The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1910-06-09
GRADUATE
Continued From Page Is 1

Continued From Page Is 4
full preparation. The subject selected
was "The Twentieth Century Ameri-
can, J" and was as follows:
"The prisoner Paul at once rose into
proud distinction when, to the
question of the tribune at Jerusalem,
Art thou a Romano he replied, I
am Among the nations of antiquity
the title of honor was 'Civis Romanus'
"a Roman cibizen.
Rome in the zenith of her power
was truly mistress of the world In
the days Of the Caesars her sway ex-
tended over Italy and Spain, over
Gaul and Britain, over Egypt and
Greece, and beyond the confines of
| ancient Persia-the limits of the en-
plre we're the limits of civilization.
The very name Caesar has been pre-
served to us as a symbol of absolute
power in the words kaiser and
car All roads lead to Rome in
more than the literary sense. Briton
and Egyptian, Gaul and Greek turned
alike in passionate devotion to the
imperial city as the Mohammedan
turned in prayer to the holy city of
Mecca. The spell of Rome was over
all the earth. In the words of a. Latin
poet of the time, Through the nations
wheresoe'er we go, strangers, we find
fatherland, though we may tread
Rhone's or Orontes' shore, yet are
we all one nation evermore.
"The greatness and glory of Rome
are past. The mightiest empire of
the world crumbled and fell apart be-
cause the provinces ceased to rever-
ence Rome as the seat of all power.
With her religious, political and
social duties neglected and idleness
and dissipation in their stead Rome
fell-not by the strength of her ad-
versaries, but by her own intern a |
weakness. The ideal of Roman
citizenship had itself decayed.
"The stage of modern history is
| vastly larger than that of the ancient
world. Whole continents are acting
their parts in the drama of the race.
America has risen in the new world
as Rome in the old-but how much
wider the outlook! AS Rome repre-
sents the glory of empire so our
democracy has come to mean, to the
oppressed of the earth, the glory of
personal liberty. Immigrants from
all quarters of the globe, their eyes
alight with hope, are coming by
thousands to this-the promised land.
The aim of these aliens is American
citizenship. g ss
"And we may fttingly ask what
makes an American citizen? The
|copper-colored native of the soil has
the primary right to the title, but he
is denied this dignity and honor be-
cause he has not earned it, If it we're
possible to get a bird 's-eye view of
the earth we should find our American
citizen, laboring in the exhausted
fields of Russia, fishing on the rocky
coasts of Norway or starving in the
congested cities of France and Italy.
"In the words of one of the Jews, a
people who have long been homeless
wanderers on the face of the earth, the
statue of Liberty in New York harbor
seems to cry, Come unto me all ye
that labor and are heavy laden and I
will give you rest. This is the con-
ception of the thousands of immi-
grants who yearly crowd the Storage
of our transatlantic steamers, bound
for America.
-" There she lies, the great melting
pot, cries a prophetic voice. Listen.
Can't you hear the roaring and the
bubbling? There gapes her mouth,
the harbor where a thousand man.
moth feeders come from the ends of
the world to pour in their human
AAcA6Ao' 1AAs WAoO q ouliiluS duU d.
seething! Celt and Latin, Slav and
Teuton, Greek and Syrian, black and
yellow, Jew and GENTLE, east and
west, and north and south, The palm
and the pine, the pole and the
equator, the crescent and cross, how
the great alchemist melts and fuses
them with his purging flame! All, all
ye unborn millions fated to fill this
giant continent, the God of our
children give you peace!'
"We are now at the threshold of the
twentieth century which will see the
making of this American. He will in
herit the richest and most bounteous
land on earth-the country which has
been declared to be the most magnif-
cent dwelling place prepared by God
for mans abode g
i "What use will he make of this
heritage? It is inevitable that, with