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THE COUNTRYMAN.
.59
“De omnitvs retus, et quibvsdam aliis."
BT W. W. TURNER.
You. 1. NOVEMBER 17, 1862. No. 3.
“ And, spite of pride, in erring reason’s spite,
One truth is clear, whatever is, is right.”
Most of us believe, with Pope, that God
has ordered all 1 he affairs of this world
aright, and we-often attempt to explain
what seems inconsistent with this idea ; but
ponder and analyze as we may, there are
still many things that, to our finite concep
tions, remain deep and hidden mysteries.
Without dreaming of calling in question
the wisdom or good: ess of the Creator, we
lose ourselves in vain speculations as to the
object of certain provisions in nature. For
instance, we wonder wjiy ferocious and
blood-thir\ty beasts are allowed to infest
portions of the earth, to the terror and dan
ger of the ,inhabitants. However, men
would trouble themselves, comparatively,
very little about these, for they are confin
ed to particular localities that can easily be
avoided ; but what is least understood is,
the reason why annoying and loathsome
reptiles and insects, are permitted, like the
plagues of Egypt, to spread over the whole
land, and inhabit our most private cham
bers.
We cannot rid ourselves of them. No
spot, however secluded, no apartment, how
ever guarded, is tree from the presence of
the roach, the ant, the caterpillar, and
myriads of other insects still more trouble
some and repulsive. The bloated and ven
omous spider, the slimy,creeping worm that
glides across our path, though seldom the
cause of actual suffering, and though.they
may be crushed with the slightest impulse
of man’s heel, are, nevertheless, the objects
of insuperable, almost shuddering aversion.
Well-meaning people endeavor to inform
us why such creatures are suffered to
inhabit the earth. They tell us that the
man-eater of Asia or Africa is placed in those
lands, by Providence, to prevent the too
great inciease of such animals as would
over-stock the country and fejider it unfit
for the habitation of the human race ; for
getting that where nothing of this sort exists,
man with the numerous appliances perfec
ted by means of the divine instinct within
him, has managed, without the aid of lions
and tigers, to keep within bounds everything
that would encroach on his domains. It
is asserted that the unsightly insects which
crawl about our houses, are executioners of
others'lhat might multiply and incommode
us beyond measure ; that these last, in their
turn, destroy others, these still others, and
so on; while the first, when too numerous,
are devoured by those still larger or strong
er, and thus an endless circle of destruction
is described. But these expounders fail
to say how or why it is that Infinite
Power and Wisdom and Goodness has not
devised some method of relieving us of one
object of fear or disgust,without afflicting us
with another at least equally as frightful or
odious as the first. They speak they know
not what. They try to elucidate that
which will ever remain dark to us, so long
as our understandings continue so narrow
and circumscribed as they now are.
We also have it demonstrated that ambi
tious warriors, mighty conquerors, are sent
upon the earth as instruments for the punish-
mentofits inhabitants on account of their sins.
But no one,I believe, has yet had the hardi
hood to essay the task of accounting for the
existence, or saying what is the use,' of
those two-legged animals that are not pos
sessed of sufficient intellect to become the
scourges of mortals; yet are born into the
world with such a repulsive deformity of
the moral man ; so entirely wanting in the
fair proportions of a social being—though
perhaps without physical defect—so utter
ly selfish and heartless ; so full of petty
malignity, as to prove objects of repugnance
as well as contempt to all whom they ap
proach. Such people, like vermin, abound
everywhere, but most of all do they flour
ish among the inaniti of what some amongst
us call society—a word that once had, that
in some parts of the world still has, and that
will again have in this country, whenever
we are entirely free from the all-per
vading evil influence that has arisen from
our connection with the North, a noble sig
nificance—but which, now, has been so per
verted from its meaning, or rathei so mis
applied, by certain apes, that the very sound
of it almost makes the goige of a sensible
man rise.
These pests excite a certain kind of
dread wherever they go ; not that they are
strong, or valient, or able in any way to do
great harm ; but by means of their insig
nificance, they prove tiresome ; from their
n.oral ugliness, their presence is hateful; on
account of their corruption, their touch is
defilement. We shrink from them as we
do from the filthy bird that feeds on carri
on. Sometimes confident and smiling, again
humble and cringing,alwaysfalse and perti
nacious, there is'no repelling the advances
they make. Generally desirous of making a
figure, they ar8 unscrupulous as to the means
they use to gratify this ambition. They
crouch and fawn, and, if necessary, lick the
very dust beneath your feet, one day, that
so they may obtain something that will en
able them to strut and swagger the next.
Without self-respect, they hesitate at noth
ing that they think will enable them to
carry a point, but plead poverty, and beg
favors from those whom they have treated
with indignity, and having obtained what
they wish, they straightway resume their
ancient insolence. No humiliation is too
deep for them to undergo, no acknowledge
ment is too galling for them to make, in
private, if thus they may be allowed to
swell and carry themselves loftily in the
eye of the world.
To the delectable class very imperfectly
described in the foregoing paragraphs, be
longs Flatus, who, as an individual, will
perhaps furnish, in future numbers, more
matter for detail than is to be found in the
present paper.
Yalor.
“Perfect valor, and perfect cowardice
are extremes men seldom arrive at. The
intermediate space is prodigious, and con
tains all the different species of courage,
which are as various as men’s faces and hu
mors. There are those who expose
themselves boldly at the beginning of an
action, and who slacken, and are disheart
ened at its duration. * There are others
wdio aim only at preserving their honor,
and do little more. Some are not equally
exempt from fear at all times alike. Oth
ers give occasionally into a general panic.
Others advance to the charge, because they
dare not stay at then posts. There are
men whom habitual small dangers encour
age, and fit for greater. Some are brave
with the sword, and fear bullets : others de
fy bullets, and dread a sword. All these
different kinds of valor agree in this, that
night, as it augments fear, so it conceals
good or bad actions, and gives every one
the opportunity of sparing himself. There
is also another more general discretion :
for we find that those who do most, would
do more still, were they sure of coming off
safe ; so that it is very plain that the fear
of death gives a damp to courage,”
.
Pascal.
“Pascal, when only 11 years of age,
wrote a treatise on Sounds. At 12, he had
made himself master of Euclid’s Elements,
without the aid of a teacher. When only
16, he published a treatise on Conic Sec
tions, which Descartes was unwilling to be
lieve could have been produced by a boy
of bis age. When only 19, he invented
the arithmetical instrument, or scale for
making calculations.”