THE HESPERIAN.
UNIVERSITY of NEBRASKA.
Vol. XVII.
LINCOLN, NEB., MARCH 15, 1888.
No. XIII.
THEHESPERIAN
(HESPERIAN STUDENT.)
Issued semi-monthly by the Hesperian Publishing Associ
ation, of the University of Nebraska.
C. F. ANSLEY, Editor-in-Chief.
ASSOCIATES:
G. V. GERWIG, '89. - - - Literary.
O. W. FIFER, '89. - - - - Miscellany.
T. S. ALLEN, '89. - - Comment.
H. PETERSON, '90. - - - Local.
W. W. ROBERTSON, '89. - - - Exchange.
Business Manager
Assistant.
- Geo. H. Tinker
E. E. Gillespie,
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that the Sisters are the ones. It is not so long since
the war but thousands of soldiers remember their
deeds of mercy, and it is not so long since the yellow
fever epidemics of the south but that everyone ought
to have in mind the many Sisters who ofTered them
selves to almost certain death, and gladly, that they
might give their few remaining days ol life to those
who were in affliction. These were but times when
their aid could not help being noticed by the public.
The work is going on constantly. We believe that
most of the Protestants are duly appreciative, and
that the part of them that is opposing the present
humane plan is a very
more senses than one.
small minority, small in
advertising rates on application.
Address all communications to The Hesperian, University
of Nebraska, Lincoln, Neb.
EDITORIAL NOTES.
Since a number of our citizens have spoken strongly
ajjainst the proposition to build a hospital here, and
merely because the proposition is made by Catholics,
we have begun to lose our confidence in the civiliza
tion of the nineteenth century. We have never sus
pected that bigotry is extinct, or that it will ever be,
for that matter, but we did think that it would be lost
sight of if human suffering were in question. If ihe
city had received any offers from Protestant organiza
tions there might be some ground for hesitation; but
it seems that we have our choice, either to let the
sufferings of the poor go unrelieved or to let the
Sisters of Charity relieve them. It is surely time to
realize that Catholic and Protestant worship the same
God and try to reach the same heaven. Having
these things in common, even if they cannot bring
themselves to a truly Christian love for each other,
they should at least permit no exhibtion of open hos
tility. Then it seems to us that disrespect ought to
be shown to any others sooner than to the Sisters of
Charity, for, if there are any'on the earth who faith
fully endeavor to carry into their lives the principles
that the Savior taught and practiced, it would seem
"Reaction is equal to action, and opposite to it in
direction." As to classicism in literature, we are
now in the period of reaction. Two centuries ago,
if one wished to write and to be read, it was neces
sary for one to have as thorough an education in the
classics as the universities of the time could give, and
then to give proof of such an education in everything
that left one's pe n. English was but tolerated, at
best, and only such English as was fraught, loaded
down, with Latin constructions and allusions to the
writers and to the mythology of Greece and Rome.
If an English idiom was admitted, it was thought to
be a sign of vulgarity on the part of the writer. Latin
was the universal language of the learned throughout
Europe, and the unlearned could not read even Eng
lish. If an Englishman was writing something for
pleasure only, something which it was not necessary to
have read, he might write in English, provided the
style was Latin. If it was something on an import
ant topic of the day, and the writer wished to insure
its wide distribution and careful perusal, it must be
written in Latin, and the best of Latin.
That the literature of the English language suffered
from this burden is clear. But, so long as Catholi
cism was the prevailing religion of England, it would
hardly be a defensible statement to say that universal
literature lost by it. The most of tLe writers, one
might almost say all of them, were church functionar
ies, and to these Latin was the natural language for
the pen. Indeed, it is said that there were many in
the monasteries, and not a few of the palmers who
had even forgotten their original speech and knew
only Latin. As soon, however, as Protestantism was
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