Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1867-10-30
8aftsman's gournal.
CLEARFIELD, PA, OCT. 80, 1867.
Written for the "kaftsman's Journal
The True End of Life.

The True End Of Life.
The record of earth illustrious is great
highway, along which the faithful student
of history is permitted to walk, that he may
learn of a nobler destiny than that revealed
to him by his own dim vision If he turn
from this bright view of life to the catalogue
OF the grOvelllng, not even here can he find
one of his fellows so stepped in vice, as that
amid all the mass of corruption there will
not gleam forth some ray of light, indicative
of that native dignity of life, which places
man above the brute and renders him be-
ing worthy the labors Of humanity. These
truths, apart from any present reference to
divine revelation, are inc0ntestible evidences
that man was designed for some noble end.
Gaze where you will, upon his labors, and
whether they be illustrious or obscure, they
are animated by that spirit which urges man
onward and iilumines his pathway to i'm
mortality. Whether the monument be the
embodiment of good or of evil deeds, to the
intelligent mind, its teachings are the same.
Though the waves of dark oblivion have
rolled over its authors, yet God speaks thro'
it to the children of men.
1t matters not, whether you stand by the
death bed of him who has sinfully watched
the hour-glass of time, until its wasting
sands have passed away, or revelled amid
the lurings of designations throng, until the
darksome shades of death have gathered
around him, or whether you listen to the
ever-sounding echoes of another, whose life
has been one noble struggle to attain the
true goal of his being, as he fades from your
view, the same great lesson is taught. With
such proofs of man being the author of his
destiny, and with such varied and constant
examples, illustrating the result of every
course of action, how important is life, and
how carefully should all its steps be meas
ured. These warnings and inspirations ever
throng life's pathway they tell us how Of
ten the glowing spark of mans pride flick
ers to extinction, while eternal darkness
greets him on the threshold of his future
state, or how above such a dread doom 9TH
ers have risen who will shine as the stars,
forever and ever"
Prompted by such teachings, man need
not sink to the dust. there to grovel away
his existence, but the hope of manhood may
20 out and link itself to objects that are
above all earthly scenes, and yet, whose at
tainment begins on earth. AS the verdant
tree sheds its leaves, and thus fertilizes the
soil, from which it gathers the strength of
its life, that it may become more vigorous,
so man, would he become worthy the true
end of his being, must let his life be as a
tree, growing up amid the waste places of
earth, that it may send forth to the arid
soil of vassaled humanity, the elixir of a
character formed by the most heroic labor,
and discip plined by the most ennobling sac
rifces. For when he becomes the medium
through which is transmitted that magic In
huence that transforms men, s thoughts and
aspirations, and assimilates them to higher
purposes and nobler aims, he will gather
from the scene of his labors an inspiration
that will fit him for still greater conquests.
To live, for the true end of our being, Is
to SO cultivate the understanding, and direct
the mind, as that we may be enabled to look
directly through the sophisms of misguided
theorists and their intricate questions OF
polity, right On to the great object of life:
For when a life has its struggle subdivlded
among the many objects that so often solicit
its homage, it will, at the last, stand up as
some distorted image, bearing no distinct
outline, or as some ancient ruin whose tenn
Piles and shrines are now commingled with
the dust of centuries But when all the
native impulses of manhood are reused and
directed in the path of truth, though rug
ged may be the course, though thick the
drapery of error may overhang it, and dim
may be the waymarks, yet the hope inspired
soul will press on. New lights will ilumine
its line of march The rayless gloom of op-
preston will be dispersed, and with its mar
shalled host of kindred spirits, the deafness
soul of man will rise to its native Heaven.
The songs of chivalry have been chanted,
and the glory of military renown has had Its
reign Their memory is now fading. They
may live in the future, but it will be only as
beacons to mark the locality of destructive
waves, and engulfng whirlpools. They
have ceased to herald the notes that enchant
humanity No more will their shrines be
decorated with the laurels of enlightened
man. Their alluring power is fast being
destroyed by the onward march of truth
Through the gloom of the past, there may
be seen monuments that will stand forever.
They are the record of lives to whom mill
tary renown or political fame has not been
the aim of their labors, or the end OF their
being. Ttey are the memory of men who
have broken through the trammels that
bound them to the idols of earth-have
burst the shackles that fettered their sub
lime impulses, and spurning the blandish-
ments of their fellows, have given a glorious
example for the emulation of incoming gen.
eratiOns. Sothat, even in this limited sphere
of human action, men rise or sink to lever
to the character of their lives.
How much greater then, will be the distlnc- |
tion between the final sphere of one who
has made some ephemeral fame the object
of his life, and him who has scared beyond
the confines of time, and thought no object /
worthy his highest labor, save the author OF
his being, and the fountain OF his bliss.
Such life alone is true one, 1t alone Is
enshrined in that sacred lustre, which bright,
ems the ties between earth and heaven, and
leads the faithful. on to realization of the /
hioh dast;n,, for which thew were made. |