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About Hesperian student / (Lincoln [Neb.]) 1872-1885 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1879)
172 T1IK I'OWKH OK TllOl'UlIT VOL. VI II race aficr hearing si few words or sounds or symbols, combined and elaborated thorn until in the progress of tlio ages, tlioro arose tbc splendid structure of human speech. Ij. F. POWER OF THOUGHT. VN the temple of Apollo was placed J the significant inscription, "Know Thyself." These words, standing in si. lencc, thrilled the soul of Socrates, and by their power caused him to draw from the wealth of his intellect, ideas of the immaterial, which delinc with clearness the immortality of the soul. This work, the greatest .f human achievement., the revelation of earth's deepest mystery, proved through its ac complishment the power of the human soul, the wonderful capacities of man. This man, in a greater degree than all otlur earthly beings possessed immoital thought. Thought that from the begin ning litis been the prime mover of all things; not content with penetrating the hidden chambers of creation, it rises in its might and contemplates even the mind of the Creator. Not even the power of man -can stay it. Its progress is inevi table. It spans unchecked the chasm of time formed by the lapse of ages, and ar rives by so doing at the only point beyond which it cannot pass, the beginning of time. It is supposed that the creation of man was coeval with earthly thought, and be yond this point, the most significant ep och of time, lies that which to other souls created before us, may have been a treas ured vault, but which to us is void and naught but darkness. Of that time we know nothing. Light only dawned upon us when this the great land of the unknown, was revolutionized, when order was brought out of chaos, and an omnipotent hand loosed the gate of Paradise with the golden keys of life, and permitted to come forth from h'cr labyrinth, a part of her immortal treasure, intellectual man. Tliis period when the mind of man had birth, forms tho ending of a dateless era ami the uommonoomont of a now one, and now through the agency of all pow erful thought, improvements mark the course of every age, Tho entire field oT nature has been examined by this invin oiblo investigator' Karth with her beau ties and treasures has been explored, and her boundaries defined, revealing a state when all was chaos, ami none knew, save the invisible, of her 'future destiny. Ago upon age of varying action of countless forces, in her formation, is shown us by illimitable thought, which pene trates as far backward along the course of time as there is an atom for it to grasp. Ascending from the earth beneath it separates the atmosphere into itsunchang able elements ; defines the innumerable agents which control the order and sym metry of the universe; calculates tho ve locity of light, and the magnitudes and distances of suns. Na more, thought is able to turn and scrutinize its own being: thus discovering its own immortality. Even lightening, which in its dazzling brightness and strength appears uncon querable, humbly yiolds its services, and becomes the willing and subservient agent of its conqueror. Inventions which seemed impossible, to past generations, throng upon us, and thus the mighty forces of nature are sub dued to the sorvice of man. In the ficid of literature there are in numerable volumes ol the richest variety, which serve as lamps to our feot, illumi nating our way as we toilingly proceed. Foromosl amongst the splendid onn; ments of humanity stand Hacon, Milton and ShaUspore. Men to whom in the full development of their intellect the world seemed as an open scroll, whoso charac tors, unintelligable to their predecessors were to thorn the plain revelations of truth, the history of the buried past, the fleeting present and the undying future. Thus, as they reached the summit of fame, and lettered their names in immor-