The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1880-06-03

nearly killed by a b1ll0Ck when young,
and she now runs from the most harm
less cow a child will not take jelly from
the doctor, because he once had a drug
administered in it. My own son in ear
ly life got a fright from a dog bite, and it
was only after a long association with
harmless dogs that he 60 over his pref
udice. The effort of all should be to
overcome prejudice. And this leads ne
to habit. The habit of drink is an indl-
cation of a want of strength OF mind,
and the man is drawn on as by a terrible
whirlwind 1t is really as hard for a man
to break habit as to reverse his course
| after he has thrown himself from a PIN
nacle. Yet it is not a valid excuse for a
man to try and escape punishment be.
cause he is the victim of habit. His
| first start was voluntary. No man gets
into a bad habit except by a personal et-
fort. He sets the stole rolling, and he
is responsible for the injury that stone
may do. There are affecting cas- es when
the victim knows he is going down,
Conceive a man of genius and a man Of
parts who ia the victim of the opium
habit, and you have the idea. HABIT
gives facility, it is the momentum oil
ideas. A man does not take his hund'
redth glass of whisky with as much eff
fort as his first; and he finds more pleas
~ in it because it is easier to take it,
Take the reading habit. Habit makes
us ready readers, until now we have
those who can skim" down a page of l.
500 words in three minutes. | me ton
this point for the benefit of those who
are yet busy with their education, and
this should be every person in my hear
ing. l give you what l consider a valu.
able hint-that good habits Can crowd
out bad habits; that the mind is a field
where you can best choke out the weeds
by filling the soul with good plants. An
other law is--CoexistenCe. 1t is q fact
there can be more than one thing in a
mind at one time. You could not other
wise compare two objects. You use a
certain set of words to ascertain the time
and when you hear the words, you nat
urally know the time. You associate q
certain person with a train of comic
thought. The ideas of the uneducated
man are very narrow because he has no
broad stretch of Coexistent ideas. 81
never thought the world was 80 big"
said the Scotch woman, until | had been
to Glasgow" You think of a certain
doctrine of religion, and then it recalls
a certain church and a certain lady who
sat in front of you there, and the bright
ribbons she wore, and tee curious assOci-
alton of religion and ribbons is made
strong. We cannot go into forbidden
places and yet keep our minds free from
association with them. The scenes will
insist upon abiding with us. This law
naturally carries US to the artificial aids
to memory; as for instance, when a boy
who habitually forgets his errand, puts q
bit of string on his finger to remember
it. A celt4in distribution of time is a
great aid in this way. Work that may
be done any time is likely not to be done
at no time, because this work is not as
| sOcIated with any particular time. 1t is
a favorite notion that beauty is only an
association of ideas; and it is a fact that
the person with the broadcast and most
liberal education has the most ideas of
beauty. A bank of green grass is more
to such a person than it was to the old
Scotch woman, who said it was "a fine
place to bleach %cIouts." The next law is
correlation. 1t is this that is taken ad.
vantage of in poetry, and wni,h makes
it so easily learned. Resemblance and
contras are related to this law. When
we see a powerful agency at work we
ask what will be its effect. When we
see a complex machine we first resolve
it Into parts and follow it along. The
higher a mi i'd may be, the more readily
can it do thi5, and that is a ties! Of the
strength of mind. 1t is a general notion
that a good memory and a good judg-
ment are associates. This is partly true
and partly false. If the memory is only
a repeating memory, getting its strength
from success ion and coeXistenCe, it is
false; but when it is the memory of core.
lation, of cause and result, it is true that
it is association with good judgment.
Why is it when We meet a company of
people We recall one person and not an
other? There is a law to govern this.
We are 80 constituted that we recall one
object rather than another. This /, the
law of analogy. Again, | cannot forget
some things that are associated with
deep feeling. This is an idea of value,
for we nay embalm thoughts of value
by associating them with deep emotion.
Another way of securing greater hold of
ideas is to make a great effort. | have
no faith in rapid methods, no mental la.
Dor. The man who gets to the top must
climb he mountain, He may get some
fine views, but he has to put in the labor.
Young men cannot get a more valuable
habit than giving their intellect to their
religion and their business. Novel read
ing gives no strength, because 1t needs
no effort. The best books are not those
that think for you, but those that make
you think, (Applause.)
At this point in his lecture proper, DR..
McCosh said: II want to say a few
words to you SCotsmen. l confess | am
disappointed when l find 80 few sons Of
SCotsmen in college here. Three years
ago when l went to Scotland, / found
over 5000 students at college out of a
population of three millions. Scotch
men have not reached the point they
should have reached, because they do
not t. Ike advantage Of the best educa,
tional facilities here. They do not go to
III colleges here. They do not come to
Princeton, and l feel disappointed and
say it with sorrow, because that college
is founded in a measure on the Scotch
university system"
Resuming his lecture he said; "The
third point of correlation of ideas is self
interest; a thing that is worth reColleC-