Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1861-04-12
FOUNDATIONS.

NOMINATIONS.
TIMOTHY TrcoMB-Dr. HoLLANp-is now
writing series of essays upon Human life
(which are being published from week tc
week in the Springfield Republican. Below
we publish his last:
Infinity lies below us as well as above us
There is as much essential greatness i'm lit
tleness as in largeness. Mont Blanc-mas
sive, ice-crowned, imperial-is a great work
of nature; yet it is only an aggregation Of
materials with which we are thoroughly "a.
miliar. 1t is only larger mountain than
that which lies within sight of my window
| dozen Monadnocks or Ascutneys or Holy.
| okes, more or less, make Mont Blanc, with
| glaciers and avalanches and brooding eterni.
! ty Of frost. Such greatness, though it i'm.
presses me much, is not beyond my conpre.
tension. 1t can be reckoned by cubic miles.
So with the sea it is only an expanse of wa,
ter larger tiiiian the river that winds through
the meadows. ii IS great, but it is only an
aggregate of Vulnerable quantities that my
eyes can measure, and my mind comprehend.
These arc great objects, and they are great
particularly because they are large They
are above me, and they lead me upwards
towards creative infnity. ..
If turn my eyes in the other direction,
however, | lose myself in infnity quite as
readily. If pick up pebble at the foot of
Mont Blanc, and undertake the examination
Of its structure,--the elements which CON-
poseit the relations of those elements to each
other, the mode Of their combination-I am
lost as readily as should be in following
the footsteps of the stars. If | undertake to
look through drop of water | may be ar
rested at first, indeed, by the sports and strug-
giles of animalcuiar life; but at length find
myself gazing beyond it into infnitude -
using it as a lens through which the God
head becomes visible to me. [ can diSsect
from one another the muscles and arteries
and veins and nerves and vital viscera Of the
human body, but the little insect that taps a
veir upon my hand does it with an instru-
ment and by the operation of machinery
which are beyond my scrutiny. They be
long to life and are the servants ofinstincts
which | do not understand nj all
These thoughts come TO me, borne BY Ger.
tain nmemories. remember venerable gen
tleman of Buffalo-Dr. Scott-who did
and who still does, very great things in a
very small way. At the age of seventy he
became conscious of decavinc power of vision.
Being professionallya physician and natural.
" philosopher he conceived the idea that the
eye might be improved by what he denomi-
mated a series of ocular gymnastics" He
therefore undertook to exercise his ewes upon
the formation Of minute lctters-workinp m
on them until the organs began to be weary
and then, like prudent man, resting for hours
BY progressing slowly and car reully he became
atlast, able to do wonders in the way of fine
writing, and also became able to read the
newspapers without glasses. Here's hint
for some clever Yankee-as good as a for
tune.) Now, reader prepare for large sto-
ry; but be assured that it is true, and that
my hands have handled and my ewes seen
the things of which tell you. At the age
Of seventy -one DR.. Scott wrote upon an en-
amelled card with stilc. on space exactly
equal to that of one side of three. cent niece
The Lords Prayer, the Apostles Creed
the Parable of the Ten Virgins, the Parable
of the Rich Man and Lazarus, The Beati-
tudes, the fifteen Psalm, the one hundred
and twentieth Psalm, the one hundred and
thirty third Psalm, the one hundred and thir-
ty-frst Psalm, and the figures sls6O.n-
Every word, every letter and every punctua.
ton, OF all these passages was written ex-
guisitely on this minute space; and that old
man not only saw every mark he made but
had the delicacy ofmuscular action and stead
mess Of nerve to form the letters SO beauti.
fully that they abide the test of the highest
magnifying power. They were, of course.
written by microscopic aid.
Now who believes that it does not REQUIRE
more genius and skill to execute this minute
work than it does to bore Hoosac tunnel.
or build Victoria bridge, or put dam
across the Connecticut, or construct an Erie
canal? ! do not speak OF the relative i'm
portance Of the great works and the small.
but of the relative amount and quality of the
power that is brought to bear upon them.-
In very important sense the greatest thing
a man can do is the most difficult thing he
can do. The most difficult thing man can
do may not be the most useful, or in any
sense the most important; but it will meas
ure and show the limits Of his power. Work
grows difficult, as it goes below man. quite
as rapidly as it does when it rises above him.
1t costs as much skill to make a dainty bit
Of jewelry as it does to carve colossal stat
ue. 1t actually costs more power to make
the chain Of gold that holds the former than
it does to forge the clumsy links by which
the latter is dragged to it's location. Thus.
whether man goes down or up, he soon gets
beyond the sphere of his power. The fur
ther he can carry himself in either direction
the more does he demonstrate his superior.
ity over the majority Of men. The more
difficult the task which he performs the fur.
ther does he reach towards ininity.
have another memory which comes in
here to help me on with my discussion. In
the town Of Waltham there is mandatory
Of watches which have examined with great
interest II is here undertaken to organize
tn. skill which has been achieved by thou
sands of patient hands. and commit it to
machinery; and it is done. Everything is
so systenatized, and the operations are car.
fied on with such exactness, that among a
hundred watches, corresponding parts may
be intsrchanged without embarrassment to
the machinery. The different parts are pas
sed from hand to hand, and from machine 10