Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-08-10
DR.. PENTEcoST NEEDED NO
PONCE DE LEON FOUNTAIN
In His Mind and In the Minds Of
Other Old Men There Was the
Immortality Of Perpetual Youth


while on the way to preach in his church
in this city suggests text on youthful
ness. He was eighty years old-about
the same age as John Wannmakcr. his
chief church Clder-and was not feeling
we'll. but he was going to preach as
usual. His resolution forces one to d
most interesting and suggestive con
clusion. 1t is that it was his body
alone that was old while his mind was
still young. The machine through
which the mind operated was worn out
and broke down while the will sat in the
drivers scat. with its hands on the
steering wheel when the crash came. II
we may believe the teachings of religion
the mind which directed the will is still
conscious and in action, enjoying that
immortality Of which its occupancy OF
! the human body was but brief mo-
ment.
The immortality Of the mind. its
eternal youthfulncss, IL you will, is
proved by the experience of most
thoughtful persons The quest for the
! fountain of perpetual youth has never
been entered on by any ono absorbed in
the pleasure Of the mind. Ponce dc
! Leon sought the tabled spring that he
might rcjuvcnatc his body to enable it
| to enjoy the pleasures of the senses.
| Likewise. Faust Of the legend sold his
| soul to the devil in order that his bod,
| might be- made to cast aside its mantle
of spnility so that it could respond to
sensual reactions.
1t is the body that grows old. The
mind of the child is, within its sphere OF
experience. the mind of the man. W."
know that there is an uncnding debate
between two schools of psychologists,
one of which insists that the infant :
mind Is a blank sheet of paper, on
which the world writes is record. while
the other maintain" that the mind IS a
mass of inherited tendencies which
gradually manifest themselves in con-
duct and point of view as the body de-
vcl0ps. Such facts as the investigators
have been able TO assemble rcfutc the
blank sheet theory and experience
and observation sustain the theory that
the mind of the infant possesses at the
beginning all the qualities which mani
est themselves in the mature adult.
The attitude of the boy toward life
is the same Us that of the man. The
boys knowledge increases with the
years and he corrccts and modtics his
point of view as experience cnlargcs his
range of vision. 1t took poet to dis
cover that men are children of n larger
growth. If he had been metaphysi-
elan he would have said that there is
no age in mind. but merely age and de-
vclopmcnt in the instrument through
which the mind works. If the mind Of
an eighteen month old child were put
in the body of collie dog We should
have n manifestation Of canine int"ili-
gcnCc which would lay the man who do
Scribcd it liable to the charge of nature
taking. But we should simply have n
mind operating through machine
which would respond to its commands.
These remarks seem to carry one a
long way from the death of preacher
at the age of eighty years. But as a
matter of fact they are intimately re-
lated to it. They explain why Doctor
PcntecoSt decided to preach last Sun
day in spite Of his physical fccblcnrSS.
They point 10 the reasons why adults Of
sixty remain youths at heart and why
many of them are unable to understand
why youth docs not accept them aS one
of its delightful contemporaries. We
laugh at an old lady who tries to act
as girl and forget that she is still
n girl in her Immortality youthful mi"d.
We wonder at the great achievements
of Clcmpnccau at the age of eighty be-
cause we are in the habit Of asSociating
fullnoss of years with dcCrcnitude. But
the mind Of Clcmcnceau which directed
the policy Of France during the war
was the same mind whose activities won
for him the title of the Tiger. and
earlier controlled his conduct while
teaching French in n young ladies' sem
mary in Connecticut. Age weakened
his body. but not to such an extent that
the mind could not continue to use it.
Gladstone. as premier Of England at
the age of eighty, used the same mind
which won distinction for him in his
first cabinet post.
Francis Joseph of Austria died full
Of years. sad and disappointed man.
but he assembled the throne in his youth
with the same outlook on the world. the
outlook of man on whose shoulders is
placed burden heavier than he can
bear. but who bears it with courage
and fortitude.
Henri Fabre in his old age had the
same Unsuitable curiosity about the Sc
Crcts of insect life that inspired him to
begin his painstaking researches in his
youth. His eyesieht failed and his
fingers grew clumsy, but the mind
within him kept up its persistent in
Quiry after facts.
The intellect of our own John Bur
roughs. whose body is more than eighty
years old is as young as ever, exploring
the incxhaustible realms of nature with
the same zest with which he began his
quest.
And the real Lyman Abbott of today
Is the Lyman Abbott of sixty years ago.
with an intense interest in ethical prob
lens. He is more mellow and tolerant,
not only because his knowledge has in
creased and he has acquired more
lively appreciation of human fallibilty.
but because there were always in him
the seeds Of tolerance and mellowness.
The list might be heightened inter
minably. But enough instanceshave been
cited to suggest to the thoughtful an
examination of his own mental attitude
today and a comparison Of it with that
of ten or twenty years ago. lie will
discover that he knows more and that
his point of view on certain subjects
may have changed. But he will also
discover that on the whole he Is the