The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1885-06-04
The GLORY OF AMERICA! !
VALEDICTORY, BY IRA L. JONES, DELIV-
Erred AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE
JACKSON HIGH SCHOOL.

|
Erred AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE
| JACKSON HIGH SCHOOL.
The history of the nations of antiquity
| terminates in legend, tradition or oracle,
and is handed down from generation to
to generation cherished as authenic, in
terpreted in the light of our own times.
We need only to go back few years
to the ancestral lands, to find the germs
of American history reliable as historical
data from the very beginning. AS we
turn these pages we can but exclaim
"the history of America. comparatively
brief, but the most glorious chapter of
the history of the world"
She is not to be revered for her old age,
having only travelled with the earth
around the sun about four-hundred times;
yet within this compendious span of ex-
istence, her course has been marked by
events of no small moment.
The din of the Wood-man'S ak had
scarcely ceased in the forests of Plymouth
and jamestown, ere the colonists were
compelled to struggle for national inde-
pendence.
The British government was weighed
in the balances of justice and humanity
and found wanting. The bell of liberty
rang out upon the air of the New World,
and the first century of American free
dom began.
America soon commenced to provide
for herself; she made grand stride for
ward and took her high and honorable
place among the older powers of the
Earth.
Since then she has passed triumphantly
through three severe and trying conflicts;
The latest of these conflicts shook the
country from center to circumference.
A war which was not only of conse-
quence in the annals of America, but
one of the greatest ever witnessed by the
people of either ancient or modern times.
The grand old Union of states was
threatened with destruction and it seemed
as though house divided against itself
would surely fall; yet she proved herself
equal to the emergency, smote the key
stone of African slavery, and the accursed
institution fell; while the Union came
forth from the terrible ordeal of Civil
War, purified as by fire and nobler than
ever.
The close of the civil war brought
prosperity again to the Republic. En-
terprises, which surpassed in magnitude
those of any former period, were en-
barked in with alacrity and zeal.
The country itself was going through
the process of reconstruction; old land
marks giving way before the onward
march of improvements, and their places
being taken by magnificent palaces of
stone and iron.
Now,-Railroads traverse the country
from the atlantic" to the Golden gate
of the Pacific" Steamboats, ply gaily on
our smallest rivers. The hum of machin-
cry is heard weaving our cotton and
wool, grinding our grain and saving our
lumber.
What wonderful transformations have
taken place within the space of few
centuries, from a handful of settlers,
America is now teeming with her mil
lions. Not many years ago the wild deer
roamed over the wilderness, and slaked
its thirst in pools, where now the grand
est monuments of the architects skill rise
proudly above the places which they then
covered.
America not only opens wide her doors
to the prosecuted and oppressed of all ma
tions, and bids them God-speed in all ear
nest endeavors to obtain a livelihood, but
she also transacts an enormous amount
of business with them in their foreign
homes.
She buys the tea and rice of China;
the manufactured articles from Europe;
Brazil's coffee; and spices from the Mol
lucca.
She sends ministers and consuls abroad
to regulate these commercial affairs and
to secure harmony. She is magnanimous
in diplomacy.
Commissioners of varying rank and
dignity are furnished to every foreign
power of any Importance on the face of
the globe.
With so many wise and energetic di-
plomats, the commerce with foreign pow
ers moves grandly along without friction
or jar. Reason predominates, and petty
disputes which otherwise might cause
war are peaceably settled. All praise be
given to her ambassadors. 1t was in di-
plomacy, that Benjamin Franklin's great
talents were most conspicuous, and in the
diplomatic service of his country, he won
his proudest laurels.
The Romans thought much of bravery
and nothing won their applause more
than some heroic deed performed by their
countrymen in the face of danger.
While the Americans lack none of the
daring of the ancient Romans. they may
be said to have more moral courage.
While they do not foolishly hazard their
lives for empty applause, they are ready
to respond with their blood to their coun-
try's call, and their country's need will
bring to the field of conflict not one noble
Cincinnatus alone from his farm, but
| thousands from the farm, the shop, the
markets and the school.
! From the first skirmish at Lexington