The Winchester weekly appeal. [volume] (Winchester, Tenn.) 1856-1856, 1856-07-19


gloom in his composition, and who, if
he looked forward for moment to the
future, pictured nothing but an in
crease of felicity.
Never again shall | experience the
delight that dwelt in my boyish bosom,
when on my annual visit to a country
relative; never again shall | feel the
unmixed joy | then felt, as mingled
with the haymakers, rolled in the new
mown hay, or climbed the dropping
fruit tree. believe have somewhere
read an anecdote of the celebrated DR..
johnson, who. being out with a friend
on rural excursion, and coming to a
particular tree, Immediately ascend
ed it, and began to swing himselfto
and fro on one of its boughs. On his
companion expressing his surprise at
the circumstance, Johnson said it was
tree on which he had often swung
when boy, and he could not resist
the desire of again doing so. The
trunding hoop, the whirling top, the
bounding ball; these are all lost to me;
but when have seen a group of light
hearted youngsters engaged in any Of
these amusements, must confess |
have at times felt such an inclination
to join them. that had it not been for
very shame, | should have taken part
amongst them. In after life we may
drink from the "founts of mind;' we
may derive more refined pleasure
from books and other sources; but, in
the whole round of mans enjoyments,
he will find none to equal those of his
boyhood. Winter amusemcnts--the
war of snowballs-the accumulated
mass which became so ponderous by
rolling, that at last it resisted all our
efforts to move it; the rude form, fash
toned from the white and feathery Gle
ment, set up at night to brighten the
passers-by; the thrilling qualification
with which circle of us gathered
round the blazing hearth, and listened
to tales of ASPIRATIONS, haunted halls
and haunted chambers, until we fanci-
ed every noise hollow groan; and
when we crept fearfully into bed, bu-
ried ourselves in the clothes, afraid Of
encountcring some glazing spectrc.-
Who would not again experience these
things? With what amaZemcnt have
| read the wonderful exploits Of the
renowned Jack the Giant Killer" or
the scarcely less celebrated tom He
athrift;" and how often have | figured
to myself the feats might achieve. if
possessed Of the invisible coat Of the
one, or the surprising strength of the
other. These romantic and extrava-
CANT notions have faded away like tn
creations Of a dream; it is true more
rational ideas now fill their place in
the mind; but who does not prefer
those boyish fanciesto the dull and cold
reality that waits on maturer age!
Often do l visit the scenes of my
childhood. wander along the banks
of the stream where ! used to launch
my mimic boats; | seek the leafy re-
cesses, where | loved to read the wild
and wondrous tales, which were the
delight of my youth. Ilingcr amid the
leafy labyrinths, where it was my wont
to loiter in the long summers day.
But the charm which of old haunted
those scenes, can find no more, the
spell which was around them has be-
come powerless; the halo has depart
cd from them. Everything appears
as though it had dwindlcd into insig-
nifcance; and yet it is not so-the
change is with myself. Is it that the
mind has expanded, that the intellect
has become enlarged! or is it that my
desires are less easily satisfied; that
my wishes are more unbounded; that
my cravings increase with my years?
Alas! l fear it is mans nature never to
be contented with the present; to view
with indifference the blessings which
are in his power; but ever to be yearn-
ing for that which he does not possess.
His memory either recurs to the past,
or he paints the future in colors too
hattering, and becomes the author of
his own disappointments. We are the
children ofimagination; the real, the
tangible, loses it's attractions; and on
things that are either difficult or i'm
possible to attain, do we fix our afec-
tons. In the early years of life, our
desires and wishes are more circum-
scribed, and, therefore, more easily
gratilied. Our wants are provided for;
like the flowers, we neither toll nor
spin; the future is seldom looked for
ward to; there is no past to float on
the stream of memory, and destroy, by
contrast. the felicity of the present.
Thus it is, that the first stages exist
ence are generally those which yield