The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1878-06-18

been bought nj such priceY Shall we
squander the patrimony Of all the ages?
Shall we by our recklessness aud neg
lect lose those liberties that have been
gained at the cost Of so much blood?
God Forbid Let us then remember
that the day Of toll aud sacrifice is not
passed. Let us remember that "eter-
nal vigilance is the prics Of liberty. ="
Let Us consider that we have a work TO
do IA preserving this priceless boon
and transmitting il TO generations yet
unborn. Great questions are loom
ing up in the horizon Of our country's
future. Great problem has this nation
yet TO settle; problems that will shake
II TO its very foundation. Dangers lie
before us, hardly less than those which
lie behind. Battles are yet to be fought
aud victories are yet TO be won, no less
glorious than those that have been
fought and won.
The great danger that lies before us
springs from the very erces OF liberty
which we enjoy. Like many boy who
inherits the riches OF his ancestors, our
very wealth Of freedom, may turn our
heads and prove our ruin. There are
forces at work in our national life to-
day that endanger the very institutions
by which they are made possible,
/ There are elements in our body polite
that fatten on the very liberties which
they seek to destroy. There are hands
among US that would dig down the
very foundations OF our freedom-that
would lay the ak al the root OF the tree
Of liberty under whose shade they have
rested and by whose fruit they have
been nourished and been made potent,
-unsrateful sons there are who would
use the power they have obtained from
an indulgent parent. smite their bene-
/ factor in the face and compass his de-
/ structon. Ia this direction lies our
danger. In the excess Of freedom, in
the abuse OF liberty lies the highway
To ruin. We shall never fall by a for
eign power. No foreign potentate will
ever conduer and reign in our land. Ii
our institutions fall they fall by our
own hands. II wo lose our liberties it
will be because we have abused them.
Through our own llcentiousness will
| be sown the seeds Of our decline and
fall. II our glorious temple ever falls
il will be because, Sampson like, we,
in our blindness, pull il down over our
own heads. There is a great, grand
future before us. Our possibilities are
! immense, indeed the most We can say
/ 81 our country is, that il is a country
of magnificent possibilities. What we
/ are bears no comparison 10 what we
uaey la We nrn yet only in tho girls.
| tie. The solid manhood OF our nation
/ is yet far away in the unfolding future.
! We have merely sown the seeds of the
mighty harvest. The cultivating, the
growing. the gathering. will be done, if
at all, by generations 10 come. What
vast resources in this land OF ours
| How many and various are the avenues
| Of wealth aud power open 20 our peo-
pie! How rich beyond all comprehen-
sion, is the virgin soil OF this new
worldl How vast the area over which
! II extendsl What materials are here
| for the building OF nationl What
social and political fabric may be grown
ont Of this soill A civilization may be
developed here, such as the world
never saw. A social state is possible
here, such ne man has hardly dreamed
| Of as yet.
Bat to achive tha. civilization a great
work il yet TO be done. Only by wise
and righteous use OF these materials
can thst possible glory be reached.
/ Oar vast resorrces of wealth aud pow
er are only the means OF greatness, tLey
| - - as-.S- Ti,~-- -sy.et 10 usai
high and lofty aims; wrought into NOR
al achievements before they can be-
come the greatness OF a true civili-
cation.
AsI look down the vista of the
future. see the two ways opening be-
| fore this nation-one the way Of all the
past. the other, the way Of the millen-
/ ial future. In the ono direction l see
Egypt, Assyria, Greece, Rome. Go
that way, seek worldly material goat
ness ouly-labor only for the animal
man-strive merely to grow ciyiliza-
ton, that shall begin and end in SEN
sual qualification, aud you read your
history in the history OF any one OF
these nations. These civilizations lack
cd not material wealth or intellectual
light. bnt without moral soundness
they rotted away. SO shall We, II We
seek only external material greatness.
Build only for time and sense. seek on
" the outward ard tranii.ory, dedicate
your civilization to the God OF this
world, and however Gorgeous and splen-
did it may be, you too. o America
will rot away.
In the other direction see rising uI
before me, a greatness and glory like
tie visions of the New Jerusalem thai
John saw coming down out OF Heaven.
Make the material the scaffolding fol
the spiritual; sacrifice worldly interests
for moral strength and beauty; dedi
cate our civilization 10 God and holi
ness; make honor, integrity, wisdom
and virtue, the corner stone, the cap
stone OF our national greatness anC
what possible glory and blessednes'
can be denied as? Who can estimate
the happiness and prosperity TO which
We may attain il we keep sound on
national heart? What possibilities In
I in this new world for the building OF
J christian civilization? IL we sacrific'
the outward to the inward, the transi
tory 10 the eternal, and convert th'
, wealth of the soil into the wealth OF tn
soul: make the object aud aim of on
endeavor the growing of genuine na
tional manhood; who can imagine TN
2 | yrapdure OF that destiny which shal
: be ours7 What n civilization may thi
e land produce! What an atmosphere o
Q moral purity and sweetness may "
= have. into which humanity may b
|. bornl Which Of these directions shal
4 we goi Which way shall be our way
4 What answer comes from thes
: pravesl What say our martyred dead
= Which direction is indexed by thei
e sacrifices? For what did they diel ID
e we not hear the voices OF the dead III
3 ing all over our land to-day and pleae
e ing for national integrity, honor an
q right? Do they not say, stand by th
e national honor? Do they not say Il
4 wisdom aud honesty be married in OF
national council? Do they not sa,
n whatever may come, Keep moran
A. sound the national heart; at the co
l. Of whatever sacrifice, let no politic
~ vandal put his finger on that integu'
- which is the very pulse OF our country
- life and prosperity Yea, do they ~
- saw. let not that old flag beneath who
!. folds we died. be blackened by al
= crime against God aud humanity
:, Shall we not heed these voice
- Shall we not to-day, and al the days,
~ wear after year, we celebrate this fest
- val. pledge ourselves 10y the blood
% the martyrs, that we will preserve u
-. honor. the integrity, the maliness
"a our nation7 Let a manly nation be 9
90 monument we erect over their grave
- AsT. Starr King, the Savior OF {
!. Pacific coast in the days OF the reb,
:, lion said. Let the church we build
n nv mopument.r so let us say that Z
"a nation dedicated 10 God and his rigl
- eousuess shall be the monument OF
- III l.0