Forty-fifth Annual Meeting. 11 



the round world. We do not point to these as our real wealth; 

 they are some of our best and grandest resources. Our real treas- 

 ures are the minds of our people. Take from Italy or Spain their 

 purple and golden skies, their balmy air, their luscious fruits, their 

 sparkling wines, and give them men, how long would they occupy 

 their present insignificant position among the nations? They 

 need no material elements of greatness or of power; they need 

 men. This is our strength; it may be our glory. Rightly trained, 

 wisely and thoroughly developed, started into action under right 

 influence, the resources that lie in the minds of the people are in- 

 calculable and will secure our greatness. 



In the past our men have been our real wealth, the means of our 

 real life, our fortune, and our fame. What had we been in the 

 dark elder days of our national history were it not for the men 

 whom God gave us and whom he fitted so wonderfully for this 

 mighty work? If the legacy which they purchased for us with 

 tears and sacrifices and blood, and transmitted to us hallowed by 

 their memories, is to be preserved in its purity, it must be by men 

 of like spirit with their noble fathers. To form such men from 

 the youthful minds of this state is the great, the solemn, the re- 

 sponsible work of the teacher. These minds are to be committed 

 to their care. These jewels of the commonwealth have the stamp 

 of a noble ancestry _on them. The noblest races of the world have 

 contributed to form the American mind. The best blood of Ger- 

 many, Holland, France and the British Isles have contributed 

 their quota. Gathered from such sources, formed under such in- 

 fluences, subjected to such a training, and transmitted by such a 

 parentage, the American mind is no ordinary one. Energy, reso- 

 lution, perseverance, ingenuity and boldness are its prominent 

 characteristics. An unextinguishable love of freedom, an instinc- 

 tive hatred of oppression, an entire independence of thought and 

 action, a decided confidence of its own opinions, a bold, adventur- 

 ous spirit, all enter into the constitution of the American mind. 

 They are elements of noble nature and extraordinary power. This 

 mind has made itself felt in the past, and it will make itself felt in 

 the future. 



These mighty elements, so potent for good or evil, demand that 

 the best influences and most healthful discipline be brought to 

 bear on them in order that they may be thoroughly trained for the 

 best, the noblest action, and not become mighty engines of discord 

 or ruin. The prevailing characteristics of such a mind under a 

 free government, where the most ample scope is afiforded for its 



