New Britain herald., 1923-10-27

Henry spoke with great wisdom when
 he declared to the Continental Cons
 eress. T have but one ismp hy
 which my feet are guided and that
 Is the lamp Of experience Aanhiha
 Is mite. II has the limits eF all
 things finite. The processes Of soNs
 srnment are subject to the same limlE fations, and, lacking imperfeetiens.
 would be something more than nus
 man, Ii is always easy ta discover
 flaws. and. pointing them out. 10 erlti' elre. IL Is not so easy to suggest snps htantial remedies or propose con. struetiye policies, It is characteristic of the unlearned that they are fqfs ever proposing something which Is old, and. because il has recently come to their own attention, supposing II 10 be new, Into this error men Of Ills eral education ought not 10 fall. The forms and processes Of government arc not new. They have been known, discussed, and tried in all their ya- rletics through the past ages. That which America eAemplihes in her Constitution and system Of represen- tatiyo government Is the most mod ern, and of any yet devised gives promise Of being the most substantial md enduring.
 It is roi unusual 10 hear argu- ments against our institutions and our government, addressed partieu- larly to recent arrivals, and the sons Of recent arrivals to our shores. They sometimes take the form of a claim that our institutions were founded long ago: that changed conditions require that they now be changed. Especially is 1t claimed by those seeking such changes that these new arrivals and men of their race and ideas had no hand in the making of our country, and that 1t was formed by those who were hostile to them and therefore they owe 1t no sup port.
 Tn these days Of violent agitation scholarly men should reflect that the progress of the past has been accom- plished not by the total overthrow of institutions so much as by discard- ing that which was bad and preserve ing that which was good; not by revolution but by evolution has man worked out his destiny. We shall /. miss the central feature of all prog ress unless we hold to that process now. It is not question of whether our institutions are perfect. The most, beneficent of our institutions had their beginnings in forms which would be particularly odious to us now. Civilization began with war and slavery; government began in abso- lute despotism; and religion itself grew out of superstition which was oftentimes marked with human sac rifices. So out of our present imper- fections we shall develop that which is more perfect. But the candid mind of the scholar will admit and seek to remedy all wrongs with the same zeal with which it defends all rights.
 From the knowledge and the learn ing of the, scholar there ought to be developed an abiding faith. What is the teaching of all history? That which is necessary for the welfare and UIUkIcSS, OleLIlC uuuldh ldCC lcS hONSt been destroyed. The discoverers of truth, the teachers of science, the makers of inventions, have passed to their last rewards, but their works have survived. The Phoenician gal leys and the civilization which was born of their commerce have per- ished, but the alphabet which that people perfected remains. The shep- herd kinds of Israel, the temple and empire of Solomon, have gone the way i Of all the earth, but the Old Testa- | ment has been preserved for the in- spiraton of mankind. The ark of | the covenant and the seven-pronged | candle stick have passed from human view; the inhabitants of Judea have been dispersed to the ends of the earth, but the New Testament has survived and increased in its influence among men. The glory of Athens and City, are a long-lost memory, but the poetry of Homer and Virgil, the ora tory of Demosthenes and Cicero, the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle, abide with us forevermore. Whatever America holds that may be of value to posterity will not pass away.
 The long and toilsome processes which have marked the progress of the past cannot be summed by the present generation to our advantage. We have no right to expect as our portion something substantially dif- ferent from human experience in the past. The constitution of the uni verse does not change. Human na- ture remains constant. That service and sacrifice which have been the price of past progress are the price of progress now.
 This is not d gospel of despair, but of hope and high expectation. Out of many tribulations mankind has pressed steadily onward. The opportunity for a rational existence was never before so great. Blessings were never so doubtful. But the evil dence was never so overwhelming as now that men and nations must live nationally or perish.
 A Letter to the Mayor of Boston My dear Mir. Mayor
 It will be with a good deal of sat- isfaction that l cooperate with you and any other cities of Massachu~ sets for the purpose of increasing I the pay of those engaged in the teaching Of the youth of our com It has become notori- ous that the pay for this most im- portant function is much less than that which prevails in commercial 1, life and business activities. {
 Roger Ascham. the teacher to queen Elizabeth. about 1865, in dis cushing this question, wrote: "And ' is pity that commonly more care 1