The Palatka news and advertiser., 1916-05-26
REV. DR.. AFFORDS
SPLENDID ADDRESS
Continued from page one)

Continued from page one)
more when he sees them in practica'
use everywhere about him in tbs
world, and realizes that the world is
benefited and made happy by his in
ventions.
We are acquiring knowledge thai
we may be better equipped for work
The necessity of labor rests upon ricl
and poor alike. Idleness is crime
The leisure class of the north are the
rich people, the leisure class of the
south are the Negroes. The strong
healthy man who lives in idleness or
the labors of his parents or ancestors
adds nothing to the wealth or well
being of society. He consumes with,
out producing. He puts himself in
the same category as the inmate Of
an almshouse.
This leads every one to choose life
work. To select some trade or pro-
fession and throw his whole life into
it. Next to the idler, the jack of all
trades is the most helpless. We are
living in an age of specialists. No
man in his brief life can master ev-
erything. We should select one thing,
for which we have natural inclina-
ton or bent, and throw the whole
force of our lives into it. Like Paul
we should be able to say "This one
thing l do" Master the one thing
you have chosen for your life's work.
Have no one your superior in your
profession. Never doubt your ability
to perfect yourself in your calling.
Some years ago Kentuckian stood
on the edge of his life-work. He had
determined on the ministry, but was
it to be at home or abroad? He was
in doubt. He dreamed he was riding
through q rough country. His horse
shed a shoe, and he stopped at the
blacksmith's for repairs. AS he wait
ed, a tall, slender lad stepped up to
his side and said, "Sir, will you visit
our wonderful glen with me-" To-
gether the two walked over rocks,
through brush and finally climbed up
steep hill till the air changed and
they stood amid new scenes. On the
edge of the mountain stream stood Il
squad of footmen and horsemen, with
out uniform, in ragged garments
their guns and swords were rusted.
But on their faces was the glow and
flush of victory. "Has there been a
battle here?" said the young preacher
to the guide. Long ago, was the re-
ply, "the king was in the midst Of
enemies on every side, and his life and
realm were in danger. That little
band, with poor equipment and few in
number. dashed to his aid-thev
plunged through the stream, fell up
on the enemy and won the day. The
king then decreed that they should
never die, but stand there and look
and feel as they had looked, and felt
when the flush of victory was upon
them"
AS the young minister gazed in ad-
miration the clouds lifted and new
view presented itself. He saw a
great army-well dressed and equipp-
ed infantry. splendid artillery, dashing
cavalry-all marshalled for war. 1t
looked irresistible and the precher's
heart beat rapidly, and he cried, "and
what means this?" "This army" said
the guide, "arrived on the scene two
full davs before the little band you
saw. They halted. Do you see on
the face of their leader that look of
doubt" The young man looked and
10, on the faces of all the men were
stamped the look of doubt. "They
saw the need, they were well equipp-
ed for the battle-they stood on the
verge of victory. But they halted,
they hesitated, they feared, they de-
layed, they doubted, they failed" The
young Kentuckian awoke. 1t was a
dream. But how many are prepared,
but fail because they doubt and hesi-
tate.
Liberty of thought, speech and the
press originated in the institutions OF
learning. The universities in all ages
have been the nurseries and citadels of
liberty. We seem to have the idea
that liberty was born with us. We
speak of the old state house in Phila
delphia as the birth place of liberty.
When Louis Kossuth, the Hungari-
an patriot, was visiting America, ne
stood for a moment gazing on Faneuil
Hall in Boston and at last said "and
this is the cradle of liberty. | do
not like the name cradle of liberty.
It implies that some day liberty will
grow old; that it will some day be-
come feeble, losing its strength and
bouyant spirit" American liberty
may have been born in Philadelphia
and Graded in Boston, but the worlds
liberty was vigorous youth when our
nation had its birth. When church
and state conspired together to crush
the last vestiges of civil and religious
freedom; when independence died up
on the scaffold and the block; when
thought was incarcerated in dungeons
and conscience was burned at the
stake, Abelard, groping in the dark
for truth, fled to the wilderness, while
$4,000 students gathered about him
and for their own government organ
lied a pure democracy. At Oxford,
Paris, Berlin, Prague, wherever a
university existed, these student re-
publics, built upon Abelard's model.
trained and graduated the Apostles of
Liberty-such men as Huss, Luther,
Calvin, Knox and others who started
a movement which ended in the Dec
laration of independence and the for
nation of our glorious republic. May
the graduates of our institutions of
learning go out into the world filled