tism; and religion
itself grew out of superstition which was oftentimes marked with human
sacrifices. So out of our present imperfections 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 learning 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 progress of the human race has never 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 galleys and the civilization which was born of
their commerce have perished, but the alphabet which that people perfected
remains. The shepherd kings of Israel, the temple and empire of Solomon,
have gone the way of all the earth, but the Old Testament has been
preserved for the inspiration of mankind. The ark of the covenant and the
seven-pronged candlestick 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 Sparta, the grandeur of the Imperial City, are a long-lost memory, but
the poetry of Homer and Virgil, the oratory 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 shunned by the present generation to our advantage. We have no
right to expect as our portion something substantially different from human
experience in the past. The constitution of the universe does not change.
Human nature remains constant. That service and sacrifice which have been
the price of past progress are the price of progress now.

This is not a 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
bountiful. But the evidence was never so overwhelming as now that men and
nations must live rationally or perish.

The defences of our Commonwealth are not material but mental and spiritual.
Her fortifications, her castles, are her institutions of learning. T