Evening journal., 1902-05-14

Helen Mckim, of Milford, at the an
nual meeting of the Society of Co
lonial DANES of America last Welnes-
day on the motto of the seal of the |
society:
Il ask that / might wazen rever-
ence". from Troilus and Cressida, Ill |
Act
1t is with some modesty as to my
own part, but with something, too, of
pride in our patriotic theme, that II
have chosen for my subject the beau
tiful insignii-legend so familiar and
so dear to us all: "Virtutes Majorum
Filiae Conservant." or "The Daughters
Delight TO Perpetrate the Achievements
of Their Ancestors" The brave VEN
lures of early Colonial days echo to
even our own time. 1t were we'll to
review tie chapters of past history
lest we forget" One might write here
column Of names now blazoned on
the records of fame, but many of these
are already familiar, and some of them
are household words. We are often
asked what there was to be proud of
in the period before the Revolution
and what this society signifies.
Lived Lives of Heroism
It is fitting time TO emphasize the
raison d. etre of the Society of the Co
lonial Danes; but there is so much to
be said, and it deserves to be so well
said, that one may properly hesitate
for words of sufficient stress to con-
vey the reply. Truly, it is an heroic
act to have fought and bled for ones
native land. but it is not less brave
to do as our Colonial grandsires did
to leave the mother country forever, to
come to the wilds of a then distant
land, giving up comforts and luXures,
kindred and heritage home-with
its nameless blessings-to meet priva-
ton, or even death. Surely, a life of
heroim is not less meritOrious than in
stant death in battle, for, though the
latter wins memorials, the former is
more frequently unknown 10 history" }"
but the daughters commemorate the
brave deeds of their forefathers.
No, there was much hfightingand defend
ing Of home and family and property one
hundred years and more before the
Revolution; one has but to read his
tory and to listen to ancient tradition
to gather a reverence for the first set
tiers.
War trumpets had little to do with
the hand-to-hand skirmishes in the
forest and in the clearing, for a man
might be killed-the victim of some
frontier Indian-and his death not be
heard of for months; or, his home
might be pillaged and his family mas
sacred during his absence. 1t was not
an uncommon occurrence for a whole
settlement to be destroyed in a single
night; these days We're by no means so
peaceful as the casual reader is apt to
suppose.
A Memorable Epoch
This was an epoch. marked by mem
orable events and perilOus acts. From
one race of heroes sprang another
generation of heroes; the first discov-
cred the continent, a second made il
habitable and the third fought the
War of Independence. We may we'll
study this era, and the first Colonial
Danes, for they were marvelously he
rOic, as patriotic as self-sacrificing as
the men of the period. These were
the mothers of the sons of the Revo-
luton and they were never braver
than when bidding goodbye to their
husbands and lovers as they went TO
the wars which were continually
breaking out There was as much
ndfel9f do uAuNu lOtilg III LuiS OudD-
ter of American history as there was
in the romantic period of the Middle
Ages, when the maiden buckled her
knights armor.
-
To the colonists this was an espoused
country, but to the succeeding genera
tion it was the mother country; poor
spirited, indeed, had been the men of
that crisis If fhpv had hnen 1aclinor II,
courageous defensei
In the formation of a great govern
ment. every age has its special fitness;
at one time the arts of peace flourish.
at another war is waged; an eventful
assembly may be as potent as de-
cisiye battle in the annals of a COM
monwealth, and single word from an
able counselor may determine whether
or not war shall be declared.
q