Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-06-07

Through the study Of Greek and Latin,
The higher mathematics, or through anyI
other system of mental discipline which
a strain upon the mind, the
power of concentration may be acquired.
The man who controls his power OF
thought only through the agency OF a
mental tax. soon discovers his inability
exercise that function in any other
way. (.
Nature is jealous of her gifts, be they
or mental, and o~ver-taxatlon
brings forth the fruitage of and
decay.
l Wou take no issue with the excel
ent educational methods Of the day;
but I you'd supplement them with a
system of thought control which would
the loss of cerebral energy In
mental effort-a system which makes
thought a. pleasure by enabling one por-
ton of the brain to rest while another
portion is at work-a system which en-
doWs the mind with no new faculties
and which cannot convert a mudsill into
a Milton. but which makes possible for
utilitarian purposes the mental resources
of the man.
While some classes of physical labor
require the expenditure of great
strength. which amounts to an injurious
tax on the physical system when long
oI III oSSN
work Of the world is done by the delicate
touch of the trained hand.
Whatever may be the vigor of Its
physical expression. there should be no
sledge hammers in the factory or
thought, where mental equilibrium
hould sit enthroned.
To train the mind to that delicacy of
action which calls forth it's most subtle
and potential powers, cerebral hardships
are not required.
That system of metaphysics which
would rest the mind when weary of
thinking in one direction by turning with
ease to another, is a practical one, II
properly applied.
1t must enable the student to lay
aside one set of ideas and take up an
other at will, without mental friction,
and without converting his brain into a
beehive for the buzzing ideas OF the
world.
To do this is to Danish the worriments
of life at will, when brooding over the
mistakes of the past or the possibilities
of the future would canker the heart of
a king.
i In the present age, glorious victors on
the battlefields of thought too often
wear their laurels upon their dust.
To acquire the power of thought con-
trol-a simple process partially acquired
by the speculative philosophers of every
! dSC dio ~ ShJoJ ~ SoAAA
munion in the banquets of the mind.
1t takes from the mental toiler the
hungry plea for recreation, for mental
rest, for extraneous agencies in the ma
ture of pastime Or excitement to lift
This mind from the pitiless grooves of
thought into which it has fallen.
He who can dismiss his thoughts at
will, making them the creatures of his
mental discipline, rather than the tyran-
nical masters of his soul, can lay aside
the worriments of the day and gather
fresh mental strength for future use by
wooing the sweet goddess of peaceful
sleep with the drapery of his couch
about him."
Converting the capacity to think into
a mental luxury, thought control tempts
the intellectual appetite and enlarges
the sphere of man.
Regarding a waste of mental energy
as a crime against the hottest of Gods
ercise the powers of thought without
friction and bring them within the alb
solute control of the will.
If man is a talking animal and hi!
vocal organs are in touch with his brain
it logically follows that the organ O.
thought must shape ideas into words be
fore they are delivered to the purely
physical organs for expression.
1t is the duty of the brain, whether di
recting the tongue in verbal speech, o.
guiding the hand in written language
to shape it's idea into words within thu
vocabulary of the man.
If thought takes the form of Language
when verbal or written expression is t.
follow, why should it not be trained t.
take the form of language all the tim
Why should not every idea that is gen
Grated in the mind-every impact witt
the thought currents of the world-b
immedia tely translated into unspokel
/! l " o,,o 90 aud Cfnvnd oWov in II
archives of the memory, ready clothe,
for dress parade when called for by tn
) pencil or the tongue?
{ I would have the student think in Ian
: guage-not the language of the lips o
the language of the pen-but I woul
t have Zach thought registered upon tn
| brain in sentences and phrases as clearl
: defined as if chiseled in marble by tn
hand of God.
t 1 would place no thought upon tn
shelves of memory for future use unit
: it was written upon the sensitive plate
!, of the brain in language adapted to tn
future uses of the tongu and pen.
In the practice of this method c
MISUNDERSTANDING and slow in its pre-
5 liminary stages-one learns to discrim1
f nate between those ideas which ar
worthy to be embalmed in language an
filed away for resurrection on the ros
t trum or in the press, and those whic
should be rejected.
s This process. like the training of tn
e muscular system, soon enables the wi
1 to carry out the verdicts of the Jude
Y ment without mental protest an
thought control becomes an blishe
n fact.
d In a short time the desultory though,
f that We're wont to fit at random throng
g the corridors of the brain, hooking =
: memory's efforts to retain them. will n
: longer u riot in the sanctuary of tn
e soul. but respect the mental equilibrium
II that has been established.
!" The man who merely thinks he think
but whose brain is a fantastic playgroun
for cerebral absurdlties to disport then