The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1873-07-16
For THE HERALD.
ADDRESS Delivered before the
Zoar Debating and Literary
Club, by %. f. Sample.


In finding suitable subject from which to
address you this evening, has been no easy
task Almost all ordinary subjects have
been themes for orators, esSayists and lee
turerS, ever since education has become gen.
eral; thatto advance anything original on
them. would require a genius indeed. As it
is, my address shall rartake of the nature Of
q lecture, and though shall not hope to
please the ear or fancy, feel that | shall
speak to your understanding.
Man claims 10 be progressive being, and
each generation that has played its part in
the great theatre of time. boastingly pro-
claims itself wiser than the preceding gen.
Grafton Each yainly imAgincS that it has
carried every art and science to its final stop
ping place. That their theories OF govern
meut, religion, and all the beauties end re-
inements of social life have been attained
to their full fruition; but it only remains
for the succeeding generation 70 expose the
fallacy Of their theories, the talsity of their
religions, and the imperfect standards Of
their morality.
Regarding everything in nature as periodi-
cal, whether it effects man or the lowest Of
Gods creatures. To the whirwiud that
rends the forests, or buries the navies Of
puny man in the bosom Of the ocean. To
the volcano that uphcaves and shakes the
foundations Of the earth. To the pcStilence
that walketh at MONDAY. To the birth,
rise, decline and fall of nations; all have their
counterpart in the birth Of man, his growth, /,
manhood, and his final decay, down to the
rottenn css of the sepulchrc.
Viewing by the light of history, the i'm
oerfections of man and all his sciences, yet
by the monuments and remains OF nations
who proceeded us-compariug, even, of what
it will aSSuredly shame the bolSters Of the
Nineteenth Century. Viewing the wonders
still standing on the banks Of the Nile, the
question will naturally arise, could these
things have been, unless there had been o
corresponding development Of the human
mind. Equal progress in all the branches Of
science to give origin to sach structures, or
such system of government that must have
been so great, so enlightened, and 50 pros
porous.
Which of the modern nations, wiki less
destructive agent thla the eternal sands Of
the Lybilu desert, would leave tale 10 tell
US what they were?
The granGcst Of our achievements sink
into no.hinghcss. in comparison with theirs.
In a few years the wires Of the telegraph
would be absorbed in air, and the posts tha I
sustain them would be mother earth. The
instrument that generates the current. The
press which stamps our books, the type that
impriats our thoughts, would be regarded as
play things Of the nursery. Our most splend-
id cities and enduring monuments would moi
! leave as much system iu the wreck Of ages,
as the tumulus at Marathon. or O!d Priam' S
| pride But there they stand on Nilus banks
! mocking US with glory almost as enduring
as the stars that glitter on the brow OF night
There they stand with their history written
| all over them, in their phonetic characters,
| before which all our learning stands in blank
despair; yet it is probable that every citizen
/ understood it; but during our war there was
oaly one expert phonetic writer connected
with the whole hichmond press.
What is the Mausoleum Of England's dead
or the Catacombs ef Paris in comparison
with the last resting place Of the private
Egyptian? Even
"seipios tomb contains no ashes now"
Blu. could an ancient Egyptian rise from
his long sleep, and look around on his CON-,
panions o: the tomb. it would recognize the
feature OF some.loyed one and might almost
be said:
"Time writes no wrinkles on thy brow"
These facts teach us that the coming
generations Of pHr race East make rapid
Journeys in the progress CT ssicucc, CIR they
will fail to reach that standard in the race OF
progress, for which it seems they were
designed, and these thoughts have been
suggested from ideas propose to advance,
under ;llc heqlinSSof
NEW !DE4s ~ fu!LososHF.
When Sir Isaac Newton aEqounced 70 tle
world the discovery Of the attraction OF