OPERATIONS OF THE MINT.

The following statement shows the oporations of the United States Mint at Philadelphia, for June 1851:

Interest on Loans, Pensions, &c ... 14,497 63

487,317 72

June 30-Balance....

Gold bullion deposited for coinage from 1st to 30th June, 1851,

inclusive:

$1,404,685 98

A large surplus of Gold Dollars and Quarter Eagles, beyond the

demands of the depositors, still remain in the Treasury.

COMMENCEMENT OF THE PACIFIC RAILROAD.

The ceremony of breaking ground on this work was performed on the south side of Chouteau's Pond, near the city limits, on the Fourth inst. The day was beautiful, and wisely was it chosen by the Directors; for it was well to celebrate the glorious deeds of the past by the commencement of a great enterprise calculated to extend and perpetuate the political and civil institutions established by the wisdom and valor of our fore-fathers.

Our citizens attended the celebration in large numbers. An able address was delivered by the President, Thomas Allen; a beautiful prologue, written for the occasion by A. S. Mitchell, Esq., was delivered in fine style by J. M. Field; and the Hon. Edward Bates delighted the assembled multitude by one of his happiest efforts. The ceremony of breaking ground was performed by the Hon. L. M. Kennett, Mayor of the city of St. Louis.

We learn that the section of the road from St. Louis to the mouth of the Bourbeuse-about forty miles in length-has been put under contract at about $1000 per mile less than the estimates of the Engineer.

Missouri may now be regarded as having actually entered upon a system of public improvements which, if prosecuted with wisdom, will in due time place her first on the list of American States. Much has been said and written, at home and abroad, respecting the want of public spirit on the part of our citizens: and hence it is proper to remark that the character of our people and physical condition of our State is not generally understood. No enterprise upon a small scale can be of any important advantage to the State of Missouri, because the principal settlements and commercial towns are all on or near navigable rivers; and hence, in projecting a system of improvements, we could only look to the future settlement of the country to sustain them. In view of these facts, none but bold and enterprising spirits could be induced to invest capital in the construction of public works.

All things considered, the commencement of the Pacific Railway may be regarded as one of the boldest undertakings of the present day; and denotes a degree of wisdom and public spirit on the part of our citizens, creditable alike to themselves and to the State. It was natural that, while looking forward to the commencement of a great system, different opinions should be entertained in respect to location, irrespective of the cost of constructing the work on different routes; and we can well appreciate the difficulties, which the directory must have experienced in making a selection. We have looked to their decision on this point with no ordinary degree of interest, and are gratified they have, so far as the location has been certainly made, fixed on the route which we have al

ways regarded as best calculated to promote the great objects of the enterprise.

This is in fact the commencement of a railway to the Pacific ocean and the route through Missouri should deviate as little from the direction of the entire line as the interest of our own State will admit of. But while building the main stem of the Pacific railway, we should aim to lay the foundation of a system for South Missouri, extending into Arkansas, Texas, and the rich country west of our State boundary; and, if practicable, to connect the line with the Missouri where it may unite with a system north of that river. The Maramec route to Jefferson city would seem to subserve all these objects. And, should that line be adopted, and the North Missouri railroad not be made, it is at least probable that in time the trade of a large portion of North Missouri will pass over that part of the Pacific Railroad, east of Jefferson city.

We had intended to give copious extracts from the very able and lucid report of the chief Engineer, James P. Kirkwood, Esq., but owing to the arrangement of other matter, we are compelled to defer doing so at present. We have examined the report throughout its details and regard it as decidedly honorable to the talent and professional skill of its author.

REMARKS ON THE HUMAN MIND.

BY EDWARD STAGG.

WHAT is mind? We turn to the lexicon, and find there that the word is defined as the intelligent, or intellectual, faculty in man. But we have only the definition of the word. The question then naturally pursues us, and demands, What is that intelligent, or intellectual faculty? Or, rather, what is its nature? And here we must face the query boldly, and admit we cannot resolve it. All that we know about mind, is from its manifestations; from those operations of it which we experience by our senses. Of its essence, or nature, we are as entirely ignorant, as we are of that of God himself. And when we reflect, that we are ignorant of the essence of matter; that even our own bodies, when endeavoring to comprehend their nature, are silent to our investigations, we may not hope to know what is that immaterial being within us. We must content ourselves, therefore, with what the Bible tells us of its creation. That Book says of the first man: God "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul." Simultaneously, then, with animal life, we perceive, came the existence of the Spirit; and these together constituted the perfect

man.

Now, that matter and spirit are distinct essences, is evident from the fact, that material man, made "of the dust of the ground," was formed and fashioned before he was endowed with a soul. Had body and soul been one and the same essence, both would have evolved together from the same substance. But, we find a tenement first made, and ready for its occupant; and then was placed in it, by the breath of Omnipotence, a "living soul." Before this creative breath entered into man's nostrils, he was as useless, for all the purposes of existence, as were those dry bones in the valley of vision, ere they resumed their garments of flesh, and lived again.

It will be observed, that we are using the words mind and soul synonymously. We do so, because we think of mind and soul, and have ever thought of them, as one and the same created intelligence. The same faculties are possessed by both. The mind thinks, feels, acts, expands. It is said of the soul, that, in the eternal existence, she will think, and feel, and act, and expand. By the mind we learn so much of the great Uncreated as He has been pleased to reveal of Himself. And it will be by the soul, that, in another life, we shall "know Him even as we are known.”

Shall we go back two thousand years, and ask Plato about the nature of the mind? He will talk to us of a separate and distinct entity, and take us through a metaphysical speculation, which shall lead us-nowhere. No, we need not ask Plato, nor yet his preceptor, Socrates, of the nature of the mind. For, all which that school of philosophy can tell us of the subject, resolves itself into this, that ideas are the only objects about which we can reason demonstratively. Hence, as we can have no idea of the nature of mind, philosophy of course admits that reason cannot comprehend the volitive principle within us. Ancient philosophy could reason about the faculties of mind, as well as about the attributes of man's person; and modern philosophy can do likewise. But, more than this, ancient philosophy could not do,-no more than this, can modern.

Where is the mind? Its throne is in the brain. And this leads us to speak of the brain, as connected with the operations of the mind.

The brain acts as the organ of the immaterial principle; and, strange as it may seem, affects that principle, according as the brain is in a healthy, or a diseased state. The connection between them presents an insolvable mystery; but, that such connection subsists, mental phenomena have abundantly demonstrated. It was Gall who first drew attention to these phenomena, as proving that mysterious connection. And, notwithstanding we cannot but smile at the absurd claims for Phrenology, set up by some of its more modern expounders, we must admit that the system of Gall has done much for the meleoration of mankind, making appreciable the fact of a connection between the mind and the brain.

Let us look at a few of the phenomena alluded to.

Persons with their mental faculties in full vigor, have, from some casualty, or from the murderous designs of an enemy, been knocked down by a blow on the head. Insensibility has been the immediate effect; the mind has lost its consciousness; all its faculties have become suspended. If the wound be not internal-that is, if the brain have received no injury-restoration to consciousness may soon take place. But if there have been a fracture, or compression of the skull, so that the brain suffers violence, then it will be found, in most cases, that a deficiency of some one or more of the mental faculties will continue until the injury done the brain shall have been repaired.

What strikes us more particularly with wonder, and renders the action of the material on the immaterial, if possible, still more inexplicable, is the fact that, from outward violence on the head, a faculty-memory, for example-may become only partially impaired. That is to say, we may forget entirely names, or dates, or events; or a language with which we were before familiar; while, respecting everything else memory is faithful to its trust. The following, illustrative of this, we find, among other instances, in Dr. Brigham's work on the Brain:

"Dr. Beattie," says Brigham, "mentions the case of a learned man, who, after a blow on the head, forgot all his Greek, a language he was well versed in before the injury. His mind and memory were not affected in any other respect."

Here is a case opposite to that. Says Dr. Brigham again, “Dr. Connally relates the case of a young clergyman whose head was severely injured a few days before that on which he was to be married. He recovered as to health, and lived to the age of 80 years. From the time of the injury, his understanding was permanently deranged, though he retained the recollection of his approaching marriage, and talked of nothing else during his life."

A diseased body, when no external injury has been sustained, often affects the mind to its hurt. Gloominess; eccentricity; or insanity, in some of its protean forms, is frequently a consequence of an unhealthy condition of our animal nature. Dyspepsia is a common cause of gloominess, or melancholy. Fevers often induce temporary derangement of the mind, and sometimes leave the intellect debilitated; having robbed it almost entirely of memory, and otherwise despoiled it of its wonted health and vigor.

The remarks already made concerning the partial impairment of memory, from external violence, will apply equally well to disease, or derangement of the functions of the body.

On the other hand, mind is sometimes a cause of great hurt to matter. Grief, for example, which can be appreciated only by mind, induces a waste of the body, which, not unfrequently, results in dissolution. Joy, also, will excite the nervous system in a degree corresponding with its intensity. And so it may be said of