The farmer and mechanic., 1913-12-02

az Trinity college,, PRESIDENT OF the |
association, delivered the address on |
The Value OF culture In an Indus |
iral Society"
Doctor Few's address follows:
When Mr.. Walter II. Page. now
AMBASSADOR to the Court of st. James. |
a wear ago in this place spoke in be. |
half Of literary revival and. instead
" talking about literature at all, made
an appeal for the care of our land and
The care Of our people, hts point of
,icw did not fail him. For such a
revival can hardly come without first
this firm establishment Of our people
in the sources Of sound living. But
the intellectual and spiritual alertness
necessary to produce or to appreciate
literature may not be expected to
come to us because We become pros-
porous but because through prosperity
and hope We may be made alive
our talent has been dulled by hard
circumstances and has gone to waste
We reed. as men everywhere need,
TO be cnergized and sensitized, to be
made keenly alive.
Carlyle called Dante the voice Of ten
silent centuries singing their mys-
tie, unfathomable song. These long
dreary centuries of European history
were silent because they had not life
enough in them to stir them awake.
Soundness Of national life always pre-
cedes intellectual productivity. The
itlizabethan age in England for it's
Intellectual achievement remains the
wonder of the modern world and
that, as we all know, was a period
that abounded in energy and hope.
The men who lived with Shakespeare
became poets, as Emerson said, for
the air was fame. There was a NIGH
~ throb of ffe in it that stirred the
spirits of men awake, and they as
pired greatly and achieved greatly
We in this generation are living in
the midst of a period which, though
II is confused with warning voices, is
yet characterized by swift movement,
by intellectual daring. by gigantic
energy that ought to stir the imagi-
nation: and especially in this region
that has been so long held in the
Inertia Of an old conservatism ought
the rebound to give us a new and
strong impulse to live and to aspire
generation of workers. of thinkers, of
writer's: We ought at last to find a
voice for our own silent centuries,
with their unuttered pity. their aspi-
ratlons. their successes, and their de-
feats. But are We going to be able
To know the day OF our visitation
Progress and prosperity are good and
We cannot have too much of them; but
We may expect Of them what they can
never give.
MIR. Pages gospel Of care for the
man and care for the land has already
been and is still being preached tC
pretty good effect in North Carolina
and he himself has done a good dea
OF that sort of preaching. The re-
suit is that our farmers know more
about their business and are better
of than ever before. Our prosperity
therefore rests upon "a firmer ant
wider basis. And this is at once th'
cause and effect Of a leaven of ift
that is at work in the State and tha
is manifesting itself in many ways
For example, we have had and still
have popular educational leaders o
great significance. The organization
Of public education goes on apace
Education as an opportunity for ever!
youth has practically been achieved
There is to be sure, yet ahead OF u
as of all America, the stupendcu
task Of improving the tone and Qual
ity of all our public education. Ou
colleges are on the whole the mos
promising in the Southern States. Tn
influence Of our public men is bein
more and more felt in the Unite
States Senate, in the lower House, i
the Cabinet, in the diplomatic service
and throughout our national councils
The sober truth is we are now In TN
midst of a great awakening. 1t oni
remains to see to it that this awaken
ing shall have its proper fruitage
intellectual and spiritual release. tina
our prosperity shall find it's use 1
forming, cheering, and refining GU
people, and that we shall apply to a
phases Of our civilization those pei
manent and universal standards
excellence that have been WrouSE
out through the long experience
the race. In a new country Hk
America, which is. so far as IN
masses of men are concerned. CON
pletely devoid Of music, painting, a
the plastic arts, this culture IN
people must come NANNY .nrous
books. Can books provide the Gu
ture Of an industrial. democratic :
ciety?
Walt Whitman in Democratic Nis
tas says of all works of art: Thel
wherever claiming to be first ci2'
WORKS thAv - he strictly an