Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1885-06-20

in ranks two. four, six. it may be ten abreast,
and makes its silent demand upon our time:
To say that it contains nothing ofmerlt would
not only be unfair but untrue, but in nothing
else perhaps for the very reason OF TINS partial
merit, and on account of its ubiquitous pres
ence are we compelled to exercise such constant
and wise discrimination. \ prlnclple OF seiee-
ton must obtain here. In the spirit OF rivalry.
and competition between publishers, the
chances are that within period or few
months every important topic which one publ
cation considers will be more or less ably treat
ed by its contemporaries, and so one magazine
becomes almost as good as q number. But a
better method is possible. selections can De
made for us by competent minds, ana there are
several publications upon the eclectic principle
which are becoming candidates ior iaVor
through commanding excellence.
WHOSE MIND SHALL WE FOLLOW?
Having thus cleared the field of so much that
would embarrass Us in reaching definite con-
clusious the books which claim higher creden-
tails TO respect must yet pass in review. And
here the idea of time lntrudes ana IN
structs us 10 be wary All such state
mentS can be only proximate, but It has
! been said that were Plato living now, and hav-
ing began four centuries before cur era task TO
read through in regular course the literature OF
| the world. he would be plodding yet among the
| dull tTeatises preceding the period OF the Ken
| aissanee Lies opportunities are limited at
best, and III his important quest for knowledge,
| with its ooncomitant OF power, we want that
| which shall most fully advance our ann. NOW,
4
| be Immediately detected. but we must learn TO
| find it, In this search the worlds Judgment
will materially assist. The world says John
| Milton was Il great poet, but ,re may not under.
| stand him. He occupies his place in the poets
| alcove undisturbed, ana so Shakespeare per-
| haps, and Southey, Mrs. Browning and George
| Eliot Our aristocracy, of which we may have
| boasted is sham, ii these are not our famllars
| and we cannot approach them on something OF
| equal terms. If you have ever read Mt
! Rustiu's Sesame ard Lilies" you will
! remember the place where he takes a
page from the poem OF Paradise Lost,
| an almost ambiguous page to many OF us, and
! in u few words of able comment makes q
| thought to center about almost every VOID
We can despise intellect il we will, but the man
who can do this is great despite our protest, and
| lives ON summit places. L know there is pop
ular and sometimes religious prejudice awak-
ened when all attempt Is made to exalt the
| intellect and this grows out OF other error. Man
| is unit I've multiply distinctions, says the
| poet then deem that our puny boundaries are
things that we perceive and not that we have
made Debase the affections, impair the viii,
| and you debase and impair the man; and the
intellect falls equally within the category. But
| in mind it seems we come nearer the citadel of
| being and our safety resides in its integrity
Such philosopher as Hume, following the teach
| ing of older masters, counts intellect as all.
| With him knowledge is synonymous with all
| that is great and lofty. and ignorance at
once implies indulgence, error and crime:
| Mind rules the universe at large and
| every intellectual gain is, as it were, an
added spark which. like PTometheus in the
| ancient liable man has kindled ut the heaY
| eulv flame