The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1902-09-05

thC "OIld' always providing that the
fact of having had them drives us
onward to try to do our part in the
world now, instead of being seized
as an excuse for refusing to do our
own share.
want first to illustrate what ]
mean by the two men whom Yer
mont, this inland State, contributed
to the navy of the United States and
to the glory of the entire nation in
the Spanish war, Admiral Dewey
and our friend here whom I do not
have to name. Great applause).
Now gentlemen, Admira1s Dewey
Tand Clark had to have in them the
courage, that desire to do decently,
but it would not have done them
any good if they had not learned
their trade as the chances came.
Admiral Dewey went into Manila
bay. Admiral Clark took the Ore
gon around through Magellan straits
and then into the fight at Santiago
and there bore himself with signal
valor. They did that not only be-
cause they had in them the raw ma
terial that made them able to do it,
but because they had made the most
of that raw material so they could
meet the demands made upon them.
Dewey could not have begun to go
into Manila bay if he had not been
trained year in and year out at his
profession.
If Dewey or Clark had sat down
during the long years of peace as
have known pretty good men to sit
down and say "Oh. we'll, there is
not anything to be done, when the
day comes 1 will be here all right
but just now 1 do not care to train
the big guns or whatever it is" If
they had done that you would not
have known the name of either of
them at this moment. 1t was be-
cause each not only had the power
in him you have to have that too,
but he had in him the capacity for
doing well the plain every day work
right along, doing it whether there
was any immediate reward ahead or
not. Neither of these two men could
have said there would have been any
war before the time of their retire
ment came, and if they had not act
ed upon the principle that it was
we'll to take pains with the little
things of life, the time of their re-
tirement would have come and you
would not have been aware they had |
been in the war.
We must test a man by the fun
damenta1 qualities of his manhood. |
have spoken of these qualities be-
fore today but am going to speak
of them again now. In the first |
place the man must be honest, must |
be decent. If he is not honest, if |
he is not straight in his dealings
with his fellow men then the more
popular he is the more danger he is
to the community as a whole.
Benedict Arnold was as gallant
a soldier as ever wore the American
uniform and that was what made
him so dangerous when he betrayed
that uniform. Benedict Arnold left
a leg at Saratoga when he fought at
the forefront of the battle. Benedict
Arnold had he died then would have
left his name as heritage of honor
for all time to his children, but he
did not have the root of righteous
ness in him. So it was in war, so
it is in peace. The pubic man who
is brilliant, able, but who is so abso-
lutely selfish that he is willing to
his countryInen to their own
destruction is rendered infinitely
more dangerous to them by the quail
tiles that bring him success.
But honesty is not enough. You,
there pointing to the veteransl, you
wanted the man next you to be
patriotic, but if he ran away his
patriotism did not help. Besides
deceucy, besides honesty and riSAt-
eousness you must have courage.
You need it absolutely in war and
you need it in peace. Courage to ;
stand up for the right. the courage
that will refuse to yield either on
the one hand to any temptation
either to the illusions and weakness ,
es of those who use wealth wrongly, l
Or on the other hand>to the none the
less base envy and hatred of those |
who because they are not we'll off, ,
feel anger and malice and rancor
towards those who are. You must
have courage as well as honesty, and
then in addition to that you have
got to have another quality without
which the others lose their saxof,
l do not care how homes