Mineral Point tribune. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1854-1858, 1856-02-19


the motions and revolutions of the heavenly bod
les ana the forces which hold them in place
we have before us the indisputable results of
mathematical science, the sublime law of gravi-
tafIon, the enunciation of other universal Iaws
pervadlng infinite space and maps accurately
DESCRIBING the geography of creation, and the
situations and orbits of planets and suns and
systems upon systems
9, In this iutermnabIe wilderness
0f worlds at whose immensity
Even soaring fancy staggers."
Are We students of natural philosophy and
chemistry Our labors are not wasted in fruit
less searches for the philosophers stone and the
water of Life Investigations are not con-
fined to the concoction of poisons and their an
tldotes our studies are not the recipes and the
nonsenSlcal dogmas of the alchemists, and the
black letter learning of magicians but they are
the sublime principles upon which nature rests.
developed to their fullest extent and in all of
their minutest and most complicated ramifca-
tlons, their practical application in a thousand
multiplied forms to the uses and purposes of
life, and the wide and astonishing results and
discoveries of modern scientific systematic
study.
Are we students of political science? The
patriotism of Solon the wisdom of Justician, and
the acumen of Machiavelli, never discovered
those great fundamental laws which modern
times have eliminated, and which to-day are in
corporated into the systems of government of the
most enlightened nations of the earth.
Or OF belle latres :: How vast and how rich are
the literary stores which century upon century
has gathered together for our use Here in our
Libraries all the classic productions of anti
putty, the romances and scholastic theology of
the middle ages. and the history, philosophy,
oratory, science and poetry of modern Germany
France, England and America
But this pre-eminent intelligence of the pres
ent age, is not that of few favored individuals,
TO whom fortune has kindly vouchsafed the will
and the ability to study, and before whom it has
laid opensthe ample pages of learning The in
telligence which characterized the republics of
Greece snd Rome, and which has made them
honorable all ages, was hat of a few men, or
ators, statesmen and philosophers, whose names
are all transcribed in the records of fame The
learning of the middle ages was almost exclu-
sively the peculiar distinction of the priesthood
and so much so was 1t in England, that until a
period Lot very remote, he who could read and
write might claim exemption from capital pun
ishment for high crimes, by pleading benefit of
clergy. But knowledge is universally diff
fused ii Is scattered broadcast over the earth
aud is not only accessible to, but is seized and
appropriated by all classes and orders of society
and neither poverty birth present any insur-
mountable obstacles to the acquisition and en-
ioyment. The enlightenment of the present CEN
tury is that of whole nations, in all that pertains
to the arts and sciences, and all that affects the
moral, social and political conditions and rela-
tions of indyidals.
Nor is modern enlightenment to be accounted
for the result Of a and more perfect or
ganlzation of mind. There has been specula
tIons that what we denomnate mind was origin
ally mere instinct, narrow intelligence common
to the whole brute creation that by an infinite
series of transmutations it has attained its pres
ent rank; that at some epoch remote in the fu-
ture it viii possess elements and powers and
qualities which now are not constituent parts of
it, and if time lasts long enough, that it will
eventually be infinite in its capabilities and
functions 1t Is needless to say that such theo-
ries are altogether fallacious The clements the
constituent elements of mind always have been
and Will be the same. They are not subject to
change. The mind of the first man was organ
lied precisely in the same manner and to Just
the same extent as are ours it had imagination
and memory, and perception and reason and all
the other attributes which ours have so has had
the whole human race, whether barbarian or civ
ilized, and so it viii always have.
But this doctrine by no means abnegates a
difference in the orders of talent. Cne man has
a broad, capacious intelIect,capable of penetra-
ting the arcana of nature of measuring the alti
tudes and dimensions of the stars, and of under
standing the complicated machinery and opera
tions of the mind and his neighbor with all
the education which may be given him, with
the utmost facilities for self-culivation and self
development, is barely able TO comprehend plain
truths and ordinary transactions. This is a diff
erence which is inherent it is not the result of
education, though frequently qualified by it );
and il is not that the first is differently endov-
ed, or in other words, has other and different
! attributes of mind from the second, but is SIM
ply difference in degree, or, if NAV so speak.
in quantity of intellect To use common saw
ing, which conveys the idea a little clearer, the
former has more brains than the latter, though
/ both are made UP and organized alike. 1he
plan and the architecture are the same bat there
is 40 identity in the dimensions of the edifccs
But it is not every mind which is the most
highly gifted, that fulfis its early promise, that
ultimately attains the eminence for which Priv
idence fitted it and performs the obligations
which it is capable of assuming. a lack of
, strong ardent determination to overcome all OBJ
stacles in the way of self-development, and to
make use of all facilities for self-culture has
dwarfed into insignifcance many noble intel
lect. Others too have been deferred from
king themselves competent to perform the great
things for which they might have had capacity
by the force of external circumstances, by the
want of opportunities and occasions for self cul
ture No doubts that among uncivilized
nations, multitudes of such minds have existed
No one doubts that among the chivalrous spirits
of the middle ages, there were many such intel
II,