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About Hesperian student / (Lincoln [Neb.]) 1872-1885 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 1879)
NO. 7. TltK 8II1KNT PATITY. 151 v , s i ocles and a modern Cicero exulted in all the elegance ol the Greek verse, and the grace of Latin prose respectively. The brush was again drawn with a renewed earnestness, and a critical glance only showed that rest had facilitated design and ennobled the conception of the artist The chisel was again brushed from the rubish, and a stroke of the mallet told too plain, lyof the new genius that was awakened. And the Gothic style of architecture flourished under the new incentives to industry. Tiie fugitive pilgrim from the Holy Land now bestowed upon Europe her richest gifts. If the secrets of modem warfare were not borrowed from the infi dels of Palestine, the crusades at least taught men that something besides mere physical strength was necessary to arrest the rapid progress of Mohammedanism. If printing found not an origin among the eastern nations, ils consummation was only an outgrowth of the social convulsion. With the germs of a njv state of society partly developed, social institutions were essential to their preservation. The her ald, the star of chivalry, was now trans formed into the ambassador and diploma cy rendered tyrannical and ambitious statesmanship dependent upon the nation al will. As a result, peace characteristic of a nation became the characteristic of the citizen. Willi no leader to sound tho battlec-ry, society turned her energy to tho field, the laboratory and commercial interests. The mechanical arts now res ponded to the demands of trade and traffic and the resources of the earth, utilized by the more recent inventions, brought hap piness and comfort into the domestic cir cles. Literature in a new tongue gleamed and sparkled, the poet again awoke his muse, encouraged by tho restoration of order and tho abolition of terror. The or ator again found a father-land upon which to lavish his patriotism. And which for its, restoration revived, again lost art of oratory. Scientific, religious and political differ- ences could no longer be limited to con versation and the accomodations of the rostrum. The journal, the newspaper and the post opened a now field for ambitions and enterprise. Tho foundaries were rich in their hidden secrets ; the earth luxuri ous in ils secreted mysteries. Not satisfied with the teeming industry of the earth, the problem of the universe was again proposed and propounded at length. Confidence confirmed by reason lent stability to action and argument to design. Land and sea rendered to man their treasures. And philosophy embod ied in the minds of a rescued civilization, a nobility of labor and independence of thought and action that today bend the currents of social, religious and political opinions. These, the immediate characteristics of the new Renaissance and the outgrowth of liberal patronage by a reviving culture, were but the shoots of the mountain pine hurried beneath tho commotions of selfish and tyrannical Europe. Rcmovethe rub. bisli and the massive forest below was ap parent. Quell the surging tide, and the germs of hurried life, rank by luxurious decay, would leap forth with a newness of life. This, the crusades accomplished and in the work they so wearied and fa tigued the unbridled ambition of Europe that quietude was an acceptable offering, and the acceptance of tho gift gave once more the germs of a submorged civiliza tion an opportunity to honor the existence of human genius. Oktega. THE SILENT PARTY. 0 powerful has the word "party" be- come in this country, that every en. terprise seems to hesitate as if begging for a little of its mighty favor. To such an extent has this feature in American in dustry prevailed, that it may well be con sidcred a hazardous untertaking to seek assistance through legislation upon thereat merits of the case. Without a strong ap