Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-05-17

OF the early struggle who view
this building realize tha! all which they
did was not in vain. Texas stands peer
lees amid the mighty, and her brow is
crowned with bewilderlDg magniticence.
This building fires the heart of all. 1t
stands alone, the haughtiest type of mod
ern civilization. In other lands the hand
OF man has reared walls as stately
as these and pierced the sky in prouder
heights. The architecture of civi!iza
ton is it's most enduring feature, and by
this structure shall Texas transmit her
self to posterity. For here science has
done her utmost. The quarry has given
its granite and msrble, and the mines
have yielded their brass and iron, acd en-
empire has been passed as an equivalent
fer this house. All that enlighten
ment and art could do
has been done. Were to repress the
reflections that occur to me now l would
be untrue to my cenvictions ard to this
occasion. 1t would seem that here gilt
tiers structure that shall stand as
A SENTINEL OF ETERNITY
to gaze upon passing ages and tie sulvI-
vors should mourn ss each separate star
expires. Were we to feel thus
precedent would justify US. Those who
builded the pyramids thought the Egyp-
tian empire eternal. Those who Feared
the coliseum boosted that it was pledge
that Rome was everlasting. More solemn
lessons are taught st our own doors.
Great waves have swept DER this con-
tinent like waves Ger the bosom Of the
deep and left traces almost as faint. Who
reared the pyramids of Uxmal? the
palaces Of Palerque? the mausoleuns
of Mitts? The splendors OF lowered Full
Iona? What is the date, origin or the
fate of those mysterious; civilizations Il at
have vanished forever in the forests VI
Mexico and Central America and flee
from the search like those Elusive lights
that fash and fade above
the silent tomb? We are
but one OF that vast procession Of races
which fate has decreei should pass ACROSS
this hemisphere. We have no right to
say that we are neither the hrst nor the
last civiliz stion whose impress this con-
tinent shall feel. In other periods the
world has lost civilization and resumed
t. II our civilization possesses the ele-
ments Of perpetuity, 1t differs from any
OF its predecessors, II the lessons OF the
past have not been taught In vain.
They tell US that the future holds in hand
an hour when the curious antiquarian
shall wander through the roofess cham
bers amid the shattered arches and fallen
columns of all this imperial msgnifcence
and ask, when were those walls reared?
Was this building palace or
prison, tomb or temple? Does
it seem impossibleP Bssloec's marble
columns are IS proud as these. Yet who
chiseled them? Who carved the hisro-
elyphics that plead for Interpretation
from the sculptured walls of Palenque?
The past hath q fearful lesson OF the
instability Of earthly greatness. Men
dwelt upon the earth thousands Of years
e-e they ascertsined its shape. They
shed seas OF blood before they sscsrtaii ed
that drop OF 1t circulated. They proudly
claim an existence of 5000 years. Yet
their annals do not include half Of it.
They cannot explain their diversity Of
language or the secret Of thei exis {
ence. The destruction OF
PUBLIC VIRTUE
caused the decline Of other civilizations,
but does our civilization carry with it
the means of its parpeiua,ioD?
Under certain conditions it
m,y. 1t possesses Characteristics
that mark none Of its predecessors
and particularly can this be said Of the
state of Texas. The civilization of Texas,
of which this proud capitol is one Of the
voices that shall speak to after ages, is
benz hceEt. The form OF our g .vern-
ment is the creation Of an ex-
pressed wish of the people whom
it represents. Its officers are
elected and are the servants, not rulers,
of the people. We have no obligatory
form of worship. Our rights of free
speech have no limitation before our
lsws. All men are equal. Our govern
ment is subject OF criticism not Of
hldeous dread. Our armies and
| fleets are fer the protection
not oppression Of the people. Our insti-
tutions eI lin "a education Of the masses
aud assume that the government is not
the heritage of one man, but the properly
of the people. To whomso-
ever casts his home within
her benignant realms Texas tenders
| his offspring an education without money