Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1878-06-27
REALITY OF THINGS UNSEEN
Graduating Essay by Miss LUCY CLUBB, read
at Lancaster High School Commencement
June IA, 1878.

nt Lancaster High School commencement
June IA, 1878.
Tho greatest manifestation of
power are ever displayed in things
unseen. All material things which
dazzle the eyes, and appeal TO the
senses, arc merely passive; they have
no essential life.
The spirit alone is the source OF
power.
he truths which do most to for
ward tho cause of morality and cause
men to live for noble purposes. are
not truths concerning things seen
and heard, bought and sold, weighed
and handled they are truths which
concern our immortal nature, which
would still be important to us though
tho earth and all material things
were to pass away.
Man never attains the full height
OF his power in action. He never
feels joy in its heighest degree until
ne is inspired. The coarser elements
of his nature, mus. be seized upon,
by an unseen power, and borne on.
ward as the cloud is borne by the
wind. His whole existence must be-
come burning emotion; till then
he will never show what ardent fires
lie smouldering within.
The song inspired poet Sreathes
HE fervid soul into lines that will be
responded to, as long as human
hearts can be kindled with the fire
OF feeling or swayed by the power of
love. The orator receives the in
spiration of eloquence and vast as
semblies are moved by his words. In
oil cases it is the spirit that takes
possession of the man, lifting him up
above his fellows, making him az,
pear more than human. We mig ht
as we'll say that the sea is calm
when the winds are tossing it into
fury, as to say that the spirit is not
mightier than the flesh, or that the
soul is not OF more value .han the
whole universe of things seen and
perishable.
Passlonateiy as we may deny the
existence Of an unseen world, it is
impossible to resist it's power. Do
we not all live in the memories of
the past, and in auticipat ion of the
future, as we'll as in the visible mat
ter of fact world of to-day ? The
path we tread is one OF sunshine or
shadow according to the hues cast
upon it by. our own minds.
Though mortals we are constant
ly conversing with things unseen,
yielding to the power of Influences
and Impressions more subtle than the
viewless air. The berieved SEES the
the face that others cannot see. The
tone of voice, the strain of an old
sorg. or chance word will have
world of meaning to one and no
meaning at all to another.
The returned wanderer visiting
old associations lives again, in scenes
that to others have passed away, he
hears voices that are hushed in death
and walks with friends whose foot
steps are heard no longer.
1t is the. peculiar faculty Of the
poet and painter to give shape and
expression to thoughts and images
which all humanity recognizes at
once as its own, and whoever has
the art to express the unseen, un-
heard emotions of humanity, will
find friend in every heart whose
experience he has had the skill to in
terpret.
From tho very constitution of our
being do We long for the unseen, we
love to hold communion with the
distant and departed, or to dwell in
tho ideal world created by the inn
agination. Tho vast and beautiful
realm in which the mind reigns alone
and the heart peoples with its own
fancy. We are not melted to grand
endeavors, by the severe aspect of
undeniable every day reality, but
by representations, which carry US
beyond the narrow bounds of the
material world. The power of elo-
| quence, poetry, music and painting
displays itself by lifting Us up to a
higher range of thought and feeling,
awaking within US greater hopes,
purposes and aspirations, thus show
ing that the beauty and joy of our
lives must come from things unseen.
The most marvellous changes that
take place in the visable world are
caused by unseen agents. When the
wind comes in sudden gust, carrying
all before it in the sweeping hu-ri-
cane we see the effect but not the
cause, ii was nothing but wind yet it
was mighty, crushing and strong.
When the day breaks in the East
We see wonderful transition from
darkness to light, but not the light
itself ; by its aid we see all material
things, but light itself is unseen. The
great question whence it comes has
never been solved.
Finally there is an unseen power
to which all powers submit. When
man assigns cause TO every effect
in reference to minor things, is he
not very unreasonable to assume e
| mono TO the whole creation? We are
compelled to believe in unseen shings
otherwise we do not believe in our
own existence, our immortal souls
nor death. We cannot see these
neither do we believe in the forces
in nature of gravitation, electricity,
attraction and repulsion, we do not
believe in the wind though it shake
our houses from their foundation.
and tare tho forest trees up by the
roots, these mighty though unseen
/ agents are sent to teach man belief
in things unseen, to respect the pow.
ers too deep for bis own compre-
/ ha q