Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1897-04-15

emies waited for the high tides on which
to come in. In answer to the prayers Of
fered tho tide, as never before, was detain-
cd 12 hours, and before that 12 hours had
passed hurricane swooped upon the enc
mics ships and destroyed them, and Hol-
land was saved. II God detained the high
tide in answer TO prayer, will he not hasten
it In answer to prayer2 Surely 1t has been
low tide long enough. May the Lord hasten
the high tide of national welfare. Amer
lean citizens, our best hold is on God. We
have all seen families in prayer and
in prayer. What we want yet to
see is this whole nation on its knees
Words of Webster.
The most of them arc dead-those who in
1851 moved in that procession that marched
from the city hal1 of Washington down
Louisiana avendo to Seventh street, and
then through Pennsylvania avenue to tho
north gate of yonder capitol, to lay tho
cornerstone Of the extension of that capi-
tol. The president, who that day presided,
and solemnly struck the stone three times
in dedication, long ago quit earthly scenes,
and tho lips of the great orator of that
hour are dust, and the grand master of
that occasion long ago put down the square
and the level and the plumb with which,
for the last time, he pronounced a corner
stone well laid. But what most interests
me now is that inside that cornerstone, in
a glass jar, hermetically sealed, is docu-
ment of national import, though in poor
penmanship. 1t is the penmanship of Dan
iel Webster, which almost ruined the PEN
y,onchip of fbfc cOJ,r, fyay for nv
because many thought If they had Daniel
Webster's poor penmanship, it might in
dicate they had Webster's genius The
document reads as follows:
"If it shall hereafter be the will of God
that this structure shall fall from its base,
that its foundation be upturned and this
deposit be brought to the eyes of men, be
it then known that on this day the nation
of the United States of America stands
firm; that their constitution still exists
unimpaired and with all its original use
fulness and glory, growing every day
stronger and stronger in the affection Of
the great body of the American people,
and attracting more and more the admira-
tion Of the world, and all here assembled,
whether belonging to public life or to pri-
Almighty God for the preservation of the
liberty and the happiness of the country,
unite in sincere and fervent prayers that
this deposit, and the walls and arches, the
domes and towers, the columns and en-
tablatures now to be erected over it may
endure forever. God save the United States
of America! Daniel Webster, secretary
of state Of the United States"
A New Conservation.
That was beautiful and appropriate at
the laying of tho cornerstone of the exten-
sion of the capitol IS years after the cor,
nerstone of the old capitol had been laid.
Yet the cornerstone of our republic was
! first laid in 1776, and at the re-establish-
ment of our national government was laid
again in 1865. But are we not ready for
| the laying of tho cornerstone of q broader
and higher national life2 We have as q
nation received so much from God Do we
not owe new conservation? Are we not
ready to become better Sabbath keeping,
peace loving, virtue honoring, God wor-
| Shipping nation2 Are VIC not ready for such
cornerstone laying2 Why not now let 1t
| take placer With long procession Of pray
ers, moving from the north and the south,
the east and the west, let the scene be
made august beyond comparison.
The God Of nations, who hath dealt
with us as with no other people, will pre-
side at the solemnization. By the square
and the level and the plumb Of the ever
lasting right let tho cornerstone be ad-
| justed. Let that cornerstone be the ma
soning together of the two granite tables
on which the law was written when Sinai
shook with the earthquake and inside
that cornerstone put the Sermon on the
Mount and scroll containing the names
Of all the men and women who have
fought and prayed and toiled for the good
of this nation, from the first martyr OF
the American Revolution down to the last
woman who bound up soldiers wounds
worthy to do SO, strike the stono three
times with the gospel hammer, in the
name of God the Father, God the Son and
God the Holy Ghost. Then let the build
ing rise, one wall laved by the Pacific
ocean, and the other washed Of tho Allan
tic, until its capstone shall be laid amid
the shouting Of all nations, by that time
as free as our own divinely founded, divine
ly constructed and divinely protected re
public, the last throne of oppression hav
| ing fallen fiat into the dust, and the las
shackle of tyranny been hung up in mu
scum as relic of barbaric ages
The prayer that the great expoundel
wrote to be put in the cornerstone at thu
extension Of the capitol calculate as oul
own supplication, "God save the United
| f,f Of 4 xI,0, Oval