The Plymouth Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1869-1941, 1870-06-09
necessarily tests for either courage or the

| necessarily tests 1OT 0itAcI courage or th(
reverse.
The field Of battle gives us instances O
everv nossible effect of danger or surprise
on differently constituted brains. The
| bravest and coolest are those who realize
the danger. and vet are as calm az those
| fortunate Individuals to whom fear is un
known. There is well known story O
a subaltern accusing bis Colonel of fear or
an occasion of apprOaching danger
"Yes." replied the Colonel, as he rode
steadily on; "if YOU were half as much
| afraid, yon would run awav. Whether
such would he the result of fear on the
snba'tern would depend on the formation
| Of his brain. Innate, sordid. reasoning
cOwardice would cause its victim to shrink
from approaching danger; but the
| cowardice. if IL can so he called, caused by
paralysis of the thinking faculties in eX
| cessivc danger, generally urges the sub
iect of il onwards. Mental depression
from any cause frequently induces this
| mad coura ce, and that too in men con
stitutionallv calm. The following story
was related to the writer by an officer in
| the Austrian armv:
The buele-call had sounded, and in five
minutes every man was in his saddle ex
ccpt 3 -
He must he dead, ors sick that he CAM
crawl" observed an old Maior 1 never
knew p - behind when there was fight
| inc in front"
| Neither bad 7, and Iagreed with the Major
| hat it must he some physical incapability
that prevented plucky B -, as he was
called in his regiment, from answering to
a fighting bugle- e-call l volunteered to
ride round to his quarters, to ascertain
what had become of him. and, accompa
MED hv Cornet and junior Captain,
| proceeded thither. We fourd B - sit
| ting at his camp table, his head resting
between his hands, looking as pale as
death.
"Hollo. B! In a funk ?" exclaimed
| the Cornet.
"Nonsense. you Young fool" I said ;"he
has pluck enough in his little finger for
your whole carcass. What's wrong
b."
F. is all right" he replied az am
in a funk My time has come, and l shall
leave my wife 9nd little child to beegarv,
and worse" (He had married in opposi
ton 70 his fathers wishes.)
Rubbish, old cock" said D., the
Captain, irving to laugh him out of such
IN extraordinary state of mind "You'l
bring them another clasp yet" D.
was an Euglishman. who, like myself, had
entered the Austrian service, he was the
con Of a nobleman, and was very well off.
"Do you mean it?' said B, starting
up, with wild expression darting
| through his eyes,
"I do, by JOver' replied D.. "Tu
settle Captains pay on them for life
hut don't expect to have to do so, old
fellow; you'll take care OF them your
self"
A few words of explanation, and repe-
tition of his promise on the part of d =,
and B buclxled on his sword, and in
| another minute he was on his charger.
Half an hour afterwards we were en-
gagged with the enemy. [ kept my eye
on B. He was always brave; but
| now he was mad His courage had been
| always characterized by extreme cool
ness, never courting, although never
shrinking from danger, but now he
rushed on his death-and he found it
Ten minutes from the time the first shot
was fired, he was a corpse, transfixed by
dozen bayonet wounds. D. fulfilled
| his promise.
| The impression on the brain, and its
results in the action of the individual
vary considerably with the source OF
| danger. Thus, fear of drowning invari
| ably destroys presence of mind; the brave
man and the coward equally, frantically
and Intellectually struggling for life; and
vet, under no circumstance, can presence
Of mind be of more avail than in the ef
| fort to keep the head above water, there
| being no art in swimming. Every scien
tific man ought to be able to swim the
| first time of entering the water, and
| would, if he had presence of mind. Fire
| also, has a peculiarly paralyzing effect
| but not so general as the fear of drown
| ing.
We are told that the sensations expert
| enced by those who have been seized by
the larger Feline are very remarkable
a calmness almost soporific, without fear,
yet the intellect remaining clear, and
| ready to take advantage Of any chance OF
escape. Such has been the experience OF
Livingstone and many Others, as we read
in books of African adventure. In one
instance (not published), an officer in In
| dia, being seized by wounded tiger, held
| his breath, to feign death. ''But,' he says,
Il felt wide awake, though withal calm
sensation stealing over me- By-and-by, |
| cautiously drew my hunting knife, and
| was going to set my life on a venture. /
knew that he would never leave fgo until
he killed me, and if missed my stroke,
only FASTENED my fate by few minutes.
Drawing long breath, and grasping the
knife with both hands, plunged it To the
hilt in his chest 1t was terrible game /;
but won. The tiger fell back dead with
scarcely struggle / had almost cut his
heart in two"
The question naturally presents itself
to us: Seeing the advantages TO be gained
| by the retention of presence OF mind,
| swer may safely be: Certainly; practice
and education tend to preserve the equl'
| librium of the brain, which constitutes
presence of mind The sailor, the rope
| walker, the sportsman, the diplomatist,
are all examples of presence OF mind In
| duced by training. But it may be justly
| objected, presence of mind is really only
needed in sudden emergencies. which it Is
| impossible to educate for. Yes. that Is
true; but calmness and deliberation once
established as habit, become cOnstitu-
tional, and respond under all circum-
stances when required. 1t therefore be-
| hOoves us, in the most triflng as well as
the most important actions; to act, think,
and speak calmly, and with deliberation
to do nothing in a hurry or furry, and,
above all, to keep our tempers.-Chdn'-
| 6ers Journal
| The colonel of an Alabama regiment
was famous for having everything done up
in military style. Once, while field oihcer
of the day, and going his tour of inspec-
tion, he came upon sentinel from the
| 11th NississinDi regiment living flat down