Hesperian Student
F'Oft, 5.
University of vYchratila.
,VO. 5.
'
.,
Qui noil Xi'oilclt, lellolt.
1871
i
(For the Hesperian Student.)
IlciiryVIH.
1
lie was n mnrrleil mnn-O, very much I
And linil some trouble- with his wIvch, thoy say.
Ho was a despot, too, or something such,
Who grow more crabbed, as ho grew moro gray.
Yet never wns a mnn whose royal sway
Kuchblcsslngto the world, at largo, hns wrought:
For, every inch n kins:, lie would not piny
The role of traitor, when the tierce pope sought
To hold him down to tribute, and to keep
His kingdoms In a medlievnl sleep.
o
lie would be king, or nothing. Bless the day
That mnde him master or so brave a lamll
And let us not too many hard things sny
Of one who hustled Home with heavy hnnd.
'lhey, whom ho troubled, were a little band
A helpless few: alas! we pity them.
But all the world is debtor to the grand
Impulsive monarch, whom their words condemn;
Mnce, if bluff Hal hnd not onco nobly reigned,
In dungeon dopthu the Christ would still be
chained. O- C D.
Onirics samiicr.
The lift of Charles Sumner so notably
conspicuous and so recently ended will
be used for a long time " to point a moral"
for ambitious American youth. And it is
well that Providence raises up from time
to time great men to warm our hearts
with sentiments ot love and admiration
for their intellectual and moral nobility,
and to inflame our minds with worthy
ideas of the possibilities of our nature.
Mr. Sumner was a representative man
a statesman of a class which is now near
ly extinct. His mind was enriched and
cultured by broad and comprehensive
scholarship, all the resources of which
lie made tributary to his labors as a statesman.
He confesses that he was a great reader
of books, and in recognition of his obli
gation to public libraries, he bequeathed
his own valuable collection to the library
of his Alma Mater.
If it be claimed, as it may perhaps
justly be, that he was not an original
thinker, that he struck out no new or
great ideas electrifying and shaping the
age ; yet it must be granted that he was
master of the power to organize thought
and to clothe it in such new and attract
ive dress of rhetorical beauty as to pro-
duce the cflect or freshness and original!
ty. If he did not originate the electricity,
he knew how to forge the thunderbolt and
hurl it with the might of Olympian Jove.
His logic was impetuous and irresistible,
and like the arrow of Achates in its path
way through the sky, was itself luminous
ami left a track of light behind.
For young men the lesson is instructive
that the highest literary culture may bo
made tributary to personal advancement
and the conduct of public affairs.
When to this scholarly culture arc added
the greatest personal purity of life, ofllclal
Integrity, political conscientiousness, and
devotion to the interests of humanity, the
public life of Mr. Sumner has an impos
ing sublimity almost unparak'Hed in these
days of venality and self-sceking. For
all these high qualities ho deserves, as ho
will receive the lasting admiration of his
countrymen.
In the midst of all the encomiums lav
ished on this grand character, it may
seem inopportune and ungracious to sug
gest the possibility of any failings that
dimmed its brightness, or marred the per
fection of its beauty. "With the highest
respect for a character so scholarly, up.
right and conscientious as his, it vet
seems to me that his fame is not without
some flaws which show at least the limita
tions of every nature however noble.
The first thing, which seems to have
thrown n shade of unlovelincss on this
grand life was his inexperience of the
tempering influence of woman. The
eagle and tho lion, types of daring sagac
ity and power, live solitary and without a
mate. Like them, man cannot safely live
alone, and keep alive those amenities and
tendernesses which enrich his own nature
and endear him to others.
As an intellectual leader he was without
a peer, but as a personal leader he had no
such following as Henry Clay or even
Daniel Webstar. The personal magne
tism, and social attractiveness which he
might have gained in the companionship
of a refined woman were never possessed
by tins gifted man. It were better had
tills been otherwise.
Nor were the Intellectual perceptions
of Mr. Sumner infallible. A splendid
thcorizer, his inexorable logic sometimes
carried him to Impracticable conclusions,
to which he adhered with singular tenac
ity.
Mr. Qoldwin Smith says, America hates
England. Why this so grave a charge,
and so much to be deplored ? Uccuuse
Americans following the lead of Mr.
Sumner, were clamorous in their demands
for consequential damages in order to
crush and humiliate England by an enor
mous fine. At his instance the treaty of
settlement effected by a special envoy was
rejected by the Senate, on the ground of
inadaquate reparation. The view urged
by Mr. Sumner on theoretical and moral
grounds, was utterly scouted by the inter,
national Congress which settled the Ala.
bama claims, but had greatly embittered
the feeling of England toward this coun-
try. Even intellectual giants will some
time trip in their steps.
Hut to the devout mind, the apparent
want of religious sentiment and christian
hope, which seemed to mark his Jnst hours,
will perhaps bo a subject of bewildering
conjecture, if not ot pamiui regrei.
Friends, politics, all worldly ideas aro in
the ascendant. God, immoitality, the up.
liftings of a heavenly hope, are ignored
as the chimeras of n wayward imagina
tion. Without doubt the thoughtful mind
of this eminent man had at some time earn
estly considered these great subjects. To
think otherwise, would be to insinuate an
insensibility and folly of which ho was
not capable. Scarcely an eminent man of
the class to which ho belonged passed
away without recognizing at somo timo
the superiority of the spiritual over the
worldly, the eternal over the temporal.
As the light from beyond began to be
refracted into his earthly horizon, it
seems strange that no word of welcome
recognition should be vouchsafed to the
celestial visitant; and our hearts are bur
dened with a sense of the incompleteness
of u life so generally harmonious andl
proportionate. While, for the sake of ex
ample, w' might wish some things in the
career of this eminent statesman had been
otherwise, let us be glad that the legacy
of his pure patriotic life will be ktcema
es cii possession for us forever.
A. K. B.
The Pictures We Paint.
Before me hangs a picture a family
picture. How I love to study it! How
often have I looked upon it, gazing now
upon that father's noble brow, now on
that mother's loving countenance, tracing
the wrinkles on that aged face, catching
that brother's laughingsmlle, and pausing
to glance for a moment at that other form
which stands at his side.
"Gazing still, I forget my open book,
forget the burden of school duties, forget
myself, forget everything but the picture
on the wall. Those forms seem to speak;
I can almost hear the accents of their
voices: I feel their presence.
Fifteen years have come and gone since
1 first saw that picture, and these years
have left their impress, both upon the pic
ture and the forms there represented.
The hand of that aged- one, which I so
often felt upon my head accompanied by
her kind benediction, has long been fold
ed over a pulseless heart. Time has left
his silvery foot-prints upon the heads of
that father and mother. Those brothers
have grown almost to manhood.
But the picture itself grows dim it
fades. A few years more and those lea
lures can no longer be traced. Would
that I could repaint it ere it fades away.
But alasl if I could, my picture too
would perish. The fairest picture fades;
the chiseled marble, instinct with life,
crumbles.; proud cities are swept away
all is forgotten.
But through the darkness a light gleams.
Over the silence comes a voice, assuring
us that though one's works may perish,
though the hand cease to work out cun
ning devices, the eye to send out light
and tho voico, music, the mind that mov-
cd all, controlled all, will live through
all changes.
To us is delegated a noble work. We
all have pictures to paint. We aro all ar
tists, who paint not for tfnc but for cermty.
Our canvas is not some perishing fabric
of mans manufacture, but tlte Imperisha
ble tablet of the soul. Our every act, ev
ery word, every thought, every Impulse
adds a new touch to some picture. Our
works will determine our painting.
0 tho joy that wo may work! God
works. The glittering worlds that bend
above us are his creation. He created
both tho great and the small. Tho proud
ocean, rocking and roaring in tho blast,
the silver stream winding its path across
tho grassy plain or tho mossy hillside, the
giant oak of the forest and the tiny flow-
or of the Held, the insect sporting in tho
sunshine, all speak the praises of tho
Great Maker, and man, God's crowning
work, is full of Him. All things tell of
IGod and of his unceasing labor; and as
we glory In life let us rejoice that we have
been gifted with that precious boon of
labor, that we were not doomed, like the
tree of the forest, only to live and grow,
but that a work glowing with immortali
ty has been assigned to us weak creatures.
But let us paint carefully. The colors
which we use to tint our pictures with
are unfading. Yea! every touch we make
is indelible. Alas! how many are paint
ing things hideous to behold where God
designed there should be bright pictures.
The landscape artist soon learns that
his picture is not complete when he has
painted the hills, the forests and tho
streams. He must represent the sky, the
little clouds, the sunlight. How many of
those who paint for eternity, in their am.
bition to leave the world a great picture,
content themselves with painting nioun.
tains and oceans. In their lives they
overlook those little deeds of kindness,
gentle words, acts of mercy and love,
without which their pictures lack beauty.
Our treasures, our graces were not com
milled to us to be selfishly hoarded. How
many there are with richly gifted minds
who leave no legacy of good deeds, no
bright picture to an admiring, expectant,
world! No hearts are made better by
their influence, no minds richer by the
precious '' seed-thoughts" they scatter.
The heart is full of generous impulses,
high resolves, but they arc not quickened
into action; their lives arc sot to sweet
music, but send forth no melody.
Oh ye gifted ones! Oh ye whose lots
have fallen in pleasant places! like the
sweet sunlight let your influence be felt
in the dark places of the earth; let sad
hearts be gladdened by the brightness of
your spirit, until from faces grow n old In
sorrow, and eyes dimmed with shadows,
light shall leap forth. If you are richly
endowed with intellect, turn not scornful,
ly away from the babes in knowledge.
Cultivate your powers. Drink deeply
from the never failing fountain, but turn
not away others, as If for you alone flow
ed the bright waters.
If God has given you beauty, look not
disdainfully upon him whoso soul looks
out through a marred visage; whoso eye
lacks luster and whose cheek is pale. Tho
soul enshrined within may be purer than
your own. The prince of Morocco gain
ed not what he sought when ho chose tho
golden casket. He who chose tho silver
casket was also disappointed. The wish
ed for prize was for Bassanio, who spurn
ed that " gaudy gold" and that " pale and
common drudge" and chose tho " meagre
lead." Beauty of form and feature will
fade, but beauty of heart will shine on,
making lovely tho plainest visage.
If you have been gifted with friends
and an attractive home, forget not in your,
selfish joy those who have no homo.
Take to your hearts and homes tho wan
dcrcr, that tho sorrowing may, for a little
n
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