Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1885-12-03
NEED OF THE HOUR
UNDERGRADUATES GRAFTON.
Delivered at East Tennessee Wesleyan
University Nov. 10, 1885, by j. T..
Oliver.
"Wo arc living, we are dwelling,
In grand and awful time;
IN an age on ages tilling,
To be living is sublime"


| In grand and awful time;
N an age on ages tilling,
| To be living is sublime"
In this our day Of marvellous activity,
Of vigorous thought, Of unparalleled
progress and rare opportunities, what is
so manifestly out Of place as the young
man who from ignorance or vanity bends
to every whim Of passion and every fancy
of depraved Imagination and finally
breaks himself and his hopes on the rock
in the whirlpool Of ignorance or vanity?
| That such one was ever born is dis.
| grace and misfortune to mankind.
An oriental story tells us Of an enchant-
ed hill on whose summit was concealed
an object Of great value. This was Of
fered as prize to him who should as
cend the hill without bending to either
side from the beaten path, or turning to
look backward. Disobedience to those
conditions should change the too curious
victim into lifsless marble. Many a
noble youth sllured by the hidden prize
had ventured up the fatal hill, but before
reaching the top had yielded to the way
side allurement ard stood like adamnat
to gaze evermore out of stony eyes on
the deceptive path he had trodden. On
either side Of this rugged pathway were
inviting scenes and allurements OF ma
ture's greatest beauties, which overpower
ed the senses, turned the eye from the
object in advance, and metamorphosed
the throbbing flesh into cold lifeless
rock 1t is true this Is fable, but, my
young friends. it appears to be applicable
just here to us. Life is to us that en-
chanted hill; there is prize at the top,
but there are dangers, temptations, and
perils by the wayside He who looks up
and persistently advances wins the prize;
but many, fatally charmed turn aside
and are blighted, blasted and destroyed.
Alas, for that young man or woman,
especially II blessed with advantages of
culture and religious training, who does
not, with the unsullied splendors OF every
morning, feel every nerve and joint OF
their youthful frame tingle with a thrill
Of new life, as it warbled in the heart Of
Eve as she walked wrapped and worship
ing amidst the flowers of Paradise, or
leaned on the bosom Of Adam when he
sprang full grown on the green swords
Of Eden. Take away the eternal unrest
Of nature and you strike the earnest glad
face Of God from 1t, and all its charm,
, beauty, and utility are gone. The birds
, are most attractive when flying about
, now here and now there, they thrill the
air with their melody. The stars arr
most sublime when like living sentineli
q they roam to martial music and gian
q tread over the limitless pathway Of th
q sky, answering, unbcnding from tn
!. circular orbits which the God of natur
has assigned to them. The flowers ar
/ most charming when crowned with
q c6roner Or bcspuuS iod slory, rney Anspir
. noble feeling Of duty in Is and laugl
v away our hours of sadness. The oceal
2 gathers majesty from its ceaseless &C
a claim of lash and roar, and the thunder
. ing cataract proelaims Its unbendin.
q character and irresistible determination
!. by the height and dash of its roaring
r flood. So youth is truest to itself, doe'
, most, is most, as the creator made 1t Il
i be, when 1t goes forth glowing in tn,
/ achievements of all that is true, beauti
full and good"
4 Therefore, when an opportunity fo
v doing good is presented to us, let III
y never be too fastidious or too refined tc
4 be in earnest Let us remember that i
is not the diamond hilt. Of the warriors
sword that brings the victory, but tn,
unswerving, unbending blade that cut
to the dividing asunder the joints ant
marrow Of his adversary and bring
n laurcls Of victory to his own fair brow.
/, The world owes much to the unbend
ing earnestness of young men and women
9 1t was this that found the hidden key I,
IS natures greatest treasures and opened
/. the long closed gates inviting to its tram
. the busiest population on the earth; thi
' that first laid a highway across the wild
): prairie of the SEAS this that plucked from
the clouds their hidden power and turned
1t into the swift herald Of human wisl
). and thoughts; this that unsealed tn
treasures Of the bright heavens and CAV,
the brilliant revelation to the gaze of tn
u multitude; this that stretched the mysti
d cord from continent to continent, restin
:. it on the throbbing heart Of the restles
!. ocean, and causing hemisphere to rt
. spond to hemisphere in friendly fellow
!, ship Of thought; this that has athome
q the profoundest labyrinth of philosoph,
and science, and lifted art so nearly up {
: the real that the vision almost startles u,
:, this that has put all the world into
II maze Of wonder at the vastness an
3, power Of invention and at the onwar
u tread of civilization; this that has liftc
T, up fallen world until It leans towar
u the fostering bosom of Its Creator, whi
q the flowing earth thrills with jubilee, an
n men who are both good and great hear
u sweet symphony rolling across the agel
70 gathering as IL goes until outvieing tb
u morning songs of creation, II breal
IS away in the anthems of the skies, "Glor
g to God In the highest, and on earth peat
ct good will to men,
'e But side by side with this is that iii
q ceasing, unbending moral courage whiC
= IL the keystone in the arch Of virtue
IL which fasten and support true manhoo
u and true womanhood. l
l. We live in time which preeminentl
IT demands this element, but, am sorry
D. say, seems to be very much wanting
II this respect To do right when 1t is II
O. best policy and is no self denial is not
n merit to anyone; but the moral hero mu
/; often tread on thorns and beat back d
III whirlwind. There are many who Al
ie willing to do right when II involves n
III cost, no expense, no criticism; and in an
ie event there arc those who are ready
ne share the reward and glory when sou
In other one has taught the battle and wo
w the victory. But the man who stands u
in the consciousness Of noble manhoo,
and for the conviction Of On unbendin
ar principle. and when the crisis comes Il
yn dignantly hurles II back and rises or
4 rises majestic above temptation, this ms
=, ~ alone is worthy tho title and dignity Of
80 moral hero. A young man surround,
or by profligatc companions, and urged
n. yield to their indulgences. but who
III morally brave cnough In the face Of ice
to and taunts to keep himself unsulled; II
1t statesman, who, amid foul corruptit
lie aud. selfish and unscrupulous intrlgu
to withhoys his hands from bribes, al
III preserves his. honor and truth untarnis
of ed; thclperchant, who, to his own fna
n cial loss, refuses to adopt the fal
4 -. - L.. II