Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1852-11-19
LEWISBUEG UNION COUNTY, PENN, FRIDAY 1897

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= The aeeuisitsag Of Anowledge ds'tsed
from otlserseis analytic, c,eshedisal, slow
and ploddis. The processes Of thought
are synthetic, suggestive, associative, and
like the arrows fight, direct and instah-
tansous. I've have l;stenedto the views
of some theorist. We have read his ar
guments. I'VE have reviewed the grounds
of our cwu. opinions, once frmly G1ed, now
shaken by the new views impaired. We
can not rest in doubt. The MUD reviews
it's treasures. Rich and almost infinitely
varied as are its associations, it scan' them
all. We are not conscious Of the process
Consciousness would destroy the charm,
break tie Gne mc.h.work Of our thoughts
and arrest the busy, bee-like search for that
suggestive association which shall restore
the harmony Of truth by the reconciliDg
power Of some higher principle. We have
chased through many devious path, lea
ping by prodigious bounds from domain
TO domain of thought have in vain sought
to fix our ideas into some hopeful chasncl,
and, abandoning method, have surrendered
all guidance and left the mind to play Its
own fantastic gambols when, Eureka We
start With pleased surprise at the apparently
unwi.,ing discovery Of the great master
truth,-the key to all the doubts, dlsefe
panciies and couhict which distressed US.
We have it now But insincerity would
have blottcd it from our minds for ever
Prejudice would have forced US into mar
row paths without an outlet. Timld irreso-
luton would have chained US down, OF
l.ashed the mind to narrow circlets. Con
troversiai ingenuity would have led us to
the false lights Of sophistry, and method
cal investigation would have ended, as II
begun, in barren ratiocination.
1t NAV not have been at one, nor il
many seasons of reflection, that we arrived
at ,hi. satisfactory conclusion. Many
plausible solutions may have been sugses
ted. More than once we may have dee,nct
the question settled. Bu. the inward con
viction of the truth was wanting. The un
resting soul rolled up the ever recurring
thought, at E.ting season. Of meditation
until the proces. was comrl.te. The me
mory Of Newton was stored witbevsry es
sen,ial fact; fixed in his brain and rressin:
upon his attention, till the suggestion, i
NAV be, of an idle remark, or the fallin:
of an apple, as tradition has it, instanta
neoas as the period of its descent, eompie
ted the work and gave to the world tht
greatest discovery, perhaps, since the dawr
Of the Baconian. Philosophy.
OF all this mental exercise, no whit II
seen in the written product. The great
idea, last attained, is presented first and
instead Of tn. processes leaiue to its at,
tainment, a new process Of logical reaso
ming is begun, and step by step carried on
t. sustain and clucidate it. The produc-
tons of men of genius are indeed em m.n-ntly y
suggestive, aud We pause, forgetful of theil
logic, to wander in the avenues of thought
thus suddenly opened to view, and i!!umi-
ned BY their trsnscen1sut power This
faculty, however, tends likewise to obscu-
r.ty, leaving too much to lie filed up ty
the answ rs OF our own thoughts; for where
thc chord is wanting there can be 10 re-
spohsc ~ .f
Thought i. the highest Development Of
energy. 1t is essentially dependent upon
the will. Neither learning, nor logic, mol
passion can impart or sustain it, except by
enaucipating the will from the slough o
vicious habits, prejudices, and that helpless
subjection Of the higher to the lower pro
pensities to which our fallen nature tends
1t is easier to make long and toil.omC
journey than to break the most tritiln:
habit. How much more difficult is it Il
arouse to action faculty requiring th'
hi chest sustentation. Even those .ao ar
most accustomed to its exercise usual,
require some Fictitious aids. The mornin:
gown and easy chair, the favored hour o
inspiration,--not to mention eccentr;citle
more absurd, OR sources Of inspiration mucl
moro gross,-are familiar illustrations 0
provocatives to thought; and happy, evel
thus, is he who can incite his powers b.
such appliances But low many mistah
the gorgeous play of a vivid iinagina
ton, replete with tropss and sentiment
as sparkling as the dew, and not less evanes
cent; or the elaborate discussion cf 'rit
ideas, borrowed from others and barren il
their bands,-for the web and woof of thei
own brains. And, alas how many more
who, like the locomotive on the incline
vainly strive to ascend emblems at one
of power aud impotency; they have ever,
means of progress, but there i. no 'racsio'
i IN the Wheels.
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