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About Hesperian student / (Lincoln [Neb.]) 1872-1885 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 1874)
Hesperian Student. VOL, tt. UnlvcvHlIu or JTcbraHka. NO 10. NOVUWHM" tjnl non EroJloll',Toftolt. 1874. IMI Hcmch for Worth. Mon, Uko coin, have u value, which do poiuls mainly upon their own diligence. Honcu till uro searchers, and It mutters not whether in a stone quarry, in the coal pit, along the sea shore, hunting quart, upon the mountain side, gold in the gulches or gems upon the diamond Hold, their worth, I Bay, depends upon the num ber of pearls (hey gather. Hut heavy and unfruitful would our lives be, if these re deeming qualities did not exist among us, for all that gives us an idea of our future are those truths we pick up hero and there and deposit with our enlarging treasure. Although these are the llrst elements of holiness, we often neglect to search for them, because it does not conform to our indolent dispositions; for the brightest gems are sometimes covered by rubbish or huge unwieldy stones, the liner metals combined with the baser class, and that which is pure has tho exact color of its counterfeit. Do you ask Is money made of brass, or will n man pass adollar though it lies in the road V Ah 1 you have reach, cd tho very principle in question. It is tho perception of an imitation that makes the real article valuable, or it is brushing aside the dust that makes a coin brighter. It is the diligent search, after all, Unit gives to objects their value, that lends life its virtues and eternity its happiness. Hence it fortifies our integri ty, as it becomes our interest financially, intellectually, earthly and heavenly, to apply ourselves with unfailing fidolity, and guide ourselves with a well cultivated judgment. Tho gold miuer is a searcher for worth. Ho strives to excel in a worldly sense, and hence bends every circumstance which he controls toward that leading idea. Hy so running his ditches ho gathers the wa ter from the mountain side and turns it hundreds of feet above him, thence down through pipes, ho gains a power at tho nozzle of tho hydraulic by which he can easily remove the debris thai for ages has slept upon those precious grains which ho so often longs to handle. This saturated rubbish now hurries through his sluice boxes in tho bottoms of which he has placed mercury to attract whatever line particles that, by the great power ho has created, may have been forced away from his clean washed bed rock. If the pic ture could oniy bo painted more brightly, until you could see tho otllee ot every ditch, or flume, or reservoir; until you could see a rull-sized man standing in some mountai". gulch, with verdant hills on either side and far beyond those, rank, lug as godly men before their congrega tions, bald with bhow yet pointing heav enward. If you could only hear tho roar of tho hydraulic, grim and booming as a distant cataract; if you could see that powerful stream dash against tho bank, in which tho treasures are hidden, madly robbing it of its golden bed, and now hurrying It away through tho mountain pass; then you might gain an idea or th3 principle which must bo used in tho ac quisition of real, genuine worth. Here tho diligent miner works from day today, not fearing tho dirt, the water, or the tot terlng bank above him. Hero, whore so ciety has never left a fooUprlut,ho searches for that which will give him a high world ly standing. Tho student is also a searcher for worth, and to be a real student, ho must careful ly employ those instruments which kind ly nature has placed low within his reach. With those powers, which are given as freely as the waters from the melting snows, lie must bore steadily against the hill of science. And thus, he may forget the graceful bows of society as ho daily picks up those- thoughts which, by the in strumentality of the mind, he has washed clean and golden. As he is trained to the harmony of thought and stands upon tho gray, old bed-rock of principle, that was woven in creation, his step may lose its softness on the tloor of a drawing room, or his ear grow deaf to the more weari some and artful tones from the touch of a pianoforte. So, when acquiring worth, whatever the channel or motive, let the seeker remem ber, to start with nis own natural gifts, then strengthen these powers by diligence and discretion, until he can overcome ov ry obstacle that may attempt to thwart his Intentions; to bond forward in one direc tion, having liis eye on some diamond of no mean proportions; to bo within him self a principle of force and judgement; to possess an attraction for merit, at tiio same time yielding not to the desires of tho worthless. F. M. L. Shukcspouro, and the Authen ticity of his Works. In entering upon this subject, surely wo arc wandering into a boundless expanse of intellectual fertility. "Wo doubt not but that this particular ago has been pro ductivo of more literary value than tho remaining ages combined. It is the con tro around which every branch of litera ture revolves, and towards which all con verge. Indeed, who can give to those brilliant luminaries u detailed account of their lives, habits, and, above all, their writings, without heaping volume upon volume, of almost immeasurable length, on their elegance, conciseness and purity of language. From the age of Augustus to that of Elizabeth, the world of literature anil morality was one dark, blank chaos, al most devoid of anything bearing a rcsom bianco to humanity.' Far down in that yawning chasm of nil man degradation was been, for a timo, the morning star of modern literature strug gling desporatch against tho powerful odds of Wickedness and Ignorance. Dante, in whom were found tho last faint traces of ancient nobleness ami tho first strong outlines of modern genius, loomed up against tho horizon with dazzling splendor, for a brief space of time, aud then disappeared, leaving tho world.which he had so completely revolutionized from tho ancient to tho modern, works that pic lure vividly to our minds tho admiration of his mighty erudition. But soon, too noon, he was forgotten in those succeeding centuries in which nothing transpired but the lowest villainies, and no one lived ex cept persecutors and their innocent yet ignorant victims. During this carnival of crime and misery, while tho blood crested dagger of Roman Catholicism was held aloft in open defiance to retribu tive justice, when kings could only make the sign of the cross in confirmation of their charters, when human reason was cried down by tho point of tho stilletto, and when the blood of innocent victims was demanded to atone for the abomina ble llendishness of assumed Christianity. Shakespeare, with his strong array of contemporaries, burst upon the scene, armeJ with those superhuman powers, God's best gift to man, talent and origin ality, and succeeded in dispelling to a great extent tho horrid consequences of Bigotry and Superstition. At the head of this brilliant list of dramatists, yea, of all tho poets living or dead, stands Shakespeare, tho invincible army of poots, essayists, and historians in himself. He was born at Stratford-upon-Avon, in tho year 1504, of humble parentage, in u " small but venerable dwelling which will ever be sacredly guarded as tho shrine of England's great est glory !" Mr. Southey makes tho as sumption that, " Fame indeed is of slow growth. Like tho Hebrew language, it has no present tense. Popularity has no future one." To say that popularity has no future tonso, which, if it moans any thing, implies that it cannot protract its existence, is treating an inoffensive word with too much contumely. Shakespeare was popular in his own day, and will con tinuo to bo popular, we venture to say, in spito of this rule laid down by Mr. Southey, who seems to have entered upon this par ticular point with almost literary insanity. "Who whote Siiakespkauk?" is tho question that has been going its rounds in most of our periodicals. Hcally, it seems as though somebody was (jetting con cerned about tho matter. It is undoubted ly true, that a great sensation has been tried; but, alas! how wo fully has It fail ed! A few literary "hacks" have been slinging broadcast their vile bombast, trying to make themselves notorious uy sweeping laurels from Shakespeare's brow, and adding precious diadems to the head of Lord Verulam. They doubt the au thenliclty of his writings: or, in other words, claim that Bacon was tho uuthor of those majestic workb; and that he pass ed them oil' on an actor " for fear of com promising his professional prospects and philosophic gravity." Hut tho very fact that there aro so many theories in regard to it, if nothing else, is enough to upset their fanatical jealousies and absurd ideas respecting his monument of modern lit eraturo. Then why is it, that these here tics(T) wish to place odium upon tho grandest name of all timo? Why is it, that they doubt his splendid genius, and deslro to give Lord Verulam tho credit of something that his mind, (great as It may have been), could not accomplish? Is it not because thoy cannot concoivo tho idea of "measuring swords" with so powerful an antagonist, and becauso there is not tho faintest trace of rivalry perceptible Y Lit tle do these identical individuals think that they aro the ones, who, from day to day, copy some idea and pilfer (?) some particular stylo that has been traced out by their ancestors, to whom they cannot comparcl Upon examination of tho works of Shakespeare and Lord Bacon, It will bo found that there Is not the slightest resem blance. Shakespeare's personages walk and breathe, and in them wo procoivo tho passions so common to all men. His lan guage is simple, sweet, and flowing, ever undulating in the change of characters, as tho ripples upon tho silent bosom of the silvery lake, or, making melody as tho tiny rivulet that leaps laughingly along over its pebbly bottom, murmuring ever its lully-bye song, that soothes tho troubl ed spirit of tho woaiy wanderer, unbur dens his ovcr-iaden mind, and gently raises it, on gossamer wings, to a higher and nobler sphere of thought. Ever and anon ho bursts forth in fierce passion that is soon subdued by tho unrivaled gran dour of his oratory, which swells forth with all tho majesty of huge billows that roll mountain high iu mid-ocean, and lap the golden edges of tho murky cloud that conceals within its treacherous bosom tho muttering thunder and tho wiord, fantas tic lightnings. The philosophical researches of Lord Bacon form a vast sea of study, upon which tho youthful voyager can find but little pleasure, and upon which the most learned cannot smoothly sail. Thoy roll along with their profound logic and deep reasonings, in a kind of nevcrending, high-toned monotony, that carries beforo it tho unbounded admiration of all philo sophical geniuses and tho natural aversion of the mass of mankind. Thoy show us what must have been the extreme depth of his great erudition, and portray to us what a mighty contrast those "far fetched" thoughts, labored8entonccs,and his classic style, mingled with beauty and rcgulari ty, form with that tree and easy stylo, with words and thoughts of our every day lite. W. II. N. SoKNii: A department of the Lincoln Graded School . ( Tiuoiikii: (Miss , a former student- of tho University, interrogating a class of diminutive boys in history, etc. Topic railways.) Aud now, children, who invented railways ? Fimst Hoy: (vociferously) Geo. 8tevcnr son! (. Second Boy: (innocently) Say, teacher, was he tho same Stevenson, that Universi ty chap, who used to beau you around 'ast winter? Teacher suddenly begins to talk about that good little boy, G. Washington, as a safer topic, and boy No. 2 loses his recosaV J ft ! m u iV J M tf -1 n i !! !l !l! h li !1! I?
