Ft. Wayne, W. Boint, Keosauqua & Bloomfield R. R. 217

secure the early construction of a great National trunk Railway, which will connect the great oceans by the most central and practical route.

Resolved, That a committee of three persons from each State represented in this Convention, be appointed to correspond on this subject with such gentlemen as they believe most likely to engage in such an enterprise, and solicit their co-operation; also to induce by correspondence or otherwise, the holding of public meetings in the various cities, villages and counties interested in the Platte Valley route.-Lacon Ill. Gazette.

Fort Madison, West Point, Keosauqua and Bloomfield Railroad.

We learn from the Democratic Union that at a meeting held at Keosauqua, on the 6th instant, the following resolutions were adopted.

Resolved, That we have full confidence in the projected railroad from Fort Madison, via West Point, Keosauqua and Bloomfield, to a junction with the North Missouri Railroad; that this Road will furnish all the Railroad facilities demanded at present by the County, and we pledge ourselves to use our best exertions to secure its construction.

Resolved, That to this end we will use our influence to secure a vote of this county in favor of a county subscription of $150,000 to aid in its construction.

The County Judge of Van Buren County has issued his proclamation ordering an election to be held on the 11th day of February, 1854, for the purpose of voting on the question of subscribing $150,000 to the capital stock of said road. Such subscription to be payable in bonds having 20 years to run, and bearing interest not exceeding the rate of 7 per cent. per annum.

[From the Democrtic Union.]

DES MOINES RIVER IMPROVEMENT.-THE CONTRACT LET FOR THE WHOLE WORK.

For some time past, negotiations have been pending between the Board of the Des Moines River Improvement and Mr. Henry O'Reily in connection with capitalists of New York City.

We have said nothing of this before for fear it would prove a failure; but can state that the negotiations have resulted favorably, and that the Contract is made to complete the whole work from the mouth of the river to Fort Des Moines.

The improvement is to be completed on the 1st of July, 1858— four years from the 1st of July next.

The substance of the contract is as follows: He takes the lands at thirteen hundred thousand dollars. Pay the indebtedness, estimated at fifty-five thousand dollars, and is to deposit that amount with the Register, at Ottumwa, within ninety days, or forfeit the contract, has the tolls and water rents for twenty-five years, and the State can assume the control after that time by paying him the excess of the expenditure over $1,300,000.

The work is to be done according to the plans and specification heretofore adopted.

The Register is constituted trustee, and when $30,000 worth of work is done, is to give Mr. O'Reily $30,000 worth of lands less 15 per cent. retained to secure the completion of the work.

WESTERN BORDER RAILROAD.

This is the style of a road proposed to be built through the western counties of Arkansas, and designed to connect the Missouri system of railroads with that of Texas. A convention was held at Fort Smith, on the 5th instant, by which it was resolved to memorialize Congress for a grant of land in aid of this great enterprise.

It requires no argument to prove the importance of connecting the Missouri and Texas systems of public improvement, and we feel persuaded that the proposition for a grant of land in aid of this work will receive the cordial and zealous support of the entire delegation in Congress from all the States west of the Mississippi.

The resolutions adopted by the Fort Smith Convention afford abundant evidence that, though Arkansas is behind her neighbors in building railroads, she is not deficient in either spirit or intelligence. The geographical relations of Western Arkansas and Northeastern Texas will, in time, secure to that region a system of railroads which will give them all the commercial and traveling facilities that can be reasonably desired. And we are pleased to see that this fact is beginning to be understood and appreciated. Let the friends of the Western Border Railroad persevere, our sympathies are with them.

LITERARY DEPARTMENT.

Some Thoughts on Self Intellectual Culture.

BY A MEMBER OF THE KEOKUK (IOWA) BAR.
Continued from page 140.

I have thus glanced at some of the more prominent means within the reach of nearly all for improving the mind and meliorating our condition in life; and I will now proceed to present some very general views on self culture, and the proper studies to be selected. I shall endeaver to be brief.

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Grandeur of character, says some one, lies wholly in force of soul that is to say, in force of thought and moral principle ;force of thought measures intellectual, and force of principles moral greatness. True greatness does not consist in, nor is it to be determined by the accidents of birth, or pecuniary, of physical or political condition, but by the development of our moral and mental nature, by the energy and clearness and compression of our thoughts, and by the entire freedom of our faculties from slavish fear, fanaticism, bigotry and superstition. We must be morally and intellectually independent before we can completely assert the dignity of our nature, and present that sublime spectacle, a truly great and good man. The individual who rises above adversity, preserves his integrity in the bosom of temptation, firmly discharges his moral obligations, and is governed by the counsels of a sound judgment and an enlightened conscience, is an honor to his country and his race. The idea of what constitutes real greatness and exaltation of character, and of its practical necessity, ought to be deeply impressed upon the heart and soul, and it will sustain and animate us through many an anxious hour of study, and shed a rich and brilliant light along our pathway, directing our journeyings, and facilitating our researches.

By self culture I mean that information which we acquire by ourselves-that education which is not obtained in schools or colleges, or through the instrumentality of regular preceptors, but which is the result of our own earnest and unaided efforts and study. And this is unquestionably the most solid and valuable education, whether we consider it abstractly as a portion of the mind, or contemplate it in connexion with the business and happiness of life. It being wrought out by our own labor, we more thoroughly appreciate its importance.

And knowledge is not difficult of acquirement. It is within the reach of all. But it is only by a systematic apportionment of our time, that we can make any steady and solid advancement in the acquisition of knowledge. Our endeavors must be well directed, and pursued with an unconquerable perseverance. Sudden and transient and violent effort will produce no good result. The mind

must be fixed in its determinations, energetic in its labors, and patient in its investigations, if we wish success to crown our exertions. Learning cannot be had without toiling after it. We must give our days and our nights to severe and exhausting study; we must surrender the repose of indolence, and the gratification of passion, to the self devoted and ennobling efforts of educating and disciplining the intellect and heart. We must overlook the pleasures of the present, and fix the rapt eye upon the honors of the future, if we truly desire to build up the noble fabric of the mind, until it rises "before us in its native and awful majesty, in its harmonious proportions, in its mild and celestial splendor." Let this solemn truth be engraven on every heart, that labor, severe continued, exhausting labor, can alone lead to scholarship and professional distinction. There is no royal road to learning, no imperial title by which it is held. Wealth can not purchase, power cannot command it. It is the fruit of the mind's toil. It belongs to all who will seek after it. It is Heaven's high charter of man's dignity, and it will live with him throughout eternity. And one eminently beneficial result of perseverance is, that it disciplines the mind, and it accustoms it to close and accurate reasoning. It becomes strengthened by exercise, and is enabled to prosecute its labors more earnestly and successfully. Study becomes a pleasure, and the accumulation of knowledge a passion. We witness

our advancement. We feel our growing power lifting us up. We are transported with the rich and varied prospects that burst upon our view, and are thus stimulated to further and profounder research. Every new scene that opens itself upon us, every new idea that flows in upon the mind, every new image that pleases the fancy, and every high achievement that summons genius into action, but bind us closer to our studies, kindle intenser the fires of our zeal, and animate us in the enlightenment and adornment of our minds. And we may rest assured that earnest study and diligence will conquer every difficulty, and prostrate every barrier. However dark and threatening may be the clouds that surround us -however thick and discouraging the adversities that encompass us-however humble and adverse our situation in life; yet if our course is marked by a resolute purpose and an untiring energy, a ray of light will soon break in upon our path, and the obstacles that threatened to overwhelm will retire at our approach, and we will go abroad into the world, respected, beloved and honoredable to the protection of our own rights, sustained by influences, and cheered on by hopes which will never fail us. We will likewise experience in the conscious dignity of our situation, and in the moral power of our character, ample compensation for the years consumed, and the sufferings undergone in the acquirement of knowledge. Though gloom and darkness may have cast their shadows over us; though friends may have deserted us in the hour of trial; though the sickness of despair may have, at times, seized

our hearts, and chilled our hopes, yet now a broad sunshine is ours, honors strew our pathway, and power follow in our train and solicit our acceptance of their gifts.

And here, it may not, perhaps, be inappropriate or useless, to present a few observations on the necessity and importance of educated mind to every portion of our country, and the successful development of its varied resources, as also upon the general nature of knowledge, its elements and acquirements. The respectability of our towns and cities, and their claims to intelligence and to the regard and respect of our country, are all more or less interested. The proportion and harmony of our architecture, as displayed in our dwellings; the taste and elegance and adaptation of our public buildings and improvements, the value and security of property as they are influenced by a lofty tone of moral sentiment and an impartial and enlightened administration of public justice, the extent and prevalence of crime, and the consequent expense arising therefrom, and the charms and endowments that cling around the social hearth; and become a portion of every refined and cultured mind, must and will, all be affected by the amount of knowledge and the purity of morals which pervade our community. The character, scholarship and usefulness of our sons, and the virtue, public regard and happiness of our daughters have all a direct and unmeasured interest at hazard. All these commingling considerations and tender attachments which constitute domestic bliss; all these thousand and grateful associations which entwine themselves around the heart, and bind us to our firesides, all those high and holy emotions and affectionate sympathies which inspire love to God and to country; all will be ennobled or degraded, elevated or depressed, sanctified or violated, as we shall embrace and cherish and bind around us the means of instruction, in morals and government and literature and religion. Let our flourishing cities neglect these essential interests, let them repulse these efforts to redeem and elevate their character in public estimation, let them frown down with contempt, or contemplate with stupid indifference the advancement and harmonization of all useful and ornamental instruction in their midst, and they may bid farewell to all permanent growth and prosperity. Wealth will seek other channels for its accumulations, genius and refinement other seats for the revelation of their immortal glories, and the arts and sciences in their application to the business and purposes of life, and manufactories and intelligent efficient labor, will no longer consent to separate themselves from the abodes of elegant learning, sound practical philosophy and enlightened enterprise. Associations to promote education, libraries to impart and diffuse knowledge, lectures to apply and illustrate the great searching truths of philosophy and government, enterprise to bring out these social elements and public opinion to develop and sustain them, are as indispenable to the true advancement of every community,