Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-06-15
THE ANNUAL ADDRESS.

Ladies' and Gentlemen:
When laudable undertakings are designed
those who wish them success understand the
Importance of contributing the tokens of their
encouragement.
Heroic Characters there may be who find a
stimulant to their zeal IN the SCOTS, the deli
ance and Instructions that may oppose them.
But there i vet something in human nature
that yearns for the sympathy OF other hearts,
and the soul becomes holder and drawer when
cheered by the expressed approval of those to
whom il looks for succOr.
BE Of good cheer are words that have
served to nerve the arm Of many soldier, and
to cheer the dropping heart Of many Chris
tian knight.
The God sDeed'' Of the devoted women of
our own Southern land cheered their soldiers
on their way TO war. and the echoes OF these
almost sacred sounds kept the heart steadfast
when they fingered around the camp-nres
of a broken army. when wounds and hunger
and death itself lifted up their visible forms
in the silence of the night to brighten from
duty the gray-eiad veterans OF glorious
cause.
We come tonight to signify by our pres
ence and to give assurance by Kind words
that we approve the purpose for which The
Georgia Military Academy has been estab-
lished in our midst, and TO applaud the zeal
and devotion Of the worthy gentleman who,
with clear foresight and untiring energy, has
laid the foundation OF an institution that bids
fair to run a serviceable and honorable ca
reer. rejecting credit upon him and likewise
upon the people Of this city and state lie
Is a benefactOr to mankind, Socrates and
Plato elevated this service in their time to
such a height that il can never descend so
long as their names are held in esteem by the
enlightened world. To Major Burgess, then,
TODAY we would speak words of cheer and
bid him God speed in his enterprise.
1t must be conceded that the education of
the youth of the land. into whose hands the
destiny of every nation and people on the
face Of the globe in the next generation must
surely come, Is most important concern and
a most important duty. If the generations of
men are under obligation to provide for the
future of the world by preserving what we
have of civilization and in making room for
its future advance.
The Intellect and reason of mankind have
been Specializing for ages to find out the pre-
else object of the creation of the world, and
the precise relation Of man to IL and its Gre
atOr, well as the duties consequent upon
these relations.
As matter Of knowledge and as an ele-
ment to be considered in the cause of the ad-
vance Of civilization, the recognition of the
great Creator and the idea OF his magnitude
and power are as ancient as the oldest records
of civilized man. Upon the pillars Of an Egyp-
tian temple old as the ages was found
this inscription to the great Il Am:"
Il am all that has BEEN, e, and shall be, and
no man has lifted the veil that covers me-
so that in all times whatever Of impulse
was necessary to the promotion OF civilization
bv reason of the recognition Of the Deity has
existed, and If the march of civilization has
been onward and upward, II has been from
the impulses given 70 II by intellectual and
moral forces discovered and applied from
time to time in the progress Of events.
What is civilizations
1t has been defined to be, and Is. 1.-The ag-
gregate of the material and moral progress
made and still making by men. The source
Of this progress Is to be found in the faculty
which has been given to man of knowing
himself and the world in which he lives, and
of ascertaining and transmitting i'tf9sDtdflon,
as well as of combining the different branches
OF EnOlcIed0e.'
The material or physical development
Of a country, while distinct as a
fact Is so dependent upon the
intellectual and moral development of a peO-
pie that the two are practically inseparable.
The progress OF this development has been
gradual from the early historical ages, and
written history and national inscriptions.
that survive the wreck of empires. speak in
no uncertain language of the grandeur and
glory of now decayed nations, evidencing tine
fact that people in all ages have built for time
and for the generations to come after them.
The pyramids and the temples of the Nile.
the ruins of Baalbec and Palmyra, are hOary
witnesses that the people who first reared them
had high conceptions OF the purposes OF life
and the development Of their civilization.
The bright and deep philosophy taught in
the academy and the grove, the laboriOus
learning of the ancient sages about the earth
and stars, and the solutions of the problems of
geometry and mathematics taught upon the
plains Of Arabia and Egypt,speak of great and
well developed intelleets. who labored not for
ton, those modern philosophers who have done
so much to advance the cause of science in
modern times, have but built with
the materials of the ancients. Yet
they have built: and at this
hour the arts and sciences, those important
factors IN the harmonizing and ciyiliZing men.
have progressed IN the line OF periectlOh, uniil
we stand in wonder at the miracles wrought
by the people Of this century and generation.
We sit at home to-day, and within an hour,
by means of the telegraph, can learn Of pass
- An, ion
new appliance originating in Farther India
Is known In America almost as soon as there.
space is annihilated, and thus each civilized
nation can have the knowledge of the other
and make use Of all known means IN the de-
velOpment of its energies.
The civilization OF to-day is the outcome of
the past, developed to higher degree by
means Of the increased facilities for knOWl-
edge. and the consequent clearer conceptions
Of the relations between God and man and
man and man.
Has civilization advancedS IL is enough to
know that the ideal OF human perfection and
greatness in the heroic ages was physical
manhood and personal courage. GenerallZIng
this idea into States and nations, we find the
glory Of the nation to consist In the annals OF
It's wars and eOnquests Blood and carnage,
waste. destruction, determination, instead OF
being direst evils to be avoided, were held to
be OF the greatest good as the enectual means
of clarifying the power and proves OF the
What field can flourish when dashed by the
scOurge Of the tempest and the tornado, or
scorched by the flames OF eOnnagratlonf
Peaceful skies gentle rain-balmy air bring
the nurseling crops to perfection and I'LL the
harvest with joy.
From age 10 age we can note the march OF
prOgress-now onward, now devious, now
halfing. now reeeding, and now putting on
new energy for further advance.
Conquest being the idea OF the ancient and
the middle ages. no country or people were
safe to pursue the ayOcati0Ds Of private life
nor TO develop the peaceful arts. Autocratlc
power under the false assumption OF Divine
Right developed the individual man into
mere machine OF power.
But events passed on, and the chief mon
uments Of the past spoke only Of devastation
and death. They became studies for thought
and gave DO satisfying evidence that the good
Of man had been promoted by the deeds OF
their cOmmemOration. Humanity be-
came more and more enlisted
in the cause Of mankind. till
now war has been sh0rn 70 great extfnt
Of its barbarities, and is resOrted TO by the
a