The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-11-27
CULTIVATION OF MIND.

one OF the nrSt lessons which, as emil
dren. we learn from the church catechism
Is that there are three powers within us
30 be exercised: My duty toward God Il
TO believe In Him. 70 fear Him. and to
love Him with all my heart. with all my
mind. with all my SOUL That is. TO have
early impressed upon US the fact that II
IS not sufficient to put our whole strength
or our whole hearts into the duties that
lie before us. for these things viii hardly
avail unless at the same time, We put
our whole minds into them.
As il is given US, IL We will. 10 eulti-
vate our strength, 70 preserve our ten
derness and cleanliness Of heart, so il is
given US, also so TO train our minds that
We may be fitted 10 take our due part in
the great work Of the world. pot only
with our hands, but with our thoughts
The mind is the atmosphere OF the
soul. as Joubert wrote in his ''Pensees. "
and William Ellery Charming, in bis
"Self-Culture" told US that
1T IL mind. after all. which does the
work of the world so that the more there
is Of mind. the more work VIII be &c
complished."
II is the mind. that is to say, the Will
OF man that governs his temper. that
regulates his outlook on life, that fixes
his relations to his brother-men. 1t is
upon the attention he gives to his mind
and its cultivation that his measure OF
success in the battle Of life depends. Rus.
kin in his THE Stones Of Venice" wrote
THE mind Of an educated man +.
greater than the knowledge it possesses
II is like the vault OF heaven encompass
ing the earth which lives and hourishes
beneath IL; but the mind of a learned
and educated man Is like a caoutchous
band. with an everlasting spirit OF con-
traction IN il. fastening together papers
which it cannot open. and keeps otherS
from opening
But, surely. not much evidence is need.
ed 10 prove the thesis that it is the mer
Of large mind who are and have always
been of greatest value to the world
What We need to realize is that the cul.
tivation of the powers of the mind, lies
within ourselves; what makes for large
ness Of soul. for clearness OF thought. fol
tenderness OF heart-these things alsC
make for breadth Of mind. which I.
power.
It is rather trite, but still as true as Il
ever was. that -the proper study of man
kind Is man. but It IS not given to all O.
us 10 have the power to read our fellow
men at first hand. II is for this reason
that books are so valuable an aid II
train our minds so that development may
be high. we must first study life and aft
erward books viewing the latter from
the knowledge Of real life that we hav,
gained. There is a vital connection be
tween literature and life. but man can
not get his knowledge Of humanity from
books alone 1t is only by cultivation o
mind that we can attain to the condition
OF true liberty; that we can set our soul
free. that We can see our way clearly
and honestly to the end. There is a fin
passage in JoNbert:
let your cry be for free souls rattle
than for free men. Moral liberty is tn
one vitality important liberty, the on
liberty that is Indispensable; the Othe
liberty is good and salutary only so IA
as It favOrs this. SubOrdinatiOn is in il
self a better thing than independence
The one implies order and arrangement
the other implies only self-sufficlency wit
isolation. The one means harmony. tn
other a single tone; the one is the whole
the other Is but a part"
Which is but another way of sayin
what Goldsmith said:
For Just experience tells in evry soil.
That those who think must govern those who Toll !;
And al that Freedoms highest aims can reach
Is but 70 lay Irop0rtioned loads on each"
II is through the mind of man alon
that this gray old world has been bus
tied so far triumphant on its way. It
the mind of man that rises high above IN
contemplation OF the sorrows. the mis-
cries, the sufferings OF the counties
swarms of individuals who have live
their lives and had their little day.
leaving the thought of the never-to-be
understood waste, to turn toward tn
great hope OF whittier the universe
tending.
TO men Of little minds. the oyerwheln
ing weight Of woe may. indeed. make III
world seem Ike a rapaclous and cru,
hopper. in which good and bad. just an
unjust, are alike ground up. II takes tn
cultivated and eomprehendlng mind. III
open soul. the tender heart. to say wit
Tennyson:
And I doubt not through the ages one inereasir
purpose runs
And the thoughts Of men arc Ridened with u
process Of the suns
II seems to be about as hard TO prov
the winning OF an altitude record as I
prove that you have discovered the mort
pole