The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1869-11-19

or affected, was duly appreciated and
its yotaries we're promptly doomed
to stoical indifference if not absolute
disrespeet Several Of these indomit-
able pioneers built up princely for
tunes by their energy and strict atten-
ton to their legitimate business, as 1
hope to explain on another occasion,
and they all succeeded beyond their
most sanguine antieipations, except
ing, perhaps now aud they a solitary
individual, who, with supereilious ar
rogance, awaiting wealth or distinc-
ton without effort, frittered away his
lifetime in the illusions of self-coneeit
or in dissipation and frivolity. They
made roads and farms; created wealth
and constructed houses and edifees
alike tastful and eommodious. They
surrounded themselves aud their
families with all the appendages aud
appliances Of domestic ease and COM
fort. They laid deep the foundations
of religious culture and social life
They meantime cared for the sick and
needy; enforced the laws against vice
and immortality, fearlcssly, without
looking back for the shadow of pop |
uIar opinion; and they now constitute,
in the aggregate, a community which |
will compare favorably, in all the
elements of an advanced civilization,
with that of the pioneers of any
ether northern county in Ohio And
again what constituted mere abstr..c
lions in civiIzed communities neces-
sarily became The practical rule OF
everyday life to pioneers They
might have been and probably we're
from inexpediency, if not necessity, |
apparently Indifferent to or deficient
in some of the ansSR;aiss of polished
society, but not in the warm emotions
Of the heart-thc best guarantee of a
coufdiug friendship and unsel6sh
sympathy. They had emigrated
freely from chnice-each seeking his
own individual profit and advance
ment; and they had eonsecrated
themselves aud we're contributing
powerfully, IN the hands of Provi-
deuce, to the amelioration of their
own condition and in preparing the
way for the diffusion of religion, NOR
/ rality, intelligence and refneMeDt.-
Those who have enjoyed every appro-
pirate qualification Of taste, and iu-
dulged every feeling OF Affection which
the most unlimited sumptuousness
cuniers, cannot be expected to appre
ciate the anxious lie tdde and yearn
ing with which the first settlers look
ed back upon the land of their child
hood, where churches, schools, and all
the appliances that minister to our
better nature captivated and delight
ed the imagination, Everything that
revived associations Of the past and its
surroundings was Wonderously en-
deared by time and distance. Those
whom they had passed inditterently
on the street or highway thousand
times without special recognition
were, on entering their cabins to make
some simple inquiry for drink or re
freshments, or about the way further
onward, greeted as friends aud inter-
rogated with intense inquisitiveness as
to their residence, local incidents, ae-
uuaintances and destination. Altho'
there might have been but little to
communicate, yet that little had its
precious "reminiscences, and served to
renew and strengthen the bond of
union with those from whom they
were remotely separated. 1t sweet
ened their musing returns to the
rustic scenes of life, giving at night
fall a freshness of delight to the
meditations of eve; and enchant-
ment in listening to the songsters of
the air saluting the dawn. Such
we're the lOngings, such the inspira-
ton that nestled in the hearts of
these tenants OF the wilderness.
None but pioneers can appreciate
the deep emotions of tenderness to
which l have just referred. The
contrast between the past and the
present, between society and soli-
tude, would unavoidably loom up in
the mind as if to tantalize the imag
ination I; yet they had a purpose
which no comparisons or temporary in
convenience could shake or disturb.
The future was big with promise and
its redeeming rewards were self as.
sured. A sober second thought con.
verted this contrast into an element
of increased contentment aud satisfac-
ton. Hence it is not singular that
the temporary privations and suffer-
iugs of pioneer life should have be-
come the fundamental source of do
nestle qualification and comfort. For
anticipation operated as an antidote
to couuteract all impending perils and
misfortunes incidental or apparently
unavoidable, whereby, in the language
of the poet, they were enabled
ain these deep solitudes and awful cells
Where heavenly pensivs contemplation
dwells,"
to struggle, for years, with superhu-
man fUrtitude, toll, self-depial and
endurance amidst miasmatic inAu-
ences peculiarly deletsrious in the
early settlement Of. the county, 70
improve their condition and secure
the higher eDjoyments of social life'
No wonder that every thing meeting
the eye of these devoted pioneers
and giving prestige of success should
have invoked, as it did, the Divine
beuediction-tsstifying their graft
tude for the sIeep1ess care and par
ticular providence Of the Supreme
Being 10 their behalf; and recalling
his many promises of loving kindness
to dutifnl humanity.