The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1859-02-10
Aii.
HOac Jasper Washed tie Gold.

IL Is proof Of the earnestly striyins ana wide
iy-grasplng mlnd-tha. species of mind, in fact.
WHICH v9 ioye to call Z" Genius" and TO gaze
at admiringly, though from affair, aud not very
! comprehenslveiy, as We watch some new comet
with ret uneomputed course, not knowing
whether ITS destiny Is to destroy or to enrich
us---it is proof of such mind, and necessity
of its existence, that it should be unhappy. er.
ratio, in its first phases. It's an enthvmeme
seldom disputed: he is eccentric, wild, coltish.
gwen to sturm-undd'ang, therefore he h,,s ge.
MUS. Often the youthful tendency manifests
itself N tsysaa collars and poetry, while the
mature development takes the direction of
commerce and stocks, Cpon honor, L meant no
pun y and the world sneers at youthful promise.
Just as when we have bought fruit Tree for a
particular variety, and end its first Welding a
far different variety, but not therefore to be
despised, though we do blpster abou, being
taken a." iof the yield may be vastly supe-
rior to that which we barganed for. The
fault does not reside in the promise itself, but
in our Interpretation of that promise For, in
It's way, the warp Of your Manila rope ,.ay be
as excellent and as neTisa, as the links of your
most most GrIrate and dazzling 6lagree chain of best
carat gold
We may argue, in respect of Jasper that
this his sturm-uaddyaag period was not UNI
dbtShuEt Wttp Aphk&t duu MOEHl dGOuy. he
was conscious of having impetuously plunged
into and peril iaciously followed up path
diametrically opposite that which he should
have pursued. He was conscious of having
wastefully flung away, in bitter idleness, years
that never could be replaced, and h9 spnered
accordingly. In ipstics " pip, We must say
that he vas in great measure ignorant of his
mothers Character, and entirely inisinternyeted
her feelings, or he would never have gone away
as he did. Never for 4 moment had he ava
kened to full sense Of the wealth Of love, nap
kin-wrapt and buried away, so TO speak, aneath
that calm, cold exterior One only glimpse
had he gotten Of that fiery heart, and then its
ebulition was of terrible anger, not of subduing
love. Not once had he thought of the posi-.
blity of such suffering sS.Vr psFe limited at in
the foreg6fi,,.s pages, eise be would have fed
back In anguish, to make reparation with his
life, if need be. But no; all his fears were for
Ruth; and had she not her father, and the An
Choir? His Hoihes vas /, cold proprietist, who
locked up her soul in pride, form, and prece-
dent. How could she appreciate the agony of
his young hearth And how could he stand by
and see her moving on in her cold pride, while
the lava-stream of passion was rending him for
an outlet? Besides, had she not deceived him.
basely, grossly, unnecessarily deceived him, and
treated him as a child, to be phY2icked with
sugssry-cpatei pills Was not this TOO much
for his seifsasserting manhood to put up with
But still, he knew he wasting his life he, the
man of fortune and of promise, futilely expend-
ing muscle and drowning consciousness in the
quick pant at the oar and the sturdy !; Ye-
Heave-O!" at the ospstan. Destiny had pre-
scriped other fortune for him than to swab
down q greasy deck, or cut up bubber for the
try:pots, though he might console Aimasif, IN
fancy, with ideas If genius maturing itself in
the l,gh, pf tie sii Re had helped 10 render
down and head up into casks, Death was bet
ter than wasted life and but for the Anchor,
death would most unquestionably have been his
choice. And, again, he felt how wrongly he
had acted, and how wanting he had been in the
respect due his mother, in not writing or letting
her know he was alive. Nc ;rstsvr nav she
had acted toWa,ds aisa, this still had been his
duty He did not suspect her of having in
quired he could not fancy that she had had
news of the lost Clipper, and knew him to have
been of her crew but he felt that, as his meta
err, and a woman, she must Ss.-ae.s some human
synpathiesS ma, loye him, and must be uneasy
aboat him. It was too late now, however,
thought he. /" / cannot redeem the Past ex-
ceptby an increased emRlsyment aud appro-
priation Of the Future. have wasted so much
wrongfplly, fooiishly, with boyish petulance, but
so much the more is it incumbent upon me to
labor afterwards, to stop the leak while the
pumps have still power over it, unless wish to
be irrevocably ingulfed. Yesterday is gone, so