The Winchester appeal. [volume] (Winchester, Tenn.) 1856-1856, 1856-03-15

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ers, is the greatest gift Of God. "The
omnipotent Creator, we have reason
to think, can bestow nothing greater
than intelligence, love, rectitude, en-
ergy of will and Of benevolent action;
for these are the splendors of his own
nature" In imparting them to the
mind, he gives it worth and dignity
far superior to the external creation.--
"ln this outward system, magnificent
as it is-in the bright day and the star
ry night, in the earth and in the skies,
we can discover nothing so vast as
thought--so strong as the unconquer-
able purpose of duty--so sublime as
the spirit of disinterestedness and self
sacrifice"
In every survey ofthe mind, wheth-
er we view it through the medium Of
reason orrevelation, we are filled with
wonder and delight. The more we
know Of it, the more we shall desire
to know, Considering his capacities,
already great, yet continually enlarg-
ing, and that in progression which
knows no limits, we are lost in amaze
ment. We know the powers Of the
mind, chiefly, as it is connected with
material organs, These organs, tho
greatly instrumental to its acquisition
Of knowledge and pleasure. seem Of
ten to weaken its faculties and impede
its operations. 1t can converse with
an infinite variety of objects in the
material and spiritual worlds. 1t can
compose, combine, distinguish, reason
and judge. 1t can discover latent
truth, and detect the false misrepresen-
tations Of the senses. At pleasure it
can revive the past and anticipate the
future. 1t ranges the wide creation
penetrates the deep recesses of the
earth, and unlocks the mysteries of ma
ture. 1t enables man to maintain an
unrivalled dominion over other class
es of existence on the earth; to explore
the vegetable and mineral Kingdoms,
and to render their numberless and di-
versi6ed productions subservient to his
own use. 1t can soar away to the
planetary orbs, and investigate their
laws and revolutions. But it stops
not here; it ascends to God himself, and
expands its faculties in the contempla-
ton of his eternal nature and trans
cendent perfections. 1t can see the
Deity sitting independent and alone
before the world was; witness the
commencement time; trace it's vari-
GUS revolutions to the end; and then,
rapt in it's own peculiar vision, trans
port itself into futurity, and contem-
plate the world which we inhabit as
but small portion of the empire OF
God, time as lost in eternity; and all
human affairs as mere Incidental Cir.
cumstances occurring to subservc the
designs of the great Creator. By all
this variety of action, its native ener-
gies are not impaired, but improved;
not wearied, but reireshed; not satisf-
ed with it's present acquisitions, but
stimulated to new and increased exer-
tions: it asks no pause--it can be re-
strained by no limits.
In addition to this, the mind is i'm
mortal. The material creation must
yield to the wasting hand of time, and
eventually dissolve away. Human
instutions and works of art inherit hu.
man frailty. The body itselfis not ex-
empt from the shafts of disease and the
resistless hand of death. But the
mind bids defiance to them all. II
cannot be confined within the narrow
boundaries of this life. 1t carries with.
in itself ample proof of higher desti.
nation. Nor do we think it inconsist.
ent with reason or the religion of the
Bible to suppose that its attainments
in knowledge will remain unimpaired
by the wreck of matter, will survive
the last struggle of expiring nature
and continue to exert growing intlu-
ence in other worlds. We cannot be-
leve that intellectual culture produ.
ces no fruit to be matured by immor.
tality. knowledge, whether it denote
memory of facts or that intrinsic
worth which the mind derives from a
careful study of the phenomena Of ma
ture, is lasting as the mind itself. Can
it be supposed that the mind of an in.
FAINT enters its future state of existence
with the same majesty and strength
as the mind of Newton! We viii
not believe in principle which would
break up the mental fabric, reared and
adorned with so much care, and cast
it in scattered fragments on the wide
ocean of eternity. 1t shall be a cOnso.
lation to the student, amid the tolls and
fatigues of mental discipline, that he
cherishes an immortal mind-a mind
which will enter eternity with the
same Intellectual character that il
here possessed; and which, should he