The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1861-04-12
Nominations.
By Timothy TitcOmb.
CHAPTER /.

i.
Infinity lies below us as well as above US.
There is as much essential greatness IN lit
tleness as in largeness. Mont Blanc-mas-
sive. ice-crowned, imperial-is a great work
of nature; vet it is only an aggregation Of
materials with which We are thoroughly fa
miliar 1t is only larger mountain than
that which lies within sight of my window.
A dozen Monadnocks or Ascutnevs or lloi-
vokes, more or less, make a Mont Blanc.
with glaciers and avalanches and broodng
eternity Of frost Such greatness, though it
impresses NE much, is not beyond my com
prehension. 1t can be reckoned by cubic
miles SO with the sea it is only an expanse
of water larger than the river that winds
through the meadows. 1t is great, but it is
only an aggregate of Vulnerable quantities
that nv eye can measure, and my mind COM
prehend These are great objects, and they
are great particularly because they are large.
Tney are above me- and they lead me upward
toward creative intinity.
If turn my eyes in the other direction.
however, lose myself in intinity quite as
readily If pick up pebble at the foot of
Mont Blanc, and undertake the examination
of its structurc.-the elements which COM
pose it. the relations of those elements 70
Zach other, the mode of their combination -
am lost as readily as should b" in fol-
lowing the footsteps of the stars. II under
take to look through a drop Of water may
be arrested at first. indeed. by the sports and
struggles of animalcular life but at length |
find myself gazing beyond it into infnitude
Using il as lens through which the Goo
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 upon my hand does II with a.
instrument and by the operation OF machine
ry which are beyond my scrutiny. They be-
long to a life and are the servants of instincts
which do not understand at all.
These thoughts come to me, borne by GER
tain memories. remember a venerable gen.
tleman of Buifalo-Dr Scott-who did. and
who still does, very great things in very
small way. At the age of seventy he be
came conscious of decaying power OF vision
Being professionally physician and natural
" philosopher, he conceived the idea that
the eye might be improved by what he de-
. u
He there fore undertook to exercise his ewes
upon the formation OF minute letters-work
ing upon them until the organs began to bt
weary, and then, like prudent man resting
for hours. BY progressing slowly and care
fully, he became, at last, able to do wonder.
in the way of fine writing, and also becam,
able to read the newspapers without glasses
(Here's a hint for some clever lankee-a
good as fortune) Now, reader, prepare
= for large story but be assured that ii i
true, and that my hands have handled ant
my eyes seen the things of Which tell YOU
At the age Of seventy-one, DIR Scott wrote UP
. on an enamelled card with Il stile, on .pac
exactly equal to that Of one side of three
cent piece,-The Lords Prayer, the Apostle.
! Creed, the Parable of the Ten Virgins, tn
, Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus Th
Beatitudes, the fifteenth Psalm, the one hun
dred and twentieth Pslam, the one hundre,
and thirty third Psalm, the one hundred an
thirty-tirst Psalm, and the figures "lS6O."-
Every word, every letter and every punctua
ton, of all these passages, was written ex
quisitely on this minute space and that o.
e man not only saw every mark he made. hu
-, dineSs of nerve to form the letters SO beaut
fully that they abide the test of the highe.
masnifying power They were, of cours
written by microscopic aid.
: Now who believes that it does not requil
e more genius and skill to execute this minul
:. work than it does to bore Hoosac tunne
d or build Victoria bridge, or put dam
e cross the Connecticut, or construct an Er
8 canal? do lot speak of the relative III
Y portance of the great works and the smal
j. but of the relative amount and quality of III
s. power that is brought to bear upon them-
J. In very important sense the greatest thin
d a man can do is the most difficult thing
t. can do. The most difficult thing man ca
h do may not be the most useful, or in al
,f sense the most important; bnt it will mea
z, ure and show the limits of his power. Wor
J. grows difficult, as it goes below man, qui
Il as rapidly as it does when it rises above hin
? 1t costs as much skill to make dainty bit
II jewelry as it does to carve colossal statu
t. 1t actually costs more power to make II
o chain of geld that holds the former, than
s. does to forge the clumsy links by which II
latter is dragged to its location. Thus, ,whet
is er man goes down or up, he soon gets b
,e yond the sphere of his power. The furth'
e. he can carry himself in either direction II
r more does he demonstrate his superiority
g yer the majority of men. The more dithcu
the task which he performs the further do
- he reach toward infnity.
g have az other memory which comes
" here to help me on with my discussion.
,e the town of Waltham there is a manufactol
n of watches which have examined with gre
a. interest 1t is here undertaken to organi
the skill which has been achieved by tho
~ sands of patient hands, and commit it to m
in chinery; and it is done. Everything is
le systematized, and the operations carried {
with such exactness, that, among hundre
d. watches, corresponding parts may be lnte
n changed without embarrassment to the m
as chinery. The different parts are DasSed fro