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About Hesperian student / (Lincoln [Neb.]) 1872-1885 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 15, 1883)
HESPERIAN STUDENT UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA. Vol. XII. LINCOLN, NEB., DECEMBER 15, 1883. No. VI. MISCELLANEOUS MENTION. Progress can only arise out of tne development of order. Oomte. "Twenty millions of people, mostly fools mostly fools." says Carlyle, speaking of Great Britain. The political outlook is about the same as ever. The two great parties, like chess-players, move and feint, sometimes one receiving a check and then thu other. "It has ever been held the highest wisdom for a man not merely to submit to necessity necessity will make him submit but to kn m- and believe well that the stern thing which necessity had ordered was the best, the wis. est, the thing wanted then. To cease his frantic preten sion of scanning this great God's world in his small frac tion of a brain ," Modern society adopts for its motto a perversion of the old saying "a little nonsense now and then is reli3hedby the best of men," making it read "a little sense now and then is relished by the best of men." The requirements for admission are surrender of body, mind and soul, for these are absolutely disregarded by a large share of its members. The plutocracy of this country threatens to be more daugerous than any other "ocracy." It embraces the lowest and most brutal classes, it is more insolent and over-bearing than the autocracy of Russia. And the worst of all is the obeisance it compels from the peo pie. The man who has wealth at his command, no matter if ne is a mental and moral n ninntity, commands the fore most place in society. The complaint isnow that everything is .overdone. Yes every thing is overdone except hard work. This never h s been overdone, and never will be overdone , as long ns the world stands. This is wanted in every occu pation, by fanners, lawyers doctors, ministers, median. ics,'and so on throughout all departments ofIabor. We have yet to hear of the man really willing to work who did not find ample employment. Some people ask why we do not hear more of college graduates after they go out in the world, imagining this is an argument against colleges. With equal sense they might ask why black is not white. Two things are nec essary in order that a man may become distinguished, brains and application. If colleges could infuse these Uiere would be some reason in the rcmaik, but unfortu nately they do not have this power. If men were compelled to cat oysters whether or not they liked them, they would probably complain of the injustice done to their taste. But no less arbitrary is the law of literary taste. We arc enforced to accept and ad mire certain authors, and if offensive to our taste to lie and profess admiration for them. If one should admit that he did not like Thacker', Cervantes or Dickens, he would be set down'as an idiot or a dunce. The special, sole and deepest theme of the world's and man's history, whereto all otiier themes arc subordinated, remains the conflict of belief and unbelief. All epochs wherein belief prevails, under what form it may are splendid, heart-clcvating, fruitful for contemporaries. All epochs, on ths contrary, wherein unbelief, under, what form soever, maintains its sorry victory, should they even for a moment glitter with a sham splendor, vanishes from the eyes of posterity, became no one chooses to burden himself with the study of the unfruitful." There are some people who do not sccra to realize that they can have an existence aside from othe'rs. As soon as adversity comes they are rrady to give up at once. The young man disappointed in his first love imagines there is no longer any use of living, all o.ujoynient is gone, but as time rolls on and he becomes sane once more, he finds that it was a mistake, and that he actually takes pleasure in living again. Three forths of the howl ing, wailing, sighing, groaning that fills the world is of our own imagination. Eyils have no existence except in our own minds. Carlyle is again dragged forth from the grave, anathe matized, magnified in all his fault), depreciated in his merits, buried again this time by Gail Hamilton. 3he says he actually forgot, while he was occupied with hU great work, to look after house-hold matters, and see whether his wife had all the conveniences deemed essen tial in this age. It is unfortunate that he could not have had a mind to universal as to comprehend all things from planning kitchens up (o solving the great questions of the universe. But providence did not thus will it, like many other men he was one-sided. Whilst he was con stant and true in the great essentials, he lost sight of some of his small duties. He had some human frailties and often fell short of his high idea:, although he gave up his whole life to the pursuit of truth, and fearlessly uttered it on all occasions. But this is forgotten, he is criticized for what he did not do, rather than what he did do. It is a pity Gail Hamilton could not have had men made to order expressly for herself. If providence had only con. suited her before it created them, all this trouble might have been saved. fe m