The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1867-08-19
CROSSING RUBKCONS.

scene on the banks of the Rnbicon out OF
which subsequent chrcniclers invented the
famous legend. In all momentous enter
rriscS, whether they are Of national or
only OF private dimensions, men rather
shirk the recognition Of final and deci-
sivc stcp than seek dramatic excitement
from the knowledge that the die is cast.
They are scarcely likely to find any com
fort in the reflection that they are Just on
tho point Of doing something which they
will never. on any conditions, be able 10
undo. Probably even the most resolute
disposition is glad to hide from itself the
iron bonds which it has Just forged. IL IS
only a fool who can cross bis RnDicon
either TO enslave people or marry a wife
with a slecfnl enjoyment Of the conscious
ness that he IS doing for himself one way
ar another. 1t is all very we'll on the stage
or in novels for hero to march OH to
death or victory with an elated stride, and
with fine apophthegm on his lips; but IN
real life the tremendous significance OF the
alternative presents itself great deal too
forcibly and markedly to allow of much Of
this magnificent hiIarity.
To cool outsider the cry "Death or
Victory" "Splendor or RUM" has the
sound and air Of very fine antithesis
about it. For the combatant himself there
is somewhat too much at stake to leave his
mind quite free to appreciate the charming
antithetical completeness Of the two posi-
bic examinations of his undertaking. 1t
happens to most Of us that We cross the
Rubicon without any notion that 1t differs
from all the other streams that encounter
us III the Journey. We are ignorant that
the passage of this particular boundary
commits us TO 4 definite or hazardous
corrsc for the rest Of our days. The die
i thrown without anybody knowing it, and
i is not till afterwards that one discovers
which face came uppermost.
The fashion of growing fearful over any
of the memorable conditions of life, from
death. the most nexorable of them all,
downwards, cngenders q state of feeling as
little profitable as any that one can ina
zine. The relations between men and
women are very favorable field for these
windy infections. 1t certainly is rather
sad and startling to think that you may
possibly ct the last croquet party have met
q Young lady who is destined to embitter
the rest Of your days, and bring your gray
hairs in sorrow to the grave. But then
anSllOuN WIZ SlCIuCO W l'llo
cheerful tone of thought would either baf-
Hc his destiny by avoiding all young ladies,
or else would anticipate its horrors in these
preliminary apprchcnsions. The only prac-
iical good that can arise from observing
how unconsciously we may take the
most decisive steps for good or for
evil is that it may teach us to-
cultivate such a general habit OF wise
thinking and wise acting as to lessen, and
in some matters almost TO destroy, the
chances of being hurried across the fatal
stream unawarcs. The worst Of it is that
even this is only faint sort of protection,
because the fact Of somebody else having
taken decisive step is constantly just as
wcghtv for YOU as If it had been your own
doing. The Pompcians crossed no Rubi-
con, but Caesars doing so was fully as
lnomcntous to them as anything they
could have done for themselves. 1t is |
very proper and elevating TO believe that
"nan is man, and master Of his fate"
Practically, this is by far the most i'm
por,ant and the most worthy aspect
OF human action, and TO lose sight
of this as the greatest Of all princi-
rcS in its kind is to suffer complete
moral paralysis. Only, in surveying
life il is childish not to see that man is
not by any means the only master of his
own fate. His father and mother, and all
the generations before them, have some
thing 10 do with it, and so have his chill
drcn. The misery which beials mother
who has been bcreavcd of her child is an
element in her fate over which she can
have no mastery, and so are ten thousand
other things which must inevitably enter
into the lot of social being with any rcla
ton or dealings with his ncighbors or the
species at large. The certainty, however,
that one may, and very often does, cross
the Rubicon by proxy, or suffer the con-
sequences Of other peoples exploits, is not
q wholesome or useful thing to reflect
upon. 1t is very apt to saddle man with
the, snug but particularly Improbable
habit Of letting himself off too lightly and
easily, and anything which tends ever so
remotely to diminish the sense of each
mans strict responsibility for his own con-
duet is best kept in the background.
There is great difference between un-
willingness to think very much about the
tremendous consequences which may tol-
low upon having taken a decisive step and
habitual unwillingncss to take the step
itself. The one implies merely q sober
caution of mind; the other entails all the
dire miseres of helpless irresolutlon. "A
not infreoucnt result Of these miscries is
to drive the sufferer into an opposite habit
of overquick resolutcncSs. a readiness
in "a man to cxult in the fact that he has
done something which he cannot undo,
that he has pledged himself to course
from which he cannot draw back, is more
commonly the sign of weak than of q
strong nature. The comfort Of plunging
right into the stream is unspeakable to
ANYBODY who has been accustomed to
stand shvering and irrcSolute on the
bank. When person Of this sort has
brought himself to take the plunge, his
emulation and fearlessness are wonder
ful. The knowledge that the Rubicon is
crossed and the die cast seems to re-
licve him from the necessity of further
resolution. He has set in motion a ma
chine which will Of itself wind of results
and consequences for him without more
ado on his own part; and this is an order
of release from the demands of circum-
stance upon his will, for which he cannot
be too thankful. So he comes at last really
10 be fond OF crossing Rubicons and taking
decisive measures, just because they arc
decisive. A good many people, we fancy,
get married on this principle. They per-
suade themselves that marriage is a yoke,
pleasant or otherwise, which they are deS
tined one day to 60 under. But the labor
of exercising very careful and deliberate
choice is more than they can bear; so
they rush Dlindly across the stream, really
relieved at being able to Cry out "Alea
Jacta est" In too many cases this method
may remind us of Mr.. Mcawbcr's eycla-