Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1910-06-09

the life of conquest of every kind. and of
noble effort crowned by success, which
has been ours for the two generations
since he complained to high heaven that
all the tales has been told and all the
songs sung. and that all the deeds really
worth doing have been done.
~ believe with all my heart that Il
great future remains for us; but whether
IL does or does not. our duty Is not al
tered. However tho battle may go. the
soldier worthy of the name will with ut
most vigor do his allotted task, and bear
himself as valiantly in defeat as in vic
tory. Come what will, we belong to peo-
PIES who have not yielded to TIC craven
fear of being great. In the ages that
have gone by. the great nations. the ma
tons that have expanded and that have
played a mighty part I'm the world, have
In the end grown old and weakened and
vanished; but so have the nations whose
only thought was 20 avoid all danger, all
effort who would risk nothing, and who
therefore gained nothing. In the end the
samc fate may overwhelm all alike: but
the memory OF the one type pcrishes
with It. while the other leaves its mark
deep on the history of all the future Of
mankind.
while freely admitting all of our
follies and Weaknesses of to-day. It
Is yet mere perVersity to refuse to
realize the incredible advance that
has been made in ethical standards
do not believe that there is the
slightest necessary connection between
any weakening OF virile force and this
n CT ie
growth of the sense of obligation to
ones neighbor and of reluctance to do
that neighbor wrong. We need have
scant patience with that silly cynic-
ism which insists that kindliness Of
character only accompanies weakness
of character
HIS OWN FOREIGN POLICY.
'rhe foreign policy or = great and self
respecting country should he conducted
Oh exactly the same PLANE of honor of
insistcucc upon ones own rights ana on
respect for the rights of others. a. when
a brave ana honorable man is dealing
With his fellows. Permit me to support
this statement out Of my own experience
For nearly eight years was head OF Il
great nation and charged especially
with the conduct of its foreign policy:
and during those years | took no action
with reference To any other people on
the face of the earth that would not
have felt justified IT. tnking AS All indi-
vidual in dealing with other individuals
II believe that we of the great civilized
nations of to-day have Il right to feel
that long careers of achievement lie be-
fore our several countries. To each of us
I L. l. f..1 . IT.
of doing his part, however small. in that
work. Let us strive hardly for success
even If by so doing we risk failure, spurn-
ing the poorer souls of small endeavor
Who know neither failure nor success.
Let us hope that our own blood shall
continue in the land, that our children
and children's children to endless genera
tons shall rise to take our places and
play a mighty and dominant part in the
world But whether this he denied Or
granted by the years We shall not see. let
at least the satisfaction be ours that we
have carried onward the lighte torch in
our own day and generation. II we do
this, then. as our eyes close, and we 20
cut into the darkness, and other hands
grasp the torch. at least we can say that
our part has been borne well and val
iantly."