The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1889-08-22

ment, and guide the mettlesOme steed with
safety along the rough and devious road he
has to 60. Side by side with Reason or In
tellect sits that grim servant, the Will, and
lowering close and ever near him. is that
holy dove and monitor which man calls Con-
science. Now these. together with Impulse,
constitute breathing man, and the we'll
spring of all his actions: Reason to select.
Conscience to decide. and the Will to do.
Examples and associations in early life
enter largely into the formation of charac-
ter. and colors the actions. more or less. in
its lifetime. A noble action or a deed of
infamy is photographed in the youthful
mind-the one to emulate. and the other TO
avoid. just as the sensiblities are called
into play by the one or the other of the
circumstances.
But Reason often explores treacherOus
ground. and is apt to. and often does Sc
lect false theory to diSsect, and from
which springs species of scepticsm pecul-
iarly its own. whether it be in the moral
law of God the rights of man. metaphys-
les, or theology. etc. and only finds out the
error when the application is made.
Men theOrize logically to themselves. re-
duce theories to what they fatter them
selves are facts because they have an end
to attain. desire to CRAFTY. and. selfish i'm
conscience, and the will is called into play
only in quiescent manner. But if Reason
selects an object, or rather if the subject to
be considered be one which calls into play
the sympathieS. when the desire to aid and
assist its fellows who are in distress. and
where self has no place. in selfish or mer-
cenary point of view: and where the end
attained has the merits of a noble action
only, very different line of argument is
used. In this. if the act is done on impulse,
Reason and Will are not called into account
except in passive way, and do not afford
the same satisfaction to a nature naturally
noble. as if done in deliberate and natural
manner. To control the Will from doing
evil for the sake of doing good for goods
sake only is hard to do. to an average man.
The desire to crafty some wish. some taste
or passion is a temptation that sets all the
forces of nature at war with each other and
the battle-ground is upon the plain of princi-
pie. and the we'll balanced mind soon de-
cides the conflict with the Will.
1t is almost always the case that this war
ring of natures forces can be avoided by
skilful tactics and as an illustration, Ken
OphOn relates the following of Cyrus, who
once relegated trust of great moral
honor to his especial friend, Araspes Ina
conversation relating thereto. Cyrus main
tanned that certain passions of man would
succumb to the will. and actually refused to
see the object under discussion for fear of
being overcome. and thus interfere with
his military aspirations. Araspes MAIN
tanned the opposite view. The result showed
Araspes to be wrong. He yielded to the
passion. so far as to destroy his peace of
mind, and besOught Cyrus to send him on a
foreign mission that he might save his
honor. What splendid generaship. What
moral! To avoid temptation is no sign
of cOwardice. A skilful fence makes a
sure guard. j.