The Shasta courier., 1862-05-24
The Art of Not Hearing.

7 !
in every well regulated family 1t is ful
as important to domestic happiness as a eul
tiva.e e.r, for which s,..much time and m n
ey are expended. There are so many thing
which it is painful to hear, many which ",
ought not to hear, very many which if heart
will disturb the temper, simplicity aud mod
esty, detract from contentment and happi
ness, that every one should be educated Il
take in or shut out sounds. according to theil
pleasure.
| a man falls into violent passion ant
calls me all manner of names, the first WORD
shuts my ears, and hear no more. If, ir
my quiet voyage of life, find myself caught
in one of those domestic whirlwinds Of scold
ings, | shut my ears as sailor would furl
his sails, end making all right. scud before
the gale. If a hot and restless man begins
to inf1amc my feelings, consider what mis-.
chief those fiery sparks may do in the maga-
zine below where my temp.er is kept, and
instantly close the door,
Does a gadding, mischief making fellow
begin to inform me what people are saving
about me, down drops the portcullis of my
ear and he cannot get in any further. Does
the collector of neigbborhood scandal ask
my ear as Warehouse, it instinctiyely
everything that will vex and annoy mem. -
If it is limited that any one has spoken evil
OF them, they set about searching the mat
ter, and finding out. If all the petty things
said of one by needless or ill-natured oilers
were brought home to him he would become
mere walking pin-cusbion, stuck full of
sharp remarks. | shonld as soon thank a
man for emptying upon my head bushel of
nettles, or setting loose a swarm of mosoui.
toes IN my chamber, or raising a pungent
dust in my house generally, as to bring upon
me all the tattle of careless or spiteful people.
If you wonld be happy, when among good
men open your ears when among bad, shut
them. And as the throat has IA muscular
arrangement by which it takes care of the air
passages of its own accord. SO the ears should
be trained to an automatic dullness of hear
ing 1t is not worth while to hear what YOUR
servants say when they are angry what
your children say after they have slammed
the door; what Il beggar says whom you
have rejected from your door; what your
neighbors say about your children what
your rivals say about your business or your
dress.
The art of not hearing, though untaught
in the schools, is by no means unknown or
unpractised in society. l have noticed that
a well-bred woman nevers hears an impert-
inent or vulgar remark. A kind Of dis
Greet deafness saves one from many insults.
from much blame, from many not little
connivance in dishonorable conversation.
There are two dooos inside my ears, a
right-hand door leading to the heart. and a
left hand door, with broad and steep pas
sage out into the open air. The latter door
receives all the ugliness, profanity, vulgari-
ty, mischief making, which suddenly find
themselves outside of me-
Judicious teachers and indulging parents
save young urchins world of trouble by
convenient deafness. Bankers and brokers
are often extremely hard of hearing, when
unsafe borrowers are importunate. / never
hear a man who runs after me in the street
bawling my name at the top of his voice !;
nor them who talk evil of those who are alb
sent: nor those who give me unasked ad-
vice about my own affairs nor those who
talk largely of things of which they are ig-
norant.
If there arc sounds of kindness, or mirth.
or love, open fly my ears But temper,
or harshness, or hatred, or vulgaiity, or
fiattery, shut them. If you keep your gar
den shut, your flowers and fruit will be
safe. If you keep your door closed no thief
will run off with your silver ; and if you
keep your ears shut you heart will neither
lose its flowers nor its treasures.
TIE DARIEN SHIP CANNAL-The Herald
and Mirror collates the following interesting
items morning the proposed canal across
the Isthmus of Panama
The preparat;ons are nearly complee for
the consummaton of that grand enterprise
for connecting the waters of the two great
oceans in attempting survey for which
Lieutenant Strain and number of American
officers and Government empl ,yees 30 near'y
lost their lives. The present expedition is
under the auspices of the Emperor Louis Ma.
poleon Several French engineers under
direction of NJ Bonardial, having previous
ly made partial exploration, and are OPP
Grating in Darien upon a detailed survey
of the line for ship cannal between the At
lantic and Pacific oceans There is TINS.
at length, prospect of this grand project
being carried into execution. The land
about to be surveyed extends from the Gulf
of San Miguel. on the Pacific, in direction
n. f. by f. f. by compass, to Caledonia
Harbor and Fort Escoces on the Atlantic
The Gulf of San Miguel receives numerous
rivers. the largest of which are the Tuyra
and the Savanna, which unite together just
befo -e falling into it. The Savanna is navi-
gable for the largest ships up to the confu-
ence of the Lara with it. that is. for four
teen miles towards the Atlantic. From the
confluence of the Lara with the Savanna, at
which point the''future canal will commence
the line extends to the Chuquanaqua. dis
tance of II miles. From the Chuquanaqua
the line follows the bed of the Sueubti, one
of its tributaries up to the confluence of the
Asmati with the Sucubti, q distaarr uf nine
miles; and then continues along the bed of
the same river Sucubti to point nine miles
higher up. From that point to the Atlantic
the distance is six miles. The whole length
of the projected cannal will therefore be 35
nautical, or nearly Al English miles.
SQUIRE GRUBB. of Pike county. Illinois. had
been hard drinker, but when Washing
tonianism swept over the western country,
he joined the army of its converts, and made
speeches on Temperance in as temperate a
spirit as could be expected of nolitical can
diaate and stump orator lie took occasion
on one of his slashing harangues. to allude
to one of his former boon companions as . a
certain man who is public nuisance y
Doubling if he was the individual meant, his
old friend stepped up to the Squire, who
stood. after his lecture was finished. sur
rounded by applauding friends, and inquired
who he alluded to, just now. as = nui-
sance?" The Squire put himself in as dig
dihed an attitude as possible for shcrt, wiry