and, following
this odd introduction, we will here make our readers somewhat better
acquainted with Jasper the Parable.

He was born in Thuringia, not far from the Baths of Liebenstein. His
father was a German, but his mother was of English descent, and he had
visited England with her in his youth, and so spoke the English language
naturally and perfectly. He had become an advocate of the plans of
Pestalozzi, the father of common-school education, in his early life.
One of the most intimate friends of his youth was Froebel, afterward the
founder of the kindergarten system of education. With Froebel he had
entered the famous regiment of Luetzow; he had met Koerner, and sang the
"Wild Hunt of Luetzow," by Von Weber, as it came from the composer's pen,
the song which is said to have driven Napoleon over the Rhine. He had
married, lost wife and children, become melancholy and despondent, and
finally fallen under the influence of the preaching of a Tunker, and had
taken the resolution to give up himself entirely, his will and desires,
and to live only for others, and to follow the spiritual impression,
which he believed to be the Divine will. He was simple and sincere. His
friends had treated him ill on his becoming a Tunker, but he forgave
them all, and said: "You reject me from your hearts and homes. I will go
to the new country, and perhaps I may find there a better place for us
all. If I do, I will return to you and treat you as Joseph treated his
brethren. You are oppressed; you have to bear arms for years. I am left
alone in the world. Something calls me over the sea."

He lived near Marienthal, the Vale of Mary. It was a lovely place, and
his heart loved it and all the old German villages, with their songs and
children's festivals, churches, and graves. He bade farewell to Froebel.
"I am going to study life," he said, "in the wilderness of the New
World." He came to Pennsylvania, and met the Brethren there who had come
from Germany, and then traveled with an Indian agent to Rock Island,
Illinois, where he had met Black Hawk. Here he resolved to become a
traveling teacher, preacher, and missionary, after the usages of his
order, and he asked Black Hawk for an interpreter and guide.

"Return to me in May," said the chief, "and I will provide you with as
noble a son of the forest as ever breathed the air."

He returned to Ohio, and was now on his way to visit the old chief
again.

The country was a wonder to him. C