association of the
eminent Chief Magistrate at whose Council Board he sat, and
whose confidence he fully shared.

"Fortune, indeed, came with both hands full to Nebraska, when J.
Sterling Morton, in early manhood, selected this struggling frontier
State for his home. How well, and with what large interest, he
repaid Nebraska for a confidence that knew no abatement, this noble
monument is the enduring witness.

"Under his guiding hand, a new day was added to the calendar. The
glory is his of having called Arbor Day into being. Touched by
his magic wand, millions of trees now beautify and adorn this
magnificent State. It is no mere figure of speech to say that the
wilderness--by transition almost miraculous--has become a garden, the
desolate places been made to blossom as the rose. 'Tree-planting
day' is now one of the sacred days of this commonwealth. Henceforth,
upon its annual recurrence, ordinary avocations are to be suspended,
and this day wholly set apart to pursuits which tend to beautify
the home, make glorious the landscape, and gladden the hearts of
all the people. Inseparably associated in all the coming years
with this day and its memories will be the name of J. Sterling
Morton. That he was its inspiration, is his abiding fame.

"In other times, monuments have been erected to men whose chief
distinction was, that desolation and human slaughter had marked
their pathways. The hour has struck, and a new era dawned. The
monument we now unveil is to one whose name brings no thoughts
of decimated ranks, or of desolated provinces, no memories of
beleaguered cities, of starving peoples, or of orphans' tears. In
all the years, it will be associated with glorious peace. Peace, 'that
hath her victories no less renowned than war'; peace, in whose
train are happy homes, songs of rejoicing, the glad laughter of
children, the planting of trees, and the golden harvest.

'Soft peace she brings; wherever she arrives,
She builds our quiet as she forms our lives;
Lays the rough paths of peevish nature even,
And opens in each heart a little heaven.'"

XLIV
A MOUNTAIN COLLEGE

SUCH INSTITUTIONS VALUABLE FOR MOULDING CHARACTER--MR. SCOTT
BOTH HONORABLE AND PRUDENT IN BUSINESS--HIS GREATNESS AS AN
AGRICULTURIST--HIS AVOIDANCE OF PUBLIC LIFE--HIS SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC
VIRTUES--DEPENDENCE OF THE NATION ON THE CHARACTER OF ITS LITERARY
INSTITUTIONS.

In 1895, Mrs. Julia Green Scott, of Bloomington, Illino