The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1889-05-22
OUR PEOPLE
speech OF Esx-President CIeve-
land at the Centennial BAN
nIIef in New N Orlk.


The mention of "a people may well
suggest sober and impressive redec-
tions. The subject was not beneath
the Divine thought when the prom
Use was given Ito the children of
Israel: 81 will take you to me for
people, and / will be to you God.
This idea of divine relationship to a
people Is also recognized in the fer
vent utterance, "Yea, happy is that
people whose God is the Lord"
Wherever human government has
been administered in tyranny, in
despotism or in oppression, there
has been found among the governed
a yearning for freer condition and
the assertion of mans nobility
These are hut the faItering steps,ofl
human nature in the direction of
the freedom which is its birthright,
and they presage the struggle of
men to become a free people, and
thus reach the plane of their highest
and best aspirations. In this rela
ton, and in their cry for freedom,
it may be truly said the voice of the
people is the voice of God.
The influence of these relations is
upon me as l speak of those who af-
ter darkness and doubt and struggle
burst forth In the bright light of
independence and liberty and be-
came cone people free, deter
mined and confdent-challenging
the wonder of the universe, pro-
claiming the dignity of man and in
voking the aid and favor of AL
mighty God.
In sublime faith and rugged
strength our fathers cried out to the
world: eve, the people of the
United States, in order to form
more perfect union, establish justice,
insure domestic tranquility, pro
vide for the common defense, pro-
mote the general welfare, and secure
the blessings of liberty to ourselves
and our posterity, do ordain and es-
tablish this Constitution for the
United States of America" Thus
our people, in a day, assumed "a
place among the nations of the
earth. Their mission was to teach
the fitness of man for selt-govern-
ment, and their destiny was to out
strip every other people in national
achievement and material greatness.
One hundred years have passed.
We have announced and approved
to the world our mission, and made
our destiny secure. L will not
tameIy recite our achievements
They are written on every page of
our history, and the monuments of
our growth and advancement are
all about us. But the value of these
things is measured by the tullness
with which our people have pre-
served their patriotism, their integ
rity and their devotion to free in
stitutions. If engrosscl in material
advancement, or diverted by the
turmoil of business and activity,
they have not held fast to that love
of country and that simple faith in
virtue and enlightenment which con-
stituted the hope and trust of our
fathers, all that we have built rests
upon foundations infirm and weak
Meeting this test, we point to the
scattered graves of many thousands
of our people who have braveIy died
in defense of our national safety and
pcrpetuity, mutely bearing testi
mony to their love of country, and
to an invincible living host standing
ready to enforce our national rights
and protect our land. Our churches,
our schools and universities and our
benevolent institutions, which beau
tify every town and hamlet and
look out from every hillside, testify
to the value our people place upon
religious education, upon advanced
education and upon deeds of charity.
That our people are still Jealous of
their individual rights and freedom
is proved by the fact that no one in
place or power has dared openly to
assail them. The enthusiasm which
marks the celebration Of the centen-
nial of the Inauguration of their
first Chief Magistrate shows the
popular appreciation of the value of
the Office, which in our plan of gov
ernment stands above all others for
the sovereignty of the people, and
is the repository of their trust.
Surely such people can be safely
trusted with their free government;
and there need be no fear that they
have lost the qualities which fit
them to be its custodians. If they
should be misled, they will discover
the true landmarks none too late
for safety, and if they should even