The Fruit-Farm and Old Age 325 



locate a man more definitely than merely by say- 

 ing, ''He lived on the planet somewhere.** The 

 region of a man*s essential activities is ever small, 

 Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon, and the conquerors 

 astonish us by the extent of their triumphs, for 

 their influence reaches us also. But there are 

 other, even mightier conquerors, not men on 

 horseback, spear and sword in hand, war and 

 ambition in their hearts, but peace and good will, 

 and life and living. The Caesars are the excep- 

 tions and the world exalts them as the measure of a 

 man. As ridiculous to measure the mouse by the 

 elephant as Napoleon by a huckster, or Lincoln by 

 a street-juggler. Each after his kind is the law of 

 youth and age. Unless common men abound to 

 admire, then it were foolish in Caesar to be am- 

 bitious. No man cares to smoke in the dark; and 

 were we all fishes in Mammoth Cave, what use had 

 we for eyes? What would become of costumiers 

 were men blind? How much is the world governed 

 because of "looks**? Youth is commonly misled 

 by exceptions, and many a man never outgrows 

 his youth. It is a wise man who knows, believes, 

 labors, lives with no thought of Caesar. Our schools 

 and colleges have much to answer for, in their 

 diversion of youth from reasonable ways by delud- 

 ing them in knowledge of Alexander, Napoleon, 

 Rockefeller, Shakespeare, Lincoln, Marconi, and 

 others, the exceptions among men. The young 

 man is fired by the illusion that, having had ex- 

 plained to him the activities of men of might, 



