Here I gathered many flowers, but they were the same as at Mackinaw.
The captain, though he had been on this trip hundreds of times, had
never seen this spot, and never would, but for this fog, and his desire
to entertain me. He presented a striking instance how men, for the sake
of getting a living, forget to live. It is just the same in the most
romantic as the most dull and vulgar places. Men get the harness on so
fast, that they can never shake it off unless they guard against this
danger from the very first. In Chicago, how many men, who never found
time to see the prairies or learn anything unconnected with the business
of the day, or about the country they were living in!
So this captain, a man of strong sense and good eyesight, rarely found
time to go off the track or look about him on it. He lamented, too, that
there had been no call which induced him to develop his powers of
expression, so that he might communicate what he had seen, for the
enjoyment or instruction of others.
This is a common fault among the active men, the truly living, who could
tell what life is. It should not be so. Literature should not be left to
the mere literati--eloquence to the mere orator. Every Caesar should be
able to write his own commentary. We want a more equal, more thorough,
more harmonious development, and there is nothing to hinder from it the
men of this country, except their own supineness, or sordid views.
When the weather did clear, our course up the river was delightful.
Pages:
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240