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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.”