Omaha daily bee., 1919-12-01
Promise of the Rosy Cross.

Omaha, Nov. 30.-To the editor of
The Bee: In the sands of time are
many footprints Of that innumer-
able caravan which for countless
centuries has preceded us on the
path Of life.
To the eye Of the trained and ever
observant tracker of this illimitable
waste appears signs and sundry to-
kens left by those who have gone be-
fore.
Here perchance are marks be-
tokening a dry camp" with all its
attendant hardships, there the spot
where many rested and whiled away
a time in luxurious ease amidst the
sounds of running water and rust
ling herbage.
If it be true, that axiom, THAT we
may best judge the future by the
past" it would seem a worthy meas
ure to accept as guides upon this
journey those who in the past have
made most progress and have left
signs of having occupied the most
accommodating resting places.
AS to the individual. SO to the peo-
pies, and the nations, does this ap-
ply.
Here in the dim and distant past
do we find where great nation has
disappeared. A carthage has been
overwhelmed. And, too, apparently
leaving scarce a trace.
There do we find a Greece. In
ruins tits true, but there is taught
a lesson Of beauty and accomplish
ment, plan to the eye OF every
passer-by.
Thus we are brought to question
whether Carthage, the home OF
Hannible, may not have contained
many rich, beautiful and valuable
secrets f..
Some one has said, "there is moth
ing new under the sum-" and 1t
would seem that many of our vaunt-
ed discoveries in science and me-
chanics have had their counterparts
in bygone age.
Hero Of Alexandria had his steam
engine of the turbine pattern thou
sands of years before Parsons OF
England gave US his discovery.
The Chinese were possessed OF the
knowledge OF that wizard gunpoWcer
hundreds of years before Roger Ba-
con. in his narrow cell, had met his
personal devil with his fiery tongs or
given the western world Its knoWI-
edge of this explosive.
We know that Napoleon followed
the military precepts OF Hannlple
and the legal theories OF Cato-ana
1t is fair to presume that ne hao
sources Of knowledge OF these SUP
jects not generally known or acces-
sible to the people of his time.
GaliIio, Sir Francis Bacon, ana
manv others. seemed to draw knowl-
edge and inspiration from sources
rim OF
men. a.,
Therefore, in these times OF dis
order and unrest, it is meet that we
should take council OF the sages-
of the great minds which have from
time to time appeared upon LIES
hirhway-to the end that we may
nerchance find means to so order our
lives both personally and collectively,
as a state and nation, that these dls-
orders may be abated and the people
shall 60 about their business of life
in a happy and orderly manner as
hefits the citizens of so great and
glorious a nation.
Here be we, a highly intelligent
people, surrounded by the greatest
abundance and plenty of those
things most dear to mundane ex-
istence, in a land truly Of milk and
horey," yet startled daily. almost
hourly. by oft recurring tales OF the
most violent disorders and upheavals
among the people.
Should we not, II we may. learn
how similar crises have been met IN
the past?
What efforts have been put forth
to protect the arts and sciences OF
civilization and progress, in how far
these efforts were successful or In
what manner they met with failure?
It has been seen that many OF the
great leaders Of the past in every
walk of life have enjoyed this coun-
Gil, and it Is to be hoped that our
citizens being freemen and leaders
one and all, will each individually
and. for himself prosecute search
for the means whereby he may come
T.