Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1880-04-16
ABOUT BRAINS.
II. Demand .. x.es.s Of supply
4. E..sy s,ia.. ysr a. Gels AM Nes..l

la" 6esey "''s" Wv
Since man has walked upright brains
have been Of greater valus to him in Sc
curing the necessities and comforts OF
life than mere physical strength. In
physical strength alone. as Is well
known, man Is inferior to many species
Of animals, but by reason OF superior
mental force-brain power-he has SUD
dusd and brought under control most Oh
the lower animals. and today no ranks
them immeasurably. and stands at the
head Of the animal creation. principally
because OF his mental sndowments.
Because Of cumulative inherited mental
force and continued brain development,
man has today attained q position where
to q certain extent he eompsls sven the
liebtninss aud winds Of heaven 70 do his
biddinRs. But. In speaking Of man In .
general sense a. having accomplished
these things. 1t must not be forgotten
that In every nation and every genera
ton Of men there have been but few who
have done anything for the advancement
of the human race. There have been
but few Homers, few Newtons, few
Wsttses, few Franklins and few Morses.
A large majority. more than nine.teuths,
Of every generation Of men have come
on and passed OF the stage OF life
without having done anything for the
Improvement OF their race. To be char.
liable however to Dur fellows, IL may be
said that this fact IL not so because o
large majority OF men are 30 selfish a.
10 be unwilling to labor for the elevation
OF their kind. but because OF their lack
of brains-lack Of sufficient intellectual
force to enable them to conceive or plan
ANYTHING OF valae to their race, or to do
more than merely exist. Carlyle, the
great but cynical Sootchman of our time.
q reported to have said that mime
tenths of all who are born In tho king
dom Of Great Britain are FOOLS" To
the man OF average brain this assertion
may seem too sweeping and too severe.
but to q man Of Carlyle's eapacious
brain, and measured by his lofty stand.
ard, Il 10 no doubt correct. By the term
fools. II may be presumed that Carlyle
meant persons OF light brains aud OF
inferior quality. With this defnition
accepted, q calm survey OF the field, and
judging as to mems supply Of brains by
their acts, will convince the reader that
there exists today . most urgent neces-
sity for brains--brains OF good quality
and Of high intellectual power. What
man is there OF middle age. who. In
taking q Retrospective view Of his Life,
cannot see that but for errors OF judg.
ment (caused by lack Of brains) at crit.
ical periods he might nov DO q Mackay
in point Of wealth. What man 10 there
whose life has been o failure, who does not
frequently say that II he had done this
thing, or that, III he had possessed
more brains) life would have been o sue.
csss2 What more palpable evidence Of
lack OF brains can be adduced than the
case Of the young man. who, while re-
ceiving q large salary. spends all in ex-
travagant living In order that he may DO
deemed q capital fellow, and who fnds
too late that he has been o fool OF the
frst water? What instance can be pre-
scented to show more forcibly q plentiful
lack Of brains In him than the case OF
the man who toadies to the rich that he
may bssk in the warmth OF their sun.
shine for q time, but who ands when he
Ia forced to make room for . more abject
syeophant than himself that he has
been q miserable foolf The man who,
in this age Of enlightenment and free
thought, swallows all the fossilized doc.
trines that the preacher %enunciates in
his Sunday discourses also lacks q good
quality Of brains. aud 10 perhaps a.
badly OF a. the ordinary fool.
Without multiplying instances 1t may
be asked, 10 II not evident that II Is those
who have brains In their skulls, brains
full Of inherited knowledge and power.
brains OF superior quality. that succeed
In life, and that while others may exist
till life falls into the scar and yellow
Leaf" IL 10 only those who have 40
tive and ell.conditioned brains that
make life Q success? Our Goulds and
our Keenes have ss much brain force as
would be necessary to supply mental
motive power to . hundred men through
q long life, whose fat blood sleeps rs
1t slips along their VEINS" and who live
without any aim or ambition above the
qualification Of animal appetites.
It seems that the only radical and
constitutional difference between the
wise man and the fool OF today Is the
difference in brain or brain power. But
this difference Is 70 great that, lacking
this. nothing else can supply the def.
cheney. Accepting, then, Carlyle's a..
sertion, that nine.tenths Of Us are fools,
is 1t not evident that the most pressing