made three descents in a Parachute in succession without injury.
Undeterred by the awful fate of his predecessor, this gentleman
determined on making a Parachute descent which should prove the
correctness of the theory, and the Montpellier Gardens at Cheltenham
were selected as the scene of the exploit. Owing to the censure which
was attached to the proprietors of the Vauxhall Gardens, for
permitting docking's ascent, the owners of the Gardens at Cheltenham
would not suffer the experiment to be made, and Mr. Hampton was
obliged to have recourse to stratagem. As he was permitted to display
his Parachute in the manner he intended to use it, the idea suddenly
flashed across his mind that, he could carry out his long-nursed
wishes. He suddenly cut the rope which kept him down, and went off,
to the astonishment of the spectators: the last cheering sound that
reached him being--"He will be killed to a dead certainty!"

After attaining an altitude of nearly two miles, Mr. Hampton
proceeded to cut the rope that held him attached to the balloon. He
paused for a second or two, as he remembered that it would soon be
life or death with him, but at length drew his knife across the rope.
The first feelings he experienced were both unpleasant and alarming;
his eyes and the top of his head appeared to be forced upwards, but
this passed off in a few seconds, and his feelings subsequently
became pleasant, rather than disagreeable.

So steady and slow was the descent that the Parachute appeared to be
stationary. Mr. Hampton remembered that a bag of ballast was fastened
beneath the car, he stooped over and upset the sand, he also noted by
his watch the time he occupied in descending. The earth seemed coming
up to him rapidly; the Parachute indicated its approach to _terra,
firma_ by a slight oscillation, and he presently struck the ground