Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1874-06-11
The Mission of an Ink
Drop.
For tn. Fayetteville Observer.

The mind OF God may be rep
resented as an immovable gold
Ell link to which is attached a
beautiful chain extending with
out limit, upon which no mortal
has ever been permitted to fix
his lingering gaze' The mate
rial Of which it is composed is
OF so fine texture that the nat
ural eye cannot behold it, yet it
is SO strong that the powers Of
all the world combined cannot
break it asunder. 1t was first
composed of two links, others
were added and still others un-
] til It's number became infnity.
No link has ever yet been
formed that was not instantly
connected with this chain. The
last one attached is connected
with the first, and all by the al
ternate connections Of each 9TH
er hold a common relation to,
and partake Of the nature Of
The golden link. This vast
chain is composed Of the infin-
ite number of human minds SO
eautifully connected. When
/ there were but few minds,
they were Immediately cOnnec-
ted with each other and with
their great head. But as the
number increased each addition
! was farther from the first
Thus the world was moving on
ward; no record Of past eXpe-
Irience was being kept as a
guide to man in the future. No
communications except those
OF an oral nature were held be-
tween man and man. It seemed
that the great army Of mankind
was destined to march onward
through the dark night of ig-
norancc without a knowledge
Of the past or a conception of
the future. But the living, act
ing nature of man could not
thus sleep within its embryo; it
struggled and freed itself from
this dark confinement and APP
peared in world of light
This great avenue was opened
by 'written language" 1t is
this that connects the past with
the present. 1t is the power
that holds the chain of minds
together. The ancient methods
of written language were very
imperfect, but as man gained
knowledge and became expe-
rienced he invented the i'm
proved writingfluid of the pres
ent day, which may be applied
to paper and thus give express
sion to thought.
This fluid, while it remains in
a vessel placed away upon some
hidden shelf, is a useless piece
Of invention; it answers no pur-
pose to the world. Its impor-
tance can only be seen by its
application to paper-it then
proves a blessing to man if
properly used. In the prepara-
ton Of ink an important ingre-
dient, the coloring matter, is Of
ten very sparingly used. Then
the most skillful hand and best
improved pen can not produce a
correct specimen Of good writ
ing. The letters may assume
their proper shape, but the pale
ness of the ink will destroy
their beauty. However impor-
tant the manuscript written, it
cannot be durable, for the fluid
on coming in contact with the
air instantly ceases to remain in
composition, its colOring matter
passes away until it's traces can
scarcely be seen, yet, it will
leave a soiled page to be cast a
side with waste paper. Still
worse is it if the unschooled
hand and worn pen be employed.
The Informed letters, the al
most invisible color, and the
hlots of carelessness present
page unpleasant for the eye to
look upon. Although the fast
fading fluid may become very
pale, still it will leave its stains
in the most ill-shaped pictures.
Again ink may be Of the best
composition and yet not answer
its purpose correctly; a poor pen
and a careless hand will leave
letters of the most incorrect
forms, and by the glowing color
of the ink they will be more
plainly exposed to view; time
and i'll use may wear away the
page upon which they SO bril-
liantly shine but these charac-
ters can never be erased. They
may be spread over with stains
but not hidden, they may be re-
modelled but not made perfect.
Yet by employing a skillful
hn,,d nnH . ornnI ,,n,, q 1nanca