The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1889-05-09
Think for Yourself.
A. b. c.

A French author has said. that reflection
increases the vigOr of the mind. as exercise
does the strength of the body" This is
almost self evident truth. The more we
reflect-and by the way, do you know what
it is to reflect? 1t is Ito attend earnestly
to what passes within the mind''-and train
our minds to think earnestly upon all that
passes therein, the greater become our ca
pabilities for so doing; and the common
things of life assume proportion and gray
ity that we have heretofore been strangers
to.
Furthermore, a reflector is "a polished
surface for rejecting light or heat" We
all know. that to polish the surface of gold,
for instance. that it requires much friction;
at first with coarse materials and as the sur
face becomes smooth and CLASSY. finer and
still finer materials are used until at last
an almost impalpabe powder is employed.
Can we not reason little here from analogy?
Our minds are mental refiectOrs. At first
the polish is in the shape of letters, perhaps
upon blocks to play with; but, as we adj
vance in learning, the polish becomes finer
and still finer until at last we can appre-
ciate the flowery beauty of Ruskin and the
rugged grandeur of Milton and Browning
The greatest men of history have been
mighty retlectOrS. and the mirrors of their
lives and works are ever held on high as
bright beacOnS to stimulate and encourage
others to polish up their minds and become
also, immortal refectOrs.
We can gain little more knowledge of
our subject by referring again to Webster.
TO reflect, means also Ito give back an i'm
age" The more perfect the image produced,
the more perfect the reflector: and hence
the ancients used the word reflection as
that which is produced by reflection. but
especially thoughts suggested by TRUTH;
therefore to reflect false ideas or doctrines
is a wrongful use of the reflector. The more
perfect the image reflected, the more perfect
the instrument; and the purer and truer
the images reflected from mental mirror,
the more perfect is that mind. All reflec
tions should aim at truth. When we think,
it is our duty to judge carefully of what
passes through our mind. subjecting it to a
vigorous examination, in order that its pas
sage may not mar the surface of the reflec-
tor and cause a wrong image to be cast
therefrOm.
We have all seen elongated, convex mir
rOrs, that held in one direction, our faces
and forms are indeed "inked sweetness
long drawn OUT" and by turning the mirror
the other way, our attenuated forms at once
assume a rOtund, jOcalar shape, rivallng
Fallstaff in girth and pigmy in height.
These. then, although the surface is smooth
and highly polished, are false refectOrs, be-
cause they do not return true images. Like
wise, human mind may have been fash
iOned with skill and polished by sages. and
yet be so warped and biased as to distort
anything passing through it. The reverse
of this may be also true. the reflector may
be a diamond in the rough and only need
careful handling to become a gem. Neither
of these classes, however, are common in
our prison. The refiectors here have. most
of them, received a considerable amount of
polishing, but from lack of care, dissipation
and many other causes, they contain many
blemisheS and Irregularities
We now come to the original proposition.
think for yourself. There is great deal
of the polishing which can be done by others.
but you, yourself ,are the expert who must
oversee the work. Think for yourself upon
every question and subject that comes be-