The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1898-06-23
OUR NATIONAL
OPPORTUNITY.
"R1GHTEoUSNESS EXALTETH A
NATION"
Present-Day Thoughts.
BY "NEMo."


copyrighted by Dave & Tabor.)
Shall we continue along the line of
the closing thought of last weeks let
ter? It was that the end of the war
will leave us with very much extend
ed horizon OF duty and opportunity and
temptation It's with us, as with the
mountain climber, that the upward
step shows us what we had not seen be-
fore. AS pointed out some weeks ago,
the unselfish motive that impelled us
to interfere with Spain, was in advance
of anything We had yet attempted In
exempllfying the Golden Rule; and it
would have been strange indeed, if il
had failed to return with interest to the
great, kindly, national heart.
*+*
But we are hereafter to be more
closely watched by the great nations OF
the earth /; and no longer with mere
curiosity and idle surmisings as to the
durability of our experiment in self-goy-
eminent. The future will have in it
for them lingering fear as to what the
years to come conceal OF 1mpuIsive act
ion on our part, aud OF real danger to
the nations that have hitherto known
us only IN distant fashion. From being
a remote and unarmed nation whose
governmental vagaries could be smiled
at, and whose boasttu1 vaporings could
be despised, we are transformed into
an essential instrument in the great con-
cert of nations.
~
Our temptation will be to play our
part in that concert, guided by the act
ions Of those to our right or to our lett,
instead OF by the motions of the great
CONG. cior before whom the greatest
nations are merely,
"Viiiant dust that builds on dust"
Our temptation will be to plume our
selyes ON fighting ability, and intrpret
it into guarantee Of permanency
ourselves foolEhly by the
of other nations that have
risen by material things, lived by them,
and perlshed by them. Higher thought
is needed now than for our beloved ma
ton to,
-"put her trust"
"In reeking tube and iron-shard."
Our temptation will be to lean on
al mics and nayies and call them safety.
Yet, guiding ourselves by our opponent
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 nation to
trust in is force that is physical instead
of moral and mental. To make ma
tional power as vanishing as sand dam
in rising tide, Let us put our whole
trust in rifles that repeat, and in iron
castles that float.
Our temptation will be to descend to
the aggrandlsing methods of less COM
pact natlons-to take hand in the
game of grab-and call it statesman
ship; unmlndful that "far-fung. bat
tle-line" thins out energy and makes
wounding easy. This will be our strong
est temptation ; but to yield to 1t will
make us untrue to the motive which
first impelied us, and will justify the
doubts OF some of the European nations
the nobility OF our aim.
These are some of thy temptations; ;
O, nation that hast been led up into
an exceedingly high place The world
with all it's glory lies beneath. II hun
cry, thou hast it IN thy power to stoop
and eat the bread of pride that salts
fieth not. Or there's for. thee devotion
to the sublime consciousness of being
set for moral leadership in 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 rever
sails of our temptations. It is ours to
refuse imitation of the untrue, trivial
evil doings 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 bis
appearance the bread, the milk, the po'
tatoes, etc., that he has devoured. We
are old-fashioned enough to believe that