Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-10-17
Our Freedoms Hundred Years.

Our Freedoms Hundred Years.
The celebration of the centennial ami
.versary of the surrender of CORVALLIS
to the allied forces whose admirable
strategy and gallant conduct brought the
struggle for liberty to a closein the me-
morable siege Of Yorktown, was htly
begun Yesterday with homage to Him IN
whom the fathers put their trust, and
whose benefcence crowned their valor
and sacrifices with the boon they craved.
One hundred years have rolled away
since freedoms fight was won. The seed
planted in that sowing time of courage
and endurance has ripened hundred
fold, and waited to every land has yearly
borne its fruit, and, though often unas-
sisted, has bloomed wherever cast
Could they whose bold words and
lofty counsels fred and guided the strug-
Cling colonies share in the scenes about
to be enacted on that stored field
what emotions would crowd upon them.
Unlike the great of Greece, of Rome, OF
medieval Italy, and those grander spir-
its. who shed their blood on blocks and
battle fields, or whose bones bleached on
gibbets. or mouldered in dungeons in
freedoms cause, they died convinced
that in their land the prize they valued
would be cherished, and that the labors
of their lifetime were crowned for all
time.
Yet the fondest patriot of them all
never pictured for his land the splendor
she now wears or the potency of the
charm her progress exerts. Peace truly
has its victories, and as the Spartan valor
at ThermOpyle transeends the martial
triumphs of the ages, so does the centu-
~ of the American republic the rise of
dead and living empires. Naught like
it has been seen, and its next will alone
surpass it. Fifty millions breathing the
air Of freedom, moved by common hopes,
prizlng their liberties, and with naught
to hinder their onward march save their
eagerness and haste, may well attract. as
they do the gaze of the universe.
Who could tell that did not know,
save by sight of the wastes of war, that
this people waged but few short years
ago a contest, brief in duration, but
mighty in its consequences and fearful
in its cost? Once again our glorious flag,
the symbol of our matchless system,
floats over a united people. The cause
that was won lives in union indissolu-
bic, and the cause that was lost survive:
in States indestructible. Without union
liberty was helpless; without liberty
union was worthless. Let history de
clare which was the grander. Children
have grown to manhood since that fina,
scene at AppOmattox. The shouts Of
the victOrs and the signs of the
vanquished have died away. Now
all of us unite in commemOrating
the day that saw the sanction Of
the claim our fathers made in the
highest court of earth. The decree wa;
irrevocable, and one hundred years at
test its wisdom and its Justice.
The thgtielts of the patriotic turn
fondly to washington and the noble
hearts and wise heads that lent to his eff
forts their valOr and their counsel. But
while we pay them the tribute of CRATE
full recollection-and extend their NEED
to that first gentleman of France who fell
a victim to his generosity, and those great
hearted men who waited not a summons
to lend US aid-memOry's stretches should
take in the brave, the true of every cline
and every time. who lived and tOiled and
died in the same great cause. If the task
be too great, then we can breathe com
mon benediction for the good they
wrought, and pray that our land, so
great. so grand, so free. may usher in by
its example the time when all peoples
shall be one, and the prophecies of Holy
Writ fulfilled.