Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1861-06-28

Who canaanalyze and separate the years oi
his childhooag From birth until one is four
or Eve, the uDripel brain receives few impress
sions that last. II Is MI blank As in a
printed book, at either eud, and bound mp ma
ny blank IeaFss. without print or whiting, 50
is human life, at either end, begHn aBd ended
with blank years, preserving no recOrd-leav-
ing no marx
But, thenc0ms the youthful days-full Of
rOmp. Of hunger Of childish exhiIarationl How
do they seem to you now? Are they separablei
Can you thsead them, and paint them by mem
ory? 0nly one or two things significant re-
main. The days are huddled together The
very years are heaped 10 mass. aud you think
back upon-fWenty years as if they were but a
hand. Dreadful Kasvraes~.~
1t is as With landscape to a traveller. Hav-
ing journeyed al day. at evening, reaching
some high bin. he sits down to trace his path.
The grassatshis feet u plain enough, and the
ants thai Ran express mp and down every stock
have brisk distinction. The near bushes and
the trees a1esO. plain that the 'bpughs and sep
aruts leaves stand out in their individual forms
But as thsseis1 Eeesdes, gradually he loses all
these; and d little further of leaves lie upoH
leaves. grass d matted Fupon grass, and Is no
longer form, but ouiy color. Yet Iarther, and
trees begin to fade; tree stands upon tree, and
at length whole forests aFs % tie eye biz faint
clouds, with not one distinct line, aud hills are
rubbed out, and all the inequalities of the way,
which the camplaining foot felt N travelling,
the eye no longer discerns, and only here and
there single peak or mduntain remains clear
and idividuahagainst.t the all abounding sky.
Thus e IS ip life. Our nearer hours report
thenlseIvesi little father, and days only, not
hours, are discerned then days lapse, and
weeks and months are like long arial distance,
in our line, whose continuity is measured by no
prominent o5jaet asAt ieugth. yeafs oniy can
be secn,aanas not even these finally. For, as
sailors 1eaying the harbor carry with them for
a long time the sight OF the shore, but sailing
still, lose frst the low water lines, but cling by
the eye to the highest masses, which in time is
ever sailing, fade and sink, leaving nothing but
some height, lifted far up like FenerifFe, which
AFTER the night is passed, is all gone, hidden by
the bend Of The earths surface! So even high
topped years at length are shut dovn from
our memery-h the beul of the vast cycles OF
time. mmSsaEEv w
How wonderfully trueit IS that We spend our
lives as tale that is told!
Come go back with me.
Nvbo sre The mcmbcrs ct your fathers fami-
Is? Besides Jour brothers and sisters, who
dwelt there: Who visited? Who came and
wenli. Who were the neighbors? These things
were. vivid reIities tO you when child. What
are they now? Mere marks. As a landscape
artist p4ints il th4 fire grolal Rsures with
lin,rs aud features clear, but in tn far-uf dis
tance, when he would paint figure, takes his
brush aud spots down a mere dash-a formless
c1lor mark! But a million are forgotten where
oac remains
Who went with you to the village school
Call the roll! Who were the Successive teach
ers? Popes Of the ferule!
Who were The girls Who were the boys
Then, when the uproarious school broke forth
its tumult at dismissal, if had asked you, you
could have given every name. Now, call them
up! Who were in the first class? who in the
second? These were important things then
Who was whipped? and who was never struck?
Those to you, we're more important than the
roar of European revolution, the burning OF
Moscow, the battle of Waterloo; but what
do you remember Of them? Some memories
9EC utOFG t6uuClOuo llldu OtuGIS. n lGW VIII fC-
produce much; more, some; most, but little, il
aByI
How much can you recall from the church
Who went with you? Who sat about you p
Who were the old men? Who were in their
prime3 And who like yourself, were youug?-
And if these living aad throbbing realities are
faded out, it viii be useful for me to ask you
after the sermons. They were gone before they
we're finished. They fell upon your dissolving
ear as fakes of snow upon water, and were gone
iu the very act of touching.
How much do you recall from the gresn grave
yard? What memories come thence, from that
pOpulous city without magistrate, without a
Law, where all who quarreled on earth, are now
Peaceable dust, keeping excellent neighbor-
hood!-LR. W. BEEcnER.