The spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1840-1844, 1841-12-03

himself, who shall ever write biogIaphy' Who
shall ever write the inward history ofthat terrible
man. Who shall describe the real life he lived,
alone; the hopes the fears, the joys and the mis-
cries of that " secret SELF unprecedented unguess-
ed"
Who that has suffered almost unto death, yet
too proud that the multitude should know, lest per
chance, they should pity him, does not know
that his external has been anything but his real
history. His external life has been calmness, sun
shine, land happiness, while his real life has been one
of storms tempesis and the blackness of darkness.
Who does not know, that at times, he has passed
among the crowd in fact the most wretched, but
in appearance, The huppest being of them all -
Who does not know, that his feelings have been
judged 10 be fresh as the dew, when they were
scar and sapless as the wthered leaves of Autumn
Who does not know, that others have thought
him full of bright hopes, when hope was Il thing
he had not known for years? Who does not know,
that when his heart has been but handful of ash
es it has seemed to the multitude to be as Joyous
move as the impulse is given from without. They
hurry TO and ro. They are alive with business
schemes. plans plots and policies; all life, all ami
nation, all hope. Such is the surface, when be-
low all is like the dead sea- No wind comes there
Not breath stirs the sluggish waters Graded in
an eternal sleep, unmoved by fear, undstmbed
by all the tumulluous iempests that quarrel and
whrl above. Is there, think you no where 10 be
found in the world, one, upon whose calm brow
peace and quietness is written with bold pen,
whose eye is never restless whose lip never VIRTUES,
struggle, that, in its might is like the wreck Of
matter and the crush of worlds;'
Bring this matter home to yourself, dear reader
You rise in the morning, perform your duties, Gu,
your breakfast, and make your appearance at your
regular business. You are seen in the streets
few times, eat your dinner, labor lew hours more,
take tea, do Il little something else and then 60
to bed. There, has passed, what the world calls,
a day Of your iUe' And pray tell me how much
has the world known of that day of your fc and
how well qualified is any body hut yourself to
write its history Perhaps in that day, there
has crept into your head, thought whose nour-
ishment and after Development has changed your
whole (e' Perhaps sight temptation has been
thrown in your way, to which you have yielded,
to your future destruction, Perhaps you have
given upon that day, powerful struggle against
bad and base passion, or perhaps YOU have tram
Piled on one. Perhaps IN that day II hope that had
brooded over your heart from childhood, singing
there day and night, has unfolded its bright wings
and left you forever. Perhaps fear that had
blackened your existence for years, imbittering
your happest moments by its intrusion, on that
day was exercised banishcd never TO return. Who
but God and your own self knows what the me
has been about on that day, of what inward sins,
it has been guilty, what unseen good it has done !
Doubtless the day in which Bonoportc first though,
Of being Emperor Of the French, was day, or =
binary enough, TO the man that the worid called
Bonaparte but what day TO the real Bonaparic!
to the me Of that man! The history of what the
world called that day of his life, could easily be
written, but, oh! who can write its real history
Sometime, in the course of some day IAN individ-
nal, with a Grecian nose, light hair, about the
common height, wearing black coat, is seen in
the street, walking doing So My neighbors will
tell stranger, that the hing with the Grecan
nose, the light hair, black coat, walking so, doing
so, is mel Perhaps the stranger is little curious
so he follows the thing with the Grccian nose, lgh,
hair and the black coat. lie follows it into Jew
ellers shop and sees it leave watch to be repair
ed into the post-oice and sees it drop letter in
TO the box; into n store and sees il purchase a
plug of tobacco. lie sees ii walk look act peel
chesnuts, and eat apples hears it laugh, talk, and
cough; and 10! he knows all about me, and can
tell his friends! Fool! no, not fool but blind!-
He has seen the life of my actions, my external
life, the exterior surface, the busy occupations the
movements Of my frame; but of the life of my mind
the restless workings Of my heart, my inward en-
is,ence, all that constitutes mel he has seen moth
ing and ye, by the first does he judge of me- 1t new
er enters into his heart to conceive that with him
self, there was another individual following me-
and that was the thing with the Grecian nose, the
light hair and the black coat and that, that ndi.
vidual had even less 10 do with me than he, himself
had; and no wonder If to me, as much stranger
Ah-but the day closes again and am awake
|
A STRAW RIDE AT NEWARK.
Some quite respectable and very pretty young