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About Hesperian student / (Lincoln [Neb.]) 1872-1885 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 5, 1883)
THE HESPERIAN STUDENT w of dollur-storo spues, a deceased plug hut and a Boston way of spooking, ho culled on No. 1, and tlio fuinlly do ing absent sho Invited lilm into tlio parlor. After tlio vo uccr of the clovcr-kickcr luul somowhnt worn olf ho pointed to piano nnd naked hot' 'f sho could "pluy on thnt thing." Sho smiled on him with ti 13-tallow cnndlo lllu minuting expression, nnd with the nlr of a marchioness snubbed at a strawberry festival yanked a stool to tho instrument nnd made a wild plungo at "Napoleon Crossing thu Alps," but which bore n striking icscni bianco to a drove of Texas ateers crossing a bridge. Then sho mudo another break, This time it yib "Over tlio Qnrdeu Wall," and ho endeavored to pick up the lost notes in a volco whicli seemed to spring from the cavity of his boots and set all tho dogs in tho neighborhood to howling. In tlto meantime domestic No. 3 had been made nc quainlcd by a meddlesome urchin of what was going on at the ranch of her rival, and sho begun wrestling with tho pots and kettles like tho head cook in a lumber camp In her excitement and confusion at tho startling iutelli gence sho replenished the water cooler with the contents of tho conl-BCUttlc, and started to wind the kitchen clock with tho stovo poker. Tho deft Angers of No. 1 had just curdled all tho new milk on tho street by executing so truo to nature an imi tation of a thunder-storm, when No. 2 sailed into the room and the picnic began. Strike mo blind 1" gasped No. 2, as she kicked a $2 lurccn off the mnntlepieoe, "but this is a nice lay-out, sure I" "What do you want herd" "What impudence I My feller." "Ho isn't your fellow, are you hunt" smiling up at him like a calf at its mamma through a crack in the fence "He isl" "Ho isn't!" "I say he is, and if I cutc.i you monkeying with him again I'll shako all tho false teeth dowu your throat!" "You pilo right out!" "Come outside and put mo out!" shouted No. 2, as sho shook down the maroon-tinted tresses of iter lust year's chignon, and prepared to charge on the ramparts ot the enemy. "Woman!" shrieked No. 1, "do you defy mo in my own house!" and she seized an Oscar Wilde cuspidor and brandished it in the face of her rival. The excitement now equaled in intensity a tur-barre conflagration at an anti-suffrage caucus. By this time quite a crowed had collected on tho opposite walk, nnd bets were offered and us quickly taken on tho staying powers of the respectivo contestants. In tho meantime they had the poor clover-kicker charging around the room like a six-iuulo team In an Irish bog. The ominous shad ow of his legs and boots, as lie vaulted over the articles of furniture in the room, was more gruphiciy than graceful ly depicted on tho rich lambrequins to tho dead-head au dience on the outside. At this juncture No. 1, becoming fagged out, let fly tlio cuspidor at the head of her rival. But alas! it flow wide of its mark uud struck nur young hero on tlio upex of benevolence, and amber drops as largo as ax-handles began to course dowu tho eyes, nose, mouth and immaculate shirt front of tho sacrifice. With a smothered cry ho rushed troru tho room out into tlio night, and tho scenes which knew him once will know him no more forever. No. 1 followed No. 2 to the front gate, and n a parting salute slilcd tho link of an old stove.plpo at her, but which, with Iter customary accuracy, struck a youuj urchin, who was taking the convention In from the op posite side of tho street, in tlio pit- of tlio stomach and doubled him up in jackkiiifo stylo. And such is high lite bolow stairs In this nook of tn woods. UunfSYKEa. PARADISE LOST A REVIEW. The question as to whether future advancement in lh line uits is possible is especially worthy of consideration. Swing's statement that tho beautilul hns gono down under the tide of tho useful never tc rise again is acqui esced in by many admirers of that great mind who ac cept without reluctance the theory Hint tho childhood of tho world has gono forever, and that tlio real earnest work of life has taken its place. Others, looking regret fully over cirth's joyous youlh when man claimed naturo for an elder brother and wanton beauty gushed from every heart, have dared to hope that the spell 8 rudely broken might bo restored at least to some winged Arfcl or Hint some crafty Midas of tho future may bo endowed, when lie lists, with the goldm touch. It behooves tho latter, while considering this subject, to beware of falso analogies. Art and science arc tint so similar that prog ress In one can bo inferred from progress in the other Tho great truths of scienco are as multitudinous ns the thoughts of God, nnd its ileitis still open for exploration ns boundless ns the universe itself. Science will, there fore, remain in tin imperfect state, mid although its rato of advancement should continue to increase your by yenr in geometrical progression, yet there would still remain worlds of thought in philosophy for the Plalos, the Ba cons and the Spencers of the future nnd other starry sys tems still more magnificent for another Columbus of the skies. The fine arts, on the other hand, developed from the beginning with surprising rapidity, rising to that summit of perfection beyond which it seems impossible to go. This precious excellence is due to the supremacy, in tlio in'ancy of the world, of tho imagination over tho other faculties of the mind. Everything then had the charm of novelty, everything was tinted with poetic tones. As knowledge increased, reason usurped lite royal power, and imagination that was wont to net a tyrant's part was bound in brazen chains and confined under the oppres sive Pelion of his own creation. The muse of epic song that clothed all nature with tho beauty and vigor of immortal youth; that inspired tlio hero on the plains of Troy with the deepest and sublimest feelings and sentiments in mi in an nature; that created on Mount Olympus a system of nnthromorlipic deities and celebrated their glorious deeds in inimitable verse, was supplanted by the tragic muse, whose humbler duty was to depict the passions of the mind. Scarcely had tho valiant combatants engaged in elemental strife been lulled to rest; scarcely had the last report of tho Titans' artillery died away in the dim distance of the past, when a fiercer conflict begun to rngo in the mind of mnn. The fact that tlto rhupsodist lias given way to the dramatist indicates clearly the decay of poetic genius; yet in iu place hns been substituted a genius in some respects moie sublime. Nature, once standing out prominently adorned with tho
