Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1869-08-28
A LEAF FROM MY DIARY.
The Mandate OF Mysterious Personag,

AAS " oi d sltTiOus efSOn1Se.
Wearied in body and mind, des-
pondent and almost despairing, /
strolled out as L was wont at the set
ting sun, to a gentle eminence that
overlooked the beautiful lake Sene-
ca. Often had l wandered there in
my WEAKNESS and languidness, to in
hale the cool e~hilerating breeze,
gaze upon the crystal purity of its
placid waters, and watch the play
fulness of the incessant waves as
they came pulsing on over its calm
blue bosom. Each wavelet as it roll
ed on towards the pebbled shore bore
upon its summit wreath of snowy
effervescence, among " hich the last
golden rays of the King of day sport
ed in fond dalliance, causing the
WaVe-cIest to assume all colors from
the most delicate blush to the varied
unts OF the rainbow. The evening
vespers swept by and as they gazed
upon the scene, audibly whispered,
natures Venus and Adonis. But
time hurries us onward. There is no
such thing as rest in the world of
matter or the world of mind. We
progress but never retroerade. So
the amorous sunbeam pressing a last
goiuen kiss upon the sllvery lips of
the coquettish pearl-wreath, left her,
In her mossy dell, upon her bed of
snowy sand to dream, bidding the
mountain breezes his presence had
klndIed to go down, freighted with
the fragrance of wild flowers and
nestle among her crystal tresses, till
he came again, with the first blush
OF the morning to impress upon her
pearl-Gps, the joy of awakened ma
ture. Having thus ordered, he
touched his 'sundown,n Ieaped up
the mountain side, rested for mo-
ment among the bright tops of the
evergreens, causing them to glisten
like a thousand spears uplifted in
battle, then fastened away to gild
other climes and waken to life the
dawn of other lands. But on this
occasion, the occasion of which / am
now about to speak, I beheld no
such fanclful or poeticaI scenes. Ma
ture seemed reversed. In the ming
ling of the sunshine and the wave
crest, beheld naught but the
wranglings of nature; in the flight
of the golden sunbeam naught but
hope deferred. / was unusually de-
pressed. The blood circulated but
morbidly through my system, and
tired, depressed nature, sought re-
pose upon the rocks with a tuft of
moss for pillow. / have faint rec
objections of a troubled, dreamy
sleep. How long 1 remained in this
half conscious state, this transition
from the world of fact to dreanadand.
know not; when there came a
flood of light as if the curtains of the
sky had been rent asuEder and a
hundred suns poured their united
strength upon the earth at once ::
gliding the mountain tops, flooding
the valleys and causing the deep
mysterious caverns to glow like so
many furnaces. This startling phe-
nomenen was followed by another.
if not more mysterious, it was more
terrible in effect. Far up in the di-
rection of the bright s tar Cyrus, there
was heard faint rumbling sound
from its direction its evident destina-
tion was earth. With increased We
locIty and with increased terror, it
swept onward through the ambient
depths. Nearer and still nearer it
approached our planet. The earth
rocked to and fro and trembled like
an aspen leaf, the mountains quaked,
the great tide waves of ocean We're
leyeled and lay great mass of silver
and molten gold hemmed in only by
the boundaries of the blue vaulted
sky. 1t was as if Jupiter had let
loose a thousand thunderbOlts from
Olympus, to which the most terri
bic of ordinary thunder was but the
merest echo. l was startled to my
feet lnstantaneously, trembling in
ever fibre. The shock upon my sys-
tenn was so great, that l was as
hrmly chained to my place, as was
the tabled Promethus to the cold
rocks of mount Caucasus. Turning,
L heheld standing at my side a mys-
terlohs parsonage, with mild mien
supporting in one hand silver-like
shining rod, while in the other he
bore lighted taper. With this rod
he touched me, when, instantly, /
found myself standing upon an iso-
lated rock, midway beneath an arch
SoVaSt, that human vision could not
span the breadth thereof. Around
me on every side, passing in review,
as some grand panoramic scale
stood the millions of eartl each
bearing IN his or her hand ? white
unlighted taper. The mys Gerious
parsonage addressed me-'beholdest
thou that vast throng from every
cline beneath the sun ?" / behold
them, / answered. "ThOu seestu
continued he, "that each bears in his
or her hand white unlighted taper,
some larger and some smaller, but
all alike in nature" "Now,n said
he, 81 place into thy hand this
lighted taper, and my command to
you.is, go and light those myriads OF
tapers, that the world may be illu-
minated by their united influence
The task he continued, "will not
be difficult one, for they are thy
fellow men, gathered from the Ori-
ent to the Occident, and when thou
hast lighted one taper, its influence
Will communicate to another and
still another, and with every acces-
sion of light the wave will increase
until like the great tide wave of
ocean, its power will become irresist.
ible." On what subject, "Oh, child
OF Light wouldst thou, that I address
my fellow man, for there are many
subjects that mankind consider it
desirable to know ?" His bright eyes
kindled as with inspiration, while a
bright glow spread over his fine
features, he answered, in slow meas
ured words; There is really but one
truth, that sound political philoso-
ply teaches as underlying the polit-
lcal structure of all good government,
and that interests alike all ages
and all classes of society,"" "Au
other truths" said he, "that infiu-
ence the human family are incident
al thereto, they flow from this pri-
mary one, as the mountain stream
flows flowers from the mountain, as
the sunshine flows from the orb of