The silver state. [volume] (Unionville, Nev.) 1870-1903, 1902-07-05

able to social inequality, which eventual
ly pervading the entire political fabric,
resulted in the most disastrous conse-
quences It might be said by some that
England is an exception to this rule and
to certain extent this is true England
is today a strong and powerful nation.
Englishmen, whether of the islands pro-
per or of the colonies exercise a con-
stitutional liberty second only to that
enjoyed by the people of the United
States While rank and class distinc-
tions exist there, yet before the English
law all are equal The departments OF
the government in the exercise of their
assigned powers are in the hands of the
subject. The colonies are united to the
mother country by wholesome laws. The
colonists participate in all legislation and
the ballot protects their liberties. Yet
the whole splendid institution, all the
rights and civil safeguards, are qualified
succession of a king.
These principles of good government
are, too, late acquisition of that coun-
try. They have not belonged to her any
longer than independence has belonged
to us. They did not originate there. They
did not originate in the land where waves
the Union Jack, but sprung from the soil
where floats Columbia's flag. That is
the source from whence they came.
Britain did not draw the Inspiration of
colonial union and constitutional free
dom from the wisdom of her statesmen
or the traditions of her past, but profited
l.. IL
on the sanguinary plains of Saratoga,
and thundered from the cannon at Bun
ker HILL
All the laws enacted in ages, all the
armies that have ever rushed into
battle, all the warships that have f1oated
over the face of the waters could not
have held England sempire together had
she not changed her course and breathed
into her institutions some of the spirit
of that immortal document which de-
clares that all men are created equal.
and are endowed by their Creator with
the inalienable right of life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness A salutary
change based on newer and firmer
ground was necessary for the preserva-
tion of the trembling throne. Any delay
meant the ACKNOWLEDGMENT and political
death of a great monarchy.
So we can safely asesrt that when our
forefathers completed their labors at
Philadelphia on the fourth day of July,
seventeen hundred and seventy-six, they
had brought into existence a new kind
of liberty-American liberty.
They learned it in Natures school, they
sustained it's growth in ''the focal and
foremost" fire of the great revolution.
and have handed it down to us. unim-
paired and undiminished in lustre. The
priceless heritage is now ours to enjoy
and transmit to future generations.
The proclamation of these rights enun-
ciated in the Declaration of Independence
was one thing, but their maintenance un-
der the ban of hostile kings, and their
practical application as governmental
facts were matters involving grave and
doubtful results. Their submission to a
candid world was transaction easily
accomplished, but their support against
the protest of roused-up royalty was a
proposition inclined to shake the faith
of all but the sternest patriots. Before
the theory of self-government could be
tried as an experiment the colonists must
sever the bonds that bound them to the
mother country in. deeds as we'll as in
words. To do this they must brook the
will of the greatest of world powers The
settlers of the thirteen feeble colonies
along the Atlantic coast must encounter
and prevail against the might of Eng
land. The invincble soldiery of that
country had extended the renown of her
arms to every latitude that encircled the
globe: her multitudinous navy was the
undisputed mistress of the sea, and the
British banner was streaming every
where. Yet all these must be met and
vanquished by the unframed yeomanry
of America before popular government
framed on the basis of equal representa-
tion could be erected in the wilderness of
the Western continent. Such was the
task which the God of the nations had
set before the supporters of the Declara-
tion of Independence.
Itrequired seven years of desperate fight
ing before the revolutionary sires could
make good their proclaimed rights and
call their country their own. That long,
determined struggle by a handful of
brave men for the perpetuation of civil
and religious liberty is page in our his
tory that is held sacred above all others
1t is that luminous page that causes the
title of an American citizen to be known
and respected among all races of men,
They who adorned it with their deeds Of
heroism and patriotism at Lexington and
Valley Forge and all the other fearful
fields, have long since passed away. but
their memory. like the virgin green of
perennial spring, glows brighter year by
wear