The Perrysburg journal. [volume] (Perrysburg, Ohio) 1853-1861, 1858-06-03
n VnEary, OF Thought. FEitSd, Orig
inniiay and Plagiarism.
- - 80
Hnr IhN lnurnal.


\ VnEary, Of phOuSllI. Mind, Orig
innIiay and Plagiarism.
It is seemingly impossible to define, clearly |
what thought is. If we ngrce with Webster
that it is the "act OF thinking and that to
think is to imagine" aud that to Imagine il" "to
conceive" and that concciving is " thinking
it is obvioUr thatwe do but chase an elusive idea
around in a circle, ending at the starting place
Ii we define thought to be an act of the mind
how can it be demonstrated? Can it be cert.
fled that the mind is actiUe, and not passiUe, in
in the process of thinking? or, in other words,
that thought is conception, and not reception o f
ideas?
We cannot comprehend what mind is. Met
aphysicians trace out some of its qualities, at
tributes, faculties and Offices but human intel
cct is unequal to the task of comprehending
what it is or explaining its mode of existence
That the humon mind can exist Independent Of
craual organization, may be nationally inferred
from the ocular proofs, all around us, OF such an
existence of the Almighty Mind, from which we
believe it to be an emanution. The mind | un
derstund to be the soul-the spirlt-the think
seriousness. Though men have, prolrssedly,
traced some of its operations, yet their most
elaborate efforts to comprehend il, have result
ell in confusion of thought.
Those who jump at conclusions, seldom reach any
worth having.
Confused thought, is cheap and common commodity;
Iet,paraded by some writersas it were prcecssJcw-
cl.
Whose hath no idea should attempt express one;
tDtl tlta htlNn pln
perception:
For a confused beginning must end in obfuscation.
As the mi1R is not of material ofganilation
May not HDught as we'll be, of mind independent?
Whose asserts thutthis idea is flllacous
To him my reply is,-qwod eGt DEMONSTRATION.
The proposition that thoughts, in some un-
known munncr, exist, separate from the mind,
until some individual mind passively receives,
and briefly cntertans one or more Of them as they
offer themselves, may not be susceptible of posi-
tive proof or disproof; yet in what ikeier way
can we account for different individuals having
at various times precisely similar or identical
thoughts? How often do we hear persons say
=" the thought suddenly occurred to me -" a
thouhgt entered my mind. -" the idea flashed
like lightning upon my mind, -" the idea has
gone from me, cannot recall it," &c. Thus,
when an individual mind, and its surroundings
favor the reception of particular thought, il
enters and others in connection follow for, as
has been justly observed, =" thought engenders
thought; place one lea on paper, aud an
other will follow, and still anolh y, till you
have written page y and ths fact holds good
| if they be not written. Let there b, another
mind exactly similarly constituted, and attend
ant circumstances the same, md the same tho't,
or its fac simile will inevitably enter it yet the
following concstenaton may not BE- the same,
in extenso; because attendant circumstances
are, in some of their various aspects momenta-
rily changing. This view necessarily excludes
all preentions to originality of thought; mind
and thought being ETERNAL and the combinations
of the latter infinite.
The velocity of hought sbeyond all possible estimate
Other things there that move with wonderful
swftness;
In the order of their speed, let few of them be
A steam shin, a race-hor'c a rail road locomotive
| A pgeon u hurricane, sound, and II rifle bullet
The earth circling the sun, in itsannuar orbit;
Light and electricity whose cclerty hath been com
puted
But thought hath qucknessa all OF these outsrippirg
Exceeding, far the ability Of human comprehension.
Mans strength is weakness measured with the Almgh
His vision blindness and his wisdom puerile folly.
But in ught hath he asemblance oil an apprONna-
ton
Of the finite being TO the Infinite Mind.
For thought lit is divine, aud heavenly emanaton!
And purged from earthliness, pure, and unpeTerted
MAY range at will, the universe of God.
"It is quite possible that two persons, tho
widely separated by time and place, might re-
garu the same object with the same emotions,
causing nearly the same current of thoughts
Such condolences are common in the affairs OF
every day life why should they not be tolerated,
to fair degree, in the world of literature? A
man must read and remember all that has been
written before him, otherwise he may foil vic
tim to the lance Of some searching criIic.'--
Baker.
From causes similar, similar minds mly experience
like sensations.
And like sensations may beget similarity of thought:
So no id en- can be certainly traced original
thor;
For all our thoughts may have been thought ten thou
sand times before.
Yet scarcely is il possible that concdental thinkers
Should cotie the some Ideas in Identical Ian guage)
When mere child invented written music;
or at least the thought took possession of my mind,
UnknoYng that any ether had done tue same before
me,
contryed in years m4tsre, machine for saving la
boz,