The day book. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 1857-1867, 1865-07-27
KNOWLEDGE.

| ness to its possessor, will be denied but
by few. Certainly those who have drunk
deep of this fountain of pleasure, will at
test its worth. Indeed, it is almost, if not
emit, ely impossible, to be happy withou.
it. We know it is said by celebrated
author, that "contentment is felicity
But is this SO? May not persons be ap-
parently contented in situation quite
the reverse of a state of true happiness
Is it possible that the ignorant, supersti-
t GUS being, sunk in all the vice and de-
graduation attendant upon this want OF
knowledge, and clinging to sensual pur-
suits with an ardor declarative of con-
tentment, can be happy I Ifso, the hap
piness we sincerely deprecate. If this be
the felicity to be obtained, may our search
for it be short indeed. But as it is ac-
knowledged that those nations which are
in most profouLd ignorance, are almost
invariably sunk loves in vice; so it
must be admitted that they are most
wretehed for the reverse of virtue must
ever bring with it succeeding train Of
sorrow. Take but few examples and
we shall be convinced of the truth of this
assertion. See the poor idolator throw
ing himself before the ponderous car of
|juggernaut, which assiilrols must, iaeyi-
tably crush him to atoms. View the de-
luded Hindo mother, throwing her infant
into the jaws Of the deyouring crockadile.
or the wife consumed upon the sole"
with the body of the deceased husband.
Look at the untutored savage, wasting his
life in scenes OF blood and dire revenge.
leaving the sick and aged, seven his own
parents" to die, uncontrolled and uuat-
tended. s - e asi ig,as* SEA-
These degraded creatures ere not mere
ly destitute of the enjoyment and pleas
ures of refined life, but ignorant of them.
selves an their Creator. The design Of
their being, they know not, They are
not taught to look from "Nature up to
Natures God,'' and thence derive fresh
pleasure. All this misery must be at.
tributed to mere ignorance, for facts
show, that the mind of the Indian, when
cultivated is susceptible Of the finest i'm
pressions. Is not their state then deplo.
rable When compared with Ignorance,
how lovely does knowledge appearl rem :
dered still more attracting by the deep
contrast which is drawn. How much
then do we owe to civilization? Our
minds would now have been equally dark,
had not the light of literary and scienti-
tic knowledge shone upon us. We possess
no intellectual quality which would pre-
serve US from similar lelusion, were we
and had we ever been under similar cir
cumstances. Those only whose minds are
enlightended Tin some degree atieast) can
be truly happy. How can it be other
| wiseg No one wishes to deny that God
designed the happiness of his creatures.
Ii then, the acquisition OF knowledge
we've not necessary, it would not have
been required. But this requisition is
plainly inferred. if not positively declared
for surely, God would never have bestow
ed upon us mind, that most noble of all
his works, with an intention lat we
should suffer it to remain without culture,
barren and desolate waste.
In order that it may become the source
OF true happiness, something more, or
rather, something besides mere knowledge
is necessary. With science must be blend
ed virtue. Devoid of this even the most
splendid literary attachments are mere
drapsry, unmeaning ornament. But unite
these, and where is there source of SO
much unmingled delight? To person
of cultivated, virtuops and sensitive
mind, the field of pleasure is vast indeed.
To him, even nature is a garden of Joy.
Here, he will gaze upon the beauty and
loneliness OF Creators works, until he
! is filled with admiration and surprise.
There his Imagination takes bold and
rapid figh, and is lost ia labyrinths Of
Omnipotent power. Here. with prying
curiosity, he searches out the cause which
shall produce the sure effect; there he is
compelled to acknowledge the work zone
of the arcaua OF nature" and ascribs it
to him only, who rounded the orbs III
the palm of his hand" From the work
Of the tiny insect, to the most "stupend
GUS fabric" raised by man, from the small
est particle Of floating matter to the vast
system Of ''planets and suns" from the
mest inferior intellect up to ths highest Sc
raph; in all he beholds the impress of a
Creators hand. See him watch the little
cloud, floating through the azure sky, like
some clone pirit" wandering far away.
Soon it acquires additional strength,
and returns, dark and portentious but
the showering torrent and forked light
ming disturb not his mental enjoyment In
the rolling thunder, he hears the voice OF
his Heavenly Father. He sees comli-
ness in the "gnarled oak'' as we'll as in
the aourshing and beautiful cedar. He
takes lesson from the little flower. The
tander stem hends meaklu hanaath Tho