Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1891-06-11


Importance? 'Tis the image of God All
other considerations are merely accident
al. Social position, cultivated talents,
circumstances of birth, color aud the like
are mere accidents that do not necessarily
affect the essential qualities of manhood.
That Is the source of our rights and Of our
duties. If we are equal, then our rights
are equal Our duties depend in meas
ure at least, on the accidentals; for of him
who has much much is required. But in
general we say that our rights and our
duties depend on our relations to God. to
the state, and to our fellow men An ex-
act knowledge of these rights and of those
, duties leads to the true notion of liberty.
That conceive to be the American doe
trine of freedom. and that all draws nutri-
! ment from the nature Of man Therefore.
the noblest thing in man is manhood In
, that sense we should be 10 each other in
this great nation a. are to each other the
drops of water that form beautiful lake
Nor is 1t difficult to trace the finger Of
God in the development of this idea. To
| illustrate what mean will hold to the
| figure of the lake
'Tis chsrmingly located partially bor-
dered by vsrious mountains whose tower
ing brows are crowned in wreath of
cloud and diadem Of snow" Searching
! for its source Of life we ind several rivu-
lets that trace their course directly from
| those very icy regions in the mountain
| tops. Then we reflect. There was a time
when this vast region was a mass of ice !;
no freedom of the waters. But God swung
| His light in the heavens and gradually the
bonds were loosened There was a mighty
rushing OF the waters. The face of nature
was completely changed. ony the proud
| hills rose up from the contest and still
| held to the bondage OF the past. Yet. un-
| der divine providence, even that works to
| good for the light still shines. the bonds
! are loosencd, the lake /, FED. Such. in
| word. was our nations source of life :
| such It's mode Of nouri,hment. There
was s.aclal period among men in the
| time OF pasaui>m. Freedom was I'M
| known. Then appeared the Light OF the
| world" That light warmed To freedom
1 The change In the political world wa, most
4 complete. Still a remnant of the old .pir.
/ it held it, own in many Of the nigh places
/ of power that rose up from the contest.
/ Feudalism. slavery, severe .nty. a priv
| iicgcd nobility are some Of thr names that
indicate and imply class distinct from the
rest Of mankind, class born to rule ire
| ~pective Of fitness "A class not in harmony
with the rest of mankind Yet under III.
| vine prov idencr. even that works to good.
For the light SIN shines, the bonds are
loo-ered and tAu~ All Who yearn for the
mobility % mankind torn the various
streams that come TO uourish the nation
wher, man stands on his merits oar ma
ton j. formed by the meeting Of the
waters
50 much FIR the ideal Alas il
Ia, not, in All things proved the real
America For, still holding % the
hgurc, there was one mountain which
cast IL shadow on the lake and com
plrtcly nodded it. character Il hung
threaicninEly over the fertile border But
The free wind famed the surface ot the
lake and the hardy waves undermined the
mountains foot Then came the ava.
lanohc The lake sent back the shadow Ia
the mountain. Such j. The figure US. for
our revolution, the tii~t step towaEi polit-
cal freedom. The Declaration Of Iude-
pcudcnc- Ma written In l~l3 England
tested it> strength and sincerity in
the world at large Our nation proved
equal To The test. That was the second
$50 We ourselves tested IL, strength aud
sincerity at home. Did W. really mean
what we said: Are all men, as men, equal?
The North followed Jefferson; the South
followed Calhoun God favored the North.
The case Is settled Thus was the third
and last step towards political freedom.
At last we -tand forth a nation OF free
men. But il has taken three wars and
century OF time TO prove that every sub
jcct Of the stars and stripes is free
Is all then settled: Politically, perhaps,
yes socially and religously, no. The
great barrier TO social and religious free
dom is, in .word. prejudice, the remains
Of an old spirit which dies slowly and
hard
m naf al 10. Hr.t i..r :
directly in the path of the line of argu-
mcnt which have chosen; and secondly.
because it gives me pleasure to assist in
obtaining for Il the grace of a happy
cause for .xistence that it is contrary to
the true American spirit
First comes social prejudice, which en-
ters also into politics. pass by the gues-
tions concerning the relations Of capital
and labor. That is subject which Is too
vast in It's nature to be treated in few
words; aud besides it is not peculiar to
our nation. But | take up a subject which
might, perhaps, be more properly called
racial pref udice; since that is something
that might be, in manner disposed of in
a few words and besides it is peculiar to
our nation. We are told that "some men
are born great while Others have greatness
thrust upon them" Such would seem to
be the view of many in regard to the ques-
tion of American citizenship. For we Of
ten hear of the native born and the for
eigner, implying priority and superiority
of right in the former, My friends, will
it be news to you to learn that in this
great republic We have absolutely no such
distinction among our citizens? We are
all simply Americans. We glory in no
other political title. We accept no other.
The simple fact of birth In the land does
the children of the Chinese ambassador
would be American if born in the land.
But the possession Of the legal title to cit
izenship does render one the right Of
AmericaDsm. And that alone does set its
seal on the holder as an American. Other
| wise the title has no meaning. But as a
matter of fact, one may say, some are
born elsewhere. Even so remember our
Observation-Disclosures of birth, time,
place and the like are mere accidents that
do not necessarily affect the essential quail
tiles of manhood And this is | take il