The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-06-24
There are men who foster unbeIief becanse

here are thousands Of thOughiless mortals
who condemn the everlasting Gospel upon
such sea mt Investigation ns would not jnsti- |
s. the rejection or Il SchDOlb0ys manuscrip or
he commitment OF Il vagrant To the county
al. Thought must DC diiiscnt to be honest.
It. must he earnest 10 be free, and with In these
limits 10 you, who stand there shrined IN
youth and hope and promise, | can urge on
higher and more patriotic duty than the free,
fair and fearless study Of the truth.
There are strange things stirring on the sur
face or the times; there are mighty problems
in governmental theories with the
welfare of the people, and Il great wave OF
Scepticisn is gathering in all nations 10 roll
against the shore line OF our fathers faith. /
Should insult the spirit and the progress of
this enlightened age If urged you to go out
among these issues blindfoded, to grope for
truth when you may better seek 1t with open
and unshrinking eyes. II your brain Is earn
est aud your heart Is pure. fear not for your
self and be not afraid for truth.
If there Is one thing in all this universe OF
worlds that has demonstrated It's capacity TO
stand the test of time and search and earnest
trial, it is truth. And you need not fear to
seek it lest its battlements should crumble be-
meath your massive contemplation. IL has
stood fire .: heavier artillery than yours. 1t
has survived the shock Of sterner battles than
you will join. It's battle flags are grim Win
the CRIME and glory OF q thousand confiicts,
in which the war cry of It's heroes has been
Every ism has faded, every sophistry has
perlshed in its day on lips Of eloquence or
In policies of blood.
Passion has pressed It's falsehood TO destruc-
tion, and error looks upon thousand Shat-
tered chains. But truth is eternal and In
destructible, and whether spoken by Plato or
Pylhasoras or Cato, or Paul or Luther or
Christ, 1T has verified its immortality through
the ages and, living now, wi live ON forever
and forever beyond the wreck OF matter and
the crash of worlds. And you may seek 1t
safely If you seek it diligently, and, having
found 1t separate from error, lock II iast Win.
i if
share It's Immortality.
It is we'll to know that there are preJudices
TO be conquered and traditions to be trampled
In the search for truth. On many line you
may be barred by customs and iettered by
preceden:s, and public opinion, which Is Of
ten right but sometimes wrong, viii litt us
appalling figure against your progress. HAL
the political errors OF the would are commit
ted in the names of our forefatherS:
Hung Fung was u Chinese philosopher,
weli-nigh 100 years old. His Emperor once
said to him:
ton must have made you wise. Tell me:
what Is the great danger OF Il Government
"Well," said, Hung, "it Is The rat In the
statute"
'The rat in the statute ?" repeated the EN-
peror. "What do you mean ?"
"Why," retorted Hung, eve build statutes
TO the memory OF our ancestors: Ihey are
made of wood and are painted. Now, u RAJ
gets into one you can't smoke 1t outfits the
Image of your father. You can't plunge 1t In
TO waterSthat would wash off the paint Sc
the rat is safe because the image Is sacred"
The Chinese philosophy embalms crying
evil of our times. We tolerate chain OF er'
rors because they are set in sacred images
We follow dangerous lights because they
shine from past histories. We credit our
fathers with thousand sins they diu no'
commit and strenuously pcrpetuate them be.
cause they did. We fail In with the Incidence
of the majority and rest upon ancestral solu
tons because we are too lazy to work out our
problems for ourselves. l hold mat 10 pc as
good rs our fathers we must be bet ier. Iheii
lives as precious legacies were not given US for
slavish Imitation, but for study and improve
ment. Ours in Gods providence are the pro-
blcnls OF His day, ours the God given oraif
TO grapple them, and ours the large and glo
rious liberty 10 speak their truthful answers
to the world.
And you, young gentlemen, should realize
in time that you cannot walk up to the grea,
vital Issues of this stirring age and think tC
solve them by whispering the names OF your
ancestors In their ears w are launched up
on the ocean OF an unclaimed democracy
We cannot float serenely In the thought tha1
our anchor rests upon an ancient cemetery
We are dependent in the last analysis upon
the peoples sense OF right, and we cannot
escape the responsibility which rents uron
educated men to deal fairly with the aues
lions of our day, to find the truth within UNI
them, for ourselves and Tor the majority VINO
rests upon our thought.
4 wise and patriotic statesman once de,
clared that the "ilrst interest and duty OF
every Englishman Is to educate the masses
our masters and 10 educate them right
And with US it needs no prophet TO foretell
that unless we join earnest and truthful Issue
now with these great questions OF our day the
future may force us to give to the battleneld
and to the sword the energies we have relus.
ed to the hustings and the forum. And moth.
Ing less than honest treatment will do for the
bold age In which we live. The issues that
are OH us must be met by men ana minds
nv
When the great issue OF the races now SEEM
ing In repose shall rise to front US IN an i'm
perative appeal. let us bear In mind that we
have no right to view II only through the
smoke that yelled our fathers vision in the
mad days OF "G3," but duty and safety VIII
demand its settlement by the reason and hu
manIty that rules In the light OF our closing
century. When this great evil OF unrestrlct.
ed immigration that Is flooding our country
with stilettos and bombsand revolution shall
come to plead for healthful legislation, let us
see to 1t that If free minds and fearless voices
can prevail, that the statesman's honest fore
cast shall not be poisoned with the demaSo
gue's appalling zeal for the "otes.
Let us settle our financial problems, not IN
the dictum OF Jefferson nor In the rules o
mllton, but in tive deep necessities OF our
conditions and in the interest OF our coun
trys peace Let us meet the mighty issue OF
ballot reform. not In the narrow lines OF party
but on the broad plane of honor and truth.
This mighty movement OF the agricultural
masses Will surely survive the struggles oi
your earlier years. It's not to be met in pre-
judice or passion. If 1t Is not built on wis
dom and justice 1t should die; but II 1t holds
u grea: truth or vital reform II Is yours ~
seek it, and, II you find IT, 1t Is yours TO fol-
low If IL leads against tue last citadel OF an
cestral prejudice.
This great labor question has come to stay
until IL has an honest answer. 1t cannot be
tent OF the people, and 1t stands as the mate,
rial problem OF our time. You need not
think to shift 1t or to wear 1t out. IL must DC
met in patriotism 1t must be answered in In
tegrity. All these great questions must be
answered so, and as they come near 10 our
honest sight, and draw closer to grapple with
our brains and ballots, 1t seems TO me that
never In our history has there been greater
need for a platform OF honest thought and
speech, outside OF party politics and a
political press, whereon men may
Stand with no political condidate to elect,
with no scheme TO carry, with no reputation
to stake, with no object but the truth, and no
purpose but 10 tear every public question
wide open and let the light shine through II:
l am n partisan and u party man, and l
shall always belong 10 the party that carries
that know 10 be wrong, and shall not be-
long to any party without being able to give
my reasons for the faith that Is In that party
and In me. And the time seems ripe ior edu.
caied men to assert the dignity OF individual
choice. For thirty years the colleges OF the
country have been turning partisans out OF u
mould. But for you, my comrades, l would
not sec you go out into the teeming issues OF
this period as q mere custom made Democrat,
and hereditary Republican or Know. Moth
ing by tradition. In the high responsibility
which the citizens should feel TO his country,
and in his conscience, 1t Is tlme 10 fclliZe
that truth towers mountain high above all
parties, and that by comparison parties are
nothing and our country everything, ana
there's an anchor thought Let intellect be
free as air and fearless as the eagle VINO
clcnyes It, but let patriotism be the solvent OF
every political problem, and let no reach OF
mental pride stretch beyond the interests OF
our native land. You vii never need sacrl
flee of truth for this For truth and our
country, linked in noble and uuscltSh union I,
are now and forever one and inseparable.
Cne last thought and am done. The most