The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1891-06-20
STRENGTH OF CHARACTER.
An Essay prepared and delivered by MIes BESSIE
WILLIAMS ct commencement exercises Of Duvsl
High School jacksonville. Fla, June 6th, 1891

| An Essay prepared and delivered by Mics BESSIE
| WILLIAMS ct commencement exercises Of Duvsl
High School jacksonville Fla, June 6th, 1891
Life is before u.s. From the fated road
we cannot turn; then take we up the
load. Not ours to turn or leave the un-
known way; we must 60 DER it, meet we
what we may.
But life is not mean or hard it is
grand; God made it glorious. It's
channels he paved with diamonds
It's banks he fringed with flowers.
Around it he spread the glory of the
universe all that is impressive in
motion or sublime in magnitude
All this broad march of splendor
would not have attended life if it
did not mean something. The trees,
with leaves "like a sword or like a
shield" wage vigorous warfare with
the wild elements that assail them.
They bend under the storm-wind,
and make music of it; then stand up
again, and grow strong, and reach
toward the heart of the heavens.
Can we not learn lessons of the oak ?
Lessons that shall teach us to cling
to our purpose with that strength
that denotes character
Men born in poverty and obscurity
by strength Of character have become
great and glorious in life, calm and
exemplary in death. They have
been born and nurtured in villages,
but have reigned and triumphed in
cities. They were first laid in the
managers of poverty and obscurity,
but possessed of character, they have
become occupants of thrones and
palaces.
Character is not born, it is made.
Genius born, may grovel in the dust,
but genius made by strength of char
acter, will mount to the skies. Our
great and good men who stand along
the path of history bright and shin
ing lights, are witnesses of these
truths, and stand there as everlast-
ing pleasures for emulation.
knowledge is the wealth Of the
intellect. 1t is in various degrees,
common to all. But character is the
distinctive mark of the individual;
the impression which the soul re-
ceives from it's own moral acts.
Through life it is the Distinguishing
mark of the person, and as robe,
it will clothe him at the judgment.
Character is that which especially
distinguishes human greatness.
Strike out this, and man no longer
stands forth in the image and like
ness of his maker
Those who can stand alone without
sympathy, for truth and principle,
those who, unnoticed by the worlds
plaudits, can maintain their post, and
in obscurity and amid discourage
ment patiently fulfill their trust
these are the men and women of
character; the real heroes of the age.
What are the achievements of sci
ence and art, compared with the
splendid look wrought in the human
heart? What is a monument Of
constructive genius, compared with
the living domes of thought, the
sparkling temples Of virtue and the
rich wreathed sanctuaries of
religion, which character rears in
the soul?
That which distinguishes high
order Of man from a low order of
man-that which constitutes human
goodness, human greatness and hui
man nobility, is strength of charac-
ter.
Scarcely any one impression is
more general land certainly none
more pernicious) than that the al
tainments of high distinction and