To-night we are speaking of Holland, and in commemoration of the Dutch, but I notice that my predecessors on this platform have those fine Dutch names of Allen, Bacon, Hall. There are in this audience men and women of many different race strains, and men and women of many different creeds. But you come here to hear me simply as one American talking to other Americans, and while I am proud of the Dutch, and proud of what they did, and feel that they contributed what was of value and worth to the country, still the thing for which I am proudest of them is that they ceased being Dutchmen and became Americans, and they would not have been worth their salt to themselves or anyone else if they had not done so. Now there is another thing which I think we can learn with advantage. But it is not for that that we especially revere them.
Intellect is a great thing.
A sound mind is a great thing, just as a sound body is a great thing. But more than body and more than mind is what we call character. That is what counts ultimately with the individual and with the nation. I am sure all of us here have known a great many men of large intellect, of whom we distinctly preferred to see as little as possible. Sound morality and good principles count for more than intellect.