The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1895-07-10
HISTORICAL ADDRESS
W. H. K00NTz. Esq.

COUNTY The Centennial Anniversa-
~ of the organization ofSomerset coun-
ty occurred on the 18th day of April
last. The citizens of this county. ami
mated by patriotic sentiment, resolved
To celebrate the day with appropriate
ceremonies. To best suit the conve-
nience of the people Of the county il
was deemed advisable To postpone the
Observance of this interesting event un-
Ill this day, when they could celebrate
not only the day when Somerset coun-
ty was organized, but the day on which
the Continental Congress proclaimed
To the world their immortal Declara-
tion of Independence, by which they
absolved themselves from all allegiance
10 the British Government and declar-
ed that from thenceforth the colonies
were, and "of right ought TO be free
and independent states"
The period at which a community is
organized into IA separate political body
can not properly be regarded as the
time from which its growth and de-
veiopment begin. The transactions of
human life are often so closely connect
ed that one event is the natural Sc
| quence of other events more or less re-
mote, but so inseparably linked togeth-
er and tending, ultimately, to produce
a certain condition of affairs, that they
proceed in regular and harmonious or
der and with the unerring and ire
sistible march of destiny.
Welook to the past to read the mean
ing of the present, and we only read
the full significance of the period in
which we live by tracing to their ori-
gin the events that preceded and final
ly produced il. 1t required eight cen
turies of struggle before the English
government assumed definite form,
and rs many more before ii loomed up
into its proud and majestic proportions.
Marvellously rapid as was the growth of
centuries from the landing of Columbus
until the adoption of the Constitution
of the United States.
There are events in the lives Of all
nations that stand out with marked
conspicuity on the page of history.
Some decisive battle that changed the
fate o: kingdoms and empires, such as
Marathon and Tours, where the adj
vancing hOrdes Of barbarism were hurl-
ed back from Europe, and the relics of
ancient and the forms of modern civili-
zation preserved, and upon the fate of
which hinged the whole future pro-
gress of human civilization or such as
Yorktown, where the liberties of ma
ton were finally won or on the
heights of Gettysburg, where the forces
of the Confederacy were so shattered
that the unity and integrity of the
Great American Republic were finally
preserved the establishment of great
empires, dominated and controlled by
the genius of one man, such rs were
created by the brilliant achievements
of Alexander the Great, Julius Cesar
and Napoleon Bonapart,; some great a,
in the interest of humanity, such a. the
Reformation 10y Martin Luther, or the
Emancipation Proclamation by Abra
ham Lincoln, by which four millions
of enslaved human beings We're set free
These, and many Others that might be
mentioned, are the splendid monu-
uments on the pathway of time that
can never he obliterated. They note
the struggles and triumphs of the hu-
man race and they tower above the
ordinary occurrences of human life, as
the lofty peaks of the Alps or Rocky
mountains rise, in their majesty and
grandeur, above the surrounding re-
gions.
Prominent among the great events
in the worlds history was the discov-
cry of America by Christopher Column
bus. 1t is true that Left, the son of
Eric the Red, had reached our shores
over five hundred years prior to the
landing of Columbus.
Draper says that ''the wandering
Scandinavians had reached the shores
of America first in the vicinity of Nan
tuclet, and had given the name of
Nineland to the region extending from
beyond Boston to the south of New
York. But the memory of these voy-
ages seems to have totally passed away,
or the lands were confounded with
Greenland, to which Nicholas V. had
appointed bishop, n. ID. l4is. Had
the traditions been known to or re-
spected by Columbus, he would I'M
doubtedly have steered his ship more
| 10 the north.'
The age in which Columbus lived
was noted for its intellectual activity.
The discovery of the art of printing in
the year l440 had given n new impetus
to the people of Europe, who were fast
awakening from the gloom and dark
ness of the Middle Ages
The discovery of the new world crea-
ted an enthusiasm in Europe such as
has not been known since the days of
the Crusaders. Ii agitated Europe to
its deepest foundations. 1t permeated
all society from the peasant TO the
throne. 1t opened up to the potentates
of Europe immense opportunities for
discovery, conquest and the dominion
of vast regions of country beyond the
sea : to the mobiles and other magnates
of the old world visions of wealth be-
yond the dreams of avarice," and To
those among the masses of the people
who could get away from their old en-
vironment il gave the hope of new
homes with better conditions of life
than those that surrounded them.
There were various motives that gov
erned the people that fiocked to this
country. Some came to better their
condition some for the mere acquisi-
ton of wealth, and some for fame and
10 acquire power and dominion over
their fellow men.
Among them, howev,r, came one
who was animated by lofty purpose
who came with his soul filed with the
high ideal of founding a great common'
wealth upon the basis of freedom OF
conscience and of equal rights to all
| This person was William Penn, a name