THE HESPERIAN STUDENT.
turn will never come: if you push forward and assert
yourself, you will be successful. Excessive modesty
is a fault. A man has no more right to let another
defraud him, than to defraud an other. If
you do not make known what worth you have, be as
sured no one else will. The law of the "survival of
fittest," which rules all things with inexorable sway,
determines that those who are the most pushing and
energetic shall win their places in the struggle, while
the weaker"go to the wall." But beware that your
assertions are backed up by the truth, or it will some
day be found out, and you will fall. We do not up
hold bragging and boasting, but if you are conscious
that you can do any thing well, don't scruple to say
you can. This is perfectly legitimate.
We naturally envy those placed m high positions
in life whether by birth or wealth, but a little reflec
tion shows us that it is they who ought to envy us.
To every person who is strong enough to bear for
tune, there are a thousand who will break down
under it. It requires far more strength of character
to resist its influence than that of adversity. Pros
perity is a gay but a dangerous companion; she makes
those under her rule inclined to shirk all the hard and
disagreeable things of life, to put aside all things that
are not pleasant, that cost self-sacrifice, or hard toil
all those that go to develop manly courage and in
dependence. Adversity with her attendant necessi
ty compels all, whether they will or no, to accept
what is before them, bitter or sweet. She seems
cruel, but it is a kind cruelty, one that saves many
from sinking into a life, pleasant at first, but leading
down into an abyss from which finally there is no
exit, and which is the abode of vice and crime and all
the evils that fall to man. Let each one think well
upon these things, and he will find that poverty is not a
total misfortune. Again, look at the rich and power
erful as a class and see if they are to be envied. A
large share of the time they are absolutely miserable;
slaves to selfishness, they fluctuate up and down as
this is gratified or prevented. The rich deserve more
credit for their virtues than the poor.
We continually hear conceit derided and dispar
aged as if it were a monstrous crime. We should like
to ask what man would be without it? Suppose a case
(if it be possible) of a person so humble that he really
thinks he knows nothing. If he were a lawyer, he
would never dare take a case lest he should not under
stand law well enough to conduct it. If he were a
doctor he would never venture to give medicine, for
fear that he was mistaken in his diagnosis. If a car
penter, the fact that he might make his building weak
would prevent his doing anything. If a man has no
confidence in himself, no one else will have. The
"golden mean" of conceit, like all other things, is to
sought, its excess or want is to be avoided. It is one
of the qualities that go fo make up a full rounded in
tellect. As with the middle parts of a composition
of music, it has no independent merit, but serves to
bring out more fully the essential parts. The world
progresres though not always in a straight line, some
times tangledamidst the bogs and worasses of super
stition and ignorance it seems almost to be at a stand
still, but yet it is ever pressing on. The evidences of
the centuries plainly indicate this. Slowly we ares
approaching that great centre of law and order which
irresistably draws all toward it. As Tennyson say
there is
"One God, ono law, oto olomcnt
And ono far-off dlvlno cvont
To which tho wholo creation moves."
There was a time in the history of the U. S. when
politics wca the study of national policy, and a party,
a body of men who agreed on some line of action.
In the course of the century, however, the meanings
of these words like those of so many others have
changed; politics now refers to the struggles of office
seekers, while a party is an association of this class to
gether with their supporters. Neither of the so-called
great parties of to-day has any well defined policy.
The platforms of each campaign differ materially in
different states and have as their avowed objects the
gaining of votes. If there is any great question at
issue between the parties it is concerning the tariff.
In a very general way it may be said that the Demo
crats are for Free Trade while the Republicans favor
a protective tariff; yet in the recent action of con
gress on tariff reduction fully a score of Democratic
representatives voted against the reduction while
a number of Republicans favored it. What doirs
"party" mean to these Protection Democrats or to the
Free Trade Republicans who are to be found all over
the country? If the tariff is the rock on which par
ties split, why does not a change of opinion mean a
change of party? If it is not, what is the question at
issue? If the candidates in the coming campaign are
to stand for no distinctive principles, there is no rea
son why, by a return to the methods intended by
those who planned our political system, the inevita
ble stagnation of legitimate business and increase of
speculation attendant on a national election should not
be prevented. The Student hardly expects either
Democrats or Republicans to follow its advice in the
ensuing campaign, but students who are just entering
upon the duties of citizenship should remember that
parties were organized to represent principles, and
that when they cease to do this they have no longer
an excuse for existence.
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