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 COPVRIGHT DEPOSro 
 
COLLEGIATE 
 INSTITUTE 
 ORATIONS 
 
 DELIVERED BY STUDENTS 
 
 CONTAINING A FEW 
 ORIGINAL POEMS BY 
 
 REV. O. A. NEWLIN 
 
 FORT SCOTT, KANSAS 
 1907 
 
 Monitor Binding & Printing Company, Fort Scott, Kansas. 
 

 LIBRARY Of CONGiSEaS 
 Two Copies Receivea 
 JAN 6 1908 
 
 Oopyri«ni tniry 
 
 Suss -^ XXc. NO. 
 
 "COPY B. 
 
 
 COYPYRIGHT 
 
 190S 
 
 By O. A. NEWLIN 
 
 
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Historical Sketch 
 
 THE COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE, an insti- 
 tution of the Church of God, was opened 
 to the public October 21^ 1902. Since 
 then it has matriculated 224 students. 
 The present buildings are the president's 
 home and ladies' dormitory, and the 
 original school buildinc:. The former is 
 heated by a hot water heating plant, 
 and the latter by natural gas. $7 000.00 was spent last 
 year in Improvements, and new buildings with larger 
 accommodations are now much needed. The buildings 
 are surrounded by a beautiful camp.us, with massive 
 trees; located on the crest of a hill overlooking the city, 
 with electric car lines for convenient communication. 
 
 The influence of this school 'has been good from the 
 beginning, and during the five years 57 of the students 
 ihave been led to accept the Christian life, and the devo- 
 tion of many has been greatly enriched. Twenty-six 
 students have pursued studies* preparatory to the Gospel 
 ministry, and thirty-four have gone out from the insti- 
 tution to the public school as teachers. The graduates 
 from the five departments of the ischool do credit to the 
 merits of the institution, and are holding lucrative and 
 responsible positions. 
 
 The student body has a distinct influence in the 
 
6 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 best life of the city, and their weekly debates and annual 
 oratorical contests are largely attended and ni'Uch en- 
 joyed. The practical features of this school commend it 
 to the careful consideration of every young man or 
 woman earne'Stly seeking a higher education. The close 
 ipersonal touch all students have with the faculty, now 
 consisting of seven members' affor/ds the best opportu- 
 nity for rapid development. These features, with the 
 extremely low cost and excellent advantages for self 
 help, make it evSpecially fitted to the wants of those of 
 modest means. 
 
 The school is measurably dependent upon the free 
 will offerings of it'S' friends and its continued growth 
 and influence is a source of much encouragement to 
 those who were instrumental in establishing it, and who 
 have contributed to its needs. 
 
 All contributions or requests for information should 
 be addressed in care of the president. 
 

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Table of Contents 
 
 Page 
 Introduction 11 
 
 ORATIONS 
 
 A Life of Service 65 
 
 A Noble Work 17 
 
 Character -. 25 
 
 Courage of Merit 45 
 
 Education and Success 1^3 
 
 Greater than Wealth 85 
 
 Hisitorical Sketch 5 
 
 Home 61 
 
 Ideal Incentives 117 
 
 Life is What We Make It 73 
 
 Our Nation's Pride V9 
 
 The Mission of Disicontent 109 
 
 The Red Cross Society 51 
 
 True Grandeur oifi Nations) 37 
 
 True Standard of Patriotism 57 
 
 The Value of Gold 123 
 
 Tiesi that Bind 95 
 
 Unwritten Heroism lUl 
 
POEMS 
 
 Page 
 
 A Cure for the Blues 141 
 
 A Bad (Case 167 
 
 In the Ozark Hills 171 
 
 In the Woods, 159 
 
 Mr. Schmidt on "Tangilefoot" 160 
 
 Stumps in the Hay Shocks 154 
 
 The Bethlehem Child 168 
 
 Tihe Fir&t New Bootis. 158 
 
 The Old Log Shed 150 
 
 The Old Milk-House 146 
 
 The Old 'Wood-Pile 163 
 
 The Water Lily 174 
 
 What Will We Do with the Kicker? 156 
 
 Yander Grass 144 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Charter Class 7 
 
 College Building 3 
 
 Fifth Annual 'Contest 116 
 
 First Annual Contest 16 
 
 Firsit Graduating 'Claris 71 
 
 Fourth Annual Contest 78 
 
 Rev. O. A. Newlin 15 
 
 Second Annual Contest 23 
 
 Second Graduating iClass 107 
 
 Third Annual Contest 43 
 
 Third Graduating Class 131 
 
Introduction 
 
 God set man to housekeeping in the temple of 
 thought. He has yet to learn fully the majesty and 
 might of his tongue and pen. We have never yet 
 adequately weighed the value of words> nor measured 
 their power to transform the world about us. 
 
 In this volume we have a score o(f subjects ^treated 
 by almost as many authors^ each writing in a style 
 that is peculiarly his own. During the five years^ 
 history of the Collegiate Institute there has been 
 thirty-four orations written by students for the an- 
 nual oratorical contest of the Philomathian society, 
 and for graduations. 
 
 To those whose orations appear in this volume be- 
 long the credit of its publication. For in addition to 
 conceiving the idea of publishing the volume, they 
 have mutually assumed a portion of the cost of its 
 production. 
 
 It is my pleasure to be intimately acquainted with 
 all those who have contributed an oration to this 
 book. I knew them as they enrolled in the school to 
 pursue their respective courses; I knew them as stu- 
 dents, in class room, in examination and in recrea- 
 tion; I knew them in the "fiery furnace" from 
 whence they came forth bearing their orations with 
 them. I know them today, some as ministers, some 
 as teachers, some in other positions; a few yet in 
 school — but all are students. I believe all have been 
 repaid for the labor and study bestowed upon their 
 
12 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 orations — some thirty, some sixty, some an hundred 
 fold. Only those who have written orations can ap- 
 preciate the severe ordeal to which a student is sub- 
 jected when he attempts to write his first oration in 
 addition to his regular class work. 
 
 Tvo objects must have been in the minds of those 
 who conceived the thought of this book. 
 
 First, that in addition to having in a permanent 
 form their own production, they would have that of 
 each of their fellow classmates, and could pass them 
 to their friends. 
 
 Second, that they might acquaint their friends 
 and the general public with the merits of the school 
 in which as students they wrote their orations, and 
 that at the same time the school might receive all 
 profits, if there be any, from the sale of the books. 
 So for these reasons, and from the fact that I regard 
 these orations as being specially helpful in thought, 
 and practical in their interpretatons of the essentials 
 in life, I bespeak for them a wide reading. 
 
 And to conclude I must speak a word to those 
 whose articles follow. I -cannot hope to meet yoii 
 again in the class room; I may have failed to make 
 the best of the opportunity when it was mine. I feel 
 that you have set examples that those who come 
 after you will find safe to- follow, and difficult to 
 excel. Knowing what I do of you as a cla&s when 
 you came to us, and seeing the ^narvelous improve- 
 ment made in the short time intervening between] 
 your enrollment and the production of these orations 
 it gives me reason to be pleased with the results of 
 our school work together, and to justly expect much 
 of you in the years to come. 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 13 
 
 If your friends speak highly of your work I most 
 heartily join with them^ and sincerely hope that your 
 present oration^, of which we may justly now be 
 proud^ will some day when compared with your late 
 contributions to the literature of worthy most re- 
 semble your imperfect attempt when a small boy at 
 school to follow the copy at the top of the page. To 
 this end labor and the reward will follow. 
 
 0. A. Newlin. 
 Fort Scott, Kansas, Oct. 21. 
 
A Noble Work 
 
 JENNIE SHEETS-HAMLIN 
 
 Man^s achievements are unlimited. It requires a 
 lifetime to discover one^s possibilities. It may be 
 asked of the youth as of ancient Nazareth, ^^Can any 
 good come therefrom?" Since despised Nazareth 
 abounded with posisibilities, how much more can be 
 expected of the pro,nxdsing youth, though he may 
 dwell in the remote wilderness. Yet if he is a great 
 thinker time will wear a beaten pathway to his door. 
 
 Who knows but that underneath the tattered coat 
 of the street waif lies a noble youth, who will arise 
 and by his persistent efforts transform a nation, and 
 in the end levae a name that will shine forth on the 
 pages of history as an emblem of the great work he 
 has accomplished. ' 
 
 What a joy it is when one has discovered his 
 special capability, and learns that he really hasi a 
 work to perform, and has found that special sphere 
 for which he is best fitted. How his imagination rises 
 to that height where he conceives the idea in thought 
 of his great work. Without a doubt the steam en- 
 gine was pictured in Watt'isi imagination before it 
 was invented, and was before his mind's eye every- 
 where he looked. The poet, in fact all writers, must 
 let their imagination arise until the author possesses 
 the real thought of production before it ig penned. 
 It is only with the most acute imagination that we 
 are able to picture in words our thoughts in such a 
 
18 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 manner that they will not onty interest and impress 
 the occasional reader^ but that they will bring a na- 
 tion to' its feet. \ 
 
 Though there may be impediments to the progress 
 of a noble work^ yet it is to be remembered, First, By 
 industry we thrive. Second. We are created for some 
 special influence in life. Third, Find that w^ork and 
 complete it. As the cycle time moves on it records on 
 the pages of history the lives of eminent men and 
 women who have lived for an exalted purpose. Many 
 times the women, who have entered the homes of 
 poverty as guardian angels to the young, and slowly 
 as has seemed the opportunity for these young lives 
 to bud forth, they have molded an influence in their 
 3^oung minds that has made them^ benefactors of a 
 human race. And many times men who have given 
 their all for the purpose of National Eeform, from 
 which, if any man differs) in his opinion, the reformer 
 is presently censured as a disturber. It is to these 
 lives we hasten to do honor and respect- The names 
 of such shall never die. They will be the thought and 
 theme of the wise man of tomorrow. God in HisJ in- 
 flnite wisdom has decreed that the benevolent soul 
 shall never fade fro-m the minds of his fellow men. 
 
 These living memories are m the hearts and on 
 the lips of the busy public of today, and are shaping 
 the lives of every child of promise. This unconscious 
 influence is irresistible in its silent but mighty work. 
 The men and women of past generations, whose lives 
 were as brilliant as the blazing Meteor, have left 
 behind them moulding forces, which have erected 
 monuments for them more lasting than brass, more 
 enduring than the Pyramids of Egypt, which neither 
 the corroding rains of society nor the howling winds 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 19 
 
 of political corruption shall ever deface or destroy. 
 A call for one of these benevolent souls was made, 
 who could stir the minds of the people and awaken 
 them. This siame sky formed a canopy over many 
 voices which had for two decades rung the tocsin 
 that told of the approaching storm, yet few there 
 were who thought this could he so near. At times its 
 tones had resounded so powerfully through the land 
 that the veryfoundation of a republic seemed to 
 shake. From numerousi editorials were found items 
 which were read with little interest. < 
 
 But now a warm, wofmanly soul, with a fertile 
 mind, penned a few of the facts as they really exist- 
 ed, and thousands who had scarcely lent an ear to 
 the constitutional deductions and different views as 
 presented by the politicians, were by this picture 
 moved to noble action. It is not exactly the course of 
 human nature that great social reforms should take 
 their rise from truth when presented in the form of 
 a novel, rather than from a pulpit. Where the states- 
 man, moralist and philanthropist have not cultivated 
 the field by long and severe labor, the charmed pen 
 of the novelist seldom performs such work. He only 
 shakes from the tree the ripened fruit which these 
 men have so arduously cultivated. The effect is pro- 
 duced only because public opinion throws itself with 
 a grea force in one direction. But a sudden conversa- 
 tion is beyond the power of the poet; he only gives 
 that which has long been fermenting in the thoughts 
 and minds of the people. Consequently that which re- 
 mained misty and indistinct is now seen incorporated 
 in personal events in such a manner that it becofes 
 palpable to a child- To this we can only look with 
 a'mazement, and wonder what will be the next great 
 
20 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 misfortune to befall us or our nation, and who will 
 point out its destructive influence. 
 
 We know that one book, even one picture may 
 change the thought of many people. For every book 
 we read, and every picture that impresses us, awakens 
 that imagining power to a greater or less extent. 
 Uncle Tom's Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe, pro- 
 duced the overwhelming impression it did because its 
 fiction was the entire truth. The South itself axj- 
 knowledges this, perhaps now w^ith great bitterness, 
 but the time is fast coming when no analice will be 
 held between the North and South of our nation. 
 The popularity of this book cannot be determined, 
 but it may be said that not only in the United States 
 but also in Europe, the generation w^hich has grown 
 up not only know it by name but have read it as a 
 book full of pathos and truthfulness, in which mo- 
 rality and truthfulness go hand in hand. Even a 
 lesson may be learned froonj the simple-minded Suak- 
 ers referred to. Because from being a bit of life it 
 has become a history. / 
 
 And yet, a London critic has said, she was not a 
 great woman. What is greatness? It does' not con- 
 sist of what we possess, or what we have already ac- 
 quired, but. in a true sense, what we are and expect 
 to be. It is the principle that lifts man from the 
 valley of morbid idleness, and places him on thei 
 summit of the mount of utility. 
 
 This is true of other lives than those of Gladstone 
 and Bismark. Those who h^ave the power to go down 
 even to the lowest gutter and raise up the fallen, so 
 that at some future time the latent power that now 
 lies hidden will have an opportunity to come forth ^ 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 21 
 
 aye^ many a man has lifted np the fallen one and 
 given him eneonraging words, that have made a man 
 of him. Yet this man may not be classed among the 
 great, only because this word is too often misused. 
 
 In 1862 probably no one who knew Grant would 
 have called him great, but he was at the foundation 
 of a new work. He came to the battle's front by 
 enlisting as a private soldier, little thinking of the 
 great name he was to acquire. But with a fixed aim, 
 and unswerving in his efforts to discharge his known 
 duty, he pressed forward to the goal- His whole 
 thought was for his work, and today his name shines 
 forth in history as an example for the boy whose sole 
 purpose is to live for the good he can do, to individ- 
 ual, state and nation. 
 
 The author of Uncle Tom's Cabin did something 
 with her peH;, not with a thought of her name being 
 honored. Her whole thought was of that imagina- 
 tion of seeing the isubjects of her book in real life, 
 and of seeing their race educated, and help to lift our 
 mighty republic to that height where it shall be above 
 all nations. Where will we find conditions more 
 vivid, situations more touching, more original, than 
 in this author and her book ? Yes, it is said she 
 lievd in an enchanted palace in which her imagina- 
 tion ran wild, nor, indeed, was the influence in her 
 home less stimulating to the intellect. 
 
 We must say that Mrs. Stowe had a talent as 
 hum.,qnity feels the need of talents. The talent of a 
 great writer. Pure, penetrating and profound; with 
 a sudden resolution for doing good, that comes from 
 energy and a noble aim. A half century is not a 
 great number of years in the life of a people. It is 
 
22 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 in time an adequate test of the staying powers of a 
 book. It is ,safe to say that Uncle Tonics Cabin has 
 the fundamental qualities^ the sure insight into hu- 
 man nature to the facts of its own time. 
 
 But this body of earth must to earth return; 
 therefore the great lives must also wend their way 
 slowly^ and to some it appears sadlji., to that eternal 
 home. But still the name lives on, as did the name 
 of this author. But ere she died the people appreci- 
 ated her work^ and said her life was not a failure — • 
 her mork was a noble one. 
 
 That men may see the need of noble workers^ and 
 strive for an aibition to lift the fallen^ preserve the 
 good, and learn that the best work of the world is not 
 all done, and can not be, by loiterers. But b^^ those 
 whose hands and hearts are full of duties. 
 
 For when a great work emerges from the shadow 
 land, and asserts its practicability upon the sunlit 
 hill-tops of triumphant victory, and its hour drawetli 
 near, then, bright and glorious among all who have 
 dared and achieved, will stand in golden letters of 
 light the names of the Xoble, Brave and True ! 
 
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Character 
 
 REID McMECHEN 
 
 Ever since Socrates gave to the world his favorite 
 maxim^ '^^Know thyself/^ hri^maiiity has to a certain 
 extent occupied itself with the study of man. If 
 one would discover the extent of his physical igtrength 
 he goes forth as an athlete^ develops his powers and 
 pits himiself against his fellow; that he may obtain 
 a true conception of his intellectual ability, he edu- 
 cates his mind, and is examined by his instructor; 
 and in order to determine the amount of his! financial 
 resources, he invoices his entire possessions at their 
 intrinsic value- But even with these things learned, 
 one has not obtained a complete self-knowledge, for 
 no man ever fully knew himself unless he becomes 
 able to form a correct esitimate of his Character, for 
 character, after all, is that which constitutes the real 
 man. 
 
 It has been said that character is moral order seen 
 through the medium of individual nature. In its 
 noblest embodiments it exelmplifies hwnjan nature in 
 its highest form ; for it exhibits man at his best. 
 
 Character is one of the greatest motive powers in 
 the world. We do not inherit this power as those who 
 inherit large fortunes, nor is it handed down from 
 our parents; but we are obliged to put forth an ef- 
 fort in order to obtain it, and it can only be devel- 
 oped by arduously pressing forward toward high 
 ideals. 
 
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 26 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 The world is ruled b\' men of character. Therefore 
 it is necessary, for the attaining of our highest de- 
 velopment that we possess this power. When children 
 are receiving their education, they are moulding for 
 themselves characters which will determine the meas- 
 ure of their success in life; and we do not perform 
 our dutj^ unless we present correct models of them in 
 our homes, public schools and colleges, for the laws 
 of imitation are so great that a child is sure to par- 
 take of the nature of its suroundings. Entrust a 
 child to* the care of a slave, and in a few 3'ears you 
 will have two slaves instead of one. 
 
 Home is a very important school of character. 
 There, impressibns are made on the mind which last 
 throughout life, and cease only with death. The first 
 joy, the first sorrow, the first success, and the first 
 failure paint the foremost part of his life. The tiniest 
 bits of opinion sown in the minds of children will 
 naturally issue forth in after life; and they who 
 hold the leading strings^ of children may exercise 
 even a greater power than those to whom are com- 
 mitted the reins of governiment. 
 
 Xot only is the liom,e a place for fonuing charac- 
 ter, but also in our public schools and colleges. Chil- 
 dren naturally become attached to their teachers, and 
 will be asi readily influenced by them as by their par- 
 ents in the home. If our public school system was 
 such as would permit the teacher to devote more 
 time to the individual pupil, thus developing his 
 character, we would have far less crime, and fewer 
 criminals to punish. A man once said, when about to 
 ascend the scaffold, ^^If this government had spent 
 as much money in trying to make a better man of me 
 that it has in punishing me, I would not be here 
 
:^EGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 27 
 
 today-^^ Therefore^ if we would have mien of characv 
 ter^ we must properly train the ehildren. A lady 
 once asked a clergypian when she should begin to 
 correct her child^ which was then three years of age. 
 His reply was^ *^that if she had not begun already 
 she had lost those three years/^ 
 
 Character is necessarily of slow growth^ bul fo: 
 the greater part is formed during the first twenty-five 
 years of life. When the monstrous engine is coupled 
 to a train of cars, it does not start off at a bound, 
 but slowly at first, with gradually increasing speed. 
 One can build a rude hut in a very few days, but it 
 takes monthsi, and even years, to erect a stately man- 
 sion. A squash can be grown in from six to eight 
 weeks, but it requires an hundred years for the acorn 
 to develop into the giant oak which will stand firm 
 in the midst of the frightful storms and tempests 
 that may beat upon it. ' 
 
 Work is an important factor in character building. 
 All that is accomplished by man is through work, for 
 without it one can do nothing. It may be a burden 
 and chastisement, yet it is an honor. When slavery 
 was established, work was then thought of as dishon- 
 orable. There is nothing in our lives to be guarded 
 against so m.uch as indolence. Neither has it caused 
 any good in the world, nor has it succeeded in over- 
 coming a single difficulty that it could avoid. It i^ 
 useless, a nuisance, and produces anisery. 
 
 The prosperity of a country does not depend on 
 the abundance of its revenues, or its magnificent 
 buildings, but upon its men of honesty, men of ex- 
 cellence and num of stalwart character. A nation 
 cannot be judged by its size any more tlian can an 
 
28 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 • 
 individual. It may posseisis -iiiiliniited resources and 
 be densely populated and yet not be great. The chil- 
 dren of Israel were few in number, yet they wielded 
 a power of influence in the world. Athens was less 
 populous than New York, yet how great was it in fine 
 arts, in literature and in patriotism? When Louis 
 XIV asked Colbert how it was that, ruling such a 
 great country as France, he was not able to conquer 
 such a small country as Holland his reply was, ^^Sire, 
 the greatness of a nation does not depend upon the 
 extent of its territory, but upon the character of its 
 people.^^ 
 
 Men of character are to be honored, respected, and 
 imitated. Without such men the world would grope 
 in darkness. Man^s life is so limited that every one 
 has not the chance to become great. Not every one can 
 climb to he topmost rung of the ladder of public 
 opinion, but he can do his part justly, honestly, and] 
 to the best of his ability, thereby being enabled to 
 occupy an honored place among men of character. 
 
 One can always best estima/te a man's real charac- 
 ter by the manner in which he conducts himself to 
 those most nearly related to him, for although he 
 may not have money or property yet he may be hon- 
 est, true, and faithful in heart, and he who performs 
 his duty to the best of his ability, thus fulfilling 
 the purpose for which he was created, is building for 
 himself a most noble character — some thing that is 
 far more valuable than any of this world's goods. 
 There are some people who have no other possessions 
 yet they are as highly respected as the wealthiest of 
 men. Whoever invests in it may not gain the riches 
 of this world, nor position in society, but it will com- 
 mand for him an influence, and insure for him re- 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 29 
 
 spect whether he be in the work-shop, counting house 
 or in the senate. 
 
 The men great in character today are not necessa- 
 rily men of wealth or social standing, but are men 
 who have been on an equality with the common class 
 of people. Yet they put forth an effort in order to 
 obtain this power by which they are known. It is m,en 
 of character that we most need today. Destitute of 
 this virtue, one is like a boat without a rudder, or a 
 ship deprived of its pilot, left to drift where'er the 
 wind may take it. 
 
 Character is formed by a variety of minute sub- 
 stances more or lessi under the control of the individ- 
 ual himself- Not a day passes without its discipline, 
 whether for good or for evil. Every act, however 
 small, every deed, however bad, has its influence in 
 the train of consequenceisi which tend to form a link 
 in the completed chain of one's character. Every 
 word, thought or deed has its influence upon the des- 
 tiny of man. Every word, well or ill spoken, has 
 an influence upon generations yet unborn. Human 
 life in the aggregate is made up of little things. No 
 hair is so small that it doasi not cast a shadow, and 
 no particle is so insigniflcant that it does not occupy 
 space. 
 
 Character is something that cannot be taken 
 away from us. You may rob a man of his riches or 
 hia reputaion, and you may even take his life, but 
 you cannot deprive him of his character. There have 
 been -ome m?n who<5e greatest achievements wero 
 not accomplished until after they were dead. Never, 
 says Mitchlet, "was Ceasar more alive, more power- 
 ful or more terrible, than when his old, worn-out, 
 
30 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 \vi<-' <'i rl body lay pierced with blows/^ Xever did the 
 great character of William of Orange exercise a 
 greater power over his countrymen than after his 
 assassination at Deft by the eihiissary of the Jesuits. 
 On the very day of his deaths Holland resolved, by 
 the help of God, to maintain the good cause, and she 
 kept her word. 
 
 Our nation, great as she is todaj^ in the vastness of 
 her material resources, and her immense wealth ; pos- 
 sessing a citizenship skilled alike in the arts of war 
 and the vocations of peace, will nevertheless be un- 
 able to maintain her present high standing among 
 the nations of the world unless she continues to reai 
 up men and women of unswerving integrity and of 
 upright character. Her plea is then for men — "God 
 give us men ! A time like this demands strong minds;, 
 great hearts, true faith and ready hands; 
 
 Men ivliom the lust of office does not kill. 
 Men tvhom the spoils of office cannot buy. 
 Men tvho jjossess opinions and a will; 
 Men tvho have lionot, men tvko tuill not lie; 
 Men tvho can stand before a demagogue, and damn 
 
 his treacherous flatteries without tuinlcing ! 
 Tall men, sun-croivned, tvho live aiove the fog in 
 public duty and in private thinlcing. 
 
Home 
 
 F. E. HAMLIN 
 
 u\lan is a creature of society. As a loft}' niountai]i; 
 peak towering above the surrounding foot-hills^ he 
 stands in the realm of animate life. He ors^anizes 
 bands and societies^ forms corporations^ establishes 
 institutions intended to promote his well being, 
 builds up states and nations and is ever marching 
 on. to new achievements. Many institutions have 
 been established throughout the land wdiich have 
 proven of great benefit and power to man. Xot only 
 have they been the means of lifting him up to the 
 present height of civilization and culture, but also 
 Jiave kept before him the possibilities of higher at- 
 tainments. Briefly scan the pages of history, and 
 at no infrequent intervals. you will find the shattered 
 remains of some institutions of society, once proud 
 and indispensable, but now forgotten and trodden 
 under foot like autumn leaves, while men behold 
 more modern things in. their place. 
 
 Of the many social organizations, some are like 
 the mushroom, or are similar in character to Jonah's 
 gourd, which sprang up in a night and withered be- 
 fore the first adverse \Vind ; but others there are, 
 whicli, like the monstrous oak, have stood in defiance 
 of the fiercest storms; and yet in an unex])ected mo- 
 ment have been uprooted and brouglit low. But 
 there is one, the grandest ot all institutions, which 
 lias stood since the beginning of time; fashioned, as 
 it were, by the Divine Hand and committed to man 
 
32 
 
 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 with all the sa'creclness and purity of the surTOunding 
 Paradise. One which hag possibilities far superior 
 to an}^ of which man has ever dreamed; that dearest 
 of all places — Home. 
 
 While birds fly through the balmy air singing their 
 songs of gladness, and at the close of day, when the 
 shades are gathering seek shelter in their fabric 
 nests, man, arduously engaged in labor thro>ughout 
 the day, when the sun has given place to the starry 
 canopy over him, fatigued in labor and burdened 
 with care, turns his footsteps toward the family 
 hearth, the home circle; where await him quiet re- 
 pose, confiding hearts and cheerful faces. Thesie 
 bring him the sweetest of all blessings, which are 
 obtained only in the home. ^Toxes have holes, lions 
 have dens, birds have nests, dogs have kennels, but 
 man alone has a permanent home.^^ Animals may 
 tent for a night and fowls of the air may enter into 
 camp for a season, but man gladly repairs to that 
 most sacred of places which he calls home. Home 
 is where the weary world come and lay their burdens 
 down assured of rest; where fathers, mothers, broth- 
 ers and sisters gather round the hearthstone, shut- 
 ting out a world of turmoil and shuting in a king- 
 dom of quietude and peace, the only place on earth 
 where the faults and failings which are so common 
 to humanity are hidden from the eyes of men and 
 forgotten; it is the grandest of all institutions, the 
 blossom here of which heaven is the fruit ;it is an 
 ark floating with us down the tide of years, carrjdng 
 within itsi portals the virtues which make the citizen, 
 together with the inspiration that develops the saint, 
 not merely forming a shelter from the storm of life, 
 but also a workshop wherein can be molded the 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 33 
 
 grandest of characters, which shall go forth from its 
 confines hearing upon themselves the indelible stamp 
 of its ennobling influences* 
 
 The foundation of the home is laid in marriage, 
 an institution established according to the plan of 
 the Great Euler of the Universe, and enjoined upon 
 us by the first command He ever gave to man. It 
 is the center^ after all, around which cluster our 
 fondest hopes and highest ambitions, there being no 
 other source from which we can so frely draw in the 
 efl^ort to secure true and lasting happiness. But as 
 our greatest blessings, when perverted, becoime the 
 greatest sorrows, and as those things which were 
 given for our happiness are when abused sources of 
 great anguisih, so this instituion when maltreated or 
 diverted becomes the bitterest cup mortals ever have 
 tasted. Hence, it is indispensably necessary that the 
 foundation of the home be laid according to the 
 Great Architect's plan. At least three of the com- 
 mandments that were given on Mt. Sinai were de- 
 signed to regulate the home, which if it be conducted 
 in harmony with the divine precepts will be a source 
 of joy and happiness. It isi therefore the solemn duty 
 of every man and woman, when they arrive at the 
 years of maturity, to carefully consider the matter 
 of becoming a partner in the establishing of a home. 
 That one who positively resolves never to become a 
 partner in this noblest and holiest of institutions 
 without having carefully considered what such a 
 course means', has done an injustice to himself and 
 the well-being of the human race. But he who 
 plunges headlong into this irrevocable step is a men- 
 ace to the government, and is best described when 
 comparcHl to a mountain stream in its swollen rush 
 
^4 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 dashing lieedlessly do^vn the mountain side over cat- 
 aracts and rocks and through deep-cut canyons^ rush- 
 ing ever on until lost in the current of the sea. 
 
 jHome is not simply a structure of stone the walls 
 pf'whith have heen laid out by the master builder^ 
 4veh though finished with polished marble^ its dwell- 
 &^lmay be unable to sing with ecstasy that pathetic 
 ^ongv"Hoirie, Sweet Home/' If we would establish 
 ih" ideal home, one that will stand amid the storms 
 bf life, we must dig down through the sands of our 
 VbutMul conceptions to the solid rock of matured 
 tfeason, an.d carefully place thereon the foundations 
 of marriage, erecting with care the building of love; 
 ^e can then look upon a structure that is a nation's 
 true safeguard, a power to society, a blessing to man, 
 the memory of which can never be erased from the 
 minds of those who were once its happy occupants. 
 
 , The home is the first and most important school 
 known among men. Its molding and educating 
 work begins in that institution, where the mother's 
 lap is the recitation room; the mother is the teacher; 
 and the mother's eye is the text-book. It is here 
 that every child receives its best or its worst moral 
 training. It is here that day after day some word or 
 action is being stamped upon the plastic mind whicl~ 
 Avill continue throughout manhood and cease only 
 at the approach of death. There is an old adage, 
 that "^^manners make the man,"there is a second that 
 ^'niind makesi the man," and there is one truer than 
 these that "home makes the man." It is mainly in 
 the home that the heart is open, and the habits are 
 being formed, either for good or for evil- If the in- 
 fluence of the home is uplifting and it sends forth 
 into the world good moral characters, society will be 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 35 
 
 benefitted. We can form no conception of social 
 life or society in any form which has not its origin, 
 in the home. It matters not how excellent the con- 
 stitution or laws of a nation may be^ or how inexhansh 
 tible its resources, or irresistible its powers, the 
 foundation for all that is virtuous within it must be 
 laid in the home. A nation is but a short name for 
 the individuals which compose it^ and when these 
 become good fatheads!, good sons, good brothers and 
 good husbands, they will become good citizens and 
 the nation will be strong and prosperous. There are 
 not a few who have been convinced that the relaxa- 
 tion of home government is more to be feared than 
 domestic treason or foreign hostility. Thereforo 
 parents should be awakened to see and realize the 
 solemn responsibilities that rest upon the[m as the 
 ones who hold in their hands the throttle of a na- 
 tion, for perhaps there never has been a time since 
 the hoime was established when it w^as in more dan- 
 ger of being overthrown than at present, because of 
 the theories abroad in the land that tend to demolish 
 and destroy its possibilities and virtues. There is no 
 other word in any language that embodies within it 
 so many sad and stirring meanings, that calls into 
 action and so powerfully arouses the the tender eano- 
 tions, and so bring back memories, as home. Speak 
 but the word and it sends the life-blood through the 
 veins, arousing memories, bringing back childhood 
 seenes, telling of joys and sorrows, and bringing us 
 face to face with those things which were once our 
 only bliss and our only charms. There is no other 
 word that will ring so clearly in the ear of the prodi- 
 gal, or cause him to turn so quickly fro>m the path of 
 sin. There is no mist of guilt so thick that it will 
 
36 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 exclude the light of such remembrances ow no tempest 
 of passion so overwhelming as to sweep them entirely 
 away. During the lull of the battle rage, and amid 
 the scenes of dying comrades rushes the memory of 
 that blissful spot. The very criminal in his cell 
 often has such visitations, and dreams of youthful 
 days, though they may have been spent in a rustic 
 home, when he was once honest and knew no guilt. 
 
 When time has carried us on through the shifting 
 changes, until we come to the evening of life, and 
 we reach forth our feeble hands and stroke our sil- 
 vered locks, no dimm^er then than now will be the 
 memories of our youthful days, when we first learned 
 the sweetness' and meaning of Home. 
 
 ^Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam. 
 Be it ever so humhle, there's no place like howie; 
 A charm from the shies seems to hallow us there. 
 Which, seeh thro' the ivorld, is ne'er met with else- 
 where. 
 
True Grandeur of Nations 
 
 R. O. EVANS 
 
 The business of statesmanship is to guide society 
 forw^ard in the path of progress — to steer the ship of 
 state across the future^s shadoAvy sea^ steadily toward 
 the port^ of her destination, the quiet harbor of the 
 ideal. The ship of state sails toward the harbor of 
 the ideal without opposition except when the turbu- 
 lent weaves of greed and gain, propelled by the vio- 
 lent winds of national immoralit}^, appear. Now, if 
 the old ship is not strong enough to overcome the 
 resistance of the winds and waves, she must turn 
 her course into the channel of public sentiment and 
 change her ideal, or be carried by the winds, a help- 
 lessi hulk, to be dashed upon the shoals of inactivity 
 and idJeness. Our nation, in harmony with all other 
 civilized nations, has aimed her ship of state toward 
 yon fair harbor where awaits the goddess of ^*ideal- 
 ism,^^ ever ready to pour out her blessings on those 
 that reach the specified goal. Furthermore, the na- 
 tion whose ship of state is to be most safely guided 
 toward its proper destination must have at the helm 
 men of influence, who with a keen insight penetrate 
 the veiled and mystic future, men of stalwart intel- 
 lects who undauntedly grasp the rudder and plow 
 through the adverse waves of barbarism and igno- 
 rance. The intellectual standard of the people de- 
 termines very largely the. position this nation shall 
 occupy in history. Yet the true greatness of a nation 
 does not consist in triumphs of intellect alone. It 
 
38 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 may be great in literature, art, natural resources, or 
 even in conquest, and j^et lack the elements of tru^e 
 national grandeur. The true grandeur of a nation 
 is to be found in the moral integrity of its citizeoiis. 
 
 Some may say moral integrity is a feature of the 
 nations of this age, because they are Christian na- 
 tion?. But this is not true- They are only "so- 
 called^^ Christain nations. They may have reached 
 the highest stage of art or invention, or they may be 
 seated on the highest pinnacle of the tem/ple of in- 
 tellectual supremacy and ability, and yet lack that 
 moral greatness which is a very important factor 
 in the true grandeur of nations. The moral charac- 
 ter of nations must be enlightened and held aloft by 
 the upright lives of that nation^s citizens. And in 
 consequence thereof the nation and its citizens will 
 reap universal happiness and the blessings that in- 
 tellectual progress will inevitably bring to the culti- 
 vated and refined nations. The moral integrity of 
 nations should be such that justice would be fairly 
 imparted to all, and that each of man^s virtues and 
 everyhing that is godlike in man would be found oc- 
 cupying a conspicuous place in that nation. As has 
 been said before, moral integrity is the stepping- 
 stone to true grandeur, and it means the uplifting 
 of the mind and soul to a position higher and more 
 solefmn than has, as yet. been attained by the average 
 citizen of this or any other nation. ! 
 
 Xot for the traditions of history nor by itsi cor- 
 porate achievements, nor by the abstract excellencies 
 of its constitution, but by its fitness to mlake men, 
 beget and educate human character, to contribute to 
 the complete humanity, the ^^perfect^^ man that is is 
 to be — ^l3y this alone each nation must be judg-ed to- 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 39 
 
 day/^ Many of the nations of the past and present 
 ageg have spent their glory and brought an end to 
 their prosperity through perilous and bloody wars. 
 These, with theii attendant disasters and cruel de- 
 baucheries, tend rather to the lowering than to the 
 uplifting of the moral standard. Morality cannot 
 thrive where there is continual strife and war, for 
 war crushes all moral principles, all justice, and all 
 that is uplifting and elevating in man. *^^It is the 
 temporary repeal of all the principles of virtue and 
 Godliness.^^ The first step in the downfall of a nation 
 is when she, as of old, beats her plow shares and prun- 
 ing hooks into swords and spears, and throws her 
 whole might into the pending war. Well might it 
 be said that war has on its annals in bright letters 
 that glow, many rehearsings of its generosities and 
 self-sacrifices- But the virtues which seem to pour 
 forth their charms over the debaucheries of war are 
 to be found more abundantly elsewhere, for it hard- 
 ens the heart of the nation and citizen alike, and a 
 nation in this condition has not that true granduer 
 which is characteristic of those who have peace for 
 their watchword. True grandeur can never be at- 
 tained except through the instrumentality of peace. 
 
 Tho warlike nations m'ay show some traits of 
 virtue, generosity or self-sacrifice, but true grandeur 
 is not to be found in them. This can be illustrated 
 by the nations of antiquity. Some had long exist- 
 ence; many were strong; nearly all had strong cen- 
 tralized governments; all participated in long and 
 treacherous wars. Yet none possessed that true gran- 
 deur which is predominant in the peaceful nations 
 of this age. 
 
 Peace ! What is peace ? Peace surrounds, pro- 
 
40 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 tects and fosters all the other blessings of hnjmanity. 
 Without it, commerce cannot exist; industry is lim^ 
 ited if not totally restrained; happiness is gone for- 
 ever; a home is no more to be thought of; virtue is 
 completely destroyed, and the true grandeur of that 
 nation and its individuals fades away into obscurity. 
 With peace, affairs are reversed. Peace transforms 
 the arid desert into fertile fields, waving with goldea 
 grain. It belts the globe with a steel rail and puts 
 all nations in speaking distance and on speaking 
 terms. 
 
 Xow, how should we spend our peaceful days in 
 order to get the desired return, to get value received, 
 to get that which is most essential in the life of 
 nations — true grandeur. We can point out many 
 nations that have spent their allotted a.m|ount of 
 peace in preparing for war. Such nations are almost 
 as far from true national grandeur as the barbarian 
 tribes of Africa are today. Let us spend our peace- 
 ful moments in accomplishing an end that tends to 
 true grandeur in its stricter sense- Let us interest 
 ourselves in intellectual and moral development, in 
 higher ideas and ideals in enjoying the pleasures and 
 .privileges which are ours. Let us have peace, for 
 true grandeur can never be an accomplishment of 
 our nation without it. Let us seize the opportunity 
 with alacrity and apply ourselves with untiring en- 
 ergy and zeal, and ardently press forward to accom- 
 plish that noble end. The time is at hand, the op- 
 portunity is ripe and the age demands it. *^The 
 mighty conqueror^ of the past, from their fiery sep- 
 ulcbers demand it; the blood of millions unjustly 
 shed in war, crying from the ground demands it; the 
 conscience even of thq soldier whispers ^peace.^ ^^ 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 41 
 
 There are considerations rising before us, visible only 
 in the light of modern civilization and environment, 
 which fervently invite us to the noble cause. 
 
 "To this should bend the patriotic ardor of the 
 land, the ambition of the statesman, the efforts of 
 the scholar, the pervasive influence of the press, the 
 mild persuasion of the sanctuary, the early teachings 
 of the school. As those standing on the mountain top 
 first recognize the coming beams of morning, so may 
 we, from the vantage ground of liberal institutions, 
 now discern the ascending sun of a new era ever in- 
 spiring us onward in the conquest of peace. Let the 
 iro>n belt of martial music which encompasses the 
 earth be exchang-ed for the golden cestus of peace, 
 that will clothe all with celestial beauty and place 
 upon our nation the meritorious crown of true gran- 
 deur. Let us lay a new stone in the grand temple of 
 universal peace, whose dome shall be as lofty as the 
 firmament of heaven, as broad and comprehensive as 
 the earth itself."' , ' 
 
 If a nation has that noble quality called true 
 grandeur, the selfsame quality must live and exist 
 in that nation's individual citizens. Our government 
 is a representative government. Our constitution was 
 drawn up by the people, for their general welfare. 
 Each and every individual on American territory 
 constitutes a part of our nation. The principles 
 which are essential in the true grandeur of nations 
 must exist in the citizens. They must have that 
 feeling which tends to put man and nation on a 
 higher scale of mioral and intellectual attaiment; 
 that tends to produce an intense thirst for an ideal 
 nation. ^ 
 
 to 
 
42 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 N'ow^ we may not burden onrselves with the task 
 of reforming our nation or its citizens- But in be- 
 half of the true national patriotism that does or 
 should burn in the heart of every human being who 
 stands under the protection of the stars and stripes, 
 m behalf of the manifold and wondrous opportunity 
 God is giving our nation, in behalf of her freedom, 
 of her unrestrained religious life, of her passion for 
 education and her eager search for truth, of her 
 countless quiet homes where the' future generations 
 of her men are growing of her strange meetings of 
 the races out of which a new race is slo,wly being 
 born of her vast enterprises and her illimitable hope- 
 fulness — on all that the life of our country must 
 mean for humanity, we may and should give fer- 
 vently our assistance however small it may be, toward 
 the raising of our national standard to the longed 
 for goal that is the thought of every progressive na- 
 tion of this age — True Grandeur. 
 
 1 
 

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 ^^^l^BSiflBJI^^pFI^^I 
 
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Courage of Merit 
 
 R. M. CHASE 
 
 As we read of the rise and fall of nations, of the 
 building of empires, of their destruction, of the 
 achievements of great armies, or of individual men, 
 of the almost unsurmountable obstacles and diffi- 
 culties that have been overcome, or as we see theim 
 enacted in the great panorama of the world^s events 
 of today, well may we wonder and ask what is the 
 power that prompts and enables men to accomplish 
 these great achievements? Is it patriotism? No, 
 it was not patriotism that enabled Martin Luther, an 
 humble monk, scarcely, known beyond the horizon of 
 his own eyes, to brave the rage and fury of Eoime 
 and start a reformation that at last broke the power 
 Protestant nationa of today. 
 
 Is it revenge? ISTo it was not revenge that promt* 
 ed Livingston to devote his life and talent to the 
 advancement of civilization in the heart of Afri^>- 
 Is it love of wealth? Xo, it was not the love of 
 wealth that gave strength to John Maynard, as he 
 stood amid the flames and steered the burning steam- 
 er to the shore, and saved the lives of helpless women 
 and children, though he perished himself. 
 
 No, none of thiese things alone enable anyone to 
 a-ccompilsh great deeds of lasting benefit to the world. 
 They must be combined with courage, that quality 
 of our minds which enables us to encounter difficul- 
 ties and danger without fear or depression of spirit. 
 
46 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 Then, if courage is of such vital importance;, how 
 may we obtain from it the greatest benefit? What 
 type of it is of the most value to the world ? Physical 
 courage is concerned largely with deeds of valor^ the 
 intrepid act of material heroes from those of Leoni- 
 das and his little band of faithful followers down to 
 the desperate bravery of the Japanese and Eussians 
 in the recent war. j 
 
 But not among the annals of war alone must we 
 look for courage, for we can find courage of as great 
 merit, if indeed not greater, displayed in the lives of 
 civilians. Take the examplje of Nathan Edwards, 
 holding up with his own shoulders a burning stair- 
 way that he may save the lives of others tlirough the 
 sacrifice of his own. Or of John Cope, the locomo- 
 tive engineer, standing fir'm at his post while being 
 hurled toward a certain and horrible death, that he 
 may save the lives of those entrusted to his care. Or 
 of Kate Shelby, a girl of only eighteen, creeping out 
 on the broken and slippery fragments of a railway 
 trestle, with the angry, swirling waters of a swollen 
 s-tream beneath her in the darkness, in order to reach 
 the station on the opposite side and save from certain 
 death the passengers of the fast express. 
 
 These are acts of courage that are of a higher, 
 nobler type than that which prompts men to slay 
 each other. The true aim of courage should be to 
 save life and not destroy it; to benefit our fellow 
 men; to enable mankind to attain a higher and no- 
 bler standard of life. 
 
 This is the type of courage shown by Governor 
 Folk, of Missouri, who has said in substance, ''Come 
 what may, as long as I represent the law and have 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITJJTE ORATIONS 47 
 
 the power to enforce it, it shall be enforced, and 
 this degrading corruption shall cease/^ and who is 
 now nsing every means at his command to elevate 
 the moral standard of the political life of both the 
 state and nation. 
 
 Any one who knows this type of courage is more 
 deserving of the world^s praise and commendation' 
 than any Cortez or N"apoleon, however grieat their' 
 conquests and courage may have been. f 
 
 The bravest of the brave is he who willingly says 
 no to honor and glory and to wealth and fame, who 
 sacrifices his own interests in every cause where sac- 
 rifice will be of benefit to the human race, who re- 
 fuses all honor and preferment or any advantage to, 
 himself that he deems detrimental to the world. 
 
 Courage like this was show^n by LaPayette, as he 
 left his home, friends and native land, not because^ 
 he loved war and strife, but because he wasi filled 
 with the desire to help and elevate mankind, and he 
 saw that much could be accomplished toward this 
 end by giving his w^hole soul, as it were, to the Amer- 
 ican cause of liberty. Heroism like this makes the 
 world better. 
 
 But compare LaFayette with his conteanporary,' 
 the great Xapoleon, who conquered nation after na- 
 tion, and humbled ruler after ruler for the gratifi- 
 cation of his own desire, for fame and honor. Think'' 
 of the difference of the effect of their lives upon the 
 lives of others. Lafayette helped to make it possible 
 for men to develop all of their attributes in a land 
 of freedom. And in his own land, chose for years 
 a dungeon cell rather than be a traitoT to right and 
 justice^ though by so doing he miglit have had not; 
 
48 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 only freedom, but almost unlimited weaith and 
 power. 
 
 Napoleon, on the other hand, tried to crush all 
 the nobler instincts of men, to make them fiends in- 
 carnate, thirsting for material prestige and power, 
 and the lives of their fellow men. The naaine of 
 the one lives with the well being of mankind^ the 
 other with the achievements of selfish ambition. 
 
 The courage that accomplishes the most in build- 
 ing of nations, and is of greatest service to the hu- 
 man race, is that which prompts and enables a man 
 to do whatever his' 'conscience and judgment tells 
 him is 'right and just, no diflEerence what the cost 
 may be, even though it is the friendship and esteem 
 of those he holds dear. Such courage as this is truly 
 meritorious, and however great a man^^ physical 
 courage may be, if he lacks this, the chances are that 
 his life, instead of helping to elevate the moral stand- 
 ard of the world, its influence will be in the oppo- 
 site direction, and will be a curse instead of a bless- 
 ing to mankind. 
 
 Moral courage, not physical, is what has made the 
 mighty strength of our nation. It gave resiolution 
 and purpose to that little group of men, who, one 
 hundred and twentj^-nine years ago, signed that mpst 
 glorious document of our land, the Declaration of 
 Independence, and few acts of greater merit have 
 been recorded in our.nation^s history than this. 
 
 They risked their lives and everything they held 
 dear for the sake of liberty and justice. They did so 
 because they knew that if they were successful their 
 action would enable men to enter a broader field of 
 possibilities, and to accomplish greater achievements 
 than they ever could under the iron rule of England. 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 49 
 
 It is moral courage that has enabled men to make 
 just and equitable laws to protect the weak and 
 raise higher and higher the standard of morality in 
 our land. It has enabled men to live upright lives 
 whether they have been common citizens or officers 
 of public trust. Physical courage is indeed of great 
 use to the world, but in order for it to be of the 
 greatest service its possessor must have moral cour- 
 age to do what is right. 
 
 It isi true moral courage that is of the greatest 
 merit and value to the world, as it strives not for sel- 
 fish advancement, but endeavors to benefit and serve 
 the whole human race. Our lives should be of the 
 greatest possible benefit to our fellow men. Kemeqn- 
 bering we have had handed down to us a priceless 
 heritage, in this state of freedom and civilization 
 which has been won for us by the life-blood and de- 
 votion of some of the noblest men that have ever 
 lived, and that it is our duty to protect and improve 
 the advantages which we enjoy in order that we may 
 be able to bequeath to succeeding generations that 
 which has been given to us with such liberality. 
 
 How to do this is a question of great importance 
 to us. Can we do it by standing idle and letting 
 others direct the government of our homes and state ? 
 No, never ! We must endeavor to fill the great need 
 of our country today for honest and brave mien who 
 are not afraid to sacrifice self, if need be, and stand 
 firm for right and justice, who have courage to op- 
 pose baseness and corruptness in whatever form, it 
 may be found. It takes courage to do this, courage 
 that is of merit, indeed, for it is the very foundation 
 
50 COLLEGIATE INSTmUTE ORATIONS 
 
 of our doanestic and national life^ and vice and vil- - 
 lainy are insidious and cruel but vigilant foes^ and 
 no weapon is too base, no method too dishonorable 
 for their use. And this lack of honor and appreci- 
 ation of the sacrifices that are made in a righteous 
 cause is even more destructive of higher effort than 
 conflict with tyrannj^ and crime- 
 Then^ if we lack the talent or opportunity to per- 
 form great deeds ourselves^ we should at least have 
 courage to be free in our praise of those whose act- 
 ions in the world^s arena are commendable. And re- 
 member, too, that this world is made of little things 
 and that each act of our lives has its influence upon 
 the whole world, that oftimes we can be as truly 
 brave in the trivial affairs of life as in the m^st gi- 
 ojantic. 
 
 ':Then keeping in mind the fact that the courage 
 of the greatest merit is that which prompts us to be 
 honest, upright and true, ever striving to make the 
 world better by our effort and the example of our 
 own lives. Let us be truly brave and courageous, 
 knowing that though we ourselves may pass into 
 oblivion, our work will endure through countless 
 ages. 
 
The Red Cross Society 
 
 MAY HESS-PRIMROSE 
 
 Man is dependent on man. We are placed in the 
 world to help others. Our lives will be measured 
 neither by the greatness of our possessions^ nor by 
 the position we holdi, but by what we do foT others. 
 *^^]^one of ns liveth to himself^ and no man dieth to 
 himself.^^ He who is richest is he who enriches man- 
 kind the most. The Dead Sea receives but does not 
 give out^ therefoTc its waters become dead and stag- 
 nant; so the lives that do not enrich those around 
 them become mofrbid and useless. Obligation stands 
 as firm and as widespread as moral existence. We 
 are under obligations to our fellow men. Where 
 there is no obligation there is no goodness. For a 
 proof of man^s dependence we need but to look at 
 our cities. See the poor begging alms. See the rich ; 
 they cannot live with their mioney alone, they must 
 have someone to prepare their food, care for their 
 homes and work in their offices and factories. The 
 sick must have care, the hungry must be fed, the 
 naked must be clothed, the orphans must have homes. 
 Since the fall' of man we have been our brother's 
 keeper. No man has attained to success without the 
 help and encouragemen of others. No name has 
 been placed on the roll of great men excepting those 
 whose lives have been a benefit to others. / 
 
 See the helplessness of the babe in its mother's 
 arms ! Yet when we consider the dependence of the 
 
52 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 m^atured man^ his need of the ministering hand has 
 been but slightly diminished. 
 
 Through the darkness of the mediaeval ages, char- 
 ity sinks almost into obscurity. But when light dawn- 
 ed men^s eyes were opened to the needs of humanity. 
 Today we have the churches, schools, homes, asylums 
 and the many orders and societies for the care of the 
 suffering ancl the uplifting of mankind. There is no 
 battle to be fought but God has someone to fight it; 
 there is no place to be filled but God has some 
 one to fill it. And it was Henri Dunant of Switzer- 
 land, whose life had been spent in ministering to 
 the suffering, who, touched by the bloody sights of 
 the battlefield, founded the greatest work of the 
 nineteenth century, the Eed Cross movement. 
 
 Receiving encouragement from rulers and doctors, 
 Henri Dunant called a convention at Geneva in 
 1859. So great was the need and so wise the plan 
 which he gave to the people that many of the Euro- 
 pean nations at once organized Eed Cross Societies, 
 in harmony with the treaty m;ade at the convention 
 whereby they might care for their sick and wounded 
 in war. ' 
 
 Through the earnest and untiring efforts of Clara 
 Barton, the United States joined the Geneva con- 
 vention, and in 1881 organized its first Eed Cross 
 Society. 
 
 '^The treaty provides that the emblem of the Soci- 
 ety be a red Greek cross on a white background. It 
 is seen on the hospital flag of every nation, on the 
 arm of every nurse, on the side of every ambulance. 
 Its banner follows the army to battle, and stands 
 though the nations flag goes down. It is a safeguard 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 53 
 
 to those who wear it, and wherever it is seen brings 
 thoughts of love and peace. 
 
 We start in amazement when we look over his- 
 tory^s pages and see the accounts of the numberless 
 hosts that have fallen in battle. What is war that 
 we should desire it? It is not a necessary mark of 
 civilization, but rather a mark of savagery which 
 even christian civilization has not been able to eradi- 
 cate. Look at the battle ! See brother fighting against 
 brother! He who stood a picture of strength and 
 manhood is suddenly hurled into an abyss; to fall, 
 roll, crush and be crushed; to stifle, yell and writhe. 
 Look at the battlefield after the conflict is over; see 
 men and horses in tangled heaps; see human blood 
 running in streams or standing in pools; hear the 
 agonizing groans testifying to the work of the sword. 
 See the young and promising lives that are suddenly 
 blighted; think of the heart-broken m|others, wives 
 and children. 
 
 Wordis can hardly picture the horrors of Anderson- 
 virie prison, an open enclo-sure of fifteen acres into 
 which were crowded thousands of the best of our 
 land like thieves in a den. Once inside the iron 
 gates the sight of those who had been for somie time 
 inmates, their bodies but mere skeletons, cov|3red 
 but with rags, filth and vermin, the ground for their 
 bed, the heavens for a covering and the dead for 
 companions, exposed to the intense heat of the sum- 
 mer and the severe cold of winter, with but a small) 
 am'ount of coiarse corn meal and condemned pork 
 once a day as rations, gave the newcomers but little 
 hope of escape. ! 
 
 The Monroe doctrine, the treaty of the nations, 
 the Hague tribunal, all have tried to extirpate war 
 
54 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 and bring about universal peace; but for all^ these 
 nations are still rising against nations. 
 
 jpThough we may today ^T)eat our swords into plbw 
 shares and our spears into pruning hooks/^ some 
 opposing hand will rise up against us,, and on the 
 morrow we again convert them* into swords and spears 
 and teach our brave the art of war. We have yet to 
 hope for the time to which Longfellow looked for- 
 ward, when "^^The warrior's name would be a name 
 abhorred; and every nation that should lift its hand 
 against a brother, on its forehead would wear for- 
 evermore the curse of Cain.'' We have yet to hear 
 the voice of Christ proclaiming Peace. 
 
 These isights of the past make us shudder and grow 
 sick at heart; but how different the battlefield since 
 the Eed Cross workers have joined the army. Instead 
 of the prowlers on the battlefield at night robbing 
 the dead and wounded, we see the Eed Cross worKcrs 
 binding up the wounds and taking the victims of the 
 sword to the hospitals, where patient, loving hands 
 administer to their wants. 
 
 We do not see the prisons as they were in the days 
 of our civil war, for today it would be thought an 
 act of savagery to treat the prisoners even of the mo'st 
 hostile enemy as they were treated then. 
 
 (The Eed Cross Society provides alike for friend 
 and foe. It comes to the suffering soldier in the per- 
 son of the goad Samaritan, not only paying for their 
 care, but caring for them. 
 
 Great were the services of the French and German 
 Eed Cross workers in the Franco-Prussian war. See 
 the courage of the American and Japanese nurses 
 in the bloodv war of the boxers. See the Eed Cross 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 55 
 
 and its workers as they labor in the heat of a tropical 
 sun on the battlefieUds of South Africa and the Phil- 
 ippine isles. See Clara Barton and her nursies in 
 Cnba during the Spanish- American war, working 
 among strangers and enemies, not to care for our 
 soldiers alone, but for those of the enemy, and re- 
 maining after peace was declared to care for the 
 sick and starving. Thousands of dollars and car 
 loads of food and clothing were sent by the Red CrO'Sg 
 Societies and their friends to the soldiers and needy. 
 
 The foreign societies confine their work to war 
 alone, but our workers are ready to assist in any ca- 
 lamity where their help is needed. They have cooled 
 the fevered brow of pestilence, fed the hungry, cloth- 
 ed the naked, rescued the drowning and built homes 
 for the victims of flood-swept shores and fire-smitten 
 districts. 
 
 Japan has, all things considered, the finest organi- 
 zation of its kind in the world. Its eight hundred 
 thousand members show the interest taken in the 
 work there. Members of the royal family are among 
 those at the head of the society. Toda}^, while we 
 hear Eussia's hostile cannons engaged in battle with 
 the Japanese, we see the noble work of this society. 
 Some of them on the battfefield, gathering up the 
 wounded, while others are in the clean, well furnish- 
 ed hospitals caring for the sick. After a recent battle 
 between the two nations a wounded Russian was found 
 by a Japanese Red Cross worker. Although the men 
 were enemies, the Japanese leaned over him^ ban- 
 daged his wounds and carried him on his back to a 
 hospital. It is natural for us to be kind to a friend, 
 but see what the Red Cross did for the enemy. 
 
 Great praise has been given to the heroes of war. 
 
56 OOLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 but greater praise is due the leaders of tlie Eed Cross 
 movement. 
 
 This noble work which has been established but a 
 half century now encircles the globe. Its members 
 are bound together by the strong tie of love. Nowhere 
 is their help needed but they are willing to render 
 immediate assistance. . < 
 
 Today^ when our strong and valiant men make 
 ready for war^ our fair maids and mothers prepare 
 to go with them to care for the sick and wounded. 
 
 Woman has at last found a place where she can 
 show her patriotism. Men have fought the great bat- 
 tles and won the great victories in the past, while the 
 mothers, wives and sisters rem'ained at home to live 
 out the long days of war in heartaches and anxiety. 
 
 Men have fought and dipped their swords in thedr 
 brother^s blood and received the name of hero, but 
 to women, with their silent weapon of love, is left 
 that great victory to be won which shall bring peace 
 and universal brotherhood. 
 
True Standard of Patriotism 
 
 S. M. STALLARD 
 
 Patriotism! ' 
 
 It is a word with which we are all familial';, a 
 name aroiund which cluster the dearest traditions of 
 our childhood. 
 
 It is the the theme of story and song — the true 
 patriot we love and admire. To be a true patriot is a 
 high and noble aimbition. 
 
 Faimiliar as the word may be to us all, corrimon 
 place as it may seem, it is lisped by the little child- 
 dren around the fireside, and hailed with delight by 
 the frolicsome schoolboy. 
 
 We all know that the picture of our hero which 
 rests on the mantel shelf and looks down upon us 
 with stern though kindly eyes, was a noble patriot, 
 bold and true, and many of us boast that our rela- 
 tives and ancestors fought in the patriot army, suf- 
 fered and fell and shed their hearths blood for their 
 country^s fame and honor, and we are proud. \ 
 
 Yet if you were asked what is a patriot, and why is 
 he loved and revered by his fellow countrymen, and 
 what are his peculair traits of character which makes 
 him stand boldly out before all men as a model, as 
 an example, could you answer? Can you give a cleai- 
 and definite rule by which one might .meaisure man- 
 kind and prove who is the patriot and who is not? 
 (Have you a fixed rule, have you a standard of excel- 
 
58 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 lence to which you are working? Do you seek that 
 high plane of noble manhood and honor upon which 
 our patriots stand? JSTo' doubt you do, yet i venture 
 to assert that it is a subject to which you have given 
 little serious thought. 
 
 Webster says a patriot is one who loves his country 
 and zealously supports its authority and interests. 
 
 , Xet us examine that definition and see just what 
 it means. What is our country and what or who is 
 its authority^ and what are its interests? 
 
 To be a Eussian patriot is to cheerfully pay heavy 
 taxes to build stately palaces and to prepare grand 
 banquets^, though his family live in earth-walled 
 hovels and go half fed;, or if he is a soldier it is to 
 shoot his brother or gray-haired father if they dare 
 to object to their condition, or to stand, fight and 
 die and ask no questions. ; 
 
 Is such as that patriotis-m ? Would Patrick Henry 
 have supported the authority of such a ruler ? Would 
 General Francis Marion or the indomitable Putnam 
 have served such a government? Would the soldiers 
 of Washington's army have suffered for isuch a cause? 
 No ! They would have raised up against it in their 
 might, they would have destroyed it root and branch, 
 they would have left of it not one stone upon the 
 other. Yet they were true patriots. 
 
 I would ask again, what is the government which 
 the patriot must love, and what is the authority and 
 interests which he must zealously support? 
 
 Let us examine the lives of two of the greatest 
 men of any and all ages — Washington and Lincoln — 
 
 n 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 59 
 
 shining stars on the pages of history^ examples o£ 
 true greatness for all time. 
 
 Washiixgton first of all was a truthful and honest 
 man, a law-abiding citizen with a heart full of sym- 
 pathy for his fellow 'countrymjen. \ 
 
 His first military service was in the French and 
 Indian war, of which he is isaid to have fired the 
 first shot. In that war he fought shoulder to soulder 
 with the British red coat, fearlesisly risking his life 
 in the service of the British king. Commanding the 
 Continental troops he marched under the command 
 of General Braddock to that proud generals defeat^ 
 and rallying round himself his gallant command 
 saved a remnant of the defeated army. 
 
 At the close of the war he returned to his home 
 and followed thepursuits of peace until the year ol 
 1775, when we find him near Boston with the Conti- 
 nental troops, of which he was commander in chief. 
 
 Washington was an officer in the service of the 
 King of England. ^ ^ 
 
 Then who is the enemy that he and his soldiers 
 are there to repel? ; 
 
 Is it the French that have invaded the land and 
 that are encamped on the Boston commons ? | 
 
 No ! It isi the British flag upon which he fires, 
 it is the English banner he would trail in the dust; it 
 is the British troops that his Continental soldiers 
 are shooting. He is now engaged in open rebellion 
 to the legal authority of the coiuntry, the same sov- 
 ereign he so faithfully served only twelve years be- 
 fore, the authority that had been recognized by his 
 countrymen and their forefathers for almost two 
 
1 60 : COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 'hundred 3^ears. He and his soldiers are seeking to 
 drive out, to capture or to kill the same soldiery 
 with whom they had previously fought sihoulder to 
 shoulder. \ 
 
 How came about all this change? Why are they 
 not traitors? 
 
 Let us leave the question unanswered for the pres- 
 ent, and consider the circumstances and gurrourd- 
 ings of Lincoln and his great life work. 
 
 We find him at the head of a nation torn with dis- 
 sensiion. Class is arrayed against class, and section 
 at war with section. 
 
 At his command great armies were raised, hus- 
 bands, brothers and fathers were called from their 
 holmes and sent to compel a hostile people to accept 
 the authority and obey a government that they did 
 not wish to respect, to which they did not wish to 
 belong, while another race of people sought to be 
 free from the authority by which they had previons- 
 Ij been controlled. 
 
 What can we learn from these seemingly contra- 
 dictory circumstances ? 
 
 Washington, at first an officer in the king's service, 
 an ally of the British soldiery, the enemy of the 
 French; then in rebellion against his king, fighting 
 the British soldiery in an alliance with the French. 
 
 If Wasington the patriot was right in leading a 
 rebellion against King George the Third, why was 
 Davis and his rebellion \\Tong? • 
 
 If Lincoln was right in crushing Davis and his 
 rebellion, why was King George wrong? 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS til 
 
 What then is the authority and whose the inter- 
 ests that the patriot is to zealously support ? 
 
 King George^s government of the American col- 
 onies was one of injustice and oppression, and had 
 .no right to the support of Washington and his brave 
 followers who were fighting for human rights and 
 liberties. 
 
 Lincoln and 'his government stood for justice and 
 liberty, and Davis had no right to lead the South in 
 rebellion against it. Then, the happiness of man- 
 kind, human rights and human liberties stands above 
 legal statutes' and established governments- 
 
 The true patriot is the man who fearlessly stands 
 for human rights and liberties, the man who sacri- 
 fices his personal interests for the benefit of his fel- 
 low countrymen. 
 
 The traitor is the opposite, the one who sacrifices 
 the inerests of his fellow countrymen for personal 
 gain. 
 
 The traitor! How greatly to be despised. There 
 is no name in all the world so vile; his hands are 
 stained with the blood of his countrymen, of his 
 friends, neighbors and kins;men. 
 
 Having erected our standard, let us apply the test. 
 Our examples of patriotism were heroes of war. Can 
 a man be a patriot in the time of peace? Have we 
 traitors walking our streets today? 
 
 'Since the patriot is one who sacrifices personal in- 
 terests foT the good of his fellow countrymen, let us 
 measure ourselves by that standard. What are the 
 interests of our fellow countrymen that we should 
 respect and zealously support? The question as we 
 now have it is an extremely practical one. Are we by 
 
62 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 our ever^^day lives tending to advance the moral, po- 
 ical and financial welfare of our nation? 
 
 As lia.s' O'fti'mes been said;, the greatness of a nation 
 does not depend on the number of its population or 
 upon its wealth, but upon the character of its citizens. 
 To prove this it is only necessary to take the Russo- 
 Japanese war. Russia is far superior to Japan in 
 both wealth and population^ but moral and political 
 corruption and tyrannical oppression have become so 
 great that the nation is absolutely unfitted to meet 
 the strain of defending itself against a patriotic 
 people and a popular government. 
 
 To elevate the standard of a nation isi to elevate 
 the standard of its citizens^ while to degrade the 
 moral standard of its citizens is to degrade the na- 
 tion. 
 
 There is an old adage that is true if ever an adage 
 were true:, and that '^'^A stitch in time saves nine.^'' 
 
 Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. ^ 
 
 The a.mputation of a finger at the proper tijne 
 may save the body from bloodpoisoning. A little 
 later the hand must go. If further neglected you 
 lose the arm^ but if still neglected death will be the 
 inevitable result. 
 
 ';Slmall abuses in the nation may go unnoticed, but 
 they will soon grow more grave. If still let go un- 
 punished they will becoime an open menace to good 
 government, and the nation will in time become so 
 corrupt that revolution or total destruction will be 
 the only remedy. 
 
 Moral degeneracy, political corruption, and the 
 oppression of the laboring classes are the great evils 
 existing in our nation today. 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 63 
 
 iThe man who fails to use his power and influence 
 against these gigantic evils loses a golden opportu- 
 nity to serve his countrj^ { 
 
 The man who for personal gain^ either direct or 
 indirect^ helps or encourages vice^ political corrup- 
 tion^ or the oppression of the populace^ thereby low- 
 ering the standard of the nation^ places himself in a 
 class with Benedict Arnold and Aaron Burr- 
 While the man who sacrifices personal interests;, 
 time and energy to the protection or the upbuilding 
 of the moral standard of the nation^ is among the 
 worthy followers of the Father of his Country. 
 
 Therefore, if we seek to reach the highest stand- 
 ard of patriotism, if Ave would be a patriot in the 
 most comprehensive meaning of the word we cannot 
 encourage or een tolerate iimmorality, political trick- 
 ery or disregard for the rights of even the humblest 
 citizen, either by ourselves or by others. 
 
A Life of Service 
 
 F. E. HAMLIN 
 
 Life is not mere dreaming. It is not a stagnant 
 pool in which our possibilities must lie, scuimmed 
 over with idleness. It is not simply drifting with the 
 tide. Life is real. It is struggling against the tide. 
 It is a battle in which all must be engaged, and one 
 in which every individual may be useful. It was the 
 purpose of the Creator that man should be of use to 
 the world. Endowed with high faculties, and sur- 
 rouii'^ec with large opportunities, he has been given 
 a task to perform- As every plant in the field of 
 nature has been appointed a place in which to grow, 
 so every individual has been given a sphere in which 
 to labor. Great achievements have been wrought by 
 the hand of man. Yet where have they been of bene- 
 fit to the world? 
 
 Ti.ose that hav ^ affected the wovld for good, and 
 have kept the wheels of progress rolling, have been 
 men who spent their energies in a life of service; 
 thus fulfilling the mission for which they were cre- 
 ated. A life of service elevates man to a higher 
 plane of usefulness, giving greater freedom, beauti- 
 fying and enriching life. ) 
 
 It is not neces-arv that the ""utu-^e be unveiled in 
 order that we may see a field in which to labor. A 
 great field of service lies spread out before us in 
 which each individual may act, offering exceptional 
 opportunities and inducements for the investment 
 of our talents whether thev be few or numv. Xo mind 
 
66 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 is able to comprehend the extent of the field of true 
 service. 
 
 From this field comes the call for laborers. Well 
 may it be said, "The harvest is great, and the labor- 
 ers are few.'' The call is for men • Men with high 
 motives. Men who are willing to sacrifice pleasures 
 for the betterment of their fellow beings. 
 
 , .^Men who will, volunteer in the great cause. Look 
 at the lives of tho,se who have wielded power in the 
 world, and you will see men who have heard the call, 
 and who voluntarilj^ enlisted under the banner of 
 true service. And though their bodies have gone -to 
 mix with the elements of mother earth, yet their 
 lives lie on. 
 
 Service is man's highest duty. He was created for 
 a purpO'Se, making his life full of duties and respon- 
 sibilities. He is not only in duty bound to promote 
 his own welfare and happiness, but to brighten the 
 hearts and homes of others, by devoting to them his 
 every true life, that "no man should live to himself, 
 or for his oa\ti selfish good." ) 
 
 To render service to his fellow men, one is only 
 paying the first duty he owes to himself. This ser- 
 vice ma}^ be measured by the degree of one's natural 
 abilities,. If you have a gift for music give it with 
 gladness, for some sweet strain may fall upon the 
 ear of a struggling soul about to give up in despair 
 before lifes 'trials, and brighten his spirit and revive 
 his hopes, causing him to take new courage. It 
 ma}' be measured by the aimount of one's acquired 
 possessions. Wealth as well as education gives greater 
 power and ability. Also it is measured by the needs 
 of others. In as m.uch as we are dependent one upon 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 67 
 
 another^ and have power and ability^ we are debtors 
 to onr fellow men. 
 
 JOur duty of service extends into every station in 
 life. Be it that of rich or poor, the happy or un- 
 happy, there are lives that may be uplifted, and the 
 duty is involved upon us to labor in that sphere. 
 
 The true man of service is he who gives not only 
 his money, but he who gives himself. Service that 
 is bought is worth but little. How many men have 
 there been who have dazzled the world with their 
 achievements; still, when put in the balance of true 
 service, have been weighed and found wanting. Great 
 nafmes will not always make useful men, neither can 
 useful men always acquire great names. 
 
 The requisite of true and effective service is love. 
 If our lives be filled with longing for our fellow men 
 and our service rendered with love and kindness, 
 then it will be of worth to the world. 
 
 You must be the noblest and best man you can 
 possibly be, if you expect to help others. A building 
 must have a good foundation if it towers high and 
 is useful. So it is with your life; if you would render 
 service that will be ennobling and towering as the 
 high pinnacle, the foundation of your life must con- 
 tain the solid stones of character. Early manhood 
 and woman hood is the time of laying these stones, 
 while the foundation of lifers building is being laid- 
 
 For it is then that the future destiny of man, to a 
 great measure, is determined. As with the tender 
 oak, if some poisonous! substance is thrown around 
 it, to be absorbed into its life, or if some inferior 
 shrub be grafted into it, it will be thwarted forever 
 in the purpose for which it is created. So' it is with 
 the youth who absorbs inferior principles, or allows 
 
68 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 evil motives and low aspirations to be grafted into 
 his life — ^his nsefulness will be lessened and a noble 
 life wasted. 
 
 Every individual has same charaicteristic or latent 
 power, which if aroused would move the world to 
 greater action. If the American youth of today woud 
 perform the duties which are his, those which lie 
 nearest to him, and begin life in the service of his 
 fellow men, great powers which would otherwise lie 
 doitmant would arise in him, enabling him to meet 
 the needs of humanity, and to inspire men to higher 
 ideals. 
 
 Service brings to us freedom. Just to the aimount 
 we serve our fellow beings, are we made free and in- 
 dependent. If man has the ability for service, it is 
 only by the entrance into that service that he enters 
 into the fullness of his freedoim. When the ice and 
 snow have melted upon the mountain, it is only when 
 they find their way clown the slope into the river 
 flowing on and on, doing the service that water has 
 to do, that they attain their fTeedmn. Service broad- 
 ens the channels of our lives into greater streams of 
 liberty- 
 After one has spent the day in senace for others, 
 then comes the peaeeful rest that is so refeshing to 
 the lives of those who do their duty. That one who 
 spends the day in aimless dreams, finds no rest, be- 
 cause he has not performed one duty, or lightened 
 the burdens of his; fellow men. Hence, the thoughts 
 of duties undone puts the onind in constant unrest, 
 like the ocean vessel when tossed by the tempestu- 
 ous waves. / 
 
 As service brings rest in the evening of the day, 
 so also it comes in the evenino' of life. Then will be 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 69 
 
 heard a mighty voice^ ringing through the misty 
 clouds, breaking the stillness of the evening shades, 
 ''^Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter 
 thou into the joys ,of a never ending rest/^ 
 
 Fountains of joy and happiness will burst forth 
 in our lives, like springs of crystal water gushing 
 from the hillside where same weary traveler passing 
 by stops to quench the thirst of his fevered lips. 
 The gloqm of day and night will vanish away as the 
 clouds disappear from the heavens. And as the little 
 bird ichirps its merry song of rejoicing at the ap- 
 proach of spring so we will sing songs of happiness 
 in the rendering of service to other lives. 
 
 In living for others your interests are widened, 
 the desires for life increased, the en^d of life enriched, 
 therefore filling the lofty purpose allotted to man. 
 Socrates declared that the highest reward he could 
 enjoy was to see mankind benefited by his labors. 
 
 Service, no matter how small, will receive its re- 
 ward. No good de^d is ever lost. ' 
 
 If such grand possibilities lie within reach of our 
 ability, then let us live pure lives, enter the life of 
 service to our fellowmen, and. lift this nation tO' a 
 higher plane of usefulness. You can furnish a life 
 so faithful to every duty, so ready for every service, 
 and so determined for all good, that the nation will 
 put on a new robe of grandeur, every home be cloth- 
 ed wih higher ideals, and every individual ennobled 
 with a higher standard of living. 
 
 Make your lives sublime. Leave behind you foot 
 prints on the sands of time, that shall cause ages to 
 look upon and be inspired for the uplifting of their 
 fellow beings. Do something worthy of being re- 
 
70 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 membered. Make the world better by your having 
 lived in it. Write your name upon the hearts and 
 memories of others^ by doing them all the good 
 within your pwer. ' 
 
 This is your greatest privilege and your highest 
 duty in life. 
 
 Then let us be men. Men who are willing tO' deny 
 selfish motives. Men who will give to the n^eds of 
 others their best endeavors. Men who are endowed 
 with a higher purpose than that of gaining the world 
 for themselves. Such men will speak and the world 
 will obey. And as the eagle soars upwards into the 
 heavens, above smoke and fog and misty clouds, so 
 the man who has lived a life of service shall be hon- 
 orably rewarded and favorably remeimbered by man, 
 and at last be ushered into that kingdom of eternal 
 peace, and there be crowned a victor forever, beyond 
 the toil and tuimult of time. 
 
g. ,, , 
 
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 Jennie Sheets-Hamlin Girtrude Potter 
 
 W. E. Kelly Mabel Conley J, W. Primrose 
 
 FIRST GRADUATING CLASS— MAY 1905 
 
Life is What We Make It 
 
 J. W. PRIMROSE 
 
 Every man has the sihaping of life in his own 
 hands- Gdd has placed within each human being 
 the power to choose the ideal which shall detertoiine 
 his destin}^ He may choose an ideal^ which to attain 
 will require constant^ untiring' energ}^^ or he may 
 drift with the tide. It requires no effort to^ be a 
 sluggard!^ but to be a man, one whose power of 
 thought and action ^will be felt by his fellow men, 
 takes a high aim, a determined purpose and an un- 
 ben!ding will. Children may succeed without a defi- 
 nite aim, but manhood nuust have a goal toward which 
 the ship of life may be guided. 
 
 It is the privilege O'f each one to choose the ideal 
 which shall determine his destiny. '^^As a niian 
 thinketh in his heart so is he.^^ If we would see our 
 future we may see it in the thoughts of today. Our 
 hopes, our aims, our aspirations, backed up by our 
 efforts, shape the destiny of life. 
 
 True success is not gained by the man who lives 
 simply for self. Eating three meals each day, sleep- 
 ing eight hours and amusing oneself between times 
 is existing, not living, but the man who would live 
 the greatest life possible, is he who seeks to develop 
 his own natural ability, in order that he may be a 
 moral, intellectual and physical benefit to his home, 
 his country and his God; that as he comes in toudi 
 with men he may be able to bring to bear upon them 
 such powers as Avill develop them into larger life and 
 
74 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 greater usefulness. 
 
 The world says the gaining of wealth is the stand- 
 ard of success^ but true success is measured by use- 
 fulness. Of what value is gold to the man dying of 
 a dread dis'ease^ or to a human soul passing out of 
 life without Grod? A man who is able to lend such 
 material aid as will restore life^, relieve the suffering, 
 impart such living truths as will bring eternal joy 
 and happiness to the huiman soul; or in any other 
 way meet the pressing demands of the age:, can be 
 called a truly successful man. 
 
 No man can succeed without a definite plan. He 
 must not take things by chance. The man who would 
 succeed must adopt some plan that will develop his 
 capabilities into the highest type of usefulness. The 
 law in nature is plainly seen. Everything has its 
 time and season. The kernel of wheat planted in the 
 ground has its sprouting, growing and ripening 
 season before it is ready for usefulness. Our nation 
 has a similar progress in the development of its 
 present high standard of civilization. ' 
 
 The Colonial days were full of darkness and su- 
 perstition. Then came the struggle for developrment 
 and freedom which resulted in uniting these colonies 
 into one great republic, which stands for the mutual 
 protection and general welfare of its people. 
 
 We are now reaping the golden harvest of peace 
 and prosperity. Our achievements in science, art, 
 culture and education stand highest in rank of all 
 the world. Other m.ethods may be adopted, but na- 
 ture's plan is the most certain of success. 
 
 There must be with every plan a degree of interest 
 
 i 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS V5 
 
 that will create an enthusiasm for work. Interest is 
 ■one of the first laws of success. Interest is that 
 which keeps a man inoessantly at his work and gives 
 him final success- Interest is the sail and enthusiasim 
 the breeze that carries the ship of life toi is deterimined 
 port. Interest is the fuel and enthusiasm the steaan 
 that propels every noble purpose. 
 
 Every advanced movement finds obstacles which 
 must be overcome. Diflticulties test men^s lives. 
 Meeting and overcoming difficulties arouse latent en- 
 ergy and develops strength that never would have 
 •come into action had it not been for the real struggle 
 that took place in becoming master of the situaion. 
 
 The boulder thrown into the streaim only widens 
 the current or causes it to become stronger. When 
 man has conquered self he has overcome his might- 
 iest eneimy. This cannot be done in a single day, but 
 each hour, each moment, he is either surrendering 
 the inducements that lead to a higher life or giving 
 way to the baser iniducements which lead to his ruin. 
 
 Alexander the Great was the greatest general the 
 world has ever known, yet he was conquered while in 
 his youth and prime by his appetite ior strong drink. 
 
 When man controls his passions he is a king, but 
 when he is overcome by trem he is a slave. Deonos- 
 thenes placed pebbles in his mouth to overcome staHu- 
 mering, stood under a suspended sword to keep froan 
 shSrulgginig his shoulders, talked before -the] (ocean 
 waves that he might become accustomed to the hissing 
 of his mocking audience. His name has been placed 
 on the annals of history as the greatest orator the 
 world has ever known. He learned to overcome diffi- 
 culties. When man is overcome by difficulties he is a 
 creature of circumstance, but whebi he learns to 
 
76 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 master the obstacles which come into his life^, he is 
 the creator of circumstances. ; 
 
 Men must have a right purpose in life if they 
 would overcome. Xapoleon for want of a right pur- 
 opse failed to give to his country and to the world 
 his best service- Had he chosen for his ideal, "to 
 Eule France WelF^ rather tha.n "to Control Western 
 Ehirop^e/^ his life would have been a success, his 
 name and nation would have been €ro'\\Tied with thr 
 highest honors 
 
 Xapoleon had the powers to govern. N"ever in the 
 history of France did she more fnlly need a ruler 
 that would bring the entie realm into subjection. He 
 coulld have given France that form of government 
 which would have raised her to the first place alniong 
 the nations of the world, but he failed. So he who 
 fails to give tO' the world the best that is within his 
 powers to give is not a success. 
 
 Whatever is worth doing is worth doing well. Every 
 man is accountable for the life given him. The pos- 
 sibilities are placed within his reach, and he is re- 
 sponsible if. he does not make the most of them. God 
 furnishes the raw material, and man makes out of 
 it what he wills. 
 
 Man is sailing on the stream of life whose current 
 leads to disaster and ruin. His ideals ae at its source. 
 If a man drives his boat too near the shore he strands 
 on the sand bar of low aim. In mid-stream there i& 
 a channel wide and deep; there every man through 
 
 allergy, grit and pluck may reach the determined 
 port- 
 
 fXot failure but low aim is crime.'' Genius is 
 nine-tenths hard work. Out of the same material 
 
 one builds mansioins, another builds hovels. The 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 77 
 
 question is not '^What have you ?'^ but "What are you 
 doing ?'^ 
 
 The lives of our martyred Presidents are examples 
 of what men can make of their opportunities. These 
 men were of hulmble birth ^ but by untiring industry, 
 perseverance, honesty and courage they became sold- 
 iers, statesmen, presidents and heroes. Lives of 
 geater usefulness can scarcely be found, yet their 
 lives w^ere just what they made them. 
 
 ''Let's find the sunny side of life. 
 
 Or he believers in it. 
 A light there is in every soul 
 
 Tliai tahes the pains to win it. 
 Ther'f h a slumbering good in all. 
 
 And tve, perchance, may wake it. 
 Our hands contain the magic wand — 
 
 This life is what we make it.'' 
 
 — J. \V. Primrose. 
 
Our Nation'' s Vride 
 
 F. M. NEWLIN 
 
 History is a story of past events. It reveals to us 
 in chronological order important deeds of all known 
 ages in which man has a, part. As we briefly glance 
 from the time of the ancients to the present day, we 
 can see a mysteriously woven network of happenings 
 which have had;' their influence for either good or 
 evil upon the present condition of the world. There 
 has been a continual unfolding of new thought, dis- 
 coveries and inventions. New and deeper sciences 
 have been exhausting the minds of great thinkers. 
 Once unknown regions and powers have become util- 
 ized by the civilized people. Thousanids of needs, 
 both great and small, have been supplied by the mar- 
 velous inventions of men living at the time when the 
 world seemingly could do no longer without them. 
 Yet with all we find this world in possession of, it is 
 far froau' being satisfied. All these present environ- 
 ments are but inducements to search for things still 
 greater. How true are the words of Sir Isaaic New- 
 ton, where he says we are but as children playing 
 upon the sea shore, occasionally picking up here and 
 there a amoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordi- 
 nary, while the great ocean of truth lies undiscovered 
 before us. 
 
 Who is to reach into the deep unknown to search 
 for those things after Avhich the world so hungers 
 and thirsts today. With all his environments, re- 
 (luirciments and possibilities, this new scope of thought 
 
80 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 and genius is to be unfurled before the world by the 
 now-awakening free-born American of the twentieth 
 century. 
 
 When we speak of the environment of the twenti- 
 eth century American, what should we consider? To 
 whom can we attribute the present iconditions wdth 
 which we are surrounded, that so strongly inspire us 
 to pi-ess for^vard to such a brilliant future as the 
 AForld has not yet witnessed? What has been given 
 America in the past that makes her so boast today? 
 It is the sciences, the diseovered forces, and the 
 choicest of thought that has been handed down 
 through the world's history of all ages. It is the 
 discoveries and inventions that she herself can justly 
 claian of the nineteenth century that now lies mould- 
 ering away in the grave of time. It is her broad plains 
 with their flowing rivers, in such a delightful climxate 
 where humanity can so rapidly prosper; her mines 
 and forests that give great wealth; the numerous 
 railroads that give such convenient traffic. And 
 above all these is the freedom for which she has 
 fought and won, that makes it possible to maintain 
 so liberal a form of governmen, which is founded 
 upon the basis of Christianity, and gives to every 
 citizen an equal voice and privilege. 
 
 The Eoman has given to the world its law, the 
 Greek its intellect, and the Jew its religion; each of 
 which our nation recognizes', and offers freedo'm of 
 use- The anicient Egyptians gave to the world their 
 profound sciences and skill, some of which it has noi 
 been able to surpass to this day. The early Babyloni- 
 ans gave to the world the division o'f time. fEurope 
 has produced her men of genius in the mediaeval and 
 inodern times, to which the world now owes much. 
 Nations have risen by different powers and fallen 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 81 
 
 from various causes^ giviing the principes upon w'liich 
 depends the prosperit}^ of a people. All this has its 
 ^ influence upom the civilization of our fair land. 
 
 \ In the nir^i/steenth century Ataiferical caused lihe 
 
 \ world o marvel at her progress. Fuller's invention 
 
 of the steamboat; Watt, the steam engine; Morse^ 
 
 \the telegraph; Bell, the telephone; and more recently 
 
 'JEdison, the phonograph, all tend toward her fame. 
 
 \L'he eloquent language of Philips, Beecher and Web- 
 
 ter, the literature by such men as Eimerson, Whittier 
 
 and Longfellow, and the ideal representatives who 
 
 A^ould do and dare as our martyred presidents, Lin- 
 
 cdn and Garfield, give us an imlmbrtal sphere of 
 
 prVise. ( 
 
 Yhen we look out upon our broad western plains 
 and\see the open fields so sparsely populated, wit' 
 tbeii great inducelnents for utility, but are lacking 
 for n^nkind, why should we object to the foreigners 
 leaviiir their crowded abode and oppressive govern- 
 ments ^^o coime to a new and open world where free- 
 dom a\)unds, when our fathers who disoovered our 
 ^and aii gave us our freedom, came f ro(m those saints 
 crowredYomes and tyrannical powers but a few cen- 
 tures agi^ 
 
 Historidoes not record the time when any other 
 nation evV stood upon the threshold of a century 
 with the ftospects of so brilliant a future as does 
 our home Vind to-day. Who then would wonder 
 that "we soWoudly wave our stars and stripes 
 nthe day V our fathers birtli, or the Declaration 
 0)f Independnce ; oir who would) ask why we so 
 boast of our g>ry and honor? 
 
 Then with\ll these powers and possessions as 
 inspiration to Vsh forv^urd to such a crises, there 
 
82 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 is much required oif the American people, upon 
 whose shoulders rests this solemn duty and privi- 
 lege. While We attribute much to our debtors O'f the 
 old and ancient world a.nd our fathers of the new, 
 they are not the men we need today. They have 
 ser\7ed their time well and will long be remembered 
 for it, but now we ask for greater men. And when 
 we ask for thean we do not ask for something we do 
 not need, or something w^e are not prepar(ed to re- 
 ceive. AYe have the homes to give them birth, au'i 
 the environment to thoroughly develop' them. Tie 
 sciences, discoveries and inventions of the past a-'e 
 not what the present calls for. What was required of 
 Washington to free our country is not what is re- 
 quired to adance and improe it today. What was 
 demanded of Lincoln to save it in time of silavey i'" 
 not what is demanded to save it from Capital-labor 
 strife, or the Mormon monster of the priesent. Then 
 let us not ask to be a Washington or a Lincdn or 
 any other great talent of the past, wdien our nation 
 now pleads so anxiously for greater men. 
 
 Our age calls for specialists. We are app'oaching 
 the time when we will no more siee the villge physi- 
 cian planting garden for his neighbor ; or ^^e parson 
 tilling the soil or working at the carpener's bench 
 for support ; or the lawyer teaching his obldren their 
 grammar and arithmetic. It is now bmg realized 
 that miost -can be accoimplished by the oncentration 
 of all one's energies to the one vocatia with which 
 he is divinely gifted. Many of the sc^ntific profes- 
 sions are becoming so accomplished And profound- 
 that onlv a small part of them can bfstudied by the 
 single numan mind. The work of le physician i^ 
 being divided by the specialists of t^ many delicate 
 orc^ans of the body. While the nees of science in f 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 83 
 
 building a foundation for the generation to foUoW;, 
 better than that of its own. 
 
 If science is to require so much of the present and 
 coming American^ for what is his governmen't and 
 political welfare to ask ? Our government is calling 
 louder^ and for greater men, now than ever before. 
 It calls for pure^ upright, honest men, wlio are for 
 pen and nothing else- Men who will dare to do the 
 iight, not considering the cost. Though having all 
 t\ie environments we do, there are serpents of evi.i 
 cieeping upon us, waiting for the chance to give us 
 the sting of death,. They are serpents that if not 
 kiUed in time will shed more American blood than 
 the\ freedom of our fahers or the slaves. Therefore 
 we heed men who will be patriots in time of peace 
 to sWe thisi calamity. A patriot of peace is greater 
 than\a patriot of war. ISTow is the time for men to 
 step forth to stand for our flag, and live for our 
 countiv. We have reason to believe they have started 
 when Ve see the actions taken by Lafollette of Wis- 
 consin, VF'olk of Missouri, Hoch of Kansasi, and our 
 noble piesident, Theodore Eoosevelt. 
 
 With W) miany great forces that lie behind and 
 about us,\and those needs and desires of the future, 
 we are inctyced to press forward to a new and perfect 
 standard ot national idealism for the world in al" 
 ages to comV The possibilities of the Atoerican born 
 in the next Vifty years are innumerable, and beyond 
 our thought \r ^comprehension. So many things tend 
 toward the pioduction of a greater age than hasi yet 
 been known- This century places mien in a province 
 that would seeVi obscure to the generation just past. 
 We dare say iA is possible for this century to excel 
 the nineteenth i^ore han the nineteenth excelled the 
 eighteenth. 
 
84 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 We have all for which we could ask. We are sair- 
 roiTiided by all the" handiwork of man and nature. 
 We ma}^ know and worship with freedom a trne and 
 living God. We make and execute our laws. Let us 
 realize these powers and possibilities, and give to 
 the world the best we have. x\nd let us keep '^Old 
 Glory^^ forever in the air. It was bought and saved 
 by bloody wars — it evermore should wave in peace. 
 So may we who know our noble: birth, and love our 
 banner so well, pledge our honor to its support, and 
 l)y pure lives and deeds add to it a new glory, that 
 will cause ever to be rememfbered the twentieth cen- 
 tury American as Our Nation's Pride. ^ 
 
Greater Than JVealth 
 
 C. H. BERRY 
 
 The omniscience of man's Great DesigncT has 
 caused him, to create within the hnman sonl^ am- 
 bitions^ aspirations and heart-yearnings^ which serve 
 as incomprehensible benefactors toward the advance- 
 ment of civilization. These give to man a concep- 
 tion of high ideals^ lofty purposes and great plans, 
 which to 'attain necessitates steady development and 
 a general upward growth. The greatest of which is 
 Purpose. Purpose is spoken of as being visionary, 
 yet it is the most real thing in a man's life;, because 
 it mairks out and determines the course of a whole 
 life-ti;me, which is earnestly devoted to its pursuit 
 and attainment. ''Man is a Pilgrim journeying 
 toward the new and beautiful city of his destined 
 purpose; perseverance, not contentment., is the law of 
 his life." Those whosail smoothly over life's sea 
 to'-d'ay, may well expect waves of adversity and gi- 
 gantic boulders of misfortune tomorrow. The m^n 
 flushed with success may couch down in his tent of 
 ease for the short duration of one night only, when 
 the dawn of a new day begins to make its approach 
 and the sun comes forth above the eastern hohizon, 
 clothing both hill and plain with all the beauty and 
 splendor of a new day, he must arise, fold his tent, 
 and push on toward a new and greater achievement. 
 Purpose is the engine, persistence the steam which 
 carries the Ship of Life to its determined port. What 
 induces man to forego pleasure, turn from the pur- 
 suit of riches, and deprive himself of the necessities 
 
86 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 of life— spending weeks, months and even years in 
 ceaseless, untiring and devoted studj^? What 
 is his enconragem.ent of repeated deleats? It is 
 purpose. The finger of the Divine has touched the 
 vital chords of his higher and better nature. And he 
 in response pursues the higher conceptions of life, 
 which are destined to gaiide him safely into' the 
 realm of truth and beauty. It is the purposed life 
 tha;t is given entirely for the bettemient of one's 
 fellow-men, and causes him to measure the degree 
 of success to which he attains by what he gives to 
 the world, rather than what he receives from it. It 
 also causes him to m'ake great contributions toward 
 the prontotion of human happiness. AVho can con- 
 template such a beautiful character as that of Fran- 
 ces E. Willard, without having higher conceptions 
 of life; the sound of whose very name is an inspira- 
 tion to every liberty-loving man and woman of our 
 land? It wa,s the untiring energy and detenmination 
 of this one to a'lleviate the sufferings of distresed 
 humanity that won for her a place in the hearts 
 O'f thousands. 
 
 Another beautiful illustration of the purposed life 
 is that of Wendell Phillips; that man who abandoned 
 law and politics, and devoted unreservedly both titoe 
 and talent to the solution of the anti-slavery agita- 
 tion. Although seemingly he stood alone in this great 
 drama, being opposed by both the leading parties of 
 his day, yet he never shrunk from his course. Al- 
 though assailed and howled at by mbbs, he retmjained 
 steadfast in his convictions, until he saw his efforts 
 crowned by the emancipation of the slaves for whose 
 freedom and safety he had so earnestly striven. 
 
 The men who have always been used to so great an 
 adTantage as channels through which civilizaition 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 87 
 
 has reached such matured state, have been men who 
 were capable of conceiving a purpose olearly, and 
 pursuing it courageously through avil . and good 
 report. 
 
 You may even sweep aside all questions as to man^s 
 gift or intellectual power. The great force with which 
 you must reckon is the immense strength and heroic 
 persistency of his purpose. J^o, it is not because he 
 has been endowed with an unusual amount of power, 
 but because of his untiring and ceaseless striving 
 toward one great end,, that he triumphs- We have 
 seen men who were so steadfast in purpose,unwaver- 
 ing in aim, that no matter what difficulty they en^ 
 countered or opposition they met, we could tell al- 
 mosit to a certainty for what goal they were deter- 
 mined. These are the men of one ideal; tlie men 
 who know what they want, and live to accomplish it. 
 
 The man w^ho is w^ithout a purpose is like a ship 
 upon the great Atlantic without rudder, course or 
 coaiipass. Sailing over the foaoning waste of the 
 world are thousands of ships, but not one w^ithout 
 rudder, course, compass or a determined port. If you 
 could conceive such awful scene as a mariner afloat 
 at high sea, carrying a precious cargo he knew not 
 whither, and who cared not in what latitude he 
 sailed, you would say with a throb of horror, "At 
 last I have seen that spectral dream of old w^ord 
 mariners, a ship of fools, a ship of the dead; an ap- 
 (loalling vision because literally a vision of the doom- 
 ed.'' Yet that is a frequent spectacle upon the broad 
 seas of life. Men sail out from the shores of youth 
 and opportunity, and leave the winds and storms, to 
 which such great sea is subjected, to select heir 
 course and determine their goal. They never put 
 before them a worthy purpose, a purpose that is 
 
88 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 worth living for, and worth dying for, and conse- 
 quently their lives are as blanks upon the annals of 
 history. 
 
 Yes, every man should have a purpose, and I verily 
 believe miost men do really have a purpose — that i^, 
 they have visions of what they would be, but are not. 
 However, all do not have the same kind of purpose ; 
 'tis true as the purpose is noble or ignoble, false or 
 true, high or low, it will directly determine the 
 success or failure of its possessor. Therefore, it is 
 not enough that man simply has a purpose, but he 
 should have a right purpose, one that will develop 
 his capabilities into the highest type of usefulness, 
 and enable him to lend such material aid as will 
 brighten the hopes and cheer the hearts of millions 
 who are lost in the darkness of sin and oppression. 
 The possession of such a purpose, indeed, not only 
 brings blessings and happiness to it-s pos'sessor, but 
 to those about him. Contrast for a moment the lives 
 of Frances E. Willard and Wendell Phillips, whose 
 hig'h purposes have ennobled and cheered the lives 
 of millions, with those of Marat and Robespierre, 
 whose selfishness and ambition have caused much 
 sorrow^ and even the loss of millions of lives — and 
 yon will be obliged to say that it is well to have a 
 right purpose. 
 
 Xapoleon, because of his lack of a right purpose, 
 failed to establish in France that form of govern- 
 ment based upon the principles of justice and right- 
 eosness which would have alleviated the sufferings of 
 thousands of the plebeian class, and eventually pre- 
 vented the great French revolution of 1848, which 
 is a disgrace upon the pages of European history. 
 Sampson, a m4an of unlimited strength, became a 
 victiiin of passion and sin, and failed to fulfill the 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 89 
 
 function of his designer in the delivery of his race 
 from the power 'of the Philistines! — he lacked a right 
 purpose. 
 
 "A great action is always preceded by a grand 
 plan/^ The great victories which are worthy of the 
 world's notice or praise^ are won first of all in a man's 
 own soul. The Holy Book s^ys: "As a man 
 thinketh in his heart so is he/^ which /means that the 
 thoughts of one's mind mould and form his charac- 
 ter into their likeness. If he thinks of low and trivial 
 things^ he himself will become worthless, but if he 
 'meditates upon the high and beautiful^ his character 
 becoimes true and virtuous. How essential it is, 
 therefore, that we have the right purpose in onind; 
 not occasionally, but that we meditate continu- 
 ually upon the higher conceptions of lifb. "You mjay 
 never be what you would like to be, but you will al- 
 ways be the better for having purpoised somehing 
 
 high." 
 
 Definiteness of .aim is one of the greatest charac- 
 teristics of all truly great and successful lives. Xo, 
 it is not enough to have a general purpose, but the 
 concentration of eneryy is necessary to the attain- 
 ment of any great conceived plan, or to' the achieve- 
 ment of the excellency there is in life. The young 
 men who seek employment today are not asked from 
 what college they have graduated, or who their an- 
 cestors were, but "What can you do?'' The arrow 
 shot from the bow does not wander around on its way 
 to see what it can hit — but goes straight to the mark. 
 
 That which keeps man low in the realm of animate 
 life and makes him inferior to those about him, of 
 equal opportunities, is not lack of energy, bu con- 
 centration. What chance has one who has a smatter 
 ing of a dozen languages, but is nlister of none? 
 
90 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 Scattered energj^ is' jealous of success. "Every great 
 man has become great, every successful man has 'suc- 
 ceeded in proportion as he has confined his power in 
 one particular channel/' There is welled up in each 
 huiman soul, sufficient power, if eoaiteentrated, to 
 guide its possessor safely into he clime of success 
 and happiness. Science teaches us that ninety-nine 
 per cent of the power which is stored up in the coal 
 is given off as waste in the form of heat, 'Sttnoke and 
 gais on its way from the power house to the electric 
 light bulb, and that one per cent, only, reaches the 
 bu:lb where it becomes of real use or service. Too O'ft 
 is only one per cent of that energy which is stored 
 up in the human soul of any service toward the pro- 
 motion of civilization, and the other ninety and nine 
 per cent is wasted in sin, dissipation and indecision. 
 
 The one all-important lesson, which so many ne- 
 glect but should learn, is to say, *^This one thing I 
 do.'' When a man collects aR his power with this 
 thought in mind, he has clothed himself with a force 
 against which life and death are impotent. 
 
 The m^en who have indelibly written their names 
 on the pages of history, or stamped theiu upon the 
 rolls of honor and greatness, have been decided 
 men^ — -men of one ideal. No one can pursue a worthy 
 purpose, steadily and persistently, Avith all th^ power 
 of. his mind, and yet make his life a failure. It is 
 the striving toward the realization of these great 
 plans that bring abont that reformation and trans- 
 formation of one's life which is beyond any human 
 comprehension. Who can explain that wonderful 
 change which took place in the life of John B. 
 Gough, when he was transformed from a drunken 
 maniac to one of the greatest orators the world has 
 ever known? Who can fathom the depths of that 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 91 
 
 mysiterious reformation which took place in the life 
 of the Apostfe Paul, when he fell upon his knees 
 and vowed to uphold the doctrine of the Christ whom 
 he had so mercilessly persecuted; or that elevation 
 of both thought and deed which takes place in any 
 life when one begins to hate the things he formerly 
 loved, and love the things he formerly halted? We 
 cannot expilain — we only know that somehow it is 
 the elmbracing of a high ideal, and striving toward 
 its attainment. 
 
 It is well to have a purpose, a right purpose, a con- 
 centrated purpose ; yet those who have all these 'char- 
 acteristics but lack perseverance are like a great ocean 
 steamer in the midst of the deep, blue sea; with all 
 the necessary equipments with the exception of fuel, 
 which means not only the loss of the ship, but also 
 disaster to the precious cargo, and often human 
 freight. Would xMexander have conquered the world 
 and received the title of Great had he only conceived 
 the plan of doing so ? No, never ! But back of those 
 plans which had been worked out so clearly in his 
 own mind, and gave him such a vivid conception of 
 what the world would be when he had cotmpjleted his 
 work, was an iron will, a determined purpose, and 
 tireless resolution. "I will, I will succeed, under any 
 circumstances. Who' ^can think of such great chalr'- 
 acter as that, and not have loftier conceptions of life 
 and greater ambition, to act in response to the vision 
 of his mind? 
 
 The souls of feeble-minded men are the graveyards 
 of good intentions. Just a,s the energy lies dormant 
 within th;e coal until brought into contapt with 
 oxygen which causes combustion, the latent energy is 
 dortmant within the the human soul imtil man is 
 moved by the vital importance of his iinimediate and 
 
92 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 irresistible pursuance of the long conceived plan of 
 his life. You may even scan the pages of the world's 
 history frqni the time that Moses, received the ];aw on 
 Mount Sinia, do^ra to the time that Eoosevelt took 
 his seat at Washington as the chief executive of this, 
 our United States, and you will never find a man or 
 woman who has, by the building of air-castles of the 
 conceiving of great plans, accomplish that which 
 would cause the following generation to rise up and 
 (Call them blessed. It is not the building of air-ca,stles, 
 but the determination to make them real, that makes 
 one's life successful. 
 
 'Christopher Columbus pursued the convictions of 
 his own mind and becaime the discoverer of America. 
 Martin Lu:ther, seeing the corrupt and polluted con- 
 dition ot the Eoman Catholic church, resolved to 
 bring about that Eeformation which he believed 
 would be acceptabMe to his Creator. He carried out 
 the resolutions of his heart almid great indignation, 
 and became the instigator of the Wonderful Refor- 
 mation. 
 
 God and the world want men of purpose, prepara- 
 tion and perseverance. From almost every souroe 
 you can hear the call for men ; men who have a pur- 
 pose; men who have a right purpose and are pursu- 
 ing it with all the power of their better judgments. 
 There has never been a time in our Jfation's 
 history when there was a greater demand for men of 
 high ideals, clean lives and unbending wi'lls. It 
 stands, today, highest in rank of all the world. Her 
 achievements in sciemce, art, culture and education 
 have never been surpassed. But what haisi made her 
 thus? It has been the high purposed lives of her 
 individual citizens, and their devotion to their i^a- 
 tion's welfare and happiness. But many of those 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS ^3 
 
 who have stood^ as it were^ at the helm of our J^'ation 
 and guided her thus far safely across the shadowy 
 sea of txine toward the quiet harbor of the ideail^ ha,ve 
 long since passed into the vast unknown to receive 
 their final reward, and their responsibilities have 
 fallen upon a rising generation. 
 
 iTherefore, national as well as individual progress 
 rests! entirely with you. So, if you are interested in 
 your own advancement; if you love your feMow-im)en 
 and seek their promotion; if you love your country, 
 and wish to see its influence enlighten the people of 
 every land; if you would do the will of the Great 
 Creator; get hold of a purpose, a high purpose, pur- 
 sue it tenaciously with grit and pluck which knows 
 no defeat. 
 
1 
 
Ties That 'Bind 
 
 ETHYL GILFILLAN 
 
 Man is a social being. He stands at the anvil of 
 experience, and creates chains which bind him to 
 many circles). The normal man desires cotaipanion- 
 ship. "He who desires solitude is either a wild beast 
 or a god.^^ Civilization is composed of the companion- 
 ship of man If man lived to himself he would be of 
 no value to others, neither would he develop his own 
 natural abilities The hermit desires isolitude, and is 
 of nO' benefit to society Society is the soul of hu- 
 arjan progress. Man^s social improvement depends 
 upon his society with this wide intercourse with our 
 fellow men. There are many ties that bind. These 
 are the siource of every true man^s happiness and 
 progress. 
 
 'CoMmon interest is a tie that binds men, cities, 
 and naitions together. The crusades combined all 
 Europe in a mighty army with the one purpose of 
 regairiing the Holy Sepulcher from the Moham- 
 miedans. 
 
 Cammerce unites men and nations. It emibodies 
 all mankind in one common brotherhood of mutual 
 dependence and interest. As man depends upon man 
 for support, isio does nation upon nation. No nation 
 produceis enough to supply its needs. Their ex- 
 change joins theim into a closer relationship. Com- 
 m.erce has made all winds her mistress, she enters 
 the ports of <^very nation, and links them into one 
 great union. 
 
 Those engaged in educational purs'uits are bound 
 
96 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 by a unique tie. Men of letters have much in coau;- 
 ^)on. The poet, tl]|e philisopher, and the scientist, 
 each in] turn move the world, and are united by the 
 tic of thought and culture. Many are the meftn- 
 bers of the educated circle. So intimaite is thicir re- 
 lationship that we think them inseparable. 
 
 Cotojmon danger brings man into closer relation- 
 ship. Men .cities, and nations, have united their 
 forces in time of common danger for mutual protec- 
 tion. In unity there is strength, for "United we 
 stand, divided we fall.' The colonists formed theim- 
 selves into an alliance for protection against the In- 
 dians. The thirteen colonies united to fight for their 
 liberty against England. The Spanish-American 
 war united the bleeding hearts of the Xorth and 
 South, as nothing else could have done. Those who 
 once tried to tear down the Sitars and Stripes, then 
 fought bravely for their country. Their patriotiattn 
 united them into one great nation. 
 
 S}%ipathy is a 'still stronger tie. It is one of the 
 great secrets of a happy life. It consists in entering 
 into the joys and sorrows of others. It is the foun- 
 dation of friendship, it is one of the great princi- 
 ples of the home together. Sympathy glorifies hu- 
 manity. By it, mian is made dearer to man, even 
 the poorest long to feel that they have been the giver 
 of isome b'essing to their brother. Syntpaithy for sor- 
 row is greater than that for joy. Sorrow, need and 
 feebleness awaken human 'sympathy. Those in deep 
 sorrow are colnforted and cheered by the sympathy 
 of others. Many have been discouraged, but by spn- 
 pathy and encouragement have again taken up their 
 work. Weakness and infirmity touch the tendex 
 cord of pity in the hearts of the strong, who by little 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 97 
 
 deeds of kindness and help^ lighten the burdens of 
 others:, and bring joy to themselves. For virtue is 
 its own reward. The philanthropist's heart is touch- 
 ed by the sight of the suffering of the poor, hungry, 
 ragged paupers in the slums of the large city. He 
 has a sylmpathy for all humanity. There is a tie 
 existing betwe<*n them. He de-creases their suffering, 
 and lifts them into a higher and purer atmosphere. 
 He labors among them and has an interest in them. 
 His work is often disagreeable, but he feels such a 
 sympathy for suffering humanity that he sacrifices 
 his life for the work. 
 
 But a still stronger tie is the golden chain of 
 friendship, that binds the hearts of people. It is a 
 combination of sympathy and love. Friendship 
 may be found in any climate, either on the frozen 
 plains of Northern Eussia, or in the torrid zone of 
 Brazil. Wherever it may be found, it is always wat- 
 ered by the dews of love and kindness. True friend- 
 ship blooms only in a self-sacrificing heart, where it 
 has a never ending sulumer, and is joy to the happy 
 possessor. It is valuable and very scarce. ^^The onl'y 
 way to have a true friend is to be one.'' Nothing 
 will soften the hardened heart of man like a true 
 friend, to \Vho'm he can go with his griefs, fears, 
 hopes, and aspirations, or whatever lies on his heart 
 to trouble him. Friendship wields a powerful in- 
 fluence on the souls and mind of men, either for 
 good or ili. But true friendship is beneficial to him'. 
 It brings out all that is noble and best in him. It 
 strengthens him and makes it easier for him to live 
 and do his work. Emerson says, ^'Our chief need in 
 life is someone to make us do what we can." Many 
 lives have been made a success, and many great deeds 
 accomplished, through the help and encouragement 
 
98 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 of friends. As was often said of i^brahattn Lincoln, 
 that he had nothing except plenty of friends. The 
 question has been asked^ "what is the secret of a 
 happy life?'^ The answer is: ^'Having one or more 
 true friends.^^ True friendship between man is a 
 tie tha.t can be carried through life and .excuses many 
 small actions and words which would otherwise give 
 offense. There is nothing so beautiful as to see two 
 friends bound by the silken tie of friendship. Joma- 
 than withstood the wrath of his father for the sake 
 of his friend. The friendship between Jonathan and 
 David affords a beautiful exanilple of two soufs botvnd 
 together by the strong chain of friendship. Each 
 loved the other as he did his own soul. 
 
 Home is the grandest of all institutions. It is the 
 temple of ideals, the sanctuary of the true, the beau- 
 tiful and the good. The word "home" touches every 
 fibre of the human heart. Many associations are 
 linked with the home ; the parents' love, and the asso- 
 ciation of brothers and sisters. The thoughts of 
 home alwaken every emotion in the human heart. 
 Sdnie years ago, twenty thousand people gathered in 
 Castle Garden, New York, to hear Jennie Lind, the 
 Swedish Nighingale, sing the suWime compositions 
 of Beethoven, Handel and other masters of song; but 
 Jennine thought of her home, and with emotion be- 
 gan to sing "Home, Sweet Home.'' In a momient, 
 that great audience was led back by the misty chords 
 of memory to thousands of homes which still bound 
 them to friends of former days. Many while walking 
 in the paths of sin have been reminded of a good, 
 pure home, and have given up their evil life. The 
 hdme is a holy institution; it is where the child 
 receives his first impression; it is where his character 
 is formed. To the little child, hotoe is the world; it 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 99 
 
 is all that he knows. If reared in a true home^ his 
 character will be good and pure. In youth, his char- 
 acter is formed, and upon his hoimie depends his char- 
 acter throughout life. Man^s sutocess depends upon 
 his home. The Arabian or barbarian care little for 
 their home, but to men of cultured hearts and devel- 
 oped minds, home is their dearest possession. On the 
 home- depends the hope of nations, and their welfare 
 and prosperity upon the character of their homes. 
 The old colonial homes made the men who fought so 
 bravely for their country^s freedom. The indirect 
 cause of the French revolution was the lack of homes. 
 Napoleon said, ^Mf France wants better soldiers, she 
 must have better homes.^^ The American nation has 
 been imade what she is today by her homes, and her 
 future depends upon them. The true home is made 
 sacred by the fathre^s care, the mother^s love, and the 
 circle of loving brothers and sisters, happy in each 
 other^s liove. The home is the true mother^ s kingdom 
 — ^there she is queen, shedding joy and gladness to 
 all. With watchful eyes of love, beside the sick bed 
 she endeavors to heal her child. The children's life 
 is her life and she loves them more than her own 
 soul. A mother's love cannot be supplied ; it is so 
 pure, strong and unselfish. There is an enduring 
 tenderness in a mother's love for her children. She 
 resigns every comfort for their convenience, surren- 
 ders every enjoyluent for their happiness. She glo- 
 ries in their fame, exalts in their prosperity, and if 
 misfortune comes to them, they are dearer to her; 
 or if disgrace stains their name, they are stilli all in 
 all to her. There is no tie so strong as a mother's 
 love. It cannot be supplied; it cannot be equalled; 
 it is the strongest of human ties. 
 
 These ties bring to humanity every day its most 
 LOfC. 
 
100 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 precious blessings. We do not appreciate them as we 
 should, neither do we realize their true value. We 
 should strive to maintain these ties, for they are the 
 essence of life. Without theim, man is like a ship 
 without a rudder, tossed about on the ocean. On 
 th.ese ties depends man's characteri, progress and 
 happiness. Then ma}^ we keep burning in our hearts 
 love, reverence and obedience to the Mws of life that 
 keep these ties intact; until we can sing with the 
 ^^invisible choir,^" blessd be the ties that bind. 
 
Unwritten Heroism 
 
 J, A. SUTTON 
 
 In reviewing the world^s history of its great wars 
 and stirring events^ its fallen and its exalted posi- 
 tions^ we find the names of men and the account of 
 their noble deeds that illuminate its darkest pages. 
 
 That nation which does not hold in esteem her 
 great men and their noble lives as priceless jewels^, 
 is unjust;, and her fate is nigh at hand. 
 
 In J^ew York City^ the Hall of Fame^ a magnifi- 
 cent structure has been erected whose halls; are or- 
 namented w^ith the names of great men. Some who 
 have given their lives on the battle field for their 
 country^s sake; some who have penned writings that 
 have accomplished far more than the sword; some 
 who have stood in the king^'s council and by their 
 diplomatic skill have won peace to our nation ; others 
 still who have stood with hand on the hebn governed 
 by the joint decision of right and justice in council 
 assembled have steered safe infto' the future o^ir 
 nation^s craft. Great monuments have been erected, 
 which mark their last resting place, while their 
 names brighten the darkest pages of our nation^s 
 history. Magnificent statues towering high into the 
 air;, attribute reverence to these great men. They 
 are thus honored. as the heroes of our nation. 
 
 In studying the lives of men who have accomplish- 
 ed great things by their heroic toils, we find that tJie 
 w^ork of some was of such a nature that notwith- 
 standing their devoted lives which were a.s priceless 
 
102 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 jewels, notwithstanding the difficulty nnder which 
 they labored and what their lives mean to the world, 
 the memory of their achievements has faded away. 
 We find others whose works were of such a nature 
 (althoiugh not more nobty or successfully accom- 
 plished) that they have been exalted to the highest 
 pinnacle of praise and stand high above all others 
 in the estimation of the public. Ought this to be? 
 Jfot condeanning the latter, for perhaps they deserve 
 praise on eual grounds, but I appeal tonight on be- 
 half of the former. Men whose lives are to the world 
 in which they live, as a lightod candle. Ah ! More 
 than that; as a great light that seems to illuminate 
 its darkest ages, as a divine emanation destined to 
 lead men from their humble positions to a more 
 exalted life. ' ' 
 
 What is heroism? Is it rushing into battle on the 
 impulse of the moment pouring out one^s blood like 
 water before he has consulted right and justice? 
 Is it exhibiting one's bravery and power of endur- 
 ance lor selfish ends? Or is it acting according to 
 the convictions of a devoted heart amid whatsoever 
 surroundings ; or standing upon that principle which 
 lie or she may think to be right in the face of what- 
 ever circumstances. / 
 
 He is a hero who governs himself. In the suprem- 
 acy of self-control consists one of the perfections of 
 the heroic life. Self-control is not to be impulsive, 
 not to be spurred hither and hither by each desire 
 that in turn comes uppermost ; but to be self-con- 
 strained, self-balanced, governed by the joint decis- 
 ions of the feelings in council assembled; before 
 which every action shall have been fully debated and 
 calmly determined. 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 103 
 
 Scyme men are skilled in the art of attracting pub- 
 lic attention^ and with this end in view put forth 
 their greatest efforts to accomplish the same. While 
 others^ not with a greedy desire for fame^ laboring 
 not that their names be written in the hall of fame, 
 but with duty their only motive in view they press 
 forward — promoting happiness by their honest lives, 
 and inspiring men higher and higher. 
 
 I do not come tonight to silence voices in attrib- 
 uting praise to the worthy^ but let us give praise to 
 whom praise is deserving, and honor to whom honor 
 is due. Since right and justice demand this, why 
 should we pass by such men as Judge Lindsey, of 
 Denver, who by his life and devotion to his trust 
 'has accomplished more for the state of Colorado in^ 
 Teforming her criminals than any other man has 
 ever done. And Jasper of the revolutionary war, 
 who so nobly served his country, and Davenport, a 
 mjember of the 36th ISTationali Congress. When we 
 iearn of his devotioni, and the trvie type of heroism 
 he possessed, we wonder why his name has not yet 
 reached the hall of fame. Is it because his noble 
 toil was wasted energy ? Jfo. It is because his life 
 had no glittering peaks towering high for the gaze 
 vof an admiring w^orld, and yet, the level plain of his 
 toil, how rich in strength and usefulness, The moun- 
 'tain peaks lift their glittering crests to the sky, and 
 win attention and admiration, but it is in the great, 
 iertile valleys that we reap the abundant harvest. 
 Davenport was a member of Congress iui that memo- 
 rable year ISGO. 'Twas while thus serving his country 
 that he proved that the devotion which he posessed 
 to his trust and duty is almost unsurpassable. On 
 "that memorable day in July, we find Congress as- 
 
104 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 sembled^ composed of worthy meix, but half startled 
 and half frighteoQed at what was then thought to be 
 a strange occurrence, for the sun was in total 
 eclipse. After the Congress hall had become dark- 
 ened, until faces could scarce be recognized, a gen- 
 tleman, rising, put the motion for adjournment, 
 stating that he thought that the end of the world had 
 come. Davenport, nobly rising from his seat, and in 
 the form of a motion, expressed his wish that can- 
 dles be lighted, and that they proceed with business. 
 ^Tor,^^ said he, "^'This may well be the day of judg- 
 ment which the world awaits, but be it so or not, I 
 only know my present duty and my Lord^s command 
 to occupy till He comes. So at the post where He 
 has set me in His providence, I for one choose to 
 meet him face to face, not a faithless servant fright- 
 ened from my task, but ready when the Lord of the 
 harvest calls.^^ Thus proving, by these words, that 
 his heroic life was not for selfish ends, but being led 
 bythat predominating spirit which every hero pos- 
 sesses, he had discharged his duty with a clear con- 
 science, and in the fear of the One whom he expected 
 soon to face. 
 
 It seems to me, that in all the great category of 
 heroes and heroines, the ones that have been led by 
 that still, small voice predominate in the heroic. 
 The ones to whom the nations are indebted in their 
 greatness, the ones that most justly claim our at- 
 tention, are the sainted mothers. When we stop to 
 think that the great work of noble men, with but a 
 few exceptions, are but the fruits of a mother's 
 heroic life, we do riot wonder that President McKin- 
 ley, while on his death bed, idolized his mother in 
 attributino' to her his greatness. Xor, do we mar- 
 
ICOLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 105 
 
 vel at the words S'cpokeii by Lincoln when he said, 
 ''All that I am or hope to- be, I owe to my angel 
 m,other/' Why shonld we not attribute the honor 
 due to the thousands of such characters who have no 
 great statues erected f ot the commemoration of their 
 nob^e and devoted lives. The ardent spirit of a 
 mother far transcends that of any statesman, or cap- 
 tain in the battle field, in its spotless devotion. What 
 is one's life without the advice and influence of a 
 mother? It is like a ship in mid ocean without a 
 rudder, helpless in. its attempts tO' resist the waves, 
 and to reach the port in lew. Allow me to again 
 appeal in behalf of the mother, as the one who 
 shapes the liv^es of great men for our country's need. 
 We behold the life of the present Chief Executive of 
 our nation, as a mirror which reflects the life of 
 the one by whom he was cherished, and under a 
 strict discipline reared to manhood. 
 
 The demand of the twentieth century is not for 
 men and women who are impulsiv, consulting events 
 rather than duty, nor is it for a Dewey who so gal- 
 lantly commanded his great fleet, for he received 
 ample praise; then ceased to concentrate his energy 
 to the position he so nobly filled, to seek honor ratlier 
 than duty, but for men of principle, firm and de- 
 cisive, men who realize that events belong to God, 
 but duty to us; men never fearing results, but faith- 
 fully discharging their duty on all occasions. 
 
 The path then pursued may not lead us to 
 
106 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 wealth and comfort^ nor may it cause our names to. 
 be associated with the names of Lincoln, Grant^, 
 and the noble Washington in the Hall of Fame, but 
 our nation^s need demands it. Since duty is ours, 
 and reward beckons us on, why should we longer 
 wait as faithless servants? Let us stand in the 
 ranks of the brave discharging our duty with hope 
 and faithfulness, and await the reward. 
 
 a 
 
The Mission of Discontent 
 
 R. O. EVANS 
 
 Man is not the creature of circnmstances, but the 
 architect of his own fate. He is ever marching on to 
 new and' greater achievenients. The pinnaicles of 
 yesterday are the foundations of today^ and thus he 
 is rising higher and higher. He aspires to be some- 
 thing of use to his fe'iow-men; to cut notches in 
 history deep enough to Avithstand the erasure of a 
 generation or century; to play his own part in the 
 grand dra'nia of time. But what is that inward mo- 
 tive that thus inspires him? The philosophy looks 
 deep and far for the sources from which progress 
 springs. Philosophy analyzes the elements in the 
 iife and mind of man which have made possible the 
 growth of the race^ and finds the forces which lift 
 toward the ideal ; and she gives back to the world her 
 answer. This element of progressive life springs from 
 discontentment. 
 
 Progress^ developnit-nt, the fate and faime of na- 
 tions) — everything springs from the one source: Dis- 
 contb^jent. I say everything. Every failure, as well 
 as every success, arises directly from disicontentment. 
 If failure arises from discontent, you say discontent 
 is an evii. This is not true. With discontent have 
 com]inon sense. Then there would be no failures. 
 The life that conquers is the life that moves with a 
 steady resolution and persistence toward a predeter- 
 anined goal. If your life is a failure,, it is not a lack 
 of genius, fair chance, or contentment; but of codn- 
 
110 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 mon sense and perseverance. ''Burke has ver}^ beau- 
 tifully said, "Show me a contented man, and I will 
 show you a degraded slave.'' 
 
 When God made man and gave him;, the power to 
 choose for himself. He gave discontent to spur him 
 on through the ages, toward the ideal. The purpose 
 of discontent is to guide society forward in the path 
 of progress, to steer our frail barks across the future^s 
 shadowing sea, steadily toward the port of our desti- 
 nation, the quiet harbor of the ideal. Discontent 
 precedes all other blessings of humanity. It is the 
 fountain from which springs all human endeavor, 
 whether the discovery of a new world, the founding 
 of a new nation, the invention of an airship or the 
 redeeming of inmiortal souls. 
 
 A noble discontent, by its very nature, sees possi- 
 bilities and urges us toward their reailization. It is 
 a sign that the soul lives. Xay, more, it is a power 
 lifting the soul toward ideality — its ultimate reality. 
 This element of discontent in a progressive life cre- 
 ates dissatisfaction with existing circu^mstances, 
 which is the first step toward their betterment. Its 
 energizing power is manifest in every walk of life. 
 
 xls we cast our mind^s eye out across the broad gulf 
 of the historj^ of the world's heroes and heroines, the 
 mark of discontentment urging them on to better a^id 
 nobler things is manifested. Eoll back the tide of , 
 two thousand A^ars. In a little state of N^orthern 
 Greece, we see discontentment brewing in the soul of 
 the king of Macedon. Alexandr is not content to 
 rule the kingdom which his father gave him. He 
 organizes the Macedonian phalynx. He conquers in- 
 ternal insurrections. He makes all Greece to do his 
 will and to fear his woeful sceptre. But he is not 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 111 
 
 satisfied to rule only Greece. He leads the G-reeian 
 troops across the HeUespont^ and conquers the east- 
 ern world. JSTation after nation is forced into subju- 
 gation. City after city is razed to the ground. Army 
 after army is aiunihilated^ as the Macedonian phalynx 
 plows its way throug'h with fire and sword to the 
 Orient. But now there are no more nations to con- 
 qaev, and he must content himself to rule his present 
 dirlpire. Frotn here dates the fall of Alexander, the 
 greatest general and one of the greatest characters 
 recorded in history. Discontment brought out the 
 faculties which made him the greatest general in the 
 world, and contentment made him the most despica- 
 ble character of his kingdom. i 
 
 Biut let us pass to more modern history, i^t the 
 close of the fifteenth century we see a German youth 
 going from door to door singing his native songs, if, 
 perchance, some one might throw him a shiliing with 
 which to buy books. He is the son of a poor miner 
 who is unable to educate himi A noble discontent 
 burns in his youthful breast, urging him on to some- 
 thing greater and nobler. Then we see him a graduate 
 from the Wittenburg university. Later he is a Pro- 
 fessor of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy. As 
 Martin Luther became more learned in wisdom^s 
 ways, his intimate acquaintance with the Bible toUd 
 him that the public sale of ^^Indulgences^^ and the 
 supreme authority of the Pope were contrary to the 
 teachings of the Holy Book. The exhibition of ec- 
 clesiastical corruption which he saw when he made a 
 trip to Eome only served to strengthen his disbelief 
 in some of the canons of Catholicism. Discontented 
 with seeing the miillions of true-hearted Gertnans 
 serving an impious faith, Luther made known his 
 belief in defiance of the Papal authority. He in- 
 
112 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 stigated the cause that wrenched true Christianity 
 from the clutches of Catholicism, and saved Chris- 
 tendqtoi and the world. i 
 
 Ahiost at the same time we see in South-eastern 
 Etoope a Genoese navigator, who having read the 
 theories of some Italian scholars, believes in the 
 earth's rotundity. He is a moderately well to do 
 shipman and merchantman, but he is discontented 
 with going -around Cape Good Hope with his \rares 
 en-route to India. He believes bv sailing directiv 
 westward a shorter route can be had. We see him as 
 he travels from nation to nation putting his plans 
 before the rulers of the world, and invoking their 
 assistance. He is received with the same indifferent 
 courtesy by the heads of all western nations. We see 
 his , wife and children forsake him, and we see him^ 
 spending the best years of his life praying in vain for 
 aid before the kings of Europe. For twenty-seven 
 years he travels from kingdom to kingdom. Each in 
 turn drives him away, and calls hi'm a maniac. But 
 discontent was born in Colnmbus not to be crushed 
 by twenty-seven years of fruitless affort. He appeals 
 to Spain. He is given aid. Xow we see three cara- 
 vels leave Spain's patrioic shores, facing westward. 
 Days, weeks, months pass by and these three ships 
 ride the mighty deep, tossed about as three chips, the 
 sport of wind and wave. Hope is lost, and despair 
 enters the hearts of all save the leader. When the 
 last night out, a glimmering torch on shore invites 
 them to rest a troubled mind. In the morning, a new 
 land is sighted glowing in ,all the spuendor and mtag- 
 nificence of a tropical clime. A new w^orld is discov- 
 ered, and the geography of the earth is changed. Was 
 he not rewarded for that spark of never-wavering 
 discontent that burned within him? 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 113 
 
 But Iiet us come down to our own age. Wendell 
 Phillips was the idol of the Harvard boys. His ex- 
 cellent carriage^, his polished manners and refined 
 scholarship^, his mastery of the platform and knack 
 of comonianding, his chosen profession^ all foretold he 
 would be a leader at the bar. But let us look again. 
 A few years later fro»m the second story window of 
 his law office;, he sees a howling, frantic mob drag- 
 ging Grarrison through the streets of the city where 
 Otis had said: ^^Freedom of speech is inalienabfe.'^ 
 Discontent moved the soul of Wendell Phillips at 
 that moment, when he saw this man cursed and beat- 
 en by the citizens of Boston. The vision of better 
 things ,the helping of the human race, man^s duty 
 to his God, ajl stirred deep within his soul as he 
 tossed and rolled on his couch that memorable night. 
 It seemed the voice of the Unseen One came through 
 a rift in the clouds, and guided to his window by the 
 friendly moonlight, entered the roo/ms w^here this 
 rambling, raging soul was, and spoke to it, ^'Inas- 
 much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, 
 my brethren, ye have done it unto me.'^ Then we see 
 him as he makes his w^ay to the platform of Fanueil 
 Hall, and, pointing to the pictures of the heroes on 
 the wailsls, he gives utterance to words w^hich no elo- 
 uence of this generation 'can ever touch. "When I 
 heard the gentleman lay down principles which placed 
 the murderers of this man side by side with Otis 
 and Hancock, with Quincy and Adams, I thought 
 those pictured lips would have broken into voice to 
 rebuke the recreant American, the slanderer of the 
 dead. For the sentiments he has uttered on soil 
 consecrated by the prayers of Puritans and the blood 
 of patriots, the earth should have yawned and swal- 
 lowed him up.'^ Such burning eloquence carried 
 
114 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 these words ringing through Fanueil Hall that Wen- 
 dell Phillips' speech ranks with Patrick Henry's 
 and' Abraham Lincoln's — and there is no fourth. 
 The very city that would liaA^e slain him builded his 
 monument^ and men who once would not defile their 
 lips with his name taught their children the pathway 
 to his tomb. It was this vision splendid that saved 
 Wende'jl Phillips from an uneventfiul, contented ca- 
 reer^ and inscribed his name on the roll of honor. It 
 was discontent that touched the silent chords of his 
 noble soul, and caused them to resound with a melody 
 that is seldom known, save in that heavenly orchestra 
 which he has long since joined. 
 
 Thus we could go on and on recalling every nota- 
 ble person'age in the world's history, and pointing 
 out the discontentment that spurred them on to 
 grander achievements. When the English people be- 
 came discontented with absolute monarchy and a 
 tyrannical king, they exacted from John the Magna 
 Charta, the first epistle of freedom for the English 
 speaking world. When our forefathers became dis- 
 conted with "taxation without representation," they 
 shook off the yoke of oppression that bound them to 
 the mother country, and formed a free and indepen- 
 dent nation. 
 
 At the age of fifteen Alexander Hamilton wrote to 
 a friend, "I am not content to be a mere clerk. 
 There are vast possibildties before me as a youth. I 
 long for an education." Later, we see this man with 
 others building the greatest nation in the world. Dis- 
 content moved Horace Mann to forsake a worthy 
 calling, and give his life to building the American 
 school system. Discontent drove Frances E. Willard 
 to devote her life toward redeeming a liquor-cursed 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 115 
 
 nation. Discontent made Tennyson^s name im/inortal 
 and brought from liim rea^Jms of truth and beautY;, 
 sublime and unperishable. 
 
 Thus we see true greatness, nothing of worth or 
 merit can ever be obtained except through the instru- 
 mentality of discontent. Discontent has transform- 
 ed the arid desert into fertile fields waving with gold- 
 en grain. It has belted the globe with a steel rail, 
 and put all nations in speaking distance and on 
 speaking terms. 
 
 I bear to you this parting word: This spirit of 
 discontment within you is opportunity knocking at 
 your door. All land's are not yet known. All truth 
 is not yet revealed. As long as God gives man a de- 
 sire He will alsa provide that which shall satisfy. 
 Quench not the zeal that is within thee^ but nourish 
 it as an inspiration from heaven, and guard it as 
 God-given. It is the Divine "call to thy soul to come 
 up higher. Whether the mantle of Horace Mann fai^.s 
 on thy shoulders, or the spirit of the reformer ani- 
 mates thee, or to thee is given the key of unrevealed 
 truth and beauty, let the winter of thy discontent 
 thaw to balmy summer. Let the strealms of acivity 
 flow in the channels of purpose and letting this fire 
 af discontentment bum within thee, fulfill thou the 
 destiny of thy life. 
 
 ''If thou canst plan a noble deed, 
 And never flag till it succeed. 
 
 Though in the strife of life thy heart shoult^ 
 bleed, 
 Thine hour will come. Go on, true soul, 
 
 Thou'lt win the prize, thou II reach the goal. 
 
' ' 
 
 Flora Cassell 
 Jacob Wyatt Claud Musgrave 
 
 FIFTH ANNUAL CONTEST-MAY 1907 
 
Ideal Incentives 
 
 C. E. MUSGRAVE 
 
 The incentives tliat lead to the accomplishment of 
 the worlcVs best works are not inherited talents, 
 wealth or genius^ because the most of the noblest 
 works have come throngh men of hnanible birth^ who 
 ^possessed none of these endowments at the beginning 
 of their career. \ 
 
 Dominate purposes, labor, courage, and loyalty to 
 the highest ideals of life are the factors which have 
 produced our grandest achievements. 
 
 Many a man's natme would be bright on the pages 
 of history today, had he been guided by the right 
 incentive and had he developed the hidden ideals 
 which God has placed in every human sou'I; but his 
 hopes were lost and his aims scattered to the windf 
 for want of pertinacity. / 
 
 On a vast and stormiy sea floats the ship of life^ 
 whose he>n is courage^ and whose pilot is intellect. 
 The angry waves dash high on every side, and treach- 
 erous rocks lie hidden in the surging foam. Far 
 through the dark, thick mists the light house stands 
 whose golden rays beam forth the light of purpoise. 
 We miay not see where the pernicious snares lie, but 
 the golden light shows us the route^ and courage 
 guides us to our desired haven. 
 
 As this crew would be wrecked upon the treach- 
 erous roicks if they failed to look beyond the ship to 
 the light for a guide, so in the vo.yage of life our ship 
 
118 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 will be stranded if we only look to ourselves for a 
 guide. 
 
 God has given us our lives for some purpose; do 
 something with them we must, even idleness leaves 
 its stain upon them ; and, if we can look at life not as 
 a curse but as a blessing to the world, we may com- 
 prehend the great object of life, and have ideal in- 
 centives ever guiding us on to perfect manhood. 
 
 Perseverance without system is a common error. 
 It is as foolish as a carpenter without specifications 
 and plans. He migh work patiently and persistently 
 through life, but with no plans he would only spoil 
 his m\aterial, lose his time and erect an imperfect 
 structure. So with character building without a pur- 
 pose. Xo matter how persistently and patiently we 
 labor and wait, we only spoil our material, destroy 
 our hidden ideals, waste our talents and erect an 
 inferior and usdess icharacter. 
 
 Then, though late in life we attempt to patch up 
 our broken and wasted pieces, it will be a sorry 
 apology to make amid so many possibilities. 
 
 (Another common error is trusting to the old max- 
 im, ^^All things come to those who wait." Nothing 
 is aocompjished through idly waiting, but labor 
 makes thoughts healthy, and thoughts onake labor 
 pleasant. 
 
 As long as industry ruled Eome she was a mighty 
 city, but when her conquests brought her wealth, and 
 multitudes of slaves placed her citizens above labor — ^ 
 that moment her glory began to fade, and vice and 
 corruption induced by idleness doomed the proud 
 city to an ignominious downfall. 
 
 As a nation fails when placed above labor, so the 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 119 
 
 individual. The men that can ascend to the highest 
 mountains of honor, and fathom the depths of the 
 deepest seas of despondency, without being placed 
 above labor or becoming discouraged, are the men 
 that are in demand everywhere. 
 
 The individuals who undervalue labor, and seek 
 only to gain the respect of the world are the ones to 
 whom the world will come at last to despise, while 
 those who reverently respect their labor and care 
 little of what the world thinks of them, are the one* 
 whom the world will eventually honor. It is not labor 
 that makes life burdensoim,e or causes discourage- 
 ments ; it is the spirit in which we do it. The Christ 
 who is the foundation of all true character spent the 
 greater part of his life in manual labor — lifting the 
 ban from it and giving it a significance and divinity 
 with his magnificent life. 
 
 We must realize that each of us has a work tO' do, 
 and we cannot expect success to come without effort. 
 Success means work — not genius. God gives, but we 
 must do the getting. He gives gold and silver and 
 all metals, but we must dig for them. He gives rye, 
 Avheat and corn, but we must plow, sow and reap. 
 Weeds will grow of the<mselves, but corn and pototoes 
 must be planted, and the same law holds good in ev- 
 ery realm of activity. 
 
 ^There is no acquisition or growth until indiffer- 
 ence and idleness are vanquished. Industry strength- 
 ens character and credit, secures the approval of con- 
 science and the respect of others.'' An industrious 
 young man will, in a surprisingly short space of 
 time, outstrip the man who may in the beginning be 
 known as a genius. No man has achieved true success 
 by a single deed, but true greatness is made up of 
 
120 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 many achievements. Even' advanced movemeit 
 meets obstacles which must be overcome; and if it 
 were not for these tasks being hard at first, then 
 greatness would be impossible for any man. By 
 meeting and overcoming difficulties we arouse energy 
 and develop strength that never would have come 
 into action had it not been for the struggle which 
 took place in surmounting these oppositions. 
 
 The sun may rise today over the eastern horizon, 
 clothing both hill and valley with aJ the grandeur 
 and beauty of a new day. Before night a canopy of 
 clouds covers the clear, blue skv, the rumblinof of 
 thunder echoes and re-echoes from earth to heaven, 
 turning the beautiful picture to darkness. As these 
 storms bring moisture to develop the plants and pur- 
 ify the air, so the storms of adversities prove our 
 character, show us our weak points and make us 
 stronger, purer and nobler men. 
 
 Look if you will with me at some of the incidents 
 where oppositions have been surmounted. The colo- 
 nial days were full of darkness and superstition, and 
 even fearfully today do we scan those pages of his- 
 tory, when our forefathers fought and strove amid 
 scenes of carnage. This brought the unbequeathed 
 legacy sealed with blood of sons and tears of daugh- 
 ters, for which the stars and stripes have forever 
 floated — this grand republic. ) 
 
 Look at the stone-wall- men like Lincoln, Grant 
 and Jackson, who when they had joined heart and 
 hand for the union of this beloved republic, fought, 
 and allowed neither bayonets, nor shells, nor torpe- 
 does, nor mines, nor defeat itself to stay them in 
 their progress. After four long years of persistent 
 energy and dogged determination, the South joined 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 121 
 
 hands with the North for the development of this 
 inseparable union. ^^These men were masters of per- 
 severance, the stern stnff 
 
 That wins each God-liJce act^ and p^ucTcs success, 
 Even from the spear-proof crest of rugged danger/' 
 
 Look at Martin Luther^ who came into this world 
 the son of a poor wood-cutter, sang on the streets for 
 a living, and was threatened with death by the Pope 
 of Eome for writing and placing the ninety-nine 
 thesis^ of the true religion on the door of a Catholic 
 church at Wittenburg. He rose victoriously over all 
 this, and even after being cast into prison- the great 
 reformer translated the Bibte into the German lan- 
 guage. His magnificent life and work amid so many 
 crisises has, like an invisible army, come gloriously 
 forth from behind opposition which seemed insur- 
 mountable. 
 
 Other greater examples of perseverance are the 
 lives and works of the eight writers of the New 
 Testament. They were all persecuted on almjost ev- 
 ery hand^ but the obstacles and terrors that ca,me in 
 their way were so far from causing them to stop the 
 work they had begun, that they only proved incen- 
 tives to them to continue in it; until all, with per- 
 haps one exception, died martyrs to their cause. 
 
 Such lives have gone to reap the crown of right- 
 eousness which was laid up for them. 
 
 Even the Christ was tempted in all points like as 
 we, suffered and died at Calvary .that we might rise 
 above our environments and have eternal life. 
 
 Then let us make it our motto to sail heavenward, 
 
122 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 whatever the cost^ da}' and night. Let perseverance 
 and inexorable will be our chart and compass upon 
 the laboring seas whereon we sail. Sail heavenward, 
 which is our course, through hurricane and tempest, 
 through sleet and rain; though with leaky ship and 
 with a crew in mutin}^ Some day we shall catch a 
 gleam of light betokening our nearness to the land of 
 our long search. 
 
The Value of Gold 
 
 FLORA CASSELL 
 
 What stress do people plaee upon the value of great 
 things? Jndeed, it seems as though it would be 
 time lost to let the mind dwell upon those things of 
 minor importance. If the pendulum of time could 
 «wing backward for two thousand years^ we would 
 see the rival states of Athens and Sparta striving 
 for supremacy. Later, in Eoman history, we would 
 find the men of the greatest influence continually 
 struggling to be ruler of the vast empire; power to 
 them was of the highest value. But centuries have 
 passed since then, and have brought with them many 
 changes — mainly that from war to peace. Men 
 now obtain their desires without resorting to the 
 sword. One of the things which is of the greatest 
 weight in the world^s opinion is gold. Its bright 
 glitter like a magnet attracts people of all stations 
 of life to itself. Countless were the numbers drawn 
 to California by the discovery of that metal there. 
 Gold is in one of its most alluring forms when it has 
 been coined. On sea and land we find; great haste 
 to serve this master. Men and women of all nations 
 use their time and strength in the pursuit of some 
 paying trade. 
 
 But let us leave the world of care for that of 
 thought, and we find that they are rich in gold of a 
 higher and more valuable type — that of life. This is 
 of the greatest consequence because it involves the 
 whole of the immortal being; but people do not 
 
124 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 treasure it alike, so we find different grades of this 
 gold. Let us, however, study carefully the highest 
 type and its yalue. 
 
 Ambition may reasonably be called the foundation 
 on which such a life rests; it awakens the people to 
 the nobler things of life by reyealing to their minds 
 the rrieaning of the future, and the responsibility 
 which rests upon themselyes to mak it truly a golden 
 age. ^ 
 
 People of all spheres must walk in one of three 
 ways; the broad, attractiye plain that leads to no- 
 where, the hill that requires onh' a little time, or the' 
 mountain which calls forth all that is noble and true 
 in one^s self; but their choice depends upon the 
 height of their ambition. Those who are satisfied to 
 use their abilities for their own benefit are but little 
 more than cumberers of the ground ; little have they 
 known of the joys of true living, while those who 
 have listened to ambition's calling to self surrender 
 for the good of the world have felt the adventurous 
 spirit rise within them as they perceived their ideal 
 looming up from the summit of a steep and danger- 
 ous mountain. The person who selects such a road 
 does not know the nature of his journey nor the foes 
 he wili meet on the way, so the successful one must 
 nrl^ke careful preparations. 
 
 Upon meditation he finds his greatest need to be 
 that of knowledge, and he realizes this is to be one 
 of the greatest preparations of life. There is revealed 
 to him somiething of the depth of meaning of Shake- 
 speare's words, ^'Become learned and virtuous and 
 you will be great.'' Xo matter in what way one may 
 endeavor to be a benefit to the world, he must first 
 have a clear perception of his vocation, for whether 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 1^5 
 
 lie aspires to be a Pericles or a Franklin, this is es- 
 sential to his success. Eightly has knowledge been 
 likened to a gem^ because the best of it is found be- 
 neath the surface and it requires the sacrifice of time 
 and labor to obtain it, to polish and show its worth; 
 but think of what has been accomplished b}^ its life. 
 Upon turning the pages of history we find that the 
 Greeks were divided into six classes^, and by wealth 
 alone could the lower ranks rise to the level of the 
 highest. How fortunate, then, are the poor of the 
 present century, for they may by knowledge break 
 down this barrier of caste. 
 
 What can be more beneficial to a person than a 
 course of study conscientiously pursued? Indeed, 
 there is no sacrifice made in its behalf that is too 
 great to be repaid by the benefits derived from it. 
 Careful selection, however, must be made by the 
 student, as to the miiaterials best adapted to his abil- 
 ities. Then, too, there is no one who may not gain 
 know^ledge from experience. This is, perhaps, the 
 most valuable because of the price that is many times 
 paid foT it. The smallest of experiences teach us 
 lessons that cannot be obtained from books, and as 
 we must meet tliem daily we will find on reaching the 
 summit that our best knowledge has been obtained 
 from them. 
 
 The pilgrim of the mountain side must also be 
 equipped with the weapon. Courage. This is neces- 
 sary to success regardless of vocation or environiri-^nt, 
 without it the greatest amount of preparation would 
 be of no avail. We know that our country would 
 never have been the nation it is today if it had not 
 had the courage to break away from the tyranny of 
 the mother country; the moral force wliich led her 
 
^%> 
 
 126 COLLEftlATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 on to prosperit}^ was the detenmnation to do what 
 was right. This is al'so true of human life. The man 
 or the woman who has the courage to say "Yes^^ to 
 the right and avoid the wrong has the quality of pu- 
 rity Avhich wijl sooner or later insure them real and 
 lasting achievements. Environment has much to do 
 w^ith regard to the quality of courage needful to the 
 individual. It calls to those who live in luxury to 
 use their wealth for the cultivation of their talents 
 that they may lead useful lives instead of being mere 
 pleasure seekers. But the poor need not despair^ al- 
 though misfortune may have strewn their path with 
 thorns^ they must renVember that by the aid of cour- 
 age they may be raised^ as it were^ from the Castle 
 of Despair to the Delectable Mountains. 
 
 Then^ we find a third and not uncommon class 
 made up from those whose fondest hopes have been 
 destroyed by some physical disability. Here we find 
 the noblest kind of courage — that which leads them 
 to face the difficulty cheerfully, and to transform it 
 into a stepping stone to perhaps a still higher and 
 nobler ideal. 
 
 There is yet one virtue, a great one, necessary for 
 the solidity of the human gold — that of fidelity. So 
 many people, however, do not realize this, but rush 
 hastily onward, meditating so intently upon the na- 
 ture of their destination as to forget instructions. In 
 this way is the human car of life often thrown over 
 the embankment, wrecked. To see what fidelity may 
 accomplish, let us look for a few mfinutes at the life 
 of Hannibal. In fancy we can see him and his fol- 
 lowers slowly toiling up the Alpine mountains. 
 Xow they are blinded by the storms of rockS' hurled 
 upon them by the foe above. Although men are fall- 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 127 
 
 ing fast around him^ the brave general remains faith- 
 ful! to the trnst imposed upon him and presses on- 
 ward^ step by step^ until at last he and his followers 
 gain the summit. < 
 
 The person who in life will never betray the small- 
 est •onfidence placed in him^ or never leave undone 
 the minor details, need have no fear of the future. 
 He w^ould also do well to practice the maxim, ^'^Kever 
 understand it.^^ This, we find, is the secret of Gar- 
 field's success. 
 
 As the hero or heroine of such a life nears the sum- 
 mit, they find that the road is no longer so difficult, 
 for every trial, every foe conquered, has strengthened 
 them for those of greater importance. And as they 
 stand there and look down upon the path by which 
 they have ascended, they realize that what they once 
 considered hardships were really blessings in dis- 
 guise. 
 
 Such people are not common, ordinary human 
 beings. It is that for which they stand — nobility 
 and success^ — ^that makes them worthy of our atten- 
 tion. Whenever we gaze upon such a life we realize 
 something of its great value to the world. From its 
 exalted position it shines as a beacon, and sheds its 
 rays of influence far and near. The human eye, 
 however, has been blindfolded and cannot perceive 
 these beams, for influence accomplishes its work si- 
 lently, and is seen only in the effect upon the indi- 
 vidualu Then, too, does not this life of full coanple- 
 tion arouse* within us a knowledge of our owti weak- 
 ness, and a desire for the higher virtues obtained from 
 such living ? Thus do we know that such a life is not 
 lived in vain. It may sway the world for good by 
 power used both consciously and unconsciously. The 
 
128 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 latter is the result of thouglits^ words and deeds stored 
 away in the sonPs memory, Avhile in the former the 
 will drafts the various departments of the sentient 
 being into its service. Such being the case^, where can 
 we find a better example to follow than in the true 
 life? For the hero or the heroine of such a life is 
 l)ooked to, naturally, for guidance by those who sur- 
 round them, and the virtues of their character are 
 reflected upon those of their satellites. This influ- 
 ence, however, may not stop with the present, but 
 may continue on through centuries, recorded upon 
 the pages of history^ One of the greatest ways in 
 which they bless mankind is to plant thoughts of 
 cheer and hope in the hearts, of the discouraged 
 How many there are w^ho would fail to accomplish 
 their desires if it w^ere not for the effect of such 
 influence. 
 
 One of the greatest lessons learned from the jour- 
 ney to success is Patience. People see how their 
 hero has waited and endured, labored and conquered, 
 and are willing that their lives should be the same. 
 We know that thoughts may find expression in words. 
 What power, then, must there be in the words of 
 the experienced ! We have no greater example of 
 this than in the life of Washington and of Lafay- 
 ette. These two names are inseperable in history 
 because of the power the former possssd over the 
 latter. For Lafayette loved to sit at the feet of 
 AYashington, who was many years his senior, and 
 listen to accounts of that great man's life. For 
 many years did the silent influence of those words 
 direct the course of Lafayette. Where can we find 
 a picture containing a more jDerfect lesson, a more 
 beautiful! lesson, than -this? It teaches us that hu- 
 
OOLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 129 
 
 mility is the greatest char act eristic of the truly great, 
 and to confess lack of knowledge is to take one more 
 step toward wisdom. Deeds may also be the uncon- 
 scious result of meditation. They may be only the 
 actions of kindness that will bring sunshine into lives 
 darkened by tcare and sorrow, or they may be of a 
 greater importance, being done when soine person 
 was at a crisis in life, and they may save that soul 
 for an imjportant part in the world^s work. They may 
 be deeds of a stili higher rank, changing the current 
 of the nation^s history into a safer channel — all be- 
 cause of the sympathy in the heart for humanity. 
 All who have been reached by these influences have 
 been inspired with confidence in the hero. We know, 
 however, that the world is full of crities, but with 
 the faith of the rest to lean upon, the toiler for suc- 
 cess need not fear these fault-finders. His judgment 
 is relied upon with safety and human affairs can 
 rest in no better hands than his. Thus he is recog- 
 nized as the ijeader of the people, being the one most 
 concerned for their welfare. 
 
 To se what people will many times do for the sake 
 of their hero, let us look at the life of I^apoleon. 
 Beyond doubt, there has not been in all history a 
 man with greater power over people than this gen- 
 eral. Perhaps he realized this during the vigiL of 
 A¥aterloo, for the air was heavy with the presenti- 
 ment of coming horrors, and he needed only to look 
 about him to see men who w^ould be willing to give 
 up life for him at his bidding. But the leaders, in 
 turn, have the opportunity of giving up all in their 
 power for their followers. Such surrender is not 
 made in vain, for the sacrifice of the past is always 
 the influence of the present. How our hearts glow 
 
130 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 with gratitude toward the leaders of the Eevolutiou- 
 ary war ? Many of them gave their minds, their 
 strength and their lives for the nation^s cause. Xow 
 the silent influences of liberty hover like a blessing 
 around us. 
 
 What can we remeaxfber that is more beautiful 
 than dangers braved in the face of foes and in spite 
 of discouragements ?Such we know was the life of 
 Joan of Arc when, in her endeavor to save Orleans, 
 she knew that death wouJd be the result, yet she 
 went bravely onward doing what she knew to be best 
 for the people she loved. And they were awakened 
 too late to the fact that they had indeed lo^t a treas- 
 ure. 
 
 Thus we have seen the road to success, and from a 
 glimpse into the past have seen what we, ourselves, 
 might do. We must think of our own nation. Need 
 the flag be her only representative of power? May 
 we not, by being true to her, stand as another em- 
 blem ? By our so doing, she will not decline as other 
 nations have before her. And by using our talents 
 for her sake, and for the sake of humanity, the siJent 
 influence which goes out from our lives wiM go be- 
 yond the boundary of the nation, and will tend to 
 eievate all of the Universal Life. Then, let all who 
 enjoy the blessing of liberty determine to so live that 
 they may die with the peaceof knowing that they 
 have realized the highest of ambitions^, and have 
 lived lives of the Purest Gold. 
 
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 ^«l 
 
 
 
 L - 
 
 L — , u. _ __ „ : — .„ .u^ 
 
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 HO 
 
 I 
 
 0)0 
 
 ^.i^ 
 
 ^a 
 
 Q 
 
 Wo 
 
Education and Success 
 
 N. H. TAYLOR 
 
 The humjan mind is commutative. It grows and 
 becomes stronger and reaches a higher standard of 
 reJative useful importance^ by the exercise of its 
 functions. 
 
 As the muscles of the human body grow^ through 
 use, by the addition of material cells, so the mind, an 
 immaterial substance, grows through employment by 
 the accumulation of immaterial cells. 
 
 When God created man He created him in his otvti 
 image ; a little lower than the angel's, and higher than 
 the beasts of the field. He gave him not only the 
 power of independent thought and of comlprehension, 
 but also endowed him with that which distinguishes 
 him from the inferior creatures — intellect — ^and He 
 has given him absolute control of its developonent. 
 He has entrusted to his care the culture and refine- 
 ment of the mind, that one earthly faculty which is 
 to live through eternity. It is a talent bestowed alike 
 on rich and poor. It is in all men the same active 
 principle ; or in other words it is the man himself. 
 
 As a faculty given us by our Creator, it is our duty 
 that we refine and develop it, and this is done by the 
 acquiring of knowledge, which is gained only by our 
 inclividuaJi efforts. / 
 
 No matter how many opportunities present theml- 
 selves to a man, or how talented he may be, or how 
 easv it mav be for him to secure an education from 
 
134 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 a financial standpoint, if he has not the self-will to 
 put his incliviclual efforts into his work he will never 
 succeed. 
 
 It is not requisite^ how^ever^ that a man should be 
 blest with plenty of ready funds in order that he 
 may secure an education. Some of the greatest men 
 that ever lived did not have enough money to buy 
 their bread^ but they seized their opportunities and 
 made the best of them. 
 
 Shakespeare, whose productions have been the de- 
 iight and wonder of all who have read them^ was of 
 very humble parentage. It is said of Socrates that at- 
 one time in his life he w^as too poor to buy his own 
 shoes, and yet he becamie one of the greatest philos- 
 ophers the world has ever knowm. The history of this 
 one man's success lies embodied in his own familiar 
 maxim^ "Know thyself.'' 
 
 Xowhere do we meet with more or better examples 
 of brilliant intellects, and of men w^ho have risen 
 above poverty, than on the pages of the history of our 
 country. So-me of these men who have ascended to 
 the highest office in the land did not have the oppor- 
 tunities that the American youth have today-, but 
 they seized those that came to them. 
 
 Perseverance is the key of success. If we expect 
 to accompldsh anything in this life we must persevere 
 in that which we undertake to do. Those men w^ho 
 have been m<ost successful in life are those who have 
 had the true spirit of perseverance. 
 
 Let us compare the lives of two of our most tal- 
 ented men, one reared in a home of wealth and plen- 
 ty, the other in a home where poverty ruled supreme. 
 
 The former is given all the advantages and pleas- 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 135 
 
 ures of home life^ thus enabling him to secure an ed- 
 ucation with comparative ease. Eapidly he rises in 
 his educational career until he graduates from college 
 at a very earliy age. He studies law; becoming very 
 successful. Being patriotic, we next find him an ex- 
 cellent officer in Washington's army^ beloved by all 
 for his courage and bravery. At the close of the war 
 we find his name on the list of the leading politicians 
 of his day. Step by step he advances until he stands 
 next to the President of our mighty nation. 
 
 Let us look at the other. He labors under very ad- 
 verse circumstances to secure an education. We see 
 him as he studies, patiently and persistently, by the 
 dim light of the candle, or more often by the flick- 
 ering glare of the fire-place. His eager mind contin- 
 ually searching for more material whereby he may 
 increase his knowledge, even by splitting rails that 
 he may secure money to l)uy more booksi. Incessant!}^ 
 he toiljs, until he begins to rise in the ha''l of fame. 
 He studies law, becoming one of the best lawyers in 
 his state. He is nominated for Senator, discussing 
 the political questions of the day with his opponent, 
 Douglas. In this campaign he loses, but with a po- 
 litical foresight which has seldom been surpassed, ho 
 greatly embarassed Douglas by the questions which 
 he forced him to answer, and brought himself so 
 promdnently before the public that he easily won in 
 the next presidential campaign. 
 
 Thus we find the two each honored by an entire 
 nation. But let us look at their lives from this stage. 
 
 The ,one, blinded with passion and envy, challenges 
 that mighty champion of the constitution, Alexander 
 Hamilton, to a duel. Hamilton falls, mortally wound- 
 ed, by the hand of x\aron Burr. 
 
136 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 A fugitive from justice. Burr flees to the Southwest 
 and there attempts to establish a rival republic. He 
 fails in this, and finally goes down to his grave de- 
 spised by his fellow men. 
 
 The other comes to the highest office in the land in 
 a far more trying time, but with the keen foresight 
 and patience so characteristic of his life, he safely 
 guides our nation through the dark period of the 
 civil war. And so long as the stars and stripes float 
 over our land Abraham Lincoln^s name will ever 
 live in the hearts of ever}- true American citizen. 
 
 Columbus, the great explorer, carried within him)- 
 seDf that spirit of perseverance which enab-led him 
 to lead his men on, and to discover this mighty con- 
 tinent on which we live. 
 
 Elihu Britt, the learned blacksmith, while plying 
 his trade acquired a knowledge of upwards of fifty 
 of the leading languages of the world, was dependent 
 upon himseif, and no teacher but his untiring mind, 
 which won him success and fame. 
 
 But we must not forget the fact that all this 
 knowledge and success was not gained by these men 
 on '^flowery beds of ease,^^ but by hard labor, labor 
 that meant nights of incessant toil and weariness of 
 the physical being. Such labor in securing an educa- 
 tion demands and is rewarded by success. 
 
 ilany a man has failed in securing an education 
 simply because he did not aim high enough, thereby 
 losing that pleasure in a succesfuli life, which is the 
 result only of education. 
 
 Education is not a matter of chance, but it is an 
 orderly development of man^s powers w^hich stores 
 his mind with knowledge. 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 137 
 
 All plants and animals grow according to the laws 
 governing their lives. They grow under certain con- 
 ditionS;, and if these conditions are not supplied, 
 death results. Proper soil, heat^ moisture and light 
 the' plant must have, or it withers and dies. 
 
 Human growth and culture 'symbolizes this plant 
 life, yet the educational life of man far surpasses 
 that of the mere plant as human intelligence rises 
 above the life principle contained in the little grain. 
 If a man does not develop all the faculties and im- 
 prove the talents which God his Creator has given 
 he has not done all that God. intended for him to do, 
 and like the plant, figuratively speaking, he dies. 
 _ The question often' arises ^^Will an education pay T^ 
 Whether we view it fro.m a financial standpoint or 
 from the love of the knowledge itself, the question 
 can be answered in the affirmative. For whether a 
 man makes his thousands or if he only miakes a few 
 dollars as a result of his education, he has not utter- 
 ly failed. 
 
 White it is true that a man may achieve success 
 in life with hut a meager education, we know it to be 
 more true that he may rise higher in the suocesful 
 life, if he has the benefits of a college training. 
 
 On the entrance gates to Cornell university is the 
 folowing inscription : 
 
 ^^So live that daily thou mayest become more 
 learned and thoughtful.'^ f So depart depart that 
 daily thou mayest become more useful to thy country 
 and mankind.^' 
 
 Let us then improve our tim^ and the talents 
 which God has given us, and the goal 
 awaits us. 
 
POEMS 
 
A CURE FOE THE BLUES. 
 
 When you feel 5'OU want to boss, 
 
 Love your wife; 
 Tliough you do feel sore and cross. 
 
 Such is life; 
 When the days are dark with rain 
 And you have an ache or pain, 
 VVhat^s the use of raisin' Cain? 
 
 Love your wife. 
 
 When you're up to w^ork you dread. 
 
 Dig in; 
 It's 'bout as easy done as said, 
 
 Jist begin; 
 Hit the iron while 'tis hot, 
 U se what mussel you have got. 
 Make the best out of your lot. 
 
 Dig in. 
 
 If at first you don't succeed. 
 
 Try agin ; 
 If you're short on things you need, 
 
 'Taint no sin ; 
 It brings the blues to set and whine. 
 Or loaf round on the kickin' line, 
 Bait your hook and keep a try in', 
 
 Try agin. 
 
 When you feel you want to stop.. 
 
 Keep a goin'; 
 When you fail to raise a crop. 
 
 Keep a sowin'; 
 When there comes a rainy day 
 
142 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 A.nd there's nothing seems to pay, 
 Matters not what people say; 
 Keep a goin*. 
 
 Wlien yer neighbors falsify, 
 
 Better smile: 
 Neecln^t try to catch a lie, 
 
 'Taint worth while; 
 For it's swift npon the wing, 
 If you chase it, it will sting, 
 Let it ])e, the dirty thing, 
 
 Better smile. 
 
 If yon'd be a millionaire. 
 
 Save yer dimes: 
 Don't growl an' fret an' rear 
 
 'Bont hard times; 
 To be poor is no disgrace. 
 Meet it, brother, face to face, 
 Uichest men have won their place, 
 
 Saving dimes. 
 
 if a letter tempts to buy yon, 
 
 Eetnrn it; 
 If yon don't the courts will try you, 
 
 Burn it; 
 If you'd save your noble craft 
 •When some company tries a graft 
 By sending you a handsome draft, 
 
 Eeturn it. 
 
 When you have a, job begun. 
 
 Keep at it; 
 Though the critic does make fun 
 
 An' combat it; 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 143 
 
 Let the kickers make their .spiel^ 
 With a heart on fire with zeal 
 And with nerves like tempered steel 
 Keep at it. 
 
 While yer young and in yer prime^ 
 
 Be a man; 
 Let another beat yer time 
 
 If he can; 
 If she wants him for her bean, 
 Don^ git the bines, jist let her go, 
 The sea is full of fish, yon know, 
 
 Be a man. 
 
 It yer morsel is too sweet, 
 
 Spit it out; 
 Thousands die frum. what they eat 
 
 With the gout; 
 The world has fixed for us a stew, 
 An^ if you choke on what^s for you, 
 Yoirve bit'off more than you ken chew. 
 
 Spit it out. 
 
 When the blues have come your way, 
 
 Go to work; 
 That will cure them in a day. 
 
 Lest you shirk ; 
 When your grocery bill is due 
 An^ your butcher threats to sue, 
 Whaf s the use to set and brew. 
 
 Go to work. 
 
 You should take about a gross 
 
 Of this tonic : 
 But must double up the dose 
 
144 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 If it's chronk; 
 So I f)ray do not refuse, . . 
 Lest your health you should abuse, 
 It will cure you of your blues, 
 
 Take the tonic. 
 
 YAXDER GEASS. 
 
 I had a cow some weeks agoi, 
 
 I think it wuz in May, 
 That stood aroun' and bawled fur grass 
 
 An wouldn't eat her hay; 
 1 turned her in a pasture field, 
 
 Where grass wuz high and sweet, 
 A thinkin' she would soon git fat 
 
 With grass like that to eat; 
 But sakes-a-live! you should have seen 
 
 That cow go 'cross that field, 
 Jist grabbin' here and there for grass, 
 
 As if there wuz no yield. 
 I see'd right then she'd ne'r git fat. 
 
 Look phi rap an' smooth an' neat. 
 She kept a walkin' all the time 
 
 An' never stopped te eat 
 
 This world is full of ^'I'ander grass," 
 
 Why shcu?A 1 blame my cow. 
 Fur when i s^o to cut my grass 
 
 To put it in the mow, 
 It's short an' thin an' full of weeds, 
 
 Bui jist beyond the n^e 
 It looks to me to be so nice. 
 
 It's thick, and smooth, and high; 
 But laws-a-me, that 'aint the case. 
 
 1^- 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 145 
 
 Fur when I git it mowed 
 1 find an acre of sich grass 
 
 Wont make a common load. 
 It too is short, and jist as thin 
 
 As what I had before, 
 An, that^.s the waj^ the "Yander grass'^ 
 
 Has fooled m;e o'er an' o'er. 
 
 'Bout every day you hear some man 
 
 Complainin' ov his grass. 
 An' tellin' if he had a chance 
 
 Like men of rank and class 
 What he would do. ^'But pshaw^/' says he, 
 
 ^^I never ken succeed, 
 Fur all my gra.ss is short and thin, 
 
 An' mix^d with every weed; 
 While all my neighbors they ken mow 
 
 In clover to their knees, 
 Had I a field of grass like that 
 
 I'd m.ake my mark with ease." 
 I 'low that half of all the earth 
 
 See ^^Yander grass" so tall. 
 But when they've mowed to where it is. 
 
 Will find it, too, is small. 
 
 I guess the grass grows jist as big 
 
 As it used to years ago-, 
 When Lincoln was a splittin' rails 
 
 An' Garfield on the tow — 
 Fur nearly all our men of State 
 
 An' those of great renoun 
 Have mowed in grass, so histor}' says, 
 
 That scarce would hide the groun'. 
 Of course they had some clover fields 
 
 With rousin' crops fur pay, 
 
146 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 But when their grass rnn short an^ thin 
 'They kept on makin^ hay. 
 
 Xow we clon^t make hay as they did, 
 With only hook and blade, 
 
 With big maehines could fill our mows 
 By workin^ at the trade. 
 
 i 
 
 Xow do not think that all the grass 
 
 Growls thick and tall and fair. 
 Fur that that you air wadin^ through 
 
 Will favorably compare. 
 That temptin^, wavin^, "Yander grass/^ 
 
 That fascinates the eye. 
 Aint much fur fillin^ in the mow 
 
 When once you git it dry. 
 So n\y advice to young folks is, 
 
 Go out and fill your mow 
 With any grass that you ken git 
 
 To harvest here and now. 
 An^ do not look too much ahead 
 
 ^STer let the harvest pass, 
 In that vain liope of gittin^ rich 
 
 On that bis: "Yander o;rass.^^ 
 
 THE OLD MILK-HOUSE. 
 
 Today I^:e been a thinkin^ lots 
 
 About our old milk-house, 
 AA'ith its supply of bread an^ cheese, 
 
 Of butter, ham an^ souse; • 
 A thinkin^ of the good old days 
 
 An^ of the games we played, 
 How^ we would run an^ git so hot 
 
 An' have to seek the shade. 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 147 
 
 Beem thinkin^ of my brother^ who 
 
 Wns }^ounger still than I^ 
 An^ how Td coax him up to ask 
 
 Our mother fur some pie ; 
 An^ how shekel try to put us off 
 
 With /^dinner soon will come/' 
 But we'd jist keep a hankerin' round 
 
 Until she'd give us some. 
 
 it wusent always j)ie we got, 
 
 But something jist as good, 
 'Though most the time before it came 
 
 We'd have to git sofme wood. 
 Sometimes 'twould be a piece of bread 
 
 About eight inches square, 
 She'd spread it then with butter thick 
 
 And give each boy his share. 
 
 I jist have been a thinkin' now 
 
 How quick the bread decreased; 
 No King with all his dainties spread 
 
 E'er had so good a feast. 
 You talk about your banquets, too, 
 
 Delicious though they be, 
 A piece of bread from that milk-house 
 
 Is good enough fur me. 
 
 At noon we'd ring the dinner bell ; 
 
 The hired men soon were in 
 Au' then there wus a. job otf work 
 
 We'd lazy like begin, 
 We had to draw the water, fur 
 
 The men that father hired 
 At noon were always kzy like 
 
 An' hungry, lank and tired. ( 
 
148 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 We had two wooden buckets^ an^ 
 
 A rope run through a wheel, 
 An^ when we'd both pull on the rope 
 
 The wheel above wou-d squeal; 
 ^Twus fastened to the milk-house roof, 
 
 That stuck out o'er the well, 
 An' when we'd git one bucket up 
 
 We'll have to rest a spell. 
 
 We poured the water in a trough 
 
 'Eound butter, milk an' cream. 
 It passed out through another trough 
 
 A purpose for the team. 
 Xow while we wus a restin' up, 
 
 That's when we got our pa}^; 
 We'd lift the cream jar lid, you know, 
 
 An' have all things our way. 
 
 That cream wus thick, an' cold, an' sweety 
 
 To fingers felt so sof; 
 it took a lot o' lickin' cream, 
 
 To git it all licked off. 
 One day when w^e wus lickin' cream. 
 
 Our mother came for meat. 
 An' when she went to lickin', too. 
 
 It wusent half so sweet. 
 
 Well, I ain't half through a tellin' }dt 
 
 About our old milk-house, 
 'WTien barefoot with a hat of rye. 
 
 With home-made pants and blouse. 
 At evenin' mother'd go fur ham, 
 
 To fry fur breakfast meat, 
 Two boys, a dog an' Maltese cat, 
 
 Were alwavs at her feet. 
 
 I 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 149 
 
 ]^ow you know jist as well before 
 
 1 tell you, what they got; 
 At first 'twus but a little piece, 
 
 At last she'd give a lot. 
 You never heard si'ch coaxin^ yit 
 
 In all your daysi, fur ham, 
 'As come frum boys, an^ dog, an' cat. 
 
 These sons o'i Uncle Sam. 
 
 So it wou'd take a heap to bu}^ 
 
 The memory of them days, 
 An^ I have always argued though 
 
 Expensive, yet it pays 
 To have a milk-house fur your boys; 
 
 Don't rob thetm of the cream. 
 Let ^em lick it frum their fingers, too-, 
 
 ^Taint pizen, why should it seem? 
 
 I tell you cream is skeerce now days. 
 
 Fur growin^ boys to git; 
 They^re on the street a beggin^ drinks 
 
 Ur smokin^ a cigar ett. 
 You see, since they haint got no cream, 
 
 They take these substitutes. 
 They hang aroun^ the grocery store 
 
 An^ swipe the choicest fruits. 
 
 Their parents don^t know where they ar^, 
 
 iSTur do they seem to keer, 
 I tell you what, when we wus boys 
 
 We's always somewhers near; 
 Our old milk-house was never locked, 
 
 Xur wus it short on cream; 
 Oh ! when T think of boyhood days. 
 
 It's like a happy dream. 
 
150 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 I know that some have gone to jail 
 
 To answer fur a crime 
 Because thev had no cream to lick 
 
 When thev wus in their prime. 
 This old world needs a great reform 
 
 To save its growin' boys; 
 I advocate the old milk-house 
 
 Like ours in Illinois. 
 
 THE OLD LOG SHED. 
 
 If you ve ever been a hoin" 
 
 In the weeds among yer corn; 
 Been a waitin' an^ a listenin' 
 
 Fur to hear the dinner horn. 
 If youVe been a feelin^ hungry^ 
 
 An' you scarce could lift yer hoe^ 
 Made the end look twice the distance 
 
 On a weedy dinner row; 
 Made you. think 'twas angel music 
 
 When the horn the hour had said^ 
 An you took the straightest pathway 
 
 Leading to the old log shed. 
 
 It perhaps wus lookin" rainy^ 
 
 As it oft before had been. 
 It wus in a rainy season, 
 
 An you took your old hoe in. 
 So, a crossin^ through the medder^ 
 
 Keepin" in the little track 
 Comin' on down through the orchard, 
 
 Passin^ by the old straw stack, 
 Turnin' frum the gate that's further, 
 
 Climbin' through the fence instead. 
 
ICOLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 151 
 
 Soon 3'ou have your old hoe hangin', 
 Sheltered by the old log shed. 
 
 Then you go to eat your dinner 
 
 What is Avaitin^ ready set^ 
 Tis a rainin^ makes you hurry, 
 
 Fur you must not now git wet. 
 With the family ^round the table 
 
 All enjoy the modest meal, 
 Home is home, though e'er so humble, 
 
 AVhen its peace an' joy are real. 
 When the dinner all is over. 
 
 With a big coat o'er your head 
 You go out to do thei f eedin' 
 
 Down around the old log shed. 
 
 There the old door is a hangin' 
 
 Fur one leather hinge is broke, 
 There the old cow is a standin' 
 
 With her Iiome-made wooden yoke; 
 An' the mule is in the stable. 
 
 With a rope tied 'round his throat. 
 In a. pen there in the corner 
 
 Ts the special fattenin' shoat; 
 An' the sheep all come a bleatin', 
 
 Wantin' always to be fed 
 Every time they see 3^ou goin' 
 
 Down around the old log shed. . 
 
 Hear tlie lehickens all a cacklin' 
 
 An' tlio gobblers goblin', too. 
 Hear the twitter of the sparrows, 
 
 An' the pigeons as they coo; 
 0, what joy to see 'em eatin' 
 
 Ov the corn upon 'the ground. 
 
152 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 J^'ur they seem so glad to see yoii, 
 Ever\^ time you com.e around. 
 
 Geese and ginnies come a screechin' 
 Like you knew jist what they said. 
 
 Every time they see you feedin^ 
 
 Down around the old log shed. 
 
 JN'ow the feedin' all is over^ 
 
 Eain's a soakin' up the ground, 
 An^ you can^t go back to hoe agin, 
 
 Fur it^s rainin' all around; 
 Makes you feel so tired and sleepy, 
 
 Makes you want some place to lay. 
 So you climb the barn-loft ladder, 
 
 And pile down upon the hay. 
 0, there haint no spring ner mattress 
 
 That kin make so good a bed, 
 As the one you have when sleepin' 
 
 On the hay down in the shed. 
 
 Hear the gentle rollin^ thunders, 
 
 An^ the rain upon the roof. 
 Hear the crackin^ corn below you. 
 
 An' the stampin' of the hoof, 
 An^ the low and sof'-like cooin' 
 
 Ov the pigeons in the nest. 
 Makes you feel so good and easy, 
 
 While a layin' there to rest. 
 Makes you soon fall off to sleepin' 
 
 Jist so sound like you was dead. 
 Fur there aint no place for sleepin' 
 
 That kin beat the old log shed. 
 
 An' when once you git to dreamin' 
 
 Thinkin' that you air a Iring, 
 
 That you have a fine big mansion. 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 153 
 
 That you never want a thing ; 
 An^ 3^ou see the people comin^ 
 
 All around yer golden throne ; 
 Some are happy^ some are angry^ 
 
 Some are burdened with a groan; 
 Others standin^ there a wishin^ 
 
 They will hear their pardon read, 
 Plum fergittin^ you're jist sleepin' 
 
 On the hay down in the shed. 
 
 Then jow think you hear the angels 
 
 Singin' round the throne above, 
 Singin' of the Blessed Savior, 
 
 Tellin' of his dyin' love; 
 An' you think you are a walkin' 
 
 Up and down that gold-paved street, 
 When you see and kiss your mother, 
 
 That so long youVe hoped to meet. 
 An' you feel the angels puttin' 
 
 That bright crown upon your head. 
 When you wake an' fimd you're layin' 
 
 'Xeath the rafters ov the shed. 
 
 You may offer me 3''er mansion 
 
 On a high-toned avenue, 
 You may offer me the riches< 
 
 Hoarded up by jist a few; 
 You may promise me the pleasure 
 
 Ov the kings of all the earth. 
 Promise joy instead of sorrow, 
 
 Promise everything ov worth; 
 Tell me all about yer offers 
 
 Make it big, but when 'tis said. 
 You will still find me a loungin' 
 
 Down about tlie old loo- shed. 
 
154 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 ' STUMPS IN THE HAY SHOCK. 
 
 Dick Jones had a farm on the bank of the creek, 
 For clover no soil could be better ; 
 
 I wanted to purchase this rich bottom farm^ 
 And wrote Mr. Jones a long letter. 
 
 I often had heard of this rich bottom farm^ 
 M}' neighbors had told all about it; 
 
 It beat all the hay crops I ever had heard^ 
 I scared}' no longer could doubt it. 
 
 And soon I received a good letter from Jones, 
 
 Inviting me down to inspect it; 
 He said if the farm and the price didn't suit, 
 
 The option was mine to reject it. 
 
 He told me just when he would cut the next crop, 
 And wished I could see it while making; 
 
 He said he just cut it and sunned it awhile. 
 Then put it in shock without raking. 
 
 Ere long the day came he had asked me to come, 
 i^nd soon I was ready and going; 
 
 I wanted to see it before it was cut, 
 And follow the man at the mowing. 
 
 But law, when I came it was all in the sho'ck. 
 They scarcely found room there to hold it ; 
 
 A field of such shocks as I never had seen, 
 I found it was true as they told it. 
 
 I met Mr. Jones, a shrewd looking man. 
 
 His story he sadly was telling; 
 111 health was the cause of his leaving the farm 
 
 Which he was reluctantly selling. ■ 
 
lOOLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 155 
 
 His terms and the price were so easy and fair, 
 To jew him I never once thought it; 
 
 I'd heard of this farm, now had seen it myself, 
 And quick as a wink T had bought it. 
 
 I paid him the cash on the spot for the farm, 
 Eeceiving at once the po'ssessionv. 
 
 I got the whole farm with the hay in the shock, 
 For this was the only concession. 
 
 We signed all the papers and put them on file ' ' 
 
 I wanted the records to -back it; 
 I got some good help -then to care for my hay, ; ' 
 
 Vd nothing to do but to stack it. 
 
 With a rope and a horse for to drag in the shocks, 
 We soon were all ready for stacking ; 
 
 We tried a big shock and we broke a new rope, 
 
 And found there was something yet lacking. 
 
 What wonderful hay, ''bout a ton to the shock, 
 Hoiw much will it make to the acre? 
 
 I guess Jones could tell, as he had it to sell. 
 For he was a genuine faker. 
 
 For under each shock was a whollipin' stump. 
 
 As big as the wheel of a wagon ; 
 As high as your head, as hard as a bone, 
 
 ISTo wonder we failed at the dra^'^rin'. 
 
 ^toto" 
 
 To say I was beat would be putting it mild, 
 How great and how sad the surprise;; 
 
 So friend, let me tell you, twas painful but good. 
 For how it did open my eyes. 
 
156 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 So I am proclaiming, wherever I go, 
 
 If the shock is too big, do Dot buy it ; 
 
 The only safe method in business today, 
 Is to ask him to wait while yon try it. 
 
 Young man and .young woman of marr^nng age, 
 With fields of Sweet Cl'over about. 
 
 Don't jump at 'conclusions, you'd better go slow, 
 There's stumps in the hay shoick, watch out. 
 
 WHAT WILL WE DO WITH THE KICKEE? 
 
 I 
 
 Oh what would be best to give us a rest 
 
 From him that we know as a kicker ? 
 Of whom we are sick, but still he will kick 
 
 Until we have grown the sicker. 
 We now have no fear when smallpox is near, 
 
 Or if we should have the bronchitus; 
 We too have a cure both speedy and sure 
 
 To save if a mad dog should bite us. 
 If toothache should keep a man from his sleep. 
 
 He always has something to ease it. 
 When heat is intense, with l>ut little expense 
 
 Som ice can be had, for we freeze it. 
 Your head may be bare from the falling of hair, 
 
 A tonic will make it come thicker, 
 We conquer the chills and all of our ills. 
 
 But what can we do with the kicker? 
 
 Oh what can we give, or where can we live. 
 That we miay get rid of the kicker ; 
 
 We liken his lot along with the sot 
 
 Who always is bloated with liquor. 
 
 We sieze men of crime and bring them to time. 
 
iCOLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 157 
 
 That law may be strictly regarded; 
 No laws do appear the kicker need fear, 
 
 So he never ha,s been retarded. 
 Train robbers so bold state prisons now hold, 
 
 Long sentences they are all serving; 
 The bandits at large the law takes in charge. 
 
 And deals with as they are deserving. 
 Detectives we meet on the thick crowded street. 
 
 To capture the sly pocket picker. 
 But who ever saw the man or the law 
 
 That had full control of the kicker? 
 
 The thought comes to me, how nice it would be 
 
 If we were but rid of the kicker; 
 For nothing goes right from morning till night 
 
 With him, the old grumbling sticker ! 
 Regardless the kind in business you'll find 
 
 This man, he the wise all arounder; 
 The way that he kicks about state politics 
 
 Y ouM think the old ship soon would founder. 
 In social affairs he puts on his airs, 
 
 He works at his trade, then, of course; 
 Oonspicuous his part in breaking of hearts, 
 
 The father is he of divorce. 
 He must have his say in affairs every day, 
 ' He spoils all your very best dickers; 
 He kicks all the while, not once does he smile. 
 
 For smiles are unknown to kickers. 
 
 Sometimes I have said, '^1 guess be is dead,'' 
 This possum-like, genuine kicker; 
 
 He sprung to his feet his kicks to repeat. 
 Then sent them in faster and thicker. 
 
 I thought he would quit to roast him a bit. 
 But found I was badly mistaken. 
 
158 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 I then tried to shame his honor and name, 
 
 But found he had none to awaken. 
 He kicks against gold and the way it^s controlled. 
 
 He kicks against organized labor; 
 He gives Uncle Sam a horrible slam 
 
 And kicks at his friend and his neighbor. 
 He's hard to endure, so if yoa have a cure, 
 
 Pray give it, the sooner the quicker; 
 1^11 saddle the broncs and bridle the dodiks 
 
 If vou will but halter the kicker. 
 
 THE FIRST NEW BOOTS. 
 
 Happy is the litt'e man. 
 
 Five years old; 
 Down the lane this youngster ran 
 
 Through the cold, 
 With a fur cap on his head. 
 Dragging after him his sled 
 Painted up so nice and red. 
 
 Trimmed in gold. 
 
 See him 'coasting down the hill 
 
 In the road. 
 Climbing' back again at will 
 
 AYith his load ; 
 Down the hill again he shoots 
 Kicking at the stumps and roots 
 With his first new pair of boots, 
 
 Copper toed. 
 
 flakes me think of former years 
 
 When I p'ayed. 
 With a scarf about my ears. 
 
iCOLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 159 
 
 Mother made: 
 Played with new hoots and with sled^ 
 Played hide and seek ahont the shed ; 
 Oh, that years of youth which fled 
 
 Mis^ht have stayed. 
 
 m THE WOODS. 
 
 How sweet the breeze beneath the trees 
 When Slimmer days are fair, 
 
 When sunbeams play and branches sway^ 
 When balmy is the air. 
 
 I love to see the honey l)ee. 
 
 For hours to watch him eat; 
 A busy thing of tireless wing 
 ^ When storing up his sweet. 
 
 To see and hear the hunted deer 
 Go tripping through the brush, 
 
 And hear above the cooing dove, 
 The warbling of the thrush. 
 
 Oh, hapi)y hours among the flowers, 
 Their mystic creed — who knows 
 
 Why lilies grow as white as snow, 
 And why so red the rose? 
 
 The rills and crooks of woodland brooks 
 
 Still murmur soft and low, 
 A store of gold the woods unfold, 
 
 Their treasured gifts bestow. 
 
160 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 The plain^ the hill, the rippling rill, 
 
 The daisy at my feet 
 The haT\i:horii hud as red as blood, 
 
 With perfume rare and sweet. 
 
 These joys extol the inmost -sonl 
 
 While lying on the sod, 
 Whoso' has been to nature kin 
 
 Must need be near to God. 
 
 For lark, and wren, and woodland glen. 
 
 The spreading ivy vine 
 Sing but one song the whole day long: 
 
 Our Maker is Divine. 
 
 ME. SCHMITT OX "TAXGLEFOOT.'^ 
 
 Xow Peckey vas my vife, you know, 
 
 Yon day she pake some pies, 
 An' den she say: "Xow, Pether dear. 
 
 Do somethin' mit dese flies." 
 Our schreens we aint got some, you know, 
 
 An' vot 'skeeeter bar ve hat. 
 Ye coover mit de papy up' — 
 
 He vas von pright, schveet lat. 
 
 Dem flies — veil now, vot vill T doi? 
 
 My Peckey vas so goot, 
 An' den I tought of vot I heert 
 
 Pout dot dar tangle foot. 
 T YQiit do"»vTi mit von grocer man 
 
 An' dell him pont dem flies; 
 He gifes me some dot dangle feet, 
 
 So ve ken pake dem pies. 
 
CO'LLEGMATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 161 
 
 All roimt I spread dem sticky scheets 
 
 An^ Pecky laff a;n^ say : 
 "Vy, Pether! vot yoii do mit dot! 
 
 Vill it skeer dam flies awa)^?^' 
 I say, "Veil, mapy I guess it vill/^ 
 
 ^Pout den von ob dem flies 
 Vas vaded in dot dangle foot, 
 
 Clear np mit both his eyes. 
 
 Den Peckey vas mit laff an^ say: 
 
 '^0, see his dangled feet!^^ 
 Already vas a dozen coome. 
 
 To share mit him de schveet. 
 Sich pullin^ mit de legs dey did, 
 
 I nefer yet did see, 
 A flappin' mit dere diny vings 
 
 Air' puzzin^ like de pee. 
 
 ^ow Peckey she vas more mit laff 
 
 An^ hold in mit her site, 
 An^ dar T stood a tinkin^ pout 
 
 How gwick dem flies vos dite; 
 All dime more yet vas coanin^ dar 
 
 A hankern fur dot schveet, , 
 
 Dey climp der neighbors ofer den, 
 
 An^ pe mit dangled feet. 
 
 An^ den ven efen dime vos come, 
 
 Ve eat dem apple piosi; 
 Ve caught apout a pushel full 
 
 Ov dangled fo'oted flies. 
 Dot night ven I vas schleepin^ sound, 
 
 IMit treams so very cleer, 
 I zee dem flies a kiekin' still, 
 
 Der puzzin' I could heer. 
 
162 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 An' den I touglit, oh voo'ish flies 
 
 Yy don't dey zee der vate 
 Und geep avay dot danglee foot, 
 
 Pefore dey gits too late? 
 ' De}' mns' pe pline, or dey can see 
 
 Der neighpors vot pe deat, 
 But still dey keep a coomin' fast, 
 
 Till dey vas in dot spreat. 
 
 I heart von angel pv mv pet 
 
 Say "Pether Schmitt V' An' den 
 He salt: "Dem flies vot yon pin see, 
 
 Vos imiges ov men." 
 De defil puts his dangle foot, 
 
 Sphreat ofer niit his schveet 
 All around ver men vas pe 
 
 To dangle up der veet. 
 
 An' den I see von dang'e foot, 
 
 So pig I nefer see; 
 Dere vas so many beoples caught 
 
 As fast as fast could pe. 
 I see der defil porin' on 
 
 His temp tin' sticken schveet, 
 I see some children at der blay 
 
 Git in it mit der feet. 
 
 I heert de breecher vornin frum 
 
 De bulpit an' he salt 
 Dot all vos in der dangle foot 
 
 De defil vas got spreat. 
 T feel my feet a stickin' den, 
 
 An' kick mit all my might. 
 An' Peckey she say : ''Pether, dear, 
 
 Vot makes you kick tonight ?" 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 163 
 
 It vaked me up so affill skeert, 
 
 A tinkin^ I vould die. 
 An' since dot night 1 try to pe 
 
 Some viser dan de fly. 
 So it vould pe a plessid ting 
 
 If efery von could see 
 A sermont in dot dangle foot, 
 
 An' git skeered up like me. 
 
 i 
 Dey^l put avay der vicked vays 
 
 An bray der Lord for grace, 
 An' keep avay from danglefoot 
 
 In efery vicked place. 
 Vor de piggest, deepest sermont yet 
 
 Vot Pether efer heert 
 Vos ven he dreemt ov dangle foot 
 
 An' vaked up vonce so skeert. 
 
 THE OLD WOOD PILE. 
 
 Now I'm goin' to talk a little 
 
 'Bout our old wood pile; 
 'Course this subject's rather common. 
 
 But I think it worth our while. 
 When I lift the leaves of mem'ry 
 
 Jist to take a brief review. 
 They become so interestin' 
 
 That I have to read 'em through. 
 Fur I find through all the readin' 
 
 Things that I remember well, 
 Things that you would laff at hearin', 
 
 Things that I wil'l try to tell. 
 First I read of chips and basket, 
 . Pickin' chips to fill the shed, 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIO? 
 
 N'ext it tells who all wus workin', 
 
 Tells what each one dun and said. 
 There ^^tis brother John and Willie^ 
 
 Ben, the hired man, \vais there too; 
 Father he wns always present 
 
 When the sawin wus to do. 
 Oh, I like to think of boyhood, 
 
 Free frum every gilt and gile, 
 l^^e a heap o^ things to tell yon 
 
 Bout our old wood- pile. 
 
 V\e a heap o^ tilings to tell you 
 
 ^Bout our old wood pile. 
 How it pays to grind yer axes 
 
 An^ yer saws to set and- file. 
 Fur the man that starts to choppin^ 
 
 With an ax jist like a hoe 
 When his saw an^ax need sharpnin^, 
 
 He will make but little show. 
 I^m acquainted with this business 
 
 An^ ken give some good advice, 
 Fur l\e chopped in wood so knotty 
 
 That it warlned me plenty twice. 
 You ken save a heap of labor 
 
 With a wooden maul or sledge. 
 Make a jack an^ stop the pinchin^ 
 
 Jist by puttin^ in a wedge. 
 Then when once you git to dioppin^. 
 
 How the bark and chips will fly, 
 An^ you often have to dodge ^em 
 
 Ur they^d hit you in the eye. 
 Oh, to rick the rank^s still closer, 
 
 Leavin^ jist a little aisle. 
 When you^re choppin^ wood fur summer 
 
 On the old wood pile. 
 
OOLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 165 
 
 When j'Oii^re chop-pin^ wood fur summer 
 
 On the old wood pile^ 
 You ken hear 3'er saw a hummin' 
 
 All around about a mile. 
 On a clear and frosty mornin^ 
 
 How I love to be there then, 
 You ken hear the distant potindin^ 
 
 Ov the prairie cock an^ hen; 
 You ken see the smoke frum chimnies 
 
 Over all the neighborhood, 
 There's no uther time ur season 
 
 Quite so good fur makin' wood. 
 When the spring da3'S git to co-min' 
 
 An' you're sharpening posts to drive, 
 When the sweet sap of the hick'ry 
 
 Tempts the bee to leave his hive; 
 Makes you lay aside your mittens 
 
 An' yer heavy coat and blouse, 
 You ken smell the dinner cookin',, 
 
 Far you're wo^rkin' near the house. 
 If you've got that tired feelin' 
 
 When the sun begins to bile, 
 You have caught the real spring fever 
 
 On the old wood pile. 
 
 V 
 
 \ 
 Yes, you've caught the real spring fever 
 
 On the old wood pile, 
 'Tisent. likely it will kill you 
 
 But it's come to stay awhile. 
 It's a mighty bad contagion. 
 
 Fur it brings nobody good, 
 You ken easy tell its victim 
 
 W^hen you see him choppin' wood. 
 I some wood one night wus gittin' 
 
 As my sister an' her beau 
 
166 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 Frum our woodpile drove to preachin^ 
 
 Aii^ I stood an^ watetied ^em go; 
 Then I thought^ it will be harmless 
 
 If I watch these folks return, 
 I will hide behind the bushes, , 
 
 Jist to see what I ken learn. 
 I wus thinkin^ sum ov co<urtin' 
 
 But I feared to make the break, 
 So I thought I^d take a lesson 
 
 Then I need make no mistake. 
 ^Fore I hid I saw ^em comin^ 
 
 So I jumped behind the stile, 
 An^ I heard him kiss my sister 
 
 On our old wood pile. 
 
 Yes, I heer\l him kiss my sister 
 
 On our old wood pile, 
 But I had no chance fur laughin' — 
 
 Didn^t even dare to smile. 
 Fur I wouldn^t had them see me 
 
 Fur an eighty acre farm. 
 It would interrupt their sparkin^ 
 
 An^ they might have dealt me harm. 
 They wus talkin' in a whisper 
 
 ^Bout their love affairs o^ late. 
 Till it set my heart agoin^ 
 
 At a most tremendous rate. 
 Xow I didn^t do this fur a trick. 
 
 But I did it fur the the trade, 
 An^ it gave me heap o^ courage. 
 
 So my plans were quickly made; 
 Fur our neighbor had a fair young girl — 
 
 His oldest daughter Ellen, . 
 An^ I axed to take her home next night 
 
 Frum the school house at the spellin\ 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 167 
 
 She had come there with her father, 
 
 Our neighbor, Mr. Lyle; 
 But I got to kiss his daughter 
 
 On their old wood pile. 
 
 A BAD CASE. 
 
 There's somethin awful ailin' me, 
 Vd like to know what it kin be; 
 
 I aint felt right for 'bout ten days, 
 
 I'm out o' sorts a dozen ways ; 
 Fur food ner nothin' don't fast right. 
 My rest and sleep's broke up at night; 
 
 My head's been akin' some o' late, 
 
 I'm jist too sore to navigate. 
 
 It aint consumption, ur I'd spit — 
 'Taint dropsy — I aint swelled a bit; 
 
 If 'pendicitus I'd be dead, 
 
 It aint my stumic ur my head ; 
 It aint my blood ur nervus part, 
 It aint my liver ner my heart; 
 
 Taint fever ner the rhumatiz, 
 
 Then who on earth knows what it is. 
 
 I git this same peculure thing 
 When buds ar' openin' up for spring; 
 When days git warm and roses bloom, 
 An' fill the air with rich perfume; 
 When leaves brake out an' fields git green, 
 I al'ers feel ornery, sore an' mean; 
 It jist goes clear into my bones 
 An' gnaws and grinds like two mill stones. 
 
 The doctoT he can't diagnose 
 Xur help me with his bitter dose; 
 
168 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 Permia don^t do me no good, 
 
 I cairt take quinine, never could; 
 
 Txe tried ozone and every quack 
 
 I found in my old almanac; 
 
 But jist git worse as days git hot, 
 ?!^ot l^nowin^ what on earth V\e got. 
 
 I've found the cure for this disease 
 
 Is in the woods, among the trees; 
 All day lay in the iswim^min' hole 
 An' bathe yer body an' yer soul ; 
 
 An' stay right there a w^eek or tw^o 
 
 Without a single thing to do 
 
 But fish an' hunt in deep, cool shade, 
 Furgittin^ office, shop an' trade. 
 
 Lay on the grass an' sleep an' dream, 
 Ur go a boa tin' on the stream; 
 Furgit yer troul)les an' yer cares, 
 Furgit all things but God an' prayers; 
 An' git no mail ner telegram. 
 But set down on the old mill dam 
 
 An' read God's book o' nature through, 
 Fur it cured me and will cure you. 
 
 THE BETHLEHEM CHILD. 
 
 A monarch seated on the throne. 
 Whose empire was the world as known ; 
 Proud of position, wealth and power. 
 The boastod magnate of the hour. 
 
 JSTo stringent rule by him relaxed. 
 But all the world instead were taxed; 
 And this required that all appear 
 In person, on that day and year. 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 169 
 
 This edict brought the royal town 
 Of Bethlehem, those of renown; 
 Among them was an humble pair, 
 Unnoticed in the thoroughfare. 
 
 They with the many wait their turn 
 To come before the scribe so stern. 
 And when they had at last enrolled, 
 The day was past, the night was cold. 
 
 Near by there was a rustic inn 
 Where they, perhaps, before had been. 
 And there for lodging they applied. 
 But found the rooms ail occupied. 
 
 c 
 
 There in the porch, or rather shed, 
 And in the attic overhead, 
 In every fashion on the floor 
 Were beds as seen in days of yore. 
 
 ^^We have no roo-m.^^ the keeper said, 
 "There is not left a single bed.^^ 
 He turned away, but did recall 
 The stable had one empty stall. 
 
 "We have a place the beast to tie. 
 Which you may also occupy^ — '^ 
 With notliing better then in sight 
 They chose herein to spend the night. 
 
 ^Twas here beneath the ancient roof. 
 Endangered by the horn and hoof ; 
 ^Twas here a manger to adorn, 
 The Son of Righteousness was born. 
 
170 
 
 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 And thiis^ because there was no room, 
 The "Eose of Sharon^^ here did bloom; 
 They wrajjped Him in a swaddling shawl. 
 This King from Heaven in the stall. 
 
 The darkness soon again gave way 
 To sunbeams of approaching day; 
 Bnt ere the s an that morning smiled 
 Into the manger on the child, 
 
 Before it sparkled in the dew, 
 Before a single person knew 
 That the Messiah, whom, they feared, 
 So long expected, had appeared, 
 
 Befor 'twas known throughout the inn. 
 That one was born to save from sin. 
 All Heaven stooped, with hearts of glee, 
 That they the new-born child might see. 
 
 The angels, filled with great delight. 
 Left heaven^s portals on the flight 
 To reach the earth, the news to bring. 
 The new-born Babe w^as Lord and King. 
 
 At first one angel came alone. 
 Perhaps ^twas first to leave the throne; 
 'Before the others yet were near, ' 
 This angel calmed the shepherds^ fear 
 
 And told them in a single word, 
 What had so near to them occurred; 
 And scarcely was the storv' told 
 The wakeful keepers of the fo^:d. 
 
COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 171 
 
 Until there cam^ a mighty throng 
 
 'Of angels that took up the song. 
 
 And thns^ with heavenly harp.s well stnmg, 
 
 Glad Christmas tidings first were snng. 
 
 They sang of Him, the Bethlehem child 
 By whom to God we^re reconciled; 
 They sang an anthem full of peace, 
 The joy of which will never cease. 
 
 m THE OZARK HILLS. 
 
 In the Ozark Hills in summer, 
 
 ^Neath the walnut near the spring. 
 
 Quenching thirst with crystal water, 
 Hear the woodland chorus sing. 
 
 Hear the red bird from the white oak, 
 And the quail from under brush; 
 
 Hear the peewee, wren and robin, ^ . 
 
 Hear the blue jay and the thrush. 
 
 Hear the tinkling of the cow bell, 
 As they graze from hill to hill ; 
 
 Hear the rippling of the waters 
 
 As they dance from rill to rill. 
 
 Hear the oft repeated thugging 
 Of the woodman's distant sex; 
 
 Hear the rattle of the sickle 
 
 In the ripened field of flax. 
 
 Hear the chuckle of the wagon, 
 
 'Tis the teamster hauling logs; 
 
 Hear the hunter fire his rifle, 
 
 Hear the barking of Jiis dogs. 
 
172 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 Heart o' mine, we're on vacation^ 
 'Mid the pawpaw and the vine; 
 
 May these scenes of mother nature 
 
 'Bout thy secret chambers twine. 
 
 For when life becomes monotonous 
 By the every day routine^ 
 
 I will ask 3^ou from your gallery 
 For this soul inspiring scene. 
 
 Make a playmate^ then, of nature, 
 Woo her as you would a bride, 
 
 For her love and inmost secret 
 
 Will assist when sorely tried. 
 
 In the Ozark hills in summer, 
 
 Hear the woodland chorus sing, 
 
 All their songs are soul-inspiring. 
 
 Oh, what peace of mind they bring. 
 
 WISHING ANB POSSESSING. 
 
 We seldom have a wish come true, 
 
 But still we keep on wishing. 
 Like he who gets one bite or two. 
 
 Continues hours at fishing. 
 But wishing is not idle play, 
 
 If we do not abuse it, 
 'Twill help us reach our goal some day, 
 
 If we but rightly use it. 
 
 I wish, though prompted not by greed, 
 My purse were ten fold fatter. 
 
 That T might cheer the child of need 
 And not my pride to flatter. 
 
/COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 173 
 
 I'd give the hungry one square meal, 
 The best that gold conld make it, 
 
 And break the tyrant's rod of steel. 
 If I with gold coiild break it. 
 
 I wish that sympathy and love. 
 
 And every hniman passion, 
 Might have its origin above, 
 
 And change our sinful fashion; 
 Then peace of mind we all could keep. 
 
 For every base emotion 
 We^l cast forever in the deep 
 
 Beneath the waves of ocean. 
 
 I wish that friends were always true 
 
 And free from a,ll deception; 
 I wish the rules fo^ good we knew 
 
 Were free from all exception; 
 I wish that parsons ne'er forgot 
 
 To heed their pious teaching; 
 I wish that practicing was not 
 
 More difficult than preaching. 
 
 I wish that modest worth might be 
 
 Appraised with truth and candor; 
 I wish the innocent were. free 
 
 From false reports and slander; 
 I wish men would their business mind 
 
 And meddle not with others, 
 I wish we loved all human kind. 
 
 As if they were our brothers. 
 
 I wish in fine that joy and mirth 
 
 Were like a holiy leaven, 
 They'd spread ere while throughout the earth. 
 
174 COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 
 
 And make it most like heaven ; 
 Then God would every creature bless 
 
 With His snpremest blessings 
 And hope be lost in happiness^ 
 
 And wishing in possessing. 
 
 THE WATEE LILY. 
 
 gem on the breast of the river, 
 
 marvel of beauty and grace, 
 Did you fall straight out of heaven? 
 
 Are you from the Holy Place? 
 As white as the wings of an angel, 
 
 You^^e nothing in common with earth, 
 Did 3^ou grow in the Golden City? 
 
 Pray tell of your glorious birth. 
 
 Nay, nay, I came not from Heaven, 
 This robe of immaculate white 
 
 Silently grew from the blackness 
 
 Down here in the dead of night; 
 
 From the ooze of the quiet river 
 
 1 slowly lifted my head. 
 Grew white as God would have me, 
 
 Neither stained nor tinted with red. 
 
 The soul should be white like the lilj^, 
 
 No sin should its beauty destroy; 
 It then would be fitted for heaven, 
 
 The company of angels enjoy ; 
 But since every soul has been darkened. 
 
 Perhaps it is Jesus intent 
 To teach us our need of His cleansing 
 
 Bv the manv white lilies He sent. 
 
.COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE ORATIONS 175 
 
 So we learn from the water lily, 
 
 A lesson so simple and true, . 
 That the '^S\^hite life^^ falls not froim heaven 
 
 But grows from the birth anew. 
 Into His image and likeness 
 
 It grows to adorn a dark place, 
 So then, to be white like the lily. 
 
 We need but His favor and grace. 
 
J 
 
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