The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1897-04-24
some Rambling Thoughts.



Bf MEMO
If were to question each reader
there would be very diverse answers
as to what constitutes the greatest
mower in The world. Electricity.
steam. dynamite. volcanic eruptions.
would ali doubtless be prime fayorites.
But | name a greater than tbese-an
idea. Ideas are silent but their pow
er no rendinp flash of lightning ever
EQUALS. To sneak of material things
even the house Won inhabit. the clothes
You wear. the prepared food Won eat
| the monuments YOU admire. are moth
ing but ideas materializes. Far back
in the ages some poor shiyerlng savage
added a riyen piece Of wood To the
front side of his cave as an extra pro-
lection. Another of these forgotten
benefactors found fire and conserved
lit by ideas that held il in subjection.
so that it no longer DESTROYED. but
warmed. cheered and heightened his
DAYS. Then again one of these ances-
tors OF ours thought how to add
strength to his arm by means of a club
at the end OF 1t. And since ideas are
orderly. much AS stairs nv which we
climb. the higher one possible be-
cause the lower one has been passed.
SO these early discoveries are the actu-
| al precursors of the home comforts we
enjoy and the machinery that nuts
puny man above all mowers of nature
organic or inorganic. The old meth
DDS may pass away. both of protect
ing ourselves from the inclemency OF
the weather and of entering into con-
flict with opposing forces but the new
methods are simply built lnou the old
that have served their purnose and led
to higher things.
~
But when we come to ideas that
are not merely material but mental
and spiritual, the power 10 turn and
change and reform is even more re-
markable and wonderful in its silence
and It's might. The government to
which Won owe allegiance. the peace
and orderliness of life. the spiritual
impulses that sway us are all the out
come of ideas that have taken their or
igin like some mighty stream in an
obscure and hidden snot that, leads ON
to growth as it flows. Take the idea of
God. for instance. when the savage
saw the newer of the wind and the
waters and the seasons his idea was
that they were living beings who
could be pleased or irritated, and he
named them yariously and worshiped
them. But gradually grew nm the
convention in the national mind. of n
power over and above these material
signs of power and that was worshiped
as the God over all Gods. Yet while
the tribe or the nation remained sta
| tionary God was for il alone and NOT
for other PEOPLES. Each nation pre-
empted to itself the right and control
of the true God or Gods. For long
ages the thought of the Fatherhood
of God and the Brotherhood of man
did not so much as dawn upon the hu-
man mind: noteyen the Hebrew mind.
But when fierce wars followed nv
neaceful administration hrolse down
the walls of nartition hetween nations
the idea gradually beoan to grow
among thouphtful minds that il was
possible for nations to co-onerate with
one another and this very Tendency To
cooperate payed the way for the nrey-
alence of the All-Father idea that
now entered the human mind.
And now is sweeninv throuph the
heart of the world the feeling that,
God and his revelation is in some
measure found AMONG all neonles
and all religions. What further ideas
are vet TO be regarding the length. the
breadth. the height Of Gods nature of
mercy. and tender interest. no man can
vet tell. Rnt this we know the hi
man mind is growing broader and the
human heart il warming into brother
Illness in orr dav. we also know that
Won and are liyinp NOW and il, is ours
to live. think. and act as becometh
the dawn of a new century
AGAIN. look at. our government We
strive here for the maximum of liberty
and the minimum of restraint unon
the individual. but it would be abso-
lutte foolishness to assert that the
breadth of our constitution is all due
tn the clear vision and amancinatad
minds Of the founders of the Rennblic
Rather LET ms acknowledpe that the
ideas they had were simnlv an orderly
ldevelonment from THOUGHTS that had
been stirring human hearts for ages
under ALL sorts of diverse conditions.
back to Magma Charta. back TO Alfred
j the Great. hack To Charlemapne. hack
to Caesar. back ia Home, hack to
Moses and even to nre historic imagin-
inos and aspirations
How thrilling to recognize the mower
of thought and our share in IL. When
first we come to realize that we have
an identity al onr own we eagerly seek
out, other neonles ideas and taLa them
to ourselves as mart IF our mental and
sniritual ontfit. but az wears on hv
and orr Individuality becomes more
decided. covIv AT first ideas Of our
own force themselves nnon ms based
/ -, - 49, -. 1s.s...e1
T,at nc nevar close onr minds against
these ideas originating within. for 81
lono as humanity lasts and ca long 30
each human brain differs from avarv
other one new ideas have riobt ~
life and there ;s M reason whv vour
idea and mine sbou,d not bayo in II
nravailing newer However to kno,y
how ideas originate is 70 understand
all the mvsterias of onr minds and
o onaV omJu' soan tha - NY seu W.