The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1899-01-04
Grafton of &. G. Roberts at the Late Ora
torical Contest.

Is about to hurl the whole state into tn
dark abyss Of n terrible revolution. Tn
tumultuous rabble Is slow.y making wal
towards st. Antone's gate, but the por
tai Is closed by the defiant walls of al
old castle. which has been used Tor thre'
hundred years as state prison. ant
which has become. IN the eyes OF thu
commons, the very emblem of depotism
Laudanay with his guards stands ready
to crush the mob and hold the prison FOL
its old duties. But the determined host
pushes on. The two huge drawbridges
give way before the blows OF their weap-
ons: the guards lay down their arms;
the prisoners are released and the work
Of destruction begins. The huge walls
and towers are razed to the ground; the
bastil has been stormed; the token OF
past tyranny and oppression has been
destroyed by the hands OF the oppressed.
The world knows the result France
passed through n bloody revolution. in
which the Bourbon monarchy, guided by
the motto tyranny. inequality and op-
preston. was succeeded by the commons
under the motto. liberty. equality, and
justice.
This episode In the life Of France has
its antitype in every step OF progress.
There ls no forward movement withou.
change no change without revolution; no
revolution without n storming OF the bas-
tile. On these hypothesis We found the
proposition that revolution IL an essen
tial element in progress.
Ordinarily the use of this term-revolu-
tlon-brings to our mind the idea Of tho
-.
think Of Philip II. establishing Macedon-
ian supremacy over Greece by the blood
spilled at Chaeronea: wo follow his son,
Alexander the Great. across the Helle-
spont, through the slaughter Of Issus
and Arbela. We trace I'm our minds tho
revolt OF the NetAr lands involving all
western Europe. We think OF the drench-
ing OF French soil with blood by the
reign Of terror" In Englatd we follow
Charles I. to the block; We measure the
loss fhuman life for the satisfaction
Of his sons vengeance; and most vivid
TO the mind OF the ..merican Is the blood
which flowed at Long Island Monmouth,
and Yorktown, for tho liberty which he
now enjoys.
Although we are compelled TO ascribe
much good to the results of such revolu-
tions, yet the revolt that makes tho sur
est forward strides is the one that acts
directly on the human mind.
Thus revolutions divide into two classes.
In general. history proves one to be de-
structive the otl.oi progressive. But the
violent as well as the peaceful has often
l productive OF good We learn from
history that every successful change was
for liberty. under law. and through |
growth. How wonderful II is that our
reator looking down through the ages |
should have noted the radical tendencies |
in society, and as a guide 20 all nation |
builders and reformers, should ave |
formed a nation from a chaotic mass OF |
chosen people. after two centuries and |
half OF national growth. by breaking |
the fetters OF Egyptian bondage and re-
vealing to them law from Sinai But |
men, in general, have disregarded this /
example and changes bought by the sac
rince Of human lives havo been DO "A
radical and destructive.
And so IL has come that civilization has
pushed onward and upward, step by step,
by resolute assaults upon public senti-
ment. The one condition that character
ICES the present age is t. powerful reign
o mind. Changes today must be gained
through the agency OF thought
But one may ask, does not the human /
mind undergo its changes, Is not an oid
thought succeeded by new. by q pro-
cess so gradual as not to o revolutions
ary? The answer must be-no. The law
Of Inertia, that a body at rest will re-
main at rest. or in motion win continue
IN motion unless acted upon by some ex-
ternal force. is app..eable to the actions
Of the human mind.
We call history as a witness 20 the
fact. when any sentiment. political or
Is implanted in the public mind
It may become oppressive. yet
before such a thought can be swept from
the mind or men, It's bastilo must be
stormedi II must be dethrOned and sue
eeeded b a purer and more reasonable
thought. Modern history begins with the
greatest reformation recorded In its an
nails, On the eve OF THIS reformation the
conditions liberty, law, and growth, |
appear ylvdly before Us. We sec the
forces gathered for the onset; In the pow.
erful mind OF one man are the weapons.
while in the distance loom the defiant
us through this great step In progress
At the beginning OF the sixteenth CEN
tury the papacy was spreading Its power, |
not only over the whole spiritual world |
but over all temporal affairs: and thus
and temporal princes In dis |
tant parts were beginning 10 cry for iib- |
erty. An Augustine monk was armIng
himself with the truths In the great onok |
and the cause was placed under law
Petrarch for classical learning caused |
In the fourteenth century the passioa Of |
an intellectual embryo 20 germinate /
which. after century an8 a hAlf 81
steady growth. became a power in the
support Of Martin Luther. Yes liberty, |
law, growth-rhese three rl1uisle con
ditions appear on tha eve of a great rev.
olution Of public sentiment Pat the peo- |
pie are still subjected tOcorupt prac-
tees OF the Indulgence. the papacy still |
welded the scepter over all Europe. One
great step was necessary TO c0nplste a |
cycle The ideal OF papal su- |
premaey must be swept from the public |
mind and the corruption Of the great |
church exposed. Armed win che cause
OF liberty IN thought guided by the law
OF God and supported by an intellectual
growth, Luther, In his Theses. sbormed
the bastIle and changed forever the /
copisp Of spiritual thought.
In the last century ana a half. how.
ever, ne greatest movement in political i
advancement have been free from ths -e-
sfraiuinR infuanca ~ y1f1ro- az, .l.... "A.