Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Select Papers On Various Subjects, . Read Before A Literary Society In London.
SELECT PAPERS ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS , . READ BEFORE A LITERARY SOCIETY IN LONDON .
No . III . ON PRESENCE OF MIND , AND WHETHER THERE BE ANY MODE OF CREATING OR IMPROVING THAT FACULTY .
BY MR . J . DEAN
PRESENCE of mind is the faculty ' of retaining full possession of the understanding , notwithstanding the interference of an unexpected event . That this property is to be acquired , and is progressive , the history of human nature , from infancy to manhood , will abundantly serve to prove ; it being within the experience of most persons , that many of
those events which at a mature age frequently and unexpectedly occur without producing any sensible interruption in the power of ratiocination , would , had they intervened in infancy or in youth , have completely overwhelmed the mental faculties , at least for a certain time . ' .- . ' , In order that we may know how to apply remedies to any disease
, it will be first necessary to discover its source ; and here a long catalogue of accidents , follies , and vices , superadded to a peculiar irritability of nerves , present themselves as the causes of the want of presence of mind . . . ' To a disorder arising from springs so various , vain would be the attempt to prescribe a panacea , or universal remedy ; but as it most
commonly proceeds from ignorance , permit me to observe , that a ri ght application of t . vo antidotes , viz . temperance and exercise , would have a powerful tendency , to render men masters of themselves in almost any of the situations or circumstances in which they could be placed . 1 have made my prescriptions twofold , though , strictly speaking ,
the latter must be included in the former ; since temperance , or the avoiding of excess of every kind , involves the necessity of exercise to a certain point : 1 thought it proper to use them separately , however , because their identity mi ght not have been sufficiently obvious . Ou the good effects of temperance upon the body and mind , as they are too obvious to need much comment , I shall only remark , that by regularity of life , every part of the human machine has fair play , and thereby acquires a degree of strength which fits it for action .
As corporeal exercise invigorates the body , so mental exertion enlarges and improves the powers of the mind ; for from hence arise information , and a habit of reflection , out of which will be produced VOL . III . Tt .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Select Papers On Various Subjects, . Read Before A Literary Society In London.
SELECT PAPERS ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS , . READ BEFORE A LITERARY SOCIETY IN LONDON .
No . III . ON PRESENCE OF MIND , AND WHETHER THERE BE ANY MODE OF CREATING OR IMPROVING THAT FACULTY .
BY MR . J . DEAN
PRESENCE of mind is the faculty ' of retaining full possession of the understanding , notwithstanding the interference of an unexpected event . That this property is to be acquired , and is progressive , the history of human nature , from infancy to manhood , will abundantly serve to prove ; it being within the experience of most persons , that many of
those events which at a mature age frequently and unexpectedly occur without producing any sensible interruption in the power of ratiocination , would , had they intervened in infancy or in youth , have completely overwhelmed the mental faculties , at least for a certain time . ' .- . ' , In order that we may know how to apply remedies to any disease
, it will be first necessary to discover its source ; and here a long catalogue of accidents , follies , and vices , superadded to a peculiar irritability of nerves , present themselves as the causes of the want of presence of mind . . . ' To a disorder arising from springs so various , vain would be the attempt to prescribe a panacea , or universal remedy ; but as it most
commonly proceeds from ignorance , permit me to observe , that a ri ght application of t . vo antidotes , viz . temperance and exercise , would have a powerful tendency , to render men masters of themselves in almost any of the situations or circumstances in which they could be placed . 1 have made my prescriptions twofold , though , strictly speaking ,
the latter must be included in the former ; since temperance , or the avoiding of excess of every kind , involves the necessity of exercise to a certain point : 1 thought it proper to use them separately , however , because their identity mi ght not have been sufficiently obvious . Ou the good effects of temperance upon the body and mind , as they are too obvious to need much comment , I shall only remark , that by regularity of life , every part of the human machine has fair play , and thereby acquires a degree of strength which fits it for action .
As corporeal exercise invigorates the body , so mental exertion enlarges and improves the powers of the mind ; for from hence arise information , and a habit of reflection , out of which will be produced VOL . III . Tt .