Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1871-09-14
VAGUE PEOPLE.

Wol LII s "ol " nv dIc tN.dI dS III "uiC
they want, and who pursue q definite OBJ
jcct With both meaning AMI method. But
outside this solid nucl us lies floating
population Of vague people n'bulou> peO
pie; people @i hout men'al cnherencc or
The power Of intellectual growth; people
without purpose, witho,t aim, who drift
with any current anywhere; making no
attempt at conscious steering, and having
no port to which thcv desire to ecr peo-
pl:' who are emphat!cal1y loose in their
mental hinges, and WAC c.nnot be tlusted
with any f1ice requiring distinct percep-
ton or exact execution; people to whom
existence is something to be got through
be, but who have not the tintest idea that
ought TO make clear to ainself and work
sub ordin,te Enh harnoEze all his facnl
ties and his tff, ,'ts. Th2so vague people
OF nebul,us M! d5 compose the larger half
Of the world, sad count for just so much
dead wv light, which impad.s or gives it's
inert strength to the ac.i?e agents as it
chances t" he handled. r,"y are the ma
j,rity which votes in com ni:tccs and Ill
assemblies as they ar " fu"nced BY the
one or two clrar mind: Gle"Aers who know
what they are about. and who drive them
like She p by the mere force of definite
idea and rsOlute will
Yet if thor, is nothing on which vague
people are clear, ard if they are not diff
cult to influence rs the majolit,," there
Is much on which they are positive as
matt, Of private conviction. In opposition
to the cxhOrtaiinn to be able to gi'e rca-
son for the filth that is in us, they can
give no reason for any thing they
Relieve or fancy they believe. They
are sure of the result, bu, the
logical method by which that result has
been reached is beyond their powerto re-
member or understand. To argue with
them is to spend labor and str ngth in
vain, like tryiEg 70 make rop"s outof sea
sand. B,aten off at every point, THY SET
tie down again into the old vague, Wpnry
crft'o and it is like fighting with ghosts 20
attempt to convince them of Il better way.
They look st you hel lplessly, assent loosely
to your propositions; but when yol come
to the nt cebsary deduction, they G. .uble
back in vague assertion that they co not
agree with you, they cannot prove you
wrong, but they are sure that thy ar
right; and you know then that tie col
lapse is hopeless. If this meant teiscity,
it would be so far respectable, even
though the convictions were erroneous:
but il is the mere unimpressible fluility of
vasuepesa, the impossibility of giving
shape aud conference to fl ,ating fig or
formle>s haze. Vague as to the hsis Of
their beliefs, they are vaguer still as to
their fac 8. These. indeed, are like lad
der of which half the rungs are missing.
They never remember story, snd they
cannot describe what they have sen. OF
the first they are sure to lose the point and
to entaDgle the thread Of the last hey for
get all the details, and confnu.C both Sc
qucnce and position. AS to dates, they
arc as if lost in q wood when you require
definite centuries, years, months but they
are great in the chronological generosity
of 'about," which is to them what the
Middle Ages aid Classic Times are to un
certain historians. 1t j. as much as they
Can do to remember their own hrthd ";
but they are never sure Of their children's;
and generally mix up names and ages in
manner that exaSps rates the young p ople
like personal insult
With the best intentions in the world
they do infinite mischief They detail
what they think they have heard of their
neighbors' sayings and doings; but as tn
never detail anything exactly, or twice
alike, by the tine they have told the story
to half dozen friends they have given cur
rency to half dozen different chin. ras
which never existed save in their own wool
ly imag nations. No repute is safe with
them, even though they may be personally
good-natured and anxious not to do any
one harm; but thu y are SO vague that they
are always setting ah ,at cxapgerations
which are substantially falsehoods; and
if you tell them the most innocent fact of
any one you would not injure for worlds
say your own daughter or your dearest
triend-thcy are sure to repeat it with ad.
ditions, till they have made it into Fran
Henst, in, which no one can now suhdue.
Beside this mental haziness, which neither
sees nor shapes tact correctly, vague
people are loose and unstable in their
habits. They know nothing Of punctuality
ut home or aNrfud aud YOU are never
sure that you will not stumble on III IN at
meal times AZ " hat time sorver you may
call. But worse than this, your own meal
times, or any o'hcr times, are never safe
from them. They float into your house
uncertainty, vaguely, without purpose,
with nothing to do, AID for no reason that
you can discover. And when they come
they stay; and you cannot for the life of
you find out what they want, or why they
have come at all. They invade you at all
times, III your busy hours, on your sacred
days; and sit th.re in chaotic kind of
silence, or with vague talk that it tires
your brains to bring TO focus; hut they
are too foggy to understand anything like
d.)icate hint, and if you want to get rid
of them, you must risk a quarrel and
effectively shoulder them out They
will be no loss. they are 80 mu h
driftweed in your life, and YOU can make
no good Of tht m for yours; Ives or others
Even when they undertake to help you.
tney DO you M 're hum than good by the
h|Zy way in which they understand, ad
the inexactness with which they carry out
your "ish's. They volunteer to get you
ny fsvor the thing you wan, and cannot
hhd In the general way OF business say,
sotnethi OF peculiar shade of olive
treen -anl they bTirg you in triumph
brilliant cooalt; they know the very rni-
nlal w. are looking for they say, with q
confidence that impresscs you. ard tn, y
SCI d t" your Stable grey horse to match
your bay prny; aud if you trust to their
uncontrolled action in your affairs, YOU
find yourself Committed to responsibilities
you cannot meet, and brought to the verge
Of destruction. They do all thi, mischi, +,
not for want Of good WILL but for want 1t
dehnlfencs1 OF PERCEPTION; and are as
sorry as you are When they make "pi ="
and not a legible sheet. Their desire is
good, but vague desire to help is equal
to no help at all: or even worse it is
positive evil, and throws you wrong by
just SO much rs it attempts to set you
;r>ight. Thry are as unsati$ factory il
you try to help them. They are in evil
case, and you are philAnth: opica!ly anxious
to assist them. You think that one vigor-
o'ls push woull lift the car Of their for.
tunes out Of tie rut in which it has suck.
and you g. to them with the ben, VIOLENT
design ot lending your shoulder as the
1ev;r. You question them as to he central
tact which they wish changed; for you
Know that III most cases mi>f)rtunvs cen
t:allze round one such evil cHltrr which
hcln5 removed the rest would 60
we'll. But your vague frie Ids can
tvli you nothing They point out this
little superficial inconvenience, that small
reme'iablc annoyance as the utmost they
can DO in the way of detinitcncss hut
when you want to get to the core you find
nothing hut cloudy complaint of tgener-
al lll-"lll, or universal ruu of unto " ard
circumstances with which YOU cannot
grapplc. To cut Off the h ydr;l's head was
dltticu 1t enough: but could even Hercules
have decapitatcd the Djinn who rose in q
volume or smoke from the tisherman's
jar? IT. is the same in matters of health
Only NJ, dical men know to the full the
difficulty OF dealing with yapue ,,po,L