The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1857-08-27
Eslerte0 9HisrelIanu.
From the Chicago journal.
" II. F.''

~. f.
I Sometimes the reader will notica bring
lng mp the rear Of an advertisement the
letters :" II. . Probably they never p'lz-
zled him much; he might have regarded
them as a sort Of cabalistic literature pc
cuIiar to the press, and certainly no fit
theme for song or sermon.
However this may be, that pair Of let
ters has significance beyond the range OF
types, and on into the shadows and out
into the sunshine Of that mosaic work We
call life
! To the unfinished, ii is Only If. :"
TO the printers eye, ii expands into " till
Forbid a reminder that the advertise
ment it waits on, Is to be continued from
day to day or from week to week. until
ordered out by him who directed its pub
location.
. The story Of how many springs that
have brought the blue bird and violet,
has been told in that "tf. wrought
in the green tracery Of leaves that rise
and fail on the Bosom Of the air; paint
: ed on clouds at anchor on the summer sea.
carved on the Threshold Of evergoing
floods silyored on thcmoon' 5 medallion;
graved on the round ruby of the morn
ing sun; in the scraiI of storm it is
woven; on the breath Of song it is broid-
cred. and "tf."-" till forbid is the sto-
~ of the world
"Tf." is written alike on the drop of
dew-that satellite Of the sod---and on
the great world that dances in the breath.
and brightcns in the smile Of God
"Tf" rounds the summer of human
hopes; it is delicately traced on beauty's
brow YOU will find it in the ose's blush
ing bud, you NAY see it il the ever
shining star.
oft" IS wrought in the helms of the
sweeping Tamerlones Of all time. and
one silver thread Of the snlail-voiced
brook will not be broken without it.
Nature has no stereotypes; all her
advertisements are published with " If. "
and the types that express her loveliness
are silently " distributed" and the graves
are filed with the eloquence Of yester-
day.
And even there. enamelled in the little
pillows of turf, that break up earth's
green sward like sea, there is "till
forbid and so the silent swell Of sod
whore graves have been, and back 10 the
air, and up to the cloud, and away in
gladness, goes the dust, to be fashioned
into truth and beauty.
" IF - is woven into the scarlet robe
of Wrong and the purple garb Of Power.
C0nquest's glowing wheels are locked
with " IT,, and the meauest bonds that
ever bound humanity, bear these letters
stamped on every link.
The young mother bending with look
Of love over the tairest copy her eyes
have ever seen, forgets that IN that little
face, hid in the dimplc OF cheek or sha-
ded by a tress Of golden hair, TWO words
are traded in lile's blue autograph, that,
ere long obeyed, may leaves her gazing
UP to the full heaven, that some breath
OF summer air has waited away tue
sweetest copy in all the world.
But the singer of the little song that
goes into all hands, wherever it is spnng, !
bears no eff upon it pinons, Tie knows
it will carol on to other times, and win
welcome; thrt it will sing when he is
dead; that the olive loaf it bears will
never wither; that by and by a window
will be opened III heaven, and a hand
will be put forth; and singing still, that
tuneful bird will be touched with "the
white radiance of immortal morning. /
And the thinker who ennusst his liv-
ing thought to time, his thought instinct
with beauty and eloquent with truth,
feels that no ''tf. will prove the lend of
all Of his mission that leaving the red
Of his heart. it begins an indie
pendent being, and will stand sublimely
there in the broken columns ofthe proof
of time.
This is not to die; this is the true
transmigration of the soul; clingiug to
no frail tenure of a !" till forbid" its
types shall never fall to dust. nor sylla-
bic of all lis utterance be lost.
There is dignity in such work to
bridge the narrow neck Of grief, to keep