Morning appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1877-1906, 1879-06-29
OF PROFESSOR D. r.
SESSIONS


tention of the thoughtful persons who long
since graduated from the schoolroom, but
whose life lessons will continue so long as
d lifes duties remain to them. We bespeak
careful perusal of this excellent essay
You are about to quit the scenes of your
youthful labors to enter upon the more active
duties of life Your part in the first act of the
drama has been performed. These diplomas
are your silent applause. AS the actor, after
the first flush of his Introductory role, sum
mons up his energies and concentrates his
thoug hts for the just portrayal Of his favOrlte
character, so 1t becomes you, about to partlcl-
pate lii the maturer acts of that grand drama
whose stage is the world and whose actors
mankind, to look also to your equipments so
that when startling events crowd thick upon
you toward the issue you may await the drop
ping of the curtain with calm satisfaction and
a dlSnified assurance of a well played part.
At this epoch in your career, | would be
gratied could | offer you any valuable sug
gestions. We're | able to day to strengthen
you in anywise for the solution of our COM
pick life problem, the memory of this occasion
would be the gladdest souvenir | could cOvet.
The excellent tutorship you have enjoyed
and the cleverness you display gives
y L
for the measure of your information than for
your acquired power OF thought. our capaC-
ity for analysis and generalization ought to be
the means of making you happy. But this
coy fugitive, in whose chase we never grow
weary or faint, is not excitement not eXhiler-
alton, not ecstasy. True happiness is nowhere
to be found but in calm intimacy with our
selves, and in a wholesome appreciation OF
things for what they are. He is happy who
is contented who IN the selfish swirl of hu-
manity, amid the strife for pelf and position
out of which pomp and impertlnence rise into
ephemeral existence, feels no sense of shame or
regret that he is not listed with the fayorites
of fortune, who has that within which enables
him to survey the field of petty conflict with
out heartburnings or envy, recognizing none
to whom he should Cringe or whom he should
fear.
In the cultivation of the mind we discover
source of selfrespect and contentment which
are, at once, the base and pinnacle OF happl-
ness Yet, as you are no doubt aware,
tain French philosopher wrote an essay once
to p owe that the study of the arts and
sciences has not tended to make people hap
pier How much the force of ingenious rhet-
contribute to this decision we can not, now,
determine We naturally infer, however, that
our proposition at some point or other may
not altogether be undebateable. This much
we admit There are certain conditions OF
men among whom 1t would not be safe to pre-
dict happiness as the result of mental culture
Indeed, the picture of the " natural man is
one upon which we may dwell with pleasure.
But ours is not state of nature. Civilization
is artificial. We must, therefore, to some ex-
tent be creatures of art ourselves. As for the
aboriginee, the poor Indian,
ITO be content his natural desire:
He asks angels wing seraph's fire;
But thinks admitted to that equal SKY.
HsfathGul dog will bear him company
We are not disposed to cavil with our phil
osopher as regards his forest children,
communities of the untutored mind. They
are as fixed in their state, though animate, as
the trees and rocks of their primeval homes.
Such a condition is no doubt much to be de-
sired by those who in higher sphere of social
existence can find no refuge in themselves
from that hydra headed bugbear, the Unequal
tiles of civilized life.
Education develops US. Out of the chryso-
lis condition it elevates US into a new and diff
ticult sphere. Increase of knowledge, of
course, brings perpleXlties with it, whereas
we might have had no thought but for the
Enlightenment itself makes our life
a problem 1t would seem then that for us
calm of the aboriginal mind it must be re
stored to us; it must be regained by inteli |
gent introspection. The possibility of 50 happy |
a result is established. In the lives of the |
of the past as well as of the pres
ent their wisdom is as clearly manifested i'll |
the serenity of their minds as III the ma iesty |
of their thought. 1t is not a prOfusOn OF |
literary accomplishments that we need. We |
require the scales of blurred vision removed |
from our eyes. The limit of our possible |
we must fix. To know what we
may know is grander than all speculation.
Yet we are told that reason is the grave of
if so, enthusiasm is nobly buried
Give us the conditions of the proposition that
we must all demonstrate for ourselves and we
will undertake the demonstration; but if any
essential condition is Withheld the demonstra-
ton is above and beyond us. Why shock our
brains with ETHEREAL puzzles We
but make ourselves the sport of confusion
when we endeavor to find ont what we are to
be hereafter, or whether, hereafter, we shall
be at all. Let the unknowable rest with the
unknown. The planets personified in story
once vOuchsafed disclosure of the mysteries
Of our being to the diScOrdant and wranging
sects of man. A sealed casket, in which was
deposited a single answer to thousand per-
picking questions, was intrusted to the care of
the Academy of Sciences at Paris. The wis
men of the world we're called together to re-
,eive the promised revelation. The seal was
broken in their presence, and the oracular box
was found to contain sheet Of 6idttE paper
Sarcasm, harsh, perhaps, but wel-founded.