The Ottawa free trader., 1857-08-01
Visionary Anticipation.

There seems to be in mankind o natural
desire, to wish TO lift the veil that divides
the present from the future, and peer into
the dim vista before them, But that know.
ledge has been kindly withheld from them
oy the superior wisdom of One, who, fore.
seeing that the result Of such information
would prove detrimental, rather than in
crease their happiness. But their inauisi.
tiveness could not be wholly checked. and
man has found q sort of substitute in antici.
patton. In this the uncertainty of the fu.
ture does not disturb his present happiness,
yet still tends to keep it within reasonable
bounds, by the consciousness that sorrow
may be awaiting him. We stand as it were
on some elevated position, and look upon
mankind as they have made their entrance
on the stage Of life, and performed their part
in the great human drama, and made their
final exit, leaving to make room for othersi
who likewise take their departure, handing
down the history Of their lives for the in
struction Of those who shall follow them
Thus it has been from the creation until tho
present, and only thus far can we Judge OF
the realities Of life; the past and the pre-.
sent; then the dark veil of futurity inter-
poses and forbids all farther progress But
the cd adage is, "we can judge of the fu.
ture only by the past" Anticipation can
now take her place and perform, what il
called building castles in the air." It's ef.
fects are entirely harmless except when
made the subject Of visionary contempla-
ton to the exclusion of all cares and duties
of the present: it then corrodes and weak.
ems the imagination, and renders the person
unfit for the ordinary duties of life But
when made the object Of an honorable am
bition, and the necessary effort made in
striving TO accomplish it, the result may
then prove beneficial. This may be easily
illustrated by taking two persons Of the dif.
ferent temperamentsj let one commence
life with On ardent, enthusiastic Imagination,
always looking at the bright side of the
picture Of life, without taking into consider
alton any Of its stern realities: such char
acter will generally be found to possess more
refined sensibilites, and less competent to
contend with the hardships Of life than 8
more matter of fact person. He will enter
life with enthusiams always anticipating
happiness, but which proves to him but q
mirage Of imagination, and life is ended
with disappointment, and feeling that his
time had been spent in following phantom,
which has eluded his grasp at every step.
While the other more cool and deIiberatiye,
makes all due allowance for the asperities Of
liic, anu scTulln!Zes tne suDJect IN all lts
bearing, and is careful not to place too
much dependence on any thing, knowing
hat all things Of this life are evanescent.
md is thus prepared for disappointment in
my emergency hence we see that the lat:
er enjoys more true happiness, and takes
cave Of life without that bitter feeling, that
t has been spent in the vain pursuit Of o
shadow, that has receded as he has ap:
preached it. We know that if we improve
,ur time as We should, in preparing our.
selves for the duties of life, and performing
he responsibilities Of the present, we shall
nave very small portion left to waste, in
visionary anticipations Of the future.
NJ, L. n.