Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1914-06-08
lcontinued nom page one


A. McLaury. pastor OF Odessa Pres
byterian Church, assisted in the serv-
ices.
AT noon the annual meeting of the
Friends OF Old Drawers was held.
the officers elected being: President
Daniel Corbit; vice-president, John v
Craven; secretary, Miss s. Cornelia
Bowman; treasurer. George Janvier;
trustees. Mrs. Cazenove Lee, Thomas
J. Craven, Clarence q. Pool William
G. Janvier. ]. Janvler Woods, How
ard A. Pool, DR.. Walter V. Woods,
Alfred Elliot and Miss Barbara
Vandegrift
Some OF the visitors during the
day included Chief Justice and Mrs.
James Pennew1ll. OF Dover; Lieu
tenant Governor Colen Ferguson,
Congressman Franklin Brockson, Dis
trict Attorney and Mrs. John +.
Nields, Judge Henry @. Conrad, John
V. Craven, Of West Chester; Thomas
j. Craven, Mr.. and Mrs. j. Dale Dill
worth and son, j. Oakford Acton,
OalSford w. Acton, all OF Salem; Mr..
and Mrs. William II. Sellers and Mrs.
William Sellers, OF Edge Moor; Sam
uel Bancroft, Of Wilmington; Mr.. and
Mrs. John r. Lambson, of New Cas-
tie; George Massey Jones, Of Dover;
Senator G. Fisher Pierce, of Milford
Robert II. Richards. former Judge
David T. Marvel, Josiah Marvel, Of
Wilmington; John Aspril, Sparrow's
Point, Md: Charles Asprll, Balti-
more; Alfred 3. Moore and Alfred s.
Elliott, Of Wilmington.
Mr.. MOOre's Address.
In his address in the afternoon the
Hon. John Bassett Moore said:
ave meet today 20 perform a rever-
entail duty. More than two hundred
years have elapsed since the spot on
which we stand was dedicated 20 the
pious uses typihed by the venerable
structure in which we are now as
sembled. In the life of nations, even
as we know Il, this space of time Is
comparatively brief; but, considered
with reference TO the settlement OF The
country in which we live, II embraces
two. thirds of our recorded history anC
antedates by two generations the be
ginnings of our political independence
We may therefore claim for this place
in our own particular annals, rela
tive antiquity.
ct was reflections such as these that
led the founders of the organization
called Friends of Old Drawers, undei
whose auspices this annual reunion il
held, to take steps not only TO preserve
this ancient building and the memor
les of those who worshipped in il, but
also. in the eloquent phrase OF you
constitution, to furnish common
ground on which there should continue
to come together from time TO tim
men and women whose aims are L
leave the world a little better than they
found it,
"This thought, beautifully but mod
estly expressed, makes to us profoun'
appeal; and we shall do well for mo
ment TO dwell upon it,
"In the first place, it implicitly con
veys n gentle but Just rebuke TO thos
who are prone TO assume that the time
in which they live are vastly superio
to any that have gone before. In spit
of the existence in every age OF con
siderable number OF people, popularl
called pessimists, who can see in tn
present nothing that is worthy OF praise
human forgetfulness renders It easy 10
the mass Of mankind TO believe that
has little to learn from the past Thi
notion was wildly expressed by on
of the earlier English dramatists, VIII
made one of his characters to exclaiu
that, while Caesar and Hannibal nigh
have been very pretty fellows in thei
day, yet were they then living, the,
would be nothing in the world, sir
nothing in the worldl'
Present Superiority.
"This tendency towards a self-com
plaeent estimate of our own superiority
widely prevails at the present day, an,
nowhere more generally than in on
own country. Nor is this strange. Il
we wish to understand the reason why
we have only 10 compare the conditions
surrounding us NJ the present moment
with those encountered by the early
settlers on these shores. The progress
/ in material things has been uneXam
pied in the worlds history. Never be
fore has there been 50 much Of physl
real comfort and well-being as tina
which we now witness. The great fac
that distinguishes the present age j
the marvellous success with which In
vention has made the forces of natur
tributary TO the uses and convenienc
of man. In this way human effort Ia
been made more effective and more pro
ductive, while life has in some respect
been rendered easier and more interest
ing.
! sBut as an inevitable consequence
we have acquired the habit of thinkin
. in terms OF material things and q
measuring progress by tests altogethc
phvsical. This leads TO certain falla,
/ A.. IS e 4rk II
temporary underestimatiOn or forget
fulnqss of w spiritual element
Hfe-the element that binds togeth,
= the ancient and the modern world, tina
links the ages, and, surviving all mn
tations of time, Is eternal.
"Some years ago, standing on Il
AcropOlis at Athens. saw a man rev
erently measuring the lines Of co
umn which had fallen PROSTATE whC
barbarous accident of war shatter'
\, a temple m which genius mad embodi'
Ie It's highest conceptions Of artistic beai
ty. With interested curiosity i
l. length approached him, and entered in
y conversation. II turned out that
n was fellow-countryman, an archite
from the city of New York. This fu
4 nished a bond of sympathy; but
seemed as il we were translated into
h. higher sphere of life, not OF a natl
T. but of humanity, when, in eNplanati
Ia of his presence and his task. he sal
6 Il am now realizing the dreams Of Il
20 life. have always wished TO col
here TO study at first hand the wo
of the great masters whose genius st
I, animates the ruins which We see abo
/. us. I feel that ! am a richer man.
. -. ..,nrn I than rnrnid for my trout