Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1841-05-05

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The following is an extract from the
MONTHLY LEcrURER of the National
Society Of Literature and Science publish
ed in New York City. This Society was
Instituted Feb. IL. 1910. THEoDoRE
FRELINeHUrsEN, President Its object
lis to promote and extend the Empire Of
knowledge.
Again The mind possesses attributes
susceptible Of indefinite cultivation. Ex,
ercise invigorates them; and new acquire
mems create new capabilities for further
Requirements. Hence arises the solemn
inquiry--Are these grand and mysterious
powers given to US for Improvement or
not?
What do reason and experience teach
We find that the desire Of these faculties
degrades the indiyidual-un6ts him for
the competent discharge Ct duty and rem
ders him fierce, brutaI-a mere creature
lofimpuise and of passion He isincapa-
bic Of enjoying either social blessings. or
civil privileges His pleasure centres in
+ :. +
1 the qualification of his passions, and his
views of happiness reach not beyond the
passing hour. He sees not the hand Of
God in the whirlwind, or in the storm.
To his ear there is no music in The whis-
perings of the viewless winds, and the car
/ ollings of the feathered songster He can
4 perceive no beauty in the morning dew
Edrop-or in the sparkling rivulet, or in
the blushing fower--or grandeur In be-
holding the howling tempest, the CLEAN
of the lightning, the rush Of the cataract,
or in tracking the Sun and the. Stars ia
their ceaseless flight. The earth below
presents no loved scene Of rational enjoy
ment-the heavens above, reveal no exalt-
i ed hope of future bIessedness But, re-
verse the picture change the view from
the condition Of ignorance to the condition
4 of knowledge-to moral and intellectual
development. That is the redeeming,
compromising influence Of education-ex-
ercise, expansion upon the individual.
I, Think We. it degrades him'2 Does 1t
lower him in the scale OF rational beings
Does it make him more fierce, more pas
sionate, more selfish, more immoral p
+ BY no means. On the contrary, it ele-
Yates, it refnes. 1t preserves the equili.
, brium Of the mind-snbdues the passions
harmonizes and eSalts the affections of the
!, / soul, and confers controlling power OF
: reason and judgment. Ii renders him &
more useful melnber--a brighter orna
men. to society. And it not only opens
to him new fields of action, and qualities
him for the efficient discharge of his nu
merous duties, but it furnishes him with
exhaustless fountains of enjoyment anC
happiness; rich, priceless, ever-enturine
Z in their characters. To the educated
: man, every thing above and around hin
I is filled with beauty--the Spring with it
, showers and blossoms and thickening fol
. iage-the Summer with her golden har
vests and ripening fruits 1.-The falling lea
2 of Autumn-the aold-finged cloud float
n ing in the upper sky-emblem Of purit
IS The lambert beams of the moon playin,
IF on the smooth waters, and picturing tn
le neighboring landscape on their bosom
! all are surprisingly beautiful An elc
= quent writer thus pleasingly discourses
4 Beauty is an all peryading 2resenc,
p II unfolds in the numberless flowers
y the Spring. 1t waves in the branches {
Id the trees. and the green blades of gras
IS: II haunts the depths of the earth and SCI
M and CLEANS out in the hues Of the she
h. and the precious stone; and not onlyth
,;s minute objects but the ocean, the moul
a teins, the clouds. the heavens. the star
: the rising and setting sun, all overflo
S with beauty. The universe is its temple
nd aud those men who are alive to it, cam
It, lif their eyes without feeling themselv
We encompassed with it on every side.'