Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1859-01-18
ssletted sflistellann.
The Old Stone Uptmned.

DIR. Holmes, in an article-the Auto
crat Of the Breakfast TabIe-in the At
Iantlc Monthly for March, has the fol-
/ lowing:
Did you never, in walking in the fields.
come across a large flat stone, which had
lain, nobody knows how long, lust where
you found II, with the grass forming
little hedge, as 1t were, all round it, close
10 lis edges-aud have You not, In obedi
ence to a kind of feeling that told you il
had been lying there long enough, insin-
uated your stIrl or Your foot. or your fin
gers under It's edge and turned i over, as
The housewife turns cake, when she
says - herself, - lis done brown enough
Us this time p What an odd revelation,
what an unforeseen and unpleasant sur
prise 70 a small community, The very ex-
Istence Of which You had not suspected,
until the sudden dIsmay and scattering
among lis members produced by your
turning The old stone over Blades Of
grass Hattened down, cOlorless, matted To-
gether, as If they had been bleached and
Ironed hideoUs crawling creatures, some
of them coleopterous or horny-shclled-
.turtle-ougs one wants 10 call them some
Of Them softer, bat cunnngly spread out
and compressed like Lepiue watches, (na-
ture never loses a crack or crevice, mind
YOU. or a ioint III a tavern bedstead, bul
She always has one of her hat-patlern,
live time-keepers to slide into it;) black,
glossy crickets, with their long fiiaments
sticking out like the whips of four horse
stage coaches; nouoniess. siug-iike crea-
lures, larvae, perhaps, more horrible in
their PUPPY Stiffness than even IN the hid
I eous wrIggle of maturity. But no sooner
/ is the stone turned and the wholesome
/ light Of day let upon this compressed and
+ blinded community Of creeping things,
than all of them that enjoy the luxury of
/ legs-and some Of th- m have glod ma
ny-rush round v-.dly, butting each 9TH
er and everything in the way, and end in
/ u general stampede for underground re-
treats from the region poisoned by sun
shine. Next year You viii find the grass
growing tall and green where the stone
/ lay; the ground bird builds her nest
waere the beetle had his hole; the dan
delion al.,. the buuercup are growing
there. and the broad fans of insect-anoels
open and shut over their golden discs, as
the rvthmic waves Of biissfuI consciousness
pulsate through their glorifed being.
! The Young fellow whom they called
John saw fit 10 say, in his very familiar
way-at which do not choose to take Of
fence, but which | sometimes think it ne
cessary to representa- | was coming 1t
rather strong on the butterflies.
! No, replied. there Is meaning in each
of these images-the butterfly as well as
the others. The stone Is ancient error.
The grass is human nature borne down
and bleacLed of all lis coIors by i. The
shapes that are found b. meath are the
crafty beings that thrive IN darkness, and
the weaker organisms kept helpless by II.
He who turns the stone over Is whosoever
puts the staff of truth to the old lying IN
cubus, no matter whether he do 1t with a
serious face or a laughing one. The next
year stands for the coming time. Then
shall the nature which had iald blanched
and broken, rise in its full stature and na-
tive hues IL the sunshine. Then shall
Gods minstrels build their nests IN the
heart of a newborn humanity. Then
shall beauty-Diyiuity taking outlines and
colors-light upon the souls Of men, and
the butterfly images of the beauufled
spirit rising from the dust, scars from 4
shell tha; held the poor grub, which would
never have found wings had not the stone
been lifted.
You need never think you can turn
over any oid falsehood without terrible
squirming and scattering of TIE horrid III
lie population that dweiis under II.