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About The Hesperian / (Lincoln, Neb.) 1885-1899 | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1892)
THE HESPERIAN. tf that even the presidency may serve as an entrance to a subor dinate carreer still greater. He was the first to teach the house of representatives what to fear from the earnest, enthu siastic work of an ahle opponent, the first to teach the north that their cause was not hopeless, and the people of this nation that the forces of slavery were not invincible. His success was not an accident. It was the result of bravery, of devotion to duty, and of fidelity to the highest sense of honor. With his triumph, liberty of speech was established as the law of Amer ica. The right to petition remained universal. Literary Notes. Great Pritain possesses only 200 public libraries. Miss Harriet Monroe is writing the ode for the world's fair. A cheap edition of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" is to be thrown upon the market, The new Chicago magazine, u-iiir, will urge the Paeon inn authorship of Shakcspeavc. A "History of Hanking in the United States" will soon be published by the widow of the late John Jay Knox. 'Montezuma's Daughter," by Rider Haggard, will soon appear in this country. It will be remembered that the book was favorably received in England last summer. William T. Adams, commonly known as Oliver Optic, has written fifteen series of books, eighty-nine volumes in all. These stories have always been well received by the youthful reader. The late Lord l.ytton is said to have been very careless in regard to his personal attire, just the opposite of his father it seems. Mr. Spurgeon's magazine, The Sword and Trowel, will henceforl be conducted by the celebrated preacher's private secretaries, Messrs. Keys and Ilarrold. "Studies in Chaucer," by Professor T. R. I.ounsbury, of Yale college, is one of the latest works of its class. The book is dedicated to Professor Francis J. Child of Harvard. Pen Puller has erected quite a stir in trade circles by claiming that n man who buys a book sold only by subscrip tion, has by that act pledged himself to keep it; that is, the purchaser is no', free either to sell it or give it away. The family bible which belonged to George Washington's mother, and which contains the record of his parent's marriage and of his own birth, is now owned by Mrs. Lewis Washington of Charleston, West Virginia, and has been loaned for exhibi tion among the other Washington relics at Mt. Vernon. The friends of the late Arthur Goring Thomas are trying to arrange for one or more performances of "Nadeshda" in May. The proceeds will be devoted to a scholarship bearing his name, at the royal academy of music, where he was at one time a student. A bill has been introduced into congress providing for the purchase of the library of Mr. II. II. Pancroft of San Fran cisco. This gentleman has probably the largest and most valu able collection of books relating to American topics in existence. There is an effort in Germany to revive the art of statuary in gold and ivory. The first specimen, a bust, has been or dcred by the Emperor. The ivory and gold are for the most part thin plates made to fit over the real bust which is made of wood. "The Incarnation of the Son of God," by Charles Gore, is well worth careful study. Its general purpose is to restate the doctrine of incarnation and to defend the rationality of the doctrahc as well as to explain its meaning. He attempts to show the harmony between the doctrine of the incarnation and "that knowledge of nature and that historical criticism which are the special growth of our time." The style of the author is clear, and the tone of the book is devout, but the author's view of nature will provoke decided dissent with many. An American society of authors, similar to the Pritish and French societies, is about to be organized in New York city. It will labor for the extension of the copyright law, the aboli tion of letter postage on manuscripts, an amendment of the international copyright law, and the adoption, in this country, of the French laws in regard to literary property. The new school of learning will soon be an old one. One by one its originators are passing away. One of the most noted men in the branch of history was Edward Augustus Freeman, rcgius professor of modern history in the university of Oxford, lie was attacked by the dreadful disease of small pox and died suddenly on Ma ch 16, 1892, at Alicante in Spain. His histories and views are well known to students. His first work was "A History of Architecture." lie wrote also a "History of Federal Government." In this and his "History of Sicily" he demonstrates the continuity of history. His greatest work was the "Norman Conquest." He limited himself to no one branch of his study. He felt history was a reality, and, by his many comparisons of the present and past, made it such. The London News says: "In the death of Ed ward Freeman the world of sound scholarship has suffered an irreparable loss." Story of a I'rophot. Just off the coast of Washington, stands a lighthouse. For two years its lamps had been cared for by the same man. It was very lonesome for him, at first, but he became reconciled to the order of things and did the work almost mechanically. Yet, he always felt depressed when he saw the steamer which brought him provisions once" a month, stait back to the main land. For, at such times, he realized how complete was his isolation. On one trip, the steamer brought a full set of meteorlogi cal instruments with intructions that, hereafter, the light-house keeper would collect data for the weather bureau. This pleased the keeper, both because it would relieve the dreadful monotony of his work and because he might then look upon himself as a weather prophet. The next mouth passed rapidly, as he spent much time in setting up and adjusting his apparatus. Indeed, the extra work proved a pleasure, for the lighthouse stood in the path way of most of our storms, thus enabling him to witness many violent disturbances. He took a peculiar pleasure in making all possible data of the more severe storms. For he was a sci entific man and knew that the value of data depends upon its fullness and accuracy. When the stormy season was over, the weather station became of little interest and his work again grew monotonous. He was a weather prophet and, in his imagination, he saw how pleasant it would be to pose as such in a large city where he would be regarded as a mysterious and far seeing person. Thus he became dissatisfied with his lot and resolved to leave the lighthouse. After repeated trials, he succeeded in being transferred to an inland weather station. For a while everything went nicely in the new position. Having been isolated for so long, he could appreciate the advantages of society. Whenever he thought of his old light house, his conscience smote him for having wasted two years of his life in such a dismal place. But the smooth course of affairs changed, when, one Thursday, he received indications for the next day "rain, colder." He hoisted the signals and sauntered down town. Pretty soon he met a friend who asked.: "What do those mean?" wwn1q
