Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-10-21
The ARGU $.
FRIDAY OCTOBER 81. 1892
HAIL. COLUMBUS!
tCon'Irued from First age }

ing and after ten years of disappointment and
poverty at last stood before the throne of Fer
dinand and Isabella TO plead his cause His
unshakable faith that he had a commission
from heaven to carry Christ across the sea 10
new continents was proof against all rebuffs
Said the orator:
at was a happy omen of the position which
woman to hold in America. that the o. Is
person who comprehended the majestic scope
of his plans and the invincihle quality of his
genius the able and gracious Queen of
CASTLE. Isabella alone of all the dignitaries of
that age, shares with Columbus the honors of
his great achievement She arrayed her king
dom and her private fortune behind the en-
thusiasm of this mystic mariner, and posterity
pays homage to her wisdom and faith"
The World in Columbus Times.
Mr.. Depew then sketched the condition of
the old world at the time of the discovery of
America. 1t was to them the expansion of en-
pire, he said. but ii proved the supplying of a
haven of refuge for individual intelligence and
independent conscience Thinkers who be-
Geved men capable of higher destines fed to
these distant lands from intolerable and hope
less oppression. But il required 80 years for
them understand their own powers and
resources. If the people of the Old world had
not possessed the opportunity of the for
their emancipation they would still be strug-
Cling with medieval problems He then
sketched the history of the lands discovered by
Columbus: how they first divided be-
tween Spain, England and France, and how
England finally dominated in North America
and the great work of freedom began in the
British colonies.
The Puritan and Cavalier.
He then proceeded: THE Puritan settled in
New England and the Cavalier in the south
They represented the opposites of spiritual and
temporal life and opinions. The processes of
liberty liberalized the one and elevated the
other. Washington and Adams were the new
types. Their union in common cause gave
the world a republic both noble and free. 1t
possessed conservatism without bigotry and
da6
strong enough to resist revolution and elastic
enough for indefinite extension To meet the re-
quirements in government of ever-enlarging
areas OF population and the needs of progress
and growth. The Mayfiower. with the Pill
grims, and Dutch ship laden with African
slaves, were on the ocean at the same time, the
sailing for Massachusetts. the other for
Virginia This company of saints and first
cargo of slaves represented the forces which
were to peril and rescue free government The
SLAYER was the product of the commercial spirit
of Great Britain and the greed of the times 10
stimulate production in the colonies. The men
who wrote in the cabin OF the Mayfower tine
first chapter of freedom, a government of just
and equal laws, a little band of protest
ants against injustice and tyranny. The leaven
of their principles made possible the Declare
ton of Independence, liberated the slaves and
founded the free common wealths which form
the republic of the United States.
Birth of the United states.
platforms of principles, by petition, or pro
test. or statement, have been as frequent as
revolts against established authority. They
are part of the political literature of all ma
tions. The Declaration of Independence pro
claimed at Philadelphia July 4. l776 is the only
one of them which arrested the attention of the
world when it was published, and has held its
undivided interest ever since. The vocabulary
of the equality of man had been in familiar use |
by philosophers and statesmen for ages.
ut expressed noble sentiments, but their ap-
plication limited 10 classes or conditions. |
The masses cared little for them reInem- |
bered them long. Jefferson superb crystal |
ization of the popular opinion, that all men
are created equal that they endowed by
their Creator with certain inalienable rights, |
that among these are life, liberty and the pur- |
suit OF happiness, had its force and effect in |
being the deliberate utterance of the people. |
1t swept away in a single sentence kings and |
mobiles, peers and prelates. 1t was Magma |
Charta, and the petition of rights pla ted in |
the virgin soil of the American wilderness and |
bearing richer and ripper fruit.
Under its vitalizng influence upon the indi- |
vidual. the farmer left his pillow in the furrow, |
the lawyer his books and briefs the merchant |
his shop and the workman his bench. to enlist |
in the patriot army. They We're fighting for |
themselves and their children. They embodied |
the idea in their constitution, in the immortal |
words with which that great instrument of |
liberty and order began: We, the people of 1
the United States, do Ordain.