The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1883-07-07
The Past, Present and Future.
The Prize Essay in the First Class, Read al
the Commencement of Springfield Insti-
tute. June 26, 1888, at Sykesville,
Nd, by Miss Lille Hewitt.

the lOn9-gOne ages, when, at the command
of the Ruler of the Universe, the earth was
formed from darkness and chaos, and the
first human beings, created in the ''image of
God, were placed amidst the delights of
the beauteous garden of Paradise, even to
the nearer cycles of the Present The
glamour with which Time brightens all
things renders the Past, with its train of
great events, particularly beautiful and in
teresting 1t is like the sunbeams, shining
mellowed and softened through the misty
clouds of twilight 1t shrouds in obscurity
the wick edness of ancient times and causes
the bold and brilliant deeds which brighten
the pages of history to shine with new
luster. The stories and romances of eye
olden time hold us enchanted with the
wonderful events of the "Was" The
miracles and wonders of the old days, the
fabulous wealth and power Of ancient kings,
their customs and manners so curious, are
all the more wonderful from being con-
nected with the enchanted Past. Com
mencing with the creation, the earliest date
of past ages, we follow our first parents
from their happy residence in the garden
to their sinful fall, and thence, many CEN
turtles later, to the great deluge, the terrible
punishment inflicted upon mankind for
their sins by the just wrath of the Creator,
the Supreme Ruler. Following the lapse
of ages, we trace the successive rise and
fall of stately empires, whose contentious
shook the known world. We follow the
age of prophecy, and finally that of the ad-
vent of the Son of Man, the Saviour of the
world. whose coming illumined the age of
ignorance and superstition, shedding a ray
of hope and peace across the gloomy hori
ION; and succeeding this the Apostolic
period, during which the Gospel was prop
agated among heather nations, and the
worshippers of wood and stone taught to
bow before the true God Again the cycles
roll onward checkered with great heroic
actions, conquests, and periods of the re-
vival of literature art and science, crime,
barbarity and civilization ebbing and flow
inc. We join the religious enthusiasm
of the Crusades, march to the Holy Land,
over the burning sands, to recover the Sa-
viours sacred tomb from the possession of
heathens. Finally we reach the modern
epoch, fraught perhaps, with more i'm
portant events than the extreme ancient
periods, for this period witnessed the dis
covery and settlement Of new world
America, now one Of the wealthiest and
most powerful nations of the earth. We
follow in the footsteps of the brave men
who colonized it, amid trials sufficient to
destroy the courage of all, but heroes.
We note the settlement Of the states under
difficulties varied and numerous, amid con-
slant and bloody coatests with the barba-
rous natives, and, finally, the conquest Of
the savages and supremacy Of the colonies.
Standing on the verge Of the present, we
take a last backward glance at the past,
fading in the dim memory-land. Our
hearts thrill as we recount the brave deeds
and glorious victories of the grand old
heroes. We stand with the valiant Leon
idas, in the narrow pass of ThermOpyle,
and see the noble three hundred with true
Spartan courage devoting themselves to a
glorious death for freedom and country,
preferring rather to die than to live in
chains We gaze with Porsenna, trans
fixed with establishment, at the brave young
Roman placing his hand upon the burning
Goals and allowing it to consume, to show
the Etruscan king that he scorned the tor
lures he might infict. We cross, with
Hannibal the snowy Alps, admiring the great
generals courage and talents and the spirit
which caused him to destroy himself to pre-
vent captivity. We march, with conquer
ing Caesar, to imperial Rome, and weep with
him, in burning Egypt, over the dead body
of Pompey, great though fallen. We fol-
low the Christians, hiding in the Catacombs
and dens of the mountains, witness their
terrible prosecutions under the cruel tyrant
Nero, their faith firm as the everlasting
hills" even when tried by rack or stakes,
and hear their songs of praise as the flames
curl and hiss around them. We behold
the brave Athepin, Codrus, rushing into
the midst of the raging conflict, that, &C
cording to prediction, his death might OBJ
tain the victory for his followers. Won
derful are these old heroes, gazing upon us
from the PARKWAY Past, halo Of glory en-
circIing them Their deeds awaken the
dormant spirit of patriotism and liberty, for
was it not for liberty that they fought
freedom from the calling bonds Of slavery
Valiant men and true, whose noble deeds
have left their impress upon present ages
Where are they now, the sceptered king
the warrior bold? Sleeping the long, long
slumber that knows mo waking" Calm
the throbbing of the restless heart, silent
the clarion tones that called the troops to
the battlefield. Truly ''of dust was mar
created, and to dust shall he return
All! where to-day are the vast empires and
thrones, the glory and contention of mon
archs the ornaments Of ages? Gone
gone, and their memory is all that re
mains. What once were magnificent, OPP
uent cities, now are masses Of ruins, aged
discolored mOss-grown, Splendid build
ings, which required years for construction
now, like the Colosseum, stand decayed anC
fallen, monuments of past greatness anC
glory. Oman though ''lord of creation,
as thou art, are not thy works ':perishable
things of clay, that remain but for day?'
Like footprints on the sea shore, when the
incoming tide obliterates them, and only
their memory remains, so is the Past
Never, never will it return. Time retraces
not again his swlttly-Hylng footsteps, but
''let us not look mournfully into the Past;
who can recall it p
Passing from the kaleidoscope contem-
plation of the ancient days, which now re-
main only in song and legend, We turn to
the smiling Present, the youthful daughter
of the venerable Past. As the curtain
falls upon the "Was," dimly fading in the
distance, the "Now, clear, bright, shining
unconccaled by the mists of time, steps
upon the stage. Every age contributes
some improvement to the next, and paves
the way for the proceedings of the succeed
ing century. Each age possesses the ex,
perience of the previous one, and is, there
fore, more refined and elevated, as our OWL
age testifes (for who will not say that the
present surpasses all its precedents p. II
has obtained the supremacy over the past
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