The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1859-01-12
I For the South Western.

For the South Western
MENTAL CULTURE.-The divinity of mint
/ has in every age and in all countries had it
worshippers, and the rich embellishments of
cultivated taste have never been displayed
without train of circling admirers Knowl
edge, let it be as vast and extensive as it may
will interfere with no duty of life, nor will i
weaken the force of any obligation that is i'm
posed by nature or society. Such is not its ef
feet. 1t springs from a source that forbid.
such a suppostion. As the mind is enght.
ened, its perceptions will be increased, and its
convictions deepened. 1t can then see more
wildly the nature of its obligations, and ap
Preciate more highly the necessity of their per,
tormance. In word. we may say that true
knowledge is the parent of human virtue and
human happiness. 1t softens the feelings and
Susceph5ilities of the heart, deepens the afec-
tons and deyotons of the mind 1t sheds a
cheering light on all our duties, and its very
sparkles, like those of the diamond, attest at
once its power and its purity" To its infu-
ence the statesman is indebted for that profound
sagacity, which controls the destiny of nations,
and regulates the social relations of man. To
It's power the warrior. in the pride of victory,
dates the creation of that martial feeling which
fired his soul with the love Of distinction, and
nerved his arm in liberty's Defence to Its early
Impressions, the scholar, laden with the rich
spolls OF antiquity and the treasures of modern
acquisition, attributes that thirst for knowledge
which led him to explore the mysteries of sci
ence, and coyet the pleasures of literature; and
to its sanctifying effects the christian, as he
reposes on the hopes of blissful Immortality,
looks as the true source of that tranquility of
mind, which enables him, in the dark hour of
his dissolution, to link the last pangs of expir-
ing nature with the first raptures of ceaseless
JOY.
Hence the necessity of impressng upon the
mind in early youth love of truth and virtue,
as being the two great lights that will illumin-
ate his pathway in all the trials OF life, and vi
cissitudes of fortune. By this means virtu-
GUS direction will be given to bis principles.
and holy aspirations kindled within his bosom;
reading will become an employment, studying
pleasure, and reflection the source of many a
rich blessing:
"Lur'd by its charms, he sits and learns to trace
The midnight wanderings of the orbs of space;
Boldly he knocks at wisdom's inmost gate,
With nature counsels, and communes with fate" +"
Shreveport, 1889 XXX.
"GooD NIGHT" Coon NIGHT, PAPAr'-
These are the words whose music hasnot left
our ears since the cleaning, and now it is mid
night. Goodnight, darling! God bless you;
you will have pleasant dreams, though toss
in fever haunted by the demons of care that
harass me through the day. Good night!'
The clock on the mantle struck twelve, and no
sound was heard in the house save the regular
breathing of those little lungs in the next room
heard through the door a ar. We dropped our
pen, folded our arms. and sat gazing on the
lazy fire. while the whole panorama of life
passed before US, with its many 'good nights"
It is great thing to be rch but it is a rich
thing to have good memory-proyided that
memory bears no unpleasant fruit bitter TO the
taste; and our memory carries us back to many
a pleasant scene-to the little arm chair by the
fresde; to the tundle bed at the foot of the
bed; to the lawn in front of the house, and the
orchard behind it; to the butter-cnps, and the
chickens and the swallows, and the birds nests,
and the strawberries, and the many things that
attract the wondering eyes of children, to say
nothing of the mysteries of the starry skies,
and the weird gloom of the moaning forest
But, then, there were the good nights and
the little prayer, and the downy bed, on which
slumber fell as lighly as a snow flake, only
warmer, and such dreams as only visit perfect
The household 'good night"
Somebody, in whose brain its music still fingers
has written his:
Good night" A loud, clear voice from
the stairs said that it was Tommy. "Dood
night! murmurs a little something from the
rundle bed-a little something that we call
Jenny, that filled large place in the centre of
two pretty little hearts Good night!' lisps
a little fellow in plaid rifle dress, who was
Willie, about six years ago
"Now lay me down to sleep,
pray the Lord my soul to keep,
If l should die before wake
and the small bundle in the trundle- bed has
dropped off to sleep. but the broken prayer may
go up sooner than many long petitions that set
off great while before it.
And so it was "good night" all around the
and very sweet music it made. too
in the twilight, and very pleasant melody it
makes now as we think of it, for it was not
Yesterday nor the day before, but long time
ago, so long that Tommy is Thomas Somebody,
esq, and has forgotten that he ever was boy,
and wore what the bravest and richest of us
can never wear but once, if we try-the first
pair of boots.
And so it was good night" all around the
house; and the children had gone through the
ivory gate, always left little ajar for them
though into the land of dreams. +.
And then the lovers ''good night and the
parting kiss! They are a prodgal Of the hours
as the spendthrift of his coin, and the minutes
depart in golden showers, and fall in dying
sparks at their feet. Good night
A NEW INvENTIoN-W have been shown
BY the inventor, Mr. John NJ Hall, of Warren
county, Ga, an agricultural implement, which
$ designed to facilitate the operation of chop
ping cotton. 1t is claimed. and vouched by
number of persons, that, by the use of it, one
nan and horse can do the work of five or
TX hands. The whole apparatus is placed upon
pair Of cast iron wheels In front are two
mall turning plows with the bars of each in
uxtapositon, but separated at the proper dis
anee for making furrow on each side of the
cotton at the same time. Behind. and connee-
ed by simple cog gearing, with one of the
.boye mentioned Wheels is a circular cast iron
"a no f,r Iacaitine The ly,,iveS or Ioac for cbop