The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-10-19


an is deficient in a feeling for the
beautiful. He does not respond as
eadily to the appeal of music, paint
ng, sculpture, poetry, or natural
cenery. Compare, too. the appearance
II our cities, towns, and country villa
ges with those of the foreign nations
Fhom we equal or surpass in other
aspects. We cannot wholly excuse
ourselves by saying that We are a new
nation and have not had time to de-
ciop our artistic instincts. We are rs
I'D as the English. We did not be-
gin our career as a Semi-ciVll1zed
ace. We began as Englishmen. We
brought With us their tastes, but they
nave outsripped US.
The truth is that the average AmerL
aan in his seTach for wealth and
cover is inclined to disdaih the beau
iful, to esteem it effeminate, as II
beauty were an external somethiuS
md ret an organic part of nature, ma
,erial, mental and moral. The man
who has nc feeling for the beautiful,
whatever be his profession or attain
nent5 will walk forever in world not
tealized IF | had 10 live my life
lgain," said Darwin, a year before his
teath, Il would have made rule to
cad some poetry and to listen to some
music at least once a week; for per-
haps the parts of my brain now
drophied would thus have been kept
active through use. The loss OF these
tastes is a loss of happiness, and may
~cssibly be injurious to the intellect,
md more probably to the moral char
lcter. by enfeebling the emotional part
II our nature"
Te appreciation of beauty is a prac-
zeal matter that concerns each of rs,
md / congratulate the State ON the
recent organization of Women's clubs
g beautify school buildings and school
surroundings No movement of recent
years means 50 much for the elevation
Of popular standards of taste in North
Carolina The problem of the schools.
after all, is more than merely physi-
cal intellectual or moral training. 1t
includes these but it includes more. To
train up a citizenship that shall be
strong but not crude, gentle but not
weak. sensitive to beauty but not senti-
mental, there is q task as eXacttng III
its demands as it is far-reaching in its
results.
The second and last Indictment of
| the average American is on the score
of history He is comparatively in
different to the claims that his own
history has upon him. He is proud of
The record that his country has made,
but his pride is greater than his
knowledge. 1t is true that there has
recently been a widespread awaken
inG CT interest in American history,
especially in our colleges and uniVersi-
ties: but the movement has not
reached far down, and the fact remains
that We have not yet acquired the
habit of recording our history or of
preserving the materials out of which
history is to be constructed. Mr.. F1SkG
remarks that when the cOlonistS left
England they seem to have left also
The historical instinct In other words
we have not learned to systematic
the preservation and the perpetuation
of our history. There are, compare
lively speaking, fewer monuments,
tablets, inscriptions, genealogical trees,
historical museums, and memorial
buildings in American than in Eng
land France, or Germany. Our blo-
graphies do not show the same care
and thoToughness. There is less Sys-
temattc preservation of important
documents. The feeling for history is
not so widely diffused. The average
American lives so essentially in the
present that he does not realize the
continuity of his own history or it's
significance fer future ages
Ladies and gentlemen, the time has
come in North Carolina when patriot
ism. if it is to count, must be en-
liehtened 1t will no longer be meas
ured by lung power. Other states ana
sections are making claims that will
| dim our lustre if we have not rea-
son for the faith that is in us. \ peO-
pie that would rank high in the es-
TEEN of others must not only preserve
| but must record their own history.
We are judged at the bar of the world
| rot by the deeds that we have done
but by the deeds that we have done
and recorded.
| Let me remind you that a peculiar
and distinctive interest attaches to
| North Carolina history because she
| is the most homogeneous state in the
| Union. The problems Of q self-BCV-
erning Democracy, built upon purely
Anglo-SaXOn institutions, are being
worked out in North Carolina under
fewer lettering conditions than any
where else in the world. 1--WE expect
much of North Carolina" said Presi-
| dent Nicholas Murray Butler, of New
York. because she is the most Amer =
can of all the sisterhood of states
To see therefore that our history is
adequately recorded and truthfully re-
cited becomes a duty not merely to
ourselves but to the nation. 1t is a
work in which all may bear part.
Every history of IL North Carolina
county, every sketch of a representa-
tive life. every monument and tablet.
every relic sent to the State HiStori-
cal Museum, every commemorative
poem every sermon or editorial thai
seeks to interpret our past, is Il con-
| tribution to this great end.
If / read Alright the signs of the
| times, the day is not far distant when
| this old commonwealth shall make Il
! lace for herself in literature and as
| sumo her rightful place in history;
when the fountain of her speech shall
| be mstopped, and the scroll of her
deeds uErOlled. And when that glad
| day shall come, it will be found that
the most American of states has ~not
| been unworthy of the trust committed
i to her