The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-07-04
THE DAY.

IL is TOO mucn 10 expect, perhaps, OF
the average American, who has not
stepped himself in history and made
vivid the realization Of those earlier
times in which our independence was
won, that he should appreciate
all that is due to the ''day
we celebrate" Yet if the ex-
act meaning of that Fourth of July
one hundred and twenty years ago is
time when we are not only independent
Of the rest of the earth, but powerful
and great beyond our childhood's
dreams, the lesson of it should be as
fresh and potent as ever. 1t is all in the
one word, so full of meaning, so lightly
taken on the lips, patriotism" And
never was the duty Of the patriot
more imperative than it is at this mo-
ment, when there is no domestic insur-
rection rearing horrid head at home,
nor foreign foe knocking with mailed
hands at our gates.
That contest which lies now more
than a century behind us was, after
all. not the greatest or the determin-
ing one. If, as one Of the great men
of that era told us, eternal vigilance
is the price Of liberty" no less true is
it that the lamp Of patriotism must
be kept always trimmed and burning
safe. 1t is easy, when the stress comes,
when the flame Of enthusiasm leaps
up and consumes as dross all meaner
motives, when the great duty Is set
before all eyes as though it were writ
ten across the sky in letters of living
fire, for men to be true to the best that
is in them; to rise to something
greater than their own hearts have
ever spoken. So was it when the
mighty struggle for independence
brought nation to the birth. So was it
when the determination to preserve
that nation from division and destruc-
ton kindled in all hearts undying de-
votion to a cause too great for words
Yet, unless that spirit survives, I'M
less men are willing to do and die, I'M
less there are herpes to give their lives
to the uncelebrated battles of a time
of peace, unless the sons of the republic
are ready to grid up their loins and to
sacrifice themselves If need be for the
honor Of the nation and the perpetuity
Of the great traditions that underlie it,
we may perish ignobly in the calm as
easily as we may find shipwreck in the
storm. What the Fourth of July tells,
therefore, to every mar worthy Of his
heritage, is not only the noble deeds Of
those who have long since passed to
glory and to dust, but the duty of the
homely present. Still the foes of the
republic attack 1t necessarily from
within, and he who would be worthy of
the ancestors who faced fearlessly an
overwhelming foe must be as ready to
pledge all that he is or may be to pro-
tect the nation against false theories
of government and plausible pretences
for deviation from the path Of honor,
and all those insidious influences that
work toward deterioration and decay.
Ours is the greater responsibility, the
graver duty. Ours, If we win, will be
the greater glory.
No country lives and grows into it's
place but as it follows the eternal laws
of right conduct. and its vitality is but
the patriotic fervor of its people. That
perishing, all is lost SO the best cele-
bration that can be made Of this day.
that saw new star added to the gal
axy of nations across the western seas.
is to study how best we may protect
and ennoble the national life. The pa
triot Of today may find work as fruit
full and not less stern than that which
confronted those of Lexington and
Bunker Hill. Date from this time a
new and stronger and purer love of
country, a greater willingness to sacri-
flee self-interest and party prejudice
and the rancor of the modern age to the
love and duty that belong to the great
mother Of US all, and glorious past and
still more glorious future may meet
fearlessly eye to eye and breast to
breast.