The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1881-07-28

: faith Of an opinion So, what is mos
5 worthy of admiration in the fathers Of ,7t
, is, not that,t they founded a new govern.
) ment, but that they yentured the exPer-
iment of founding government 'sof the
) people, by the people and for the people
lon the faith Of their opinion Of the ca
) lpacity and nobility of man. They be
: lieved in humanity and their trust is re-
warded by triumphant laurels and i'm
mortal fame.
}, One hundred and five years ago when
the old bell on Independence hall rang
out the first tidings 0fifreed0m, we were
thirteen little colonies bound together by
the brotherhood of a common weakness,
by the recognition Of a common danger
:. by the community of common wrong;
to-day we are thirty eight great states,
grand nationality by a union cemented by
1.-THE blood Of half million defenders, and
4 tested in the white heat of the fierce fur
mace. Of the worlds greatest rebellion.
We are united byaa common citizenship,
j by a common particips in the mar
Vicious triumphs Of more than a century
! Of national life, by a common property il
the battle fields where Independence was
won and its ripe fruition gathered, Hay, g
common pride in the chivalric valor
which skirted with golden fringess the
sulphnrous clouds which hung SO long IN
the sky above land filled with sorrow
and Grenched with fraternal hlcod, By a
common loyefer sthe flag of the free''
written all over with the names Of the
Iproudess victories humanity has ever
Won That proud old banners! Its. stars
are purer white and its stripes deeper
crimson as it catches to-day the sunbeans
of new year SO full of hope and prom
i Use. What hallowed memories cluster
about it on this natal day Of liberty
/ What vicssitudes it has seen. How many
hearts have broken, how many bled, that
it. might float to-day without "a stain
upon its ample folds or q star stricken
from its field OF blue Strong men have
carried it on a hundred fields up
into the jaws of death; dying he
roes have kissed its shadow as it fell
on ground hallowed by their blood
i Thank God, to-day as it floats in the at
|mosphere of a continent it waves over
neither traitor norsslave. a
| Borne aloft with royal will by the
manhood of freedom, it is standing for
ward, forward through the coming cycles
to greatness greater and grandeur
grander than the greatness and the grand
eur of the old empires of the world.
July 4th, 1776, the Alleghanies and the
Blue Ridge marked the western borders
Of civilization; its centre is to-day in
what was then the unexplored wilderness
of the Mississippi valley. Then one
hundred miles measured the width Of the
marrow belt Of settlement that stretched
ifsscra The winding slope Of sile sea- now
from where the pillows OF the Atlantic
break on the rocks OF New England for
three thousand miles across the continent
to where the moaning Pacific beats On
California's golden strand, there is one
unbcoken chain of happy American
homes. Then our population was less
than three millions, now it is more than
fifty millions. Then the hope OF sthe
fathers in their struggle for national
life rested upon the jealOusies OF CONT
mental potentates, now our republic is
the arbiter of the destinies Of continents
and Of kings. Then toe, the shadow Of
a great social wrong rested upon the land.
Chains. of personal bondage clanked up
on the limbs of a race, whose traditions
told Of no better days gone by; whose
simple faith saw in the future no sign OF
deliverance, only boundless waste OF
unrequited toll, of rayless, hopeless,
. homeless life Now around the altar OF
this republic are gathered as equals, ID
the recognized brotherhood OF freedom,
men and women of ali races, of all ma
tionalities, Of al colors. Every dweller
under that flag from the st, Lawrence to
the RIO Grande is a freeman, having q
fair start and an equal chance in the
Trace Of life The brightest gem that gilt
tiers in the crown OF Columbia as she sits
enthroned in her temple to-day, is that
lshe won when, in celestial light OF truth,
!, Ishe vindicated the Declaration OF Inde-
ipendence By nroclaiming the equal man
hood Of al, humanity.
The food Of freedom flowing from the
battle plains where the pent up wrath Of
nations breaks forth in its crimson plI-
lows too often recedes with the lapse Of
time, but our fathers on that July day
century ago, started a current OF progress;
that will flow On forever. They gave the