The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1860-05-05

h40os& An OOStaSfes Oh W0tco Suppo&o you
hare never heard,-an obstacls entirely
new, fsesh, and anhackneyed, will arise;
% lpsay yos, let patience have her psrfses
work. 81 ses 81 s#ss sss...s ..s,
wonderful vas the new world opened 20
Ivy Geer. II vas as IL corse cold, inert,
lifeless, had suddenly srrang up, warm,
insiSorassd, informed with spirit which
led her Own spell bound. Grammar
Grammar, which had been = synonyme for
aft that was dry, irkseme, useless, Ia beat
ing Of the wind, the cracking Of shorns UNI
der pot,-Grammaf even assumed for her
. charm, . wonder, glory. She saw how
the great and wise had shrincd in fitting
words their purity, ana wisdom, and sorrow,
| aud Suffering, aud penitenee; and how, ~
| this generation passed away, and another
came forth which knew not God, the golden
caskes became dim, and the memory Of its
priceless gem faded away; but how, at the
touch Of mighty wand, the obediens lid dsw
back, and the long. hidden thonght sssprang
full-statured in an hour, She saw how
love and beauty and freedom lay nsating
vaguely and aimlessiy in million minds till
| the poet came and cryseaiixed them into
clear-cus, prismatio words, tinged for each
with the color of his own fancy, and wrought
into a perfect mosaic, not for an age, but
for all time. Led BY a strong hand, she
trod with rev ercnt awe down the dim aisles
Of the Past, and saw how the soul Of man
bound in the prisou-aouse, had ever strug-
gled 10 voice itself in words. Roaming in
the dense forest with shs stern and bloody
Dsuid, bounding over the waves with
the fierce pirates who supp!an,ed them, and
in whose blue eyes aud beneath whose fair
locks cleaned indeed the ferocity Of the
savage. but lurked slso, though unseen and
unknown, the tender chivalry Of the English
gentleman, gazing admirinsly on the bar
barrie splendor of the cloth-of-gold, where-
| on trod regally, to the sound Of a harp and
viol, the beauty and bravery of tho old
Norman nobility. shc delighted to see how
the mother tongue, our dear mother tongue,
had laid all the nations under contribution
to enrich her treasury gathering from one
its strength, from another its stateliness,
from third its harmony, till the harsh,
crude, rugged dialect Of a barbarous horde
became worthy to embody, as it does, the
love, the wisdom, aud the faith Of half q
world. f@+ 5N
So Grammar taught Ivy to reverence
language. szza a 4ss sr
History, in the light Of a guiding mind,
ceased to be bare record Of slaughter and
crime. Before her eyes filed, in a statelier
pageant than they knew, the long procession n
| Of sssimpls great ones gone for ever and
ever by" and the countless lesser ones
whose names arc qucnched in the darkness
| Of night that shall know no dawn. She
saw the "great world spin forever down the
| ringing grooves of change; but amid all
the change, tho confusion the chaos, she saw
| the finger Of God ever pointing, and heard
the sublime monotons Of the Divine voice
ever saying to the children of men, "This
is the way, walk ye in it." And Ivy thought
she saw. and rejoced in the thought, that,
even when this warning was unheeded,-
when on the brow Of the mournful Earth
"Ichabod, Ichabod," was forever engraven
when the First Man with his own hand
put from him the cup of innocence, and
went forth from the happy garden, sin.
stained and fallen, the whole hend sick, and
the whole heart faint,---even then she saw
within him the divine spark, the leaven OF
| life, which had power to vitalize and yivify
what Crime had smit,cn with death. Though
sea and land teemed with strange perils,
though night and day pursued him with
| mysterious terrors, though the now un
| friendly elements combined to check his
career, still with answering purpose, un-
daunted courage, she saw him march con.
stantly forward. Spirits Of evin could not
drive from his heart the prescience Of great.
ness and bis soul dwclt calmly under the
! foreshadow Of mighty future.
And as Ivy looked, she saw how the chil
dren OF men became great nation, and
possessed the land far and wide. They
delved into the bosom Of the pleased earth,
and brought forth the piled up treasures Of
uncounted cycles. They unfolded the book
Of the skies, and sought to read the records
thereon. They plunged into the unknown
and terrible ocean, and decked their own
brows with the gems they plucked from hers.
And when conquered Nature had laid her
honrds at their feet, their restless longirgs
would not be satisfied. Brave young spirits,
| with the dew Of their youth fresh upon
them, set out 10 quest Of land beyond
their ken. Over the mountains, across the
seas, through the forests, there came to the
ear of the dreaming girl the measured tramp
| of marching men. the softer footballs OF
loving women, the pattering Of the feet Of
little children. Many day and many a
night she saw them wander on towards the
setting sun, till the Unseen Hand led them
to fair and fruitful country that opened
its bounteous arms in welcome. Broad riv-
ers, green fields, laughing valleys wooed
them to plant their household gods--and the
foundations Of Europe were laid. Here were
| sown the seeds Of those heroic virtues which
have since leaped into luxuriant life, seeds
Of that irresistible power which fastened
its grasp on Nature and forced her to unfold
the secret Of her creation, seeds Of that
far reaching wisdom which in the light b!
the unveiled past has read the story Of the
unseen future.
And still under Ivy's eye they grouped
themselves. Some gathered on the pleas
ant hills Of the sunny South, and the beau.
| ty Of earth and sea and sky passed into
their souls forever. They caught the evan.
| escent CLEAN, the passing shadow, and on
unseemly canvas limned 1t for all time in
forms of unuttersd and unutterable lowell.
ness. They shaped into glowing life the
phaDtoms Of grace that were always fitting
before their enchanted eyes, and poured in
TO inaninats marble their rapt and pas
sionate souls. They struck the Tyre
to wild AMI stirring songs whose tremuloni
echoes still linger sslong the corridors ol
| Time. Some sought the ics- bound North,
and grappied with dangers by field and bJ
food. They hunted the wild dragon to h. 1
mountain -fsstpe.ses, and fought him q. 5a,
and never quailed. Death in its most Fear.
ful forms, they met with grim delight, ans
chapted the giories Of the Nslba,ia waiting
| for heroes who should forever enaf th,
| sfoamipY. pure hpd shining mead - from