New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1843-02-18

specie, as If these were not also means like the
other. Never in these are we to look for saliva
ton, but only in life itself. Again, ali are resting
in the discovery of new arts, in improvements IN
steam, in inventions Of all descriptions IN Photo-
eenic drawings, in India rubber cloths, IN
| lamps which make no shadow, and stoves which
burn ss fuel, in clocks which are wound up oy
The tides, in swifter steamboats,, in lfe-preserv-
ers. and diying-bells. We look with impotence
for some Improved mode Of conveyance; we
are impatient of the slow rate at which we
travel. Twssty-6ve miles an hour has come to be
creeping. Men mast be conducted by some gall
vanic process; they must in some way conPete
with lightning. Large quilts must be invented
through which they may be propelled over tho
ocean; or they will cross by Submarine syPhons.
Tunnels must be made beneath the sea, that they
NAV 20 drv shod and 10 avoid submarine volca-
noes strenuous measures must be adopted L.
is reckoned dssraceful that earthquakes should be
allowed to explode, and destroy life and injure the
Customs We must have an Artesian well con-
| structed. some FIVE hundred miles wide at is
mouth and three thousand deep, that thus the me-
phitic vapors may have quiet vent, and be turned
to soma account by the Gas Companies.
| This is only specimen of our ways OF thinking
and acting. Our hurry and Impotence lead US to
seek short ssaya in science, and in religion The
race of Scholars, Of profound, patient thinkers,
will soon end. The people are becoming insatla-
BILE readers of newspapers-dsres of which they
yearly peruse. The devotion of our people Is
Phrenology is curious fact. saHnot attribute 1t
wholly to the discsvability of our people; but the
system was in its origin good and neole one
Had it confined itself TO an accumulation
of facts, it would have been good hint
MI
science is only symptom of the times
1t seems as if Phrenology was specially ere
.,ed for the American people, with its
rash classi6catons and shallow presenslons 1t
pretends to have removed all mystery and TO have
laid open the whole soul to the fingers. Genius it
finds to be an Inflammation of the brain and con-
science an irritability of the liver! Yet fhrenolo-
gy is modest in its pretensions compared with
Mesnerism. Ignorant of the processes OF nature
aad of spirit thsy seek by new power to raise
man to another slate. The most peryerae and stu
pid man once put asleep shall be an angel and make
himself the Paul Pry of the universe. And thus
| men seek to ou,wlt nature! With unwashed hands
and impure hearts they thus hope TO find her Sc
crets! Like 4Fsop's dog they forever grasp at the
shadow of their bone. Magicians and Somnam-
bulist, they profess to see with their elbows and
| to enter heaven and hell, and dodge the laws and
facts the graces aAd the virtues and seek to grasp
| the powers Of life by their fools tricks The gods
must laugh heartily at all this That there may be
| overhowings of nature, some strange occurrences
to give ground for all these things, is most likely
but when they thus make these the lass of nature,
they show their want of sense. By the Lake Win
nspseoge man who haa lost his feet, has learned to
walk upon bis thumbs; all New Hampshire there
fore. walks upon its thumbs and it would require
H. -, - Co.
made to walk with.
All these facts indicate disease. These things
are pursued on low principles; they open the door
to all the old stories of travelling cloaks and iRvisi
bio caps and satisfy men with the senses. But as
| no man ever got cents worth without paying for
it ia some form, the cent all these prodi sious
promises end in very small and smoky perform
ances. They are only symptoms Of disease. The
Repose of Man is not in New-Eng!and, nor in
America. Tho whole people are discontensed with
the tardy growth which satisfies other nations :;
| they must rush or they are disquieted.
Books are changing int newspapers. Our re-
formers, instead of being the strong loving attach
ing men that they should be, are mere empty talk
ers We have no George Washington, no Duke of
Wellington, no Milton and no Bentley; but Mu-
rats and Walters, slight and ePhemeral race.
When we read any great Author, as Plato, or
the productions of the great minds of Elizabeth
time we are astonishsd at their massive strength
and at the deep, strong current of life that Is in
them. But our people are slight and variable.
They are easily elated, and therefore easily de-
| pressed. They follow success not skill, and thus
oftentimes young men at thirty, because they have
not succeeded lose all heart and despair. This fear
of failure has been noticed characteristic OF U.s.
1t is not perceived that we can never have heroes
until we learn that it is impossible to fail, since
failure is the only ground of success. mans sue
cess is in fact made up of failures. In horseman-
ship. net the who falls is the best rider,
bat he who rides to the goal-no matter how many
falls he gets. His business is to ride, not to remain
firm. So the more failures true man has the
faster will he get tits evident that this terror Of
failure, this continual asking leave to lioe springs
from our looking upon the opinion of others as the
measure of character, whereas all depends upon
ourselves The noble Phocion said that he was
afraid of applause for the true feels that he
has another office than to tickle and to hater: he
has to bite and stab to strike falsehood and bring
down conceit and pride.
History is full of tributes 10 the ascendency of
personal qualities. He is the hero who conquers
alone. Cesar, when taken by Corsairs, told them
Stories and assumed the bearing of their master,
and threatened to cruelty them if they harmed him
and so he became their ruler and the ruler Of the
world. Men of strong will constitute the centre
of society, and this virtue does the work of the
world.
These remarks have some value as counteractipg
the tendency to commercial feeling in this country.
to the excessive socialism of the people. Itis bu.
a gloomy picture that We offer to other nations ;
and most intelligent and observing foreigner says
that in no other country has he So little
true Independence of opinion and freedom Of dis
cussion as in America. The ruling power here