The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1859-08-04

pan. We fnl this article in the
Sciegtifc 4mericag-ED. JOURNAL !
THE PLEASURES OF KNowLEnGE.
g How charming is divine philosophy
Not harsh aud grabbed, as dull fools suppose
But muscaE as is Apollo's Lutte,
AND a perpetual feast Of HectaIed sweets,
Where no crude surfeit reigns."
60 sung Milton two centuries ago, and
long before that date Plato had announc-
that l'the world is Gods epistle to
Aankind." tits the grand oook in which
all may read, and whose pages are so full
nf varied interest and genial knowledge
that the being who, having the power,
negiects to study it, surely may be writ
ten down an ass, for he depriyes himself
of an enjoyment such as no other pur-
suit can give.
We are sometimes inclined to be vexed
with our race when we fud them all toll
ing after every vain fancy, some bent up
on one ambition, some anpther, and but a
minority digging III the deep mine of ma
ture tor the grandest of all possessions
Truth. Granted that its gold is not yell
low, nor its silver white, for its treasures
have not the color of material wealth, hpt
they are as glorious and beauteous as the
sparkle of the diamond and as enduring
as the hills. Science clothes not her vo-
taries in purple aud fine linen, but dress
es them in lovely fowers or in iridescent
shells, and gives as her regard content
ed mind and pure soul. The poetry of
science sometimes flashes in the Grafton
of professor or in the pages Of a book,
put her trucst epic is written upon ali
materiality, which proclaims that in all
things there is law which when known
and applied, shall make man happier, bet
ter and more truly human
BY the investigation of the laws which
govern the objects that are al around US,
the motions Of the planets, the relations
of life and health, the destiny of man, and
the glory of thp Deity, are better under
stood; and the Lighting of a cottage, the
building of a palace, or the cooking OF a
dinner are better performed. We can
never be in aRg position In Ehich knowl-
edge is not of EaIue to US, and we can
never prophecy the moment at which we
may most require it. Indeed many of US
only kHpF that there is more to be known
than occurs to Us in the daily round of.
business life, by the discovery that some
thing we de nQt kuoY is calculated to
make Us rifhHr ar eiVe US more case.
But" exclaims many petuant person,
chow shall study without an instructor,
or how investigate WITHOUT apparatus ?"
Foolish notions. the hest workman al
ways uses the simplest toolg. Have you
eyes, cars. nose and hands? ghen you
ARC. provided vita apparatus, and memory
is the tablet on which TO write down your
impressiQne, Eaph one of US is better
fEFplshad thar college laboratory or {.
prafessnFs lecture room, and all we have
H. DO 10 to learn the use Of cur apparatus;
and then there is no PLACE in the universe
where man cannot find some object to in
tqrest, some study to pursue. goldsmith
found time to observe nature and record
his thoughts, and in glowing language he
tells US that "thc bIushing beauties of
Iho rose, the modest RIuG of shngio!et,
are not in the flowers themselves, but in
the light which adorns them. Odor. soft
ness, and beauty of figures are their own,
but it is light alone that dresse2 them up
in their robes, WHICH shame the mon
aFch's glory" As a concluding incen-
tive % our readers to study for them
selves, as we'll as tQ read books and scien
tiic periodicals, We will give quotation
from q lecture by Prince Albert of Eng
land. eMan," observes this eminent So
rant, ''Is approaching more complete
fulillmeGt Of that great and sacred mis-
sion which he has to perform in the world.
His reason being created after the image
of God, he has to use it to discover the
LAWS BY which the Almighty governs his
creation, and, by making these laws his
standard Of action, 10 conquer nature to
his nse-himself being divine instru-
ment. Seisnee discovers these laws of
pnVer, mation, aud transformation in
dustry applies them to the raw material
Nhieh the earth yields US in abundance,
hpt which becomes valuable only by
kppYledge"
Oh that all would study nature N ire
aud think of themselves less; then We
should indeed be peopleof kings, whose
empire would be the world and whose sub
iccts would be all created things
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