The Placer herald., 1873-07-12
AUBURN. PLACER COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, JULY r. 1873

the brightest and most powerful intellects Of
the country, no surprise or astonishment was
felt'or expressed by the people; but every
where, by the young and the old, by mature
manhood and patriotic women, from the pine
forests Of Maine en- the north to the beautiful
savannahs Of Georgia on the south, glad
shouts of patriotic joy and acquiescence
greeted its enunciation.
Inspiration seems to have guided the pen
and controlled the minds Of those who draft
FED and presented these fundamental princi-
pies of our government, and of human liber-
ty. God must have used them like the
prophets Of old as the means Of giving to the
world his laws governing human associations,
and the relative rights, duties and privileges
of man.
Honored will be the names of those patri-
ot Statesmen while time shall last, and while
liberty shall be appreciated. Blest be their
memories, and in the homes and hearts of
every American citizen may spot be conse-
Grated and held sacred to their remembrance,
and to human liberty.
Eulegy fromme upon the names and lives
of such men as John Hancock, Thomas JEFF
ferson, John Adams, Patrick Henry. Benja-
min Franklin and their co-sgners of the
Magma Charta of American liberty, and up
on Montg5lhery, Putnam, Lee, Miffln,
Moultrie, Stark, Mercer, Marion and their
host of co,npatriots in arms, in defense of
our liberties and human rights. would be
tame indeed. Another and more powerful
mind than mine is necessary to do justice to
their merits, and give them their need of
praise.
But the brightest star in this constellation
Of liberty; the most honored, revered-aye,
worshipped, in the host of patriots, is the
name of George Washington. What little
boy is there here who has not read or heard
of the incidents of his early boyish life Who
of us has not read the history of his manhood ?
" ho of us is not acquainted with the labors,
trials, privations md triurhphso Of his maturer
years; of his virtues and excellencies, both
as soldier, citizen, and as a Statesman.
Truly he has been called the "Father of
bis country" and mi ght add, he has been,
and ever will be, the model of the true
ercan citizen and patriot.
| The direct results to the colonies of their
declaration, "that they were and Of right
ought 70 be free and independent States, 3"
and their absolution from all allegiance and
familiar to you all.
War, with all its blood and devastation,
misery aud destruction, followed for over Blk
years; battle after battle was fought, and
when victory would perch the banners of
King George. dark would seem the day for
the Republic. But the glorious Stars and
Stripes of our young nation waived in victo-
ry midst flame and smoke on many cory
battle field, and it kept marching on and on,
until on the 18th day of October, 1881, at
Yorktown, in the surrender Of Lord Corn
wallace with the flower of the Briti.h army,
England's pride was humated; her banners
trailed in the dust; our independence insured,
but bought and consecrated by the nation 8
best blood. And when on the Goth day of
January, 1888, the treaty of Paris was
signed acknowledging the independence Of our
country, and settling articles of peace with
Great Britain, our Republic took her place
among the nations of the earth.
The Revolution had been successful the
rights and liberties of man had been Al ,ert-
ed and maintained; jnstite and truth had
triumphed over tyranny and oppression.
Then came the work of binding and connect
ing together under one common bond of
unity, brotherhood and equality the then
somewhat discordant elements of our nation
atty, and by the favor and blessings of the
God of love and truth, success and prosperi-
ty crowned the efforts of our Statesmen, and
in all her beauty and excellence Columbia
,,t1, "a 18th ou1
But it was not until the signing of the arti-
cles of peace at Client in December, 1915,
closing our second war with England, that
our perpetuity as nation was certainly as
sured, and the Empires and Kingdoms Of
the earth we're given TO understand that.
these United States of America, as a nation,
bed placed her finger on the page of history,
there to inscribe, in the future, the most
powerful, eloquent and enduring sentences
in the interest and for the perpetuity of hu-
man freedom and equality.
Ninety-seven years have rolled around
since the protiiugatioh of the Declaration of
Independence. Ninety years have been ad-
ded to the past since the treaty of Paris.
Fifty-seven years Of national advancement
and prosperity have been granted to US since
the treaty of Ghent Insured to every Amer
ican citizen the protection Of our glorious
banner, whether on land or on sea. And
to day we meet here to celebrate the fact
that, under and by virtue Of the enforce
ment of the principles Of our Declaration of
Independence, we are one and undivided as
nation. We thank God that here all are
free and equal That we have grown from
thirteen States, with the Territories, having
an aggregate population Of about three mil
lions, until to-day we span the Continent
from the Atlantic On the Ed8t to the Pacific
on the West; from the great'.akes upon the
North to the Gulf upon the South, and
have population exceeding forty-two mil
lions Of freemen. That the arts and scien-
ces, civilization and education have ad-
vanced until none sufpass us. That the