The University daily. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 18??-????, 1889-06-12

Grafton Paul at Athens.

Grafton -Panl at Athens.
j. 3. DAWSON.
Paul of Tarsus stood in ancient
Athens to wage war against the pa
gan diYinities. Nowhere else, in the
prosecution Of his masterful evan
gelism, had he stood where there was
centered so much to call into use
tact and ability SO much to excite
wonder and admiration, SO much
to threaten and menace.
He had as his very rostrum, hill
dedicated to Mars, the god Of battle.
From this hill as their theater Of.
warfare, the subjects Of that martial
deity were wont to defend the cele-
brated spot where was Graded the
mother of modern civilization Gre
clan culture; the culture that
taught the hand of the medieval
builder its cunning and impaired to
the thought Of the medieval school
manits subtlety 1.-THE culture whose
relics, brought forth to- the gaze of
men from beneath the accumulated
rubbish Of centuries, obtained the
restoration Of the classical learning
and art, which inculcated a love for
the beautiful; brought forth from
their retreat the devotees of ascetic
Christianity causing the cave Of the
hermit to be forsaken, the cloister Of
the recluse to be renounced.
The prospect of having some
strange doctrine had gathered about.
Ill i u. sesse1Ab g - n.Nrt
| idle, curious and critical people that
the world hid ever produced.
In this assembly were Athenian
citizens They sprang from that
race which thirty centuries before
had left it's Aryan home amid the
..fair provinces of central Asia and
following along the southern shore
Of the Black Sea, Through the narrow
channel ofthe Hell espont, had landed
upon the coast of Europe and taken.
possession of the "isle Of Greece
They were heirs to a grand citi-t
zeaship, the members 81 this citi@
zenship down through its history
had had IN unequal d average iIfta'
gence and advahtages unsurpassed.
At birth enveloped in the aegisa
wrought mantle Of Athene, they were
consigned to the care and services
Of that patron goddess AS nur-
sery rhymes there were sung
to them the beautiful myths
and legends of the national religion.
In boyhood were instilled the prin-l
ciples Of grammar, music and gym
nastics; grammar, that they might
be prepared for the common duties
of life; music, that they might es-
TEEN the products of masterful
poetic genius and share in the sacred
song and pean Of battle; gymnastics,
that they might acquire dexterity
for the contest of the 0lmy picpalm
and grow strength for the struggle
of war.
In youth. manhood and old age
they wandered among the trees and
porticos of the Lyceum with Aris-
totle, enjoyed the fountains, groves
and statues of the Athenian Acade-
my with Plato, CHANGED upon the
dialogues Of Socrates and at the
theatre ofDionysius, Witnessed the
incompatible tragedies of Sophecles,
Aeschylus and Euripides, and the
comedies Of Aristophanes
In the Assembly were Grecian ora
tors. As theirs they claimed that
branch Of Grecian art to which Ath-
ems in a great measure owed her in
tellectual eminence. As associates
they claimed those who had heard
the persuasive eloquence Of Pericles
as IN commemoration Of her citizens
who fell in that war where Greek
met Greek upon the PeIoponessns he
portrayed IN grand word painting
Athens IN the zenith of beauty,
glory and power. As associ.
ates they claimed those who
had felt the unsparing yehemence
Of the oratory Of the ssprince Of Gre
clan orators, z Demosthenes when by
his matchless eloqnence, he flashed
into 4 flame the last spark Of the
genuine spirit of Athens or when In
the splendid and mastery defenseo f
his public action, be gave to the
world its most polished and pow.
erful effort Of human oratory.n In
this assembly were historians. Their