Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1858-03-13
O0MlMUGNO0A1TU0Ng.
FOR TIE COURIER.
Motive Forces of the Mind"
NJ W %. 1n-n

ALBANY, N. Y, March 3, 1853.
Dear Thompson During recent Sc
journ at Rochester, ] attended the annual
exhibition of the junior students of the
wcll-known University in that city Among
the many essays read, was one from the pen
of JOSHUA GAsKTLL, born and raised at
Royalton, in this State, the title of which
forms the caption Of my present hurried let
ter. The truthful and beautifully express
cd sentiments relative to the departed
Statesman, who will ever live first in the
hearts of true CQrolinians, cmanating from
this section of country, and which were
loudly applaudcd by the audience, will
doubtless be appreciated by your numerous
readers-whAe the composition, entire, is
well worthy of their pcrusal, and I take
pleasure in anncxing oerbatim report.
Hoping shortly to see you in the flesh, I
remain, as ever, yours, most truly,
E***.
Mind, as we'll as Matter, is governed by
Law. Though to the natural eye, its opcr-
atlons are invisible, yet the harmony that
subsists in the physical world is not absent
from the intellectual. 1t is this subsection
to law that renders tho intellect a theme for
profitable contemplation. TO solve its in
tricate problems, to deduco the formulas in
obedience to which it acts, are the most in
tercsting studies of the scholar and thinker
The intellect may be compared to an in
genious piece of mechanism, whose eyouis.
ltc construction none can thoroughly under
stand, but the Divine Artist who created it.
The sensibilities are the ethereal SPRINGS
which yield and vibrote to the lightest pres.
sure; reason and judgment are the strong
wheels and steadfast levers, thatimpart sta.
bllity and firmness conscience is the bal
ance-wheel that controls it's movements:
the Will and passions are the motive forces,
winch lnfuse vlgor, energy, and vitality.
1t Is evident that the most perfect char
acter is one in which this mechanism oner-
ates with the incest and most accurate pre-
cision, in which no jarring shocks impair its
delicate adjustments. To insure this, tho
motive forces which act upon it must be
constant, harmonious and judiciously ap-
Piled. Without motive power, it would
be mere machine, cold, useless, and inop-
eratiyej by the aid of such a power, it be-
comes thing of life, a positive existence.
each pulsation of which is repletewith con,
sequences.
The Will may be called the faculty of de-
termination. Where permanent and ener-
getic it forms the chief component of n man,
'ly character; when purposoless and yacil-
lating, man sinks to zero in the scale of
usefulness and honor. The Will, however,
can accomplish little without the aid of pow.
erful conductors. There must be solne OBJ
Ject of desire, some ardent passion of the
soul, to sustain and urge it on. Energetic
feeling Is the ordinate power that makes
complete the system of motive forces of the
mind Apart from their connection with
the VIII, the passions are mighty agents of
lmpusiye power. Like the tropic hurri-
cane, or those fierce Alpine torrents oener.
ated by the sudden dissolution of snow and
ice, for season they are impetous and re-
slstless, but the current soon dries up, and
their strength is soon exhausted. II is on
.iy by o combination of the will and passion
that the greatest efficiency IL attained
United they form living force, which in
creases a.. with age and knows no diminntion.
This union of determination of character
With Intensity of feeling, is usually segmed
- Ruling Passion" a ruling passion is
70 the souls what the steam Is 10 the en-.
gine; It clears the 9ay with its sincwy
arms by its expansive and propelling now.
OF ls sweeps asIde the webs of difficulty,and
works out magnificent acstinies It has
the hundred eyes of Argus and the hun
dred handsof Briareus; il secs, and hears,
and grasps every circumstance and eyerv
opportunity which can possibly contribute
70 tho c0nsummatton Of its work. Its pos