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THE HESPERIAN.
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old. Here is true progression, a progression only attainable by
the full expression of the faculties of each individual in their own
peculiar way. This creative power of the human mind is one
ol its greatest attributes. Upon it society is dependent for
progression. For every truth, every principle that has blessed
the race at some time originated in the mind of a single man.
Tn three ways is the mind of the individual effected: by
what he docs for himself, by what others do for him, and
by what he docs for others. Faith in one's self, hope from
others' help, and charity for all mankind these arc the true
graces of human character. To be well made, the individual
must li self made. What you are yourself, not what you
have acquired from others, forms the foundation of vour char
acter. It is the message of God to your soul which, when
uttered by your lips, the world stoops to hear. Association,
like the constant intermingling of pebbles, but produces
symmetry and smooths the rough exterior of man. liduca
lion forms not, only reveals the hidden trcarurcs of the
mind. Genius must be an inherent quality. To the moun
tain peaks of greatness there arc no pathways he who would
reach the summit must clamber over rocks and scale the
rugged crags, relying alone upon the sheer, unyielding, ir
rcsistahlc power of the manhood wi bin him.
Tn the proper education of its citizens every state has a
remedy for its ills. Crime is but the result of misdirected
energy. Every person possesses capabilities for usefulness.
Every life, like a llock of marble, has within it a likeness of
Divinity, only awaiting so"e hand to clear away the rubbish
and lo! an angel stands revealed. Here is the mission of
society, to surround its members with those conditions best
fitted to bring out a full expression of their highest faculties.
The character of one age is the index of its successor. The
generation of to-day was fashioned by the hands of yester
day, and the present has the power to mould the
characters of to morrow. In no other way can the
true end of social existence be realized but by the
aim of each individual, both to develop his own powers, and,
as a member of society, to aid the development of every other
member.
The highest human advancement can be attained only by
assisting others. It is the turning of the souls' rays out, rather
than in, that illustrates and reveals the divinity of man. The
triumph of self-i enunciation is the grandest paradox of history.
"He who seeks to save his life shall lose it", can call forth
all ages to attest its truth. By his willing sacrifice of life for
principle, Christ became the inspiration of the world. Only
by the subjection of himself did Launfal find the Holy Grail.
Alexander and Cyrus, Caesar and Napoleon, are but the sym
bols of the old civilization, when the many were subservient to
the few; Luther and Montfort, Washington, Howard and
Garrison such arc the immortal names of history. Future
generations will cherish the memory of the poor priest who
left home and friends and devoted his life to aiding the
lepers, while many a man who has gained renown through
party service will.be buried in eternal oblivion.
The bitlcrcst enemy to the expression of individual
ism is the tyranny of public opinion. Society lashes the indi
vidual with its resentment if he departs from the path of
established custom, yet it is this very disregard of custom,
this pursuit of personal investigation, that moves the world.
When the current of opinion is flowing parallel with my inner
lile, conformity is strength, for to my own power is added
the force of others' thoughts. But when a man deserts his
heartfelt convictions and heeds the sentiment of the masses,
his individuality dies within him and he becomes a lifeless
block upon the path of progress. A great man cannot always
follow with the multitude. There must come a time in the life
of every individual when his conscience tells him the majority
is wrong. "These arc the times that try men's souls." A
corpse can float upon the wave, but strength and manhood arc
required to stem the tide. Better to be an exile braving Si
beria's storms for the cause of humanity than a plant minion
fawning at the feet of place and power. He who faces
opposition must often suffer calumny and abuse,
yet this is the common rejord of all reformers
whom the world calls great. The hands that sow
are not the ones that reap. The present plants with toil and
tears; the future gleans the harvest. By their own age, earth's
greatest benefactors are despised, rebuked, rejected; by the
next, their ashes arc collected, and embalmed among the hol
iest relics of the past. Yet it is well that society is constituted
as it is. Unless the dissenter has principles that will stand
the crucial test of criticism, they arc not worthy to exist.
Great souls ire strengthened bv .versity. The raging
storm but toughens the fibres oft, 10 oak. More expression
of personal conviction is needed in society to-day. Men of
thought and action arc n demand men of firm will and
steady purpose that having principles, dare maintain them.
Then let it strike home to every heart that only by self
reliance, self-subjection, and loyalty to principle, can the
individual attain unto the full measure of his powers. Let
society rise to her mission of individualism, a mission to be
effected only by the law of love. "I am my brother's keeper"
must be the universal sentiment of man, if the world is to be
lifted out of its vice and misery. When the voice of poverty
shall be heard in the palaces of -the rich, when the appeals
of the dwellers in darkness shall awaken a response in more
than an occasional heart, when the strength of the strong shall
be used always for the assistance, never for the oppression of
the wc:k then will individualism attain its most perfect de
velopment, and the crowning fruits of the new civilization
become a firm reality.
LIBERTY.
W- B. Millard, Ripon College, Beloit, Wis.
One of the first of the intangible things of life with which
we become acquainted is law. Almost as soon as the child be
gins to recognize the objects which he can sec and touch he
learns to understand the mother's gentle precept. He very
soon becomes aware that the rules of the nursery, and the
"must" and "must not' of the parents arc just as real as any
of the material objects that appeal to the senses. The first
time, too, that he puts his little hand against that which can
burn the fact is indelibly impressed upon his childish mind
that there is natural law as well as parental law, and that
when the laws of heat arc violated a burn is the result. As
we grow older and begin to reason about these things our
sense of the extent and scope of law expands. It increases
as does the horizon to the traveller in ascending from the
depths of a valley the peak of a lofty mountain. And as
we stand upon the summit of our thought, viewing the land
scape as it recedes into the hazy distance, and observe
that not only the physical world, but also the mental, moral,
social, political and spiritual worlds arc governed by fixed,
immutable laws, we begin to gain some conception as to the
magnitude of the realm of law.
If there is anything that seems to act with utter disregard
of all law it is the stray thought that darts into the mind,
coming unexpected, uninvited, unwelcome, it may be appar
ently from nowhere, and having no cause for its appearance.
But mental science tells us that the laws of thought are as clear
cut and as definite as the laws of mathematics. No particle of
matter ever gets so far away in space or exists for so long a
time that it is released from the laws of physics and chemistry.
There is no department of human activity that does not have
its code. When we step into th parlor we come within the
jurisdiction of the rules of etiquette. As we enter the count
ing room we find everything running smoothly along accord
ing to the laws of business. When we visit the shipping
wharves we observe that the hurry and bustle going on about
us is all directed by fixed rules. Our lofty court nouses,
gloomy jails and liveried policemen arc forcible reminders
of that most important branch of law which has for its aim
the protection of society, known as the criminal law. Within
the innermost consciousness of every man there is a still,
small voice that tells him at certain times that what he is
about to do is wrong. It tells him in language unmistakcablc
that his contemplated conduct is in violation of the great prin
ciplcs of righteousness. Men call it conscience, but a better
name is a Voice from Heaven.' This divine voice affords us
internal evidence of the most definite kind that there is mor
al law -law which in importance and authority transcends all
other obligations known to mankind.
In short, observation, philosophy and intuition combine to
impress upon us the fact that the domain of law must neces
sarily be as far reaching as space, and its period of operation
as perpetual as time. No flight of imagination can place us
beyond its reach. By no effort of the intellect can we con
ceive of a place, circumstance, condition or state of being, of
any kind whatsoever, that is not subject to its own peculiar
laws. Wherever we go, whatever we contemplate, we find
ourselves surrounded by omnipresent, unchangeable, eternal
law.
And how beneficent a thing is law! It gives us certainty
:or uncertainty. It gives to man that upon which he may de-
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