The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1856-02-21
silly read in his personal appearance.


clear, lght-blue eyes, whose prevailing exples-
sion was that of frank mirthfulness; a straight
nose; a well-curved, but rather sensual mouth;
and full, rounded chin, that, altogether, made
up countenance whose chief characteristics
were good nature, sensuality, and gayety. HIS
dress was equally remarkable for the costnsss !
OF its material and the negligence of its ~
rangement; and left the point at issue, whetl IT
the costume were the more extravagant or tie
more sovenly. His manners were marked ! y
habitual cheerfulness, good temper, and love 3f
merriment. And, though he rarely emitted al
flash of wit. he was ever the quickest to app g
ciate that gift in others; and it must have be n
dull jest, indeed, that his ready laugh did ut
hail. And it is not unlikely that to his since: e.
hearty, contagious laughter, he owed gre 1t
deal OF his popularity among men, and won n
too. For who does not love q good laughes?Z
Valentine was in almost every respect t e
antipodes Of his master, yet resembled hila On
this, that has nature also might be easily s'eSd
in his dark but singularly beautiful face. l'u9e
the term " beautiful instead of the other fern
handsome advisedly, as more proper Il tie
subject under description. Valentine was faEa-
er below the medium height and shghtl} tsst
elegantly formed, with stately little head. t;l-
icate aquiline features, complexion dark as a
Spaniard's, bluish-black hair falling in a4y
we'll trained curls around the dark face, andEgdt-
blue eyes so deeply yelled under their thick st'of
long close lashes, that it was only in mon7ests
ofexcitement when they suddenly ightehedAs at
their strange, startling, almost terrible con r:.st
to the blackness of the hair and darkness o. the
skin could be noticed. In the matter of dse3s,
Valentine was fastidiOus to degree. In tier
circumstances, he might have been an exqiisSte
and a petit DeGitre, as his master often Laughing.
ly called him. AS it was, the youth was bnGe.
niably dandy; but his love of dress was 10 De
attributed fully as much to his innate lose of
order, beauty, and propriety, as to his coxcamb,
ry. His fine raven black hair was his "favor-
lite vanity was carefully kept, and trained to
fall in those faultless ringlets and it is upon
record, that when the owner of it was not il full
dress, that "splendid head of hair" was cal 'aul,
y bound down from injury by sun or dustsn.
der double silk bandanna, arranged in the g See
| full folds and twists of Turkish turban, il ou
please! Valentines "foppery" was a D1 Ger.
failing source of merriment to his funlt Eng
master-though | think the boys love of ess
could scarcely with fairness be called foppliry,
since he was never known to try the effect5 of
his most elegant toilet upon the hearts of svny
of the young girls of his class, until his own
heart was seriously engaged. Valentines de-
pertinent was characterized by habitual pensve-
ness ana reserve, occasionally broken by sud
den unacconntahle fits of excitement, str'tage
flights of fancy, and startling, frightful pi'rox.
ysms Of passion, having many Of the features
| of incpient insanity. These were undoubi edly
to be attributed to the antagonistc constitt ents
of his nature. What alchemy but the all ow-
erful grace of God could ever harmonizer abe
| discordant elements of being deriving hi dc.
scent from three races so different as the In, an
| the Negro, and the Saxon, and reconcile iim
| to the position in which this boy was place p
| Mr.. Wariug, soon alter his return home be.
gan to lead wild, reckless extravagant ife.
He kept bachelors hall at Red Hi in extIs.va,
CANT style.
Frequent bachelor dinners, suppers, and sine
parties, with cards, billiards, dice, &c, con 'ert
ed the quiet old country house into scefS OF
wild midnight orgies with drinking, song, Ing.
ing, and gambling, that threatened 500 to
leave the young spendthrif without hous to
revel in, or dollar to revel on.
And almost every day, when there WAS st a
party at the house, Valentine would hare to
drive his master in the buggy to the t, vn.
! Upon such occasions, the master would 10
some favorite restaurant or billiard saloo or
perhaps to some wine or card party, to icE
he had been invited, while the man would AXE
the buggy to the livery stable, and loi" age
| about town until the small hours of the frn-
| ing, when he you'd rouse the sleepy groo' at
the stables, get his buggy and horse, ana axe
his master home. Sometimes Mr.. Wa ing
would be slightly elevated by the wine he Nad
drank, but never to the degree of intoxica on.
At first, and for long while, Valentine re-
sisted the temptations of the life into whic be
| was led; but, in the course of time, those list
| less hours of waiting in town wore ava. his
good habits; and it at last happened rat,
while the master was gambling and drie ing
| in some splendid saloon, the man would b: irs-
itating him in some humber scene of dig lp.l-
| ton. And when he would have to drive M.
| Waring home, it not unfrequently happsaed
that both were under the influence of wings
To poor Phadra, who happily had sou.o
time since found that grace of God that .sEe
had so long and humbly and earnestly desired,
this conduct in her young master and her sen
gave the greatest distress and anxiety. With
Valentine che cften and earnestly expostulstee;
and the impossible boy, for BOY he continued
to be to the day of his death, would proa.isa,
with tears in his eyes, to amend. Even with
| Oswald Waring, using the privilege of the cd
nurse, she yentured to reason, faithfully fear
lessly, sorrowfully.
But, in his thoughtless, good-humored wa 2,
he laughed in her face, called her wel-f eaa-
ing old woman, but advised her to ate 70
! her own concerns.
Yet Ph@dra did not siachen IN l.lasingI *,.as
poor opposition she could to the apprOa. : Of
| ruin.
1t was not the least deplorable and dAget-
| Gus feature in the mutual relations OF q gaEd
Waring and his favorite slave, that their M
tual positions often seemed temporarilyrevs 'ser.
| Valentine would, upon occasion, seem, or really
for the hour be, the leader, and Oswald the tcl-
lower.
Unfortunately, Mr.. Waring was sing alar-y
wanting Ia those qualities that command ha-
bitual respect from interiors; nay, he ever Iac.,-
ed selfrespect, and the dignity that it dives
while, more unhappily still, his servant Vales,-
tine possessed large share of self-esteens ths,,
in his excitable nature, would, under prtSoc,-
ton or temptation, rise to insufferable ins3-
lence. And this frequently placed thea In
| false and trying attitudes towards each She.
1t was baleful circumstance, too, that .'heS,,
under the effects of wine, the master fell. -eea
easy good-nature into maudlin tenderness and
sentimentality, varied by eccentric impul IS 6
domineering authority, all of which wgs e!,-
tremely distasteful and irritating to the SCI an.,
whose pride, instigated by the like eftl
spirit, would rise to an intolerable arrog ace.
| II was situation full of dire hodency to ott.
1t happened one evening that Valentin' thal
driven Mr. Waring into town, to be prese 1t
a wine and card party. 1t was late at gh,
or, speaking more accurately, early il ttbe
morning, when they were returning home 1t
was difficult to say which of the two wa tie
most excited. Mr.. Waring was in his lo9t
maudlin mood of familiarity, Valentine has
| most insolent humor. Each perceived the il ,o:-
ication of the other, without being console -f
his own state. Oswald broke out in a ltat .hs,-
nalian song, which he sung all wrong, AN Ey
| snatches-OccasiOnally, in sudden ct of m mi