The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1848-07-01

/ past that hes never bent to the inconstan
, wind OF .huhian caprice. IL such thin
} realty exist in the world-whieh.is gravel
TO be doubted-assuredly this is question
able boast. The minds OF masses OF mel
being liable to continual. though it ma,
be slow and imperceptble change. il is i'm
possible for any institution to go on un
changingly, without falling out OF relation
with the world. Its vital is changed for
noninal existence; and 50 Ear from derivin,
strength from Its antiquity, it derives weak
ness and Rnger. Institutions OF this kins
may be flR tered, up to the last day of theil
existence, With the external homage which
they have ben accustomed to receive, ane
ere ionr-andawenty hours pass, they may be
tfsmpled on as noxious weeds, or quietly
consigned to universal forgesiulness. Such
Iea'asuoPhes are clearly lraceable to the err
cor OF setting up persisiency as the law Of
/ inc world, the real law being change. Man
coahppally changes. and everything that
fNph wish to live with hun mus, consent "a
caanSo to9 everything must partake Of his
ehrn nRenescence, or take the conse-
jt}uen 1lsomiux 100 old. ,--..-,---.... -.
II isthe ifASzss< - F.sffiericy OF youth 10
transcend the limits Of its actual experience.
Ii presumes, assumes, idealises, colors from
It's own rlch heart the outlines and forms OF
things. and anticipate, results with a pro-
Phetie power that sometimes induces their
rsalization, but more frequently clothes the
distant prospect with those entertainments
~Saeh Hope pictures as belonging TO the
luture. \ outh is the season Of aereal castle
hnlding-of countless projects--of bound.
less asPirations--of infinite possibilities.
But period Of limitation at length arrives;
OF aims more andmore positive, objects more
definite, an arena more contracted, and la
bors more special. The man has become
the classmani-the cosmopolite, or the pa
triot-the general lover, OF an attached hus-
band and iather-the acquaintance of all or
the friend Of iew-the wanderer of the
clubs, or the domestic man, whom nothing
can tempt from his chinlney-corner on
winters evening. Much has been gained,
but evidently much has been lost. While
the difficulty of blending in one individuality
the advantages Of both conditions is freely
acknowledged to be great, we are far from
holding il to be insuperable. There is much
needless waste of wealth, much extravaganza
OF anticipation, much borrowing on the cred
it of the future, much excess OF all kinds,
on which it would be we'll that youth should
be timeously admonished. With all the reg.
ulations Of experience, however. il is OF
equal importance, individually, and for so
cial well-being, that the middle-aged and old
should cultivate as far as possible youthful
feelings. Let not the glory and the fresh.
ness Of the dream Of youth depart with the
dream itself, some glimpSes Of The vision may
surely survive IFS memory. Once more,
exclaims Byron, who would not be boy?'
To carry the feelings Of childhood into the
powers Of manhood is, says Coleridge, the
prerogative Of genius And what prerog-
adve IL is. Yet it is not one so exclusively
that all nisn may not share I'm it, each in
bis degree. We would warn, therefore, the
man Of middle fge from becoming the VIC
Tim OF fixed habits and acquired routine, to
the exclusion Of new impulses, and the
pleasure that constantly attends them. Eve
ry day is a new day, every hour new hour;
the world is always becoming new, and Gre
alton is renewed every moment, so that ma
ture is still in travail with fresh generations.
Nothing, if we rightly consider it, is really
old--not even age itself. To insist on guild
ing ourselves by the prejudices Of yesterday,
IS merely to resist the progress of growth
Judgment, in its maturity, has nothing to
dread from concession to increased knowl-
edge. Its tendency is to deliberate--to move
slowly--to stand STILL and il indeed needs
the agitation Of new ideas, interests, and
opinions, to preserve it in healthy state Of
life and action. An old man OF our &C.
quaintance, who as solicitously sought the
instruction Of new impressions, as others are
anxious to reject them, declared to us that,
as his understanding became more and more
Illuminated, he felt as if he was growing
younger every day: it was, moreover, evil
dent to all that his intellect, owing to the
freedom with which he had permitted it still
to operate. was constantly to the last receiv-
ing fresh development and expansion. Hap
py the man thus united to an aged body, who
yet owns young mind! His are at once
the security OF discretion and the rapture OF
imagination-this sobered in its tone, and
that vivihed-and both co-existing in beau
ty, like light and shade in the picture OF a
great MASTER Chambers Edinburgh Jour
nal.