Burlington hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1845-185?, 1851-03-20
BURLINGTON HAWK-EYE.
For tho Burlington Hawk Eye.
Tho Shirt Of ENTERPRISE.

N-UN>o~~o.>-~>-~~oJo-~- 0~-~@-~--.-oo~-~~~~~~
For tho Darlington Hawk Eye.
The Spirit Of Enterprise.
III were called upon to decide what is the main
spring Of human action and achievement, should
pronounce it to be the Spirit Of Enterprise. We
may take the history of mankind from the earliest
ages OF the search out all the gre trans
actions Of men; whether Of heroes or statesmen,
citizens soldiers, and shall find that they are
ali founded upon this principle. In all complicated
machinery there Is main spring, motive power,
and in the formation OF the human constitution
there has been wisely implanted this great moral
main spring, BY which all the faculties OF the soul
are impelled and regulated. suspend its opera
tions, and man himself becomes a mere passive
machine, nerved by others and entirely subject to
their control. He may have clear conceptions Of
general principles; he may understand perfectly the
elements Of physical and moral subjects, his judg
ment may convince him beyond the power Of cavil,
the course to be pursued most conducive to his
interests and happiness; and his reasoning facul-
ties may shed such lustre upon that course, which
his judgment convinces him he should follow, as
almost to dazzle with its brlancy, and yet if the
spirit OF enterprise lies dormant in his bosom, con-
ception, judgment and reason with their triple
poWoA CdEIlOt aFOuSc HlHl lTOHn MS SuplncncSS.-
How often do we find those who have been endow-
ed with the most gorgeous imaginations, and the
most gigantic intcects. Suffer that imagination to
become clouded, and that intellect to become i'm
potent, for the want Of vigorous exertion. Many
young man has entered upon the theatre Of life,
with the capacity to shed lustre upon his own
name, and to adorn the society in which he lived,
yet BY inactivity he has suffered all his mental pow
ers to grow torpid, and his intellectual endowments
to perish for want of cultivation! How MANY a
mind has been lost in obscurity while creative IA
culties might have brought to light wonders from
Its own mysterious depths, had it called into action
spirit of uptiring enterprise! AS the noble ship
launched forth upon the wide ocean, without pilot
or helmsman, destitute OF chord or compass, its
sails unfurled, and its canvass swelling in the
breeze, must soon be driven upon the sands OF an
unknown coast. or wrecked upon wild and barren
rocks. So an intellect noble that gallant ship,
launched upon the OF life, without the spirit of
enterprise to direct its course, will soon drift into
some still and unrufiled water, and perish in OBJ
security. ~ "
There is nothing in the physical world OF more
injurious tendency than want Of activity, and the
same truth holds good when applied by the mental
W 'soA"A uatuAS Vi &AiugSs SuplHcuekS TeHueFS
the body sluggish and imbecile, inaction produces
debility and enervates the whole physical system.
The ocean unrufied by the winds Of heaven, and
never rolled up into mountain pillows by the fury
OF the storm, becomes putrescent sea. The at
mosphere never purified and renovated by the cleo
trio influence Of the tempest driven cloud becomes
hlled with poisonous vapors and impregna,ed with
the elements Of death. And thus the intellectual
powers when permitted to slumber through long
continued mental night incompetent TO gaze up
on the flood Of light streaming from the fountain
of literature and science, much less to increase its
brilianoy by sending forth their own irradiations.
The mind never called upon to grsppe with oppos-
ing difficulties, or to fathom the depth OF physical
or metephy steal Sciences, retains chld-iike i'm
potency. The intellect, by nature strong ard Wig.
orous, but never summoned to contend with mas
ter spirits in the conflicts OF life, loses all its ma
tive vitality and gides silently down the stream of
time andistinguished by the world. ~
Far better for the gallant ship to be tcmpcst-tost
upon the raging pillows of an angry sea- than to lie
unmoved in a deadly calm. Infinitely better that
maj estic oak should be seathed and rivcn by
the lightnngs Of the storm-charged cloud, than
that the whole atmosphere should become wind |
ing sheet for persisted thousands. And much bet
ter hal the soul Of rise in its native dignity
aud grandeur, and throw oil the trammels that in
action weavea around il, determined to accomplish
some deed Of vaor or renown, even though il per-
ish in the conflict, than to pass away inglorously
and unknown. r u !
There have been those who have cherished this !
spirit of enterprise, and to them the world is in
debted for all that is great in deed and noble in
daring. The spirit Of enterprise has rolled back |
the tide OF barbaris that had for centuries bur-
ed the world beneath its food. There have lived
in all ages men who have swayed the destinies OF
millions of their fellow beings, the soul of whose
magic power was enterprise. Kingdoms have
crumhled before its mighty arm and empires have |
been created upon their ruins. Thrones have been
subverted and the standard Of freedom has been
planted where they stood. The desert has been |
explored and the painless ocean has been made the
highway Of nations, by this, the presiding genius
OF the arts and sciences.
We turn our eyes back but few centuries and
we behold half world wilderness, boundless
ocean untraversed, single idual, humble and
obscure soliciting aid to explore the tracklfss sea.
And soon we find him contending with the pillows
of the deep, and finally standing upon the shores Of
another continent. Nhat nut tHe spTN VI eheI-
prise could have actuated the discoverer Of Amer
lea to the stupendous undertaking. What but this
spirit induced thousands to leave their homes and
native land, to seek their fortunes in this distant
clime2 before what potent influence fell the nigh
ty forest PROSTATE to the earh9 And whence
spring these fields OF golden grain, where was wont
to roam the panther unmolested and the fox TO dig
his hole unscathed2 by what magic power have
magnificent cities sprung up throughout the land
adorned with gorgeous temples and proud palaces,
where once stood the Indians wigwam?
why is it then when half city lies in smoking
ruins, we see it rising "Ph9nix-ike from its ash
esq" It Is because the spirit Of enterprise lights
her torch at the smouldering embers. Then let
our young men fling all doubt and misgivingst to the
winds Of heaven, determined TO rise above the
frowns and advers,ties Of life, and such resolve
firmly kept, will bear them on to future and to
q noble fame. ..~ s... rsaF a.. W. >. y.
Stand from Under.
H. ~f .lNl.r