The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1913-12-25


establishment, for over the sea lies Spain"
We can get all the exaltation which came to
Abou Hassan when the amiable deception OF
Haroun-alRaschid played upon him. without
any OF the i'll effects which we may presume came
to him when his dream of power dispelled itself
The day and the scene invites US to enjoyment,
and to contribute to the enjoyment Of others. For
this one day at least, Of the year the golden age
is no myth. 1t is here with us, and we must uti-
lie it while it stays. This is the hour when lifes
wireless telegraphy carries greetings of good will
between all the individuals and all the peoples OF
of the earth. To every of US the world
stretches forth the glad hand and salutes US with
a May you live long and prosper"
The old prophets conceived the sublime thought
that the Creator set the heavenly bodies in their
places to mark for the progress of time. The
early leaders of the human who watched the
stars in their courses and from their movements
worked out the division Of the days and years,
left blessing behind them for all time to come.
For if we are to believe the records Of the rocks
and clays the first men who lifted their faces to
the skies in profound awe and with germs OF
thought stirring in their brains had little if any
more conception of time and of the moving planets
than the brutes that shared with these primitive
savages the caves or the huts which were all
the houses they had. 1t took long ages to learn
that the sun is fixed body regards our earth,
to divide the globe into degrees and the day into
"a hours. The seasons came and went and savage
man nau DO conception or why beyond the sun
declension below his zenith and the return of the
fiery orb to place high above his head Then
from the crude superstitions Of astrology men of
high civilization worked out our year and set the
day that as this we now live marks the beginning
OF a new circle Of the four seasons
The crudest savage needed no prophet with a
message from the skies to teach him that if he
desired to prolong his life he must work He
the man of all generations who knew best
that in the sweat of his face he must eat
bread if he ate at all Stpred-up wealth there
none. Each generation began practically
where the last did with no inheritance to profit
by Nor was there a spark Of charity to minister
to the needs of age or sickness. The child born
with low vitality met its fate early in its career.
The man who met with an accident sufficient to in
capaCitate him for the chase for war was left
to perish miserably where he fell When age
dimmed the eye or made the hand nerveess the
useless one not permitted to be a burden on
society. AS the wounded deer is left, the aged
wolf is abandoned, so was the wounded or
the tOothless woman. Percentage other relation
ship counted nothing
AS civilization climbed the path of progress to
higher levels toll became more constant more
pressing. The savage has few needs and there
fore much leisure. He needs no weekly day of
rest. With increasing needs to meet man had to
bend his back more necessarily and to strain mus
Gle tendon and gament. Life had more enjoy.
Ment at the cost of longer hours Of toll that made
rest seem very sweet Then arose the leader OF
men, the reformer, the teacher, philosopher or
prophet who ordained that as there were times
and seasons so there should be days Of rest II we
were to run the world around would find many
Sabbaths. The follower of Mohammed takes his
rest or Friday. the Hebrew on Saturday the Chris
tan on Sunday. And the man of advanced ideas
who gave his Sabbath was leader and
benefactor in very decd
The man who stands in the Escorial in Spain
1,,r,lye h. aL,-- tt
back 300 years, has a span about as long as the
most ancient history Of America. When he goes
10 Granada he is face to face with the tines of
the Moors. whose invasion Of the peninsula was
centuries before Columbus was born. As he looks
on some paved road aqueduct he is car.
ried back to the Scipios to Hannibal and back to
his forefathers who moved about here; and so
We 90 back to Carthage, which was a great city
before Rome was founded, and Carthage takes
us over the to Asia where Moses people and
some Philistnes came into combat And we 90
back 10 Egypt and its pyramids to the Pharaohs
and Jacob and his children and on back to Abra-
ham and the nomad chiefs who fed their focks In
the fat plains OF central Asia as long before the
christian era as it is from the year 1911 In these
landsY among these races of men, grandfathers
and greatgrandfathers count for little One meets
men whose ancestors took part in the expulsion OF
the MOors, with others whose ancestors resisted
them when they first invaded Spain and still
others whose forbears were in the armies OF the
Scipios or of Hannibal The mind loves to dwell
the memory of these far-away days and to
dream of the way of life of men and women who
died so long ago and to whom we owe our being
and civilization The Oldest title lands in the
Pacific states do not go back far There are
titles in Spain that date back centuries Castles
here are owned by families who come down di
rectly or collaterally for ages. To these a gen
GRAFTON is as short as year to US in our brand
new civilization. 1t is all impressive but after
dreaming of such things the mind inevitably re-
verts to our own generation to our own time