Morning journal and courier., 1891-02-24
SON. or THr REvOLUTIoN.

graced one side of the hall and among the
flags which hung about the walls were
other pictures of battles and stirring
scenes of the revolutionary struggle. The
toast lists were adorned with picture of
the old Block Rock fort near Fort Hale,
in New Haven harboT, which was captured
by General Tryon and 800 British SOL
diers with two ships of war on July 3,
ITO, and was RACED by the United States
government in 1862. Over the guests ia
BILE was a large bank of smilax and
upon the table was a large bank of roses.
Seated at this table were Hon. "A. Porter,
Prof. w. I. Knapp, E.S. Barrett Of Boston,
Hon. T. p. Bayard of Delaware, Hon. Ell.
Phelps, Jonathan Trumbul Of Norwich,
president of the Connecticut society, Rev.
w. L. Phillips, General S. E. Mer-
win, Rev. DR.. S. D. Phelps, Hon. H.
B. Harrison, Hon. H. 9. Robinson of
Hartford, L. L. TarbelI of Boston, Lynde
Harrison, A. N. Huntington of Norwich,
Rev; De Loss Love, chaplain of the society,
Hartford. At this table were also Colonel
L. L. Morgan, chairman of the general
committee, and Colonel N. g. Osborn,
chairman of the literary committee.
After the banquet had been enjoyed for
two hours, President Jonathan T1umbull
introduced the
POSTMASTER, Ex-MINIsTER EDWARD J.
PHELPS,
And called for three cheers. which were
heartily given.
Ex-Minister Phelps spoke with pleasure
of the notable gathering which he saw
about him. I am not here to please you
with my own wit, he said, but to be the
medium of calling forth wit in others.
And do not ask for long speeches, for if
there seems necessity for long speech.
1 intend to step into the break myself and
make it. We should begin at the begin
ming, he continued, unless we heard from
the honored president of our society. He
then introduced President iona than
Trumbull.
PRESIDENT TRUMBULL.
"Our own society,"" said President
Trumbull, ''seems to me the only appro-
pirate thing for me to SPEAK upon Each
one of our members has an ancestor in
whom we may glory, whether he were a
general OF private, soldier or sailor, for he
was instrumental in securing for us the
liberty and glory which we enjoy to-day.
All honor to the great man whose birth
day we celebrate to-day, and all honor to
his noble band of soldiers. We should be
recreant to our duty did we forget the
glorious significance of our heritage of
American liberty" President Trumbull
here referred to the efforts of the
society to save the old historic town
house at Norwich, Conn. In this, said
he, am sorry to report a failure, but it
has proved sort of Bunker Hill for us.
We glory to-day in our society because it
is free from the touch of concentrating
and despolling influence of that political
and personal greed which characterizes
| most organizations of the day. 1t is for
us to be forever on our guard to see that
these hateful things may be stamped out
as soon as they begin to appear in our
midst. We have a glorious future, and
this future is wholly in your hands, my
brother members.
The POSTMASTER regretted the absence of
Senator O. h. Platt, who was to have
spoken upon "The Press, Political Parties
and Progress" The next toast, "The
Spirit of '76-The Corner Stone of Our
Political Liberties" was responded to by
Hon. Thomas F. Bayard, who was secre-
tary of state under President Cleveland.
Elk SECRETARY THOMAS F. BAYARD's Ap-
DRESS.
Inc ex-secfetary was received with vO-
ciferous applause. Said he:
fear I may disappoint you in speaking
of the spirit Of '76 upon al occasion so
carnival as the present, for it was not born
of meresexaltation of a passing frenzy
nor passionate impulse; it did not rever-
berate in the throat nor in the lungs, but
it had and still has its home silently in the
hearts of men. 1t entered into and took
n0SaaaeiO11 of hoIxr
stern mystery. When think of this kind
of men who were inspired by the spirit of
1876, when I think of what itinspired them
to do, I confess to see that hilarity gives
way to a serious mood. [ hear not the
clink of glasses nor the sound Of CAV
music, but the steady, solid tramp of de-
termined men. My ear catches not the
echo of the jolly song, but the quick, sharp,
imperative challenge of the sentinel, 'sIn
the name of liberty, who goes there!"
The words of your wish recall Concord
and Lexington and Valley Forge and
Christmas night of 1776 on the frozen Del
aware, and you could scarcely wonder if
scenes and sounds of distress and not of
merry making crowd my memory and fill
nay imagination. For what was the spirit
of 1776?
To comprehend it, its birth and origin.
we must go back to the time and events
amid which it was generated. AS to it's
results we may possibly measure them, if
with gratifed hearts we cast our eyes over
our national domain on the 16Oth anniver-
sary day of George Washington's birth
Our forefathers were British colonists
and loyal subjects, whose valor had added
to the dimension of the empire and whose
ties to the mother country were many and
strong. They were anxious to retain the
filial relations and cherish the noble ira
ditions of their race. They would have
said with Wadsworth:
''We must be free or de- who speak the tongue
bold
Which Milton held: In everything we are spring
Of earth's just blood have-titles manifested
First and foremost they were freemen.
They had sucked liberty in their mothers
milk; they had breathed its free air in
their cradles; their line of descent Law |
along the pathway of law, marking the |
boundaries over which power was not to |
set its foot nor stretch its mailed hand. |
They had both rights, rights of birth, not |
to be sold or bartered away; ties by inner |
ltance had to be won, but when gained |
never to be questioned or invaded There |
fore, when they heard the words "Sover- !
eign power" addressed to them across the |
Atlantic, the cry of Sir Edward Coke rang |
Jaw
centuries of British history and precedent:
Fake heed what we yield unto; magma |
charter is such fellow that he will have |
no sovereign" I wonder this "sovereipnn |
was not in magma charter or in the con |
of it. If we grant this by impli- |
cation we give sovereign power above all |
law. Power in law is taken for a power |
with force. The sheriff shall take the |
power of the country. What it means |
here God only knows. Our petition of |
right is founded on the acts of parlia- !
ment.
The daily lives of these men and their
thoughts had been fortified by the cur
rent six centuries of freedom under law.
1t was their habit to be free. They had a
constitutional legal battle. They knew
its history and reserved its precepts They
knew the law of the land that made kings.
but no law that king could make or un-
make at his will. Above the crown was |
written the maxim, "Les jacet repem. y
Let us give to the king that which the
aw gives him, and no MORE" said Coke.
Sovereign power is no parliamentary
word; it weakens magma charta and all the
statutes, for they are absolute" They
Knew that emo man should be imprisoned /
II restrained by comm and of the King ex-
,ept for lawful cause expressed In lawful
warrant. That the ancient and undouhted
light of freeman is that he hath full
md absolute property in his goods and
state, and that no tax, loan or other
,harge should be paid to the king or hts
minister's without the common consent of
parliament"