How might the youth be inspired if forces were set going that might dot Oregon with shafts, statues, memorial windows and tablets to the good and great of history! In one community let a bronze statue of Chief Justice Marshall remind youth of the integrity of law; on the walls of a courthouse let a tablet inscribe the virtues of some Oregon pioneer. In the English city of Bristol, on a statue in memory of Edmund Burke, is the inscription: "I want to be a member of Parliament in order to take my share in doing good and resisting evil." In a corridor of Oxford University hangs an inscription of a letter by Abraham Lincoln to a Massachusetts mother whose five sons had died gloriously on the field of battle. Among all the lessons of the Lewis and Clark Fair none is more lasting than the teaching of reverence for those who have achieved through difficulty, who were steadfast through danger.
It may take fifty years to carry out large plans that will make Oregon a witness to the best in the past, but the preparation will foster reverence and stimulate ambition. It is significant to the youth of our State that the oldest building on the campus of the State University is named Deady Hall in memory of one who for nearly twenty years as first president of its board of regents was devoted to its interests. Villard Hall keeps ever before them the generosity of a benefactor, the faith of Henry Villard in the West and in higher education. McClure Hall with its marble tablet in the entrance corridor reminds the students of the industry, devotion, and manliness of a fellow student and a beloved instructor.
Emerson said when he read Plato all men seemed to him gods. Admiral Dewey said when he stood before the statue of Ethan Allen as a boy in his native town he resolved to make something of himself. What the boys and girls breathe into their souls they give out in character and achievement and citizenship.
