The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1859-03-03
Tho studies of Nature.

or asked what service ho could render
him.
Naughty as the philosophers reply
may sound, it merely expresses the hon.
est independence which every highly
cultivated and we'll balanced mind
may feel towards those who possess
nothing better than the accidental dis.
tinction Of rank or fortune. He indeed
needs our pity who needs the con.
descending smile of the proud or the
heartle5s Hattery of the vain, either to
rouse him to exertion or warm him into
happiness.
The power Of self-excitement is the
most desirable Of all attainmeuts, and il
is the most rare. To love knowledge
merely for its usefulness-tO form and
strengthen virtuous dispositions with
the hope Of no other reward than the
deep tranquility they bring-is a task
achieved by few; yet it is the only sim
pie and direct road to lasting happi-
ness. He who can fnd intellectual ex-
citcment in the fall of an apple, or the
hues of wild flower, may well say to
the oficious world, "Stand out of my
sunshine" To him, Nature is an open
volume, where truths of the loftiest i'm
port are plainly written; and the temp
tations and anxieties of this life have
no power to cast a shadow on its broad
and beautiful pages.
1 do not mean that solitude is bliss,
even where enjoyment is of the purest
kind. An eminence that places us above
the hopes and fears, the joys and sor-
rows Of social life, must indeed bo an
onviable one; but that which puts us
beyond the reach of the ever-varying
tide Of circumstance and opinion, is
surely desirable; and nothing on which
the mind can be employed tends so much
to produce this state of internal sun
shine, as the study of Nature in her va
riOus forms.
Politics, love of gain, ambition of re-
nown, everything, in short which can
be acted upon by the passion Of man
kind, has a cOrroding influence on the
human soul. But Nature, ever maies-
tic and serene, moves on with the same
stately step and beaming smile, whether
a merchantman is wrecked, or an empire
overthrOwn. The evils of mans heart
pollute all with which they can bo in
corporated; but they cannot defle he,
holy temple. The doors are indeed
closed against the restless and the bad
but the radiant goddess is ever at the al.
tar willing to smile upon all who arc
pure enough to love her quiet beauty.
Ambition may play a mighty game
it may task the sinews of nations, and
make the servile multitude automaton
dancers to its own stormy music-but
sun, moon and stars 90 forth on their
sublime mission, Independent of its
power, and its utmost endeavors cannot
change the laws which produce the tran
sient glory Of the rainbow.
He that livesonly for fame will find
that happiness and renown are scarcely
speaking acquaintances. Even if he
could catch the rainbow he has so eager
| ly pursued, he would find its light fuc.
tuating with each changing sunbeam,
and fading at the touch Of each passing
cloud.
Nor is he who has wasted the ener.
gies Of his youth in disentangling tho
knOtty skein of controversy, more iikely
to find the evening Of his days serene
or tranquil. The demon of dogmatism
or of doubt may have grappled him
closely, and converted his early glow of
feeling and elasticity of thought into
rancorous prejudices or shattered faith.
But the deep streams of quiet thought
and pure philosophy gush forth abund-
antly from the hiding-places of Nature;
there is no drop of bitterness at the
fountain; the clear waters reflect none
Of the Proteus forms of human pride,
and ever, as they flow, their peaceful
murmurs speak Of Heaven.
The enjoyment that depends on pow
erful excitement saps the strength Of
manhood, and leaves nothing for old
age but discomfort and desolation.-
Yet we need amusements in the decline
Of life, even more than in its infancy;
and where shall we find any so safe,
satisfactory and dignifed as battery and
barometer, telescope and prism?
Electric power may be increased with
less danger than mans ambition; it is far
safer to weigh the air than neighbors
motives; it is more disquieting to watch
tempests lowering in the political hori-
zon than it is to gaze at volcanoes in the
mooni and it is much easier to separate
and unite the colors in a ray Of light
than it is TO blend the many colored
hues Of truth, turned out Of their course
by the sharp corners of angry oontro-
versy.
Finally, he who drinks deeply at the
fountain Of natural science, will reflect
the cheerfulness Of his own spirit on all
things around If the sympathy of
heart and mind be within his reach, he
will enjoy it more keonly than other
men, and if solitude be his portion, he
can, in the sincerity Of a full and pious
mind, say to all the temptations of
fame and pleasure, "Shud ye out of my
sunshine!"- Eliza Cooks Journal.
A YoUNa ONO ARrIsr.-Mr. j. Q.
A. WARD, young sculptor, born in
Ohio, has recently completed bust Of
! Hon, j r. Giddings. which is bipbfy