Smyrna times., 1855-01-10
Original ArtitIt IS,
Written for the Smyrna Times,
The Pr0Wess cf Intellect.
BY JEEMS.

| That part of man which we call mind, is one
OF the strangest things in this strange world.
The Lays who walked IN the groves If the ac-
ademy, when the world was in its infancy, and
mankind yet engaged in blind speculation,
knew just as mSch concerning it we do.
Men soon came to the conclusion that it was
immortal. They could not believe it, that that
which existed though invisible, and whose ex-
ercise alone distinguishes them from all other
created beings, would perish with the destruc-
ton of the outward frame. They reasoned that
if it were not at all affected by the deprivation
of single limb, neither would it be by the loss
of this entire body and that, if it were per Sc
unit and indiscerptible in the present state of
existence, it would continue to be so hereafter.
This mysterious, invisible, intangible something
the GnimuS of the Latins and the rouS of the |
Greeks-is the seat of all our emotions the |
source of all our perceptions 1t is the lever
and education or expansion of the mind the full |
crum, which has been and is swapping assun-
der the century wrought bonds of oppression,
Lifting the damp clouds of ignorance which
clog and stultify the intellect, and rolling back
the benighted hearts of men. The external
body is but the means, by which the whole ma
chinery of life is set in motion and carried on.
Each vein, nerve and artery are many chan
nels of communication with the exterior world,
through which the mind, locked in the cham
bers of the brain, receives its impressions, and
becomes acquainted with the character of sur
rounding objects. Mind is not less muItfOrm
than strange and yet it is neither object of
sensation, nor perception you can only see and
feel the result of its exercise. 1t may dictate
sentiments. and these may thrill the soul; 1t
may create sounds, and these may make the
heart chords vbrate to noble strains of music
or it may tip the brush with coloring, that
will startle man, if soul spake from the can
yass to soul,-yet what is it You cannot
grasp it, nor define it, nor represent it.
1t is here, now there, then yonder, then gone
forever. 1t traverscs hearen and peers into
heIl-it balances the minutest pebble, and de-
tcrmines the aggregate weight of the Solar
system. 1t scars aloft amid the consolidated
frmament, measures and weighs its innumerablC
worlds, and tracks their course-it dives int
the mighty deep of science and drags fortl
knowledge by its hoary locks-it sweeps through
Isl space from star to start cOmprehends th'
music of the spheres, and roams at will in
i. /" That cathedral-boundless as our wonder;
Whose quenchless lamps the and mool
supply;
Whose choir's the wind and wave; whose OF
gan's thunder;
Whose dome the sky"
The world has finally arrived at the conclusion
that, Mind-power is the only true standard b
which to estimate men. The empty prefer
sion. towery magnifcence and idle pomp whic
50 pre-eminently characterized "the days
anld lang syne," are mol longer sufficient to evok
the plaudits of people or to receive the laudr
ton of men of letters. Take up your historic
Of the Past-your Gibbons, Livys and Thucy
dides-and scattered along all their pages yo
will find nothing but wars and rumors of war
nothing but smoking plains and devastate
lands quiet yillage-homes wrapped in wild CO..
fagratiOn, reeking swords, panegyrized assa
sins and kingly cut-throats. Military hero
: were the demi-gods of our venerated ancestor
.
deemed worthy of their commemoration.
The Grma Uirumque cdno" that flowed
''' grandly beautiful from the pen of Virgil, b
burst forth responsive to the popular will
Imperial Rome. And that noblest work {
world has ever produced--that poem who
numbers flow living stream of melody, voic
with soul-musc and radiant with immortal
the blind Bard of Scio sung to commemora
- the wrath of impicable Achilles" Ever
where, whether upon the banks of the Til
amid the hills of Arcadia, or upon the shores
Albion. Talent has bartered its brth-rie
and genius prostituted its powers to enoble
tinguished villains or commissioned plundere
But it has been reser we'd for our day and ge
ration to embazen upon glory's page. our b
fons, our Humbolts, and our Herschells; and
prove to the world that the pen is, indie
mightier than the sword. The council ch;
bers of Kings have now become the Thermo
les. Marathons and Agen courts, and goo
> quill pensdlscharge shafts far more potent t
ever sped from the bow of Greek or Roman
The deep booming of cannon has yielded to
thunder of eloquence; and the flashing of
tile steel been exchanged for the brilliant bu
Of genius-ire.
Poets, orators and historians, are our SciI
Cesars and Antonys. Learning sits in our
places and intellect is known and honort
----- all men. ,4t aaa
Battlesm smay be fought and victories won
IL Ii =