The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1852-11-18

uVtH ubtlrFu p0Wefs
all our stores of knowledge: but must not sllow
an absorption Of mind In our business pursuits that
prevents us from gathering stores Of and ths
weakens our powers OF reflection Excessive thought
upon any subject weakens the mind and impairs the
Judgment, rendering it obscure and vasciating; com
plete absorption Is common form of insanity and
unless corrected destroys the intellect Although the
mind does not like the body require rest to recruit It's
energies does demand range ef thought preserve
and increase them How frequently do those OF
bright promise for successful and improving career
hrst become immersed in their peculiar calings then
cease to tDcome forcble in their buainess af
fairs Like the horse that turns the shaft they become
dull their minds into ruts and their daily path
sinks into channels deep that they unable to
hey ond the walls upon the right hand the left We
see merchants wther up mentally and PHYSICAL in their
ma UUanpg tpI pore over physical facts
of mind or sou-la w era who grow dull dry, and Pc
danc persuaded that all valuable knowledge consists Of
judicial lore, and belong to that class who shook their
heads at Murray for wtn-mechanics, who become
aouncs to their tools and quite lfeessor cler
diversified by arrangement of theological formula
Who has not felt that he would like to gavanize them
with new idea, ard arouse them with topics for
mental ament and IMMIGRATION This habit Of CONT
nuay porpg over one topic Is we'll described by Carlyle
in bis quaint language repeated thrashing
Of at world of rotten straw hrashed into powder
filling the universe and blottng out the stars and skies
The versatility Of the minds Of great and the vanity
OF their requirements have often been notced and this
has been true OF great warriors whose ambition did
not lead them into purely Intellectual paths We
not well informed character of Aexander the Great
Oh admiration p0ots,
the cities he founded and the libraries he established
show that war did not enRross his faculties Caesar
not only victorious general but distinguished orator
and historian Napoleon the great Warrior Of
modern times, was remarkable for his love o. the fine
arts bis taste in literature aud his judicial code
ryaed the influence OF his arms We are apt to regard
these tastes dive from their great objects
OF ctnquest but were they not the aids by which their
minds we're vivid enabling them to return to the
cs Of the camp with fresh vgor and enlarged capacities
1t is doubtful II any profession be followed exclu
sively without withering up the faculties and dwarf.
society that there were no idsrs in our
but mean to say that ideal of highly
respectable who thinks only Of his business
and woi ks himself death One extreme leads to
other I; snusements and relaxation being regarded
are followed with deportation parallel
with that with which wealth is pursued By the
more respected citizen Politics resources By which
many excite themselves and relieve the monotony Of
their ordinary pursuits Under our governmental ins
tion and cannot be entirely avoided by those who do
their whole duty to the republic but carried too far
to 1t expanded and srong and thus add to
its isor for the ordinary duties of life Every trained
politician must lead life of exhaustiDg excitement He
must always be pathetic or indignant He must be
either in the patriotic philanthropic, other
exciting line Of business The philosophy Of partizan
warfare well explained by veteran agitator who
Informed pupil "that the great point was to have
grievance and to have that could not be cured
remedy would spoil the whole game " His strongest posi-
his activity and zeal like the anchorite Of old he puts
tbons under his jacket in the shape envy jealousy and
anu tne VlcIlm In tne enQ Is carried OIL Win
political derium tremens haunted with viaions Of dis
appointed hopes and ungraeful friends and excainng
IF had served my God with half the zeal
That have served my King, he would not In my age
Have left me naked to mine enemies.n
Political parties like Saturn. destroy their progeny.
There is to fear American enterprise and energy
may run into and sordd channels and that
intelects intensely applied to personal csngs pro-
and overlooking the necessity for varied and en-
lose their vvacty and elasticity and shrink and be-
degenerate The world is srewed With the wrecks
Of cities and empires whose destruction has been
stoned By similar causes. Nat~rul advantages can
never save people from the cop.eluences Of mental
moral. physical decay. The skies Of Italy
are as bright, her soil as fertile, and her air
genial whom Rome was mistress OF the
world yet 1t hardly boast political existence
Of the evils to which alluded we look to their In.
tellectual moral and religious training OF the religious
other speakers and different occasions When speak Of
mental moral cutureI have reference to highest
purpose the formation of character elevation of morals
and the epoyments OF intellect and not merely of It's
subordinate and utilitarian aspect aid to
cess in our business affairs 1 shall confine my
marks to that class OF intellectual pursuits which have
termed studies Of nature.n do not wish exat
branch Of learning ut the expense of Others for all alike
contribute to expand the min l. to elevate the sentiments
and to make the man But feel there are some pecu.
liar adaptations Of these studies to those phases Of
society to which have alluded which has led me pre-
term, studies Of naturen mean those intellectual
pursuits which lead to the consideration Of the physical
world in conradistipction TO the sciences
belle letters and include In tho term the attention
that marks the beauty Of landscapethat notes the
peculiafities of vegetable or animal life that ex-
plores in rocks, the past history OF the earth :
that studies the mysterious laws Of matter in
chemistry, or, taking bolder flight, contem-
plates the worlds that glitter above and around US
Intellectual pur uits have two aspects irst, they
valuable agencies in promoting ia business;
copd they create character and mind and give the
enjoyment of intelligence Education. direct aux-
liIy to respective caings Is highly and justly va
lued But 1t is not in this aspect that wish to speak of
mental Improvement on this occasion. As people.
sufficiently impressed with the duty of getting ready
to live hough alo1 ourselves but little leisure
the enoyments Of life and rarely reach the time when IL
thought suitable to begin until it Is too late pro.
pote to speak Of learning Of enlargng the
mind varying Its powers elevang the sentiments and
giving those intellectual enjoyments which call living
taste for them s easily created and when aroused
Is enduring. They embarrassed by tedious pre
mnary preparations nor obscured by abstractions they
are valuable and peasurabe from the outset he who has
harmed to notice the popularity OF leaf has made
step complete in itself They enduring and adapted
to all ages and conditions giving pleasure TO youth
taxation to active mi idle life and consolation to the
weakness of age. They boundess In their range u
exbsusblc in their considerations and tend 10 habits
Of life allie beneficial to the health invgorang to the
mind and eevatiDg to the moral sentiments. They do
not interfere With the paramount duties Of life by
healthy exctements, while they afford that heathfu
variety and stimulus esse nal TO the preservation Of full
mental sgor They arc adapted TO the con-
diton Of all classes OF our population. Involving
no buIthepsome expenses, they within the reach
Of all Their objects are around, ADORE and beneath
and constantly within the range of observations
They peculiarly fitted to the wants OF that int crest
ing and truly American class of citizens who with
out advantages Of early education have achieve their
fortunes and who feel an honorable anxiety that their
outward not outshine their mental and
moral acquisitions. may also add, that the magnificent
fcale OF Natures works this tinenscems invite
particularly to these considerations Let me illustrate
my ideas by reference to Of the familiar dscoye
ries Of modern science Those who have paid any aten
iion to the geology OF our country know that the dt
ent strata Of rock that compose the crust OF the earth
and which deposited principally when this part Of
our continent was covered with water have been up
hsayed from the north in such and with such
DIP that In travelling to the south their edges
posed TO view and examination aud thus enabled
practically to see each since the period the earth
molten with intense heat Their original relative posi-
ton s SO far that able to learn the order
in which they were formed. Every geologist knows
in what succession he will find the different strata and
groups of rocks and earth from the shores Of Lake 0ns
rio 10 the Gulf Of Mexico When he explores the lower
strata and which but for the convuson that upheaved
IL would now be sunk at an immense depth, he finds in
II shells and other remains showing animal existence
Of low ganization. but In many instances of curious
FORMS II go South within the limits Of State,
to the point where this class OF rocks disappear
beneath another system which contains the evidence Of