Los Angeles daily herald., 1874-11-15
DARKNESS.
An Essay By Miss Jessie Peel. Awarded
the Second Prize fsr Original Conn
position at the Fate Fair. ilii Z i

1
the Second Prize Sos Original Com
position at the Fate Fair. ri 3lii Z
What can we say of darkness more
than that it is the absence Of lights
Nothing. Though it forms so large a
part in our lives, we can say no more
than this. erer ff io st.. ~ ls.l =. o94l1
All, probably, have watched the sun
sink away, calling after him the long
slanting sunbeams first and then the
rosy clouds, which "blushed to find
themselvesso near him" The mystic
grey of the twilight follows, until at
last ;" Night lets down her sable cur
tain and pins it with u star. ~" With
the night comes darkness, that silently
drapes mountain-peak, plain, ocean
and land in black, as if they mourned
the departed day as. we mourn our
dead Then mortals say, n"How dark
it has grown u uo,.s. lir. in lfsl isG'
|. Darkness falls not on the eyesof man
alone, but upon hisintellectual nature.
In education we find art and science;
in art we can follow the beaten track
of others, but science differs from art
so much. Art results from science,
and in art we understand all things
we learn. In science it is not so. bnf
The musician begins to play, and at
first his feeble, trembling fingers make
no music in the keys; but the boy pro-
crosses and each day, brings him new
proof of his power, untilin after years,
when playing the dreamy yetimpas-
stoned music OF, Beethoven Or the soul
stirring strains of Mozart, he smiles in
thinking Of his boyish efforts, and it is
with a feeling of perfect satisfaction
that he rests on the summit of his
ambition. He encounters no darkness
but learnsand Understands
The artist first portrays ungainly
figures on his canvas, but as the years
roll on his touch approaches perfection
and his pencil is hthe weapon which
enables him ,tostand victorious aflio
hisfellow-men. h Hisart is his life and
critics in searching for blemishes find
new and hidden beauties, and go forth
to praise the work Of his bands.
Though he may have felt discouraged
in not progressing fast enough to keep
pace with his ambition, there is never
q conviction of utter Inability to un-
derstand such as others coatehd with
his brothers, theistudents of science.
He may have been ndisheartened at not
being able to portray the conceptions
of wonderful beauty which live in his
imagination alone; but no artist is
perfect here, because. on canvas, pie
lures lose part of that charm which
was so evident to him before. Other
than this there is no cloud to shadow
him; and thus it with art--kmowL
edge reduced to pre- practice; but not with
science. a, hi,. su'''' ~, i'+' XXX h3t De-
b. tThe astronomer directs his telescope
toward the heavens when first he feels
his feet touch the path which tends to
the highest summit of his beloved sci
ence. He studies, struggles, strives
to understand, until, bec6ning wear
led, he pauses and finds,his hair whit
ened With the snow of age He now
approaches the end, but disappoift-
ment turks there to'stoprt the feet that
are growing wearier still.1 HeTeaches
the summit, and instead of lookingi
down on sunlit valleys below, there
are loftier SUBMITS still so hidden by
clouds that no, 4 conception can ysbeI
formed of their vast height" I. There
he stands, ipeering forward, hnt,nnoI
way presents itself for none have
passed the limit; and the, disappointed
heart, embittered and ndudespairing,
walls, /" Why, why, SO dark! - life
spent to find mere darknessP1 w. Not
mere darkness, poor worker; for in it's
efforts the mind grows strong. And
standing there, the strained eye can
see only enough to feel how great the
unknown is. gstr j H'.l -, ,,a .,..'li, PIP
Forward, toward the dim, misty fu-
ture, eager eyes are turned, striving to
pierce its meaning; thus the boy
watches his progress until boyhood is
past; the man watches his progress
until manhood is nearly past, and
then the bitter truth bursts on him
He has gone butinchcs compared with
the miles stretching on. IT is in this
way that the geologistl strives to con-
quer geology, and standing OH the
threshold of, the door that would lead
him to the solution Of -allits myster-
les, he dares not enter-7it is, so dark,
so dark. And out of that darkness
come sweet strains which only hint at
the beauty yet unknown. .,a.i "a In, ~
Thus, too, with him who treads the
path to mental science. iHe can. ex-
plain many problems, but there are
workings of the mind for which he
can give no cause, and between its
chambers are passages so dark that
they are yethidden,i from man.
ie These and other things have philos7
ophers been searching for for centuries,
as the chemist of old did search for
that golden-hued idea, the philoso-
piers stone Those failed rs these
will fail, Tyears yet upspnn31
In the beginning. man sinned, and
SHINING, brought down darkness on all
the human race following. Before
this, light was their lot, for is there
reason to suppose that on that golden
shore which was the abode of our first
parents, that darkness ever settled
down on MANS intellectual or moral
being? Nay ;tbut since then he has
lcontended not only with shadow
wrapped science, burt also with the
darkness of immortality Morally,
man isa darkened being. Naturally
sinful, man in overcoming sin, is of
ten defeated; and in the darkness of
despair we cry out murmuring, while
we forget that we can touch "God' s
right hand in that darkness and be
lifted into the light. Yet comes the
thoug lit, oIs there any peace in ever
climbing up the climbing wave ~,
aa Peace comes with the trial for right;
and betterto climb than to be, shutiin
a trough of the, sea, away from the
sunlight forever Man is ever striv-
ing, forit is not his nature to lie isu-
pinely, yielding to foes, but we are
Ia, Il Y.ly OF, n