The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1847-12-11

I
the Enchanted Forest
"To oppose
His further way,a mass Of flame arose.
Wider each moment IL expands, and higher,
And seems one lofty wall Of solid FIRE,
Which round the wood a wondrous bulwark
stands,
To guard its treasures from intrusive hands.
Part high above the rest aspiring grew,
| And seemed a towering castle to the view.
! The ramparts Of this new-made hell TO guard
Vast stores of warlike engines were prepared;
And oh, in what dire crowds the Internal brood
To guard the castellated barrier stood.
Some eyed the chief with stern and whitening
look;
Their weapons some with threatening gesture
shook"
Acasto was alarmed and retired. When
Tancred undertook to enter. the same wall Of
FIRE was there to oppose him. But he was not
to be- dsunted by difficulties. and determined
to make them give way
IL boldly advance, the fires see
More fierce in aspect than in fact may be;
But come the worst! As thus the hero spoke,
desperate leap amid the flames he took
Boldness unmatched. Yet did no heat intense
As of surrounding fire, affect his sense;
Nor rightly, in a space so brief, he knew
Il fancied were the flames he saw, or true.
For, hardly touched, the baseless phantom fled. I"
This is the way to meet difficulties. Plunge
into them, and they are gone. There are al
ways lions in the way; but if you march up to
them boldly, they growi and retire. " Madame"
said one Of the ministers Of Louis XVI. to Ma
RE Antoinette, "if the thing is only difficult,
it is done; if it is impossible, il shall be done"
The Boosting Frenchman, without knowing it,
expressed great truth. The true principle is
to act as if nothing were impossible which it is
our duty TO do. Where there is a will there is
way. The great Disposer of events seconds
the efforts of those who resolve TO accomplish
noble ends. and our duty is to
"Aet, ACT in the living present,
Heart within and God Ger head
There is a class Of men who, when any course
of conduct is proposed to them, see nothing but
difficulties in the way. Though blind before,
they instantly acquire a supernatural intensity
of vision. They are surrounded with horrors.
In whatever direction they turn, awful phan-
toms rise before them threatening destruction
lions roar tigers growl, jackals scream, tbunders
below and lightnings fash. Urge them to adj
vance, and the wall of fire before them burns TO
the very heavens.
The story in the Arabian Nights of the Prin-
ces Perizadeh and her two brothers, furnishes a
beautiful illustration Of the effects Of fear upon
the accomplishment of great enterprises When
Prince Bahman began to ascend the mountain
that he might get the speaking bird, the singing
tree, and the wonderful gOld-colored water, i'm
mediaiely he heard voices around him calling
out, aWhor's 10 that fool goi.g1 What -rs.id
he have1 Do not lei him pass" Others cried,
''stop him! catch him! kill himr Others in
tones Of thunder exclaimed, ''Thief! assassin!
murderer" Others ridiculed him, and said,
'No, no, let the pretty fellow pass! the cage
and bird are kept for him." The Prince was
at last filled with terror, and turned to run down
the hill, when he was instantly changed to a
black stone, Prince Perviz next undertook the
exploit, and met with the same fate. The Prin-
cess followed them, determined to succeed or
perish Before commencing the ascent, howev-
er, she took the precaution to stuff her ears
with cotton, that she might not hear the sounds
which had been so fatal TO others The higher
she went, the greater the number of voices that
attempted to intinfdate her; but the cotton pre-
vented them from penetrating her ears in such
laundering tones. Every opprobriOus epithet
was heaped upon her; but she pressed on un-
daunted till at last she could perceive the bird in
its cage. The bird itself now Joined in the eff
forts to drive her back, and cried out in voice
of thunder, eco back, fool!'' The Princess
rushed on laid her hand upon the cage, ex.
claimed, "Bird, have YOU" and the enterprise
was achieved.s We may see in this an illustra-
ton of the history Of every great undertaking
Most men listen to their fears, and are turned to
sAn incident similar in some respects to this
in the Arabian legend is related by Apuleius in
the story of Cupid and Psyche Psyche is
ordered by Venus to bring her an urn of wa
ter from the black fountain. When she arrives
near the top Of the mountain, and sees the ter
rble dragons, and hears the black waters them
selves warning her to retire, she Is overwhelmed
with terror, tmpessibiiifate ipsa ia lspidem
mutata, turned to stone by the very imp0ssi-
bility.