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HESPERIAN STUDENT.
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(lit! noil Vrolldt, Vollcil.
VAO UAi
"JANUARY, 1877.
NO. 1.
It has been said Unit all things which
exist must have had n beginning. When
wo ask lh! question, What was Hit begin
ning of work? our minds immediatel' re.
vert to tlie grand Mosaic allegory of the
creation of the world, and we repeat the llrst
verso of the first chapter of the oldest
writing on earth. "In the beginning God
created the heavens and the earth." To
continue the inquiry and inquire when
man llrst received his commission lo work
would elicit tlie answer, "In the sweat of
thy brow shall thou eat bread." This do.
creu of the Almighty is considered one of
the effects of the mnii and woman's sin,
and was in Hided on Adam as an addition
al punishment, but toiisit seems as though ,n moment's dizzy whirl on the high pinna-
God, after banishing our primitive pa- jele of fame, before being plunged into the
senseless, weary waste of years' a gigantic
torture of Tantulus in reality, and wo
would rejoice when the inevitable result
of the world tumbling back into chaos
was accomplished. What is the object of
labor? If life is but a Heeling show, if
man is but of u few days and full of (rouble
if it be thai "dust thou art and unto dust
thou shall return," if, as Shakspoaro s.iys:
"I.iro i a talis
Told li.v mi Idiot, full ill" sound and fury,
Signifying nothing,
why this unending slrifo for what will
profit us nothing And we answer, if
youe.vpt'Cl the full reward and complete
results of your labor in Ibis present exis
tence, then indeed you are working for
poor -ay. A passing breeze of applause,
rents, pitying Uieir deplorable condition,
gave them word as a means of regaining
their lost position, for by it we are eleva
ted and ennobled, preserve our health, hap
pinessand virtue, and attain ailluonce and
distinction, placing us in as perfect an
Eden as would be beneficial tons. Imiig
ine if you can the condition o( this world
without work. What an endurable, stag
mile, insullerable place of torment it would
be. Life would be a weird nightmare, a
abyss of obscurity, a wearisome chaso
through jungles of prejudice, and bogs of
slander and abuse, after the "will-o'-thc-wisp"
of popular lavor and a llnal grasp
at I hi: coveted delusion only to find il tlie
phoruscent glow of n rotten stump, or to
see your ignis fatuus flickering in some
other quarter. A brief ride on the tide
of public trust before you are engulfed by
Ihe greasy, slimy waves of calumny ai.d
dishonor that onlv hiss and moan for oth