The University daily. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 18??-????, 1895-06-12
CONTEST GRAFTON.
Progress Of Civilization. .
by W. b. PARSONS


mankind By footprints almost oblit-
Grated, throughall its iungles Of dark
ness and superstition, over all it's
broad and sunny plains Of social and
intellectual progress IS struck with
wonder at the monuments, which vet
stand, as witnesses Of the genius Dc
the past. How many Of these monu-
ments have gone down In those yio-
lent social storms, whiehleftnot hing,.
but destruction, ia their wake, or how
many, neglected. have fallen BIZ the
ruinous hand Of time cannot BE ascer-
tanned It's probable that the same
genius that gave the Egyptian pro-
cess of embalming the bodies Of the
dead, (which have been slumbering in
their subteranean tombs beside the
Nile for. forty centuries that mixed
the5imperishable colors. which are to-
day found, bright az ever, in the vine
clad ruins Of Egyptian temples that
erected those colossal and unparal-
leled structures, the Pyramids gave to
the world other wonders, which were
lost id the darkness, that succeeded
that civilization never to be found.
Long before the Homeric poems were
"a 81 e
sung in the Hellenic cities before
Phidias, the prince Of sculptors,
transmitted life and divinity to the
statue Of the virgin goddess, Athena ;
before the Ornate Corinthian capital
had been given to the world by Hell
lenic genius, itmay be that art and in
Yention even superior To that, which
produced the Damascus blade, beanti-
H fed homes and ennobled mankind. Il.
In far off India at Agra, in a labY-
rinth Of walks, trees and flowers, by
\ a clear stream, alive with schools Of
4 fishes, darting amid fountains of cFys-
4 tai water, is mausoleum isolated
from the rest Of the world. 1t was
constructed by the Moguls emperor,
Jehan, to commemorate, in enduring
form, his. devotion to his departed
queen, Mahal. Its architectural de
sign and exquisite beauty of snow
white marble present to the bewilder-
ed beholder{a different structure at
different hours Of the day. lit is a
poem Of architecture, dream of
beauty, so wonderful thatit seems ali
most infmitable. ~
We parse 20 ask; Is such genius as
produced these prodigies yet alive?
Without hesitation we answer, yes.
And the ties of human affection are
as strong as ever, but art and inYen-
ton, for so many ages, wasted on a
useless display OF pomp and splendor,
have taken a utilitarian direction.
No ivory statue Of Athena with gold
en- hair, beaute9us and sublime, is
needed now for that goddess with
her companion deities, even almighty
Zeus, have gone from their home,
Olympus.
And all the consecrated emotions
and halloWed sentiment, which belief
in their reality inspired have died out
of the hearts and minds of men for
ever. No more pyramids are built by
poor Wretched slaves to satisfy the sell
fish ambition Of cruel despots but
modern genius, combined with intelli-
gent, free labor builds beautiful
homes; furnishes them with musical
instruments and libraries hangs pic
lures on the walls surrounds them
with elegant pleasant grounds green
trees and elegant flowers thereby ere
sating all the tender and refining asso-a
Citations of home, that best gift OF
heaven. for millions Of freeand happy
people.
The era of real human progress was
introduced by thesprinting press the
agency By which generation is en-
abled to commune with succeeding
generations and the best thought and
sentiment made accessible to the. rich
and poor alike. The gracious hand Of
Gutenberg threw open wide the doors
OF the temple of literature to every
people ana every class. The intellect
ual lights of Greece and Rome began
to shine out in the darkness. Aristo-.
tie and Plato tntored another world.
to civilization. The foundation Of
the worlds great university Of knowl-
edge was then laid, and story by story
has been added BY genius until its su-
perstructure now rises into a sky Of
the brightest glory. It stands, to-day,
palladium Of civil political and re-
ligious liberty stronger than that
which guarded Troyof old Through
the instrumentalits 81 the press,
thousands Of books and millions Of
copies Of these books have taken the
place ofthe few and costly manuscripts
which the copyists Of the cloisters had.