The leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1895-1905, 1900-06-20

tory. All these men had in their
hearts the military spirit and have
handed it down~o us.
| 1t was this sentiment that made
Rome and Athens great, aud it is this
fathers to lay the foundation of the
! United States.
| Her people are never backward in
time of their country's need In time
of threatened trouble her people NOV
ed by the spirit of patriotism, are will
ing and eager to give their service in
arms to their country. On account of
the patriotism of her people, the Uni
ted States has never been conquered
in any war in which she has been en-
gagged,
In the Revolution. war with Mexico.
civil war and war with Spain her peO-
ple have shown their military spirit,
and stood by her nobiy, giving up their
| lives and prosperity for her good.
In the civil war, especially, did her
people show their courage and mill
tary spirit.
In this long, devastating struggle
the supporters of each faction willingly
gave up their lives for the cause which
]
was over they united to form strong,
powerful nation.
This struggle gave to the United
| States, her second soldier President,
in the person of Gen. Grant, one of the
greatest military geniuses the world
has ever produced.
In the war with Spain, in 1898. the
| United States again demonstrated her
al, IN, 10 4
! This struggle, coming, as it did, after
more than thirty years of peace, was a
complete demonstration that peace
does not decrease the ardor of the
military spirit in America.
The spirit of our forefathers is
smouldering in our hearts. only wait
ing to be famed into flame:
When war was declared in 1898 and
volunteers called for, the American
people became wildly patriotic. The
military spirit was everywhere in evi
| dence.
In every European country except
| Great Britain every man must be a
soldier for the first two years of his
majority, while in the United States
military service is entirely voluntary;
! =
States are match for the standing
armies of Europe in their fighting
vigor and military spirit.
Yankee ingenuity is given a wide
range in the invention of machines
and munitions of war, and in this re-
spect the United States ranks high
among the nations of the world.
In America the military spirit and
freedom have ever gone hand in hand.
| The American flag, the emblem of
freedom, is ever before her people and
soldiers, leading them onward and
upward.
This flag. the most beautiful in all
the world, stands for liberty.
1t means freedom of thought and re-
ligion and protection to its people 1t
| is the emblem of great and glorious
people; of country which contains
more than 100000 of people, of a
country which has grown in less than
/ two centuries from few small colo
/ MES on the Atlantic coast until it now
contains forty five States and three
territories, and stretches from the
/ Atlantic to the Pacific. from the Great
Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, and has
/ possessions more that 1000 miles from
its continental boundaries.
The American flag floats over the
most progressive nation in the world.
1t floats over nation which has the
best politics, government and people
in the world 1t is the emblem of a
nation which has the greatest pro-
ducts, commerce and institutions of
any in the world. 1t stands for a
] tai -
and which has acquired in a much
shorter time more glory than either
Rome or Athens had when they were
at the pinnacle of their glory. 1t is
the banner of country whose patriot.