The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1905-06-16

stop the horses and give them time tt
catch their breath. Then | said. 81
suppose it is very easy matter to fine
drivers for this stage line The pay is
good The positions are absolutely as
sured to the men as long as they be
have themselves. Some of these driv
ers have been in the employ of this
company for ten, fifteen, even for TWEEN
ty years" ooh, yes," was the answer
It's easy enough for the company tc
get drivers, but very difficult to get
the right kind of drivers. A driver
who is careless can ruin these horses
in few weeks. He will water them
when they ought not to be watered. He
will push them hard when they should
be allowed to go slow. He will feed
them when they should not be fed. On
the other hand, the longer some drivers
handle their horses the stronger the
horses become" Then the driver lifted
his whip and cut the forward off horse
as he said: "That horse there is over
twenty years old. He is a good, strong
animal yet That one by his side is
only FIVE He is good for fifteen years
of future service. The reason our
horses last so long and do so much hard
work is because we treat them right"
The reason many mems physical bodies
give out and tumble into premature
graves is because their owners do not
look after them and care for them.
But as there are physical valetudi-
narians, so there are mental. AS there
are scores and hundreds of phys-
ical cripples who hobble around on
crutches because they have not taken
care of their health, so there are scores
and hundreds of mental cripples, who
never have right thinking, robust,
manly, Independent minds, because
they have never made an effort to
think. These mental weaklings are
always depending upon others, or bor-
rowing from others, or trying to be
propped up by others. AS children,
they started their mental training
wrong. They have been very regular
in their habits. Ever since childhood
days they have been living mentally
wrong
We first met these mental cripples,
or mental dependents in our school
room. One of them was our seat mate
If there was a hard problem in equa-
tons, or algebra, or trigonometry, he
always sat by our side, chewing the
end of his pencil and looking around
the room until we had worked out
the answer, and then he calmly copied
it off and turned in our work as his
own. In school days l had one of
those mental leeches by my side. For
days and weeks he always copied my
work And what was my surprise in
one examination, he received a higher
mark than l, although his paper was
mine, practically in toto. He was
mentally capable, but he simply woulo
not work.
We find these mental weaklings or
dependents everywhere around us in
the world. You have one in all proba-
bility in your domestic servant. She
will do what you tell her to do, but I'M
less you furnish her your brain and
thinking power she is of no more prac-
teal use in the world than lifeless
stick. Instead of rising little earlier
than the family and getting her work
well under way she does not get up
till you call her. After breakfast she
Just sits. Then you come to her and
say, MARY, / wish you would sweep
up the parlor and dust the mantels."
eyes, ma'am" Two hours later, going
into the room, you find Mary leaning
out of the window and watching the
children playing in the street You
say: MARY, this is cleaning day. Can't
you do something besides stare out of
the window? Have you swept the par
for f1oor?" Eyes, ma'am." Then why
did you not go ahead and make up the
beds?" Because, ma'am, you did not
tell me to do it, ma'am." "Well, then
go ahead and make the beds" Eyes,
ma'am" Two hours later you come
back from some shopping and market
ing, and there you find Mary gOssiping
with the cook in the kitchen, and the
front porch is dirty, and the rugs are
all askew in the halls, and the wash
ing has not been put away. MARY,
Mary" you cry, losing all your pa
thence, what is the matter with you?
Why are you sitting idly there? Have
YOU fixed the halls and cleaned the
bathroom and put away the washing?"
mo, ma'am" why have you not
done these things?" Because, ma'am,
you never told me to do that ma'am."
"Well, go and do them now Eyes,
ma'am." Now, Mary is not a physical
weakling. She is a mental cripple.
She will not take an interest in things.
She will do what she is told to do, but
not one thing else will she do And.
my friend, 1t is your duty and mine to
mentally wake up. 1t is our duty to
prepare ourselves for mental toll.
Having eyes with which to see. it is
our business to see. Having ears with
which to hear, it is our business to
hear. God expects every man to bear
physical burden. He also expects
every man to bear a mental burden.
Beecher's illustration.
Manly independence in reference to
the mental burdens we ought to bear
was well illustrated by Henry Ward
Beecher in a remarkable address he
made some years ago. Here is one
Eoung man seeking financial employ
ment. He knocks at the door of the
world, and the call is sounded, Come
in! Want employment? What can you
doY Oh answers the young man, L
am a laborer. 1 can do just what am
told to do, no more and no less Then
as a common laborer crawl down into
the lowest bitches of life, and l will
give you just bare subsistence for a
| livelihood, for l have to tell you every