BRAIN AND NERVOUS SYSTEM. 369 



they may falter. A few families, living in a retired* district 

 of the country, have associated almost exclusively with 

 each other for two or three generations, and have had very 

 little intercourse with the world, either at home or abroad. 

 Their exclusive and familiar association has made their 

 conversation upon the topics and interests of their little 

 neighborhood easy and agreeable. But it has limifed their 

 ideas and feelings to their vicinity. Other feelings are 

 dormant, and other ideas are strange to them. Conse- 

 quently, conversation with men from other places calls upon 

 their brain to attend to such matters, and make such exer- 

 tions, as are neither familiar nor pleasant. They are, conse- 

 quently, timid in presence' of strangers, and suspicious of 

 those whose habits of thought and notions do not harmonize 

 with their own. 



854. The strength of the brain and the mind, or of any 

 of its faculties, which is gained by exercise, must be pre- 

 served by the same means. If this habitual activity of the 

 mental or moral power is not kept up, it becomes again 

 weak. The musician loses his skill, and the accountant his 

 facility of reckoning, when out of practice. The bold man 

 in danger becomes more timid after living a long time in 

 secure places ; the bold man in society loses his self-pos- 

 session when he retires to obscure life; and the hospitable 

 man entertains his friends with anxious hesitancy after he 

 has ceased to keep open house. 



855. As in the perfect body all the organs are equally 

 attended to, and all the muscles exercised, so in the perfect 

 mind all the mental and moral faculties are developed, exer- 

 cised, and strengthened, in due proportion. Washington 

 was a remarkable instance of this equality and completeness 

 of physical, mental, and moral character. None of his 

 powers were dormant, and none had excessive growth. All 

 were subject to the control of his will. This mental and 

 moral fulness and discipline give men command of their re- 

 sources,, and great power in every emergency. They are 

 thus prepared for the various chances of life. They meet 



