The Dupuyer acantha. [volume] (Dupuyer, Mont.) 1894-1904, 1895-07-06

were actually before us. Shutting
our eyes to the present, we car
live amid the events of the Revolu>
tion. Let us summon that power
to our aid today.
A long series of aggressions and
usurpations had eliminated in open
rebellion. The mutterings of dis
content, at first feeble, had grown
stronger and louder until the storm
burst. Outraged liberty could
bear no more, and the swelling
notes of defiance to British tyranny
found expression in the clash of
steel. Like thick fog enveloping
the earth, the cloud of war settled
upon the country and the greatest
conflict for freedom, which the
world had ever seen was ushered
in.
It was hazardous undertaking.
Nothing but sublime conviction
of right and pure, undismayed
patriotism, could have induced it.
That handful of undisciplined
men should confront the trained
soldiers of Europe, astonished the
world. But he who strikes for
home and liberty, strikes doubly
hard. On one side were the most
perfectly disciplined troops in the
world. They were fresh from the
battlefields of Europe, and war was
with them profession. They
were considered invincible. On
the other side were the militia, who
had laid down the implements of
agriculture, abandoned the various
pursuits of peace, and we're unused
to bearing arms, and uncomfortable
when clothed in the regalia of war.
We cannot sufficiently honor
those heroes who, amid the carnage
and death of the battle field, offered
their country all they had to give.
"Greater love than this hath no
man than that he lay down his life"
for home and fireside, for truth and
liberty.
We see that handful of men, rag
ged, half starved, but filled with
unflinching courage. We track
the.n through the valleys and over
the hills by the blood which they
have left along the trail. The blt>
ter cold of winter sends a chill
through their bodies and benumbs
all but their warm, beating hearts.
The pitiless rains of sumner damp
en- everything but the fires of their
patriotism. Behind them are their
homes and household gods. In
front is that internal sheet of flame
which frlnged the British lines.
They bear up bravely beneath the
reverses Of Brandywine and Hang
ing Rock. They see the flames
which rise from the burning ruins
of Falmouth, Kingston, New Lon>
don and Springfield. They only
draw deeper breath and their hands
clinch their weapons more firmly
than before. Opposition but
their resolve. Defeat
nerves them to fresh attempts.
The more formidable the OF s.aclethe
more impe suously they surmountit
Weary, sore and bleeding, they
stood forth, the forlcrn hope of the
world, and did battle for the sacred
cause of liberty.
One fou! blot, alone, stains their
fair record Even as man was
found who could betray the Saviour
of the world, there was not lacking
one who wrote his name upon the
pages of American history, for the
detestation of the ages. Trusted
by his countrymen, admitted to the
councils of the leading spirits, he
dishonored his country and covered
himself with inf cmy.
But, triumph was to come. The
wreaths of victory crowned their
brows at Trenton, Saratoga, Mon
mouth and Yorktown. The in
vaders were hurled back from the
sacred soil of America. Our coun-
try, with baptism of fire and
blood, was christened in the name
of Freedom and the priceless
heritage has descended to US. The
armies of Great Britain had failed.
The cloud lifted from the land, re-
vealing he cruel DISSOLUTION that
had been wrought. On every hlll-
side and in every valley were the
grim, mute evidences of the fearful
price that had been paid for liberty.
AS, after terrible explosion, the
lifting clouds of smoke reveal the
prostrate and scattered ruins; so,
when the clouds of war drifted
away, there was left to the gaze
country, shattered and bleeding
but free.
On the 3Oth of May, with sad
hearts and tender memories, we
decorated the graves of the fallen
sons of the Republic. Today we
unite, from one ocean to the other,
to do honor to those who fought to
those grand principles
upon which our government is
based. Nine of that immortal land,
who signed the Declaration of In