Eaton weekly Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1866-1875, 1871-06-29
Mental E,oacimtIor,.

A strange title, do you say? What
new disease is this? Not by any means
q new disease, dear reader, but one as
tonishingly prevalent. The humble OF
men whose minds are weaker and small
er at forty or fifty, than when they were
TWENTY-FIVE, is legion. Their bodies are
sleek and plump. their purses, many of
them, are fat; both have been we'll nour-
ished; but their minds are in a feeble,
emaciated condition, unable to cope with
the great questions of this pre-eminently
advancing age.
Engage them in conversation upon any
topic involving much grasp of thought;
PROFOUND to them any one of the great
problems of vital Importance to h hui
man race; you shall see how their minds
shrink from effort they are incapable OF
performing; and how they fall back up
on the supports of old superstition and
prejudice, and there find rest from the
labor such questions involve. This gen
eral mental emaciation is one reason re-
forms move so slowly. The best and
strongest minds are Juggling at the mys-
teries of nature, and expanding their
energies in physical researches. Some
intellectual giants are also graphing
with problems of social construction, pc
litical economy, and morals, but, as their
| teachings are directed mainly to the
| mentally emaciated, they make but little
4 IlCdu" dN Ill SAA7OlhS
| Men, in the hot pursuit of wealth, Which
| is the most absorbing OF present human
aims, neglect systematic thought, feed
their minds upon little else than the
sloppy pabulum of sensational daily pa
| pers, and become mentally starved. How
few there are that can safely think for
| themselves upon any subject not imme-
| diately related to their profession or call
ingI What millions might be counted,
| who might far better shut their eyes and
accept without thought the conclusions
| of such men as Mill and Spencer than
| even to attempt to reach a conclusion or
form a definite opinion from their own
thinking!
Talk with men engaged in professions
| which imply grelter breadth of thought
| than ordinary business occupations and
howsoften you will hear h admission,
| that their habits of thought have untitled
| them for correct thinking upon topics
| which require systematic thought, and
| strictly logical method! Ask nine out
| of any ten, selected at random, b is
| their religious belief? and you will find
that they either have none, or that they
| accept a creed they cannot comprehend
or explain. If they vote at general cleo
| lions, they are guided by hastily formed
| opinions. for which they have never
| sought good and sufficient reason. Some
body's plausible speech, or some hall
conceived principle OF right or wrong, Is
enough to influence their action; and so
they give their minds the rest they crave,
and trust to luck that it will all come
right in the End. Many are going on
through life, similarly trusting that theiI
future will all come out right-hoping
that it .will-which they call having
faith; and when they suppose themselves
to be trusting in God, they are simply
trusting in luck.
Hence it follows that sects and creeds
multiply, charlatans prosper in politics:
religion and medicine, and false teachers
only find it necessary to assert, with
show of authority and with stimulation o.
knowledge, to win numerous disciples.
The majority of men prefer to have
other people think-or pretend to think
for them. Glittering generalities thai
either mean nothing, or mean falsehood
are accepted as formulas of action, ano
repeated as maxims for the guidance Of
individual conduct. If such a formula
be attacked by some bold critic who see:
Il its hollowness, the masses who have ac-
customed themselves to blindly follow
cling to it, refusing to give up that which
has saved them the labor of forming al
independent opinion, and dreading thu
mental effort which the formation of new
opinions, or the selection of another for
!, mula, would entail.
| So the world nov slowly in some re
, spects, but it moves. There remains al
immense amount of superstition, but day
begins to dawn. People are not 81 east
ly led blindfold as they were a century
ago, and the rights of individual con
science begin to assert themselves.-Sci
| enttfc american.