Polynesian., 1845-05-10
SATURDAY, MAY 10, le45.

So"i "iSh' AAcEc anu tnerc, IL Is true
the volume testified to some heart so pei
verted as to desire gold for its own sake
Many wished for power; a strange desire
indeed, since it is but another form of sla,
cry. Old people wished for the delights {
youth; a top, for a fashionable coat; an idle
reader, for a new novel; a versifier, for
rhyme to some stubborn word; a painter
Tor lltlan's secret Of coloring; a prince, 70
a cottage; a republican, for kingdom and
palace; a ibertine, for his neighbours wife
a man OF palate, for green peas; and a poo
man, for a crust of bread. The ambition
desires of public men, elsewhere SO craft
concealed, were here expressed openly an
boldly, side by side with the unselfish wish
es OF the philanthropist, for the welfare Q
OF the race, so beautiful, so comforting, il
contrast with the egotism that continual
weighed self against the world. Into tn,
darker secrets Of the Book of Wishes, ",
will not penetrate.
1t would be an instructive employment 70
a student of mankind, perusing this volum,
carefully, and comparing its records witt
mems perfected designs, as expressed j,
their deeds and daily life, to ascertain how
tar the one accorded with the other. Uu
doubleday, in most cases, the correspond
ence would be found remote. The holv an,
generous wish, that rises like incense from
a pure heart towards heaven, often lavishe,
ITS sweet perfume on the blast of evil times
The foul, selfish, murderous wish, tina
steams forth from a corrupted heart, Otter
passes into the spiritual atmosphere, withou
being concerted into an earthly deed. Ye
TINS volume IS probable truer, as a represen
tatlon OF the human heart, than is the livine
drama OF action, as it evolves around us
There is more ofgood and more Of evil in it
more redeeming points of the bad, and NOR,
errors of the v%irtuous; higher up-soarings
and baser degradation of the soul; in short
a more perplexing a~malgamation ofvice ant
and virtue, than we witness in the ontwart
world. Decency, and external conscience
often produce a far fa,rer outside, than j.
warranted by the stains within. And be j
owned, on the other hand, that a man seldom
repeats to his nearest friend, any more thar
he reallses in act, the purest wishes, which
at some blessed time or other, have ariser
from the depths Of his nature, and witnessed
for him in this volume. Yet there is enough
on every leaf, to make good man shudder fol
his W wild and idle wishes, as we'll as 70,
the sinner, whose whole life is the incarna.
ton of a wicked desire.
But again the door is opened; and we hea,
the tumultuous stir of the world-a de en- ant
awful sound, expressing in another form
some portion of what is written in the volume
that lies before the Man of Intelligence. A
grandfatherly parsonage tottered hastil,
into the office, with such an earnestness II
his infirm alacrity that his white hair foatee
backward, as he hurried up to the desk
while his dim eyes caught a momentary lus.
tire from his vehemence of purpose. This
venerable figure explained that he was ir
search ofTo-morrow.
81 have spent all my life in pursuit of it,
added the sage old gentleman, "being assur.
cd that Tomorrow has some vast benefit Of
other in store for me. But l am now getting
Il little in years, and must make haste; foi
unless | overtake Tomorrow soon, | begir
to be afraid it will finally escape me-"
"Ihis fugitive Tomorrow, my venerable
friend, said the Ma of Intelligence, sis ;
stray child of Time, and is flying from hi.
father into the region of the infinite. Con.
tinue your pursuit, and you will doubtless
come up with him; but as to the earthly
gifts which you expect, he has scattered
them all among a throng of Yesterdays"
Obliged to content himself with this enig.
NAUTICAL response, the grandsire hastenec
forth, with a quick clatter Of his staff upor
the floor; and as he disappeared, a little DO,
scampered through the door in chase of !,
butterfly, which had got astray amid the bar
rem sunshine Of the city. Had the old gen
tleman been shrewder, he might lave de.
tected Tomorrow under the semblance O
that gaudy insect. The golden butterfly
glistened through the shadowy apartment
and brushed its wings against the Book O
Wishes, and futtred forth again with thu
child still in pursuit.