St. Paul weekly Minnesotian. (St. Paul) 1860-1861, 1860-11-09
ST. PAUL. FRIDAY, NOV. ., 1860.
IDEAS.

ard words are.the bank notes that repre-
sent this money. Ideas are not valuable
in Themselves so much, as for what may
be obtained by means of them--that is
things, realities; and words are valuable
only in SO far as they represent ideas and
are practically convertible into the same.
Language then represents ideas, as paper
money does gold; and ideas represent
things as money does yaluc, realities things.
In either case, We see things to be the
only really valuable objects. Bat as they
are often unwieldy in themselves, and
cannot I've transferred, we must invent
something TO represent them. Hence,
arise n0ney and ideas, which again are
represented by the lighter articles OF paper
notes and airy words, respectively.
We might conceive Of q state Of being
IN which there were no words, nor even
IDEAS, strictly speaking; but in which
HtiHgS themselves should be exchanged, in
pAh''Ii-iiNV, ~ tA'i VA d CoiFeiSdtiob.
Two men talking about a horse, buggy,
Il dog and gun, for example, would sim
ply exchange these several things between
themselves in rapid succession, instead OF
the words horse, buggy, dog, gun, repre-
sentng these several ideas. But this, we
admit, might be slightly ludicrouS per
Torrance, rs well a. decidedly labOrlouS,
were the conversation long or an ANNA
ied one. Besides, few men possess half the
thing5 they talk about, or even & 1.-THE Of
them. so that conversations on this plan
would have to be extremely limited in their
range. II would be like man pretending
10 do business upon his own capital
alone, which, now a-days, is considered oh
soleto.
But allowing persons to use things that
DO not belong to them, as they use other
peoples money 20 do business with, there
would still be difficulties, Some things are
entirely too large TO be handled, or ex-
changed, as We have represented, without
at least the aid of heavy machinery. 9th
ers again are stationary and incapable of
being moved to meet the mental require
meGts Of the race--and what would we do
with such objects as the sea and mountains,
stars and comets, which can neither be adj
equateiy grasped by any human power,
nor detained to suit our convenience?
Still further, objects, OF even individuals,
might be demanded by several parties at
the same time, for conversational purposes.
a popular NAN would run the risk of being
torn into pieces by his friends. We would
ali be subjected 10 the rude indignity Of
being dragged about, our rest broken and
cur clothes soiied, merely 10 satisfy the
Whim o. any vulgar person who might
choose TO make us the object Of remark.
Gossips would have 10 enlarge their quar-
ters, to hold all they talk about a good
result might be that hey would tire soon
er in moving everything by hand than II
moulding words of detractiou with the
tongue, and possibly would be somewhat
abashed by the personal presence Of those
they sought 10 injurc. But how much
better to be able TO stay at home and at
tend to ones business, and, ii it must be
so, ct d basting" in the gossip's circle
through ones image or representative idea
But it is difficult to conceive even how a
conversation could DC carried on as we
have represented, when the objects Of it
were large, complex or composite. II, as
il has been affirmed, man would require
au acre Of surface upon which to build a
machine that would have all the move
moHts Of the human hand, it is no less
true mat he would require a whole cont
nent upon which to represent physically,
SO Jar as il could be 50 represented. com
pick idea, Or combination Of the magma.
lion, such as is frequently met with in
good writing, For the purpose intended,
these IDEAS, hurled from the mind with
wonderful rapldi,y and power--Inked to,
gether as the logical chain--shot Of one
who forces any or all the objects of nature
10 be his missiles serve just as good and
etiectual purpose as would the physical
reality at large. Indeed, a better purpose,
for man could not deal with the reality of
that Which he uses to Symboiize The pur-
poses Of bis mind he would be lost, be
would be overwhelmed amid the rehlity of
that which he uses as signs or figures ia
great problems and statements Of mind.
We sometimes, for the novelty Of the thing,
when listening to q speaker, imagine him
hurting the physical reality of what his
language represents at the heads of his au.
djence, in the exact order and combination
n which it flows from his mind. The
mere conception Of this may DE somewhat
gToteSque rs well as monStrous, but it
brings wildly before Us the magical pow,
er OF language, which can in a moment
marshal these things in all their reality
and value for intellectual purposes, before
the mind, and cause them to move along
like i vast panorama in winch the mind OF
the speaker has lodged the sentiments and
views 1t would impress upon The audience.
Thus Gods whole universe, in all its
YastneSs and all its detail, may become
commodity Of intellectual merchandise
Genuine, truthful IDEAS are the incOrrupti-
VIC Sotictt pt1SNIlit(lfcs VI NitlS universe
Of Substaace-they are the solid banking
basis upon which we may safely issue the
lighter currency Of words, with which
transactions and exchange NAV be carried
on. But LET as see that the gold in our
mental vaults is genuine and pure, and
beware that our paper issues do not exceed
its amount. In either case we might run
the risk Of intellectual bankrupt cy. We
would not, at least, safely risk a run"
by the way, you may have noticed the
effects both interesting ard amusing of an
over issue Of the kind we have referred to.
How a certain hot and hasty individual
has got himself into Fix" and brought
on most striking "crisis" by such
means.
The Famine In fSansas---a Cali for
Relief