EXTRACTS FROM ESSAYS
"ILLINOIS MEN," by Franc Coleman:
Well may Illinois be proud of the eminent men she has given to the country. Since the time she became a State where in all this great Union can be foetid her equal? In the patriotic sisterhood, she is second to none. Of the great men she has given, most have sprung from a condition of hard-working, pinching poverty. Frugality, self-reliance and industry have been the lessons of their early days. It has been held that hardships, poverty, obstacles and difficulties of all kinds, in early years, only develop and bring out the heroic qualities of a young, manly spirit and in reality assist in making it great, strong and wise, if it ever becomes such. The story of many lives seems to show this truth. On the pages of history we find written the names of many of these great, strong and wise ones, who, at the time of the country's need, did honor to the "Prairie State." Among these is that of John A. Logan, whose shout has many a time "steadied the wavering column" and who nobly sustained the honor of his State and his own fame through those trying months of exposure and battle. He was the people's favorite, and their love for him as a man was only equaled by their confidence in him as a leader. * * * He never hesitated to place himself where danger was greatest or leadership most needed. Should the country call again, may Illinois send to the front leaders strong, valiant and loyal as John A. Logan. * * *
Prominent among the many distinguished names of Illinois is that of Ulysses S. Grant. As a soldier his chief characteristic was action. It was not Grant's nature to express himself in any other way than by his deeds. Whatever he did was with all his might, and having begun a work he held to it till the object was accomplished, though it took "all summer." * * *
Abraham Lincoln raised himself by the force of native gifts of heart and brain and by the culture and power obtained by his own will and industry. The careful and diligent reading of a few hooks he was able to obtain, did much to form a character which for simplicity, earnestness, truthfulness and purity has never been surpassed among the historic personages of the world. He was simple, unaffected and true, but his kindness was unquestionably the rarest and the most wonderful of all his traits.
My sisters, to-night, find in the history of other nations their most impressive records of character, and search for an ideal republic under Italian skies, but I ask you to honor lives worthy to be honored in our own State and country, and remind you that these have helped to make possible the continuation of the life of the greatest republic upon which the sun ever shone. If the evils of America are presented in dark coloring, I would have you call to mind the patriotic earnestness of a quarter of a "century past and think of the self-sacrificing loyalty that then met the threatened danger of our national life. So remembering and so thinking. I would have you believe that there are, and will be, within our own borders, the strong and the earnest in the war against evil, who will ultimately lead to a triumph of the good.
"SAN MARINO," by Mabel Richardson:
Republics have lived and died, but among the states that have steadily maintained an existence is the mountain republic of San Marino. Its early development is shrouded in the mists of prehistoric time. It had a legendary life before Rome was known or Florence thought of; when Naples was a barren shore and Venice a bank of mud. * * *
The Popes in the thirteenth century behaved with scrupulous moderation towards their independent neighbors, and in the seventeenth century entered into formal treaties of alliance. In the much decried eighteenth century, the age whose reputation is one of worldliness and insincerity, all Europe applauded the gallant little state. The republican general Napoleon, after his victory at Arcola, was astonished to find a republic which so agreeably coincided with his own principles, and in his imperial days rendered the state a kind and thoughtful aid. At the readjustment of Italy, San Marino would have been included in the new Italian kingdom had not Napoleon said, "We really must keep it as a republican specimen." Thus it has remained, century after century, resisting all negotiations and refusing all alluring syndicates. * * *
The love the people possess for their country and the great honor it is deemed to render her service is considered by them more than a recompense for the small salary paid for official labor. San Marino first, self afterwards, is the principle taught from childhood. * * *
The influence of San Marino has helped, though perhaps in a limited degree, to develop the spirit of republicanism in Europe, the spirit which is slowly but steadily progressing, and is to be, we believe, the foundation of all governments.
Despots may well tremble as they observe the trend of public sentiment, and a tyrannical czar realizes that he wears by uneasy sufferance his imperial crown. * * *
We are loyal daughters of America, and are proud of the place and influence of our nation among others of the world. With grateful hearts we send greetings to our sister republics of the south and over the sea, not failing to include, in our patriotic sympathy, the brave little state of San Marino.
"THE RELATION OF CHARACTER TO LEADERSHIP," by Etta Pfeiffer:
The history of the world is said to be the history of individuals. The lives of great men have been transfused in the life of their country and remain living in the character of that country. Every land has her great leaders, and their thoughts and deeds come to us as legacies. Now, what power did these men possess? We answer, the motive force of the world is character. Only character embodied in thought and deed comes to us from the past and will ever live. It stands far above wealth, above intellectual acquirements. Wealth may give power for a time, but character endures. Certainly it was not the wealth of Martin Luther that brought about the great reform, for that he never possessed. His life from youth was a struggle against poverty, but this only helped to develop the power which afterward enabled him to find his way out of the black wretchedness of fasts, vigils and mass work of a monastery. * * * Luther, with his
