Ohio History Journal

168       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VOL. 3

 

 

"THE EDUCATIONAL LESSONS OF THIS HOUR."

REV. H. A. THOMPSON.

I appreciate the high honor done me by your Chairman in

the invitation which he has extended me to speak for a few

moments. I must tell you in advance that I am not on the pro-

gram for the day; that I have no speech prepared for your lis-

tening ears. I am here as a member of the Ohio Historical

Society, whose members are the guests of your committee. I

am here for the first time in your beautiful little city to rejoice

with you in the good fortune which has come to it, and to you,

in being able this day to celebrate its one hundreth anniversary.

Such occasions are fraught with interest and profit to us all. In

the olden time the Jews were annually required to go to Jerusa-

lem, the capital city, to keep the feast of the passover. As the

children of the household saw the preparation made for this re-

markable feast they would naturally inquire what it all meant.

The sacred historian instructed the master of the household how

to answer:  "When thy son asketh thee in time to come saying

what mean the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments

which the Lord, our God, hath commanded you, then shalt thou

say unto thy son, we were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt; and

the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand; and the

Lord showed signs and wonders great and sore upon Egypt,

upon Pharaoh and upon all his house before our eyes; and he

brought us from thence that he might bring us in to give us the

land which he swear unto our fathers; and the Lord commanded

us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord, our God, for our

good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is this day.

And it shall be righteousness unto us if we observe to do all

this commandment before the Lord, our God, as he hath com-

manded us."-Deut. VI., 20.

So as your children sit with you to-day on these seats, lis-

tening to the addresses made and witnessing the parades and

displays, they shall want to know what it all means; and then

you can interest them in the history of the nation as they have

never been interested before. It will be your work to recount

• 1
 

The Educational Lessons of this Hour.    169

 

to them the deeds of your ancestors, the sufferings endured, the

privations undergone, to help build up this glorious republic,

where every man can work out his own destiny untrammeled by

the customs and traditions of the old world; a land in which

above all other lands we recognize the truth uttered by Scot-

land's humble, though illustrious singer:

"What though on hamely faer we dine,

Wear hoddin, gray and a' that;

Gye fools their silks and knaves their wine

A man's a man for a' that."

 

And not only will the young people thus be taught to love

their country, and to make themselves more worthy of the her-

itage which it is theirs to enjoy, but those of us who are older

and who can better appreciate our advantages, may well in this

sacred spot, made sacred not only by the presence of those who

came here one hundred years ago, but later still by those noble

patriots who fought to save this nation from dismemberment,

consecrate ourselves anew to our country's good, and to be citi-

zens worthy of such illustrious ancestors.

I have listened, as you no doubt have also, with intense

pleasure to the distinguished gentleman who has discoursed to

us so eloquently of the "Lessons of the Century," as well as to

the gentleman who followed him in his interesting sketch of the

college you have planted in your midst. I think it is Cotton

Mather, the New England historian, who says that one of the

first things our Puritan fathers thought of after their settlement

in the American wilderness was the founding of a college, that

their children might not grow up in ignorance, nor their churches

be without pastors, and that the cause of religion and education

might be advanced among them. Your ancestors looked to your

welfare in planting a college in your county and you will prove

yourselves degenerate sons of worthy sires if you do not rally

about it and make it a place whither your sons and daughters

may go to receive that training which shall fit them for the

duties and responsibilities of this life and the enjoyments of the

life to come. By the help which you can give it, it will revolu-

• 2
 

170       Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications.  [VoL. 3

 

tionize your county and give you a citizenship excelled by none

in the land.

As I listened to the lessons of the century I tried to look

forward to see what they taught us as to the destiny of our own

fair land. Surely the reign of bloodshed and of cruel war in

which the nations of the olden time indulged must now be over.

The sword must no longer be the arbitrament of nations, since

the "Prince of Peace" has come proclaiming peace on earth

and good will to all men. We have outgrown our infancy and

are now marching forward to a grander and richer civilization.

We have made such a conquest of matter as men never saw be-

fore; the forces of nature have been harnessed as in no other

age to do our bidding. The masses have broken through the

debris that has kept them down; they have burst asunder the

trammels that bound them and the reign of the common people

has commenced. Never have the possibilities of manhood been

greater and never has there been such a field for the manifesta-

tion of man's noblest powers as in this land whose citizenship

we honor to-day. Never before has it meant so much to live.

The very air is thick with questions that teem with interest, and

that demand a solution at our hands. While men never lived

with greater possibilities they never rested under greater re-

sponsibilities. We cannot rest satisfied with the fact that we are

growing in wealth; that our forests have been subdued, our

lands tilled and our population enlarged. To whom much is

given of these shall much be required. The problems of civil

government have not all been solved. We are to show the

nations of the earth such an example of enlightened citizenship

as they have not yet seen. We are to be a beacon light to those

that sit in darkness showing them the way out of their disabili-

ties into the coming light. We are to show them that a govern-

ment of the people, for the people, and by the people is to be

the most permanent as it is the freest form of civil government.

Let us see to it that we make of this people a nation whose God

is the Lord. Not only our own destiny but the destiny of other

peoples is in our hands. Let us see to it that we are worthy of

the high trust which God and our fathers have committed to us.

When our descendants shall come one hundred years hence to

• 3
 

The Educational Lessons of this Hour.     171   celebrate this anniversary may they find a great nation without a peer; whose rulers rule in righteousness, a terror to evil doers and a praise to them that do well; a people true to their highest convictions of duty and yielding rightful homage to Him who is the King of kings and the source of all human government.

• 4