Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1900-05-31

memorable convention which convened nj
Philadelphia. in l176. But there was good
| timber in the composition of the men OF
those days. They were not of the kind
who adorned their faces with monocles
and who carry their canes wrong end up,
but they were practical men who knew
| the value of the handle on the hoe and
who knew the feeling of the Woodman 5
AK. In the language of one of our great
est orators they were of the kind who
| kept close to the grass And so when
they awoke to realizing sense of their
| condition Indignation was i'll the hearts
Of all; they asserted their independence,
renounccd allegiance to the King and
faced death.
With the battle of Lexington, more than
IA year before the Declaration of hide
pendcncc, the war was on. 1t is not my
| purpose to discuss the war of the ReVO-
luton. and yet who is not familiar with
Lexington, with Bunker Hill. with the
terrible winter at Valley Forge and the
| surrender Of CORVALLIS at Yorktown.
! Who is not proud of the names OF Han
cock and OF Adams. OF Jefferson, baylor
ana OF Harrison; whose names are known
better ana held dearer than those OF
| Washington. Of Putnam OF i1;tiaytttc'
Prescott ana Warren. lis an OLD, Ola sto-
~ as we all well know, ana Yet the story
cannot be too often called to mind, can
not hc too often told. But for the RcNo-
| luton and the history of the United
States no tongue could tell. by and
through the Revolution was made possible
| the grand career of the states; through
| the outcome of that fearful struggle
countless numbers of happy homes exist
| today; through the instrurpentality OF
the grand men Of those days ne wear
| immigrant ut the threshold in the En-
uirc state. pauScS for a moment to gaze
| with awe mingled with timidity and lear
! into the benevolent face OF the statue 81
| the Goddess of Liberty as she stands
| with upliftcd hand Of light and welcomes
even the most humble Of men to the land
of freedom.
,,y.,,, ~
gressive in the extreme. From a mere
handful Of colonsts had grown up a
great people The land which our fore
| fathers had settled was no ordinary one
They had come into land laden with
| the rich life blood Of latent wealth us
southern portion was the land OF mowers
and perennial summer; its northern mus
We're crowned with the sturdy hemlock
ana pine ana its broad eXpansc made the
| two great oceans OF the globe rs StfdnS-
erS To each other. Possessing as II dld.
| all the climatic degrees necessary 10
stimulate human activity ana INVENTION
| it was well adapted to meet the deinahds
Of free ana independent people. from rom
distant and oppressed lands honest men
had come to find liberty in lana
where the ballot voiced the freeman VIII.
| In such a land. with such people, there
| could be but great results. Inc Sredt
streams had long since been harnessed
To the wheel Of the mill and compelled 10
| 10 mans bidding. Where once was i
| vast wilderness We're now fertile itidS
and pleasant homes. Enterprises OF all
Kinds Had assumed proportions UNI
eoualled in excellency ana rapidity q
| growth Education was being dissent
| mated: great cities had been built; i'm
| mtnSc states We're being formed; the
| ccISeless tide of immigration was rapldIy
| pressing away and beyond the MiSsis-
Sippi, peace ana prosperity was III AZ IlIe
| land.
With this great increase II material
| things came a corresponding increase ~
| The moral nature of man ActlNIt!' III
| lruti1u education and Tree thought 'ift
| the natural stimulants of moral worth
| The people had become StudlouS, thouShl-
| tul and Sympathetic: the interests 81 one
Wcr, the interests Of al! ana oppression
| in any form was desplsed.
! 1t was upon this prosperous ana pre-
! .r,s.iy,, ptople that adversely was to
| 9nmc liner, had been and was being
carried on in all OF its hedrtrendinS forms
| dn institution supported ~ ms i4Ws III
the government repulsiNe 10 the human
mind and heart. The people had reached
that stage in the scale OF clNlllZdtlph
where the belief WAS predominant thdt
man was 4 free moral agent without r.
SpeCt to ancestry or color. Men ~ lnttl-
| lrct and deep moral convictions had lplS
| since lifted up their voices IN denuncli-
| ton ~ Il practice 80 rcpuSnant 70 al III
tuIligeut people. Dark clouds had begun
| 10 gather in the azure sky Of peaceful
| tranquility.
The south. as We speak Of it. com
posed principally 81 those states maui a.
in given to the production 81 topaccJ,
| rice cotton ANA corn. was that section OF
| the country which had been slow IN lnch-
tai ana moral growth. IL Gontrolmh5 I'll 7
| t.tS,. who loved TO sit in Snaiy places anu
| guzc out over their vast domains ana sc
great numbers OF human pelhSS, lne at
property. tOiling in the neat %
I'M summers sun. To them The col
| urld man was but the thlh5. lHey A.
lowed their consclences to 9ecotlie ne
| warned their sense OF proprlety ~ py-
come dulIed. that this oppressed peoPio
misht be the means Of Keeping them in
luNuriant idlencss They. viewed win III
| crtasing alarm the growing sentiment ~
| the great people OF the North against the
institution 'of slavery. BelievnS in the
ldoctrfne Of state rights, differing III lhtir
tranged from the people u the North
both socially ana politically.
The great contest Of the territory @.
Missouri, as 70 whether II should Coiii'
imtn thp Union lis Il free or slave state
and which ended in the Missouri cuhllip-
mis-, brought about by Clay, showed the
rIrntstness Of the people OF pom lao
| lions The history OF the dark DAYS o.
| Kansas showed to the people Of the North
no means to which the South would IS
sort The great tight over the tuhllSsi"i IL l.,
Of states and the intense ltelhs mll i.
Nh been the outcome Of II had done lts
| work All sympathy between the Norti
ana the South had Disappeared ana lne
mighty chaSm which separated iheli W.
rapidIy increasing as the days went ~
| If this time far away in ILLINOIS, dWtit
4 man practically unknown TO the Woflu:
| Born in kentucky in a nut one Slue, ~
| which was open to the weather; reared IN
thr forest among the trees ana ms NUS !
| drifting down the Ohio river with ms
father on a raft, the principal part %
thcir wealth consisting Of a NUMBER n
kars of rum. for rum in those days was
MOI looked unOn simply to MI the SOU ~
MIN with Sensational eXhiaralons anu
raIsa him to see all the heavenly constel-
If,tinns at midday but had come q pc dpt
tbare On the frontier a sort Of medium q
Exchange: drifting down into the state o. o.
| illinois: working on a canal; Afterwards
III \ grocery store; after that StuuyinS
Law and practicing and working nara 10
yain n humble living thereby; nnally VII
ring great distinction i'll series q W
| hates with the leading exponent OF tHe
couth. Stephen \. Douglass: 1o inns
! nan. in the year Of 1860 during the as
| H5,,tion of the democracy; in those days
| n noiiticd uncertainty and gatherlhS
jarkness. to this man the great people
~ The North turned ana hGli ont TO the
world as the nominee for President % NE
f;nited States the immortal name OF Ap-
With the eieetiQn Of Lincoln came Sc
cession. The South knew tAelr man.
II'hey knew that this man could neithet tu
tribed nor led, they knew that the NOPE
- Of Lincoln was inconsistent with
~ cause. He believed in the suprem-
ar,f of fus Union, sympathized with the
lah1litionist and loved all men "hethef
white or black. , .,tt
After the Inauguration OF Lineoin WIN
vt,at painstaking care did he fulfil MS