Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1896-07-06

| ! deSli: ana sincerely regret that the
| absorbing work of d busy life has pre-
| vented my bringing to the work assigned
| me the careful study due to the day and
| tie occasion. cannot permit my nasty
| WORK TO bear the heavy title of an ora
| ton. AS a people we delight in high
| sounding rhetoric. Men afflicted with
dangerous iluency are mis-styled orators.
| II Is one thing 10 talk, quite another 10
the scattering grains of wheat have been
| Sarnered and the very chaff itself long
since swept up by the numberless ora
tors sacrificed to the American love of
Specch-inaking
| 1t is twenty years since we passed our
| centennial mile stone. In the City where
first rang out the bell of Liberty. the ma
| tons of the world gathered to pay hom-
| iSe TO the triumphs of Il free people in
the onward march of civilization. On the
| same ground a hundred years before
reSolute men pledged their lives. their
| fortunes and their sacred honor in sup
port of the Declaration of Independence.
| In the travail of war was born Il Nation.
Great eras produce great men. History
| stamps the men of the Revolution as
great, not because the shadows of the
past hide their faults. not because gener-
exist. but truthfully and with all the So
berness of searching criticism.
| The Declaration of Independence was
written with the pen of inspiration. Its
authors were instruments in the hands of
Almighty God to quarry the corner stone
Iof Il temple dedicated to the immortal
principle That all ,on men are created tee!
work. We are all too prone to forget that
the destiny of nations is in the hands of
Divine Providence. He that careth for
| the sparrow holds in the hollow of His
hand the nations of the world. In His
own way. at His own time. through hui
man agencies He solves the problems of
maturing civilization.
The Congress of the colonies felt that
God was with them, cloud by day and
Il pillar of fire by night They asserted
their right Ito assume among the Pow
ers of the earth the separate and equal
station to which the Laws of Nature and
of Natures God entitled them They
declared that all men are endowed by
rights, that among these are Life, Lib
Ierty and the pursuit of happiness. With
Il solemnity that will forever echo down
the corridors OF time they appealed Ito
the Supreme Judge of the world to bear
witness to the ''rectitude of their inten-
tons. Around the Altar of Liberty they
Isigned the memorable parchment trustins
the issue to the God of battles in these
words And for the support of this Dec
llaration with a firm reliance on the Pro
lection of Divine Providence. we mutual
lily pledge to each other our lives, our Tor
tunes. and our sacred honor.
1t required more than human couraSe
for thirteen scattered colonies. with nc
army. with no navy, with no revenue, &c
challenge the unbroken power of the
migntiest empire of the world. God and
one make Il majority. The hour had
leone IN the evolution VI
for the appearance of leaders equal to the
emergency. Jefferson. Franklin, Adams
la triumvirate of statesmen unriNalled II
legislative halls. The most sublime fig
ure of an-Washinston, soldier, states
man, patriot
out of chaos was born order. Out OF
ldissension harmony. Out of discord, tbs
music of the American Union. The deat
that fell asleep at Bunker Hill awoke te
hear the cheers of Yorktown. The mes
sage of Liberty was carried on trumpe
tongues to the oppressed OF every elime
Humanity stood erect. square shoulderet
upon its brow the courage born OF INDY
ing hope.
| lTpon these favored shores was WORKED
out the great problem OF the capacity o.
a people for self-government. 1t is no
strange that under such auspices the fra
mers of the Federal Constitution were
able to evolve an instrument of govern
ment pronounced by Gladstone the mos
wonderful work of its kind ever created
by the brain of man.
, |rable union. Against it beat the storms o
sectional hate. the thunders of nulliii
cation. the cyclone Of civil war; ~
foundations deep beddcd in the affection
with truth and loyalty. its timbers boite,
and braced with uniiinehing patriotism
it stands after hundred and twent!
countless millions yet unborn
II Is fitting that once year tn
plough be left in the furrow. the whirr
ing wheel cease It's song OF INDUSTRY; th
book lie unopened on the shelf, the bus.
i mart be dumb. and for "a while to turn
oar thoughts to the blessings of the pas
and, better. yet. the richer blessings o
/ the present
If the past be glorious, grander are tn,
tachievements of today. 1t is too mucl
: the fashion to decry the present age
, IToo many speakers, too many journalist
are suffering from chronic liver com
lplaint 4, is high time to preach the COS
, pei of the magnificent present. Tina
, man is no patriot who declaims from tn
ihouse tops that this is a retrOgradint
nation. The world grows better as i
; grows older.
/ With all the hypocrisy that crouche:
land snivels in cushioned pews, the re
ligion of Christ has year by year large
/ er hold upon the American people. Chris
tianity has broadened and the love o