Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1879-07-25
Uphill Work.

become ever more and more arduous
if We arc not content with quantity of
effect, but aspire to perfection in dual.
ity. Those who are possessed by this
ambition will find the whole of their
life's journey lying uphill. There are
for them no level plains on which to
settle down to reap the reward Of form.
er toll. For them the shades of even
ing bring no relaxation of effort. Their
expectations may be less unlimited as
time goes on, and less of their strength
will be wasted in vain endeavors to
grasp at what is beyond their reach ;
but the upward strain wi not be re.
laxed; it will only be economical, as
experience takes the guidance of their
steps.
And with the lifelong toll of ascent
comes the lifelong expansion of hori
zon; the journey which is all uphill
must needs conduct the wayfarer to
fresher air and serener solitudes; away
from the crowd and the smoke, up to
the heights from which what is mean
and trivial falls out of sight, and the
sounds of strife are hushed. A fresh
ness more exquisite than the freshness
Of youth is reserved for some of the
aged but it can be attained only by q
path which lies from first to last up.
hill.
Uphill work, both literally and 6gu-
ratlvely, means work in two directions
at once; literally it is going forward
while we raise our own weight; fgura-
lively, it is doing things and learning
how to do them ut the ia he time; thus
lifting ourselves on to higher plat.
form of moral or intellect, ual being.
There is always in some senses an as
cending slope before us, which we may
scale if we will. But happily it does
not rest with ourselves to decide
whether the general tenor of our lives
shall be that of laborious ascent or of
gentle downward gliding. Tue force
Of gravitation need not be always re-
garned as q type of the depraved ten
denotes of the human heart. There is
time for all things, says the wise man,
and if there is a time for learning, SO
is there, happily, time for forgetting;
and also time for idly applying and
enjoy ing what we have learnt. There
is time for scrambling upward, and a
time for lying on the grass in the val
ley; time for climbing fruit-trees, and
time for letting the ripe fruit drop
into our mouths. Even Christian, who
was not the man to finch from his
share of climbing, found rest and re-
freshment iu the Valley of Humiliation,
and it would be a poor view of life
which valued nothing that was not
gained by the sweat of our brow.
Let lie tend ever so steadily upward
in its moral and spiritual aspects, and
intellectual labor be ever so strenuously
directed toward higher and higher
levels of attainment, still there will be
in the outward life pauses from all &C.
tivity, and welcome and gentle relaxa-
ton Of effort, when our wisdom is to
sit still and receive the riches which
flow into our souls from above. Hard
work is no doubt cure for many evils,
aud the taste for it d most excellent
one to acquire il we can; but not to be
able to abstain from it for q time, not
to have any idea Of enjoy ment without
it, is miserable slavery and blindness.
The most exquisite pleasure which
we ever take in the work of our own
hands or brains is probably derived
from some rapid achievement wrought
without conscious effort in some direc-
ton in which we have lately been work
ing hard. After making series Of Ia
borious studies, with perhaps little APP
parent result, We suddenly find our
selves rendering an impression, either
in words or in color, with an unstudietl
felicity which has gone far beyond the
result of all our former labor, and per.
haps by means of which We can give nc
complete account. Such moments are
like those in which, after long, steer
climb in the shadow up the jutting
shoulder of q mountain, We suddenly
turn corner, and find ourselves face
to face with the whole expanse of the
western heavens.