The hydraulic press., 1858-08-21

Henceforth, whilst still pursuing
the only avocation my own folly has
left me, | would sometimes work in
other mines would try to touch some
chord Of sympathy in other breasts,
to send one beating heart to rest with
better thoughts.
/ Deeds, earnest deeds are best, but
earnest words may have power too.
[ shall attempt nothing ambitious
nothing forced or labored.
A pleasant book-something beau
tiful in nature, where all is beautiful
Ia stray waif Of song, rude but sin
cere-recollectlons Of the past, per-
haps, and yearnings of the ever pres
lent these shall be my themes, with
whatever else future whim may sug-
gest, or future emotion call up.
The mental labor necessary to tile
execution of this unmethodical plan,
will be source of relaxation and im~
provement, both of which I need.
The son Of toll suffers mentally as
we'll as physically, when deprived of
all occupation for his leisure moments
NOT many, alas IT'S well, me-
thinks, for man to be compelled to
work, yet it were better if he could
find moro time to think There is
more to be extracted from the soil
than means for subsistence. Poets
have sighed for life in which labor
and intellectual recreation might be
happily blended as Cowper says:
-s No works, indeed,
That ask robust tough snews, bred to toll,
| "Servile employ; but such may amuse,
Not tire, demanding rather skill than force"
Such Hfe-spent with nature, as
Cowley always desired, would be de-
llightful after one had overcome the
constitutional habits produced by se-
we're muscular cxertion; bat such a
life can not be mine.
! Accordingly, IT is my aim to forget
sBusness. that contradiction of my fate,''
when not actually employed in it; at
the end of the day to ignore all that
is sordid, and indulge, as circumstan>
ces may permit, in whatever is refined
taHd elevating.
est may seem TOO egotistic. tass som :
n ann with self hus It's an egotissn
!! that makes US indnigent. liberal and
g ss.s l.e! >. = ts 81
.fit be Nilh pure elnoEions, must elevate
/ the mind Besides. loneliness would
have nolhieg u sheefit could we Aot
apostrophize our own feelings.
A grief is proverbially said to be
half cured, when con6ded to another
bosom !; so, when we have the habit of
recording the various emotions and
reflections which employ our silent
souls, if their tendency should prove
corroding it will be neutralized by
expression.
But I am not selfish, I speak for
sympathy.
1t is the nature of noble joy
To be unselfsh. Oft the swelling heart
Some portion of its gladness would impart,
If language such as tuneful baris employ,
Without the dross of common place alloy,
0bedent from the teeming brain would start.
The eyes may speak volumes they may dart
Their lightning glances-secretest convoy
For am'rous messages, yet not convey
The thoughts that thicken in the struggling soul,
Born of some lofty mood or lovely day.
These, to be felt must have their silence broken,
| Must leave the limits of one minds control
And be in fitting language fifty spoken.
/ can say of this habit of literary
expression, with all humility, as Coles
ridge said Of poetry, that it has been
to me its own exceeding great reward;
it has soothed my affections; it has
multiplied and refined my enjoyments;
it has endeared solitude; and it has
/ given me the habit of wishing to dis
cover the good end the beautiful in
all that meets and surrounds me-"
Goethe says-sCulsivate the beau
tiful, the useful will cultivate ITSELF"
The useful certainly more constantly
and efficiently recommends itself for
cultivation to our utilitarian natures,
than the beautiful, which has to be
woD to our hearts, though abounding
everywhere else. Heaven grant that
''the almighty dollar" as Irving has
it, may never grow into such magni>
tude before my vision as to shut out
perception Of the beautiful.
The grave, says Irving, buries ev-
cry error-covers every defeat-ex~
tinguishes every resentment. From
| IL, ..nannf,,l hnnox,aE ,,s.x,4.e. mana h,.t