Mexico weekly ledger. (Mexico, Mo.) 1855-1956, 1884-06-05
to prescribe beliefs and formulas and
hinge mans sublunary happiness and

to prescribe beliefs and formulas and
hinge mans sublunary happiness and
eternal veal upon the acceptance OF
the one and the observance of the
other, but with our faiths, religious
and political, sacred, cherished and
strong, subjected to hberality bound
less as the realm of thought, at the
Mecca of our annual pilgrimage, we
have gathered to renew our acauaint-
ances, cement our friendships,
strengthen ourselves for the duties OF
our laborious profession, renew our
devotions to the true and beautiful,
our pledges to the progressive, the
grand, the imposing, and drink deep
at the fountain Of that inspiration
which prompts to higher aims and no.
bier purposes.
Brethren, I cannot climb the
heights nor linger amid the beauties
which my theme unfolds. It opens
up field where crowned eloquence
could find space to roam; where its
wings, plumed for loftiest fight,
would tire and poise, bathed in the
shadows of its splendor far below the
summit. / can only adjust the glass
which pierces the distant luster-can-
not hope to stand beneath the portals
of the outer court, much less enter
the corridors of the temple and be
moved by the grandeur of its anthems,
the glory of it's shrine, the splendor
of its adornments and the magnifi-
cence of its urns. But should / re-
veal it only huge and shapeless as the
rock of Lurine, let me at least hope
that you may catch the echoes on its
shores.
That we may understand what the
press has done, to what extent it has
crowned = the hopes Of mortals, we
have only to 60 back just prior to the
date Of its invention, and stand in
. the midst of that rayless night when
no star lit the skies Of hope, and be-
meath whose leaden pail the monu'
:, ments of the centuries gone were hid
On that dim shore the sun of the
! future seemed forever set; on it M
; signal light Of all the past cast a sin
gle ray or beam. Assyrian, Egyp
, tan, Greek and Roman had come and
, gone. The splendid empire of the
warrior queen Of the east had beer
dismembered, her palaces had beel
thronged in turn by the victoriou
Persian and the Greek, and had sunl
! in ruins on the banks of the river b.
- the side of which the captive Je'
! had hung his harp on the trees an
q wept. The pyramids had grown oil
and their antiquity lost in the maz
, labyrinths of unrecorded time
=, Memnon had for ages looked ou
= . across the plains Of Egypt, the sc
= p cret of more than thirty centurie
:. locked behind his stony lips. Th
- Sphinx, with face immobile and eye
= forever fixed on the Orient, ha
: watched the morning come and sui
~ set shadows lengthen on the sane
= =, through thousands Of years. tt
=, Hebrew maiden had fingered by IL
. Nile, and by its sleepy waters hs
. rested the holy family when it fe
: from Judea that the Savior Chi
>, - might escape the fury Of Hero'
u u The temple and shrine of Isis ar
~ -, Osiris had crumbled, and that myst
~ ~ worship slept entombed in the sepu
w w cher of kings and the mausoleum
" the gods. Pyramid and obelisk hs
trembled beneath the tread OF Il
Roman and the Saracen, and u
be winds of the desert had sifted Il
gs ashes of the Alexandrian hbrari
at over the ruined arches and brok
er columns which alone remained
or mark the, wonders Of distant ag
a. in the land where the Pharaohs b
It ruled and Cleopatra had loved a
cd died. The sun of Grecian civiliz
ed ton had arisen, shed down its bear
d; in MONDAY effulgence; sunk in hs
at perian shadows and gone out in mig
le- and darkness. The republic OF Ro
ID. ulus and the empire which tower
tie upon its ruins had disappeared.
&C. ternecine strife had stained the ban
in Of the Tiber and crimsoned the az.
mt waves OF Aciunn. The barbsrl
lth had trampled upon the throne q
lot the purple and sat down to his b.
of quet in the halls Of the Casars. !
lot badge OF the camel-driver had biaz