The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1881-07-28

empires as if by waving a magic wand
s above the wilderness; that is demon
strating by the succession Of daily events
: that there is an actual power in the genius
of a free people that fairly rivals. the
magic power of Alladin's famous lamp.
My friends:
stiWe are living we are dwelling
I, IN a grand and awful time,
In an age on ages telling,
q, To be living is sublime
This age has tunnelled the Alps; has
: lhridged the sea; has Joined the oceans;
has spanned the continent with iron
highways, along which throb the mighty
PROFESSIONS of universal commerce; has
Isent thought flashing round, the world
with a rapidity that annihilates space;
has practically eliminated national bound
|anes, those old dead lines of war-impris-
oned humanity; has, by the adoption Of
mechanical appliances in human indus
| try, raised the humblest toilerup into the
|arena of thought; has scaled the noun
ltain peaks where science reigned in Sc
|clusion, seized her treasures, dragged
them down and scattered them broadcast
{; over The level surface Of society--and al
T ready thatIevei Rowland has been raised
Ito al, altitude greater than the mountain
peaks Of Jolden@ science; it commissioned
i the navies OF the world tosWeep the slave
ttradefrom the sea; it compelled the an-
ltocrat OF al the Russians: at the peril CT
d his imperial throne, TO unfetter the last
ibonlsnanin Europe; it has heard peans
! OF freemen ring for a day at least through
the corridors of the Rerdinands; and
1.-THE Marseillaise welcome permanent free
institutions rising Phoenix like up out Of
4 the burning mari Of the deep humiliation
LOT France; it has seen a single republic
Isacriice S4,0G0,000, 900 CT treasure, tie
Lives of three hundred thousand men and
4 the limbs Of five hundred thousand Grip
/ pies, to lift the hereditary bondmen of
lcenturies up into the atmosphere Of lib
Serty, it has witnessed the submission of
Ian indefensible international grievance to
Ia civil tribunal, for adjudication in the
/ forum of reason, and the decree of that
tribunal enforced against national pride
l by the consciences of the two first mill !
/ tary powers OF the world. Itisa glorious
/ thing to live in thus age, to participate in
its triumphs and share their golden fruit
Iage 1t is doublg grand to be a sovereign
in the land which gave the age its incen-
tive, which sent out quiyering over the
lseas the influence which, penetrating
cabin and castle alike, taught the world
latter thousands Of years Of groveling
lmisery, that the secret of noble endeavor
and true glory lies in the manhood of its
linen and the womanhood of its women.
We meet to-day in the centre of a COM
monwealth ofrnearly q million people
i whose history covers scarce quarter of
la century. You men whose locks are
\ still unfrostcd, who came here pioneers
Iof civilization, need but compare the
/ pictures in your memories with the scene
4 around you to-day to find yourselves dazed
by the wonders OF the progress in the
midst Of which you live. Why, FOR all
the practical purposes OF life, we are
Il nearer the seaboard here in central Min
nesota to-day than our fathers were half
a century since among the hills OF New
England and valleys Of Pennsylvania.
| Weare, indeed, standing upon mount
ain of achievements and are looking out
upon the fairest prospect that ever IN
|spired the hope or dazzled the eyes of any
lpeople. AS we contemplate the rapid
;strides by which that height has been
climbed, the advancement made i'll every
thing tending to mans elevation during
the past century, and compare it with the
I little that was accomplished in that direc
! ton in all the preceding centuries, the in
:lquiry naturally arises, why did they who
4 developed the national grandeur Of the
told empires do so little for individual
comfort and power? Why did they who
reared the walls and hanging gardens OF
Babylon, who fashioned the hundred
/ brazen gates Of mighty Thebes, who fos-
! tered the naval power and commercial
! glory of Carthage, who reigned as mon
i arcf,s OF thought amid the culture, intel
i ngence aud the stately rnagni1lcenee OF
i Athens, who built the forum and organ
lied within the seven hil.ed city power
lover earthly Inhabitants limited only by
1.-THE unknown and undiscovered? Why
, did the founders of those colossal political
{ fabrics do SO little for political rights?
Why did they who elevated the dignity
{ Eof society in the aggregate to such sub
! lime degree leave the individual to grovel
5 on forever in the lowlands Of degradation?