The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-05-13

tending. say, from the Athens Of Them
stocles TO the Rome OF Marcus Au-
relius Many OF the forces and ten
dencies which were then at work are at
work now, Knowledge, luxury, and re-
hnement wide material conquests, ter
ritorial administration on n vast scale,
appliances and In applied science-al
these mark our civilization as they
marked the wonderful civilization that
flourished In the Mediterranean lands
twenty centuries ago, and they preceded
the downfall of the older civilization
Yet the differences arc many, and some
OF them are quite a as s'rdsing as the the
old civilization was based upon slavery
shows the chasm that separates the two
Let me point. out one further and very
significant difference in the development
of the two civilizations. a difference so
obvious that II is astonishing that II has
not been dwet upon by men OF let
ters-
Points Out Dangers.
One of the prime dangers of civilization
has always been Its tendency to cause
the loss of the virile lighting virtues.
of the fighting edge. When men get too
comfortable and lead too luxurious lives
there is always danger lest the softness
eat like an acid into their manliness of
fiber. The barbarian, because OF the
very conditions Of his life, is forced to
ties which the man of civilization tends
10 lose, whether he be clerk, factory
hand. merchant, or even certain type
OF farmer, Now ] will not assert that
in modern civilized society these ten
denotes have been wholly overcome, but
there has been a much more successful
effort TO overcome them than was the
case In the early civilizations.
What Is the lesson TO us today7 Are
we to go the way OF the older civiliza-
tions? The immense increase In the
area Of civilized activity today so that
it Is nearly coterminous with the world 8
surface; the Immense Increase In the
multitudinous variety OF its activities;
the immense increase in the velocity OF
mean merely that the crash will be all
the moro complete and terrible, that the
answer will be In the negative; but of
this we can be certain. that we shall go
our end. There is no necessity for us
TO fall: we can hew out our destiny Tor
ourselves, II only we have the Wit and
the courage and the honesty.
Personally, I do not believe that our
civilization will fall. I think that on
the whole we have grown better and not not
worse I think that on the whole the
future holds more for us than even the
great past has held. But. assuredly, the
dreams of golden glory in the future Will
not come true unless high OF heart and
strong of hand. by our own mighty deeds
we make them come true. We cannot
afford to develop any one set OF quail
ties, any one set OF activities. at the cost
of seeing others, equally necessary: afro
phied Neither the military efficiency
Of the MongoI the extraordinary bust
ness ability of the Phoenlcian, nor the
subtle and polished intellect OF the Greek
availed to avert destruction.
Need Of Homely Virtues.
We, the men OF today and OF the future.
need many qualities II we are TO do our
work we'll We need, first OF all and
most important of all, the qualities which
stand at the base OF Individual, of fam
lily life, the fundamental and essential
oualities-the homely. everyday, all-!m-
portant virtues IL the average man will
not work II he has not In him the will