Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1921-07-11

! thought of a life we'll spent; a man
! who has never Intentionally wronged
another.
! While Mr.. Viewers life has been
| that of a worker among plain folks,
so to speak, he has always found
/ time to cultivate the higher side Of
| his nature. He is familiar with cur
rent affairs and in touch today with
! both the foreign and domestic affairs
of the government. Without early
! educational advantages, his knowl-
edge of history, of poetry, philosophy
and the fundamental principles of
+ theology is such as few men possess
even in these days of advanced edu
cational opportunities. Self taught,
his. mind today is full of the best and
! choicest gems of literature. Unable
to read because of failing sight, his
/ hearing somewhat impaired, his mind
is clear and his wonderful memory
! holds fast to the truths which he has
gathered from the masters in the in
/ tellectual world.
! The writer of these lines, as often
as once in each year, finds pleasure
and profit in reading tie wonderful
address Of William Ellery Claiming
delivered by him to the Mechanics
Apprentice Association in Boston in
1910, on the subject of the Elevation
of the Working Man. That address
delivered SO long ago by Claiming,
one of the masterpieces, is just as ap-
plicahIe today as when delivered and
can be read and rc-read with profit
by those who are actively interested
in the subject of labor in these most
unusual and trying times. Whether
or not Mr.. Viewer is familiar with
! the Claiming address the writer does
not know. But his splendid state OF
preservation, his wonderful grasp Of
present day affairs and the treas
ures Of mind and memory that are a
solacc to him now that hS sight ana
! hearing are impaired. would certainly
| indicate that from some source he
early had impressed upon him the
truths which Claiming taught in his
great address.
Augusta has been fortunate in her
mon who have been prominent in
business and public life and she has
a man in Augusta, 101 years Old with
the spirit Of a boy and the mind and
memory of middle life. looks back TO
the days when Maine first became a
State and finds comfort and consola-
/ ton in the thoughts of the eminent
men whom he has studied. Is not the
simple WholesOmCness of a life like
this worthy of the most respectful
consideration? Are there not some
lessons to be learned from the lie Of
@ man more than one hundred years
old, who quotes with enthusiasm the
words Of Eliphalet Mott. Truth is
one of the tairest attributes of deity
1t is the boundary which separates
vice from virtue and the line which
divides heaven from hell" And when
his mind turns TO still highs. things,
takes pleasure in repea ting those
lines from Victor Hugo: You say the
soul is nothing but the resultant of
the bodily powers. Why then is my
soul more luminous when my bodily
powers begin to fail? Write is on
my head but eternal spring is in my
bcart. The nearer | approach the
end the palmer I hear around me the
immortal symphonies Of the worlds
which invite me. 1t is marvellous. yet
simple. It is a fairy tale. and is his
tory. When I go down to the grave
| can say like many others have
finished my DAYS work; TAT can
not say I have finished my life My
days work will begin again the next
morning" r.