The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-07-05

| ment without a thrill of exaltation.
81 could not write my poem and SO
| lived it, said Thoreau. This might vel
have been said by the stern poets of actor
who published the Declaration of indie
| pendence to the world Thomas jefferson
John Adams. Benjamin Franklin. Roge
I Sherman. Robert r. Livingston-the com
mittee of Congress to prepare the docu
ment-these are men of prose, you say
| lawyers, statesmen, men of affairs. stand
! ing solidly on the ground and looking al
| men and not at stars.
THE thirteen colonies were governing
themselves individually, and as fedora
ton, in practical separation from the Brit
ish Government, and the British army was
yainly endeavoring to coerce them into
subsection before they were willing to pu,
it all down in black and white. Nothing
| is palmer now. as We study the letters and
| speeches of the leaders of the Revolution
than that they were reluctant to press for
| independence and that Samuel Adams was
| the only one who desired il from an early
period in the struggle. while the majority
| OF the people of the colonies were more
| faithfully represented by strong minor
| ity of the leaders who opposed it to the
| last
THE idea We got from our school his
| tories, as children, that the unanimous
|
| OF America was literally the unanimous
declaration of the people of those States,
or even of their leaders. We know now was
mythical, but even Lexington and Con-
cord and Bunker HILL the leadership OF
Washington and the incessant endeavors
of jefferson and the Adamses overcame
with difficulty the opposition to separation
from Great Britain. 1t is safe to say, ac-
cording to the latest and best historians,
that If the people had been polled on the
question, the majority would have voted
against independence, and that this would
have been true whether the voting was
done by the limited number then entitled
to vote or whether all the adult population
took part. AS a matter of fact, of course
the Continental Congress, which was the
Government of the Revolution, derived its
just powers from the consent of the gov
erned without any formal ascertainment of
the wishes of the governed, and, as Judge
Story shows in his Commentaries on the
Constitution. the wishes of the majority
of the governed were not regarded"
Mr.. Mcfarland then read letters written
by George Washington and John Adams,
which indicated the sentiments and prin-
ciples by which they were actuated in
1775 and in the years following. Continu-
ing, the orator said:
This tells the story of the evolution,
through revolution. to independence under
Anglo-SaXo methods. And these men,
who knew how to walt as we'll as how to
act, knew how to compromise aEd how to
negotiate with their opponents, as we'll as
how TO fight, adopted the Declaration of
Independence with eyes wide opsn to the
actual circumstances and conditions. They
knew, for example, that there were slaves
in the colonies. The Congress actually
- TnH Ansr A.. \
ton Of George III for encouraging the slave
trade to America. by refusing TO ra.ify en-
ectments Of Southern colonies against it.
They knew, too. that besides the African
slaves there were white semi-slaves, re
demptioners' and the like. who were also
not equal before the law or In any other
way with themselves. to say nothing Of
the natural inequalities or the then ex-
listing legal differences between men ard
women, which they also fully recognized
"All this must be remembered when We
read that they declared that all men are
created equal and that among their I'm
alienable rights are life liberty, and the
pursuit OF happiness and the words can be
| construed fairly only when this is remem-
bered
Contrast George Washington with
George LII. Waving. temporarily, the
moral and intellectual superiority Of
| Washington, and you will understand why
| each played the part he took in that great
| hour of our history. George Washington
was the most sensible Of men. solid, saga
| cious. practical, even prosaic in ordinary
life, and he never wrote anything that
could be called poetry except few love
verses in his counting days. But he could
see what the dull Boectian King of Eng
land could not see, and SO he could do,
and did do. what the Dutch monarch could
never have thought of doing. Washington,
We are told thought continentally' He
saw beyond the Alleghenies-yes, beyond
the Mississippi. He sought TO hold the
continent for his race and to bind the East
and West together with roads and canals
FOR the future greatness which was real to
him. He saw the purer state, the better
government the larger life. of a repub-
lic-independent not only of British tyran-
ny, but of European prejudices and tradi-
tons, customs, and quarrels He saw
ideals which made all sacrifices reasonable.
Above all. he labored and endured as see
ing him who is invisible.
When the newborn nation went down
into the valley OF the shadow of death
at Valley Forge, Washington went down
upon his knees to God and prayed for his
people like Moses or Joshua. In the ter
rible hour, when Washington was the Gov
eminent, dictator by unanimous consent,
and without appointment because no 9TH
er man could save the State. and the
Revolution seemed more likely to fail
than to succeed. he rose to his greatest
height as he turned to Heaven for the
aid earth could not give.
The men who made the Declaration of
Independence and then made it good.
left US a goodly heritage, spiritual as well
as material. They freed us forever from
the fear of foreign tyranny. We dread
no foreign foe We are now the arbiters,
II not the masters. of the world, and
where we sit at the council of the nations
is the head of the table. Our flag floats
over countries that George Washington
saw dimly, IL at all, and millions live
under Its beauty and blessing who can
not read the Declaration Of Independence
in the original We have not only political
independence but political domination in
the worlds affairs.
1T is the duty OF every patriot to lift
up the standard Of personal and civic
righteousness, lest the enemy come In like
a flood and sweep away our real independ-
ence. 1t is not enough to admire and
applaud the heroes of the past; We our
selves must be the heroes, and, II needs
be, the martyrs of the present. In the
faith that the patriots of America will
keep alive forever the true spirit OF '76.'
the spirit of self-sacrifce, of splendid
courage, and of reve.ent trust in God and
obedience to His will, We may rejoice in
the glorious prospects OF the Republic"
One of the interesting features of the
exercises was the granting Of a charter
for the proposed French Society Of the
Sons OF the American Revolution. Four
teen lineal descendants Of Americans and
Frenchmen who took part in the American
Revolution will form the charter mem