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Show Horrors of Today Were Predicted Century Ago George Bancroft not only was the foremost American historian of his day, but he was in addition a famous fa-mous statesman and orator. He established es-tablished the United States Naval academy at Annapolis, Md. In 1846 he became minister to Great Britain Brit-ain and in 1867 minister to Germany. He died in Washington, D. C, January Jan-uary 17, 1891. Among his most celebrated cele-brated addresses was the one on "The People in Art, Government, and Religion," which he delivered before the Adelphi society of Williams Wil-liams college in August, 1835. An excerpt from this speech follows: "... absolute power has never succeeded and can never suctfeed in suppressing a single truth. An idea once revealed may find its admission into every living breast and live there. Like God, it becomes immortal im-mortal and omnipresent. The movement move-ment of the species is upward, irresistibly ir-resistibly upward. The individual is often lost; Providence never disowns dis-owns the race. No principle once promulgated has ever been forgotten. for-gotten. No 'timely tramp' of a despot's des-pot's foot ever trod out one idea. The world cannot retrograde; the dark ages cannot return. Dynasties perish, per-ish, seeds are buried, nations have been victims to error of martyrs for right; humanity has always been on the advance, gaining maturity, universality, and power." |