The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1853-03-23
For the Midjebury Register.
"reminiscences of Week in Boston and
its Environs.-No. 4.

er before the publc--lls name
The reader will allow me to dipress
somewhat, and instead Of telling him of
things we saw, rehearse to him some
things We heard. We had the pleasure
of listening to popular lecture on the
following subject, viz The power of
man TO control circumstances. so as to
render them subscrvient to the fullest
development of his physical and spirit
ual nature. In speaking of this godlike
power, the lecturer remarked that man.
in his savage state, finds himself surroun.
ded by great physical evils. The sun
burns him the winter freezes him: the
winds chill him the rain and sleet an
noy him the wild beasts run from
him the fowls fly from him famine
stares him in the face. lie is without
education, without skill without tools !:
his only knife Hintstone or sharp stick
his best revolver, a club or bow. The
first rude tool helps to form second
these two to form third, and so on. un.
til the stone, chiscl, and wooden knife.
give place to those of polished steel.
Intellect sharpens intellect, mind aids
mind, and the work of improvement be-
gins and goes on until man has almost
unlimited power over matter, and CON
trolls circumstances at his will
He finds that culture greatly improves
plants and animals. Wheat is indgcn-
GUS to Asia it went TO Europe and
came to America. 1t is the great means
to feed the race God made it and adap-
ted it to all chimes, where the lace
flourish best The Potato was brought
up from the South Corn grew in our
great vallics, but it was no higher than
mans knees the ears as long as an
infants finger and yielding 40 kernels
to the hill. Under culture, now grows
to the height Of 10 feet. and Yields a
thousand-fold The COW, the horse, the
sheep. the swine, are improved by cul-
ture. The apple the peach. the pear,thc
nectarine, the grape. the plum, and the
strawberry, as they appear now in our
are the deduction of improved
modes Of culture.
Culture is the alma mater Of i'm
provement, and improved varieties when
crossed develop still greater improve
mont. and by law. cndlcssly increase
and multiply their kind Thus plants
are put out to school to learn, and be.
come master of arts Man is improved
by culture His intellect, his morals.
his manners, and his physical proper
tons even, are each and all improved
under its plastic hand
In barbarous countries woman is the
ugliest of the sexes in cultivated soci-
ETY. she is the farcst. Under culture.
the race is improving in health. strength
and beauty. Reason and intellect rem
der matter ever subservient to its pur
poses Man makes his destiny, by his
control of circumstances, by his control
of the material world about him. Grain
mills are false teeth to serve him, The
rivers, with their strong and sinewy
arms, keep full his wardrobe. The
moon works for him and pulls his ships
into harbor, or floats them off to sea.
and rinscs the sewers of the dirty town
The age of steam has come. Like
John the Baptist, it heralds the approach
of goodly time 1t does not live upon
locusts and wild honey, but upon water
and coal. England was once 5000 miles
from us, now but IA days. New York
was once 220 miles distant, now hours
by steam, and 8 seconds by lightning
Man has made the elements his humble
servants to do his bidding A century
and half since, and witches were be-
lieved to ride broomsticks, with the
devil on the crupper, carrying fiendish
messages from Salem to Boston in a
hurry. Now the broomstick gives
place to the attenuated wire, and the
witch and the devil to the lightning
king that heralds the news of the me-
tropolis to the most distant hamlet in
the land
In 1888, England raised a crop of
100000 tons of iron. She also raised
crop of justice. 100000 slaves were
made freemen. Her justice weighed
more than her iron. 1t was appraised
at greater marked value by the King
of Heaven. Intellect, mixed with hu-
man sympathy, creates men and women
from chattels, united with passion and
it becomes family, with patri-
otism it is state /; mixed with iron it
becomes a railroad mixed with light
ming it is a swift herald; thrown into
the sea it is floating palace
Work ON and work on, good time is
coming and will soon be here. Sow the
seed Open liberal hand. Care for
the sorrowful and sad. Gather the
Outcast plants into the garden. Place
them in the greenhouse and give them
the genial influence of sunshine and rain,
until all the eAotics shall bear fruit, and
be At last transplanted by the great
gardener 10 a cline, where no frosts, no
winds, no drouth, can blast their perpet-
ual and everlasting verdure.
The lecture, of which this is an at
tempted abstract, was delivered by one
who is regarded, in this country, as an
object of intense aversion and dread by |
almost every ecclesiastical sect He is
regarded chiefly in the light of a terrible |
destructive, denying the most precious
truths, insulting aud overturhing the
ancient foundations of belief, and remov-
ng the old landmarks of religious faith
md order. Still. he is listened to with ,
leep curiosity. Few men command
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