Evening star., 1924-02-23

written upon the history OF the ages
promise of progress and hope with
the passing of the centuries, DR. John
e. Merriam. president of the Carnegie
Institution of Washington. told the
mid-year graduating class of George
Washington University yesterday
afternoon in Memorial Continental
Hall.
Though at times darkness seems
close in about u.s." DR.. Merriam said,
delivering the convocation address on
history and education, yet the fame
of life handed on from man TO man
is brighter, with the passing ages,
and it makes more clear the path
by which each one climbs UP d
further step. That is what the mes
sage Of history seems to me
Meaning of History.
At the outset DIR. Merriam defined
his conception of the meaning OF
history. While some persons might
think, he said. that Education tells
US all about everything, L beheve
that it should rather tell US Wha1
Of written history is but brief com
pared to that greater story that may
be found written only in the ruins of
ancient civilizations and upon the
rocks Of the ages.
"The existence of man is not linn
tied to the present geological time"
he continued. our own history
reaches into earlier geological ages
and merges with that oil the cave
bear and thes aber1tooth tiger. Man
was present as part OF the hFinS
world in a period so remote that the
range of time in modern history rs
only as a pin point compared Win
the long extended line represented
by these earlier records.
Record of Rocks.
"The earliest portion of the his
tory of man is found on the later
pages of another and longer story
read from the strata of the rocks
that magnificent series of inscribed
leaves laid one upon another ana
open wide for our convenient inspec-
ton. This record / do not hesitate
to describe as the greatest Original
document of all time. There are
many chapters a single author wrote
them all His claim to authorship
was established in the making OF the
world. The record lay long unread.
In these latter days it has become
in truth mine of information.
Biologists who have made me me
most recent calculations as to the
age of that first inscribed history
DIR. Merriam said, insist that pe-
tween five hundred million and one
thousand million years We're required
for its compilation, while the average
estimates place 1t even heaFe one
billion years.
Earliest Rocks Destroyed.
"And yet" the speaker contin ueu'
"When We reach the bottom OF 1he
pile we firM that the lowest or earliest
record available is not the beglnHihs.
The earth is so ancient that the Oldest
rocks have been destroyed oS tne
tides of that sea or Stone'
upon which float the feneraoie siIi.n h.'nS; and
now we have little hope of finding the
real beginning of the story. ..
I'VE begin now to vlsuailZe IND, IND
in space and time through
which our world has grown anu -
moving. We know that, regardless
Of the philosophical view we may
have regarding mans ultimate origin
ar beginning, there Is behinu us az
almost unthinkable stretch OF i.i,Sa illit'
through which, beset by ihuI.ltuus i1t'
of dangers, with widening Wisuoni
and power, man iound NE
subiugation of the world
Does Not Destroy God.
"Haying turned for the moment to
tbat wider field of history in ~hich
science is thought by some 10 lay an
1nfeeling hand upon aralrs touchilS
the relation of man to his Maker. per
haps l may be pernltteo 70 cAp doas
nv clear conviction that science does
NOT drive from the world Of thlnss'
or of life, or of humanity, that over
shaloWing power recoSnlZeu a.
Creator or God. The man OF Science
sees the universe as more Wohoefl ul
with each discovery.
NO rational being can escape the
feeling that, as knowledge advances
the universe. in terms OF tlIhe anu
space and power, becomes the ob1ect
Of increasing reverence. alInous II
mans position in il is more and more
narrowly limited. Our period OF
habitation on the earth shrinks to
relatively small dimensions, Dut tne
glory of our part in it increases When
we see the Creator renewing forever
his creation, and opening the way for
continuing growth INTO regions OF
clearer vision and larger service.
"world Grows Like Cod
'aThe world has always demanded
a God that it could meet face to face
There can be no veil drawn between
the people of any age ana the re
vealed aspects of their Maker: no
method of making Himself known.
The court of the ages which judges
in these questions stands not upon
form or creed, but bases its 1udg-
ments upon the value of the perform
ance in serving a world which grows
in the likeness of God in proportion
to it's opportunity to grow in the
knowledge of His attributes.
I'm our advance we have discarded
the ancient method of change by rev.
olution, punishment and destruction
for that of evolution built upon con-
tinuing improvement and construc-
ton. We are trying to put aside the
idea of selfish struggle typical OF the
early. reign of tooth and claw for the
mutual Christian support which bring
about the highest common good un-
der the rule of truth and law.
Message OF History.
''In the end-I wish to state once
more my faith in what seems to me
tho message of history concerning
man and his future. Though at times
darkness seems close in about us, yet
the fame Of life handed on from man
to man is brighter with the passing
ages, and it makes more clear the
path by which each one climbs up
further step. So TennySon's i'm
mortal lines float always through
my thoughts, in that
I held it truth with him who sings
To one clear harp with divers tones
That men may rise on stepping stones
OF their dead selves to higher things.
To you. as graduating class, it
may seem that my vision lets me
wander out so far into the future
that it's value is already lost for
present thought or human use. But
IN a. sense-it is your future into