St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1861-01-03

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rants and executions in its burning path.
IT'S this that governs and rules the
world-whether it be done in scanning
classic verse, or inventing spinning jen.
ny, by furnishing the world with prin.
cipia or q lightning rod the result; is the
same, the reflex action Of the mind" =
Thought: is what is needed. We: have
writer's enough, the world is full Of >au.
thors, ''to making of books there is no
end" But it is the quantity that men
writo in this age that ixcs their reputa.
tion, not tho quality. Tom Hood immor.
talizcd himself by the "song of the shirt. "
But now folio, quarto or octave is
necessary.
We write and talk so much that no
time is left for thinking; illimitablc oceans
of truth lie all around US. They have ever
been accessible to the thinker, yet ages
find us still upon the frontiers of knowl-
edge. The world has had but few think
ers. Plato, Aristotle, Confucius, Kant,
Bacon arc the stars Of the first MAJ t,nitude
All our discoveries might have belonged
to other ages. and those of other ages may
now belong to US. The earth had mag
netic poles in the days of Tubal Cain, aud
no doubt he had skill enough to nave
made mariners compass, had he thought
Of it. Books mi ght have been printed in
the days of Job had Faustus lived. The
atmosphere had weight; gravitation its
laws; lightning ran along the conductor;
blood circulated through the system the
same in the days of Socrates and Solomon,
as when Torricello, and Newton, and
Franklin, and Hervey lived. Truths just
as great and important to the race are
within our reach. We are just getting a
toot-hold; just standing upon the verge of
the unknown. What we need most is
more mind in every avocation of life.-
The farmer needs it. If one hundred and
sixty acres are necessary for the sustenance
of single family, what shall become of
the thousands that shall people this NIGH
ty valley when half century shall have
exhausted the public domain? Give him
more mind, and he will summon the infin-
itesimal hosts to his aid, and elaborate
them into rich harvests, and an acre will
yield an ample supply for all his wants.
More mind will increase the power Of steam
and the velocity Of the shuttle. Let the
astronomer increase the power of his telc-
scope, and new worlds will leap into being.
Give the masses more mind, let them be
able to read and understand the charter Of
their own Liberties, and the great political
problem of self government will be solved
and the race Of demagogues will become
extinct. We have orators and legislators
enough. The want is men; men with clear
heads and honest hearts combined. One
such man as George Washington or An
drew Jackson would be worth more to the
world at this time than all her navics and
armies
1t is tho retroactive process that makes
the strong mind; the patient, plodding,
persevering effort that alone can deduce
from the experience Of the past, direction
for the present, and hope for the future.
Intellectual Development IS closely con-
nectcd sc'th purity of heart All things
being equal, the strongest minds are found
in connection with the best hearts. As
the passions are restrained, power increa.
ses. Sel6shness and prejudice check the
speculative powers; the field of thought
becomes narrowed and bounded by the
material.
A strong mind may be sometimes found
in connection with bad heart, but only
in those countries and times in which the
great and good live. Their strength is
borrowed. They grow by contact, by &C.
cretions to the outside, as the school boy
makes the snow bail. Take away tho
j stimulus, and they are as other men.
Talents, angel bright,
If wanting worth, are shining instruments,
In false ambitions hand to finish faults
1llustrious, and give infamy renown."
i It is only when men grasp the true idea
of their relations to God and each other
that mind attains its highest elevation.-
The true conception of the spiritual is the
only real mental stimulus; under its power
the soul mounts upward and looks upward
and looks forward to ''sweet fields beyonc
the swelling food" The immortal New
ton, who overleaped the bounds Of human
vision, and ranged abroad through theim
mensity Of space, demonstrated the laws o
the universe, and numbered the stars O.
heaven, was disciple of Jesus. So wert
Boyle and Locke, who dissected the ami
NAL, penetrated the earth, examined tn
| flowers, lifted the veil that had covered
the intellect for ages, analyzed the. mind
and reduced its operations to fixed laws
So were Hale, and Milton, and allthe illus
trious who have blessed society. = Thei
memory shall stand as an eternal monu
ment, and demonstrate the philosophy Q
the poet to be true:T :TGd1 .Tl>2F &:@1I