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About Hesperian student / (Lincoln [Neb.]) 1872-1885 | View Entire Issue (March 1, 1873)
1 IF, rr :. r nr- &, if! M 1 LIBRARY LINCOLN. NEBRASKA "!! Uimiiwitj: 'Hesperian Student. fOL a. University or JVehranhn. JVO. 0. .11.111 CII) Qui non Pfoilolt:, Doncit:. 1873. The Gcraiti of the Beautiful. Scatter the germs of the beautiful, By the wayside let them fall, That the rose may spring by the cottage gate, And the vl ic on the gordo i wall: Cover the rough and the rude of earth With a vail of leaves n'id llowors, And mark with the ope Ing bud and cup The inarch of summer hours. Scatter the genus of the beautiful 'In the holy shrlno of homo; Lot the pure, and the lair, a id the graceful tlioro, In their loveliest luster come; Leave not a trace of deformity In the temple of the heart, But gather about its hearth the gems Or Nature a..d of Art. Scatter tho germs of the beautiful In the depths of the human soul; v 'I hoy shall bud aid blosom, and boar tho fruit, While the endless ages roll'; Plant with tho flowers of charity The portals of tho tomb, And the lair and the pure about thy path In Paradlso shall bloom I Lord Ijytton. Thu world of letters lias recently been culled to mourn the death of a giant whose shadow fell broadly and grandly in almost every 'department of human tiittlight. ' Taken for till, liu was p'roWtily without a peer among the literary men of thi., or of anj otner, generation. Whatever he attempted, he accomplished: whatever lie touched, he adorned, lie was versa tile beyond approach. Ho has left his impress on poetry and history, on thu drama and the romance narrative, on translation from the ancient classics and modern poetry, on the graceful, philosoph ical essay.on politics, and on critical sehol arship. Who.liko him, lias entered so many fields, and done so well in all? His books make u library in themselves ; and a library of such general merit, that whoever possesses them all, will have a collection remarkable for variety and good taste. His translations of Schiller's Minor Poems, and of Horace's Odes, are the best ever made. His History of Alh ens, (which it is to be regretted he left un finished,) is as superb it peiceof historical writing as thorough in detail of scholar ship and as elegant in style us any among the excellent storks of the undying trag edy of Greece. Hib Last Days ot Pompeii is tho best picture of the social and do mestic life of the old world that the gen ius of the modern time has invented. His novels of society, commencing with The Cuxtons, and ending with the peices now going through Bluckvood,s Magazine, deal with life more practically, and wore effectively, than those of any other liter ary painter. Ho did not lack humor; imd he alone among English novulUts was phil osophical. In his Strange Story, ho show eel his capability to grasp with tho wierd theories that lie upon the border-land of sense and spirit. While Dickens was rep rcsentutlvo of only one department of nov el writing, naniyly, thatdelineativeof the comic or sorrowful condition's of the hum bier walks of life; while Thackeray must forever be known us n satirist ; Bulwcr has tried his hand successfully in the various romance regions of history, universal so ciety, and philosophy, i His essays from Blackwood are secure of a permanent place. Cuxtoniu will not die, but live. His dramas, too, both Com edy and Tragedy are likely to keep their footing on the stage, as they have done for years, despite all rivalry. His speeches in Parliament, and his addresses on many occasions, are about as good as reading of their kind, as those of any other recent orator and statesman. His poetry, though sometimes cloying for sweetness, is of a kind whose high quality no one disputes. And over all that he has written is that aroma of precise and missive learning, to which no imaginative rival can pretend. At the Colonial Office where Bulwcr once held sway, his colleagues assert that he was always reliable for sound advise, and a straightforward view of practical gener. alities and details. He had both grasp and judgment, and was seldom in the UTODir There is therefore good reason to think that the future will estimate Lord Lytton as the most conspicuous literary figure of the last forty years. Certainly no other one man can be compared with him in so many different departments. Not more than one or two others in each department, are worthy to be compared with him at all. He commands a place in the very front rank of every order wherein he at tempted to set his name. Not least among the sueesses and folio ities of Lord Lytton's life, was the fact that he left a son behind him not un worthy of such a father, llobert Bulwcr Lytton (Owen Meredith) held his father's head upon. his bosom, when the great spir it passed away. Owen Meredith, too, has won a place in tho ranks of literary gen ius, and bids fair to do so in that of skill ful diplomacy. as men in the mass become more high ly educated and refined, the work that Bulwcr has done, is likely to become moiv and more popular. Time, we think, will reverse some present literary estimates; and Buhver's name will be held to be that of the most gifted man ot all tho many gifted men of his time. 0. C. D. The J'alljHlimi. A review of some of the events that have transpired since the opening of the Uni versity, though still fresh in the minds of all, may not, perhaps, bo without interest. When the students had become somewhat acquainted, and settled to their studies, they began to think of foiming a literary society. With this purpose in vi3w, a meet ing was called and there the usual ques tions, of course, arose in turn: WhoV IIowV When? What? The first was the subject of some dis cussion and thu voices of the chivalrous against tho unchivulrous waxed strong and eloquent, as they demanded equal rights and equal priviligesfor botli sexes But the arguments and the eloquence were alike unnecessary, for thefew brave ladies that stepped forward and gave their numes to the secretary, silenced the guns of the enciny, and the society at once became "mixed." It is well known with what admirable success this mixture has been sustained. Thji second question How? was easi ly answered and a stirring appeal was sent to the Faculty for the desired permis sion. This petition meeting the approval of tho Faculty, tho answer to the third question was not long delayed, for tho members immediately came together to de cide the fourth What? Here, again, arose discussion and the puzzled brains of the members became more confused as name after name: "Wb stcriun,,' "Philomuthinn," "Baconian," was brought up and rejected; until the kind Goddess of Wisdom came to our aid and wo became tho "Palladium" When tliis was settled, a constitution and olllcers were wanted, in the adoption of the one and election of the others were displayed that desire for good and earnestness of purpose, for which the I'ultadiau has since been distinguished, and as our little President took his seat, the students felt confident they had laid tho foundation of a successful enterprise and were readv to begin their regular work. And the work that was done the disctissions and essays ; the things that were said, good and bad, wise and foolish, loud and low, timidly and fearlessly, would fill how many vol. umnes? Who would undertake to say? Soon, however, this regular every-day work became monotonous, more life and spirit was necessary and the members cast about for some way to remedy tho evil. Some proposed un impeachment! but thut was "squelched" at the outset, for fear we should lower ourselves in someone' estimation. Finally a Lecture Associa tion was formed, and this absorbing the attention of those joining it, the others shot off in another direction, a division of the society was at once affected, and from that time ondissentions and difficul ties were continually arising. Bui those proved, not its utter dissolution, as some would have had us believe, but rather its firmness and stubility. The time for u second election was drawing near and O ! the secret caucus es the private electioneering, the whisper, ed consultations, tho button-holes torn out! and then the election itself! I will not attempt a diocription. But who that were present at that memorable meeting will ever forget its various incidents, the intense excitement that prevailed, the sup pressed ejaculations, especially those of the gentleman from Bugville, and finally the triumph of the successful party ? Since then, similar scenes have been enacted from time to time as various ques tions have come up for discussion or elec tion time lias approached, and these, to gclher with the steady progress made by tho membors, show that tho Interest has not waned, but that the Palladian is over dear to its members. May our chosen goddess, Minerva, watcli over our society- and guide our foot-step3 into the paths of wisdom. K. Fictitious Literature. Tliis species of literature is sometimes condemned as being frivolous and un--profitable. This criticism, however,-is-narrow and unphilosophical. Tho question now arises, what is fiction ? Fiction is the narration, in a more or less pleasing and impressive way, of real or imaginary events and delineation of charl ncter by nctuul or supposed examples. Now the only difference between history and fiction, is thut when thu events and clinrncters are real, the narration is called history, when imaginary, fiction. While the historian and novelist differ in this, that tlie former finds li is material in the records of the past, the la'ter creates his in other particulars they are very much alike. Both history and novel must be cohe- rently and clearly constructed, must be presented in a manner that will seize and hold the attention of tho reader. The his- torian must accurately relate event as -they occurred, that is, lie must bo "true to fact." The novelist must relate such events, as are likely to have happened, or, In other . words, he must bo "true to art." From tho faithfully leconled and truth- . fully described events and characters of history, valuable lessons are derived as to... the consequences of certain courses of conduct and the tendencies of certain pas sions. From the imaginary events and . characters of the novel we derive precisely the same lessons, provided they are in uc cordunce nith nature which is being "true to art." If wickedness and selfishness appear re pulsive and heroism and magnanimity attractive in history, so they do in fiction. Thus it appears that the moral derived from each is equal. Since obtaining as it docs a wider circulation than almost any -other kind of literature, it should become one of the principle agents by whlcn vir tue is rendered attractive and vice odious. J. F. E. Nothing can be so perfect while wc,pos-' sess it as it will seem when remembered. The friend wc love best may nomutimes weary by his presence, or vex us by his infirmities. How sweet to think of him as he will bo to us after we have outlived him ten or a dozen years! Then we c' recall him in the best moments, bid 1. stay with us as long as we want his pany, and send him away when w- to be alone again. 0. W. ITolmen A stranger meeting a man it of New York some dujs sine uccosted him with, " Hero! I a . . il. m a TT . in rjtei in uio ircmoui xioieis" rno reply was, "Well you. be gone long." Never tL' t, -irt7 nr f.Je..i'"i-ii 'j!. ' account (u"'ttJbLuuuKfttm, "? , , ...irwB'iii UglOUs vrie MtiBsmm,"' Mm twriim.- m m'i ' ii i 'i . b. muKimm:. 'j c.udMnjr.)4Bi.i J4,. b t WC.VSA jvv ' -.- i-i w -.V? m i$ Jr i