XXX 



A TRIBUTE TO SQUANTO 1 



SPECULATION'S concerning the origin and destiny 

 of man have always been a favorite pastime of 

 philosophers and theologians. If man really had his 

 origin in all the ways which have been seriously and 

 facetiously described the difference in races and indi- 

 viduals are no longer a matter of wonder. If at the 

 end the race be disposed of in harmony with the several 

 notions relating to his destiny the future state of man 

 will not be open to the charge of monotony. 



The theme of this discourse is far less pretentious 

 than the scope of discussion outlined above. It accepts 

 man as he is without a question as to his origin. It 

 dismisses him finally without predictions as to his fu- 

 ture state. As becomes a theme suggested by the dedi- 

 cation of a building devoted to Agriculture, it is of the 

 earth earthy: The wings of fancy which might carry 

 the poet into ether are changed into plodding feet which 

 never lose touch with the ground. 



But the toes, as is also becoming, are pointed to the 

 coming years, but not so far advanced as to prevent 

 the heels from being buttressed against the solid facts 

 of the past The true value of vaticination is vastly 

 increased by adhesion to verity. My prophetic eye 

 to-day, therefore, peers into the depths of another cen- 



i An address delivered at the inauguration of the agricultural 

 building of the State University of Ohio, at Columbus, on Jan- 

 uary 12, 1898. 



340 



