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About Hesperian student / (Lincoln [Neb.]) 1872-1885 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 1875)
. A fi IW . a ft i THE HESPERIAN STUDENT. :jirti'','.iAl'LiJ. Icc-tuallv, ii director of work rather than n workman. Even his modesty, when lio is nioiU'st, tends to foster Ills reliance mi others rather than himself. All that ho tries to ilo is dono so much bettor by those who make It thoir profession, that liu Is always tempted to fall back upon his pay. Ing power as his most satisfactory and of. fcetive force. II it bo dillloult forari.i man to cntur the kingdom of heaven, it Is also dlllloult for him lo so cure that freedom from inlorruptiou which Is necessary to fit him for his on. trance into the Intellectual kingdom." Tin1 above passage Is quoted from Phil ip Gilbert llnmortun's Intellectual Life ns bettor expressing our own thoughts. It is a great mistake to suppose that num. ev alone can give power to Ibe possessor. The fact is that very frequently tho man who counts his ships by Hoots and his gains by millions, but who possesses but little education and inferior mental pow er, is made tho tool and slave of stronger minds, poorer in gold but richer in men tal endowments. Behold Croesus and hi millions thus weilded for an evil purpose without himself being conscious! The man of great wealth has too many interruptions to allow him to live tho in. tcllectual life. lie must keep up his pa. geantry on all occasions. Ilo must enter tain a host of friends. lie must bo pres ent bore and there on state occasions. Ho must cater to a thousand desires and whims of which tho man of moderate means is happily ignorant. The chances nro that no time will be left for Intellcctu. nl work, and if there were, most likely, his taste therefor would be stultified. Beekford produced tho famous oriental talo "Vntehk" in his youth, writing it at one sitting occupying three days and nights. This work is an evidence of the possibilities before him in the Hold of let tors, lie lived four-scoro years, and pos sessed all the facilities which great wealth could supply, or earth and sea produce, yet ho never showed another ev idi nee of bis genius. Tho dilllculty was, he was too rich Tho author wo; have just quoted says, ol him : "He to whom the palaces of knowledge all opened their golden gates even in his earliest youth, to whom wore also given riches and length of days, for whom a thousnud craftsmen tolled in Europe and a thousand slaves beyond tho sea (stated as a fact.) what has this gifted mortal lnl'l .,,... I.. ..! Pi. J. .. mi iw ii asuiuuiv in ins power, as mo, trace of his four-scoro years upon tho! viii in r uiuy mo reminiscence oi a vague splendor, like the fast-fading recollection of a cloud that burned at sunset, and one small gem of intellectual creation that lives like a tiny star." Do you remember the story of tho Ore elan priuco whom Napoleon oonquorod and threw into prison? Ilo complained and grieved bitterly because his royal limbs were dragged with iron fetters. Napoleon, being informed of this, or dered them to bo replaced with silver manacles. When tho degenerate Greek bobcld the glittering chains upon his limbs, he wept for joy and contentedly accepted his fate. O, bow many there are like tho ignoble princoof Greece who aro willing to prescrlbo the liberty of their minds, and bind all the noblo aspir atioiiB of their souls with golden fetters in an etornal thraldom I Thousands at whoso doors Plenty alts smiling nil the year, und whoso garners burst forth with the yellow gifts of Cores aro willing to debase themselves, and blight their chll. dron's dreams with silver chains. "Anil when we hid Milieu to.voutli, Slav en In tin' npcclnUK world's control, Wit -IkIi ii loniiTiirowcIl to truth; Tlmt world corrupt tint nohluxt riiul. "Ahjoyoux hciihoiiI wlirn Dm tubal Dare all tiling Imldl.v hut to liu; Whon diouuht crc Hpoko Ik uucontliiuil, And nmrkli' In tho placid eye, '.Not m In Muu'h liitituror yunrH When Mnn hlinnolr 1h hut a tool; Whim Intfrett hwm.vh our hopun mill IViiro, And all uiuhI hm, and hate liy itiht." Perhaps If Byron had lived closer to tho dream of bin youth, and had not suf fered himself to be tarnished, and his mind cmbltterod by tho "specious world's control," he would not so boldly have af firmed that the ""World corrupts tho noblest soul." Ah, what a noble life his might have been had he earnestly willed it sol Then, foster tho dream of your early manhood or womanhood. Let it bo con slstent, practical. It should bo tho result of thought, as well as of firm conviction never of imagination. Lotyour aim be noblo and daring. Place your ideal self high up on tho eternal mountain. Surround your head with tho Aurcolo of gods. Seek virtue, seek power! A thirst for power Is the noblest passion which warms the breasts of gods or men, or martinis the forces of the Wu.i. for con. quest. But, on the other band, a burning lust for power, at any cost, is a raging do. man, a baleful deity upon wh.ise altar, how often do honor, manhood, purity and truth immolate themselves, consumed by tho lurid fires over burning there! Then gain thai power which will enable you, like the groat French Cardinal, to wield the sceptre of kings and dispose of the diadems of princes that power over self which will suller you, when duty calls, to consign the traitor to his doom, though once a friend beloved, but wlilch also can melt in tenderness and love at the cry of sullering, or tho sight of in justice to tlie weak. Such a power can make you a benefactor, a hero, a saviour to your fellows. CONCERNING SOME MINOR MATTKHS. The Country Parson justly classes as one of the Tilings Slowly Learnt, the fact that we have no right to be angry with any one for his poor opinion of us. You have written a book, perhaps. It is not much and you know it is not. But what you have dono you have done in singleness of heart and with a sincere desire to help some poor soul out of tho Slough of Despond into which you once fell. It is well rccoived, perchance, by most of the world and you have sundry little notes of sympathy and encouragement telling you of the good it has dono to " hearts bowed down with grief and care", and which you guard jealously among your dearest treasures. But, one day, there comes along some crabbed, dys peptic critic, without ono drop of the milk of human kindness, and declares your chor ished book, your one ewe lamb, to be all bosh the veriest nonsense that ever was penned and yourself to bo an unmitigated blockhead for supposing your book would bo Immortal, (a thing you never did sup poso), and winds up with tho extinguisher, that there is nothing original in it and ml vises you, if you happen to bo a woman, to attend to your knitting, or your ledger, if you nro of tho masculine gender. Now your first unrcgenorato impulso Is to get up and glvo that critic a good, sound thrashing But you rolled that (hero Is a Day or Judg. mont and concluding to leave him to his future reward, carefully review your work to see what grounds he has for his asser lions. Which is Iho wiser courser Indeed, it ought to be a matter of con. gratulation to us all that wo have enemies. A friend fears to wound, and however dis interested, does not care to lose his power over us by an Intimation that there Is any thing In us offensive or that needs correction. For it is a fact that we have a scarcely to bo concealed avcrslon.and an instlnctlvedisllko for the person who wounds our amour pro pre by showing us our faults, though he do It with tho utmost of consideration and brotherly feeling. But an enemy or a mere acquaintance has no such scruples, there fore lie is likely, if ho bo upright and con scientlous, to speak the truth from his standpoint, and though we may chafe un dor. his dissection wo have no right to be angry with him. lie, no doubt, has some foundation for his opinions. Even jf he bo prejudiced and his statements even slander, ous, It Is extremely foolish for us to get In to a passion and give him additional rea sons for his verdict. It were better rather to consider the ground of his accusations and betake ourselves to finding out what Is , wrong and trying to remedy tho evil. Thus '' extracting honey from oven the bitterest plant. It is by taking heed to the malice of his enemies rather than to the counsel of his friend that the wise man guides his conduct and reforms his errors. That prince of all squires, good Sancho Panza, gives it as his opinion, that, "Everyone is as God made him and oft times a great deal worse," and lie might with equal wit, have added, "and oftlimes a groat deal better." If there is anything for which wo, mortala, should render spe cial thaiiKs, it is that while wo aro not much in ourselves, we aro indeed some thing of which much may bo m title . Comparatively, wo aro of very little worth, but wo have within us possibilities of incomparable value. You have all ol you doubtless hoard again and again of that benighted heathen who debnted with himself whether ho should make of his block of wood, a god or t three-legged stool. Every human soul is a possibility capable of reaching the heights of tho good or the depths of the evil, capable of elevation to the best or of abasement lo tho lowest. Every human soul bus just so much force to bo expended in ono di rection or tho other; if it is dammed up at one outlet it must find another Cir cumstance, or the 'grace of God,' call it what you will, makes all the diftcrenco b.ttweon human beings. This man is a wreck because his tendencies toward evil are the strongest motives of his life. That man is a success because his will lo do right was stronger than his disposition I todowroni?. Tho nossibiliiics of both I - -"o were equal iho foundation upon which they built the siructuro of thoir lives was the same, and behold tho dlH'orencol Yet, doubtless, each buildod as best ho knew. Wherein lies tho blamo of the one the praise of tho other? You and I spend our lives choosing between two evils. If you choose more wisely than I, in just so much, is more made of you thau of mo. Yet, so lightly poised is the balance, that take away over so llttlo from your power of judging, or add over so HHlo to mine, and which is the bettor? Of which shall most bo uide? The dlf. forenco between us is of dogrco not of kind. In the end, what I hnvo achieved mny count as much as what has boon mado of you, since, porchance, I hnvo carried a weight in the race with which you, happily, have not boon ladon. Most is nindo of him, ho lives most, "who thinks most, fools tho noblest, nets tho best," that is in his power considering bis surround, ings and I lie impulses of ills nature. Not that Just as much can always bo mado of ono man as of another, but that thu indi vidual result will bo tho same. Nor, is it plainly evident, can as much always bo made of ono in the samo direction as can bo mado of another, Mil each has that within him which if properly trained and directed, will show how much may bo made of human nature. For how much of tho good or evil in our lives, you and I nro resposiblo, no one can tell but the Ono who knows our in. horitod tendencies, passions and disposi tions, and the long.liukod chain of cir cumstances which conspired to make our surroundings what thoy aro. Yot it is ob vious that wo aro answorablo for some of the good as well as for somo ot the ovll and have ofttlmes made ourselves n groat deal better, as well as ofttlmes a groat deal worse than God made us. Voices from above, beyond, around' all urge us to higher and nobler aspirations. Thoy call to us, on every side, to rise nbovo the groveling many, and mount to tho peaks, on whose "every height there lies repose," for the favored few. Ever' page, every ser mon, every word presses us onward. Vague ly and indefinitely only too often, but still onward to tho puro and true. Youth is but too prone to dream dreams, and sco visions. To aspire, to hope is as natural as to breathe. To help the world's progress to something grander and purer, to do some thing that shall make men nobler and bettor, to live that life shall bo brlghtor andhappi or for Its presence, is the wild dream of ev. cry young heart. "The world's progress," " moil, nobler and purer," " life, brighter and happier " cant phrases all of them have almost become, they slip so glibly from the tongue, and sound so grandilo quent on young lips. To how many have thoy been "Thought that hreathe,and words that hum," till the cheek glowed and tho very tears flowed with the longing to do and to dare, whatever the Fates seemed to declare ! lTow many a young eye has seen in visions, "That llht that nuvor wan, on eca or land Tho consecration, and tho Pout's dream,' till the nations that sat in darkness seemed to come out of tho shadow and the Sun of Righteousness to arise with healing on his wings! Youth would take tho world by storm. But you are only one, what can you do to make the darkness narrower ? You are only one among the millions of tho world's immortal souls, with all thoir untold poien tialitios and unrcckoned possibilities. What can you do, one among so many ? "One cannot do the world's work but ono can do one's own work." That is so little. Of what avail is it? Evil is'n monster and the burden of Sin is laid upon every one. How long, bow long before the world is purified ! "Thoy also servo, who only stand and wait." Yes, my friend, with never-wearying pn tienco and everlasting faith wait tho dawn ing of that sure light which shall herald tho good timo comjug. All serving is not tho doing of great deeds. Vaunted works aro not most often those which servo tho truest. tijyj2&EUMRLjQRfi
