J'HE HESPERIAN STUDENT.
3
Jil
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nally open for University scandals, or again that in
his laudable attempt at perfect consistency he do es
not see that the students arc too modest to make
speeches when a large audience has paid a high price
to hear a noted lecturer and is waiting for him to be
gin. On the whole thin we suggest that the "Demo
crat" man ponder over his University items in future,
not to see if they are tvue, for that of course is unnec
essary, but to see if they agree with each other and
with common-sense
We fear that in providing for the intellectual well
fare of the students, those who control its financial
affairs forget that physical health is valuble even
though it be only as a means in the attainment of
wisdom. We wish to remind them that the
command is not only "get wisdom," but also "get
understanding." In other words the University
needs walks constructed of some more substantial
materials than water and mud. In the west we do
not care so much for style as for utility and we think
the proudest of us would prefer an angular, prosaic
plank walk to a serpentine path whose graceful curves
only serve to prolong an unnecessary and undesired
experience in fishing for overshoes. We have often
heard and in part experienced that the path to learn
ing is thorny and rough, but it seems unnecessary to
make it muddy as well. Further the young ladies
and gentlemen who wish to shine in society find it
impossible to ever show a neatly blacked boot or 6hoe
within these classic walls. Now a blacked shoe is not
an indispensible agent in the acquiring of an educa
tion but it is a much more agreeable object to eye
when the Prof, asks unanswerable questions than one
covered with the drift of the glacial period mingled
with the favorite beverage of tlv 1 teetotaler. In
throwing out this hint we are actuated by no selfish
motive. Ifnecssary for the good of the University,
the Student is willing :o continue the unwelcome
task of transferring the campus to the various recita
tion rooms; but for the encouragement of morality
both in the students, since cleanliness is akin to god
liness, and in the janitor and professors whom the
condition of the building often brings to the verge of
profanity, we beg that a (cv inch planks be tastefully
arranged in the muddiest spots alternating with frag
ments of stone at convenient distances. There is
something truly poetic in the thought of the damsels
searching in the records of antiquity for. forgotten
lore, tripping gracefully from stone to board and
from board to stone, while the splash and ripple of
Nebraska's staple reminds the listener of the pleasant
brook babbling over pebbles. We would even be
willing to dispense with the annual trimming of our
"forest primeval" of cottonwoods, and trust this hor-
ticultural duty to Hie playful cyclone, for the sake of
even a two foot walk from the front gate to the front
door; while even the delights of arbor day holidays
and commencement receptions pale before the vision
of an asphalt promenade. This last thought bring
up beattific visions of Friday evenings which cause
us to drop our pencil and meditate on the nights;
when the moon is dark and the air is warm and the
young man's fancy turns to something or other, we
forget exactly what, but are sure of the main point
that it turns much more lightly on a dry walk than
in the mud.
The lecture by Rev. DeWitt Talmage was enter
taining and intereting, but some perhaps went away
with the feeling that there was a certain something lack
ing in it. To these it gave the impression that the lec
ture had been studied for efiect, that it was not the sim
ple natural outflow of what the man had thought and
felt in his inmost life, such as was that of Dr. Thomas,
but there was something strained about it, the illus
trations were grotesque, and many of his expressions
approached too near slang to be agreeble to all ears.
The orator manifestly attempted to make his lecture
'striking," a thing which characterizes him asa min
ister. Dr. Talmage is the leader of the great army
of sensational preachers. He draws immense crowds,
has great success as a revivalist. He strikes the pop
ular chord, he knows how to stir up the emotions.
And if we judge of the success of religion by num
bers he is certainly a powerful advocate. But if we
judge from a higher standpoint whether his influence
as a preacher, asa man, is such as to truly inspire and
lift up those around him in their religious life, which
is the only true fruit of religion, we shall have to ac
knowledge him as inferior to many having less pop
ularity. The roots of religion run deep, its strength
and support lie within. If this source is not reached,,
it withers and dries up; it can not thrive on surface
culture. The test of a minister's usefulness is how
deeply does he implant these roots, not how many, for
a narrow stiearr. of great depth has more momentum,
than a wide and shallow one.
Time and theologians have two standpoints of
looking at religion. The theologian estimates the
success of religion by converts; time decides its suc
cess by the character of its converts. The one is
partisan in its view, the other cosmopolitan. What
ever are our theories, lime decides upon their value
in this way. There is no subject in which men are
so liable to err as in religion. We can not divest
ourselves entirely from superstition and judge it as
we do other things. Half-seeing the grand possi
bilities of it if the world could all be truely conver
ted, we blindly attempt to convert it by storm.
But many times, alas! we discover that only the bar
O
WSM
