On this day of Thanksgiving, while thanking God for all his
other gifts, let us thank him most of all for good men — men loving justice,
truth, freedom, Christianity, more than comfort or peace; men ready to live and
die for an idea; enthusiasts for goodness and right.
Good men save the State; but they only save it when other
men are capable of being moved and led by their example. A time comes, in the
downfall and corruption of communities, when good men struggle ineffectually
against the tendencies of ruin. Hannibal could not save Carthage. Marcus
Antoninus could not save the Roman Empire. Demosthenes could not save Greece,
and Jesus Christ himself could not save Jerusalem from decay and destruction.
Nations can go too far to be saved. The great hope of this land is in the fact
that the mass of the people mean right, and, unless misled by demagogues, will
do right. But, for this hope to be realized, all Christians and all patriots
must work together.
SOURCE: Edwin Everett Hale, Editor, James Freeman
Clarke: Autobiography, Diary and Correspondence, p. 291
No comments:
Post a Comment