driving courage and noble character, feared not to encounter the Diet of Worms. He had seen the light, he had told others; now, in the face of danger, he would not deny the truth. Here, before all the princes of the empire, a monk, a peasant's son, one against thousands who were bent upon his destruction, he declared the truth. Luther was a poor man. He left behind him no ready money, no treasure of coin of any description. But his very words lived and became a part of the life of his country and still live in the character of Germany. * * *
Talent and genius are often found in the world, but genius alone never gained a country's freedom; talent alone could not not form and firmly establish the government of a country where liberty has just been gained and men are exulting over a new treasure, dangerous because so precious. Genius wins our admiration, but character secures our respect. When struggling in a great cause, our leader must be one who has not only intellectual power, but courage, patience, self-control, disinterestedness.
Cromwell, a quiet farmer who no occasion for speaking and writing until his country called him, what did they see in him that had the making of a hero king? Infinite talent, unbounded courage? More. The military prodigy of France had no superior, if, indeed, a peer in these, but who would ever dream that the selfish insincerity of this brilliant genius could have stirred the English people to lay their hands on the hollow and the untrue? It needed a great soul, no less than that of the Puritan Cromwell willing to prostrate itself before the Highest, the Giver of all light.
That there were more brilliant minds than Washington's can not be disputed. Only a man of great patriotism, intrepid bravery, indomitable courage, could take an army from its infancy and lead it on through a long and desperate struggle, when devotion to a new cause was treason to an old, when dark clouds of disaster hovered over and hope itself had almost fled. Then, when peace was gained, the refusal of a crown from the country for which he had risked his life spoke eloquently of the dignity of the character of George Washington.
My honor, my glory, instead of my country's honor and glory, was Napoleon's motto, and Napoleon, great in so many respects, fell because of his poverty of soul. * * *
Ambition for self raises men into prominence, but the heights are slippery and ambition can not secure a strong foothold. Beaconsfield rose to this height, but no cause was there to sustain him, and he "paid the penalty of his character." Parnell, to save his own personal position, makes no account of truth-telling and honesty, and has sacrificed the cause of Home Rule. * * *
Really great men are those to whom duty ever stands first. Its great sustaining power upholds them. It was Wellington's watchword, and to him is lasting honor. "He was moderate, resolute, a common good in himself; amplest influence, yet clearest of ambition's crime." * * *
America has been rich in men of sterling worth. Under firm, courageous leaders, liberty was secured and the Union preserved. Loyal statesmen framed her laws, and a patriotic Webster and Sumner's incarnate conscience guarded her interests. If America is to be the light of the nations, as she may well be, her people, the governors of the republic, must continue to remember that the essential element of leadership, the very pedestal of greatness, is character.
FLORIDA AGAIN.
Our Principal, who has spent eight successive winters in Florida, is naturally often inquired of regarding the State, its climate, its products, etc. To answer in a measure the many letters on the subject, it is suggested that we give place in THE OREAD to the following article, clipped from the Florida Times-Union, published at Jacksonville, Fla.:
Helen Harcourt's Weekly Talks on Domestic Topics
THE VALUE OF AN ORANGE GROVE.
Truly do we believe that everybody and his "aunts and cousins by the dozens" is coming to Florida to win them a home in our golden climate. By and by there will not be standing-room on the Land, and then we shall have the old times of the lake-dwellers imported into these modern days. Ah, well, it will not be for a year or two yet, so we need not at once shut the door in the face of anxious inquirers.
There are "lots and lots" of people about to flee for refuge from the icy North to our genial Florida. "Heaps on 'em," as Our Home Circle knows right well. For the letters that come to as are named legion, and they come from the North, South, East and West, from far-away England and Scotland, and from Germany, too. And they tell more than the fame our beautiful Florida has so justly won. They tell also, in unmistakable accents, of the wide travels of the "great and good" Times-Union. Because these inquirers have read Our Home Circle, and Our Home Circle always does, in the kindness of its heart, carry the Times-Union along with it on its travels.
Now, here is a sample of the letters we are constantly receiving, and as it deals with a phase of the subject of vital import to the prospective settler, we propose to answer it as best we may. That may not be very satisfactorily, because one of its leading questions is much on the order of that famous one which refers to a piece of chalk "I say, Johnny, how big is a piece of chalk?"
"I am thinking quite seriously of removing to Florida, and desiring, like many others, to possess an orange grove, would like, before turning my face southward, to obtain all the information I can in regard to costs, etc. Now, will the Home Circle kindly enlighten me as to the value, per acre (in a fairly good locality), of a bearing, budded orange grove; also of a budded grove, well started, but not yet bearing, and how long from planting before it comes into bearing? I would also like to know if September would be too early in the season to come to Florida? If the wise Home Circle will kindly answer through its columns, it will greatly oblige an expectant Florida settler. W.T.S."
Now, we do not like to "blow our own trumpet"; we like to hear it, of course, but we prefer other folks to " toot" on it. At the same time, it seems in place just here to say that each and every one of these queries, and many others, are answered much more fully than it is possible to do in these columns, in our own books, "Florida Fruits and How to Raise Them," and "Home Life in Florida," which will be sent postpaid by the publishers, John P. Morton & Co. Louisville, Ky., on receipt of $1.25 each. In these books we have endeavored to embody all that is of import to the Florida settler and fruit-grower. Here, in this limited space, it is possible only to touch upon the subjects there treated of in detail.
And now let us tackle the conundrum asked by our Northern correspondent, because it is very much of that nature. It is pretty much "guess work" when we come to set down in figures the "value per acre, in a fairly good locality, of a bearing, budded orange grove," or of "a budded grove, well started, but not yet bearing."
