The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1890-06-12
HEIR OF ALL THE AGES.
EY LILLE u. NILES


perhaps an unnecessary question. Few have
read any Of the great poets without taking up Ten
nyson. turning to the pages of "Locksley Hail."
aud scanning for the first time, but not the last,
those lines 50 famous and familiar. How the
reader is filled with animation he reads stanza
after stanza, describing the thoughts and feelings
of one who has returned TO his old home after
years OF absence Every stanza brings ups vivid
scene to the least imaginative person. The earth.
the sky and the sea are to be seen in harmony
with the feelings of the hour. The picture the
artist paints il so real. that the one reading imag
Ines that ne himself is telling the story especially
If he has recently visited the home Of his child
hood He secs again the favorite walks and
play grounds Of his youthful days, and recalls the
thoughts that often flashed through his mind.
"When dipt into the future far as human eye
could see;
Saw the Vision Of the world. and all the wonder
that would be"
In the dreams and fancies with which the hero
paints the future the reader Is made q sharer.
sympathizing with every sorrow, rejoicing Al
every success.
"Yearning for the large excitement that the
coming years would yield,
Eager hearted rs a boy when first he leaves his
fathers field.
And his spirit leaps within him to be gone before
him. then,
Underneath the light he looks at, in among the
thronss Of men;
Men, my brothers, men the workers. ever reap
ing something sew:
That which they have done but earnest Of the
things that they shall do"
Hark, We hear his comrades call him, and
with heart throbbing with pain at the thoughts
OF parting with old aud dear associations nc must
leave this familiar spot and wander in some for.
eign land. But he guiets his restless mind by
these words:
"what to me were sun or cline:
the heir OF all the ages in the foremost files OF
time
Does the procession Of ages. like the cratic
| phantasm OF dream. go forward without reason
or order; or is there predetermined, solemn
march in which all must join, ever moving, ever
advancing, encountcriEg an inevitable succession
of events The pages of history furnish the ans
wcr. for 1t establishes the fact that civilization
was not first and savagery afterward. Certainly
| the tendency Of man now Is not toward barbarism
| There must have been u time when lip never
had formed . word. That which man knows
man must have learned. The victories Of on,
race have been slowly and painfully won. WI
find striking contrast between the caves in
i
the bones Of wild beasts, and the home Of y civil
lied man with its articles of luxury and use. It.
walks enriched and illuminated with works Of
art. Ages Of change and progress have passed
| since man rose from the degraded barbarian
uttering discordAnt cries over the gashed body oil
his foe, to the genius inspiring and creating the
marvellous harmonies Of Wagner and Beethoven.
We can best conceive Of the mode OF progress
/ II we think Of the human race as composed Of a
series of generations each Of which receives from
Its predecessors the net results Of its tolls and
thoughts. aud adds to this inheritance the fruits
Of its own labor. In this way let try TO trace
the succession Of generations down to the presen,
| time. But in order to comprehend the wonder.
| full change and progress, 1t will be necessary
| for us to draw q few comparisons. First, between
'ioung America" and the young Greek Of GOO Is
C. five can frame such picture in our mind
| we would perceive at once that the young Greek
could read, write and argue rs well as the typical
representative Of the present day, and perhaps
could surpass him in running, jumping, aud
wrestling. But the beliefs of the t;rcel
seem very strange when they are contrasted Will
those of the present time. They believed th.
earth to be flat, with the sea flowing around II
that Mt -Etna was the chimney used by VULGAR
In forging thunder-bo.ts for love. and that thu
sun was the god Apollo who drove his chario
every day across the sky from east to west. Thu
Greeks religious beliefs were Of peculiar charac
| ter, they were polytheists. Their paganism VA
that OF love, while that of foregoing generation
had been fear. The Greek had little regard for wo
man. She was held In the estimation Of her hus
band little better than his dog. little dearc
| than his horse She was secluded from public life
| SO that society was wanting In the ennobling In
fluence Of woman still Greece gave grand heritag
to coming centuries. She showed the world wha
real freedom and real civilization are. She was thu
first to bring forth noble intellectual conceptions
embodied In forms Of literary art, aud she pro
duced some Of the best writers the world has ev
or had.
We might now draw comparison between tn
Middle Ages andto day. We have already otsery
cd part Of the inheritance which the Greeks ha,
given to these ages, and from obsery alton con
corning Greek history. we would At once expcc
al advancement upon the conditions In whicl
we Left the Greeks. This dark period was mad
up Of ages of superstitions. They believed in tn
efficacy of the ordeal which determined one
guilt or innocence by q test in which 1t was
physical inpossibility to establish innocence, an,
but miracle could save the accused. still othe
examples Of their superstition might be cih
from the treatment melted out % Bruno. Calico
and other noted philosophers who endeavored t
cxpound truths which. until then, lay hidden Il
obscurity.
As we enter the era of modern history We fin,
previous centuries have bestowed u grand hcrit
age. First, was that OF the honorable. cOur teou
generous and noble type Of man which had oeel
shaped by chivalry. Second, the invention o
gunpowder. which completely changed the mod,
Of warfare and gave civilized man the dominance,
over his bar1arous rivals. Third, . whole CONT
nent had been brought forth for the use and nd
vancensent of man. Printing was also one Of thu
contributions aud was part Of our rich bequest
"For since the hours OF printing. books and no
ktaQ wese made 70 rule tho wosl1," "Weepon