370 ANNUAL REPORT OP THE Off. Doc. 



its walls; the monumental marble may commemorate a glorj- which 

 has forever departed. Art and letters may bring no lesson to a 

 people whose heart is dead. The busy click of machiuerj', the merry 

 ring of the anvil, the lowing of peaceful herds ,aud the song of the 

 harvest home, are sweeter music than paeans of departed glory, or 

 songs of triumph in war. The vine-clad cottage of the hillside, the 

 cabin of the woodsman, and the rural home of the farmer, are the 

 true citadels of any country. There is a dignity iii honest toil, which 

 belongs not to the display of wealth or the luxury of fashion. The 

 man who drives the plow, or swings his axe in the forest, or with 

 cunning fingers plies the tools of his craft, is as truly the servant of 

 his country' as the statesman in the Senate or the soldier in battle. 



The safety of a nation depends not alone on the wisdom of its 

 statesmen or the bravery of its generals. The tongue of eloquence 

 never saved a nation tottering to its fall; the sword of a warrior 

 never stayed its destruction. There is a surer defense in every Chris- 

 tian home. I know of no right wrung from tyranny, no truth rescued 

 from darkness and bigotry, which has not waited on a Christian civi- 

 lization. 



Would you see the true image of glory, I would show jou villages 

 where the crown and glory of the people is in Christian schools, 

 where the voice of prayer goes heavenward, where the people have 

 that most priceless gift, faith in God. With this as the basis, and 

 leavened as it will be with brotherly love, there will be no danger 

 in grappling with any evils which exist in our midst; we shall feel 

 that we may work and bide our time and die, knowing that God will 

 bring victory." 



Therefore, may the home environment throughout our land be such 

 as will develop in the coming generations industrious and temperate 

 habits; a love of knowledge, truth and justice; lofty patriotism, 

 noble aims and grand Christian characters. Then with such an 

 equipment, we can send them forth on life's journey, confident that 

 they will carry the home virtues to every avenue of our social, in- 

 dustrial and political structure, and through them our country will 

 continue to rank as the brightest star in the galaxy of nations, her 

 brilliant and beneficent rays lighting and guiding the more benighted 

 lands to a higher, purer, nobler national life, and spreading a Chris- 

 tian civilization around the globe. 



