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About Hesperian student / (Lincoln [Neb.]) 1872-1885 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 1878)
gPpvF iw..L.tu., '.m iijiuMiulMlrtM !! ! 105 1113 NOT CONTKNT WITH 1MIB8KNT ATTAINMENTS. VOIi VII. !l i ! I tlio perfection of character, and to this end, charity, love, and peace, were to be practised toward men. Such, then, is what infidels call "buying a soul on credit;" such arc the principles which in their opinion arc opposed to progress They do not seem to recognize the law that the more frequently an act is per. formed, the more easily it is accom plished. We can readily seo that a vie tory over an evil passion will at once strengthen the moral character. Yield, ing to temptation, on the contrary, weak ens the moral faculties, and at the same time increases the power of temptation. This invariable rule, being carried to its legitimate extent, leads to the heaven which the infidel ridicules, and to the hell, for which ho would express his con. tempt with "words of living hate that would hiss and sting like a serpent." In finite woe is the necessary consequence of constant loss of moral power; of con slant yielding to temptation. There must be a point beyond which a return to a right course is impossible. This, then, is hell here, and the berc.after is subject to the same unfaltering law. A state of perfection will bo attained through the exercise of virtue, and by gaining moral strength. As the influence of evil decreases, moral excellence must Increase. Jiy thus advancing we become incapable of turning back, and we cannot help growing in perfection. BE NOT CONTENT WITH PRES ENT ATTAINMENTS. Who can bo content with their pies cut attainments, when they seo how much there is yet to learn, how many millions of books to bo read, how many new branches of philosophy, of science or of irt there are to be pursued, how much knowledge there is yet to be gained V And where can we find greater pleasure, than in gaining that knowledge? Some may think they have ascended the hill of science, mill are now resting on the top of fame's dread mountain, with noth ing to do, but to play with the laurels they have gathered, anil look down upon the grasping tendrils that are winding their way up rugged recesses. Hut alas, how mistaken they arc ! They do not seem to icnlizc that there arc still higher peaks and neighboring hills, which they have not yet climbed. On tho contrary, those who earnestly desire to become wise and good, feel as they advance, that they know so little in comparison to what there is yet to know, that they estimate themselves, not as intel lectual giants, but as tyros in science, Because they have mastered one sci ence or read one hundred volumes of the world of literature, they do not fold their hands as if that were all there was to be learned, but keep reaching out after knowledge. Not that they expect to learn all there is to be learned, but their only contentment is in learning and improving all they can. Why is it that we have so man' and great improvements, in the present age, that they had not in the past? Look at public libraries, aside from the many pri vate libraries, in every city all over the world ; and the newspapers, one or more of which are printed in every little town the world over. Then think of the parchments that used to be the only means of preserving histo ries Look at the self-binding reaper of the present day, and then think of the cradle with which grain used to be gath ered. Think too of the great telegraphic and post-oillco systems, and you will see that we are a people of progress and im provement. It is evident that we enjoy these privile ges above our ancestors, because men arc not content witli their present attainments but arc always thinking, reasoning and working for something better and higher. Let us then, not be content with our present attainments, but press onward and upward and, as wo rise higher our minds will expand ami Uecqinp more coin. M PWIhPPBK3HU3I