Show GATHERED IflOHGttTS 01 I LIFE I BY GASKELL Then infant reaB n grows apace aor calls For the kind hRnd of an assiduous care Delightful task 1 to rear the tende thought To leach the young idea bow to hoot Thomson Infancy is the morn of life in our present sphere of existence noi perhaps the morn of the existence of our spiritual being for the sou may have had a preexistent being so claimed for myriads of ages anterior an-terior to its present covering of carnal car-nal nature we call human If existing in intelligent personality would it not be in the beatitudes ol heaven basking in the genial sunbeams sun-beams of eternal truth Would ii not be existent with a continuous increase of intelligence and an appreciation ap-preciation of the benefits such as peace bearing fruits in happiness and joy and an enlarged desire te do good V But we leave such points for theologians and casuists to determine de-termine and speak only of the morn of life in this frail mortal tabernacle of flesh we call body which in its nature and growth hupgs about us as an impervious envious cloud enshrining he bright radiance of the soul Being a thing of desires and hopes and passions if not swayed by every mud of doctrine doc-trine warped and twisted and made good or bad as a calm wisdom directs di-rects or a mad frenzy controls A mortality that hides the spiritual essence of our being serving as a clog to the unutterable aspirations of the spirit reaching ou for and searching after the wealth of eternity eter-nity truth Ve enter this world weeping at the trials before us While all the relatives ana friends are congratulating congratu-lating the suffering but happy mother at the birth of one so dear to her we helpl ssly bewail our appearance ap-pearance in mundane life So ira gi e are we then that did not others interest themselves in our present as well as our future welfare a few short hours would end our probation proba-tion here and we would return to the bosom of that etermty whence we came Indeed it seems that man the noblest of the works of God is the weakest and most del icatlv organized of all 1 created animals at his birth is likewise the moat intelligent in perception et is then the least developed of them all taken in th light 0 his future progress pro-gress His animal or physical strength is poweiless for srIt help or protection and were it not for the inborn principle or feeling of par pa-r utal love and affection being more deeply groundtd in the human heart than in the natuie of the lower animals the young and powerless pow-erless shoot of humanity would perish per-ish short of its destiny or long before be-fore the mind had by training acquired ac-quired that stability wisdom Jind grandeur it is capable of attaining Our intelligence is very feeble at this stage of our career and the spark of life and t germ of mind have to be fostered and cherished little by little lit-tle into activity aid strength It is as it isjthus judiciously exercised as physical strength increases with the passing years that our abilities are developed and if wisely circumspect circum-spect and persevering in our integrity integ-rity we become powerful intellectual intellec-tual and relined beings capable of comprehending truth and advancing advan-cing power and ever on the onward upward path of progression From the little brown insignificant insignifi-cant looking acorn springs the mighty oak tree the towering monarch mon-arch of the forest whose sturdy limbs and leafy crown overtop the lower trees around whose wide spreading branches afford ample shelter to the humbler shrub the green carpet of grass and moss and the tiny modest blusumg flower that scarcely dare meet the bright sun of day The fragrant perfume laden breeze fanned by zephyr wing ently moves its leaves l in summer sum-mer and in winter through whose branches the hoarse angry blats laden with tempests force and fury have shouted in wild gee the alarum time and again The autumns sun has sered the leif winters icy blasts hav denuded the heavy monarch of his leafy crown desolate and alone he stands until the genial warmth of spring again comes life giving and soul inspiring with its bud of promise the bright green leaf of natures annual morn awakes to life the forest and field The infant is but insignificant and weak yet from him or her may spring and develop into the noble man who meets unswervingly the howling storm of adversity the dee est hate of persecution the most trying opposition op-position of fanatacism and bigotry in the cause of truth and right or the noble loving selfsacrific ing woman whose generosity is regardless of the worlds despising met in a righteous caus for those she loves worthily capable of being be-ing the mother of future heroes and future nations and of training up young and helpless childhood into worthy instruments under a beneficent bene-ficent Providence for usefulness and honor Life is similarly weak but not to the same extent in all its beginnings begin-nings Even the tender shrub is weak vegetation living a constant warfare with summers drought and winters cold The chilly blasts of spring if too rude and boisterous quench the little life within it The brute is weak and feeble but if it grows never so much it makes not the same rapid progress except in brute instinct and animal power that does the weaker life of a human being The growth of vegetation that of unintelligent natter the brute that of instinct combined with matter while man has in the combination com-bination an immortal soul which if I proper care is taken in its development develop-ment nether the frosts of winter he heats of summer nor the lapse of time nor the effoits of scan s-can dim or tarnish nor anyhow destroy de-stroy Only his own wrongdoing hA sufferrnce Jf vice and sin can debase How very impotent are the powers pow-ers of the puling complaining in I ant How like a mockery are any forecasting of honor and distinction distinc-tion Fragile almost as of glass the greatest care has to be taken in handling the best of judgment has to be exerted to cultivate that germ of strength and intelligence to prolong pro-long life and lead onward Within that infant however are all the necessary ingredients or rather qualifications to foster and form into in-to an intelligence inferior only to hat of the immortals It needs feeding strengthening developing for it lies there dormant and in a manner unknown and the looker on who can not in imagination see down the ever flowing stream of time cannot realize the emerging of that ability and of that power from beneath the cloud of weakness that envelopes it Such an one cannot realize that at a future day thousands thous-ands may listen enraptured to the elegant burning woras spoken by those now infantile lipsto touching touch-ing reminiscence and sublime appeal ap-peal sufficient to fire the heart make it brave in danger or valiant self forgetful in the cause of downtrodden down-trodden humanity That weakling may have in its organization a wisdom wis-dom an eloquence or a virtue such ts is seldom seen upon the earth such as raises its possessor into the proud position of a hero and in the estimation of his fellow men a 1 demigd But now its impotence is a mockery the foretelling of future greatness would be but occasion for derision and contumely But such may be the result for silent causes may be operating unseen und ream t agencies agen-cies be at work that when the tune comes the instrument is ready to the hand of the Great Architect of existence Tnis same impotence we seA displays dis-plays throughout universal nature na-ture at different epochs in different degrees of organization and progress pro-gress Where the beginning was no man can tell and where the end will be no intelligence or science of ours can point out In all tilings we see change yet change in order continuous in progress and deciy I and the taking on of higher conditions condi-tions and a higher or more perfect being We see this change exempli lied around us on the earth among thecirchng planets above the earth throughout the entire universe of God What science calls primitive formations may for aught we know to the contrary hav undergone many transformations before appearing ap-pearing to us in the shape we now see them Various combinations of powers produce varied resuts and opy by properly and perfectly understanding un-derstanding the physical laws which govern unorganzed as well as organized or-ganized matter and the proper mingling of intelligence and soul WIt ti it can we know or expect to know the results to be obtained Science and religion have done much but i he problem has not yet been perfectly resolved in all its bearings and in its applicabiliry to the carnal nature and the position of man There is force existent in matter though it may not openly shown there is spirit that we see not neither do we comprehend its workings work-ings upon our own organisms The philosophical inquirer into the mysteries mys-teries of nature by experiment and study can at tmes ell the means necessary to impart force and motion mo-tion to that matter The humbly religious man may feel the workings work-ings of the spirit and accept it on faith willing that it should have unimpeded un-impeded flow yet uninformed as to I its orierin or workings And here the wisdom of physical science is at fault there is no resolving it into its component parts it eludes the I grasp and will not bear scrutiny and every thinking man must conclude con-clude there are some things we I must deny altogether or accept on faith for his learning cannot prove them true or false Study leads to knowledge but sometimes what we call accident reveals truths to men and we see them spring at once to the proud position of original aWe a-We call certain things incidents and happehings accidents though kindred investigations lead to them investigating ne truth leading to the discovery of anoiher such as Newton from seeing the falling apple ap-ple reasoning from that simple fact which thousands had seen before him upwards and onwards to the sublime laws of gravitation From an apple to a universe a vast system sys-tem of spheres and worlds how great the leap Custer playfully cutting letters out of bark for the amusement of his grandchildren discovering the art of printing brought to greater perfection by I Guttcnberg Watts from the rising I ris-ing and falling of his mothers teal kettle tea-l lid realizing the terrible power of steam and afterwards applying it as amotive force as I I Franklin perseveringly working his way upward from a tallow I chandlers apprentice to be the first philosopher of his age making the lightnings of heaven harmless But I no such discoveries come by pure I accident Providence orders results irrespective of mans desires Power exists in the matter intelligence develops de-velops it Similar to the laws of nature on our physical world though in a somtwhat different differ-ent manner are their workings upon ourselves Time is the great developer develo-per of our physical and mental being eventually making disimilar ities congenial Experience is but the child of time and from impotence impo-tence springs strength harmony and system The mind of a child upon its entrance en-trance on the scene of future duties in this world of trial an I trouble is perfectly pure and noble Upon it may be written the experience of f life Thev may be traced in light or 1 dark shades as circumstances favor for f-or adversity glooms Those who be lievethere are infants in hell span long that are all damned unless specially set apart for a heavenly I I abode are ascetic and gloomy enough to gain but little comparison if such should be their own eventual eventu-al abode of misery A child has no recollection of any past nor sensible realization of any future only as it is gradually learned through the teachings of others and its own yearnings Suffer little children to come unto me and ior bid them not for of such is the kingdom of heaven So spake Jesus to his disciples on a certain occasion when multitudes pressed closely around him to obtain his coveted blessings Such words coming from the source they did bespeak the innocence of little children chil-dren for all believe nought of a sinful sin-ful nature can ever enter heaven How necessary that that childish purity should be retained through all the scenes of life that it should be encouraged guarded and strengthened until it becomes the rule of action to the exclusion of evil impulses and desires that when stalwart manhood or lovely womanhood has coin attendant upon our increasing Years our usefulness use-fulness in the cause of truth and right may be shown to have grown with our strength that our desires for the triumph and rule of right may fill our bosoms to the exclusion of everything vile and with a hatred of everything mean and sinful sin-ful that the tyranny and bloodshed l sin and corruption now existent upon our fair earth may be driven step by step and little by little back to the darkness and dreary wastes of the abode whence they sprang that the bright sun of vitue illuminating illu-minating the entire horizon of human existence guiding ever in reason our destiny may lead onward and onward into a light supernal and an intelligence not now appreciable appre-ciable F by the fallible too often groveling natures we possess and into a happiness perfect and eternal |