Morant to':. ingratiate himself with the men of lha bush; aud^hls charm as a raconteur did the^est. Hej wtip a-'welbo'me guest'''at lavm and stationthome; stead, and the inexhaustibls fund of general iniormation upo'ri which hu'was ever able to dravy ?at. a .rapment's. notice made him an interesting ' companion at all times. Hard' living, and- the bufiettiug he had received during a chequered career, rendered him somewhat cynical and endowed him with a wholesome repugnance for many institutions claimed to be cherished by loli-. more favorably situated ; and yet he was wont to ;?? recognise -n a generous spirit the most trivial kindness shown bim, and to distinguish readily between 'a real white man' and that snuffle bustiog -and unctuous person who turns up the white of one eye at the bare thought of the world's wickedness--and keeps the other fixed all the time on 'the., main .chance.' . ' A keen sportsman, he hid followed the bounds in the best of company on his native moors ' in ' Devonshire, and: I have _ by ? me at the present time a copy which was his of Whyte Melville's ' Katerfelio,' a story of Ex » -moor, which is marginally marked beta and there. ???land from which a tew quotations may be appro '', priately made, as showing how devoted he was to his native country and how strong his penchant for the sport of the chase: — I might ride through Exmoor halt a 'summer's dn:y and never tet tyes ou a humau fu'.'o, bu' Ibo curlew BBems 10 -know me uh ho iiita by, with 11 quiet 0*11 ot greeiiog und a wave of his wido brown vriuu: — the r«d herds, leadink their c-ilves ftlongc the ridges look kindiy over their shouldera, und turn -'their haudt-omo heada to gaze after me, . till thoy disapr.e«r. Why, tho very breei-iU, whipperiuy; uincngat the ruwhea, hrt^been pil i '' t-irtn JC '-' 'my. own garden, not ao m;iuy miles a»vay. )? You 'know no more than a blind mtm w hat morning means till you'vo -can ti.e aun rice ia North Devon. I wish I who back there now. i %yill bo back there next week, if i'm ulive.' ?? I( I'm alive !' AI30, the poor eld ' Breaker's ' 5l eyes .have closed upon all North Devon's charm in j- sunsets for -jv: ?:— -.;nl ess he be born again '? *:It wqb; delightful to breathe a free, fresh air, Un tttiatcd by tho sinelln o£ London -to see the sky coaio dowa to a v. ido horizon uninterrupted by streets und houeea^to leel beneath him the strong elastic action of ;''hia: good buy horse. , ' : The nian cannot be morally crooked or mentally ^ depraved who realises the beauty and appreciates ? ', thaciijim ot '? i'd-i)-.!;i ure such as that quoted — no doubt it comqended itself doubly to Morant by reason of the . tact that he was reminded of his. o\vn favQuri^c mount, ' Cavalier,' in the refer ence tb 'the 'good bay horse.' Talk of tho music and .tho organ in Exeter Cathedral ? tturiy in'.uplu of such voiced Ltho hcuudf] as thet,o \...woula bik'neo a lutjiery of cunnon. They spread liko a *'i-ntvV,f'u ;? they. Vwirm liko d hive of bees, soon thoy ??'it.a tie into tliuif pjoces aud atrOiun iicroan tho moor, liko ' ' h.ir-OH niv stride iind speed, like lions in strength und ?enerji'y and. fierce desire for blood. Now's your time, ,-'dldsma6.''' You Bit down 'in jour Badd'.o aud Bay to yourself there is nothing on orth viorth living for com* . pared to ouch momenta as theBe. ;'. And now into the story is .introduced a aporiing 'parson of the rcoj old Engl sh type, ' the sort 'if/ho would sooner ride fifty m 1^ to a fight than iiva to a prayer meeting,' who knew a Rood dog v';;-\vben ho saw him, or a pane cock, could tell tho '. .'.? points .01 a pacing nagi and was an excellent. '' v judge ol strong ale— by name the Rev Abner Gale 1 '???v''ao'dM3e preaches to himself, fiti'wy, homev/ai'ds ona I 4arK pifiM-, nn i- i0^ which spp^cmiy £»pps?.|oij !
strongly to the sympathies of ' The Breaker': — ' Keep your own oounsel — aud sake a pood hold of your horse'r, hr-ad.' But enough ! Ti' end Ii5- come, und the writer here pays his meagre tribute to the memory of a comrade who no matter what his faults and failings were, ever proved himself a manly, good natured, ruggedly honest fellow, ..and cne who has got as good a show as the average man of being well treated in the Great Bsyond ! ' Morant's philosophy ' should have bean the title of the attached verses from bis own pen, which appeared in .'The Bulletin' seme iew years back under the heading : ' The Good Things that Remain ': — Blney tho cal tie-dog: gammons onloop ; The pine-Bparks Hy and the embers glow, While honse-bells ring and the criokotn ' cheep,' And the black ducko 'call ' in tho owamp below. Night dev/n:are bleaching tho fansolled grnoo; Away in the west the moon ridea low ; And tho buahnian'G wakeful iunciea paoo To the light-o'-love of a yenr ago. ' Catrlo-dog Bluoy, now what think you ? CunntJjgest dog upon all tho e&r»h ! Wake, you nchomor, und answer true — Tell uo what guinea are thair candleB worth f' One eyo opens, and two ouro prick : ?? Aot very muny, bosn, p;rins tho dog ; Swoetheartin^'s vanity — beet to stick To good tobacco and drcent grog J' And now, reverting again to Whyte MelvillSi lot me .quote -n couciu.ion an extraafc marked by ' Ths Breaker ': - Tbere are paths to fortune, plenty of them, for mon who look upward and otuyard, — oteep, it may be, and leading through miry piuces, not seldom slippery with blood. To a boldepirit thia is half tho charm ! * You are lying: here, unable to leave your bed to-day 5 but do you 'not Jong for the time when you eball be riding w'iid horses, plodding lawlens healthc, drinking, dico iug, and brawling onco more ? Alas, for ' The Breaker,' the way has been through tniry places and slippery with blood, — whilst the bed in which ho sleeps is one from which, his poor bullet riddled body will not rise again Vale, Harry Morant!