The weekly examiner., 1901-07-06

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 THE LIGHT OF OTHER DAYS.
 better appreciation of the education which he has earned by hard knocks. The men of renown who
 "Pluck bright glory from the pale-faced
 moon,
 Or dive into the bottom of the deep
 Where fathom-line could never touch the
 ground
 And drag up drowned honor by the
 locks"
 are not the scions of noble blood; not the sons of the rich who were dandled in the lap of luxury. No, all experience, all history shows that the Titans of every age and of all conditions were progeny of the yeo- marry whose fathers and mothers held in their Joins the bone and tis- sue of contention for existence; physical strength which they trans mitted to the poor boys who were to become Napoleon, Grant, Disraei, Lincoln.
 Archbishop Keane, of Dubuque, when he was rector of the Catholic university here, in the founding of which he was potential factor, de- 1ivered a lecture on ''The Light of the Dark Ages," in which he gave noble tribute to education by saying: 'sThroughout the darkness and hope 1essness of those dreadful years. there comes down to us a simmer of light which shines through all of the awful gloom. It is the light of the tallow dip in the cell of the cloistered monk. Whatever else he 1,r o1i iorht the students lamp, the monk gave light to shine through the dark ages, so that we to-day have transmitted to us the learning of the ancients. all of it of inestimable value to stu dents.'
 That is a tribute to the value and power of all education, and not a bit of praise of the priesthood; for John J. Keane is no bigot. Biblical schol- are alone are indebted to those monks for the Masoretic paintings of the Hebrew, Chaldaic and Syriac versions of the Scriptures; and also for the Hellenistic Greek of the gos- pe1s and epistles. Catholic and Prot estant alike draw from those foun- tains of learning, and also from the Sinaitic manuscripts for their acute and comprehensive knowledge of the Word, in which all denominations "think they have eternal life" The students of the world of science are indebted to those monks for the won derful Ptolemaic theory of the uni verse, the details of which are mar velous and of great value. To those monks also historians are indebted for o11 of 41o lad io1o h oc been given concerning. the great past; and also for the information which has guided modern explorers to the excavations of ancient cities wherein human knowledge has been almost miraculously developed.
 When he was professor of exegeti- cal theology, President Dwight, ot Yale, said to the writer: "The college is truly democratic, no matter wheth- CT it be located in reupblic, in a kingdom or an empire. The sons o5 rich men and of noblemen stand on 6 i level with the sons of poor men. In college young man is esteemed fo1 what he is and for what he does; and the worthy poor man may stand far in advance of the unworthy rich"
 Every man who has had experience in educational matters realizes the | forcefulness of that statement. In 1 seeking the Utopia of true democracy l one must look to the college or uni | versity. This fact is particularly not able in the national capital, where hundreds of young men of all condi- l tions in life are struggling together for that educational development l which will fit them for all of the vicis- l situdes of the battle of life; the bat | tie of which it has been said: "Nc | time for lettering here. In this bat l tie it is only for God and the angels | to be 1ookers-on." Our national uni | versity ~is slowly developing. The | religious denominations are building l universities all around the city upon healthful eminences. Men of wealth | of the various denominations are en- flowing professorships, and others are endowing scholarships for the success. full poor young men who need aid and encouragement. Thus the national capital is becoming permanently our na tional center of education.
 SMITH n FRY