Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1866-06-08
The Pre-Eminence of the Soul,

do not mean 20 speak of the body and
soul Us Separable, the man is made up of
both they are to be raised and glorilied
together, and all art is an expression of
the one. by and through the other. All
that would insist upon is, the necessity
of the whole man being in his work the
body must be in it. Hands and habits
must be in it, whether we will or not; but
the noblcr part of the man may not often
be in it. And that noblerpart acts princi-
pallv in love, reverence, and admiration,
together with those conditions of thought
which arise out of them. For we usually
fall into much error by considering the in
telectual powers az having dignity in
themselves, and separable from the heart :;
whereas the truth is. that the intellect be-
comes noble or ignoble according to the
food we give it, and the kind of subjects
with which it is conyersant.
1t is not the reasoning power which, of
itself is noble, but the reasoning power
occupied with its proper objects. Half
the mistakes Of metaply yscians have arisen
from their not observing this; name y,that
the intellect going through the same pro
ccSscs, is yet mean or noble according to
the matter it has to deal with. and wastes
itself away III mere Rotary motion, if it be
set to grind straws and dust. 1t we rea.
son only respecting words, or lines, or any
trilling and finite things, the reason be-
comes contemptable faculty but reason
employed on hoI y and infinite things, be
comes of herself holy and infinite. So
that by the work of the soul mean the
reader to understand the work of the en-
tire immortal creature, proceeding lfom
quick, perceptivc and eager heart, perfect
ed by the intellect. and finally dealt with
by the hands, under the direct guidance Of
these higher powers.
And NOW observe. the most important
consequence of our fully understanding
this prominence of the soul. will be the
due understanding of that subordination
of knonlelgc respecting which so much
has already been said; for it must be felt
at once, that the increase of knowledge,
merely such, does not make the soul larg-
cr or smaller: that, in the sight of God,
all the knowledge that Il man can gain is
nothing: but that the soul, be it ignorant
or be it wise, is all in all and in the
activity, strength, health, and wellbe ing
of the >enl lies the main difference, i'll
His sight, between one man and another.
And that which is all in all in Gods esti-
mate, is also, be assured, all in mans la
bor; aud to have HE heart open, and the
eyes clear. and the emotions and thoughts
warm and qnick, and not the knowing of
this or the other fact, is the state needed
for all mighty doing in this world And
therefore finally, lor this, the weighticst
Of all reasons, let us take no pride III our
knowledge.
We may, in II certain sense, he proud of
being immortal; we may be proud of be,
ing Gods children we may be proud of
loving, thinking, seeing and of all that we
are by no human teaching; but not Of
what we haze been taught by rote; not of
the ballast and frcigll; of the ship ot the
spirit, but only of its piletpse, without
which all the freight will only sink it
tisier, and slrew the sra more richly with
its ruin. There is not at this moment "a
youth of twenty, having received what we
moderns ridiculously cali education, but
knows more of everything, except the
soul than Plato of st. Paul did; but he
Is not for that reason greater man. or
tittei for his wgrb, or more fit to be heard
by others than Elato or st. Paul.-Rus-
I.;u.