Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1875-08-26
The Uses of Nature,

to suit the tastes of the most faStIdl-
ous, and varied enough to crafty the
wishes and supply the wants of all
These were made for those who need
them and would be benefited By them,
and it is but justice to protest against
the practices of those who monopo-
lize the places of popular resort. and
uses them only for the sake of per
sonal gain.
At Niagra, for instance, not one of
Natures wonders, that is capable of
being concealed can begin to attract
attention, before man 5 cupidity closes
it from view, or obstructs the way to
it and says: You can't see natures
exhibition till you pay me for it." So
at Natural Bridge, a grasping individ-
ual has built high, close fence around
all the places that command a good
view of that grand structure, and he
must be paid before the benegolence
of the God of Nature can be enjoyed.
At every eligible locality on the sea
| beach, at mineral springs, on noun
| tain peaks, hotels are erected and the
appearance of the place is modernizod
till men have destroyed, as far as in
them lies, the primitive beauty and
wild grandeur of Nature But the
places are made attractive and conve-
nIent for visitors, and should not be
too severely criticised.
All these instructive and ennobling
works of Nature are so manifestly de-
signed for the free benefit of all that
no man can appropriate them to pri
vate use, to the exclusion of others,
without doing a gross injustice to the
rest of mankind. The spirit that leads
men to such perversion Of the gifts of
Nature would prompt them to shut up,
if they could, the sun which dispenses
light, warmth, and vitality to rich and
poor alike, the gorgeous beauty of
the sunset, the flowers, and the fields,
the grandeur of the ocean and its trib-
utaries; and dole them out, bv careful
measure, only to those who would
pay the price which selfshness and
avarice had set upon them We can
look upon and enjoy a neighbours fine
ly proportional horse, the skillful ar
chitecture of his house, the taste dis
played in beautifying his grounds, his
rich and waving fields of grain and
grass, his trees laden with foliage and
fruit, and he never thinks of charging
US for the delicious pleasure we have
received. He would consider it an in
suit if we should offer to pay him.
but by his own skill and toll he ha:
afforded US happiness, and therefore
benefit, and would have the right, i
the disposition prompted, to receive
pay for the benefit given. But wha
right has any man to extort money
from those who enjoy the free beautie:
of Nature, when he has expended
nothing to make those beauties, aut
when the enjoyment which they Civ
to others does not harm or discom
mode him What is it but the yer
quintessenee of smallness and mean
ness, an abomination in the sight 0
God and man
In most pleasing contrast to til
devices Of those grasping moneyma
kers at Natures expense, appear tn
parks, museums, horticultural and bo
tanical gardens, where Nature, by tn
skillful and painstaking hand of be
nevolence, is displayed i'll all her beau
ty and instructlveness. And do nc
those who thus adorn and cultivate Ma
ture to instruct and bless mankind, II
ceive, after all, the richest reward
the most lucrative pay? Is not SHAY
of St. Louis, worthy of all honor fc
7. generously opening, free to one an
all, and keeping in order at enormou
private expense, his gardens, rich
: the vegetation of all climes? Wi
| not the great American Museum
/ Natural History, in the Central Par
when completed, be one of the gran
est benevolent institutions ever esta
lished? It is doubtless true that tt
lamented Agassiz, by his enthusias
in. studying and teaching Nature, an
by creating popular interest in h
revelations, has added greatly to t
on pleasure and profit Of those wi
at spend their vacations at some of
Ia attractive summer haunts. And if a
II one could justly demand pay for c
~ hancing the delights which nature
5! fords. it would be he. But instead
that, he spent his fortune and his Vi
orous life in building up one of
grandest museums in the world, a
and has thrown open its doors free to {
cry one, whether he wish to spent
pleasant hour or to study for years
nm And when, on one occasion, he '
u offered rare opportunity to maxi
small fortune, he replied "Gentlem
| have no time to make money"
1t is possible for an enterprise
}, pay large dividend, and yet ret
W.. but little money to its originator; 6
it would be well if the world co
learn that money is not the only til
worth living and laboring for. I
8 too true that, by the greatest majo1
and of mankind, the money maker, if
succeeds, is envied and respected m
-H9s than he who gives his life to the ST.
oe of Nature, and reveals her wealth
c. mystery and beauty to his fellow n
mine This is emphatically a utilitarian {
ices It's all absorbing question is! "Dot
pay?" And while this, in its br
sense, is one of the wisest querie
responsible being can make, in its
stricted sense it is one Of the n
shortsighted. One collecting nat
history specimens is always sure
y attract, more or less, the attention
the curious; and their first quest
will be: care you hunting for col
va, and "Can you make much at that
saEen ken mess ?" And on being answere
I6ItS Mrs the negative (Which is correct
store, with their conceptions), there is
Win ways certain to follow an ominous
DIS, lence, when the interrogation is abs
ed in deep thought, probably
the first time in his life-is serio
ii IifIy1ett ynot moralizing; and the substance OF
cogitations, when plainly interpre
-aa is just about this: "That man l
4sa be fool to spend so much time,
work SO hard, for nothing but p
nR Er.lznr, ,.c1aIz 4 $4,000 q