Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1880-01-02

AtrOyed OF lOsts NO matter what chan ges
mans body may undergo, as long as his
memory is left his identity is preserved !;
but take away his memory and put some
other man's memory in fireplace of it,
and his identity is lost; he is no longer
the same person. The contemplation of
physical nature leads to the ,contempla-
ton Of mental nature. Evidences of de.
| sign and OF mind are found in everv or
ganic structure, no matter how simple in
form. A high degree Of wisdom is dis
cernable in the subtitle laws of nature,
laws which the study and erudition of
ages have only partially penetrated; and
the mind is. impressed with the awful
grandeur and the omnipotence and ON
niscience shown by the universal crea-
tion, and the wonderful immensity of the
universe as awhole. Mind is known not
only as an invisible force hidden behind
inanimate matter, but united and identi-
fed with material substance, as in the
human body, where the body is only the
servant that obeys the mind which dwells
within it. But the laws and conditions
of mind and matter show beyond all
| question that there are two forces or in
t1uences at work--one tending to perfect
conditions for enjoyable life and perfect
order, the other tending to evil, pain and
disorder. The question as to whether,
beyond the grave, these two forces Will
appear in all their fullness, and man
will find himself enrolled in one or the
other of these two Kingdoms, according
to his character, is not for us to to dis
cuss in this article. We propose to go at
this time only as far as the visible and
comprehensive laws Of nature lead u.s.
Man lives in the midst Of stern realities
and profound mysteries, under natural
laws that he only partially understands,
and he carries the mark of death on his
brow from the cradle to the grave. The
insignificant speck that he appears to be
in this great universe, the weakness of
his intellect as compared with all knowl-
edge, the very short duration of his nat
ural life as compared with the incempre-
hensible cycles of time and eternity, and
the comparative brevity and smallness Of
adj the honors he can hope to secure here,
seem sufficient to sink his vaulting am
bition to its proper level, and teach him
that in the economy Of nature it was not
the design to measure mans happiness
by his temporary greatness. The true
realm of happiness is in the world of
thought, and he is the happiest who has
the most correct and comprehensive
scope of ideas, and most readily under
stands the tendencies, woes and triumphs
of human nature, and whose sympathies
and impulses are always right. His
charity is broad enough to include every
thing that is capable of enduring pain or
of having enjoyment, for the kind of
charity that has no feeling for even the
insect or serpent that suffers is very poor
indeed. 1t is but an empty shell, hol-
low mockery. He WHO would int1ict un-
necessary suffering upon even as loath-
some an object as dangerous reptile is
exceedingly destitute Of charity. But
what has all this to do with New Years?
Nothing, except that as we glide past the
New Years mile-post, set by the highway
Of %i,,,o <1o
future, we easily fall into these reveries.