East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1910-04-23

tnese same centuries at every court
In Europe the "freemasons of FASH
ION" have treated the French tongue
as their common speech; while every
artist and man of letters, and every
man Of science able to appreciate that
| marvellous instrument Of precision,
French prose, has turned towards
France for aid and inspiration. How
long the leadership in arms and let
ters has lasted is curiously illustrated
by the fact that the earliest master
piece in a modern tongue is the splen-
did French epic which tells OF Ro-
lands doom and the vengeance Of
Charlemagne when the lords of the
Frankish host were stricken at Rom
| cesvalles
The Greatest Attainment.
Let those who have, keep, let those
who have not, strive to attain, a high
standard of cultivation and scholar
ship. Yet let us remember that these
stand second to certain other things.
There is need of a sound body, and
even more need Of sound mind. But
above mind and above body stands
characteristic sum Of those qualities
1
mans force and courage, of his good
faith and sense of honor. I believe
in exercise for the body, always pro-
vided that we keep in mind that ply
sical development is means and not
an end. I believe, of course, in CIV
ing to all the people a good educa-
/ ton. But the education must con-
tain much besides booklearning in
order to be really good. We must
| ever remember that no keenness and
subtleness of intellect, no polish, no
| cleverness, in any way make up for
the lack of the great solid qualities
| Self-restraint, selfmastery, common
sense, the power of accepting indi-
vidual responsibility and yet of act
ing in conjunction with others, cour-
age and resolution-these are the
qualities which mark a masterful
people. Without them no people can
control itself or save itself from be-
ing controlled from the outside.
speak to a brilliant assemblage; /
| speak in a great university which
represents the flower of the highest
intellectual development; I pay all
homage to intellect and to elaborate
and specialized training of the intel
lect; and yet / know I shall have the
assent of all of you present when 1
add that more important still are the
| commonplace, everyday qualities and
virtues.
Such ordinary, everyday qualities
| include the will and the power to
work, to fight at need, and to have
plenty Of healthy children The need
that the average man shall work is so
| obvious as hardly to warrant insist
| ence. There are a few people in
| every country so born that they can
lead lives Of leisure. These fill a use
full function if they make it evident
| that leisure does not mean idleness;
| for some of the most valuable work
| needed by civilization is essentially
| non-remunerative in its character,
and of course the people who do this
work should in large part be drawn
| from those to whom remuneration is
an object of Indifference. But the
average man must earn his own liveli-
hood. He should be trained to do so,
and he should be trained to feel that
he occupies a contemplate position if
| he does not do so; that he is not an
| object of envy if he is idle, at which
ever end of the social scale he stands,
| but an object of contempt, an object
| of derision
Men Must Fight.
In the next place, the good man
| should be both strong and a brave
man; that is, he should be able to
| fight, he should be able to serve his
country as a soldier If the need arises.
| There are well-meaning philosophers
who declaim against the unrighteous-
ness of war. They are right only if
| they lay all their emphasis upon the
| unrighteousness. War is a dreadful
| thing. and unjust war is crime
against humanity. But it Is such
| crime because it is unjust not because
it is war. The choice must ever be
| in favor of Righteousness, and this
| whether the alternative be peace or
whether the alternative be war. The
question must not be merely, Is there
| to be peace or war? The question
| must be. Is the right to prevail? Are
the great laws of Righteousness once
more to be fulfilled And the ans
wer from strong and virile people
| must be, yes" whatever the cost Ev-
cry honorable effort should be made
to avoid war, just as every honorable
| effort should always be made by the
individual in private life to keep out
of brawl to keep out of trouble;
but no self-respecting individual. no
| self-respecting nation, can or ought
| to submit to wrong.
| Perpetuation of Race.
Finally, even more important than
| ability to work, even more important
than ability to fight at need, is it to
| remember that the chief of blessings
for any nation is that it shall leave its
seed to inherit the land. 1t was the
crown of blessings in Biblical times;
and it is the crown of blessings now.
The greatest of all curses is the curse
of sterility. The first essential in any
civilization is that the man and the
woman shall be father and mother of
healthy children, so that the race
shall increase and not decrease. If
this Is not so, If through no fault of
the society there is failure to increase
it is a great misfortune If the fall
ure is due to deliberate and willful