ft
I
a&imtmmmmmtaiikiiti:M mmmmmammmit
THE
HESPERIAN STUDENT.
-urOvn-
Qul non Proflclt, Deficit.
'jnOun
VOL. VII.
OCTOBER, 1878.
NO. 7.
STAJtS AND MEN.
"God's wheeling heuven" has ever been
fraught witli the most intense interest to
all mankind. The rnde, untutored child
of the forest gazes into its infinite depths,
and is awed and enraptured, and for the
moment civilized.
Wise men, of all ages, have spent their
lives in discerning the face of the skj.
It has inspired the grandest and most
beautiful songs ever sung by poet. And
the little babe in its mother's arms is
hushed to sleep by this quaint old lulla
by, " Sleep, baby sleep,
The lnro atari nru the nhocp,
The little onei aro the lambs I tiens,
Anil the jjroat round inoun Is the shepherdess,
Sleep bnby ulet'p."
Whether we study the sky by day or by
night, we find in it that which interests
us intensely. The light of day revenls to
us the ever changing forms of the lleecy,
billowy clouds that stand out in bold re.
lief against the deep bine of the distant
sky. The fa.ied and broken moon that
has lingered after the morning light has
dawned, drifts among their lofty forms
like a wrecked and deserted ship that is
gradually sinking and losing in the sea
of light that is Hooding half the world.
Or as a huge pupa case from which the
1
light and life, gold and glory have depart
ed. We marvel at the course of the sun,
day after day, year after year, age after
age, the same old journey.
By night, the sky presents an entirely
different aspect. Then the myriads of
twinkling stars, like gleaming tapers held
by angels' hands, dot the darkness that
envelops every thin. And of all the.
hosts that whir in space, none so interest
men as do the stars. There is a bond of
sympathy and similarity between him
and them that exists between man and
none other of the celestial bodies. We
can liken men to stars for there is a re
semblance between them. We cannot
liken men to the sun or to the moon; to
liken him to the former would not beap
proprintc; to liken him to the latter would
not be complimentary even if it were ap
propriate. The moon is too solitary and
sad, or else too cold and proud.
Sometimes we see her afar oil in the
deep blue vault of heaven, trying like 'a
banished and hunted queen to hide from
her pursuers behind the giant chains of
the cragged cloud mountains. But even
they cannot hi.de her glory for it rifts
from between their lofty forms as she
moves iu her grandeur among them.
Again she is nearer to us but is so cold
and proud we feel awed by her majesty.
I
J