The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1857-12-31
(coPYRIGur sgcusED.]
Written expressly foe the Oftemsca cosrier.
ARTHUR HAROLD;
OR,
Gbe feorano &amllp
BY ADoI.pIIUs.
CHAPTER FIRST.

CHATTER FthdTs
Nh.twil,ght! spirit that dos+ render birth
To dim euchantments melting heaven with earth,
Leaving on cragyy hills and running streams
softness like the atmosphere Of dreams;
Thy hour to all Is come.-[CARoLisE Nosros.
IL there heart that music cannot melt?
Alas how Is that rugged heart forlorn;
Is there, who meter those mystic transports felt,
OF solitude and melancholy rn!-[BEArTiE.
My soul would drink the echoes,-Oh that we're
The view!ess spirit Of lonely sound,
AIiving voice breathing harmony,
Abodess enjoyment--born and dying
With the blest tones that made mcf-[ByRoS
MAN! How is the mind OF tie contempla-
tive person crowded with reflections when this
il the theme Of his meditatimls! How varied
the considerations IN involves, how wide the
scope of its invesiigatioas! How much OF the
real, how much Of the mystical, how much Of
the material, and how much OF he spiritual is
included in its range! Whence are we, what
are we, where are we, and WHITTIER do we tend.
are questions which must perplex the mind un-
til skepticism yields to the triumph Of faith,
and every link is seen OF that wonderful chau
of being which stretches from nothing to in
fnity. This must be the case so long as rea-
son is enthroned in the mind, for it will moi
slumber while an effect is seen without de,
monstrated cause. Indeed the solution Of these
questions seems the proper study OF man-for
II must direct him to that Paradise Of felicity
toward which are :he aspirations ard reach
ings-forward OF the hopeful. What are we?
Not merely living, walking, sentient betngs--
not merely toiling, eating aud sleeping organ-
isms;-but we are also clothed upon by the
Divinity that framed the Universe, endowed
with intellect and spirit, and in N 10 the mar
riage Of matter and mind. Where ere we?
We are in world Of wonderful mechanism
filled with an iD6nituds Of objects Of intellect
ual research, and 1t beauty and grandeur to
make manifest the spirit. Hence the science
and poetry Of nasars---she lifting-up of the
season and the tuning OF that harp Of the soul
whose thousand chords vibrats the emotjo jons,
the ecstacies, the sympathies and the affections
which constisute the Upper Life Of Man. a. q
ssch are some OF the meditations Of the
4hvugAtful. Indeed Il 10 impos. .ible Tor the
most careless to escape themselves, In. their
serious moods, for their own being is involved
in every act. and the grand riddle cannot es-
cape their attention. Happy Is he whose men,
tai vision 10 sufficiently extended to see the be-
giaainE. eontiaustion, and end of Mani
And such are some the considerations which
bad forced themselves upon the mind Of Ar
thur Harold, . yonng man whom we shall
RoW introduce to the reader.
Ne was of poor parentage, but bis sxeellent
qualItiss had dconwendsd him to ! wealthy ae-
qualntanes who extended to him the aid OF his
purse 10 supplying the means Of obtaining IN
Aducation. AT the time the first scene In the
following drama wsa sasnaetsd, be was attending
. school IN one Of the Middle States, an acad-
emy preparatory to the commencement Of =
collegiate eouyss. Hshad been bred amid the
peaceful snd invlgossting scenes q the eouatry
whers his parents, by industrious and aeenom-
esei habits had maintainsd their family on The
rfoceeds - smsll farm. He had been, from
- time his strength would permit, until his
recent entzance on course Of study, engaged
In husbandry. hrst attending 10 small alairs,
anon the pjough-bcy, and finally. the dosr cf
the strong man's task. Dsing oe IN aetive end
vigorous temperament, and endowed BY nataue