The Indianapolis journal., 1891-02-23

brothers. 'We now have" he Continued.
within the compact that our venturinR
fathers formed moro than sixty millions
of people. prosperous and happy IN
continental territory that is bounded
by the zones and embraced by the oceans.
Our flag is known and honored and has in
fluence In every part of the globe. ALI the
pages of our history are adorned with deeds
of valor and examples Of high renown.
Throughout the world our country Is re-
garded as holy temple of liberty. 1t is
precious Inheritance. and grows moro
bright and sacred as the years increase.
No 22d of February has been so meaningful
TO our people as this is. The name of
George Washington was never by them so
much admired and revefed as now it Is. 1t
will be more and more ardently admired as
we progress in time ard improve in dis
eliminating Judgments and in moral and
patriotic virtues.
IF character is greatness: If choosing a
great cause and complete devotion to its
service through the greatest OF tempta-
tions and difficulties prove that man is
great. then Washington was truly a great
man. He was associated with men who
knew greatness when they saw il. That
he was chosen by Adams. and Hamilton,
and Jefferson, and Madison to be their
the Republic proved their greatness and
his. In him were all manly all sober and
sensible qualities IN proportional blending.
He had unerring sagacity and Judgment
and unquenchabie and unvarying patriot
ism.. His purpose and courage never Ca
pitulated. He was uniformly loyal and
great He made no biunders. For more
than hundred years the eve of the crit
ical historian has searched with lighted
candle through all the folds of his gar
peaches his perfect integrity or dlms the
tiawless splendor of his fame. OF all great
men he was the most virtuous. History has
crowned no purer figure than his. Through
all the darkness and teDpests of his time he
preserved his right-mindedness and re.
mained entirely steady in his course and
purpose. No nobler figure ever stood in
the forefront of nations life. He was
the completest incarnation of the federal
conscience conscience, its perfect example lea and abiest
made the national enterprise successful
from it's beginning. Had he been ambi-
tlOus and seif-seeking he would have
turned the Nation from it's high purpose
and sought to build dynasty OF his own.
Such was the fathering race that made all fast,
Who founded US, and spread from sea 10 sea-
A thousand leagues. the zone OF liberty,
And built for man this refuge from his past.
Unkinged, unchurched, unsoldiered; shame
Failing the stature that such sires forecast.
The greatest riches of nation are her
noble dead whom she hath borne to be her
memory. Our wealth in this regard Is vast
and increasing. Washington, Lincoln, Grant,
Sherman! 1t is long list of heroic
worthless who have gloriOusly served our
Nation and left imperishable in our memo
ries the riches of their characters and the
story of their deeds. What a fertile and
mighty soldier was he whom our Nation, in
tears, has just followed to his last resting
place in st. Louis. What q tower of
strength he was to the Nation In the hour
of its greatest peril. His march from At
masterful in itself and also in Its results.
Our enemies had said that we were weak
and incapable Of the greatest deeds Gen.
Sherman wrote on the face of Georgia and
South Carolina, in letters thirty miles
wide, that We were strong and mighty.
Grant, Sheridan and Sherman! What q
trio was that! By their genius their fidelity
and their bravery they turned the days of
our darkness and sadness into days of
brightness and jubilation. Now the second
spent. loaded with oil the honors a grateful
people could heap upon him. the idol of the
army and or the household. is gone to
join the grand army of the silent soldiers
loved him. The whole world admired him.
He showed us what patriotism is and what
u loyal citizen of great genius can do for
his country's perpetulty and welfare. The
soil beneath which their dust reposes Is
sacred soil. The institutions, to preserve
which they consecrated their genius and
their lives, are holy institutions. The
starry flag that waved over them in life
and wrapped them around in death Is an
historic flag and never to be desecrated.
1t represents the patriotic faith and martyr
zeal of hundreds of thousands of noble
citizens who have laid down their lives in
its defense. That flag never symbolized
injustice or inhumanity.y 1t was never de-
of emancipation. and of liberty and union,
one and inseparable forever. We are hopeful
of the future as we look out over the land
and remember that our flag is still there.
You. the Patriotic Sons of America, are
pledged to see to it that that flag is pre-
served from insult by any other
flag Whatsoever. You have taken a
solemn oath that NO flag of
any color, representing any political
faith OF sentiment. shall ever. in this coun-
flag You are right Ono political flag
that glorious flag of Bunker Hill and of Ap-
pomattox-is enough for this Nation, and
enough for every loyal American. God
ours is Onr government is of the highest
order and the best the world ever saw. The
people are the mobiles. We have here no
distinctions of birth or of blood. Every
man has fair field, and wears such honors
as he wins. We have here no social strait
fications, like that of the rocks, which hold
one class of men forever down, while an
other class. with no merit of their own.
isforever on top. The social units among
Us are like the drops in the great ocean,
where each is free to rise from the lowest
depths to shine in the highest wave that
lifts its crest to the sun. We have the best
civil polity that was ever devised by man
and separate from all ecclesiastcIsn. and
the best churehism the world has known
and separated entirely from the state. Here
conscience is free. and the priest, as such,
must let the civil power alone.
Revolutions" said the Doctor in conclu-
sion, do not GO backward. And yet we
must be vigilant. Always republics have
had their perils. Ours is no exception.
Nearly half q million of foreigners came to
our shores last year. Some of them were
paupers, some criminals, some were out
laws and came here to practice the vices
that made them offensive in the homes they
left Congress should pass laws that limit
immigration to the worthy We must not
permit our public schools to become ecclesi-
astical nor par0chial. We must guard our
towns and cities from becoming communis-
tic and anarchic. If we would preserve the
integrity of our institutions and hold them
steady TO the American idea, we must be
forecasting and alert In the offices of good
nelghborhoOd, and in the administration of
Justice, equity and charity. wa have made
great progress. Our people are moro
thoughtfully and passionately American
than ever they were. We are the heirs of
heroes and have o holy inheritance. We
stand in mighty relationship. Knowing
what are onr rights, and privileges. and
feeling our dignitieS, let II 8 ma malntain them. /"