Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1890-01-20
no.e I. devoid Of smell and he

IN with sentiment The woman with
I'd out sentiment cuts a sorry figure IL
he this world, because she lacks all thos'
<, finer phases OF wontanly charactel
lie which give 10 the sex tie principal
], charm. a woman without senu
ment is outside the pale Of woman
hood. There are men without senti'
= ment, because this lovely quality Il
:, more OF a feminine than o masculine
: attribute. But the man without
sentiment lives in a shell as hard
as that of turtle. = 1t may not be so
to the eye, but the shell eDcloses
him quite as effectuaDy.
There are degrees of sentiment;
and IL must beeonfessed that beyond
certain lines sentiment becomes n
/, disintegrating trait. Maudlin senti-
mentality Is sickening. The senti-
mentality which leads women to for
! get themselves 20 far rs 10 shower
, favoTs upon q murderer, and which
prompts men 10 raise a brute 10 the
proportions OF a hero, Is not healthy
sentiments hut disease. Ii has its
origin In the workings Of a mind
{ Nlltl Il uUl tNCulN UAlauItus Il ANAC
is no man so ohsequiously polite as
one who is a little tipsy. He will
outrival French dancing master
in his bowings and scrapings. Yet
that same man, in his sober hours.
may he 50 rough that his conduct
becomes bOorish. 1iaudlin senti-
mentality has no more claim upon
the term ''healthy sentiments than
has this drunken gallantry upon the
term true pOliteness." The polite
ness Of the bacchanalian reveller is
not accepted as the gehu-
inc article, because those who
see the man also understand the
secret springs of his action. 1t Is not /
so with unhealthy sentiment, be-
cause there Is no outward sign, In /
the case Of the maudlin sentiment /
aliSt of the diseased condition OF 1
the Imagination. That this maudIin
sentimentalism is a disease, a mild
form Of dementia, there can be little
doubt.
Observation and experience prove
it. There have been murders OF
peculiar atrOcity committed by both
sexes; some of them really repulsive
in their hideousncss. Not that every
murder is not hideous; but there are
degrees OF ,enormity in crime; and
wherever there is n murderer, there
you will generally find an APP
parently refined woman carry
lug to the criminal in his
cell, flowers, books, bOn-bons,
snd delegates 10 tempt his pal
ate; In fact, doing everything for
him that kindness cansuggest. There
Is some lurking disease in the minds
Of these persons. Ineverythinge else
there may be a reasonable and "a
tional working Of the mental organ
ism, but here is a weakness unAc-
countable and inexplicable. Such
sentimentality-but call il not by its
euphuistic name; call it morbidity
or anything else. Whatever it is. it
excites not only the surprise but the
disgust Of those whose moral percep-
ton Is not so blunted that they can
not distinguish the right from the
wrong. This diseased condition Of
the intellect takes diverse forms.
Ultra-sentimentalism is weakening,
just as this morbid sentimentalism is
absurd and wicked Ultra-senti-
destroys the fabric Of the
character and converts many a man ]
and a woman into bysterical and
whining creatures.
There is wide difference between
healthy and unhealthy sentiment.
A true sign that the imagination Is |
diseased Is the sentimentalism which
Is followed by foolish ends. The Q
mind may become i'll as well as the |
body, and the evidence Of that sick l
mess is As marked in one as in the I
other. The mind that is in its l
normal condition shows no eccen- L
.ricities- Its operations are as regu- !
ar as the ebb and flow Of the sea. q
There are no shadows 10 penetrate. L
While We cannot see the a
;ause, we realize that the effect is h
natural and logical, and that the 81
citation between the two is rs trans z
aren't as crystal. When the mind n
5 in this condition we know that il e
healthy, but let its operations be- "a
ONE turgid, muddy and OPAQUE II
which is a rhetorical way Of saving II
hat one cannot see far enough into "
he mind to comprehend its phe- II
lomena-and then We know that OF
be brain is diseased and not respon- sa
iole Tor the eccentric conduct to u
Fhich It Prompts. The brain is the In
entire of life; it is the engine-room az
I the body; it moves every member.
Is not ones legs alone that are
lddenly seized with desire TO take
tribes and carry one hlther and "a
llther. IL Is the brain, the seat Of eli
clifton, which quietly sets them q
oing and points out the place TO "a
Ihieh their movements all tend. IA
iealthy sentiment is the product Of tn
healthy mind. Morbid sentiment tn
the outcome Of a morbid mind. OF
so, let us leave this morbid senti- nj
lentality behind US and deal only iii
nth the sentiment that is sound tn
nd sensible. There is no more de- do
ghtful trait in the mind than senti-
lent. Sentiment and sensibility
re almost interchangeable terms;
II the sentimental man is ever the
lssessor Of fine sensibilities, and Sp
lie owner OF fine sensibilities in Fa
Irn Is always the man of senti- Ter
lent- IL Is not an easy matter 10 Be
I through the world and enjoy Yo
fe If one is wholly devoid Of senti- Ill
ent. There l. enough Of the prac- w,
al IN life without seeking for il On
ID missing IL above all else. Senti- the
ent is not the child of the intellect. Sp
IS the offspring Of the imagina- En-
On. 1t is the rosy hue of the mind FlC
at unges everything, no matter Ar
wv barren otherwise, with a pretty tor,
Id charming color. One might one
well try to live without sunshine Of 8
TO live without sentiment. /
rite this looking at the subject
I'M a purely intellectual Point q
view. One could not be iur,
ppy II he were TO go through I'M
with n rule and square. INT
assuring every object, every Io,J
ought, by the same infiexible stan fsn,
I'd. One does not like to look AT
howers and analyze them with
cold science Of the botanist. eath =,
o its component parts-mereIv "
pistil and the stanen and the the
Is more TO the flower ~
IN that. There is a subtle es- tnls
ice IN which lies the great charm. GILL
e does not want to look into the
lths OF the armament Of heaven
see the planets and only com b
.e their distance from the earth Fell
their relation to the ph.net on veal
ich We live. Is not this Eloupht Mrs
sservient to that greater ami veal
her thought that there il com
,hty hand and an omnipotent daui
'er IN the creation Of the trou
verse! Cannot the imagination Feir
Ter the influence Of these specu- the
o :, carry US onward and upward dram
IL We feel the greatness OF the are 6
nan mind and the ennoLling in pare
nee OF the imagination? When thou