DECISION AND INDECISION. 



it is probably the most valuable temperament of 

 mind that man can possess. 



It stands opposed to " indecision,'' in which a 

 man cannot weigh the evidence; and "fastidious- 

 ness" in which the time and attention are wasted 

 upon trifles, which form no important part of the 

 evidence at all. The first of these is a vice arising 

 from want of thought to accompany observation, 

 and make it ready for use ; and as such it may be 

 considered as a characteristic of the " shallow- 

 minded "as we call them. The second is the vice 

 of those who think more than they observe ; and 

 it is a characteristic of the " little-minded/' among 

 the learned. 



But there are also counterfeits of decision of 

 character ; and they are vices of rude and vulgar 

 minds. There is " headlongness," which rushes 

 forward to decide and act, with little or no atten- 

 tion to the evidence; and " stubbornness," which 

 will not reverse the judgment, although the new 

 evidence be conclusive against it. 



A genuine decided character, one which will 

 enable a man to carry all his plans into effect with 

 success, and to ride buoyant upon every wave of 

 the sea of trouble, is perhaps not to be attained, 

 at least early in life, without a certain degree of 

 stubbornness ; and as that stubbornness produces 

 a sort of contempt for advice and new information, 

 even in the cases in which the obtaining of these 

 is the most desirable, there is some danger , of 

 failure and reverse, after success has lulled caution, 

 and time begun to blunt the edge of observation. 

 The man of truly decided character must be one 

 who is capable of taking long and clear views into 

 the future ; but as the past is the only telescope 



D2 



