"FROM ONE GENERATION TO ANOTHER."

Taranaki Daily News, 28 July 1915, Page 6

"FROM ONE GENERATION TO ANOTHER."

ADDUKSS BY RKV. A. 11. UIAIH'KL. Tin: following i* tin- substance of Hi'; address delivered at tile .New Plymouth : Brotherhood last Sunday by the Rev. A. 15. Cliappell:— | From earliest times, as soon us limit was gifted with language ami exorcised his social instincts, Ik; mn.it have delighted to tell others of llis exploits , mill experiences. Urouped about u lire 1 in a. in rtiicni -üb-ar.ti.: land or lo'luig i'.iy.ily 'l;v'n.i'al.l a sn-.uiy tree ill tile tropics, lie wouCd 'i!:.l delight and ail*antage ill mounting human happenings. At these 'thiii',< the youthful mcmiliers of the, .family and tribe would Ileal' the recital, and so ".from one. generation to another'' the nvi.nl would pass. History, ;is we ,know it, i.s very modern. It tarried fur the coming of the scientific spirit and aptitude that mark our own ilav. Ages before any such deveii ';)iiient tool; place, Polynesian myths and k-ciaiidic sagas, ((reek stones and Latin awnals arose. Jlerodiotus, for example, go: sjped a.boivt adventures in the islands oif the Aegean Ss\i, his 'recitals being mixed with tales like OtheloVOf mitres vast and desicts idl; 1 . Hough quarries, rocks and hills whose in',nils touch heaven, And of the cannibals that each other e.lt. The Anihrn'irar,:l men whi"-e lie-ad:; D'o gr /,v t'eneath t'heir she iMers.

It is a far cry from su.li vi-.gue weird-lif-s to tl'.e. .-curate histc:' ' m 1" on l day. Xl'W evidence i.-i sci"ir>uh>t.:..l/ weighed, tT.uives are piwnstak'.iiglv examined, influences are measured and tendencies ate. tnu'ed; in il sentence, causes and •effects are discovered. The tale told "f;cm one generation to another" wii'i cease to be a mere catalogue of il: id•eilts, let alone a collection of romantic fa neie.i. The truth js t'iat. iiy t'le aid of these new ii'et^O!' 1 ; ive know niucli more than did u-:ir '*n-i fathers concerning nges tTrat lie in front i.f Mean. This is partly due to "tile un.lorflted fact that distance is needed for clear vision of human happenings. lint our more accurate knowledge of old days ha; come eliieflv through the 'better use, n: materia.ls. First-hand and i-earc-lung c>Kr,iiiiK'.ti l on of sc,ur.-e,n of information hais beco;;:e a. pa.ssion. History need not cease to be literary, 'but to-day it .must be scientific. This is affecting its learning as much as

iCs writing. Im-'tead of roya>rdiiif» it as ~i c.ita., :;u,' of da-te.s ami uionarchs, we trace the. gerrrul tendencies of htini.ui progre-s in it. We discover tliat, while hi-iory by no .means repeats itself .similar occasions arise in which the gmilam-o -if i-i'lic.' e.v;;.criemo i 1; ol value. Human 'progress i-i not, ill a straight line, as the unthinking optimist seems to believe; nor is it in a closed ! circle, as the initially thoughtless pe.-si- . mist urge-':. Its .movement is that of a. 1 rising spiral, -with seeming backward sweeps ili) former pw-iitioin, 'but highe,than tho.-e previous -positions were. So a guidance i,s given that leaves us free i to vary the 'principles taught. If the ,ni'ill who foiijet'S tile ere-cut is an idle dreaiiicr, and lie. who ignores tiie future is an immoral adventurer, the mail who licgie.'ts the past is an un- ! grateful fool, 'iie i.s an j'ngratc, because i the tliingvi that make his life worth so i much have come, tliTOUgh tiie sacrifice I and -.striving of his forefathers. They l labored; lie ha,s entered iiilo their laj 'bors. lb; is a fool because he needs :to know the, past. liven in hi::, craft ; or 'profession his .olHcieni'y will rest upon his use v! what others li.irtove.red and [ devil-e.il-, Moreover, in the view of a higher utilitarianism, he will lie a much better man through the mental aiul moral i ndvaii'tiige. i-:o gained from the past, i Patriotism grows best, oil (he soil 'ol history. Liberties will not be liglitly lost ii" their winning is recalled. .Men wi'.l die. rather til ail relinquish them. And tiie world-citizenship that makes the ;;rea:'e:f: men will he produced. The i dawning of the better day for all the ' world wil! liovc.r s.'em luc'ele-s to the I man who knows the. 'pi,4; "The name of I hi'.pc i'S r-('ime,n;!fc> auce.''

A keen interest in history has, in addition. a di'liniite religious value. Men as divcr-o as Oliver Cromwell and John j Wesley have, acknowledged that fact. I In his inaugural address as Regius Profe -'iT of M< Ic'Ji ,H'.ston' at Canubridge. Lord Act™ de.c'iared that ''constancy <>t progress, of iirogre-'s in t-he dl-reHion of organised and a->urnl freedo-iu,' is rh«: I'aiirac.te.rjstic fait o>? inodern history, a ii I its tribute ti> the tbeorv of lVovidence." Assuredly, history is a, re('Ord of the 'iri'-cn e of Ooil. Not th:'.t j We -are ,puppets, without our s'.iare, o! ini-tiai'.ive: 1,-:;' 'we are not -left to wanib r ij.ntend.ed in a- wihlerne.s. A ):;>t ient l-'alher's heart anil hand are exercised in love and guidance. The world i - jjJowlv finding its way—that is. lliis way. j From the wreck of emioiris gain for i:he we Id ,l:a- i uar.-. Ko it will surely be .'.n tlu.-i' days of sorrow and strife. The re'i.g'i'His l;:i in of a, :knowledgi; of the pe-.t. nianifi :it iu tsucli an eiiduiing hope of ult : .;na-te gi.od, makes tl.'e stiul;.' of

history of supreme value in a traiaing for 5>«io(l citixenshiji. When, we a,d.d that ;;ain to. iU hene'H.s .ill mental r 1111 ;>m«".it an.l moral discipline, we. iind ample i:i----duii'i-nirr.-t, to t.'i'c..-,Miile. and transmit the. stoiy tliat i-i to'd •'from ,one generation to aiMtin