AMBITION, A WORTHY
Dr. William H. Thomson, speaking of the tubercle bacillus in his book, "What is Physical Life?" says:
For ages upon ages this mighty microorganism
has waged a cruel destructive
war upon the human race. After fifty
years of observation and study of its
ghastly doings, I can say that I would
rather have the power to cause the tears
shed on its account to cease than to be
the greatest official or the greatest owner
on the earth.
(81)
AMERICA IN SYMBOL
In the hour when for the first time I stood
before the cataracts of Niagara, I seemed to
see a vision of the fears and hopes of America.
It was midnight, the moon was full, and
I saw from the suspension bridge the ceaseless
contortion, confusion, whirl, and chaos
which burst forth in clouds of foam from
that immense central chasm which divides
the American from the British dominion;
and as I looked on that ever-changing movement,
and listened to that everlasting roar,
I saw an emblem of the devouring activity,
and ceaseless, restless, beating whirlpool of
existence in the United States. But into the
moonlight sky there rose a cloud of spray
twice as high as the falls themselves, silent,
majestic, immovable. In that silver column,
glittering in the moonlight, I saw an image
of the future of American destiny, of the
pillar of light which should emerge from
the distractions of the present—a likeness of
the buoyancy and hopefulness which characterize
you both as individuals and as a nation.—Arthur
Penrhyn Stanley.
(82)
AMERICA, THE NAME
The meaning of the name Amerigo has
been often discust, the only thing certain
being that it is one of those names of Teutonic
origin, like Humberto, Alfonzo,
Grimaldi, or Garibaldi, so common in northern
Italy, which testifies to the Gothic or
Lombard conquest. Americ, which occurs as
early as 744 A.D., is probably a contracted
form of the name Amalaric, borne by a king
of the Visigoths who died in 531. A Bishop
Emrich was present at the Council of Salisbury,
in 807, and an Americus Balistarius is
mentioned in the Close Rolls (thirteenth
century). It has been conjectured that the
stem is im, from which we get the name
of Emma. The meaning of this is not known
with certainty, tho Ferguson thinks it may
denote "strife" or "noise." Since, however,
the name is probably of Gothic origin, and
since the Amalungs were the royal race of
the Ostragoths, it is more likely that the
stem is "amal," which was formerly thought
to mean "without spot," but is now more
plausibly connected with the old Norse "aml,"
labor, work. The suffix "ric," cognate with
rex, reich, and rick, means "rich" or "powerful,"
and, therefore, the most probable signification
of Amerigo is "strong for labor."—Isaac
Taylor, Notes and Queries.
(83)
American Citizenship—See Ignorance.
AMERICAN OPPORTUNITY
A young Irishman who settled in Chicago
forty years ago, and found his first employment
as driver of a baker's wagon, has just
retired from business a millionaire. An
Italian, then aged sixteen, who reached Trenton,
N. J., thirteen years ago with barely
sufficient money to set up in business as a
bootblack, now owns twenty-three houses,
and announces his intention to take up real
estate. Both these passages of contemporary
biography are recorded in the same newspaper.
Probably they will attract little attention
or remark. That is to be explained
by the happy circumstance that such progress
from poverty is no exceptional thing in this
country, and any community could match the
stories with many that are equally striking.—Boston
Transcript.
(84)
American Prosperity—See Prosperity as an Advertisement.
AMERICANISM, TRUE
Suppose you are a father, and you have
five children. One is named Philip, and
Philip says to his brothers and sisters: "Now,
John, you go and live in the small room at
the end of the hall. George, you go and stay
up in the garret. Mary, you go and live in
the cellar, and, Fannie, you go and live in
the kitchen, and don't any of you come out.
I am Philip, and will occupy the parlor; I
like it; I like the lambrequins at the window,
and I like the pictures on the wall. I am
Philip, and, being Philip, the parlor shall
only be for the Philipians." You, the father,
come home, and say: "Fannie, what are you
doing in the kitchen? Come out of there."
And you say to Mary, "Mary, come out of
that cellar." And you say to John, "John,
don't stay shut up in that small room. Come
out of there." And you say to George,
