Don't resort to idleness. The boy who wears out the seat of his trousers holding down dry-goods boxes on the street corners will never be president of the United States. The farmer who drives to town for pleasure several days in the week will soon have his farm advertised for sale. An idle man is sure to go into the hands of a receiver. My friends, glorious opportunities are before us, with the republic's free institutions at your command. Science and knowledge have unlocked their vaults wherein poverty and wealth are not classified—a fitting theater where the master mind shall play the leading role.
And now, with your permission, I will close with a bit of verse from Reno, the famous poet-scout. His lines are the embodiment of human nature as it should be, and to me they are a sort of creed. He says:
I never like to see a man a-wrestling with the dumps,
'Cause in the game of life he doesn't always catch the trumps,
But I can always cotton to a free-and-easy cuss
As takes his dose and thanks the Lord it wasn't any wuss.
There ain't no use of swearin' and cussin' at your luck,
'Cause you can't correct your troubles more than you can drown a duck.
Remember that when beneath the load your suffering head is bowed
That God will sprinkle sunshine in the trail of every cloud.