Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1867-06-03
A NEW sTUpY TO MANY.


cations and laws which it ought to take
into account. Ye, this very sort Of
is just that which is most
important Of any to be acquired. The
study of humanity would to one man
appear to embrace chiefly the laws of
benevolence; to another the laws Of hui
nature, as it is, in its care; first Of
all, for ones self; or again Of human ma
ture as it ought TO be, in all the proper
balance Of its impulses aud duties, such
as moral philosophy teaches. There
is probably wanted An additional study
of the laws of humanity in its
very broadest sense, including all the
principles by which meu are actuated
on all occasions, and so far it may thus
DO illustrated, how far it is the purpose
and will of the Creator that they ever
should be thus moved.
One Of the most common Of all laws
Of this sort, and therefore the most uni
versal, but also the least thought of or
perceived, is what might perhaps be
called the law of ria inerti$-that is, the
principle OF never departing from an ac-
customed course Of conduct, which af-
fords a certain present degree of sue
cess, without something like certainty
of something better. Every parent,
without reasoning, has al instructive
propensity TO bring up his or her chill
dreu just as he or she WAS brought up,
and thus 10 reproductive home of child
hood. So strong is this law, that it is
only the fact of each child having W
parents that breaks up the uniformity
Of household arrangements and secures
progress in the family life. But where,
as in India, the caste life produces arti-
fcially too much uniformity in the pa
rents habits, society stagnates. In
America, where so many nations and
varieties come together, progress is the
most rapid as q whole, although great
and unhappiuess occasionally
result. There are always unknown dan
gers in every variation from that which
is accustomed, in climate, food ordress;
in all bodily habits, in all mental, such
as the hours Of study and repose, and
"A ltfa n Iyo nras tha Aannarc Of rbanna
increase. Ii is a sufficient reason for
holding on to any custom, where no i'm
proyement is demons,rable from change,
that it is a custom. So also in all
moral aud religious opinion, though a
IA should ever be willing to improve
and grow, and give up demonstrated
error, yet it should be remembered that
all religious opinions aud customs are
the growths of ages, the developments
really Of the history Of our entire race
hereditarily, and it is a sufficient reason
for holding on to any opinion and habit
Of life, until proved to be erroneous,
that it is a legitimate growth. A very
strong reason should be deducible for
any change, and we ought to be sure
that we have estimated the loss Of all
that we abandon and the whole effects
of all that we embrace. It may be i'm
possible to recall, especially in a family,
what is lost by abandoning some truth
or habit kept up by an old custom
through centuries.
Yet there is another great law equally
potent, i. G., that where any custom
seems to involve unnecessary inconveni-
ence, sickness, loss Of time, or Of mental
or moral power, no man ought to rest
without seeking to find a safe remedy.
We thus try the course which others
adopt, who seem to escape our troubles,
or the remedies we read Of, or even hear
of, and we combine former remedies or
invent new ones. This is philosophy,
and the life Of Franklin exhibits the
greatest wisdom in this sort Of progress.
II is a few such men, thrown in new
combinations circumstances, that have
made America so much ahead Of all the
rest Of the world in growth, strength
and prospective advancement.
Still it is impossible to be too careful
of the dangers of attempting short eutI
to great results. We are all fond of
la~bor-saving, and therefore may be sure
that our fathers did not e1pend their
time and efforts except for some reason;
aud i, is not until we have got all their
motives in our minds, and are a little
wiser than they, that we can accomplish
equal results by any short cut. We can
and do live faster, eat faster and per-
haps acquire more Of wealth and kuowl-
edge, but if thereby we find our youth
growing pale, worn, thin, narrow
chested, without beauty and fulness Of
growth and r%otuudity, il is a crime
against humanity to take any such
short cuts through dyspepsia to early i'll
health and the grave. Cutting down
the forests Of this continent has raised
the average American stature more than
a full inch, and the horseback riding of
Kentucky and tho West has enlarged
the capacity of the chest more than an
other inch. But the ~sedentary life of
the student and the confinement of city
life dwarfs and pales vast bodies of our
youth, and they die or only half live
and degenerate in each generation with
out cure. The same principle applies
to intellectual culture, to political and
even to religious principles. There is
no royal road to knowledge, no short
cut to political wisdom. to true and
proper laws, o. even to q truly elevated
and religious life. The beginning, Of