The Portland daily press., 1894-07-05
SONS OF THE REVOLUTION.
Their Part of POrtland's Great Fourth
of July.

Large Audience in City Hall last Evening
Addresses by Mayor Baxter and Rev.
b. l.. Whitman. d. D., President of
Colby-"Honest Work for Every Day
and Honest Hope for Every Morrow
the Remedy of Present Troubles.
The exercises at City Hall last eve
ming were of very high order and
greatly delighted the good sized audi
ence present. The Society Ct the Sons
of the Revolution had the . Judgement
of the meeting. A large oil painting of
General Knox lately copied for the So
clety from Stewards famous painting
was hung over the platform and sur
rounded by bunting.
After the band concert and the music
by Shaw's quartette, Mayor Baxter. who
was received with applause. made the
address as president OF the evening, say
ing:
Citizens of Portland:
We are here tonight to celebrate an i'm
pertant event AS it is natural for lndl-
viduals to desire to keep the memory of
important events in their lives by OBJ
currence SO with every people worthy of
national existence has the. comnlemora-
ton of great events in their history by
setting apart memorial days to mark
them, been deemed patriotic duty.
The day we celebrate marks the birth
day of great Ii ation and by observing
it in broad and generous spirit we give
scope to our patriotic impulses, and en-
courage the development of like impulses
in those who are to follow us. The bene-
fit which a nation derives from keeping
bright the memory of noble achieve
ments cannot we'll be measured. Even
savage people have recognized this and
have striven to keep legible in tradition
the Imperfect outlines of their rude &C
complishments, and should we ever be-
come SO Indifferent to our past history
as to permit the proper observance of our
national birthday to fall into disuse, we
shall have lost the appreciation of those
blessings which have be n Vouchsafed
to US by the free and benefcent govern
ment, which our forefathers SO painfully
founded, and be unworthy of the proud
title of American citizens.
I have spoken of the observance by
proper ceremonies of the birthday of
the nation, but mere observances of any
event may become formal and meaning
less; hence the necessity of recalling
the virtues of our ancestors who laid
the foundations of the republic upon
principles as lasting as the rocks which
underlie it's hills; and upon occasions
like this, we shall do well to revive the
memory of these patriots, and to dwell
not only upon their achievements, but
upon what those achievements signify.
To us they signify individual freedom
and equal rights before the law; univer-
sal education and
MUTUAL CHARITY,
and to quicken our faith in the final full
fllment of that millennial dream which
seers have foretold. Let us never become
Indifferent to the real ends which our
fathers strove to achieve. Let us labor
to strengthen and preserve those ;nstitu-
tions, the foundations of which they
laid in blood and tears; labor which
practicing those virtues which they so
brightly displayed. II
We have assembled tonight under the
auspices OF the Sons of the American
Revolution, an organization, one of
whose aims it is to gather and preserve
the history of that greatest of achieve
ments, American independence. But
beyond this aim is another, the binding
together by common bond of sympa-
thy the descendants of those noble men,
by whose labors nation was wrought
from scattered colonies, having conflict
ing interests, and dlstrustful of each
others friendship.
Years of civil strife have alienated the
descendants of the men who wrought
this great achievement, and this associ-
alton is to accomplish a work as import
ant as that of their sires by reuniting
the severed bonds and reestabl hing
the old brotherhood. What may not
this union of the descendants of reyo-
lutionary sires, scattered throughout
this broad land accomplish? We look
with apprehension at the
WAVES OF IMMIGRATION
which are flooding our land with igno-
rance and anarchy, and threatening to
involve in ruin the institutions SO dear
to every American heart. The men
who are crowding upon us ave no sym
pathy with the achievements in which
we take pride. Our revolutionary strug-, :
gle is to them but an idle tale. What
care they for the founders of the repub-
lie? 10 them freedom is license, and
PATRIOTISM an unknown sentiment. How
important, til en-, that every descendant
of revolutionary sire, in every corner
OF the Union should ally himself with
vi Sdht atfUlOn. tUdU IL Cno occasion
should ever arise that the services of III
members should be required. they may
stand, shoulder to shoulder, opposing
an invincible barrier to the foes ofAmer-
lean institutions. as precious to us as
our sires. (Applause(
After prayer by Rev. DIR. J. L. Jenkins.
OF the State street chnrch, Rev. DR., B.
L. Whitman, President of Colby, was
introduced as the orator of the evening.
1.-THE Revival of Patriotismn was the
subject of DR.. Whitman's address, of
which the following is an abstract:
There are signs of peril to our civil
life in the misconceptions of rights and
obligations just now unhappily very
common. The trouble is not confined to
any one grade of society. We are not in
danger of political dissolution; but
these signs are significant of weakness
that should be remedied. A Fourth of
July Grafton in city of patriots, under
the auspices of an organization of patri-
OTIS, is IN itself a reason for considering
the cure OF the evils suggested seeing that
the cure lies in a revival of patriotism.
What is patriotism? 1t is acceptance
OF mem bership in nation with convict
ion OF Its appointment to a place and
part in the worlds life. The patriot is
the man who has oOuntrv ond ,rh1