Democratic Sentinel, Volume 6, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 March 1882 — Acquisitiveness. [ARTICLE]

Acquisitiveness.

In the introduction to his pamphlet on “How to Grow Rich,” Dr. Bland gives the following definition and analysis of this organ : “ The faculty of acquisitiveness is common to brute and man. It is not an intellectual faculty, but a selfish instinct. Its office is to desire, covet, long for, grasp, appropriate anything, everything that can in any way minister to the physical nature. It is a legitimate organ, whose functions are necessary to the continued existence alike of the insect,, the animal and the human being. It is devoid of moral sense, as well as intellectual perception, hence it has no recognition of the rights of property, nor any knowledge of how to get what it desires, nor yet any idea of the re’ative value of things. It is simply the instinct of acquisitiveness. It is the controlling faculty in each. The insect aud the brute having no other than a sensuous existence, their wants are limited to food and shelter. Man, while allied to the animal kingdom, on the sensuous plane, is lifted infinitely above it by the fact of his being endowed with reason, and crowned with moral sense and spiritual aspirations. By means of his superior intellect, man is able to subjugate the earth and all its forces, compelling it to yield its fruits sud treasures in rich and varied abundance to supply his needs and gratify his desires. Through the guidiDg wisdom of his moral faculties he recognizes the brotherhood of man and the equality of the race, the foundation of the principles of justice. ” Accepting these propositions as correct, it is clear that the-man whose life is spent in the service of acquisitiveness is simply an intellectual brute. —Phrenological Journal.