The Breckenridge news. (Cloverport, Ky.) 1876-1955, 1898-11-30
THE MODERN KNIGHT.

Paper read before the Joint Teachers Associa-
ton at Irvington by Ed Goodnight. Published by
requestl
TINE is the almoner of Charity. 1t
has been good to the past. AS it swings
its magic censor the hazy incense Of for
getfulness arises to form a mystic veil
between today and yesterday. The twi-
light OF the dead years, with the glamor
of romance and tradition, softens the
tragic vista of the age of force and trans
figures its sacrifcial ceremonies. with the
halo Of glory.
The knightly tournaments, with tine
weltering tides of blood, whose ebb and
flow determined the fate ofnations, were
the academies OF the age Of force. At
the lists the generations Of men whose
shibboleth was might makes right"
learned the lore of murder and their era
is rightly called the clark ages"
The age OF chivalry, as seen through
the veil of romance and tradition, seems
an heroic one and its ideals, as exempli-
fed in the Lion-H Hearted Richard and
that flower of chivalry, the knightly
Bayard, appeal to all lovers of deeds
daring.
The heroes who sat around King Ar
thurs Round Table left but little to pos
terity. II deeds are to be measured by
results the age of chivalry, its ideals, and
its tendencies, are failures, and it is in
deed charitable in old Father Time to
screen the past with veil that hides
multitude OF SINS
The nineteenth century, with its utili-
tartan tendencies and practically, seems
intensely prosaic, but it is, in reality,
the most heroic age Of the worlds his
tory. Force has abdicated in favor of
reason. The hero OF today must conform
to larger standard of bravery and to
higher conceT ton Of nobility than ever
before. To be entitled to place at the
modern round table a man must be a
hero OF the Christly type, and hero of
that character approaches the totally oil
human perfection.
Christ was the great teacher. The les
sons contained in the Sermon on the
Mount were the greatest ever taught the
children OF men. They form the ideals
OF this age, and their potentialities are
shaping the ends OF destiny. The lessons
contained in the Sermon on the Mount
exemplifY the spirit that forms the
foundation of the true social democracy.
1t seems as though they furnished the
inspiration of the constitution of this
government, the best that has ever been
born of human wisdom. The perpetual
ton OF this government and the realiza-
ton Of its ideals OF liberty depends upon
intelligence. Its growth in majesty and
power will be in proportion to the wis
dom OF its integrality. The school-house
is the foundation of the social and politi-
cal structure Of this country. Within its
walls the future citizen is taught the
worth Of numbers and the meaning OF
words. His mind is 30 developed that
he can realize the dignity of sovereignty
as it is represented by the right of suf-
frage, the right that gives him the pre-
negatives Of king. He is taught lessons
that fit him for the exalted duties Of citi-
zenship.
Thus we see that'the school teacher is
the architect of patriotism. With the
skill Of the master craftsman he utilities
the square and compasses OF knowledge
and experience to make the material
within the walls Of the school-house fit
the grooves and inches of the structure
that forms the body polite.
The power that is in the grasp OF the |
teacher and the responsibilities that |
devolve him gives his profession an
awful dignity and grandeur. It's very
sublimity makes him the priest OF liber-
ty for it is through his fundamentally
that the embryotic citizenship of the
nation is taught the worth Of its heritage
Of freedom.
The teacher is awakening TO these
Iacts, and more and more, each year, the
expansion of his mental and moral
stature fits him for the eonsecrated duties
of his profession. The fact that he meets
with his fellows in such convention as
8 being held here today, where he derives
he benefit Of association Of ideas and the
wealth of experience, individual and
collective Of this body, is eloquent testi.
nony Of his seli-sacrifcing loyal deyo-
ion TO duty. The public school teacher
8 establishing for himself standard OF
itness for his.proiession. that II lived up
o, will guarantee the perpetuation Of