Fremont journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County [Ohio]) 1853-1866, 1853-03-05
MAN

we see him sometimes approAmating to the
former and sometimes TO the latter. What
man would have been had he not effaced from
his soul the beautiful moral image of his Ma
ker-had he not known there is evil as well as
good-hsd he obeyed the injunctions Of his
Creator and not eaten of the fatal fruit Of
Eden-we say what man would have been,
and would be at this moment, had he remain
ed in his primitive state of innocence. we can
have but faint conceptions. And on the 9TH
er hand, had man been left in the miserable
condition into which he had voluntarily plum
ged himself is quite as difficult to con-
ceive. Man in his present state, is compound
of purity and impurty, Of evil and good. In
his disnterested and lofty aspirations, he ap-
pears as an angel of light-in his degraded
selfshness, 6end Of darkness. Engaged in
The investigation and development Of great,
sublime and beautiful truths-in the solution
OF the intricate and grand problems of the Uni
verse-rising through the magnifcence of Ma
.ure, up to Natures Eternal and Infinite
Source. with heart glowing with admiration
and pure love,for all"His glorious works and
ways"-then it is that he appears in the i'm
maculate image of the unorginated Spirit that
gave him birth. Employed in "treasons STRAIT
agems and spoils"-in soiling, marring. defa-
cling and crushing to dust, all that is excellent
and notwithstanding and butchering his
fellow men-then it is that he assumes the
haggard, distorted and Ioathsome image of
the great "fatheI of lies" Every soul of our
race bears the image either Of the one or the
other. No one can "serve God and Mammon."
No one can love virtue and vice at the same
time, any more than two material bodies can
occupy the same space at the same time
than light and darkness can exist together
Every one is forced by the laws of his being
to advance-there is no standing still. And
as there are but tWo ways in which man can
and must travel, the broad road or the mar
row path, he is either Running do,Um to degra-
daton and wretchedness. or struggling up to
honor and happiness.
Man to develope all the susceptibilities Of
bis nature, and stand but 'little lower than
the angels" must
lst Cultivate manly and selfresp,ct-
And to this end, he must bear in mind, tha,
man, with all his perverted and selfish pro-
pensities, is still the nohleat work of God, on
earth.
And what is mane A mere vegetative ex.
istence-a perisbing animal-a soulless enti-
ty? Or rather, an intellectual, moral, spirit.
ual and immortal being? The heavens and
their innumerable hosts-earth, air and sea
with their countless tenantry, shall obey the
solemn mandate. "Pass ye away" The sur
shall rise for the last time. and go down ii
endless night-the light of the moon and o
the stars shall 60 out and shine no more for
ever--sll, all we see must cease to exis: bu
man bimself:--
j "He will flourish in immortal youth
Unhurt, amid the wreck of matter,
And the crush Of worlds"
Indeed. to create, develope, mature, and per
feet man, is but the ultimate end--the fna
: cause Of this mundane system. Hence, is i
not mans imperative duty, as well as his high
est honor and glory TO maintain that elevation
! and dignity for which he was sreated-lord 0
creation?
2dl. Man must be industrious. There nev
er was, and there never can be, man worth,
of the name MAN, without industry. Fo
proof, We have only to refer to men Of emf
nence Of every age, and of every country Q
, the world. There is not a solitary example
in the annals Of time, Of mans becoming dis
tingushed. in anything. without great ant
continued labor.
Sd. He should study the lives and writing
Of those OF bis race who have distinguished
themselves for knowledge, wisdom and noble
ness Of character. In agreat degree this mad
Franklin the printer, the world'reuowned Dr
Franklin the phi losopher-the only true phi
losopher America has ever produced. Thoug
be never attended college q day, nor knew
anything about the ancient classics. yet by th
careful study Of the writings Of Addison, b
. became one Of the finest writers who has eve
written in the Engsh language. Who doe
/ not feel himself wiser and better man 70
lhsyiug read The lives Of such usa u wssh