"The world wants men,-large-hearted manly men ; The age wants heroes-heroes who shall dare To blot the error of oppression out, And lead a universal freedom in." COURAGE. ALL the world admires courage. It is the symbol of honor, glory, and renown. It raises its strongarm against tyranny, and with its magic touch transforms the serf into the freeholder and men into gods. It raises the silken flag of honor above the din of battle and flashes a million sabres in the sunlight. It causes men to brave the mountains of ice and snow, and the hardships of an arctic sea; bear the heat of a tropical sun, or face the fevers and wild beasts of the jungle, in their search for that which enriches mankind. It takes the miner into the bowels of the earth, or carries him to the highest peaks in quest of the precious metals, that trade may be stimulated and prosperity advanced among men. We are inspired by the courage of the life-savers on the beach, the fire-fighters in our great cities, and the defenders of the weak and helpless in every clime. We delight to honor the brave men and women of every age who have faced trials and tribulations almost unendurable; aye, even banishment, the felon's cell, the gallows, the stake, and the cross, that we might have life and have it more abundantly. Without courage America or the New World would not have been. The wonders of unknown seas would still be shrouded in mystery and superstition. The beautiful farms, the towering cities, the industries, the prosperity, and the civilization that make this world a paradise would still be a mighty void, the earth a wilderness, and the howl of the wild beast its only music. We glory in the courage of the giants who have gone, the mighty heroes who dared to do. We glory in the heroes of our own day who, in every land and clime, are fighting the battles of the free and making this world a more perfect place for the millions yet unborn. Courage is not something that belongs only to those who have drawn the sword or marched to the inspiring music of war; it belongs not alone to those who gave their lives that a principle might live, and right triumph over wrong. The courage of the business man who has built up enterprises that bless mankind is often as great as that of the man whose inventions have revolutionized the world. The statesman who follows the dictates of his conscience regardless of his own success, the criticism of his friends or the ridicule of his enemies, is as brave and as great as the heroes of other days. The wife and mother who is obliged to forego many of the pleasures of life, who cannot experience the variety of scenes and conditions that her husband enjoys; the patient, faithful, loving wife, who has the cares and trials of a home to contend with, who, both by precept and example, raises a family of children in purity and virtue, toils for them through the long hours of the day, and sings to them praises of joy in the twilight, is as much a heroine as though she had given her life for a principle and become a martyr for her race. There's another form of courage that is too often made light of by the thoughtless throng. The courage which abstains from weakness, folly, and sin. There are boys and young men by the thousands who haven't the courage to refuse a cigar or a chew of tobacco when offered by a companion. Men will take into their systems that which deadens their higher sensibilities, lowers their moral tone, lessens their manliness, and unfits them for the parlor or the society of women while engaged in the unwholesome practice that makes every place in which they congregate a den of filth, and themselves slaves to a habit loathsome to humanity and a barrier to the highest development of the race, all for a lack of moral courage to refuse tobacco in any form, and because of the foolish and unfortunate belief that the stuff would make them men. No young man would place in the presence of refined company a tobaccostained spittoon. But is such a cuspidor any worse looking than the young man's mouth? And out of that mouth comes such a stench as to sicken humanity. The effects of tobacco on its victim are bad. The financial drain is bad. The unpleasantness it creates is bad, and it decreases the personality. It gives one a breath so foul as to detract from the man, and business is lost. A good many people are obliged to expend their thought and energy in dodging a tobacco breath instead of being free to listen to the man's proposition. The time to cure the tobacco habit is before the habit has been formed. The time in which every evil habit should be cured, whether it be tobacco, |