Mexico weekly ledger., 1883-08-30
What is Mani-Trae Grandeur Of
NOS Great Men. ,.,5,


gin when the foundations Of this old |
earth were laid and the morning stars
sang together. II will cease its fow
when creation lshudders in sublime
dismay, and in q blazing tempest
whirls away This river is the Nile
of Time. Floating on its bosom,
and borne upon its tide, from age to
age and century to = century, have
been great problems for each success
siye generation. TO answer. OF all
these questions. the one least solved,
and about which clusters the most
weird and fascinating interest, is
"What is mani" zsasrsv
The minstrel of old, as he stood
upon the tutored towers of Judean
temples, gazed out upon the food of
years and saw the monuments Of the
past sweep by In ruins. With awe
and reverence he looked upon the
jeweled coneave of the heavens, and,
feeling lost in his own littleness, cried
out, s'What is man?'' The sound
foated over the dark waters till 1t
reached the spires and minarets Of
Rome, and her old philosophers ech-
oed the cry, "What Is manT' Then
upon the winds the echo flew, until
the British poet, walking out under
the light Of midnight stars, contem-
plated the same subject. But the
question was not answered. Neither
did hills nor woods lift up their voices
to answer the unanswered echo which
had come down the ages. In despair
the wise poet exclaimed: 1
"Know then thyself! presume not God to
scan, - So ". ESQ
The proper study of mankind is man."
To-day, not only in the labratory
of science, but in every walk of life,
the same question is propounded.
Ages from now, when the things of
the present have no existence save in
history, the same problems will per-
plex. But what is man? What is
this complex contrivance we call man
From the banks of the historic Rhine
surrounded by nation whose uniyer-
sal lustre and many-sided brightness
eclipse contemporaries, comes the
voice Of science saying with author
ity, ''Man is but pinch of phospho-
rus and a bueketful of water.'' But
is this all of man? Is the bright be-
ing that we call man, and think pos
sessed of god-like reason and immor-
tai spirit, after all but mere human
machine? one whose atoms and con-
stituent elements can be analysed in
the cold crucible Of inexorable ex-
pertinent as any other combination o1
particles?
| AS the masses of men spread out
before us like great plain whose
dull uniformity is rarely broken ever
by the beauty Of wild flowers, as VIC
look at ourselves and those about US
who rush through life, and in this
great, busy, bustling, bewilderins
world never pause for a moment tt
think of the possible heights of hu
man attainment, whose highest idea
never rise above meat, drink, and ap
parel, who never see unfolded tht
splendid panorama of human destiny
in whose hearts minstrelsy nevel
opened the front of feeling; wht
never soar into those high and distan
realms of thought made accessible b,
the achievements of greater men
who have never trodden the height
of human thought and feeling, ant
read in their unwritten lines tn
greatness of humanity; when sucl
are the objects of our contemplation
we are tempted to say that the chem
ist was right. When, however, W
turn from them, and, looking upward
see rising against the horizon Of bis
tory those great characters whicl
tower above common men like tn
cloud-eapped submits Of the tall 81
erras above the wide extended plains
who have lived and labored for gres
purposes and accomplished them, W
deny the scientists assertion, and So
that man is something grander an
: more glorious than mere compoun
} of acids and gases. There is some
t thing about a great ehaActer-ther
. is that in great purposes there
that in the conception Of truth, thel
a is that in the discovery of and adh'
! renee to principles, which tells
that he is more than mere molecule
and atoms. Humboldt devoted b
. life to exploring the secrets OF mature
and the results were given to Il
: world in that glorious work, the Co
t mos. Shall we assert that he was OF
8 |ly base material compound7 Whe
: he stood upon the mountain OF su
$ cess, his long locks flowing in Il
d winds Of winter, and he about to el
ter the dark house, he made know
. the results Of his labors in proclaim
9 ling that great truth which estabishs
: bis fame, 'sThe universe is governs
a by law Shall we say that De
cartes, who, walking through t
), streets of Paris, his mind burdens
with thoughts Of his own idenht
T. suddenly saw his darkness illumine
le his problem solved, and With . so1
y proclaimed, 81 think, therefore,,
r am, was only q material compoun
II Far he IL from rs TO assert that The