The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1848-05-27

er ends! BY no means. We ale told
Of Achilles that he had two alternatives set
before him---lo die covered with glory won
on the plains OF Troy, or TO pass long life
without renown in the place OF his nativity.
We can conceive Of such an alternative
having been submitted Of the commencement
Of their Intellectual career. to some as Illus
trious for genus as the hero Of the Had was
for fests Of arms We can conceive the
question proposed to many whose names are
now identified with the most brilliant intel
lectual achievements Of our kind, whether
they would 20 to an early grave. or lose
those delights and those honors which SCI
enti6c research, the labors Of art, or the
flights Of imagination. would be sure to win
for them. And we plead that the former
alternative would have been Preferred
Would Milton have sacrificed, for paltry
addition Of twenty years to his tack Of life.
the superb visions that crowded thickly ON
his soul, while he meditated his great epic,
and gave il TO the world in the proud con-
seriousness, Is he said, that postenty would
not willingly let il die? Would Newton
have changed ages with Methuselah. il his
nine hundred and ninety nine years had cost
him the glory Of the discovery OF gTayita-
toni Would Byron, though sceptical Of
another world, have 'ripened boar w'sh
time and for this have been content to go
down to the dust. leaving no nsme tina;
made an epitaph?' Would Franklin have
sacrificed his fame as The man who sketch
ed the constitution Of continent with one
hand, while with the other he drew the
lightning from the clouds, for ages OF nglO-
rious ease! The tenacity with which we
cling to existence is indeed strong bat we
do not hesitate to say, that in minds OF the
higher order, the love Of knowledge, when
especially il is associated with the thirst for
renown, is still stronger.
Then the love of life is frequently MASTER
ed and displaced by the affections we allude
to the benevolent and patriotic emotions,
but more especially TO our domestic symPa-
thies. We allow, indeed, that, ia cases
such as we are about 10 mention, there may
be mixture and conflict Of motives Por-
ton Of alloy mixed with the pure gold
But what Of it, Our admiration OF man
kind will be limited indeed, if We accord it
to none Of their actions save those that How
from motives quite unadulterated. This
apart, then, we find that the love OF hie
often yields to purer and more exalted ahec-
tons. The gallant seaman, Drawing the
lash Of the tempest, CT the screenings OF the
fire alone, that he may rescue the tenants OF
his bark from a grave in the deep-the de
voted soldier interposing his own person,
and receiving the stroke that would have
I killed his leader-the patriot facing the dan
gers Of the field that be may protect the hon
or and Independence of his eounny-the
Christian missionary toihng and dying II
the sublime cause Of the worlds evangeli
zation-these, and such as these, attest tha
the love Of life, however strong may 81
conquered. So that, while the names
Leonidas, Of Wallace, and OF Tell. adon
the page of hisOry--while those al Howsn
! and Clarkson live in the memory Of man
! kind--while the Martyr Of Euomanga'
not forgotten, We shall not want proof
this
Then there are what We have called OF
! domestic sympathies. One page OF Roma
4 story tells US Of two friends, Damon an
= Pythias, whose attachment was 50 heIOica
!. ly strong that either Of them could have die
e Cor the other: here the love Of life was sui
dued by the ardor OF friendship. The cas-
y of the citizens OF Calais will also suggest !
: self to the mind Of the reader. And
A speak more directly in reference to our d
: nestle sympaihies, where is the mother VIII
: would not brave death to snatch the infant
her bosom from impending deS.ruction!-
Is where the father who would not peril n
,f own life, to save that Of his son! or the Or
n ther who could endure an existence Purch
!. sed by pusillanimous exemption from da
RI ger which proved fatal to sister! Exec
Re ions there may be; still We plead, the u
D. is ON that side most honorable to our natuI
|; Attachment to principle, too, will
throne the love OF life. We need not mai
"a the thousands who have not 'reckoned tn
A. lives dear to them for the testimony IN
in held-the noble martyrs who
he Lived unknown
m. Till persecution dragged them into fame
And chased them up to heaven
ID They braved the lion, they dared the stal
in they quaffed the boiling lead, rather n
OF prove recreant to the sacred cause oil tru