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Show 59 Man a Fighter Rev. Rointirr .l- llmtmc'l Ii. tlttttttttlw I am invited to the platlorm by the courtesy oi my friend, and I shall show my appreciatic‘in by winningr your gratitude by my brevity. I am like the outpost vidette; I simply come out to fire a single shot and let the army know the enemy is advancing and will soon be upon you and prepare you for the worst. tLaug‘hterf) I want to tell you what is coming. This movement to promote universal peace. is the most stupendous undertakingr in the history of the human race. I know of nothing that parallels it. it is an undertaking to change human nature. for we are the fightineest things in this world. (Renew ed laughterft \l'hen your angel \Villie. whom you have taught so well and who you know is a Child of peace and love and tendernes . comes home with the black st eye that a Little Lord Fauntleroy face ever wore, you have no right to blame the boy 1 thousand generations of his ancestors put that eye on him. (Laughter) The instinct to fight has been in our lives ever since the race was created. It Adam had been a better fighting man the world would have had less trouble on his account. He allowed himself to be downed by a woman. (Laughter) Great peacemakers have always been splendid fighters; they have had the instinct in them. It is an amazinfr thing to me tha Secretary Trucblood should be secretary of a peace society. a man big: enough and strong enough and brave enough to lick a man every day for the joy of it. It is natural that Iishould be a peacemaker. (Laughter) The instinct for fightingr runs all through the race. The baby in the cradle. your baby, your dimpled darling whom you left home with the nurse tonight. fought against havingr his face washed the first time. He does yet. He slapped his mother's cheek when dinner was not ready promptly on time. When he is almy he fights his way through school. The fighting spirit is In him when he is a man; and man is the only being in this world that loves to fight and who goes out in the morning to hunt trouble. to look for a fight. and who does it with joy. It is not for the money that is in it. nor for his livelihood alone. The real fighting man will leave his dinner any time to get into a fight. We are a fighting people. We love to fight, we delight in it; we enjoy it. This movement is to turn the shadows back on the dial thousands of y'ars. It is to change human nature. Think of that! And this fight habit is like the drink habit; it can only be cured by the cooperation of the patient. You have all got to work for this thing. There is no other way in which this fighting instinct can be overcome. It is a joy to see so many young men here. I expected to see old fellows like myself. I expected to see a congregation of gray beards; I looked for a great throng of men past the fighting :1 Josh Billings used to ' ' that what we call virtue many time. is only vice tired out. The wolf was a member of the peace society when he had the bone in his throat. But to see young men here of lighting age tonight in such numbers is glorious and splendid, for we must remember that the fighting instinct has been kept tip by the best of our young men. A soldier is not a vagabond. a soldier is not a man who is in the army today because he cannot; get into anything else. It is a hard thin;r to get into the Iinited States Army. It is a harder thing to get into the United States .\rmy than it is to get into college. The regulations are strict. The candidate must have splendid physique. he must have good character. and. more than that. he has to know something, (Laughter) I do not know of anything more manly in any trade or occupation in the United States than a good, h‘altliy. strong. \vell-diseiplineil, obedient. well setvup United States infantry man. a man in the regular army. They are fine fellows: they are not the common herd. iVV'e have got to gather into this movement the best young; meny the smartest and the eleverest young men. and those with the fightingr instincts. and get them to turn the lighting instinct to a tight for peace. I would bid you em in peace, but it is early in the evening and you will go in pieces by and by. anyhow. (Laughter?) CHAIRMAN liar-:xizs: To those of you whw come from the outside I want to say if you desire your cities better. pleasanler to live in. more righteous, with a higher standing, get two such eiti7ens in your midst as the Rev. ~lenkin Lloyd vlones and Rabbi llirscb. to hear from them. \Ve will be glad |