fJ 1} ii ADDRESS -OF­ w·. S. HERNDON, OF TYLER, BEFORE THE LITERARY SOCIETIES -OF THE­ UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, AT AUSTIN, JUNE 14TH, 1887. PRESS OF CITY PRINTING COMPANY, AUSTIN. ­ I1 ADDRESS -OF­ W. S. HERNDON, Of Tylr·r, Befo1·e the Litei.,1ry Societies of the Uwi1·c1·sity of Texas, at Austin, Jnne 11,, 1887. There must l>e a thought before a thing-the abstraet., then the concrete. There are two central ideas that prevade all known intelli­gence: God and His attributes, and man aR a moral ancl intellectual citizen of earth . In the consideration of these ideas, man finds the measure and limit of his highest ability and an opportunity to indulge his fancy. While the one com­mands our wonder and admiration, and kindles in our hearts the most sublime devotion, the other inspires with the desire to know ourselves, to discover the hidden secrets of nature; to enjoy the beatitudes of this life and to triumph over every foe that impedes our progress toward the goal of man's highe~t destiny. \Ve may pursue with pleasure study of the former, feeding our faith and hopes of ultimate good, until we enjoy the full fruition of His ineffable love vouchsafed to man; or we may consider the latter, in his individual and social life, as a moral and sentient being, and follow him to the earthly goal created by himself, and there part with him as a friend and fellow citizen under the belief that he will enter upon a grander life beyond. As centers of thought, one is infinite, the other finite. Around these all other ideas revolve and gravitate to them, as the end and limit of their creation. The finite is a part, the infinite the wltole. The finite is tending towards the infinite, and finds supreme enjoyment in its never ending progress towards the grand center of all things that exist. Our chief aim in this life is to comprehend the one and to love and obey the other, which offers the most ample opportunity for useful lives. The universe is God's great workshop, at once complete and stu­pendow::, but withal perfect, harmonious and wonderful as Himself. The earth is the vast workshop created for man. H ere is the threatre of his toil-the field in which his efforts find their true measure and reward. Here he must think, plan and execute. The forces of nature must be ascertained, sub­dued, and the results appropriated to secure that success to which he is entitled. As an individual, he is weaker and less able in the beginning of life to combat repellent forces than the !:>east of the fi eld ; yet he possesses t.he power of thought and self-direction, which enahles him to choose the best means of attacking and overcoming the forces that resist his pro­gressive march in the scale of being. He possesses the power of creative genius, and a conversatism which enables him to make and res~rve the results of his aequisitions, to provide a reserve fund of knowledge and wisdom; and by these means, adding to his power a progressive force which tends to elevate the race to higher planes of greatnei;;s. Here is to be found one of the distinctive differences between man and all other beings. He not only possesses the power of creative genius, but inherits the conscious power of manhood which dominates his life as an inward force, and impels him onward in the progress of his being. He finds within himself the inistinct of power-the consciousness of infinity, a relation between the great centers of thought, a responsivt: current between them, which makes him scorn nature's laws or blessings as an ultimate evil or good. The true man feels the inspiration of a higher life within; and that he possesses the power of self­perpetuation on earth and the capacity to subdue its forces and to appropriate them to his own use. In his relation to earth and himself, he has ever been, and will, no doubt, con­tinue to be, the most interesting and most difficult problem for solution. He is the chief center of interest, the sum total in every epic, in every great enterprise that seeks success, in the arts, sciences and philosophy, and in all the creations of genius. If left out, the plot is marred, and though otherwise a. masterpiece, it is doomed to failure. The true and perfect man, in possession of all his faculties, conscious of his indi­viduality and manhood, reflecting in himself the image of God linked in the chain of creation to the great first cause, is an exalted being. His mind may become a kingdom filled with wealth and power. Such a mind, well stored and bal­~mced, occupies a place far above the riches and princely powers of the rulers of nations. Small, indeed, are the mag­nates of the earth, whose greatness is founded on brute force and material WP.alth, when compart>d with the fame of genius and conscious manhood. The one lives in a narrow cirde, is loved or hated by turns, as success or defeat turns the balance and passes away with the breath which lifted to temporary power; while the other creates a force which, once set in motion, runs with and becomes a part of the destiny of the race. \Ve have a mission on earth which demands of us, at the beginning of an active life, decisive action. We must choose for ourselves a vocation which must be pursued in urder to attain success. There is a special work for each and enough for all; and we are endowed with the ability to discern that work and the power to perform it. Hence, we should not hesitate to select as early as possible a life work. We find ourselves opposed at en·r.v step in our march to the highest good, and this opposition i,.; the resistance pre­sented by the laws of matter and mind, being so created and devised that they are hidden from man. It requires effort to unlock the doors of nature and become master of her secrets. But the fact that God gave the earth and its fullness to man as an inheritance, carries with it the iole masters of the means of success. You will, therefore, be able to fix a limit to your own usefulness, just as you can see a larger area by ascending a mountain. Every step toward the top gives you a more extended view. While this is true of individuals, it is not leHs true of nations. The citizen is stronger and capaLle of exerting a force in direct proportion to the amount of correct knowledge and wisdom he may pos­sess; and the power of a nation for protection, defense, ex­pansion and progress, is limited by the amount of correct knowledge and wisdom in the possession of its population. :Ko amount of "·ar material in the hands of an ignorant and besotted people will make them strong; while a small country, with a few people with virtue, knowledge and wisdom, may prove invincible. This doctrine is limited, however, to cor­rect knowledge and its proper application. Correct knowledge alone is not enough. Like dyuamite or electricity, it requires a force to put it in motion. What the lighted fuse is to dyna­mite and the electric button is to electricity, wisdom is to knowledge. Wisdom, therefore, is higher that knowledge. It is the ability to rightly use knowledge. The one is the means, and the other is the agent that directs these means. The­forrr.er is the dormant force-the sleeping giant; the latter­awakes that force into activity. Hence, you must do more: ADDRESS OF W. S. HERNDON. than acquire knowledge: you must posses;,; the power to make it your servant. It is often said there is a '' learned fool," ~'an educated dunce,'' ''a walking library." All this means that some one has accumulated a "large amount of knowledge -correct knowledge, it may be-but he is unable to use it. In his hands it possesses no power. It is a dormant force-this toil without purpose, the acquisition of much wealth without the sense to utilize it. The preamble to one of your societies explains in part this idea. In referring to your aims it says : " To realize the advantages to be rleri ved from the discipline of literary society, and to acquire a skillful use of tongue and pen;" in other words, you propose to become able to use knowledge wisely in the struggle for success in life. First, the abstract, then the concrete. The idea must first exist in the mind, then follows the development. The mind takes jurisdiction, gives shape, works out the pattern, all the parts are seen, and a co11clusinn must be reached before the thing is produced. The conception is originatPcl, then re­solved into parts, reconstruct.eel as a whole, and pronounced fit for material, constmctinn or application. This mental fabric may be beautiful or deformed, perfect or defective. As created in the mind, so ~twill appear when wrought out. Few men are able to trace the processes of their own thought, yet thiR attainment is necessary to become trained thinkers. Itis claimed that not more than ten students in every million of our population, who pass through apoli;;;hed university course of training, fit themselves for worl(in this field. And of those who are thus fitted to undertake this delicate work, not over Rix hundred annually, out of sixty million of people, attempt it. The honors awaiting success, where so few ~an be enlisted to toil, are very great. The student who fits himself for and seeks this lofty station is worthy of the highest consideration by the State. Those who have done the thinking for man­kind are few indeed. They are the moral and intellectual props of our race in its efforts to perpetuate its existence and make possible its greatness. \Ve point to them as the repre­sentatives of intelligence and manhood in their day and nation. The major part of mankind possesses neither the opportunity nor desire to rise very high in life. The few who possess such an ambitinn, work out nearly all the great plans for the amelioration of our race. The university is the patron of the student who seeks to be an original thinker. It offers the best help to lift him in his efforts to rise above the restraints and opposing forces that tend to fetter his steps. It is true that a creation of genius may and sometimes does emanate from un­trained minds, yet it constitutes the exception to the general rule. The progressive people of this age could not afford to· depend upon untrained thinkers to pilot the advancing column of our grand army of civilization. The universities of this country are not of doubtful value. They are unknown quan­tities, but they are necessities to an intelligent and progressive people, and must be permanent and receive a liberal support. They fit and train the advancing force, the pioneers and path­finders, who constitute the intelligent guides to our great pop­ulation. A force ofyoung me.n must be trained and equipped, and sent out of this university annually, that will aid largely in moulding and controlling the destiny of the people of this great State. Which one of yon has laid out a plan of life work for your own and your country's good? Who of you have caught the spark of imperishable ambition and will fan it into a blaze, to light the pathway ofthe generations to come? Some one of your number may have already traced the outlines of a creation of genius, which, when wrought out, will astonish and bless mankind. Moses was allowed to view lands full of wealth, a country teeming with all that could minister to the comfort and happiness of man in that day, but he was drnied the priv­ilege of actually possessing that goodly land. Yet Moses had originated a campaign, had organized a force, and put it in motion. His plans were executed by other hands, and the land of Caanan was <.:hanged to the land of Judea, and became the theatre of some of the most remarkable events that live in history. Yon may originate a thought that you will never be ahle to habilitate and fully materialize, but your successors will do EO, and with it your name will be coupled for all time. The possession of such creative genius, and the ability to comprehend self, our relation to others, to our Creator, and to be master of the forces about us, is to hold the highest. earthly position. The possessor is every inch a king; he is truly a monarch of all he surveys. The princes of this world, who command armies and navies, and wear crowns of gold and diamonds, without this power may aspire in vain, but can never hold such lofty place. The one is destined to rule but an hour, and, with the loss of power, he ceases to be, while the other has exerted a power, embodied and put in motion a new force that starts upon a career that may expand and in­crease for the good of man until the end of time. The love of victory is strongly developed in our race. To be master of mind and matter offers to our ambition the highest incentive to effort. God rules the spiritual and created things of the Universe by wisdom; and we see conservatism, perfection and harmony reign everywhere. While man rules mind and matter by wisdom and force, his is a mixed code. This springs from want of a perfect knowledge of that which is. We are­on the progressive march from the lower to the higher positions in life. We view the lofty heights in the distance which must be ascended and possessed if we succeed. Do you aspire to possess the power of creative genius. the ability to embody a force which, when fully wrought out, shall elevate and in­crease the happiness of mankind? Do you realize that in this field the largest reward is promised? Here you may toil with the strongest assurance of ultimate success. All Divine laws are truth. The fixed laws that regulate matter are truth ; and all human laws ought to be founded on truth. The com­position of all forces and laws of earth, when concentrated and focalized, are represented in man, and produce their legit­imate effect through him. He is the true type, the represen­tative of all that is on the gloue, the common center from which all ideas radiate, and about him they revolve and find their limit and p11rpose. It is my purpose to make you sensi­ble of your high prerogative as a citizen of earth, of the true value of the powers with which you are endowed, and your vast ability to know and appropriate the grandest results of your being. To impress upon you the fact that as individuals without estates, without prestige and family record, without encouragement from the State, and without physical prowess, you may, through your acquisition of knowledge and wisdom,. hold a place and exercise an influence that will command the respect and admiration of all mankind. I would have you to he original thinken:, possessing the powers of creative genius, and to stand out as the grandest men in the age of history. Allow me to illustrate my theme by passing in review before you some of the mighty results that have been the outgrowth of original thought. The University of Texas, as we find it to-clay, is not up to its full original conception, but represents it in part only. The thought was conceived more than forty years ago. It was, no doubt, nursed in the mind for years. The splendid structure "·as vi\'idly seen, filled with ambi­tious ::;tudents to the manner born, directed by professors of le:uning and worth, patronized by a great people, and fostered and supported by the g°'·ernment. The mind that gave birth to this thought has long since passed away, but he embodied a force and started it upon its grand mission. Other kindred spirits grasped the idea with willing hat1ds, put it into our first Constitution, and thm; it has been expanded and increased until to-day you find it the first institution of the land. Who will undertake to say what this in::;titution may not be, and what it may not accomplish for the State and nation? It is in its infancy now, hut under proper direction and support, it will stand out, in the future, as one of the noblest monuments t) the genius of man. The value of thought that gave life and expansion to this institution will be a fruitful problem for solu­tion among the generations that are yet to liYe upon the plains of this great State. Ifyou trace the lines of history back to periods and countries where you find ruined cities, deserted temples, fallen walls, and ieaning pyramids, you will find the voice of learning as silent as their desolation. There are but few objects, the creation of ge:nius, which mark the period of thousands of years. These represent the highest type of learning in the age that gave them birth, and were generally erected by slaYes, under the decrees of the reigning prince, to perpetuate his name and power. The masses of the people did not share in the respect and admiration of these monu­ments to power. They pointed to them as they did to their masters, who had oppressed and riYeted upon their limbs chains of slavery. In those ages and among those people ADDRESS OF W. S. HERNDON. where the greatest piles were raised, ser\'ing no purpose, ex­cept to proclaim the power and name of a king, they repre­sented ·a grinding power which has dominated over the vast majority of the human race in every age of the world. Men now point to them with foe!ingB of awe and pride, as the v..-ork of a great people in a grander age than ours. I confess they produce in my mind no charms and no feelings of loYe -Or admiration. I view them as mile-stones standing along t'.1e highways of past ages, marking the distance from the last exaction of power over a people struggling for a higher and better civilization. The travelers of to-clay sail around the globe and pause before the relics of the past, and write books filled with fairy descriptions of the genius, learning and gran­deur of those effete and buried nations. I would iather spend one year of travel among a live, free, liberty-loving, literary, God-fearing people, who are mastering the forces and engaged in ameliorating and elevating the C'On­dition of men, than a whole lifctune among the downtrodden and ignorant 11eoplP of the Ea1;t, who haYe discarded knowl­edge, eschewed wisd:1m, and expelled God from all their plans of life. 'fhe real mission of man had not dawned npon the race when such structures were posl'ible. The age in which we live will never give birth to the icka of brute force, \\'hich was the real author of many of the structures of the pnst ages. We have accompfo:hed more tor the g:ood of man in the last two hundred years than the whole race had done prior to that time. 'Ve pause to-day before t.hc history of the people and nations long since dead, and wonder how they lived so long and to such little purpose. Few, indeed, arc the creatio11s of genius that otand out amidst the desolation of that long and dreary period. The higher culture of the mind was not thought of as a force in working out the destiny of man. On the contrary, physical prowess and brute force were resorted to as of the highest value. The few spots along the ages where the mind received some culture and training became the lighthou::;es of the world, to pilot the sluggish eolums of ignorant humanity in its onward march. The Jews were hardly an exception, for while they did much, and perhaps more than any other people in that dark period, still they could not claim to be sole authors of the purpose and plan which effected the result. For instance, the Temple of Solomon, erected. in the capital of Judea, which was the masterpiece of architectme yet produced by men, cannot be justl,v claimed by the Jews. It once existed as ~ n original thought. It was the creation of Omnipotence. The pattern wrought out of that thought was delivered to man by God, and when this creation was materialize and fbating gardens, but, like the charms that adorn them, they are tempornry in their nature and leave nothing durable for those who shall follow. Permit to illus­trate this idea. Take the profession of law. Itstands among the foremost, if not first, in all the land, and can numher with­in its ranks a rnst majority of the legislators who have made the laws of this conntry. This profession presents alniost a barren field for original thought; here the law is already made; it is administered by f:'IYOrn officers; on eYery issue of law there is an agreement as to what it is, or the lawyers on either side differ; then precedents are inn,ked, and the court is of the opinion that stare dccisis shall still rule. There is no room for original thought. The court, attorneys and jury stri\'e to rPach one truth. not create new laws, but to find out the exact law aln,ady made. The pnifession offers, perhaps, the finest field for discipline of our rea~oning faculties, but Josters neither genius nor originalty. You may become mas­ters of the profession and reach the position of great arl ,·ocates, but the limit of every effort is to state what is, or what has been, rather than what may or ought to exist. Again, take the \'O<..:ation .of the clergy. This is the highe~t and most ex­alted position in life, and, withal, the most responsible and useful, but the Yery nature of the mission forbid::; the creation of new revelations to take the place of the old. The Gospel of Salvation, the words of life spoken to men orally over eigh­teen years ago, then reduced to writing, ·contain the principles of faith then announced and to which we all cling as the truth. The nearer we· approach the exact words an