The herald., 1896-07-05

leaders In quest of strange gods. then
we will deserve to loose our proud dis
| tinction amongst the nations of the
earth. 1t has been our fond boast that
our land Is the very home of liberty.
| During the closing years of the last GEN.
tury the spirit of freedom was in travail
throughout all the civilized world In
that mighty struggle vast armies, in
| Europe as well as in America, shook the
| earth with their tread, and in the con-
vulsive throes of that great epoch, when
the soul of the universe was at its high
| est tension, midst the whirlwinds of
passion and torrents of blood. the birth
OF our nation was accomplished. And
coos own finger wrote His mark upon
its forehead and dedicated 1t forever to
the holy cause of civil and religious lib
| erty. We stand today as the highest
exemplification of that liberty. So long
as we live up to our manifest destiny,
so long will we maintain our place. AS
the embodiment Of the spirit of liberty.
the pulse of this nation, should beat full
| ana strong In unison and in sympathy
WIN the yearning heart throbs of every
nation ana every people that Is now
struggling for greater freedom.
we nave no quarrel with the abstract
principles Of government as presented
| oy european and Asiatic monarchies.
put mere In the western hemisphere it is
our right and our duty not only in ac-
cordance with the great natural law of
| sell reservation but also in the interest
OF human progress to proect and up
noio each and every one of our weaker
| SISTERS against European aggression and
lnnuence, even If it be against that
proud empire that styles herself the mis-
tress of the seas
may be unreasonable, but must con-
| fess that l can see no reason why the
old, worn-out and dying monarchies of
Europe should, vampire-like, seek to
4 Dr0I0nR their nvtc or hxyI
ing the life-blood from their new world
! colonies. Why should America give her
strength to support the tottering throne
OF Spain? What has Spain ever done for
Cuba to lay the latter under any legal or
| moral obligations to contribute to her
aid? She has no right but that Of con-
| quest. the right of the brigand. of the
spoiler, of the slave owner; and 1 say,
with every patriotic American. that the
| slave owner has no rights in free Amer
| lea. No man has the right to eat his
bread by the sweat Of another mans
brow. and no nation has the right to ex-
| tort from another nation the fruits of
honest toll. How long. oh Lord. how
| long. are these atrocities to continue?
How long are we to shudder at the
stories of the f1endish brutalities that
are transpiring hourly on American soil?
The cries of innocent children and the
groans Of helpless women almost reach
our ears across the narrow strip of water
that separates us, and while Freedom
lifts her shackled hands and streaming
eyes to heaven. Columbia, the oldest
child of Freedom, with countless wealth
and boundless power stands idly by. We
have right to demand. in the name of
humanity, that these cruel horrors cease.
And If 1t must be. let it be America
against the world. Let the martial
sound of fife and drum once more awake
the sons Of Liberty. and let the stars of
the flag of glory once more gleam above
the battle smoke. Let the loud cannon's
roar shake the very armament. and the
thunderbolts Of the god Of freedom will
aid our holy cause.
Then haste. thou dawn Of the swift
coming future, when civil and religious
liberty may be found on every foot Of
American soil, and the blessings of true
freedom and justice be forever secured
to every child that is so happy as to be
born beneath the western skies.
The American drum corps had come in
during Mr.. Browns speech, and when he
concluded gave selection of patriotic
airs, which, as usual, brought forth ap-
plause.
President RAIDER then introduced Gen.
Johnstone Jones as the next speaker
| The president said that we were met to-
| gether to celebrate the anniversary not
only of q prosperous and happy nation,
| took pleasure in introducing one of the
| warriors who. thirty years ago had felt
that it was his duty to take up arms on
the other side.
GEN. JONES SPEECH
Gen. Jones made an eloquent and
patriotic address. He said that he did
not appear as the representative of any
section or any body Of men. nor yet as
one who, thirty years ago, felt 1t to be his
duty to take the field under the stars and
bars as against the stars and stripes. but
as an American citizen. one as proud Of
his country nd as ready to defend 1t as
any who wore the blue. He said that
under the circumstances and with the
surroundings, he was almost tempted,
like the reverend gentleman who pre-
sided over the house of worship, to take
text for his speech. But he did not in
| tend to preach sermon If he should do
| so, he knew of no more fitting text than
| the United States flag or, what was the
| same thing, America for Americans The
| church, he said was fitting place for
| the exercises. Religion and patriotism
go hand in hand; the one exalts and
| strengthens the other. No church edi-
| fee, no altar. no place so sacred but it
| would be honored and glOrified by the
! presence of the stars and stripes-the
| symbol of American sovereignty. He
| told how religion dominated the patriot
| CduSe III 4tto, uOW tllc 4NSW GiSidiiu
| flags bore the inscriptions, Appeal to
Cod" Appeal to Heaven" ETC., and
| how at the outbreak of the war of the
rebellion flags were placed on the towers
and steeples of churches in the north,
| particularly Old South church, New
| York, and the Catholic cathedral in Gin
| cinnati.
Men of all races, creeds and parties
| should honor independence day. Span
| ish, American, French, German, Irish
| and all naturalized people; and Catholic
| and Protestant. Jew and Gentle, and
| men of all political organizations should
| together celebrate this day.
He spoke feelingly of the fact that the
Union soldiers and the ex-Confederate
| veterans cordially unite in honoEjng the
| flag. to which he paid glorious tribute.
| The abolition of slavery made the union
| stronger and greater than ever. Recon-
| Citation of the north and south was now
| perfect. and the old soldiers could clasp
| hands as friends and fellow w-countrymen.
| The day was doubly significant to Cal
| iforniaps. On July T. 1S46. Fremont and
| lie of California at Sonoma and declared
| independence of Mexico. He reviewed
| the history Of the conquest Of California
| by the United States troops under Stock
| ton, Fremont and Kearney; he told of
| the fiag-raising at Monterey, San Pedro
| and Los Angeles; also told of the entry
| of the American army into Los Angeles
| August 13, 1876, and again January 10,
| lS47, and the closing Of the war in Au-
! gust, 1S48, when California became part