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(For the Hesperian Student.)
Platonic Love.
A COMMON MAN'S UN'l'IIII.USOrillU VIEW.
1
Mtatur Taylor had a woman!
lint a bitter pill
Mister Tnylor had to swallow,
For another chap would follow
Mrs. Taylor; ami hie iinmo win Stuart Mill,
o
Mill nml Mrs. Taylor studied
Hooks and thing: together,
And thoy rode, and walked, and wandered,
Uoosy-goosod and goosy-gandered
I.Ike two birds of tentlmental reuther.
:j
And when Taylor grew suspicious,
When ho wept and prayed,
When lie talked about hlri children
To thulr mother, unite bewlldor'ln
Was the philosophic answer thatsho made.
1
For, sho said, 'twas all plulonlc
What she did wlih Mill;
That she nuvcr sighed, nor tluttered,
Nor a word of fondness uttered;
And was much surprised that Taylor took It 111.
5
Mill, too, said It was platonlc
All thi' rides ami walks;
All the partings mid the meetings;
All the long niui late secretlngs
Cher books; nud nil the touches ami the tilks.
(i
Hut, at length, when years had finished
Thus, their sad delay.
When the scoldings- met by reasons,
And the hair-transparent treasons
Had their course, tho soul of Taylor passed
away.
i
Then the pair of love plntoulu
tfnw each other's charms
For tho.rtivrt time felt the passion
That with cointnon folks I fashion,
And they rushed Into each other's open arms.
8
All their scho.dlng could not hinder!
All philosophy
Had not weaned thu sexual longing
From the ends thereto belonging.
Any more than In the people that we see.
II
What' d'ye think J Is love platoulo
bo unlike the rest?
Have you never known a woman
Fly so high, and be o human,
As at last to full, and soil her tender breast?
10
Have you'noer known a fellow,
Full or pith and plan,
To bo hankerlng-for and teasing,
To bo fol, owing and pleasing
Any pretty wife, or any other man?
11
May bo not! but I have! Truly,
Many n time ami oft,
1 have roll the world Is rotten,
And some things are glv'n and gotten,
That, a husband to endure, la rather cult.
12
Passive lovo Is not tho purpose
Or a sexual life!
If a Mill be eometlmus proper,
Docc n woman alwoys stop her
GusUot fooling? What nbout thO'Taylor wlfo?
13
What about that fragile woman
oraralthloHSWlll?
What was she forever dreaming
Or hor lover? Was sho scheming
I II . 1 . , 1 , I 1 1... 1-l.wl In VIII
MOW lO bllUUl uur IIUBUIIU'I UHU vv iiihu v ....
14
Huroly sho who slyly wandora
Must bo rain to please!
Likewise, ho who follows, longing,
Heeds not whom his net Is wronging
Any more'u n rat that nibbles at a cheese.
10
So, I say, ir Mister Taylor
Had been bettor bred,
He had ucted llko a human,
Ho had put his away woman,
Or had broke the ardent Mill's intrusive head.
O. C. Dake.
In the necrology of the past year no
name is more illustrious than that of
Agassi. His is a fame cherished on two
continents as the heritage of both. Ho
was peculiarly cosmopolitan, hike sci
ence, to which he consecrated his being,
lie could belong exclusively to no one
country. Hence his death has touched
with unstmulated sorrow the hearts of
men, wherever science has sped on her
mission of human culture and progress.
For students, therefore, it is especially tit
ting to commemorate the excellencies of
this colossal genius, who lias done so
much to glorify the olllcc of the teacher
and to illustrate the methods of the true
scholar.
In his physical and mental endowments
he was peculiarly fortunate. Sprung from
a French Swiss ancestry, he inherited a
tough elastic frame, with such a tempera
ment and qualities of mind as made him
facile J) ) among the intellectual
giants of his time. Added to the splen
dor of his natural gifts, he had acquired
those pleasing graces of manner, which
made him irresistibly attractive. These
qualities admirably lilted htm for the her
culean labors in science Mint he was to un
dergo, and for swaying the hearts of men
whose aid and cooperation he would need.
That he was able to accomplish so much
was due largely to his grand vital force,
which smoothed away all obstacles.
With this splendid temperament of vivac
ity and intellectual strength it was neces
sary to htm to do original, as an lnvesti
gator he could not yield his mind to the
guidance of others. His impulse was to
strike out into new and untried paths. To
see for himself and to see things as thoy
are in their order and relations was a ne
cessity of liis nature. This tendency gave
to hi& life a profound reality and an inten
sity of conviction that rarely falls to the
lot of any one. As an instructor also ho
had a profound contempt for mere text
book instruction. Such second hand dilu
tions fell M) much below his ideal of all
correct instruction that he advised hlsstu
dents to leave their books behind, when
thoy would come to his school at Poni
kese. Like tho celebrated John Hunter,
whoso researches in physiological science
were marvelous, when asked where was
his library, replied, pointing to his dissec
tions, "these are my library," so Agassiz
could say, pointing to fish, insect and bird,
those tiro my library.
His life was also characterized by al
most preternatural intensity, It is praise
worthy to think and act with intensity,
but when prolonged ut the expense of a
shortened life, and unaccomplished work
it cannot bo justified or commended for
imitation. The breaking down of his
splendid physical power, when only
slightly past the climacteric of life, is
proof of lii.sunllagglng intensity of work.
Men of this temperament seem to bo un
dor the spell of an irreslstable destiny,
driven by some unseen force akin to the
mythic Fate. Thoy do, because thoy must
do.
The intensity of his conviction did not
however make him one sided or incapable
of careful discrimination. Because lie
posessed this nice balance of mind, lie
was free from tho fanauicism of science
which insists on protoplasmic theories,
and Darwinian derivations for the human
race to bo already as good as proved.
Science is certitude, and all beyond is be
yond the domain of positive knowledge
and belongs to the realm of beliefs. Ag
assi, happily escaped those hasty and
unsound generalizations, which If thoy
have made others famous, it is by bold
hypotheses that cannot be verified and by
specious theories incapable of proof.
The ideal of his life was of a lofty kind.
In this utilitarian and gainful age it is sim
ply marvelous. Few things, I judge, have
attracted to him more the American heart
than his entire self-forgetfulness and dis
interestedness in tho pursuit of his favor
ite studios. Carried away by his contag
ious enthusiasm, men of wealtli pour out
their money to aid him, anil the whole
Commonwealth rally to second him in his
firm in the faith of a personal God the cre
ator and giver of every good gift. Nor
perchance is it loo much to say, that his
latest intellectual work on earth was un
dertaken no less to defend the integrity of
this theological truth than in the interest
of scientific truth.
His life in its varied aspects is rich in
instruction to all, but to none more than
to the scolar, and teacher, on both of whoso
labors, his example has shed an Imperish
able lustre. A. R. 13.
scientific .investigations. For the sake of
science, and science for her own sake, uy
pensive expeditions, to foreign 1'ands are
fitted out, that nothing may be wanting to
this disinterested worker. He draws all
men to his side, by his heroism in the
caus.o of science, and by keeping true to
his noble ideal of work. To him u life was
more than moat., the body more than raiment.-
He never yielded to the tempta
tion to oiler his intellectual gifts in the
market-place. Here is a man who has no
price; who has no time to make money.
Tho reverence of this gifted man is as
noticeable as his intellectual force. None
of us will soon forget that beautiful sim
plicity of worship which inaugurated the
work at Penlkese, when all following his
example bowed their heads in silent pray
er to that Eternal Power whoso works they
had met to explore. Like Newton and Un
coil he recognized the Divine hand and
mind in all the works of nature, and to
him was given " to understand mysteries
that had been kept hid from the foundation
of the world."
Tills profound roverenco for God made
him the strenuous opposer of Darwinism.
Nearly forty years ago ho wrote, when de
veloping a new system of classification of
fishes, " Have we not here an immense
mind, as powerful as prolific; tho acts of
an intelligence- as sublime as provident;
tho marks of goodness as infinite as wise ;
the most palpable demonstration of the ex
istence of a personal God, the author of all
tilings, ruler of the Universe and dispen
ser of all good ? This at least is what I
read in tho works of cation." It is re
freshing in tills ago of tumultuous opin
ions and tendencies to Atheinn to find this
eminent devotee of science, so hearty and
Nervous Impressions.
The chief difference between the ani
mal and vegetable organization is the
nervous system, which isx tho crowning
element of creation. The perfection of
which, in any being places that creature
at the very head of the race. This is the
key that unlocks the door that opens into
mo tonipio 01 mnui ami thought. This,
the finishing stroke of that Artist who
said, " I have created lniin in mine own
image." This last touch from the finger
of God has made man capable of receiv
ing instruction, cultivation, and given to
him the power of imparting the sumo to
his fellows. It is through impressions
upon the nervous system that mind is
formed ; for the minds of men are nothing
more Mian the powers by which the com
pare the difibrent impressions made upon
tho nervous system.
The minds of brutes are very imperfect;
because their nervous organizations aro
also imperfect. A man, if you can im
agine such a creature, who has always
been blind, deaf, dumb, and lost to tho
senses of touch and smell, can have no
mind. He is void of reason, judgment,
and every quality that makes man,
man or mind, mind. A child that has
never received an impression from exter
nal nature, has no mind a perfect clam
and in proportion as its nervous .system
is -more perfect, and the number of im
pressions created, so will its mind be
strengthened. Some children haw bolter
developed brain than others, and aro at
ways more intelligent. But the brain is.
the center of the nervous system, and of
course, then, their nervous systems aro
more perfect.
A groat and beautiful principle, bespeak
ing at once the wisdom ajid power of
the Creator, is that no two minds are
alike and consequently no two spirits are
alike. Because no two men have the ner
vous system perfected to the same degree,
and no two men have ever received the
same impressions throughout life. Thus,
evil men subject themselves to evil im
pressions and good men aro directed by
those of the opposite character; and as the
impressions upon tho nervous systems of
good men are purer, their minds are pur
or and their spirits are purer also.
Nature takes many and varied steps be
fore she grasps perfection ; and though all
those steps, in like species, have tho s'amo
ofllce, yet they are as vastly diftercht'is
tho creatures thoy form.
Jinn in some respects, I mean in respect
to the changes and steps toward porfec