The American patriot., 1855-02-14

Never be dispatched again;
Keep them for the strife of goyi .t.5,r.. 81
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We take the following extracts from discourse
delivered before the Boston Mercantile Library, by
the Hon. Horace Mann. 1t is addressed more
particularly to the young: l
begin with the postulate, that 1t is the law of
our nature to desire happiness. This law is not
local, but univcrsai not temporary, but eternal
1t is not law to be proved by exceptions, for it
knows no exception. The savage and the martyr
welcome fierce pains, not because they love pain;
at the price of imprisonment, torture or death.
The young desire happiness more kecnly than any
others. This desire is innate, spontaneous, cXu-
berant; and nothing but repeated and repeated
overfows Of the lava Of disappointment can burn
or bury it in their breasts. On this law of our
nature, then we may stand as on an immovable
foundation of truth. Whatever fortune may be
fall our argument, our premises are secure The
conscious desire of happiness is active in all men,
Its objects are easily conceived by all men, But
alas! towards what different points OF the moral
compass do men look for these objects, and expect
to find them! Some look for happiness above, and
some below; some in the grandeur OF the SOUL and
some in the grossncss of the sense; some IN the
heaven of purity, and some in the hell Of liccn-
tiousness. Wherever it is looked for, the imagi-
nation adorns it with all its glowing colors Null
titudcs of those who seek for happiness will not
obtain the object of their search, because they
seek it amiss. Deceived by false ideas OF IT'S ma
trrc, other multitudes, who can obtain the op)ect
of their search, will find it to be sorrow ana not
'joy-Dead-soa apples, and not celestial irul'' II
But however energetic and vast the desires OF
happiness may bc,-swcng in millions of hearts,
growing on enjoyment, and growing still more on
disappointment nothing is more certain that the
range and possibility of happiness, which God has
provided and placed within arms length OF us all,
is still vastcr than the desire of it, in any and In
all of His creatures We are finite and can receive
only in finite quantities; He is infinite, and gives
! in infinite quantities. Look outwardly and behold
the variety and redundancy of means which the
Creator has prepared to meet and to satisfy the
rational wants of His children. So ample and
multtudinous are the gifts of God, that Hc needed
an immensely of space for their storchouse; and Sc
various are they, and ascending one above another
in their adoption to our capacities OF enjoyment
that we need an eternity to sit out the baquet Il
the human heart can ever find any rational excuse
for repining, it is not because of the penury and
chccrfulncss of its lot; but because, as it mounts
upward in it's reach after higher enjoyments, it Is
compelled to leave such pure and exquisite pleas
ures untast.d behind it.
Man is not savage Or pauper by the ineXora
bic fatality of his nature. He is surrounded witt
every form of the trucst and noblest wealth.
wealth. or well-being for the body, wealth for tht
mind, wealth for the heart. He is not OF pieblaI
origin, but his lineage is from God; and when HI
asserts and cxcmplities the dignity of his nature
royal and patrican titles shrink into nothingnesS
sink to oblivion. Men were not created to per
form twcnty-four months of bodily labor IN twclv'
months of time, while the intellectual and mora
improvement, which single year might master
is spread over life. The laws of nature and Q
: God doom no man to live on potato day; bu
the productive powers of the earth are as mucl
beyond all the demands of hcalthful sustcnance
as the volume of the atmosphere which cncirce
the globe is beyond the capacity OF human lungs
! Men were not created to live in wigwanls nor i
sites; but to rise up and to lie down in dwelling
!, of comfort and elegance Men were not create
. for mendlcity societies. and ams-houses, and tn
n gallows; but for competence, and freedom, an
: virtue; not for thoughtess puertics and yantic'
$ but for dignity and honor, for joy unspoakabIe an
! full of glory
d Were a young man to write down list of hi
o duties, Health should be among the first items
the catalogue This is no cXaggeraton of its va
uc. for health is Indispensable to almost ever
;, form of human enjoyment; it is the grand auxi
!, iary of usefulness; and should a man love tl
: Lord his God, with all his heart and soul an
q strength, he would have ten times more heart an
l. soul and mind and strength; to love Him with,
l. the yigor of health than under the palsy OF di
ease. Not only the amount, but the quality OF IL
IL labor which man can perform, depends upon
~ health. The work sayors OF the workman
) the poet sickcns, his verse sckens; if black, We
> Gus bood flows to the authors brain, it beclou
- his pages; and the devotions Of a consumpt
man scent of his disease as Lord Byrons obsce
- tiles smell of gin. Not only Lying lips" but
:, dyspeptic stomach, is an abomnation to the Lol