The record-union., 1898-06-19
PRESENT-DAY THOUGHTS.
BY Memo"
Copyrighted by Dave & Tabor,

copyrighted by Dave e. Tabor,
Shall we continue along the line Of
the closing thought of last weeks lat-
ter? 1t was that the end of tho yvar
will leave us With very much axtand-
ed horizon of duty and opnortunity
and temptation. 1t is with US a. With
the mountain climber, that the inward
step shows us what we had nor soon
| before. AS / pointed out some waare
ago. the unselfish motive that impelIed
| us to interfere with Spain, was in ad-
vance of anything we had yet atemntea
| in exemplifying the Golden Rule. ana
| it would have been strange indea5
| if il had failed to return with Interest,"
to the great, kindly. national heart
But we are hereafter to he moro
| closely watched by the great nations of
| the earth; and no longer with nero
| curiosity and idle surmisings as to the
| durability of our experiment in self
government. The future Will have i'm
it for them a lingering fear as to what
| the wears TO come conceal Of impusiva
/ action on our part, and of real danger
| to the nations that have hitherto
known US only in distant fashion.
From being a remote and unarmed ma
| ton whose governmental vSgaries could
| be smiled at, and whose boastful va
! porings could be despised we are
| transformed into an essential instru-
ment in the great concert OF nations.
| Our temptation will be to play our
/ part in that concert, guided by the
actions of those to our right or to our
| left, instead of by the motions of the
great conductor before whom the
! greatest nations are
Valiant dust that builds on dust.
Our temptation will be to plume our
selves on fighting ability, and interpret
it into a guarantee Of permanency:
measuring ourselves foolishly by the
| standards of other nations that have
risen by material things, lived by them
/ and perished by them. Higher thought
is needed now that for our beloved
| nation to
put her trust
| In reeking tube and iron-shard.
Our temptation will be to lean on
armies and navies and call them safe
ty. Yet guiding ourselves by our op-
| ponent we see that Spain shows these
| things to be of small moment unless
! backed by a high purpose. History is
proof that the least of all things for a
nation to trust in is force that is physi-
make national powers as vanishing as
! a sand rampant in a rising tide, let US
| put our whole trust in rifles that re-
| peat, and in iron castles that float
| Our temptation Will be to descend to
| the aggrandising methods of less COM
| pact nations-to take a hand in the
! game of grab-and call it statesman
! ship: unmndful that a far flung bat
/ tie line" thins out energy and makes
/ wounding easy. This will be our
strongest temptation; but to yield 10 it
! will make US untrue to the motive that
first impelled US, and will justify the
doubts Of some of the European ma
tions regarding the nobility Of our aim
These are some of thy temptations;
O, nation that hast been led up into
an exceedingly high placel The world
with all it's glory lies beneath. If
hungry, thou hast it in thy power 70
stoop and eat the bread of pride that
satis1ieth not. Or there is for thee de-
votjOn to the sublime consciousness Ct
| being set for moral leadership il a
world that is still too material and
too selfish for full appreciation of the
demands of the century yet to come
Our new opportunities will be re-
versals of our temptations 1t is ours
to refuse imitation of the untrue. trivial
evil 1oingS of neighbOrS whose moral
education has been less than our own.
We are neither new England, nor new
Germany, nor new Ireland, nor new
Russia nor new France. and none of
these can expect to find counterpart in
US. Though they all go to the making
of US, we are not copies of them any
more than the child reproduces in his
appearance the bread. the milk the po-
tatoes, ETC. that he has devoured. We
are old-fashioned enough to believe that
we are what we are. by the grace of
God, a nation with an individuality oe--
culiar to itself, made so by the expert
ences it has encountered. From the
homes of our toilers. in field and in
factory: from the patient hearts Of
mothers and the strong efforts of our
men, may go up harmony that Will
be our contribution to the concert of
the Lord of Hosts. righteousness ex-
aleth a nation
Our opportunity is TO show that we
find no occasion for boasting no mat
ter how great our contribution to the
cause of human liberty. 1t is ours 10
show a national belief in the great
ness Of humility. 1t is ours to 1--we
out this belief so effectually, that 9th
ers whose opportunities for a great un-
selfish act have been rarer may not
from our mouthiDgs grow either dis
couraged or disGusted.
Our opportunity is To show that we
are not growing material in stand
ards of value 1T is ours to declare
that the expediency of gain is less to
be considered than propriety of action;
that what is morally wrong cannot be
nationally right: that it is better to be
right than to be powerful: but better
still to be powerful and right. Further
more. it is ours to declare that our
only fight is for the clearing out Of
dark places Of ignorance in order TO let
in a great light of new liberty: that
we shall not seek to extend our domain
by any method that partakes of trick
cry; that we shall. only so long AS is
necessary for their permanent indie
pendence, retain our hold upon the
lands we free; and finally that we
shall not forget our natal declaration
regarding the consent of the governed
as the base of government.
These times are big with fate Gem
erationS of men yet unborn will arise
to praise or condemn us according to