Military Ballooning in the Year of Jubilee Remarkable Ascents during this Century MY LIFE AND BALLOON EXPERIENCES. N OT far from Rochester Castle, at Wouldham, on the banks of the Medway, I first saw the light of day, at the parsonage house, on March 2nd, 1819. Should this allusion to my birthplace lead to the inference that I am the son of a clergyman it will not be correct, although I am a grandson of the Rev. Charles Coxwell, of Ablington House, Gloucestershire; but my father was a naval officer who had seen a tolerable share of active service, and who now sought repose in a secluded spot which presented a striking contrast to the deck of a man-of-war, and to those bustling scenes of warfare which he had so far participated in as to sustain personal injury, and to require retirement for the sake of his health. Before I was old enough to remember any of the first associations of childhood in this rural abode at Wouldham, our family changed residence, so that my earliest recollections date from the time shortly after we had left the parsonage and had taken up our abode on board His Majesty's ship " Colossus," my father having accepted command of the vessels in ordinary at Chatham. Here we stayed for three years, and, young as I was, I do not forget being ducked every morning from the stage of the old seventy-four, nor the swinging round at tide-time of the black old hulk, and of frequently being pulled ashore in a dinghy to the marine stairs, where a landing was effected on a plank. In taking a retrospective view of boyhood, the next circumstance which impressed me was my being taken to a school at the marine barracks, where one Sergeant W superintended an elementary school for the sons of officers. Our usher, a corporal, was said to have had a Cambridge education, but I suppose he went wrong in some weak point before he enlisted; an under teacher was the master's son, Jack W as he was familiarly styled, a precocious lad who betrayed a decided proclivity for the young gentlemen's tarts, so that at last Jack was regarded as a person who could instruct in meum and tuum, but certainly did not set an example to the pupils in distinguishing between them. After I had been some time at this school, an event occurred which excited the curiosity of all the boys, and which cannot well be forgotten by those who broke through the rule of not leaving without permission. One morning, Sergeant W and the second in command appeared at their respective desks in full uniform rather earlier than usual, and appointed W▬▬ junior to be a monitor, some important duty, either on parade or in another remote part of the barracks, was coming off. "Mind nobody leaves his seat until we return," was the last injunction as the sergeant marched out followed by the as corporal, whose general appearance was more intellectual |