Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1871-06-15
Mental En1aclatlon.

a strange title, do YOU says " hat
new disc ase is this? Not by any means
a new disease, dear reader, but one aston
ishingly prevalent The number of men
whose, minds are weaker and smaller at
forty or fifty, than when they were TWEEN
ty-fve, is legion Their bodies are sleek
and plump, their purses, many of them,
are fat; both have been well nourished f;
but their minds are in a fee BILE. 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 the hui
man race; you shall see how their minds
shrink from effort they are incapable Of
performing; and how they fall back upon
the supports of old superstition and pre-
judice, and there find rest from the labor
such questions involve This general
mental emaciation is one reason reforms
move so slowly. The best and strongest
minds are tugging at the mysteries of ma
ture, and expending their energies in
physical researches. Some intellectual
giants are also graphing with problems
of social construction, political economy
and morals. but rs their teachings are
directed mainly to the mentally em;sci-
ated, they make but little headway in
correcting existing evils Men, in the
hot pursuit of wealth, which is the most
absorbing Of present human aims, neglect
systematic thought, feed their minds upon
lettle else than the sloppy pabulum Of
sensational daily papers, and become men
tally starved How few there are that
can safely think for themselves upon any
subject not Immediately related TO their
profession or callinei 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
conclusion or form definite opinion from
their own thinking.
Talk with men engaged in professions
which imply greater breadth of thought
than ordinary business occupations, and
how often you will hear the 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, what is their
religious belief? and you will find that
they either have none, or that they accept
o creed they cannot comprehend or ex-
plain If they vote at general elections,
they are guided by hastily formed opin-
ions, for which they have never sought
good and sufficient reason. Somebody's
plausible speech, or some half 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 their future
will all come ou. right--hoping that it
will-which they call having faith; and
when they suppose themselves to be trust
ing in God, they are simply trusting in
luck. Z. 1a
Hence il follows that sects and creeds
multiply, charlatans prosper i'm politics.
religion and medicine, and false teachers
only find it necessary to assert. with show
ofauthority and with simulationof knowl-
edge, TO win numerous disciples.
/ The majority of men prefer to have
other people think-or pretend to think
for them. Glittering generalities that
either mean nothing, or mean falsehood,
are accepted as formulas of action, and re-
peated as rnaxims for the guidance of in
dividual conduct If such formula be
attacked by some bold critic who sees its
hollowness the masses who have accus
toned themselves to blindly follow, cling
to it, refusing to give up that which has
saved them the labor of forming an inde-
pendent opionion, and dreading the ment-
al effort which the formation of new opin-
ions, or the selection of another formula.
would entail. ~ = 1ea ssef 5