THE ENTOMOLOGIST'S 
WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER. 
No. 222.] SATURDAY, JANUARY 5, 1861 [Price Id. 
ENERGY. 
In the first place it will be important 
to consider what is energy. “Internal 
or inherent power; the power of ope- 
rating, whether exerted or not,” and 
the adjective energetic is thus defined, 
“ Operating with force, vigour and 
effect.” 
Now this will appear, and to a cer- 
tain extent it is, a natural gift. Some 
of us are born with more energy than 
others, and it manifests itself at an 
early age in childhood. But as pro- 
bably every energetic person has at 
some time felt listless, so we should 
imagine that every listless person has 
at times felt energetic; and if this be 
so, we do not see any reason why the 
least energetic of our readers should 
despair of improving himself in that 
respect. 
Foster, in his Essay ‘ On Decision 
of Character,’ has remarked “ that an 
essential principle of the character is, 
a total incapability of surrendering to 
indifference or delay the serious deter- 
minations of the mind. A strenuous 
will must accompany the conclusions 
of thought, and constantly incite the 
utmost efforts to give them a practical 
result. The intellect must be invested, 
if I may so describe it, with a glowing 
atmosphere of passion, under the in- 
fluence of which the cold dictates of 
reason take fire, and spring into active 
powers.” 
“ Reflect on the persons most re- 
markably distinguished for this quality. 
You will perceive, that instead of 
allowing themselves to sit down de- 
lighted after the labour of successful 
thinking, as if they had completed 
some great thing, they regard this 
labour but as a circumstance of pre- 
paration. They are not disposed to 
be content in a region of mere ideas 
while they ought to be advancing into 
the field of corresponding realities. 
You will therefore find them almost 
uniformly in determined pursuit of 
some object on which they fix a keen 
and steady look, never losing sight of 
it, while they follow it through the 
confused multitude of other things.” 
Now our readers who wish to im- 
prove themselves in respect of*energy 
cannot do better than reflect on the 
conduct of all the energetic people 
p 
