-
Articles/Ads
Article Untitled Article ← Page 4 of 5 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Untitled Article
attaches the early success of the Komans to their veneration of an oath , we ihall not be wrong in associating the fall of Carthage to the universal disgust of all nations rejecting her alliance on the score of her notorious perfidy . A " smart" people may , for a time , not for long , be a prosperous people ; but the most astute craftiness of a nation has been ever powerless against the influence , felt by others
against her , of the homely proverb , " Once bit , twice shy , " Intellect , therefore , though often taken for progress by those who elevate the baser quality of mind over moral , is , in reality , not unfrequently a great opponent to this end ; for immoral genius , like Phaeton , would destrov the world , if it did not first exterminate itself : or like Icarus , scorch beneath the sun of truth , too high for it , which it
arrogantly endeavoured to assail . Progress is not an irresponsible activity ; nor a mischievous egotism ; nor a restless craving ; nor a fanciful mutability , in any man or class of men . We have weighed the words , with a desire of their meaning being applied fully in the strictest sense ; Progress is a wholesome energy after the attainment of truth , based upon the responsibility of the agent to a divine law .
Present power is not progress necessarily , nor assuredly ; for the former is fitful and evanescent . Many a Colossus , besides that of Rhodes , has soared aloft above the minds of men , and cast its brightness over the expansive sea of time , whose ocean has at last engulfed it . Many great nations have lodged in the gorgeous halls of the world ' s empires , and have passed away , or written their names on the shore , which the ebb and tide of circumstance have erased .
Under the loftiest tree , Assyria sat , whilst a worm was at the rootsmall , apparently insignificant , but the proud branch withered beneath its noiseless tooth , and the forest has not left a shadow Power may be the energy of madness ; the vehemence of rage ; the intoxication of foolhardiness ; or the wrestling of despair . These
expressions typify phases very common , and alike deceptive , in the history of earth ' s existence , and in that of her children ; wherefore power , to constitute a true evidence of progress , must be steady ; responsibly exercised ; comprehensive ; and capable of immediate appliance to every incurrent evil , either for prevention or for remedy .
Moreover , progress must be equal , for too great activity in one member is spasm , depression of another is paralysis , and there is no such thing as " class interest , " except in the narrowest significance of mere distinction . " The only firm state , " as justly defined by Aristotle * " " is that where everv one eniovs the eciualitv which befits his stotle , is that where every one enjoys the equality which befits his
merit , and fully possesses what is his own . " The corporeal , in this , as in other cases , is an emblem of the national health ; vitality must be shared by all , quietly as the sun rises , regularly as the blood flows , since " if one member suffer , all the other members suffer with it . "
We earnestly commend this lofty truth to every legislative inquirer , since inattention to it has rendered , and ever will , national prosperity precarious and delusive . Arist . Pol . , B . v , » c . 7 ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Untitled Article
attaches the early success of the Komans to their veneration of an oath , we ihall not be wrong in associating the fall of Carthage to the universal disgust of all nations rejecting her alliance on the score of her notorious perfidy . A " smart" people may , for a time , not for long , be a prosperous people ; but the most astute craftiness of a nation has been ever powerless against the influence , felt by others
against her , of the homely proverb , " Once bit , twice shy , " Intellect , therefore , though often taken for progress by those who elevate the baser quality of mind over moral , is , in reality , not unfrequently a great opponent to this end ; for immoral genius , like Phaeton , would destrov the world , if it did not first exterminate itself : or like Icarus , scorch beneath the sun of truth , too high for it , which it
arrogantly endeavoured to assail . Progress is not an irresponsible activity ; nor a mischievous egotism ; nor a restless craving ; nor a fanciful mutability , in any man or class of men . We have weighed the words , with a desire of their meaning being applied fully in the strictest sense ; Progress is a wholesome energy after the attainment of truth , based upon the responsibility of the agent to a divine law .
Present power is not progress necessarily , nor assuredly ; for the former is fitful and evanescent . Many a Colossus , besides that of Rhodes , has soared aloft above the minds of men , and cast its brightness over the expansive sea of time , whose ocean has at last engulfed it . Many great nations have lodged in the gorgeous halls of the world ' s empires , and have passed away , or written their names on the shore , which the ebb and tide of circumstance have erased .
Under the loftiest tree , Assyria sat , whilst a worm was at the rootsmall , apparently insignificant , but the proud branch withered beneath its noiseless tooth , and the forest has not left a shadow Power may be the energy of madness ; the vehemence of rage ; the intoxication of foolhardiness ; or the wrestling of despair . These
expressions typify phases very common , and alike deceptive , in the history of earth ' s existence , and in that of her children ; wherefore power , to constitute a true evidence of progress , must be steady ; responsibly exercised ; comprehensive ; and capable of immediate appliance to every incurrent evil , either for prevention or for remedy .
Moreover , progress must be equal , for too great activity in one member is spasm , depression of another is paralysis , and there is no such thing as " class interest , " except in the narrowest significance of mere distinction . " The only firm state , " as justly defined by Aristotle * " " is that where everv one eniovs the eciualitv which befits his stotle , is that where every one enjoys the equality which befits his
merit , and fully possesses what is his own . " The corporeal , in this , as in other cases , is an emblem of the national health ; vitality must be shared by all , quietly as the sun rises , regularly as the blood flows , since " if one member suffer , all the other members suffer with it . "
We earnestly commend this lofty truth to every legislative inquirer , since inattention to it has rendered , and ever will , national prosperity precarious and delusive . Arist . Pol . , B . v , » c . 7 ,