Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1885-11-28

4 us0 bctn NO4inhCd W Vic Old1udIl
of business and acquisition, it may be
doubted if his mind would ever have con-
ceived scheme whose boundaries so coin.
eide with the rim of the world On if his
life were prolonged to the mythic period
of the patriarchal time, and he had beer
three hundred years instead of twenty-five
in acquiring his vast estates it may be
doubted if his imagination would have re-
tanned such elasticity. There is something
in it as you look at it on paper, on the
landscape, or in the heavens, of the
brilliancy of fortune, OF challenge to
Providence. 1t comes as easily as thunder
out of heaven, or as the ocean bears the
ships, or as tram goes through the heart
of mountain. The plan bears the i'm
preston Of the projectors mind, his expe-
rience, his discipline, his way of doing
things. Not that there is any haste, or
friyolity in handling weighty matters, for
there is none; but kind Of never-in-a-
hurry magnificence of decision. The great
foundation bears the marks of the person.
atty of the founder. As he was the pro-
duct of the period, so the fashion of the
endowment is the product of his expert
ence in affairs
Of course it requires no wisdom, but is a
platitude of the stupid or the envious
alike, to say that the success Of so grand q
conception depends on growth, discipline
and wise administration. There will be a
difference of opinion among those compe-
tent to judge, in regard to the distribution
OF responsible authority for the govern
ment Of an institution embracing such a
wide range of study, such variety of in
tellectual endowment and pursuit, from a
head-farmer in the open air to an independ-
ent observer like Tyndall in the secret and
silence Of the laboratory; from an engineer
like Stephenson or Eads to a philosopher
like Herbert Spencer or Emanuel Kant.
The object of great community Of learn
ing is study, thought, truth. 1t is to see
facts and things with the mind and not
with the senses only, to think according
to the laws of thought and thus discern the
relation between facts and between things
and finally to stretch forth into unknown
realms to learn what is in the nature of
things and beings-truth. 1t may be
doubted whether community devoted to
such purposes and aims can be governed
by one man-whether the idea of such
community can be carried out under such
administration. 1t is not band Of labor
ers, any one to be discharged at the will
of the overseer; it is an intellectual com
munity Of great variety of occupation and
genius that can be governed only by an in
tellectual consensus. It is a commonwealth
Of the mind, and it is Of the very nature
Of the mind to resent the viii of any man.
Education has business side, but it is not
business, and it may be doubted if it can
be managed as business is managed 1t is
not the field Of main strength, nor of go
and he goeth, and come, and he cometh.
1t is the field of intellectual and moral
convictions, thought and truth, and the
government of it is not vested in accurate
decisive authority, bnt in that indefnablo
pervasive power that we call influence.
In setting forth some principles of great
social import that shall be taught in the
future University, Mr.. Stanford has touched
the keynote of the modern time. Irefer to
the principle of cooperation. To this
principle it appears to me the best minds
are looking for the solution of some of the
most complex social and industrial prob
lens. But little is understood of it be-
yond the name, and that is often taken to
mean the combination of one association
against another, which amounts to little
more than obstruction, and running down
chickens with foxes. In its true sense and
quality it is charging the area of justice
over a domain that has been alternately
lost and won by selfshness, since Cain the
farmer killed Abel the cattleman That
a distinguished American citizen, on whom
has descended the prosperity of an epoch
in affairs. should incorporate 1t in the
foundation of a great school, charged to
call to its aid the best minds in christen-
dom, is prophetic event of promise and
nope IN ..lhe history of our time. 1t gives
room for hope that reason and intelligence
and justice win assuage the passions of
men, and that common interests may yet
coincide with common good.
It is natural for us all to inquire concern
ing any great public interest, What are its
moral foundations? What theory of the
world, human life and human destiny does
it assume Does it assume God and man,
as it assumes the earth it stands on, with
out saying so? Does it move on lines of
human responsibility, as naturally as we
talk? 1t would seem sometimes that the
eagerness with which men demand that it
shall be proclaimed. that God is here, is
presumption that they are not well ac
quainted with Him Great convictions,
like conscience, are not worn on the sleeve.
There can be no doubt of the depth, sin
cerity and reverence of Mr.. Stanferd's
religious convictions. In his address to
his Trustees, which must be regarded as
explanatory of his intentions, and held as
a part Of his act, are these memorable
words, which color the whole scene of his
conduct, and without which the impressive
occasion would have been as landscape
without sky The object tof this insti-
tution) is not alone to give the student
technical education, fitting him for a sue
cessful business life, but it is also to instil
into his mind an appreciation of the bless
ings of this Government, reverence for