Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1881-01-20
Introduction to the History of
Fayette County.
BY PROF. R. S. DILLs.


eclipsed in gloom, and all nature swal
lowed up In oblivion. Nothing is i'm
mortal save the soul, which shall out
live the warfare of clashlng element
and destructio J of worlds. The flight o
a single day is perceptibly impressed
upon surrounding nature. The faded
flower, the wlthered tree, both'speak ol
something gone. Indeed the fllnty pyra.
mids that so long have opposed the blasts
of the desert sands, the tower that for
centuries has withstoOd the furieg of old
oceans winds and waves, finally must
yield to the universal destroyer, time,
and crumbling, mOulder to earth; and
"dOting with age forget their founders
Dames." Our lives are but an awaken
ing, transition, sleep, and forgetting.
Yet, notwithstanding these numerous
evidences of the general deVastations of
time, the soothing voice of resurrection
whispers all is not lost; for
'''see dying vegetables, life sustain;
see life dissOlVing Vegetate again,
All forms that perish, other formsguppl
by turns we catch the vital breath and die.
Like bubbles on the sea OF water borne,
They rise, they break, and to that sea return"
We are, therefore, to believe that
throughout the economy of nature, by
conservation and correlation, all things
are preserved, and what we call death,
is but transition; for the book of nature
plainly teaches the perpetuity Of all
created things. As the one grows old
and dies, straightway in quick success
sion springs up the new, nOurished by
the mOuldering remains Of It's ancestor.
We ourselves may pass away, but ere
the eating canker begins It's work, close
ly follows youth again, our second
selves. All things new spring from,
and are nourished by things that have
passed away. Not one beauty of nature
takes Its flight, but In untold centuries
hence, by transition leaves behind the
freshness of its distant genesis. We
should, therefore, preserve and keep
fresh, like flowers in water, the transl-
tory fruits of the past and bind them
upon the same stalk with the buds of
the present. Through Iemlniscence we
love to dwell upon the pleasing objects
Of the past, and calling them up, we
seem to gaze upon them one by one as
they in panorama pass before us, medl-
tate upon them, and in Imagination,
live over again the happy days that are
forever gone. Our old and fond asSoci-
ates are once more mingllng with us;
we enjoy again the life we have left be-
hind; but break the spell, the bubble
bursts, and all melts into the past. SO
in our dreams, the euntrammeled intelli-
gence reVels amidst the materlalized
spirits Of departed friends. We breathe
again the balmy air of youth, and
through the endless chain OF recollection
link to link, as wave succeeding wave,
we hold enchanting communion with
the past; and imbibe intoxicating
draughts from the sparkling fountain
Of youth, until we are In fancy trans
ported TO the happy realms Of the morn
Ing Of life; and truly has it been said
that the mind can make substances, and
people planets Of its own with beings
brighter than have been, and give
breath to forms which can outllve all
iesh. Decaylng organisms are by pro-
cess Of petretaotlon, ,mOtamOrphosed into
everlasting forms bearing exact identity
with their prototypes, through whose
we are enabled to unlock
The profoundest mysteries of geognosy
lfnature therefore has thus bequeath- {
I'd to US the key to her created forms,
% likewise should we receive, preserve,
md keep fresh forever the history of a
hose who suffered 50 long, endured so '
much In order TO secure for themselves
resting place, and bequeathed to us ,
he beautiful homes which we now en-
oy nndlsturbed by any Of the dangers s
hat surrounded our fOrefathers. Let =
Is therefore see TO 1t that from the i
,reen pages Of memory they do not y
'ass into tradition, and still fading n
through lapse Of time sink forever be- :,
eath the wave Of oblivion. The labor q
nd embarraSsnents attendant upon, 3
nd research, and patience necessary to a
he resurrection Of moldy facts and
thereal traditions which have 80 long
numbered IN the matrlx Of Obscurlty Is n
tile realized save by those who un- 81
ertake to write a history based upon o.
lets and traditions, whose genesis y !
rings from the aboriginal tribes that tc
'amed at large throughout the wind o
lg .labyrinths Of their own primeval a.
rests, beneath whose sylvan shades o
le painting deer lay down in peace, a
midst whose branches the winged b
iorlsters built their homes and chirped b
.eir native songs, carrolllng with an u
lie sweetand trembling voices, gently
arbling with the murmurlng brook q
ID rustling leaves below. The forest b,