Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1904-08-26

must burSt from my agoniZing brain
what is the matterT' cry. "Turr
the ship. turn il. or l shall diew Witt
that SantOs-Dumont turns the airship's
rudder, and as we begin to descend hC
says: II took you on this journey C
prove TO yOu that II is an impossibility
for man TO live far above the earth
When the air becomes rarcficd there is
not enough substance there for man e
breathe. God has dccreed that phys
zeal man never can fly like bird away
to the stars. lie is free to live i'm this
air only as he brcathes that air when
his feet are planted upon the solid
earth"
Down into the shaft OF coal mine ]
descend. Farther and farther l &c
until the darkness seems To be hurled
at me. / cling in dumb fear TO the
miner by my side. We go down and
down until the heat becomes like the
blistering sands of the Sahara desert
Fresh afr from above Is now pumped
to my painting lungs. But the heat
grows more and more intense until II
seems 1 cannot live. Suddenly we come
to the end of long coal shaft. "Why
not farther?' ! ask my guide "Has
the coal vein stopped hereY' NAY"
is the answer, "the coal is just as rich
farther on, but it is an impossibility
now to work il. The farther we bur
row into the earth the hotter IT be
comes. God has decreed that physical
man must live on the earth's surface.
He may pass around the surface of the
earth, but cannot go through 1t. He
can never tunnel his way from New
York TO Peking." What is true of the
air and land is true also of the sea.
In that wonderfully interesting book
called "Intra Mundr' the author de-
scribes one OF the pleasures OF heaven
as walking through the crystal halls
OF the river OF life. we know not
what may be the delights reserved for
us in that celestial sphere. Ii may be
ours TO pass dryshod through the river
OF life as the Hebrews passed through
the Jordan. But while we are I'm this
mundane life we can never explore the
crystal halls of the Atlantic ocean nor
sail through the ether OF the skies. III
man leaves his natural element he dies
as surely as did the fish we caught
out Of their natural element. Physical
man has his limitations of life. II we
would physically live we must obey
certain physical laws. we cannot eat
pebbles like an ostrich. We cannot
hibernate like snake. We cannot
drink in water like bluefish. We can
not eat grass like an OK. We cannot
breathe the foul and fetid air OF q
miasmic swamp as the freely. with fits
little lantern, makes its home among
the boys and calls the green slime its
playground. Physical limitations hem
in the liberties OF physical man. We
can live our physical life only as we
obey Gods physical laws.
Our Social Limitation,
We also have social limitations. by
that l mean In the liberties OF social
economies. Every mans liberty ends
where his neighbours liberties begin. AS
a citizen OF the United States l have no
right in the sight of the law which is
not possessed in an equal degree by ev-
cry other private citizen of the United
States. Neither has any other citizen
OF the United States n social right which
/ as an individual citizen do not pos
sess. In other words, my liberties are
mine only as long rs do not transgress
the rights of nay peighbors.
Let me illustrate my thought by the
civilized laws OF our country. America
il called the LAND OF the free" But
freedom does not mean license. For the
benefit of our social life we have estab-
lished restrictions on liberty. and those
restrictions must be obeyed. see a
ship sailing hither from the orient. II
is magniticcntly furnished with lavish
splendor. 1t is owned by an oriental
gentleman of high caste who Is coming
10 live among us. He has heard that
America is the land OF the free and sup
poses that here II man may live as lie
pieases. He has on board eight wives.
ana he sets up his harem I'm one or our
great cities. One day an officer OF the
law comes TO him ana says: This kind
or household is contrary to our laws
You have seven wives too many" But
the oriental replies: II have taken out
naturalization papers, and i am o fpaa
citizen. / can live as / choose" But
the officer answers: mo; you are under
legal restrictions. II you continue TO
violate them we shall send you TO pris
on as bigamist"
The land OF the free? Yes, IL you
obey our laws, but not otherwise. You
are free TO do as you will In your own
home-that Is. II you do not abuse your
offspring. II you do, as an agent for
the Society For the Prevention Of Cruel
~ to Children / can step In and take
your children away from you. The
land OF the free? Yes, but YOU dare
not sell To my children obscene MIC
lures. for If you do / can make YOU
wear conyict's stripes The land OF
the free? Yes. IL is the land of the
free If you do not try to forcibly
enter my home. or rob my store, or re-
fnse TO pay your taxes. or TO go to war
as an American soldier when you are
drafted, OF 70 serve In the jury box
when you are impaReled. You are
Tree, In n social sense. only when your
liberties do not conflict with the equal
liberties OF some one else.
Not only does man have his physical
limitations ana social limitations. but
also his mental limitations. AS the
United States government first has its
national legislature. and then this ma
tional form Of government Is subdivid-
ed Into states, and these states into
counties. and these counties into town
ships. SO find the great human race
Is divided and subdiyided and again
in reference to It's limitations.
And In no way can you trace these
more than in the mental
OF the individual.
Educational Limitations.
Under the old educational system ey-
cry American college used TO exact n
hidebound course. The young man
who was candidate for the Il. A. de-
gree had to take just SO much of mathe-
mates, so much of languages, so much
or the sciences, so much of philosophy,
so much of this and that and the other
thing. But now our college systems
have become broadened. The elective |
system is in vogue. Great educational |
lenders have como m tho looiooI or1 Il