Mountain Democrat., 1857-04-18
A Glimpse at the Inner Life of . Sailor.

running down the northeast trades. " H.
liam Thornton, an old weather-beaten
sailor, was at the wheel, and could hear
him occasionally humming the air Black
eyed Susan" when my back was towards
him. lie was an excellent hclmsman,
and kept the ship to her course true as
the needle to the pole. Although it is
still, as it was then, contrary to rule to
enter into conversation with the man at
wheel, yet observing William smile, and
raise his hat upon mine hairs ] asked
him sympathetically, - What arc you
thinking about, William About nv
sweetheart, Sir Are you going to get
married again when you return Twas
never married, sir, nor never will be, if /
should live thousand ycarS,oyct | have
a sweetheart. It's just forty years this
day since saw her, and | never saw her
but once. But what interest can you
have in an old salts silly love dreams?
60 ahead, William, tell me about this
sweetheart. I'm in love myself, and can
sympathise with you.'
We'll, sir, it is just forty years this day
since strOllcd into one the big church.
cs. in Broadway, and was invited into a
seat i'll grand pew by an elderly gentle
man. There were two young ladies' with
him. Ono of them, the moment our eyes
met, said, as plainly as eyes could speak,
I'm glad to see you again ! was sure ]
had seen her before, ! felt that We were
old playmates, but for the soul of me !
could not tell where. | could hardly
take my eyes off her, she looked so good.
W lf1cn- services commenced -She-put- a
prayer-book in my hand, and pointed to
the lesson for the day. but looked more
at her than did at the lesson. l was
young then, sir, and good looking, too,
and had as much selfconccit as most
young men; but the moro I looked at
the sweet girl, the less thought of my
self. When the services were over / fol-
lowed her to the door OF the carriage, and
could not help saying as the gentleman
handed her in, God bless you, my sweet
angel and, to my surprise, instead ofbc.
ing offended, she replied, Thank you,
sir, and may lie bless yOa too. Tho gen.
tleman raised his hat to me and smiled.
Good bye, Jack, he said, good luck to
YOU 1t was the voice of sailor; he
was, no doubt, retired sea captain. Both
Of the ladies', though | had neglected one
entirely, bowed me out of the carriage
window. In a moment they were gone,
and | never saw them from that day to
this, yet, from that time to the present, l
have truly loved that sweet girl
did you never try TO find out who she
was?' | inquired.
no, sir, what was the use? Ifelt my
self a poor, ignorant sailor, hardly able to
write my own name, and was not silly
enough to think that such q lovely girl
would care anything about me. Think
ing about her took all the self-conccit out
Of me.
But you said you thought yoA had
seen her before; how was that!'
1T was only a dream, sir.-I never saw
her before. Now, as I'm growing old,
have been thinking seriously about try
ing to be good. / worked along shores
with riggers and stcvedorcS, and had over
two thousand dollars that had saved, so
| got along very comfortably. l joined
the church, and thought had got religion
when rascally deacon cheated me out of
fifty dollars. was so laundering mad
that gave the fellow an awful hiding,
and before he could set the law dogs on
me, | was at sea again. | think now that
l did very wrong; but Tin so hard-heart-
cd, that | cant in my soul, forgive the
fellow, even to this day
My sweet angel tells me in my dreams
that must forgive him, and that if
wish to Join her l must be good
He said much more, but the above af-
fords glance at his inner life, and shows
the purity of his soul. It must not be
thought that he was whining old fool
on the contrary, he was man of daunt-
less courage, bold even to recklessness,
and quick to resent an insult. No men
are thrown more on their own resources
for mental food than seamen. For weeks
and even months, sky and water are their
only companions; and on long voyages,
when they have watch-and watch, their
work is light. 1t is then their minds
dwell upon the pleasant scenes of the
past, and make the droSs of Garth appear
divine. Bill Thornton'S case is not sin
gular. Almost every sailor has some
bcautcous lOve-dream, and hence the rca-
son why so few of them marry. The
ideal has more charms for them than the
real.
With all their faults sailors arc not bad
men. AS a class, in a rude way, they
love the true, the beautiful, and the good,
and are provcrbial for their generosity.
May they all go to heaven at last.
THE Wandering Jc,c IN New York.
a sensation was created in William street,
on Tuesday morning, Jan. 27th, by the
appearance of a man on the pave with
long floating beard, and dressed in loose
pantaloons, with turban on his head. He
carried in his hand little manuscript He
brew book, of which he read to the crowd
that gathered around him. He represented
himself as the veritable Wandering Jew.
Nobody knows who he is or where nc
came from. A learned Jewish Rabbi was
sent for to converse with him, which he
did in the Hebrew language, and the stran-
ger was found to be perfect in his knowl-
edge of that most difficult tongue The
Rabbi tested him in Arabic, in Phenician,
and in the Sancrit, but soon found that
the aged stranger far surpassed him in
his intimacy with them all. The Rabbi
invited him to his house; but, said the
stranger, "nay, Icannot stop. The CRU
cited One Of Calvary has pronounced the
cdict, and l may not rest. l must move
On-ever on |" He was last seen on
Thursday, but to where he has departed
no one can tell.
While two little girls, one the daughter
of n clnrOvwan and the oHhnr kho .LSIJ : 6