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Complimentary Banquet to Luther Burbank 



Q 



In common with you all, we admire Mr. Burbank, as a 

 genius to whom the great of the earth do willing and gracious 

 homage. The wise men, the great philanthropists, the suc- 

 cessful and far-seeing students of Nature, they to whom much 

 power has been given to learn of the really valuable things 

 of life, and who are willing to toil and to sacrifice for the 

 world's good, come from the east and from the west, from 

 the north and from the south, to sit at the feet of this great 

 apostle and prophet of beauty and happiness. 



They come from the ends of the earth, and count no 

 sacrifice too great, no journey too burdensome, if they may be 

 permitted to see with their own eyes the priceless products 

 of his untiring labors, to learn something of his methods of 

 work, and to catch some measure of his matchless inspira- 

 tion. 



The trackless wastes of the desert, the frozen peaks of 

 the mountains, the innumerable trials of wearisome journeys 

 do not abate the zeal of the pilgrims who gather at the shrine 

 of this High Priest of Nature's secrets. 



They remind one of the indomitable resolution and heroic 

 courage of Henry IV of Germany, manifested in his nerve- 

 racking journey over the Alps in the dead of winter in that 

 memorable visit to the rocky fastness of Canossa to implore 

 the favor of the mighty Hildebrand. 



They come to see this quiet, unassuming citizen, who, 

 if he were to consult his own feelings, would rather emulate 

 Democritus, who rejoiced in the fact that when he came to 

 Athens nobody there did so much as to take notice of him. 



We see in Mr. Burbank the "noble ideality" of real, not 

 the "ignoble realty" of spurious greatness. This is re- 

 vealed to all who know him well. As we consider his work, 

 and as we know the splendid character of the citizen an^ 



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