The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-03-29
Thf Messengm.
CURRENT OPINION OF WEIGHT

The opinion of ex-President Harrison
distinguished republican. / n opposition
to foreign conquests by the Uniteo
States attracted much Insiders eoi
as 1t should have done. No" con
another opinion of interest and slgn
cancy and by another Harrison
it is the most distinguished and go
English critic Frederic, -, ao,,r-
-..,,I-a +hts country. iateiS oei'v-
VIsiuhs thIs -NIre the Nineteenth
eo an ADDRESS n New York. He gave
century opinion that there are de-
fixtures and signs Of decay in public
conduct-that the last twenty years
shcw a lowering that may we'll make
men ponder n condemn. We quote
one passage from this gifted critic.
author and publicist:
The ascendency of Bismarck, with
his policy of blood and iron. marked
the enforcement of the spirit or con-
quest and a species Of demagogy (Vari-
ously known as Jingoism and Imperial
ism). . We had had a long perl
cd of African wars, eliminating In
that most disastrous and disgracefui
one which is not yet completed. We
had the Cuban war and the present
scramble for loot in China The de-
sire for empire reacts on thought, n
our poetry has fallen tc bloodthlrsty
doggerel. Our religion dribbles out In
Christian Science. We boast about our
great mechanical and scientific pro-
gress but we still see barbarism ram
pant among the bearers of civilization
in China, Africa and India; terrible
sIums in our cities, and "reminiscences
of Sayagery in the ~lynchings we read
about almost daily. Our multiplica-
ton of mechanical aids has vulgarized
life and tended to the luxury and un-
bridIed power of wealth similar only
t. that seen in the time of Nero
Mary you. that is the deliverance of
the most accomplished of living writer's
and a nan of uncommon intellectual
health and sanity Of judgment as his
numerous writings so clearly manifest.
The Philadelphia Record makes salts
factory comment in SO we'll saying this:
.'It is impossible, Of course. to deny
the immensely of the progress MADE In
matters of purely material concern
during the Nineteenth century,; but IN
all that relates to our moral and spir-
itual selves are we better than or even
as good as were the men who founded
this republic, who gave the impulse 10
the French revolution and inscribed the
word Fraternity beside the words Lib
erty and Equality on their banners?
The advance of scientific knowledge
and the march of invention are great
achievements. but are they the sum of
civilization"
And this is just what the Chinese
minister to the United states said in
one of his many public lectures (and
he is now conspicuous on the rostrum).
He said this:
docs civilization consist of railroads.
telegraphs, telephones. electric lights.
battleships, rapid-firing guns. maya
zine rifles and a thousand and n
things which are regarded as neces-
sary for a progressive nation? This
would be a very narrow Interpretation
of the word. Civilization has. l believe.
a broader meaning. with intelligence,
order. morality and refinement for its
essential elements"
But that is precisely what the ma
terialistic philosophers and politicians
think of it. They hold that the chief
end of man is get and to hold, and that
material development is the greatest
thing in the universe of God. Religion.
philosophy, great literature are not
any thing but dust in the balances.
That is the spirit of the age.