The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1885-09-23
AN INFINITE DOMAIN.
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famlly Of mOths-ths human creatures
violating nature witlessly, SHINING agains
light and knowledge,
Now then, we admit the existing state
Of affairs. We know Of the effect; where
is the cause? There are three great edu
caLional means in the world. the pulpit
the school and the press. What say, in
cludes an accusation against them all,
This accusation only goes this far, how
ever, to the sin OF omission, not commits.
sion. In all these professions are men oil
broad, Of noble, OF magnificent culture,
To no member Of these professions, am
here to ascribe lack OF honor or OF zeal,
but lack OF knowledge as TO what to teach
Of man, and how to teach It. All, too,
have failed TO comba. error, until the mills
Of God grind slow, the world has gone
wrong, and souls without number have
been crucified. lverily believethat ofthese
three professions, the most truth TO save
man from his one great enemy, himself,
comes from the press; this in spite oil its
sensationslism and its devotion TO the
false idea that its only mission is to give
the news, and to give it, il possible, be-
fore 1t happens.
The minister has my sympathy. He is
the most imposed on man in the world.
Perhaps you have heard Of the preacher
whose salary was four hundred dollars a
year. The beloved brethren made a car
avRnsary OF his house, and boarded with
him to the extent oil about five hundred
dollars per annum. These are the class Of
people who want the editor to wait till
they pay their subscriptions, voluntarily
without being dunned. The editor will
have about a thousand years TO wait. l
don't know how the preacher kept ahead
unless he was like the merchant who sold
calico at half cent loss on the yard, and
had to sell great deal ID make anything.
The minister who would tell the truth to
his congregation, for year, about tobacco
and whisky, gossip and Islander, meanness
Ia the country, charges and extravaganza
in the city ones, would becomes martyr to
his adherence TO duty. 1t is true
we do not burn people in these days; but
there are more exquisite tortures than
that by fire. l have no sympathy Tor the
schools, especially for the great insLitu-
tons OF learning, III their neglect to teach
man what he is and how 10 care for him
self. As for the editor l can not help
liking him in spite OF his faults. Now,
which one OF these systems oil education
is it that teaches mau practically, thor
oughly, systematically Of himself, how to
care for his health, how to sustain his re.
lation to society, how TO perform his duty
to his God, his neighbor and himself? All
exhort him to purity Of life neither enters
in to the how OF it all. More, many OF
the members Of these professions are ignor-
ant themselves upon the commonest sub
jects that have practical application to
the lave OF human health and happiness.
Probably much OF the trouble. at least,
is in the non-comprehension Of that which
yet seems 10 be the mysterious relation
between ths physical portion OF man, and
the ANGUS, or mind, or soul. The error
OF treating the extraordinary superiority
OF the mind over the body, OF exalting the
one and degrading the other, is almost
universal. believe in the greatness OF
mind, the immortality Of the soul, but the
physical portion OF the human creature is
1T once as sublime a mystery. Perhaps
We shall never comprehend the strange
kinship between the two, until We com.
prehend how the morning stars sang to-
gether, but it is our privilege to know it
does exist and we must understand that
the physica! part is justas necessary for the
purposes OF this mundane sphere, as the
soul part. 1t is through the body that the
mind receives all its impressions. l do not
know OF any naked minds, SO to speak,
loaGug around here and accomplishing
much in this worlds Affairs. To fully
apprehend this idea all you have TO do IL
to look at an engraving OF the nervous
system Of human being, and to observe
where all that wonderful web leads, cen
tering as it were in the brain. have de.
duced this conclusion, that an able
bodied, energetic, industrious tootha:he
can get away with the grardsst intellect
that exists. Again, man who hbs
brain that weighs tiity.iour ounces, and
no stomach, or one inadequate to furnish
the brain with food and power, will do
we'll tn take less OF the one and more Of
the other.
Let US proceed to practical illustrations
Of the fact that man does not comprehend,
the bearing Of his physical System on his
mental organization, or ii ne Compre.
bends, does not act on his knowledge.
In the great business and professional
strife OF the age, men resort 10 all sorts OF
excuses.
Tiers can be an absolute incompetence
Of labor. We have constant sermons, lee.
lures and talk against the sluggard
Happy sluggard. Its only pity that he
cannot give portion OF his sloth to his
nervous, excitable neighbor. Sluggishness
is not the evil Of the age. We are too in.
dustrious. What miserable strife there
is in business! This IL period Of hustle
and Of hurry. How we crowd each other
into the grave in our eager, haste for
wealth. Aman becomes absorbed in his
pursuit, and he schemes for it by day,
and dreams OF il by night.
] read in q newspaper not long ago OF
the final chapter in the career OF q promi.
nent business man in New York, who had
made moro than million dollars. He
went into a luxurious room, put a pistol
to his head and blew out his brains. He
left behind him 8 note saying that for
months he had not had q moments
natural sleep. Life was torture; death
could be no wJrse. Who had ever taught
him that nerves could be go overweight
that they could prick man to death or
lunacy?
Many members of the professions, not
excepting the ministry, fly to such heights
that nothing but some such stimulant as
absinthe, molphis or opium,will let them
down. My brother, do you sit at a table
and write till your blood almost ceases to
low, till your stomach entirely refuses to
work, till You arc only conscious that your
brain is moving, and moving, and nov
ing! Beware, there is death at the table.
That Brooklyn editor, who built up a
great paper, You remember, died a short
time ago. He for Iuany years possessed
extraordinary vigor, both Of mind and
body; yet he died at fifty. lie was a
great worker and great diner. Either OF