The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1891-10-15

surroundings and some enlargement,
either in their own condition or that
Of others, there is great encoura cement
to all to strike out and boldly attempt
to draw the new circles as they may
find or make opportunity. l remember
a couplet learned in other years pecul-
iarly encouraging to the too tirnid and
those who hesitate to attempt new
things
"Attempt the end, never stand to doubt,
Nothing SO hard but search will find it
out"
And yet only scattered few from
the great mass OF pulsating humanity
have drawn the new circles that en-
compassed great areas pregnant with
great possibilities. The long armed
giants of independence; the fearless
champions of great causes the aggres-
sive leaders of great revolutions; the
persistent movers in great reformations
and the strong advocates of endow-
ments for humanity at the expense OF
noble martyrdom, have figured scarcely
one for each mark on the dial-plate OF
the ages.
But somehow, God, at the proper
time and with the proper subjects, has
opened the secret entrances to few
great souls. And they, moved by the
irresistible spirit of an unsatisfied &C
tivity, and urged on by the fires OF
holy energy and sense of superior
power which rises to the dignity of the
sublime and partakes of the character
of the divine, have stepped forth from
the border lines of the common crowd
And reaching forth the arm, strength
ened by hope and heightened by faith
in the laws of eternal progressiveness,
which have been inscribed on the
foundation stones of creation, penciled
on the horizon around and emblazon-
ed on the canopy above, they have
dared to draw the circles-one for
every age and one for every generation
of the human race.
Passing by the ancients and their
noble deeds we contemplate the circle
Columbus drew Wherever ship hath
sailed, have journeyed," said he.
Taught in wisdom by the hard-earned
knowledge Of a seaman's life, he was
bold and strong, and could brook op-
position of the keenest sort. Wander
ing thoughtfully on the shores of Spain;
becoming fired with enthusiasm, that
secret power which Emerson calls
everything, he dared to launch out
upon the unknown, trackless deep in
search of the world that lay beyond.
And the serpentine wake Of his little
fleet, tossed hither and thither on the
unmeasured deep, was nothing less than
the kinked cord which, when drawn to
the utmost tension, made radius for
that far-reaching circle that encompass
ed the entire American continent And
when he returned to Spain and laid
down the New World at the feet of his
admiring sovereigns, he had truly
drawn a new circle, the Symmetrical
filling up of which is seen to-day in
the proud grandeur of favored America.
In process of time, it became nee
essary for another new circle to be
drawn. When a century and three
decades later the Pilgrim Fathers land
ed on Plymouth Rock, the new circle
was drawn once again-now in the
cause of religious liberty Ere long
the yoke of British oppression became
intolerably heavy, and the proud spirit
of independence broke forth in def
ance of the cruel tyranny of the mother
country.
The closing years of the 18th CEN
tury had a champion in Columbus to
boldly draw the circle for the might
est republic of earth. The opening
years Of the 18th century found de-
votees to religious liberty in the Pill
grim Fathers, who longed for that
freedom which is accorded men only
under their vine and fig tree at home
And the closing years of the 18th CEN
tury gave birth to that chief of heroic
statesmen in whose breast the spirit of
American independence first found
lodgment and home. Twas Pat
rick Henry, natures own orator."
from Hanover county, in the colony
of Virginia, whose unparalleled indie
pendence fired the souls of the toiling
colonists with that unquenchable zeal
and love for liberty, (which conse-
Grated forever in the American heart
the altar of untrammeled freedom and
made it sacred by the baptism of their
blood What circle did he draw
On what a surface was it outlined
And what radius did he give it The
General Assembly OF Virginia was in
session. The odious Stamp Act had
just been passed by the British Parlia-
ment. In bold opposition to the grind
ing oppression of his countrymen,
that youn5 md heroic patriot drew a
circle whose influence wrought out for
the colonies the boon Of freedom in its
highest form. The surface on which
he outlined it was the blank leaf of an
old law book. He drew up five reso-
lutions and sent them to the speakers
desk, unaided, without the counsel of
any one.
Though not yet thirty years old, in
and little known in the
with that bold and daring
venture and that staid confidence in
the righteousness of his cause which
ever characterize the purposes and
prosecutions of a great and invincible
spirit, he boldly drew the new circle for
which all America TO this day honors
and blesses his memory. With the
arm nerved and made strong by the
earnestness of his purpose, and with
the telescope Of his vision made pow
erful by hopes for his country, he
boldly made the stroke and addressed