Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1889-07-31
The Realizing Faculty.


which is so prominent il its influence on
the moral nature as Imagination. As
the reasoning powers and the judgment
are cultivated they reveal to US much
knowledge of right and wrong, solve
many of the knotty problems of life,
and disentangle some of the intricacies
OF duty. But il is reserved for the imag-
ination to touch the heart and to arouse
the feelings. And as the essence of the
moral life is lore OF the right, and the
desire to persue It., whatever can in
spire or nourish these deserves our
special consideration.
The Imagination Is almost boundless
in its range. Without creating any
thing absolutely new, 1t has the power
OF so combining and re-combining,
f;lshloniug, and re- fash oning the actual
materials aud relations of life as TO
form innumerable fantastic and even
impossible images, which appear, dis
solve AMI re-appear in ever new forms.
But, aided by keen perceptions, wise
DETERMINATIONS and a sensitive nature,
II also has the power Of picturing
things as dtsy are, with a fair degree of
correctness. This may be called the
realizing faculty. Its function IN our
social life Is much more important than
- ktAEAAAAN SAkIfNnDa-- - hNAf A1A
proportion OF our sins against our fel
low men may be traced To a deficiency
OF this power. UnkindneSs, from the
most trGlug discourtesy TO the most
pltiless cruelty. is largely due to the
fact that We have 70 adequate image in
our minds Of the feelings of those we
thus hurt. In former mes this was
the case with regard 70 bodily pain
Ner and even women, could witness
without u shudder the gladiatorial con-
tests AMI the agony tgat superysned.
Torture and persecution were every
dAy affairs. because no one realized the
pangs inflicted. Civilization, with its
increase uf knowledge, insight and
sympathy, has made all such things
well nigh impossible. And slowly, tr',
we are becoming able to picture TO our
selves the thoughts and emotions OF
others, and these images make many
persons careful not u cause mental dis
ties, tp those with whom they miuSle.
Pity and compassion JTr, inlsed, the
lirSt fruits OF this real NJ faculty,
and are Generally prOVCr,iuned TO Its
deve,upm=ut. We know how much
mole eJsIiy they are aroused by the
sight of the pain than by its mere reel
tai. by the occurrence OF a small Cd
tastrOphe IA or Immediate vicinity,
than by the wholesale destruction OF
life Ia a fdrtway land. In the enc case
the mental picture IS vivid. in the
other II IS pale and colorlesS.
IL this realizing power makes US
compassionate it also makes us charita-
hle. Intellectual sympathy is more
rare and more difficult Of attainmen.
than mere sympathy with pain and
- TThna44 1sRTEfnnIFI Il
line OF thought and aS5OcIat!ug only
with those who share it cannot readily
understand how any one can d!ffer
from them, and are, therefore, Inclined
10 doubt either their honesty or their
intelligence. Much bitter controversy,
much harsh and unjust criticism IS
due TO the feebleut>S of this power.
Neither party can put himself IN the
place of the Othsr or see how he came
10 hold such beliefs, or why he should
not at once abandon them. so the estl-
mates of guilt commonly made are sell
dom fair and Just for the same reason
When man, accustomed all his life TO
abhor some vice or to lcathe some
crime, and minglIng only with those
who share his feelings. forms his judg-
ment of delinquent from his own
standpoint. it must be an erroneous
one. lie thinks what his OIrn guilt
would be in such a case, which IS a
very different matter. He does not
pause to remember that the man whose
birth, surroundings and education have
made vice and crime familiar, can
not regard it as he does. He cannot
conceive of the strength OF his pas
siOnS or the force OF his temptations
SO the rich and poor fail to understand
oil r,r.41 Fl aud f1ta
ignorant, the employer and the EN-
ployed, the young and the old. Their
lives, their modes Of thought. their in
huences, their standards Of action are
all different, and, failing TO realize any
but their own, their judgments OF each
other are erroneous and uncharitable.
Could they bUs form true pictures in
their minds of each other, could they
imagine with any fair degree of Corrcc-
ness each others condition, thoughts.
feelings and motives, how much more
kindly, charitably, and therefore justly,
would each estimate the other.
II this realizing faculty is so power
full a factor in human welfare, how
may We develop il? Every advance
ment IN education, every act Of mental
discipline, every advantage Of wider
intercourse by society or travel, every
thing which brings different classes
into closer relations, every influence
which brOadeus the mind and expands
the views, tends in this direction. To
beware Of getting into ruts, TO avoid
dwelling upon single line Of thought,
70 vary the life as much as may be, To
study human nature IN its personal and
social aspects, to be hospitable to
another's thought, tender of another's
feelings. respectful TO another's indi-
viduality-all these will help US 70 a
clearer and truer relation of our fellow
men and to better and happier relations
with them. In the close and impure
air Of seldshnsss imagination drops and
-ltkers, but where the spirit of gen.
erosity and magnanimity reigns, there
It dourishes and bears rich fruit.