The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1902-02-20
ii Fi,E Oh d 1 ion.

a.e. They consisted OF ths N 'u'l d.
ate the AFTERNOON and orati,ns II,
representative of each literary society
1t night.
Mr. A. Dunn, Jr., Of Scotland
Neck, vas orator for the Euzeilan so
c.e:y, and be delivered fine Grafton
which would have done credit t. ore
IF more mature years. His subject WAS
Backward Chances. Present Tene,s.
md Future Possibilities We prin
here 80 m 1ch o! the Grafton as ari care"
in the daily papers as follows:
"The history OF The past is behind us
The experience OF the present is with
us. The future, that visionary and I'M
explored space, Is before us. 1t Is not
ny purpose to take up the pessimls'ic
cry of the calamity howlers who mis-
lake the murmrr OF their little--
s.,r the great wave that ech res round
lie world but to look with an unprej
,dlced eye upon he past, the experience
@. the present, and point with pride TO
p:1r Natioi.a, prosperity and to the fu
,ure of government, rocked in the
cradle OF freedom, which has for it
foundation Christianity, and its motto,
In God we Trust
"The men who founded our govern
.nent were liberty loving soldiers of the
cross. They left their homes in civ
'.zed country and came into the wilds
81 an unknown continent that they
might worship their GID according to
dictates OF their own conscience And
when they felt the hand of English OPP
preston weighing heavily upon them
Nth such leaders as Patrick Henry,
Thomas jefferson and John Adams,
they met in Independence Hall IN
Philadelphia, and inspired by the words
Give us Liberty or Give US DEATH the
embattled farmers stood and fired
the shot which should be heard around
the world.
"Freedom gained, the co!onlsts form
ed union upon foundations Of equality
and self government. The War o! 1872
was the tie that bound the States 10 q
iifmer union. The forty years that
followed we're years Of paper money
Inflated values and delus!on. As early
as 1860 America was a land OF wonders
in which everything WAS in constant
movement. Dotted ever the land were
ma :nificlent cities where only few
years before wsra wlldernesscs. Oar
. Gag was respected throughout the cen
fines OF the world. Our trade was com
psting with that of England, and our un.
told resources made us sure of lasting
and ever present place N thu roll Cal
CT nations. Abraham Lincoln had as
serted that our strength Was lnyic!be :
that only through our own acts would
destruction be our lot. Those words
we're hardly uttered when the muffIed
thunder of war, so long rolling in tie
distance, came nearer and nearer
Driven on by the cruel winds ct destiny
the storm burst in all its fury upon our
old ship OF state, tore it from its moor
'ngs, drove it upon the bleak rock oil
disunion, and plunged TIE American
nation into four long years Of blood
and stlfe. But this same calamity has
proved our salvation, for the war was
TO maintain the union. The sword
cnce sheatbed was sheathed foreve
The S )uth came back with the determ
ina'lOn to make the American
Union what our father
intended it = to he; tie elcr,
Of America, and blessing to human,t,
To-day she is the backbone and sinev
OF the nation. Sectional strife has bee,
buried forever beneath the trenches q
Santiago, where the sufferings Of thu
blue were angu;:h 10 the gray.
"Our political history from 1865 t.
1898, 1t is useless to recount. It j.
enough to say that during this period
time has swept the Revolution OF IT.
down the dark stream that seawars
crseIs.' An English speaking brother
hood is no longar an---dream, ant
the day when America shall becom
the guardian OF the cations no longe
4 thousand years.
ITO our country all religious sect
come and all are welcome. And thi
Practice some say is menace to GU
republic, but relying on the histor:
OF our grandsires and their enlightene
descendants, maintain that fcreve
Professionalism stall be cur motto, an
Protestantism shall be our standard.
''The education OF the people stan !
prominent as the cause of our deyelo,
ment-the prime factor in the develot
ment of government where ever
citizen is ruler, the ballot sceptr
and every tattered hat k!ngly corone
During the last few years men hav
waked up to the realization shat u