New-York daily tribune., 1843-10-18

4
| Robinson Crusoe.
In 1921, when he was thirteen years OF age,
his father was compelled By his increasing en-
barrassrnents, to remove from Wigan to Man
chester AT that place he procured bret en-
ployment, but was speedily forcedto 60 to Stock
port, whence distress again drove them to look
for work at Manchester. Two incidents only,
worthy of note, beel young Prince during his
residence in the latter town. His first was, that
lie met with copy of the works of Lord Byron.
which he Perused with an indescribable intensity
of excitement But what was of more use to
| him, at this time, was an accidental acquaintance
formed with an old German soldier, whose head
and heart were filled with the beautiful and
touching romances and legends of his fathcrland.
| These ne was accustomed to recite with the en-
| thusiasm Of poet, and they awoke in the bosom
of Prince. now become his inseparable compan-
ion IN nightly wanderings over the hills all those
indefinite yearnings and aspirations which are
the source of poetry. The old man, too, had
seen much of the world; he had been in different
armies he had convcrscd with philosophers he
had stored his mind from books and he was able
70 temper the enthusiasm of his youthful disci-
pie with lessons of wisdom and virtue. But, while
his inward life was thus ministcred to, his condi
and toll
Once more, his father, tormented by pecuniary
difficulties made an effort to escape them by re-
moving to Hyde, village eight miles distant
from Manchester. 1t was VAN attempt for
the existence of the family dragged on as before,
amid accumulating causes disappointment of and
anguish The times, to use Il commercial phrase,
| were bad; there was little or no employment to
l.. +l,o +b,> bo foI md
the backs to be clothed were multiplying and,
altogether, the world had most forbldding and
disastrous look for that household. Add to this
piece Of imprudcncc of which John was guilty,
and the sum of their misery is complete. In
1926, when under nineteen years of age, by no
means a proficient in his trade. and still an APP
prentice to his father, he contracted an attach
ment for woman even poorer than himself, and
in the hope Of making happy home for himself;
his own having become lntoerablc! He appears
to have chosen a wife Of excellent qualities but
alas where were they to lodge, and how to be
fed These were questions which neither Of
them could readily answer; yet they managed
to share the curse until year or two brought
them children, and with them, again, the want
of bread. What to do now, Prince did not know.
h. III,
to him a rare privilege.
1t was said in the newspapers, this was about
l930-that recent events had opened way for
artisans in France, and thithcr would Prince go.
Leaving his wife and three children to provide
for St. Quentin in Picardy. lie walked to Lon
don, and thence to Dover. After detention Of
five days, on account of the political troubles of
Ia. DO !, +bo
to which nc was to 90. We can imagine how
many anxious wishes must have filled his breast
during that solitary journey-wishcs cruelty des-
tined to disappointment. In the interval since
his departure from HYDE, the French Revolution
Charles X had been dethroned; Louis Philip
elected king of the French CONSERVATION pre-
vailed on on all sides and, of course, business
of every kind, for the time, suspended. Prince
could get no employment among manufactures
disturbed by the agitatons of civil war. All his
trouble and time, spent on the long Journey from
his home, had been worse than wasted. Hesvas
now among strangers, without penny in his
pocket, without a friend to console him, without
a house 10 shelter his naked head. Whittier
should he fly? Must he sink down to the earth
in despair or make one more desperate effort for
his starving wife and children? His noble spirit
did not desert him in this extremity. All was
not yet gone: for, there were his strong arms
and his rcsolutc will.
He pushed forward to Muhausen, on the up
per Rhine, which was mentioned to him as a con-
siderable seat Of manufactures. Arriving there,
he found that trade was little better than it
had been in Picardy. The manufacturers were
standing idle, and an unparalleled distress per-
III Io1, ,f +Io
and among strangers whose language even he did
not understand, his prospects grew gloomlcE than
they were before; and being totally destitute of
means to return home, for five protracted months
he continued with starvation daily staring him in
the face Now and then the snatches Of work
welded to him in charity, were all that kept him
this side of the grave Often, for two whole days
togcther, did he wander about without mouth
fu of food. A winter of unusual severity was
fast coming on when he resolved, If he mast die,
to die among his kindred and friends.
In January Of 1881, he Quilted Mllhausen for
the purpose of walking to his home What an
undertaking was that? To walk through strange
without guide and without money, surely, re-
ouired the soul of hero Prince was such
hero. In the midst of his privations and suffer
lngS, MS CNtttluIltsS dliu las PoeliJ dio Hoi ue-
sert him. Nay, he could even stop, at times, to
admire the wonders of art and nature which are
so thicky scattered along the regions of the Rhine
His imagination fed on the glories of those rich
old countries his piety warmed in their cathe-
drals and churches. He journeycd through Stras-
houro. Rheims, yerdun, Chalons, begging his way
under sheds, until his feet, weary and sore, once
more pressed the beach of Calais. There he was
furnished with means, by the British consul, to
carry him to Dover.
His heart grew buoyant with delight when he
touched his native shore; the thoughts of once
more seeing those who were dear 10 hun, filled
-,bl Not,r E'nr