THE HESPERIAN STUDENT.
HA
rcn surface has been swept over, the real fortresses
remain as yet impregnable. The aimshouldbemadc
at these, and the conflict should be over these alone.
Here is the trouble of this style of preaching. It
creates a great splash, just as when you throw a stone
into the water, there is much commotion at first, but"
the ripple gradually dies away and finally ceases alto
gether. We do not mean to say that such is always
the case, but the tendency is thus.
hc Students' rnp ooh,
THE GAME OF LIFE.
There's a gamo much In fashion, I ihlnk lt'tj called Euchre,
(Through I nover have played It, for pleasure orlucre),
In which, when the cards arc in ccrtnln conditions,
Tho players appear to haveichanged tholr positions,
And one of them cries, in a confident tone,
"I think I may vor.turo to go it alono!"
While watching the game, 'tis a whim of tho hurd's
4. moral to draw from that skirmish of cards,
And to fancy ho finds in tho trivial strife
Somo oxcollcut.hlnts for tho battle of Ufa
Where whothor tho prize bo a ribbon or throne
The winner is ho who can so it alone I
When great Galileo proclaimed that tho world
In a regular orbit was ceaselessly whirled,
And got not a convert for all of his pain'.,
Hut only derisions and prisons and chains,
"It moves, for all thatl" was his answering tone,
For ho knew, liko tho Earth, he could go it ulouol
When Kepler, Tvith Intellect piercing afar,
Discovered tho laws of each planot and star,
And doctors, who ought to have lauded his nuinu,
Dorldcd his learning, and blackened his fame,
"I can wait!" ho replied, "till tho truth you shall own;"
For ho folt In his heart ho could go it alone!
Alas! for the player who idly depends,
In tho struggle of lire, upon kindred or friend;
Whatever tho valuooflilcsslngs llkothcso,
They can never atone for Inglorious ease,
Nor comfort tho.coward who iluds, with a groan,
That his clutches have lclt him to go It aloiu-1
There's something, no doubt, In tho bund you may hold,
iicuitii,'.raiuny, culture, wit, beauty and gold
The fortunate owner may fairly regard
As, each In its way, a most excollcnt card;
Yet .tho gamo may, bo lost, with all tliono for yourownl
unless you've tlio courage to go it slouol
In battle or business, whatever tho gamo,
In law oror In love, it is ever the fame ;
In tho struggle for power, or tho ecramblo lor pelf,
Let this bo your.motto Holy on yourself I
For, whothor the prio be a ribbon or thronu,
Tliu victor in he who can go It nlonu!
Selected from Sitxe.
CHARLES VWKENS.
Of the vast n u in bur of so called novels which arc con
stantly plncuil before us, comparatively few deserve the
name. A novel should bo a line representation or a con
sistent Idealization of tho life, charnctor and manners of
tho ago of which the author ironU. Tlio truo novel is
one of tho most effective ways in which a great mind
can connnunlcnto ltsolf to the world; capablo, as it is, of
exhibiting in its own way a complete philoeaphy of hu
man nature, and admitting, too, a dramatic ropresnlation
of tho abstract principles' of science and philosophy.
Theoretically, lis range is.us broad and deep as are its
subjects, man and naluro. It Is, however, tho most diffi
cult of nil composition since it requires a mind capable
of porcoiving and representing all variotlcs of lifonnd
character, and of giving tlicm to tho reader from the
I standpoint of an impartial judge, so as to make thorn
I appear real. Tho perfect novelist must bo a poet, n
philosopher and n man of the world combined; with a
! naluro shrowd, impassioned, obsorvaut and creative; .
I enthusiastic but not bigoted, and with ability to keep P
I himself and his personal opinions out of print.
It is evident, then, that this ideal novelist has uevor
i beeu reulllzed. Fielding, had he hud a wider range of
' mind, might havo attained the highest rank among cre
, ators of Action; but probably, Scott, as far as his per
ceptions of nuturnl and supernn'uraloxtendcd, approached
nearest the ideal.
To mauy novels written by men of high talents, have
been but tho expression ot one-sided views of lift. Such
are tho novels of Bulwcr and his school, which treat onlv
o.ashionablolife as seen by tho partial eyes of fashiona
blo people a life which is, in fact, ono of the most uu
natural attitudes of human nature. Many of these nov
els, in turn, dwindle into silly mixtures of sentiment-
ality combiued with folly, stupidity and, too often, im- u
morality. ,;
To a jury composed of the readers of such novels,
Dickens submitted his famous Pickwick Papers, and
the verdict was an immediate and almost unprecedented
popularit'. Dickens, as a novelist, must bo classed in
the front rank of the noblo profession to which ho bo
longs. IIo revived tho novel of genuine practical life,
not tho life of a few nor.of a favored class, but the life of
the people, and that, too, as viewed by an impartial ob
server. He wrote In a stylo su wholly his own, that ho
cannot be accused of borrowing from any other author.
Other writers created tholr characters, but Dickens de
pended for his, almost entirely upon liis woudor.ully acute
powers of extern I observation. While the crcatlvo
power seemed to be lacking in him, his keenness ol'obser.
vation furnished him with abundant materials; and tho
vividness of his perceptions and his Intense sympathy,
unconflncd by his own personality, with which h en- J
tered into the peculiarities of others makes his hooka
abound with charucters so real, that the reader, in turn
cannot fail to sympathl.o with them. Indeed, Dickons
posessed the rare trait of making others soo things through
his eyes, one or the causes which make every charac
ter he describes have a special interest. It is in thh fact,
together with an intuitive perception of individual
character and the genial sympnthy of his nature that
Dickons' whole power and originality lies. Oho.slng
his subjects as he did from every station in life, he had
the power of adapting himself to tho sltuntlmi nr nni,
whether it bo fashionable drawing loom, or tho secret
haunts and hiding places of tho London criminal classes.
Ho has shown tho dark as well as tho light side or fash
ionable life, liar shown us that happiness and vlrtuo arc
not confined to a single class, and through tho honest
sympathy of a kind heart has made
