Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1871-09-14
UnIntended Influence.
BY VIM. AIKMAN, d. D.

DID you ever stop to explain the effect
which the mere pres nee Of some persons
has upon you? They may not speak a
word, scarcely give you look, yet they
influence You You feel tn IN without
either touch or sign.
There are p, rsons whom you speak of
as having a chil]i,g mannrr, which at
once rcpcls you The coming of such a
one into circle where moment ago all
was cordial sympathy and pleasure, is like
the floating Of an iceberg into the tropics ;
the air becomes hypcrborean where SUM
mer Was reiguing.
s. there are those whose personal pres
enCe you can well describe in no other
way than by saying, it is sunny. They
carry with them an air of health and joyous.
ness Their step in the house makes the
children smile and the circle grow full Of
talk; it is, even in the sick chamber, like
a breeze Of spring; you cannot tell
brighter for there being there.
This effect Of mere air and manner goes
much farther than the emotions and spirits
Of those who feel it; it has bearing upon
character and shapes life. No one can
tell how early it is felt and how last
ing arc its results. The infant in It's
mothers or it's nurses arms is perpetually
a reci pient of it That infant may be
catching hour by hour the disposition and
character Of her upon whose bosom he is
held. 1t is not material food only that he
draws from the mothers breast-power is
emanating in word and manner, nay, in
the subtitle unnamed outgoings of thought
and feeling from that bosom, and the little
one makes them part Of his life. The
fretfulness or petuluncn of the mother ia
sHen to reproduce itself in the child
Many mother who has been inpatient
and perhaps angry at her infant because i:
was 'cross" " perhaps, were she willing
might find the cause of it all in her own
disposition. How could he catch sunshine
out of cloud? How could he gather
material for smiles out of the parturbld d
place where he had been nestling?
1t is most PROBABLE that the character
and disposition Of children are formed
mere by these silent Influences than by
words and precepts Indeed, in multi
tude of cases these latter are wholly over
borne by the former; the direct and an
nounced teachings are in one direction,
the secret but mighty ov,,fowing are in
another. Arctic n,lvigAtors drifting
northWard sometimes see huge iceberg
crashing it's way southwark through ice
fi'lls-the unseen undercurrent has a
mighti"r hold on its mass than the sur
face drift.
You may call it what you will or you
may be unable to name it at all, yet tll.re
are few who arc not cognizant Of the in
tlllcDce the simple presence of certain per
sons have upon them. Women know it,
though they may not he able to explain it
The quick instinct Of u woman! how keen
it is to discern character, AMI 10 recognize
it simply by this unseen outhowing OF the
soul! Perhaps it is because the nature of
a true woman is more ke,nly sensitive
than mans. A needle floating delcatcly
on the waters surface f:cls the faiutest aD-
prOach Of a magnet.
Laura Bridgeman, the deaf blind, and
dumb tirl, was very striking illustration
OF this recognition OF unint: nleA in!lu
cnce Before she was taught self restraint
and had lcarn> d to guard her Gemonstra
ton Of feeling, she would show, on the
moment Of introduction, tn" most oppo-
site emotions toward these who anproach-
CD her. On taking the hand Of one per
son she would at once dash it from her
and turn away with very expres>io ion of
annoyance or, possibly disgust " lille
touching the hand of another, she would
endeavor to pass her own hand caressing-
ly over the arm and cheek Of lis posscssor
Deprived Of the ordinary means Of knowl
edge. her abnormal sen-itiv:nees actually
telt the cmallat,ons Of the strangcrs life
and character
But extreme Instances need not he cited
All persons are NOR" or less aft: cted hy
this occult power. One man makes yo,,
easy, another disturhs you merely by his
presence, and you may not be able in
either case to explain the reason: and
what we feel rs flowing out from other
men is pcrpetually streaming out of our
selves.
Every man carries with him a power
which b, cam but exert. lie cannot SO
shut his soul within his body that it may
not 60 forth. Take altar Of roses a, d fold
yonr hands tightly as you may, will no
perfume go forth? The words of the old
BOOK are true Continent in the hand
b. trAytth itsclf' The ar'ma of your
moral life will 90 out You may guard
your lips, You Elay shape with minutcst
care your acts, bur your inner lf: will 90
out and some one viii be touched and
shape,l by it.
Iierr is Il new and intcrsc feeling Civ, n
to every lnNn's life. 1t is not IN most
Cas.s SO much what he docs or what he
says that makes his il flu"nce-it is whit
he as. That which is within he cannot bv
all his power keep from going firth. lie
cannot help it if he would 1t streams out
from him like the unseen magnetism That
ia.
Every man is pfrpetualy at work, not
only in hours when he rutpnscly puts
forth hls powers, but when most of .)| he
is I OF htlcss Of it. Indeed, the ts,nurht-
j. 81 n 'ur NAV be thc hour of most lasting
power, si' c.; it gives the TRUST revelation
and throws out the most subtitle influence