Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1873-04-01
THE COMMONPLACE.

There IS a Sublimity in everyday
life, AS we go about the world, we
look away from the present and the
surroundings of the moment in search
OF the grand and beautiful. Every
where. we see the evidences of Ia
inevitable short-sightedness in man,
causing him in lieu of the present and
substantial, to grasp at the future,
, the viewless, the unaftainable.
We see this displayed in earliest
childhood, in the longing for maturer
age: we see it in the repining with
which the youth submits to the re-
straints of home. Campbell SAYS !:
"Tis distance lends enchantmentt to the
view, And robes the mountain in their
azure hue" Strictly speaking, dis
tancG can not be said TO be the cause of
the subtle satisfaction experienced in
contemplating the distant: the true
source of this pleasure is that sense or
faculty, (call it what you Will that
enables mau to grasp the distant.
This faculty or property of our ma
ture. for | will not lame it, is univer-
sal. The voice of all ages unites in
the testimony that man is forever ere
ating idols out of the unknown. The
poets have sung of Utopia. and the
heart ofDan has responded wildly to
the song, and philosophers, have ran
sacked the whole range of science. on
ly to point out new phantasmagOria
for the excited brain of man. -E-
Now, as to the doctrine that holds
forth Utopia, we prOnonce that it is
false, if it lay the foundation of attain
ment out OF the rank OF everyday life
NJ al pI In aff 70 in fp
true eminence, without the pale of
common existence. The theory of the
past, the exploded doctrines of dead
philosophers, teach one essential truth,
even in their deaths; viz: the true ell
ovation of humanity is TO be accom-
plished, not by mighty strides, but by
earnest aud dil!igent, though slow
plodding.
The inau that attempts the sublime,
points you to the sphere and blazing
suns, disdaining the mighty and po-
tent truths, appealing to the senses,
and taking hold of the heart, that are
spread upon the page of nature, he
vainly overlooks. He who would
tell you of the greatness of man. points
to the blood-stained victor of the bat.
tle-field, and lecounts the deeds of hu-
man butchers. The mind is too prone
to separate the action that are called
brilliant and daring, from the slow
and arduOus toll of the performers
When life is footed up, we are but too
prone to overlook the single sciiItilla-
tiOns that wake up the grand, tie no.
~, the pure element in the lives of
men. This is all wrong. 1t is true
that omnipotencp is proclaimed by the
balanced orbs, but not less so by the
binding within the tiny cup of the
acorn, the sturdy force that shall af-
forwards, dispute with bowling win
ter's blast. 1t is true that wisdom in
finite is concerned in the marking a
course for the worlds, but not less so
in mingling the air We breathe, the
food we eat, and tie water we drink.
So of the great deeds of man. The
world knows the martyr for faith, and
yet, this same man may perish, devoid
of true and noble motive, while he
that sinks into an unmarked grave,
may. by gentle and pure demeanor,
by correct and harmonious deport-
ment, have testified the possession of
one of the worlds great souls.
Man shoulenot look only at what is
Caileu TIE SitdI anu STduU OF history,
it is not there that the truth and glory
Of his nature appears. The deeds and
thoughts of the great, are painted and
arranged to suit pOsterity, What there
is of true nobility is so immensely ex-
allied, so wonderfully changed as to
bear no appreciate resemblance to the
true. Thus the historian brings his
hero down to the observation OF COM
ing ages but ever, the tale is cODcen-
tered in the grand andf glowing con-
summation, to the exclusion of the ST.
lent viglls, and unwearying persever-
ance that make up the true sum of
life Emory Banner.