Campbell University - Pine Burr Yearbook (Buies Creek, NC)

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THE PI ' E BURR Page ticmty-nine. (Oration: QTfjc otDcr 3liff)inti tfjf l epufjlic R. F. Pace (Eu.) T )I ' AV •«■( ' stand upon tlie threshijld of the twentieth eentiirv. lociking, ■ virli viiii(ler ;ni(l awe, out into the va t future. What it liohl in store for us, of triumph or (U-feat, of success nr faihire, is yet to l e revealed. Before us, a proud and niiahtv nation; a inii;ht v nation of free, happy, and prodigiously prosperous ]ieople. And yet it has not been without its periods of stress and danger — this mighty srrucfure which wr liuve huilded here. Bitter storms have l)eaten upon it. Fdur times has the call to arms been sounded throughout the land. Four times has this call been answered by the flower of American manhood. Once the nation was all but rent asunder and thousands of homes ma l( ' desolate liy the great civil strife. But througli it all the old ship of state has sailed steadily on. Weakness has become strength. Thirteen States have become forty-eight. Three millions of people have become ninety-three millions. The simjile and primitive life of cdvilizatiiiu ' s fmntier has given way to the nidst stu])end()U and ciini|ilcx industrial and commercial structure the world has ever l nnwn. The people are the most enterprising of history. Biches anil luxury, -ucdi as no other people ever knew, have l een bestowed witii lavish hand. Inilcr the complex conilition of modern industry a few men ha e amassed fortunes so enormous as to make ( ' rcesus seem a panjier. America has become the .symbol, the world over, for luxury and wealth. Through the untiring efforts and keen foresight of our ■ ( aptains of industry we have become the greatest commercial nation of history. But i- our greatness only in material things Are all our etforts concen- trated only in the mad scrandile for filthy lucre ' . Have we lost the spirit of our ancestors Is the mission of this nation, feudal in its magnificence, only to gather gold; 1 do not lielie c it is I Was it not America who first proved to the world that the theory of popular government is practical I It was here that all men were first declared to have Iveen created free and equal. It was with this nation ' s birth, poverty was tirst enabled to claim the highest honors of the land : the individual citizen to claim his sovereignty. But wlierein lies the secret of our unprecedented progress and develop- ment i Where the source of so much strength ? What has enabled us, within the short space of one hundred and thirty years, to take our place in the fore-

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Paye twenty-fight THE PINE BriJR forgetting all yonr cares. The still sad m isic nf luniianity, of which Words- worth speaks, has been the haven to which many a smil has drifted to tind rest and new spiritnal develo])nu ' nt. ] Insie may he jiulgiMl by its different nses. In ihc chni ' ch it always is the heautifnl acc(iiii]ianinicnt of worship. It has (jflen been said that A religion without mnsic is a religion without l( ( ' and life. T.nther I ' alls music one of the fairest ami the most glorii.ius gifts ot (lud. Franz IJeudel says, The art (if mnsii ' is i he wealth ot ' nidderii times as well as the pride and greatness of dur day. It is essentially a product of the last few centuries and its position in the di ' elopnient of the woibl will not Ije known oi ' appreeialiMJ tor ai es lo come. iJiii iliere ne cr was a pei.iple who ill some wa ' did not appreciate and lo e music, . tter all, music is Imr one iif the narrow vales ni life, but its height reaches heaxcn, for are we not tolil that the human soul and mind alone are eternal :! Mrs. Childs says. .Music is a jn ' opliecy of what life is to be. I can tind the soul of music in no other place bur love, says Ui(diai ' d Wagner. Surel - music kindles the di ine spark in i ' ' ei ' y human sonl. Should we not seek to give music its due place in our li ' es liy I ' nll i ai ing what we ha ' e, and liy studying acipiire what we lia ' e not Wdien this takes place, much needless worrv and cares from the home life will lie remo cd by its uplifting influences; lite in its excry jihase will be |nii ' itie(l, and our walk below will be like unto that above.

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Page thirty jyj, p, .j, g . p most ranks of the preatest nations of the earth ' . Is it mir vasr material wealth ' . Is it onr strengtli in armies and thirteen-incli aiiiis X,,! The real strenoth i.if (inr iiatidii is imlicdded in the true, jiatricitie hearts (jf v - pcujile. ' Xations are made hv men, imt liy papei- ( ' onstitntimis and |)a|ici ' liallots. We are not free beeanse we have a ( ' (uistitntinii whieli (ilndstdiie callcil the greatest instrn- nient eviq- sti ' nck ott ' fi ' om the hrain (if man. lint heransc uiir forefathers win. cleared tlic wilderness and darecl the nno-ht uf kings, were free men. — il was their likxid, the evolntidii of I ' eiitnries of stnigiiles and sai-rifiee. This is a fast age. It might lie ]iro]ierly termini the world ' s Eleetrie Age. Distance has heen ]iracticall,v elinnnafed bv -team and elcctriritv. Todav von may see the sun arise ont of the blue waters of the .Vtlanfic; idiiKirrow. von may see him sink intu the Pacific. Fan has conipK iv(l the aii ' . and ere long will make it tlie pathway (. -er whiidi the (■(iiiinicrcc of ilic world will be borne. He has mado creation a ser aiit. who. snmmoneij li - the message of electricity appears upon tin ' wings of steam, lint the criiie tells ns onr in-ogress and development ha e heen so swift, so womlerfid, th.ai iiiaiTs nobler self has l eeu swallowed np in tbi ' jiraetieal realities of modeni life, that we have Itecn so engro ' sed in the frantic rnsh for matiM ' ial wealih and soi ' ial distinction that we ha e nnconseionsly allowed materialism to eree]i into onr national life; that never in the history (d ' the world were the ])olitics of any nation in a more corrujit co ndition than onrs are today; that whole counties of voters ean be lionght like cattle; that almost every breeze from the north liears tidinas oi a Iresh scandal exposed in onr national legishitixc halls ; and that bi-ibei ' - pollutes, alike. th( ermine of the .Indge and the robe of the Senator. Ami yet, loes all this mean that the .VniiM ' iran eagles shall be torn from onr natiomd temples ami dragged at the wheels of anarcliv and e(n-rn]ition ' . Does it mean that llie flag shall be wrenched fi ' oni its time honored position and tranipleil in the dust t liome fell when greecl and graft, with corroding far]g, began to gnaw at the very heart strings of the Kmpire. P nt there are forces in this nation ' s life of whi(di Home never dreamed ! Patriotism and loyalty to law are liist jn ' inciples. The erectioir of new moral and social standards: the abiilition id ' all class (.r clan; better edncational facilities; bigliei- edncation for women; the establi-hment id ' the Orphan ' s Home, the ()ld Siildiei ' ' s Home, the Rescne Uonie, .Inxcinle ( ' oiirt. and Reformator ' . aie all e ii|ences of the fact that a deepei ' lo ' e of humanity is growing in onr national lile. These forces ai ' i ' bi ' imiinii ' us into closer svmpathv with each other and are aiding ns in making the grandest u|iward strngale the world has ever witnessed. rile eye- of ilie cixilized World are iijion U-. Mach