The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1898-07-04

and not on sand. 1t was born of God
ly parents. 1t has good pure blood in
it's veins. Our ancestry is grand. They
belonged to the aristocracy of God No
nation can point to a better beginning.
Lord Brougham declared that 1.-The
founders of the republic were the
greatest men Of this or any age" When
We recall the character of these men we
can truly say He hath not dealt so with
any nation.
Our national inheritance includes the
character, and teaching and influence
of a great company of prominent men
and women who have served the ma
ton from it's earliest days until now.
When God intends we'll for a nation He
manifests His purpose by raising up
and sending to them men of character
and culture, men who have understand
ing of the times, as wise in counsel as
they are valorous in action. This ma
ton though young has already a
heightened list of men of purest mo-
tive and noblest character. We must
remember that the greatness of a ma
ton does not consist in the fertility of
her fields, in the richness of her mines,
in the multiplicity of her manufactor-
les, but in the intelligence, the virtue,
the valor of her citizens. and espec-
tally of those who fill the highest seats
of honor and responsibility. The crit
les of a republic, those who mistrust the
people, must admit that the choice of
the people from the days of Washing
ton 10 Mckinley has been on the whole
eminently wise and good. Mistakes
may have been made, but they have
been very slight. Our first President
was a man of whom any nation would
be justly proud. What Shakespeare
was in the realm of literature, what
Raphael was in the world of art, that
Washington was in the realm of states
manship. The history of the Presi-
dents of the republic show that it is
wise and safe to allow the people to
elect their rulers. In the severest
strain to which this republic was ever
subjected, the people moved by the
spirit of God, elected to the chief ruler
ship Abraham Lincoln-one of the wis
est, purest and noblest Of the sons Of
men.
This nation has been blessed with
wise counsellorS and teachers and lead
ers in various departments of thought
and action. We have had in the Senate
men of incorruptible character; men
whom lust of office could not spoil, men
like Charles Sumner whose sole aim
was to do what was just and right and
who tried to mould into law the truths
hefoundin Christs beattudes. We have
had reformers of sturdy mould and elo-
quent speech like Garrison and Phillips
and Curtins. We have had in our pull
pits men of spiritual vision and moral
power like Beecher and Brooks, like
Edwards and Charming God has sent
US poets who have clothed divine truths
in celestial language and made truth
beautiful not only by the purity of their
speech but by the holiness of their life.
What treasures of moral wealth and
intellectual quickening we have in the
literature of Longfellow and Lowell, of
Whittier and Emerson. What high
ideals of character they hold before u.s.
What voices of God they are to the
young. What noble women, too, God
has raised up as educators and leaders
Of this nation. What an educator was
Mary Lyons. What an inspiring voice
was Fl. B. Stone. What an evangel of
reform was Dorotha Dix. What an
apostle of temperance and purity was
Frances Willard. What an angel of
mercy has Clara Barton been. What
pioneer of better social conditions for
the poorin Our-great cities Jane Adams
is What nameless host of quiet
workers for righteousness and human
ity are in our homes and schools and
universities. From the beginning until
now we have had authors and editors
Of sterling worth, consecrated to the
high task of building up thes Republic
in intelligence and Righteousness. Our
schools and churches are holding up
before the people the highest ideals of
personal character and national
achievement. This nation is right at
heart. 1t is Christian in its purpose.
1t has been made so by a long line of
statesmen, teachers, authors, editors,
orators, poets, preachers, reformers,
who have imbibed the principles of
Jesus and sought to make them living
forces in the life of the nation. We
are committed nation to great
ideals. Our ideal of government is con-
fessedly the highest that statesmen
ever conceived. We build our nation on
great beliefs. We believe in God and
the people. We believe in the equality
of all men before God. We believe that
all men are equal in the love Of God.
and therefore should be equal in oppor-
other than those created by God and
nature, the aristocracy of character
The man who shows superior talent for
leadership shall be chosen to lead, no
matter from what tribe or family he
may spring. We have no hereditary
royal family claiming exclusive priv
ileges of leadership. The Republic
shows an open part for talent to ALL
Our principles of government are sound
ami will endure. We are building our
nation after the pattern shown us in
the Mount. We are carrying out and
developing principles that have come
down to US from long line of men and
women who on English soil contended
for a government by the people and for
the people. Our political principles are
an inheritance. THE acorn from which
our Republic sprang was ripened on the
English oak" 1t was the drumbeat of
Naseby and Dunbar that gathered the
minute men on Lexington Common
The Declaration of independence OF
July, 1116, was the child of the Magma
Cbarta of June 1915. We cannot un-
derstand George Washington of the
eighteenth century without first un-
derstanding Oliver Cromwell of the
seventeenth century. We are the heirs
and custodians of the great principles
that Ppm and Hampden and Milton
contended for. We are consecrated as