The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1901-06-13

Il
see single naked fisherman wash his
nets in the river of ten thousand masts-
her influence and her glory shall still
survive fresh in eternal youth, exempt
from mutablity and decay, immortal as
the intellectual principle from which they
derived their origin, and over which they
exercise their control"
Take those other two nations. one on
| either side of the Mediterranean, which,
| for centuries glared at each other across
that sea, the nations which were IN one
continuous duel for more than one hum
| dred and twenty years, Carthage on the
one side, Rome on the other, Doth great
| in power of arms, the former great upon
| the water as well as upon the lana, ana
| yet VIC know today nothing OF Carthage
| except what we learn from the SIDE re-
| Elections of Roman Literature. We know
| that she produced great generals one, at
| least, among the immortals, and yet we
know him only as an impetuous an
| tagonist of Rome who came well nlgh
marching through her gates; yet but Tor
| the literature of Rome the names OF the
| Carthaginian generals, as is the case
| with the names of her statesmen, would
| have been lost in cblivion's deepest and
| darkest gulf, and the sands of time would
| have swept over her history as the sands
of the sea shore have covered her mighty
| cities.
"Then, too, we talk about commercial
supremacy, and that vainly, for if we ac-
quire immense wealth from trade with
our less fortunate fellow men; If the
| gold of the Orient and the Occident shall
| low in great streams to our shores and
our Golfers, would that make us a great
nation? History does not bare out vanity
/ in this conclusion. 1t is, indeed, true
/ that those nations which have engaged
| most in commerce and whose ships have
gone to the uttarmost parts of the earth,
4 and whose people have learned wisdom by
travel have some advantage over those
nations which have spent their resources
| both of man and money in the terrible
! tragedies incident to war; and yet great
| cities like Tyre and Sdon and Carthage
! and Venice have risen in voluptuOus
grandeur and Importance only later to
see their glory fade, and if dependent
upon that alone to have little left to tell
| the tale. Neither is national expansion
d thing for national Boosting. What
| aYaiIs it TO a nation to own the isles OF
the sea- and to bring back tributes from
| far distant cities and countries? What
has it meant for those nations of the
past which have sought to build them
selves up by extending the scepter of pow
er beyond their own borders? The an
swer is easy. 1t need not be repeated.
1t is we'll known to every reader of his
| tory who has scanned the brief pages
| Of national annals since men learned to
/
cial supremacy national expansion, and
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT, those things have
tiekled the vanity of nations as a bit of
ribbon and flower bedeckcd hat have
pleased the maiden, as the painted
feather and elaborate headgear have
tickled the savage, as the star on the
breast and the sash over the shoulder
hsvo delighted the man. They are one
| and the same. Fellow workers, we should
count ourselves happy that cur labor is
for the greatest things, that we may deal
with immortal minds and with the i'm
mortal soul The greatest thing in the
evolution of nations is the love of liberty
! and the greatest thing in the evolution
| Of man is religion and moral character,
! the greatest in the economy of both is
intellectuality-tha art and that litera
4
inspiration to the noblest efforts of both
nations and men. The man or woman
who gathers about him in the little red
school house, or maybe in the academy on
the Hill, or under the classic shades of
the college or University, group OF
children or young men and young women,
be they few or many, who inspires them
/ with self-rescect and love for freedom
49, q, foo
naught but God, is in a business great
beyond his fairest conception or belief.
! There is nothing comparable on its i'm
portance or its possibilities, if / may be
allowed to except the loving care and
faithful pastoral duties of the minister of
! the Gospel How shall we, as North
Carolinians, fill to the measure the holy
duties which rise before us? like to
think with Ruskin about the "old legend,
that when the people long ago offered the
| gods their greatest gifts they did not
| give their prisoners of war, they did not
give their gold and silver and precious
stones, not their bit of land and house
hold property, but they brought their
| fairest sons and daughters and they gave
! them" and we must give our labor to
| fitting for Divine use our youth, that
great and generous tide which / believe
to be directed by Divine Wisdom and
| controlled by Infinite love and surround
ed by Almighty Power. / give you with
all my heart the best God speed that one
man can give another, and ask that in
the hours of difficulty and trial that may
come, you may not be discouraged, but
/ g Let knowledge grow from more to more,
But more of reverence in us dwell;
That mind and soul according well,
May make one music as before,
But vaster.'
1.-The old State is stirred to its depths