Our civilization carries within it the seeds of its own destruction, think Harold Bell Wright, most popular living novelist. In a recent interview Mr. Wright deplored love of luxury and the falling away from the ideals of the nation’s founders.
“The bitter necessities of their lives, their struggles for existence with nature and with savage enemies, developed physical qualities of endurance and strength which brought with them their moral counterparts. There was no place for the weakling; the dishonest and the degenerate were given short shrift. They physically and morally unfit perished in that early struggle. In the man, it was the men of purpose and strength who survived; who became the nation’s founders.
Today all that is changed. Our vast material development has made life soft. Its prizes are quite as much for the wily as for the strong.
“Two main effects have flowed from this materialism Cunning, in some ?? has superseded moral and mental vigor as a requisite for success. And the idea of an exacting but benevolent God has been thrust back out of the everyday consciousness of the race. Material developments, large cities and buildings, marvelous transportation facilities, and ordered complexity of life, give men the illusion of security, of self sufficiency. It is only with the catastrophes of earthquake, flood or fire that they realize it is an illusion. The ideal of the home is less real since men no longer have to fight to preserve it. The conception of the family as a unit has weakened in proportion as it has ceased to be menaced. Concerning the moral health of nations, it seems that nothing fails like success.”
“What is the remedy for this condition?” we asked.
“The claiming of our inheritance,” replied Mr. Wright. “Our fathers and grandfathers were the pioneers and we are the sons of our fathers. Latent in us are the same qualities which necessity evoked in them. This inheritance is the underlying theme of my last book, “a Son of His Father. We must realize this inheritance; dwell upon it in our thoughts and consciously act upon it.”
“Have we lost a national sense of this inheritance,” we asked.
“It would seem not,” Mr. Wright answered, smiling, “if there is any significance in the number of messages of approval I received when the book was published. People in every part of the country sent me greeting cards. They had caught the plea for a reclaiming of our all-but-lost inheritance which is the underlying ideal of the book. And on these greeting cards, reaching me on holidays and between holidays, they had written a word or two of approval and encouragement. This was a deep pleasure to me. The next best thing to having a message is to know that message has struck home.”
From page 5 of The Goldsboro News, Tuesday, April 27, 1926
newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn93064755/1926-04-26/ed-1/seq-5/
No comments:
Post a Comment