The herald., 1896-03-08
THE FIRST GENERAL COURT
OF the California Society Of Colonial
Wars
A Brief Business Session Followed By An
Elaborate Dinner and Interesting
Addresses-Those Present

The first annual dinner In commemora-
ton of the First General Court of the
Society of Colonial Wars was given at
Illichs' last evening. The gentlemen par
ticipating were Judge E. M, Ross. Hon. c..
Thorn. Major W. A. Elderkin, Mr.. H. O.
Collins, Mr.. Frank P. Flint, Mr.. M. n.
Flint, Mr.. S. r. Thorpe, Major Frank C.
Prescott of Redlands. DIR. John r. Haynes,
Mr.. b. W. Lee. Mr.. Geo. I. Harden, Hon.
Geo. J. Denis, Mr.. G. p. Feuner, Mr.. H. w.
Latham, and Geo. M. Ebey and Ira B.
Wood, representing respectively the Times
and THE HERALD.
Preceding tn dinner q brief business
session was had resulting in the adoption
of set of by laws, the fixing of the annual
meetings for December 20, and the elec-
of the California supreme court, to MEM
bership. The idea of Incorporating the
society was also considered and voted on
but failed of adoption.
After the dinner the addresses of the
evening were initiated with an address by
Holdrdge o. Collins, the governor of the
society. In the course of his remarks the
governor said:
ut has been said, very wittily, that when
our ancestors landed upon this continent
they first fell upon their knees, and then
upon the aborigines. While this pictur-
esque statement may not be historically
correci, at eleast it strikingly illustrates the
characteristics of those ancient worthless,
for, with the Bible in one hand and the
sides, they were equally ready TO fight or
to pray.
The story of the developm ant of the dis
sociated colonies, and their rapid growth
into a harm onious people, forms the
very acme OF romance in our history.
The rugged Puritan, with his stubborn
resis a ICE to despoIism, insisting upon
that iioerty tor religious observance. which
he knew to be one of the inalienable rights
of his existence; the sturdy Dutchman of
New York, who brought from the dykes of
his native Holland those institutions
Of free government which he had
saved from the devastating hand of
of Spanish Phillip, and which to this day
form some of the most prominent features
of our civil polity the patient, plodding
Swede of New Jersey with the memory OF
his two great saints, Martin Luther and
Gustavus Adolphus, enshrined in his heart !;
the religious tolerance OF the Roman Cath
olic of Maryland, who, like the Puritan of
Connecticut, sought new land for wor-
become broader than mere ritual
the Scotchman with his rigid adherence to
the Covenant; the musical Welshman, the
irrepressible lrishman. and the industri-
GUS Englishman, all of Pennsylvania; the
cavalier of Virginia, that home of un.
swerving loyalty TO all her ideals and the
mother of that great man who stands as
the exemplar for all true Americanlsm,
our own Washington, and the Huguenot of
the Carolinas, with his curious combination
of Calvanistic predestination and fore
ordinations. with the charming ease and
gaiety of the mercurial French
man, have all become inseparably
,oI1 1aA ;rkr, vr-hr
people, inheritine those traits of
unrelenting fidelity to principle which
dominated the actions of their ancestors,
and cherishing their memory with reveren-
tial gratitude for the patient endurance of
those tolls which gave us this noble herit-
age, have become elevated to a more gen.
tie life, in an environment of higher intel
lectual culture and more refined social in
tercourse, and whose lot, we are proud to
believe, is the happiest on the earth.''
DR.. John Randolph Haynes read a most
interesting paper descriptive of some of
the thrilling incidents of King Phillips
war and the dangers and hardships ex-
perienced by the ancestry of the society's
members.
Major Frank c. Prescott spoke on Ar
gent, Three Bars Gules, il o way that
showed him to be student of the subject
of heraldry. Through heraldry, he said,
the integrity of genealogy is preserved.
The Military Power of the Cnited States
was the title and theme of very interest
ing and instructive paper prepared by Ma.
jor Elderkin. the observation-disclosures of the
society. and read by MIR. Denis. The lat.
ter gentleman followed his reading of Ma.
jor Elderkin's paper by facetious criti-
cism of the preceding efforts that brought
down the house. Brief remarks were also
ELECTED from Mesers. Thorpe, Harden and
Lee, and some appreciated singing from
Mr.. Fenner.
The menu cover was specimen of art
OF which the society may justly feel proud.
in blue and gold and the smoking reace
pipe, typical of the cessation of hostiiites
between the colonists and the Indians, and
on the reverse side the California bear
shows up strikinRly. The affair of last
evening was exceedingly enjoyable and is
worthy of long remembrance by those
fortunate enough to be present.