But my time, if not your patience, fails me: so I leave it as a hint for future thought, and will in conclusion utter a few words of courage and hope for mankind, which each event of to-day seems to strengthen and enlarge. Yes, it is no longer fitting, that for the future we should have few hopers and many fearers. Nay, rather let us all join hands to-day, and form a great Electric Cable of Hope, that shall stretch from sea to sea, from shore to shore.
For it is certain, then, that the planet upon which God has placed us, is absolutely well fitted for the development of the human race. The more Science investigates, the more wonderful seems the adaptation of Human Nature to the world in which it is placed. The more refined a man becomes, the more delicate his insight into Nature, the more satisfied, the more overjoyed is he with her exhaustless charms. It is only our sin, our folly, our ignorance, which perpetually befools us, and robs us of our inheritance.
When the great coming race, prophesied of so long, shall at last inhabit the earth, they shall see no more glorious stars, no bluer atmosphere, than we do to-day; the moon shall pour forth no more silver from her bounteous horn; the sun shall lavish his golden rays no more freely, than he does to-day. But yet the whole world shall be unimaginably brighter and more beautiful to that crowning race. And why? Because their natures shall be in tune with the outward universe; their eyes and ears, and all their senses, shall be unimaginably more acute than ours; their bodies shall be perpetual sources of joy to them, and their souls shall be awake to knowledge, truth and love.
If our eyes were endowed with magnifying powers equal to that of some colossal telescope, how would the dome of heaven expand into inconceivable dimensions, the stars would be seen to be scattered along the sky like the sands upon the sea-shore. Each bright particular star would be magnified a thousand times, seeming vastly larger, and yet vastly more distant. The whole concave of heaven then would appear a thousand times larger than it does to our eyes, that is, it would appear a thousand times over more like its real size, though even then, eyes thus grandly gifted would fall immeasurably short of the reality of the universe which lies in the bosom of God! Now that great race of the future shall have their nature so in tune with things, and their spiritual conceptions so enlarged, that the great world shall be realized in its vastness, so much more vividly than we can conceive of it, that it shall be as if their material eye were exalted to the power of Lord Rosse's telescope.
Put together the fragments of men that we have amongst us to-day,—the physical joy in existence of the western hunter, the intellectual keenness of the man of science, the love of Nature of the artist or poet, the love for each little bird and insect of the naturalist, the justice of a Washington, the love for God and man of a Florence Nightingale, and then we gain some glimpses of the men of the future whom God has willed shall possess the planet at last. For assuredly the race is safe, though nations or individuals may fail and perish. Safe, because God has not built the planet in vain; safe, because his long patience shall have its full satisfaction at the last. How shall these things be? God will give this blessing to human labor directed by truth and love.
From partial and one-sided cultivation of Human Nature, partial and one-sided results can alone ensue. The commencement of this glorious era will date from the first complete education of all the manifold nature of man. The grand work once inaugurated, by the wondrous law of hereditary descent, natures completer and nobler on all sides will be the heritage of the next generation, by virtue of their birth, and so on in stately progression each generation shall expand and transmit a larger power to the generation that succeeds it; and at last the grand universe of matter shall put the world of man to shame no longer, but man with God's image shining through him, shall be seen to be worthy of the glorious nature in whose bosom he dwells.
See to it then, Educators! that young Human Nature has its due. See to it that conscience and the soul have their rightful supremacy, that intellect and sweet human affection walk hand in hand. And lastly, see to it, Educators! that these young bodies have their due. Learn for yourselves numberless manly sports and games, and resolutely continue to teach them and practise them yourselves in the midst of your scholars. Love open air and exercise yourselves first; this love will be contagious, and will communicate itself to those around you. No atom of true dignity will be lost, and a priceless fund of good humor will be gained for yourself, and a mutual good feeling will be established forever between you and your scholars. Do this, and we shall no longer hear of schoolmasters becoming old men before they are forty; but the schoolmaster will be known as the youngest looking, healthiest and happiest man in the district.
Upon us, my friends, more than upon any other class of men, this great, this lamentably neglected duty devolves. We are to see to it that young limbs and lungs have their rights; we must make men understand that it will be a sin against God, if they do not have their rights; a sin, whose punishment is as certain as the law of gravitation. And more, it must be our task to make men understand the inevitable blessing which is sure to descend upon the keeping of God's commandments written upon the body.
Schoolmaster in country village! whose two dollars per diem are begrudged and shaved down by some committee of boobies! whose lot, may-be, is additionally blessed by the privilege of boarding out among the exceedingly willing inhabitants of the district! upon thee no foolish word of pity shall fall from lips of mine! Thee no wise man will pity, but rather bid thee be of good cheer and play the man! Witness thou, in thy little corner of the great world, for all Human Nature. See thou that each part has its due, in the little flock of which thou art shepherd. Be faithful to thy sacred trust, and eyes yet unborn shall shine with the truth-light which thou didst first impart. Yea, generations shall rise up and call thee blessed! By thee the young nerves, and limbs, and brain shall be loved, and pitied, and understood. Thou, like another Greatheart, shalt shield them from ignorance and wrong. To thee no word of man can matter much. Whether thou be praised or despised of men, is to thee a small thing; for in the calm eventide, when the day's work is over, thou hast ears to listen to the Master's voice, saying to his servant, Well done!