Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1858-02-18
ADVENTURERS.

Adventurers, persons who lack the necessary
discipline and balance of mind to submit them
selves to the laws Of society, while at the same
time they are devoured by the ambition of dis
tinguishing themselves, of making a fortune OIL
. q sensation. They stand in the same relation
To- the ehsUIIiey d'i'Li~stTis as the pirate Ia
piekpocket, while to men of genuine ambition
they compare as coxt omb to a man of the
world, or Poacher to O sportsman.
Adventures are rarely without q redesming
love OF glory, and, if they are successful, they
become heroes like Napoleon. On the other
hand, they seldom listen to the appeals Of con
science; and, if they are successful they become
scamps like Cogliostro. In the historical rec.
ords Of men Of brilliant fame, we fnd as many
adventurers as persons of infamous repute in
the police returns They are to be found daily
In the walks Of private life as we'll as in the
realms of fiction. Macawber, in David Copper
neld, would haze been great adventurer, il
he had not been destined to become the great
Nacawber. he was always waiting for some
thing to - turn up" This peculiar state OF
expectation II, in fact, the normal state of mind
OF an adyenturer. As long as this state of sus-
pense lasts, he keeps wisely in the background
ransaeking earth and heaven, his brain aching
with thought, his heart swelling with hope, his
very soul bursting with ambition; but, as all
the while his pocket is empty, and as he does
not perform any honest labor for the purpose of
filling it, his life is that of an outlaw His
name, nay his very existence, is utterly un-
known, except to his unfortunate family and
his miserable creditors
But OF sudden his eorrodipg ambition is
gratifed, the dreams of his life are realized
Something mas turned up. He jumps into
some conspicuous or notorious position, The
Tact OF his existence is like a new revelation IN
mankind. Ills name falls like bomb upon
the public ear. - no in the world is he l''
ask q thousand voices, and echo answers; 'An
Adventurer."
If he is person of military turn, he be-
comes llibuster, like Lopez or Walker Ii
OF an energetic, semi-intriguing nature, he be-
cpnes rsJLh, like Sir James Brook of Sara
wax LII his predictions are of the financial
orler, he becomes a railway king like Hudson,
or a colossal swindler like Law. If of a reli-
gious disposition, he becomes a prophet, like
john of Leyden or Joe Smith.
The word advonturer is derived from the
Latin ddrsRUe. The knight-errants were
esfed adventurers, and the poets Of the middle
s3Ses exalt the - Dame AvenIuire,' as she was
called, to the dignity of goddess and repre-
sent her as woman of angelic beauty, pos
sesSed, like Gyges, of the power of making
herself invisible by putting on a mysterious
ring, which enables her to travel incog all
over the world, and to observe, without being
observed, the doings of mankind. In order TO
make her divine Paul Pry mission more CON-
Portable, she carries a staff in her hand, which
has the magic power of helping her over land
and sea.
Female adventurerS are also pretty numer-
Gus: Nell Gwynne, Lady Hamilton, Madame
de POmpadour, Lola Montez, all come more or
Iess under the category of Adventures. In
Italy, female adventures abound among the
sprlpcesses and highest nobility. In Europe
and America they occasionally make their up
cpearzpee as governesses and teachers of foreig gu
OlaRgnsges An. Cycfoyedia.