The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1893-12-14

| Dixon, Jr., continued in Association hall
tins morning the second series Of ser
mons on the 'Propheci~s Of the Worlds
Fair The subject Of today's discourse
was The Era OF the Common Prople
He declared thatFthis great exposition
was the achievement Of the common peo-
! pie. Society" so called. was not there,
The common people conceived 1t. They
! planned it. They managed It. They
! patrOnlzed 1t and made it success.
Glass distinctions were lost in the vaster
idea Of humanity. This triumphant cx-
presslOn of life by the common people is
/ The prophecy 81 their early ASSUMPTION
OF the supreme control Of the whole So
| cial order. The text chosen was from
John XII, "a, "WhO is this Son Of Mani"
1t IS most significant fact that Jesus
/ Christ called himself the Son Of Man.
| This was his fHvOrite desi qIatiOn of him
! sell 1t was his chosen definition Of him
self The greatest revelation Christ made
10 the world was himself. And in this
title he declared himself to be the son of
| humanity. He was not TO be limited to
any one family, to any class, to any ma
ton, to any race-hc was the Son Of Man.
The Son of Man shall come in his glorv.
he told US. The promise in this title he
thus gives to humanity is full Of richest
meaning. AS this supreme representa-
tive Of the human race shall triumph and
to him every knee bow at last. so shall
| humanity, for which he lived, Of which
ne was born, find its day Of emancipa-
tiOn and triumph. The Son Of Man was
crucified, but he rose again. Humanity
has been crucified through centuries on
the Calvary of pharisaism, sacred" and
prOfane.
BUT 1T SHALL RISE AGAIN.
Glass and sect and faction shall die at
length, never to live again.
The desire to be out Of the current of
the great humanity is the sure index of
the unCiviliZed animal. Whether he wear
purple and fine linen and fare sunptu-
ously every day, or whether he live from
hand to mouth and haunt the red flag of
an anarchist, it matters not. The princi-
pie is the same. All class ideas and class
foundations as such are fundamentally
wrong. They are not only immoral, but
they are brutal. The self assertion of
class, whether of proletariat or heredi-
tary title or millionaire, is the assertion
of the antisOcial nature of man-the es-
sentially inhuman part of him-in short,
the brutal. There is no other name for it.
1t is matter. then. for heartfelt con-
graduation that this great exposition
was in the highest and best sense of the
word by the people, Of the people, for
the people.
1t was the affair of Man-Man spelled
with big capital
There were no OersOnaces there
1t was the triumph of the genius of
humanity.
There was no exhibit Of ''sassiety"
The Four Hundred were not there to
see the exhibit. 1t was not their day
True, the Duke of Veragua was pres
ent as the guest of the United States
government. But he was present as a
relic. He was not exhibited as mem
Der Of ''society." He was shown strictly
as a relic of Columbus.
So the Spanish Infanta was a curiO of
a romantic past surviving today. Only
in this sense were they a part of the
show.
HUMANITY'S TRIUMPH.
For once class was lost in humanity.
The idea Of the fair originated in the
brain and heart of the common people.
1t was created by them.
1t was planned and managed by them
and for them.
1t was patronized and made a success
by them.
1t could have been created by no less
power.
1t could have been sustained by no
less power.
No king or prince or emperor of any
nation or empire in this or any other age
could have done such a work. 1t meant |
an expenditure first and last of about |
5000, 900, 900. And more, it meant the
corporation in heart and purpose of mil
lions of people of all races and nations
with one thought and one purpose.
The vast crowds of people who poured |
through those gates from day to day and |
filled those palaces and grounds were
the best looking people of equal number |
that ever gathered on this planet in one
place.
And ''sassiety" was nowhere to be seen. |
Let the dudes and loafers and buffers
who crawl up the stoops Of the so called |
great and count it an honor to wash their |
dishes make note of this fact.
This was worlds fair.
And the world was represented there. |
And the world was there to see it.
But 'society" was not there.
Where, then, is the place Of this petty |
mob that arrogates to itself so lofty
title?
Nowhere.
1T is A SUPERFLUITY.
1t has no mission in the real work OF
the world. 1t is froth. There are two
great problems that now weigh on the
minds of "sassiety." They are the two
problems that always arose to trouble
the peace of a distinguished cipher in
that august cOterie. There are two
things that bother me-" he said. Zone is.
how the world got on before came into
it, and the other is how it is going to
get on after leave it"
This exposition, that marks the glory
of centuries of human achievement, has
given a most emphatic answer to these
solemn queries.
Yet how many poor fools there are In
this big world of ours who actually be-
lieve that the universe is no larger than
their conception of a class or caste, OF
artificial social distinctions!
Most of our sighings and heart burn
ings are not over the great problems of
the human race and human heart. but
over the tremendous problem of our own
class position and limitations.
An uneducated man who had made
vast fortune in few years by specula-
ton, while driving in the park, encoun-
tered plainly dressed middle aged man
on foot