Goshen College - Maple Leaf Yearbook (Goshen, IN)

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1910 GOSHEN COLLEGE RECORD. 153 purposes and works of the greatest lit- enary masters, we observe mucfh vari- ety in their contributions to life. Shakespeare aimed to portray every subtle characteristic of human nature, but presented also a worthy philoso- phy of life, Ytfordswloirt-h aimed to study the mystery of man's relation to nature and God, but in doing so gave us sermons of deepest spiritual truthg Tennyson in his elegy, in Mlem' oriam, aimed to Study the painful suf- ferings of a sorrowing heart and taught us the necessity of a final child- like confidence in a great Godg Burns poured forth his spontaneous inspira- tion in lyric song and in doing so por- trayed the beapty of the lowly and hvonest lifeg in tihe same manner Browning and George Eliot aimed to fathom the secret processes of human, thought, but gave a greater legacy of life lessons on love and sincerity. The productions of these authors are mark- ed with great sincerity and by a su- perior view of life and its meaning. They lived and toiled primarily for their ant and thus gave to the world the pnoducts of their loftiest inspira- ti-on. But the way through which the prophet of literature brings his mes- sage to perfection and world recogni- tion is not one of ease. He must Find an avenue of expression that will ap- peal to the disposition of the reading public. If his works are creative in form and content, it is possible they shall not at once be acceptedg yet this fact should never discourage an au- thor in his attempt to produce what he considers the most valuable contribu- tio-n to civilization. T The greatest creaitive genius may be rejected by his own generation, but that is no final indication that he is unworthy or that his productions will not live. In rare cases he may be a man whose life is uneven and faulty bu't that fact does not take away the truth of his message or pnove that it came fro-m unworthy inspiration. The fact that a literary master is human and is consequently a v-ictim of ordinary lhuman passions should not cast a blot upon a produc- tion that came into form during his best moments. It is his message and it contribution, to the problems of life that we must consider in our judg- ment. E The everlasting voices of literature are those who' persist in expressing the deepest feelings of the heart in the most natural form of expression. As we glance at the wellworn volumes in our libraries our eyes fall upon the names of the noblest characters of the ages Whose persistent influence burns deeply into our lives. They lirved and toiled in a world of changing emotions, rejoicing or weeping in sympathy with their brother men, struggling through poverty or neglect, but leaving on their stained pages words of undying power for coming generations. They breathed forth messages that should have found a reception in the hearts of their own brethern but wfhose greater interpretation and power was destined for men of the future. 'We have noted the processes through which literary masterpieces are creat- ed, the prophetic insigiht and passion- ate convictions which compel the author's ihand, the pathetic situation of those whose lives are burned out for the world and whose eftiorts are not appreciated until they are goueg but a far more inspiring thought is fContinuecl on page 1741

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152 GOSHEN COLLEGE RECORD. JUNE desire of his heart. Should he fail to express the ideas which spring up so spontaneously, his life would be filled with bitterness. He would cry in the words o'f Jeremiah: 'fHis words are in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, I am weary with forbear- ing and I can not stay . The libraries of our land are full of the life messages of conscientious authors. These numerous volumes treat of every conceivable topic with- in the range of human thought. Only a c-hoice few, however, are destined to live for the satisfaction of subsequent generations. Naturally the question arises: XVhat is the reason that so few literary productions are of univer- sal value? The most simple answer is, that only a few authors are real prophets of literature, only a few have found the secret power which is nec- essary to produce living messages. This power is not a superficial magic, which may be sought and used for sel- fish purposes, but it is an internal power which springs from a large grasp upon life and from a motive of service to humanity. The litera- ture which lives is created in the best moments of its author, and from the his soul. VVhen a pro- from, such a motive a source its contents will make an aplpeal to the lives of men, it will possess an inherent force that moves and strengthens the waver- ing characters of those who hear, and it will live continuously as a valuable contribution to human progress. The purpose of a truly conscientious author is of the purest nature. He is primarily concerned, not about tlhe fin- ancial and aesthetic value of his pro- purest light in duction spring and from such ductions, but about the contribution he is making to the serious needs of mankind. He aims to reproduce ideas which have lifted his own soul to a more satisfactory plane of life and which to him seem necessary for the development of a fully rounded char- acter. Sometimes, however, it is im- possible for him to analyze his mo- tive. Ideas piess upon him with mar- velous imperative. They have burned themselves into his being and are clamoring presistently for expression. He feels their force in his soul and only knows that they are valuable to himself. He can not determine the extent of their value to other men. His hand seems to be ilmpelled by a hidden force and he writes words of marvelous and passionate power. Finally his manuscript is complete but he hardly knows the process through which it came into form.. His production is also published and he is overwhelmed with surprise when the literary world hails him as a genius. Again we ask where is the secret of that mysterious power? For an an- swer we must fathom the mental pro- cesses of that mind and determine the spiritual forces which called those thoughts into expression. VV'hether an author has a definite purpose in mind, where he aims tio satisfy some special need of hufmanity or whether hewrites from a mysterious impulse the sub- lime thoughts that press upon him, his work may have the same significant value to the world. The purpose hbvvever, must be blended with a liv- ing message and only then will the author's name be placed among the masters of literature, llfhen we endeavor to analyze the

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154 GOSHEN COLLEGE RECORD. JUNE The Trend of Modern Civilization . .X -X X WILLIAM W. OESCH, A. B. fMajor Subject History.J It has been said that the proper sturdy of mankind is main. One of the most interesting phases of this study is h-is cifvilizatifon, that is, the study of the processes through whlich he has passed antd of the institutions and ideals he has fostered, in his effort to elevate himself into a higher plane of thought, deed, and aspiration. Gen,- erally speaking the civilization of an age or ofapeople iinds its clearest ex- pression in the institutions that if fosters and perpetuates. If this be true, in our efforts to arrive at a fair- ly good understanding o-f a-n age we have only to study well its institu- tions. political, social, intellectual, moral and industrial. As the politi- cal organization of society-that is the state-does probably the most to insure pemanenoy to all others, it shoul'd perhaps receive clrief con,- sideration. ' There is no age in which we should be more interested than the prese-nrt. The fact that irt is the one in which we live, that it is the one whose vitality We share, that it is the one Whose pulse-beats We feel the most keenly, makes it amply wforth while that We should attempt to understancl it. We are interested in past cilviliza- tions, it is true, but only to the extent that they help us to understand the present, and as they serve as mile stones, indi-ca.tin,g the path that man has traveled in his upward trend. It is a rather comfmon-place idea that our present civilization, is based upon the Hebrew and Graeco-Roman. But any one Who wiill attempt a compari- son of our present institutions and ideals with those of former civilliza- tions, whether in the near or remote past, will soon realize that the main features of our present civilization are quite unique and exceptional. We need but go black several 'hundred years in the history of Europe until we arrive at that period Where the insti tutions that survived from the classical or previous ages encountered and passed thnough a veritable maelstrom. New institutions arose differing in many instances vastly fro-m their pro- totypes. VVherein then does the uniqueness of our modern clivilization lie? One of fthe most striking exceptional fea- tures of it lies in t-he new anld exalted value it has placed upon the indivi- dual. Under the old civilization the in- dividual existed for the state, his good was made subserviant to that of the state. In Greece we find that the