ADDRESSES OF MAJOR LACEY 275 



year or two ago that "All that he had left was his tooth- 

 brush and his postoffice address." Not that public men 

 are all good by any means. A boy in school defined "a 

 demagogue as a vessel that contained rum, gin, whiskey, 

 brandy, and many other kinds of liquor." This defini- 

 tion may be often true, but the fact remains that we are 

 apt to look with too much admiration or too much sever- 

 ity upon the men who are called into the glare of public 

 life. 



History repeats itself. Julius Cassar was lynched by 

 the Roman people, and then deified. 



Thomas B. Reed has defined a statesman as "a pol- 

 itician who is dead." The men in public life are apt to 

 be neither very much better nor very much worse than 

 the people who choose them. 



The general elevation of the people will result in the 

 general improvement of the government of the people, 

 by the people, and for the people. 



The prosperity and protection of our institutions and 

 the moral, spiritual, and physical advancement of our 

 people should be the highest aspiration of all our citizens. 



To the young especially is this a day of importance, it 

 is a school of patriotism. In the language of the mar- 

 iner's prayer, let us conclude: "0 God, I know not 

 whether I shall live or die, but I promise that while I live 

 I will steer my rudder true." 



