The southern enterprise. [volume] (Greenville, S.C.) 1854-1870, 1857-07-30

i
trail power as yet unknown. Blythe aid ofthis
science, man has learned to calculate with
the incest precision the movements Of the
heavenly bodies, their dimensions, their
weight, their distances, and their yelocilies
He gathers, from the regularity of their
movements, acknowledged history of the
past. and predicts, with nnerring certainly,
events far away in the distant future. All
this knowledge has been acquired only BY
most patient, laborious, and protracted
struggle. To understand its importance to
the happiness and prosperity of tho world,
we have only TO consider what would have
been the result had the whole science re.
mained locked in mystery till the present
day. The husbandman,, ignorant of the
changing times and seasons, would be otter.
y at a loss when 20 plant and cultivate his
fields. The mariner, deprived of the guild.
ance of the stars, would no longer dare to
venture forth upon the trackless ocean,
Commerce, the most powerful and active
agent of civilization, would be crarnped and
paraiyzed. The main arteries of business
would be fatally obstructed, and the very
blood would be congealed in the heart
of the commercial world The sIavish dog
mas Of superstition wAli mimgle again
with the rites of religion, crushing and sti-
fling all those holy aspirations which ascend
to Heaven from the christians heart-
Those sublime and ennobling emotions,
which gush up from the fountains of the
soul in contemplating the grandeur and i'm
mensity of the star;gcmmed universe, would
lie dormantin our bosoms, and our concep.
tions of an .omnipotent and omniscent Crea.
tor would be as contracted as the visible
vault of heaven with its encircling horizon.
While astronomy and navigation have
enabled man to explore the surface of the
globe, and TO bring into social intercourse i,s
most widely separated parts, geology has
revealed to him its inward structure and
sagely discoursed upon its gray antiquity.
1t shows the earth TO be composed Of strata
piled on strata, upon each of which time
has registered its own peculiar history and
stamped indellibly the date of lis formation.
As the student, curious in the history of
olden times, eagerly turns leaf after leaf of
some antiquarian tome, rich in the mystic
lore of the shadowy past, so the geologisi
unf lids the strata Of the terrestrial globe and
deciphers the heroglyphic records stamped
there by the finger Of Deity.
youthful charms, amorous as the goddess Of
spring, and jealous of any imputalions made
upon her age, bushes at the revelation and
starts back aghast at the dark disclosures
made by this searching science. Geology
ncontrovertibly proves that the weight Of
myriads Of years rest upon her brow, and
that all her apparent freshness and beauty
are but the false adornings with which vain
dotage ever delights to conceal its hideous-
ness. 1t also tells of many a wanton amour
in which the youthful earth indulged how
she cherished in her bosom every loalhsoms
form of brute and reptile, and gave birth to
many an unseemly monster, and that not
till debased by many a disagraceful concep,
tion. did she, in repentant mood, consent TO
bring forth the genus homo, since which she
has, from pride and love for her latest off.
spring, restrained her promiscuous inter
course and devoted all her energies TO Gle.
vating him 10 the highest degree of happi
ness and perfection. q
But, aside from the valuable fund Of his
torical knowledge disclosed by the science
of geology, it has accomplished work Of
far more practical importance in unlocking
the rich mineral treasures imbedded in the
earth and applying them to the practical
pursuits of life.
Without the aid ofva:ious metals, trade, de-
priyed of u circulating medium, would be Grip.
pied and embarrassed. Agriculture, thrown
again upon its imperfect utensils, would sink
back TO its primitive rudeness mechanical
operations, deprived of the implements of
labor, would be suspended, and man would
again become the tenant Of wretched how
els, the companion Of savage beasts.
The art OF writing and printing deserves
to be regarded as the greatest and most i'm,
por,ant of human inventions. 1t has con-
trlbuted more largely than any other to The
universal diffusion Of knowledge, the intel.
lectual development Of man, the propaga,
lion Of christianity and the rapid progress in
the arts and sciences. II furnishes the
grand medium of communication between
the present and the past, unlocks the hoard:
ed treasures Of ancient literature, and be.
queaths us those sparkling gems Of poesy
and philosophy coined by the bards and
sages Of olden times. The impassionel
creations of poetry, the sublime conceptions
Of philosophy, the electrifying tones OF
eIoquence, are no longer the evaaescent
phantoms of the moment, which dazzle,
fascnate and are gone. but, reflected in the
printed page, their light streams far down
the pathway Of ages, illuminating and en-
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