The Irish standard., 1902-04-19
A PATRIOTIC ADDRESS.
Ex-Judge Willis on the Heroes O
the Revolution.

w. Wits, or st. Paul, delivered ar
interesting address on the patriots OF
the American Revolution at the Nor
wegian M. r. Church, Minneapolis
and was listened to with rapt atten.
ton for an hour and half by the
stalwart sons and daughters of the
Land of the Midnight Sun. Judge
Willis has no superior as a lecturer in
Minnesota. He is man of scholarly
attainments, and his classic style of
oratory is much admired. In the
course of his address he was frequent
ly applauded. He said in part:
Great deeds deserve majestic and i'm
pressive commemoration. To allow
them to pass into oblivion is an evil
dence Of degeneracy A nation must
cherish lofty ideals or it cannot main
tain patriotism. When the names and
the deeds of the founders. defenders
and conspicuously wise public servants
of a state no longer awaken fervent
sentiments Of affection and regard. the
! early vigor of its institutions has been
lost and political conditions Indicate
national decadence.
In the United States of America
that aggregation of indissolubly united,
commemorative to which we are proud
to apply the endearing term. "Our
Countrywide fervor of patriotism still
endures and no American heart can
retain its wonted beat when the heroes
of the glorious Revolution receive men,
ton.
Many is the name which we have
ito coniure WITH" as we may say.
adopting the phrase which England's
premier bard utters in the name of the
Roman revolutionist.
Washington! August Washington.
How thy name stirs the heart of thy
admiring countrymen! Thy career
was nobility incarnate. To thee were
given the laurel of the conqueror and
the insignia of national deliverer!
Thine are the supremest honors of war
and peace! Thine the enduring hon.
age Of all coming generations!
The names of John Adams, Samuel
Adams. Franklin, Madison. John Han
cock, Warren. Putnam, Patrick Henry,
Hamilton and Jefferson form an his
torical constellation of surprising
splendor.
The contemplation of these great
men and the study of the record of
their deeds are ennobling. We are
thereby taught the potential grandeur
Of the human race and lifted to a lofty
moral and intellectual plane To read
of the great who have wrought for
America is to renew patriotic inspira-
tons and to evoke civic zeal which
tells by works the faith in Liberty
which constitutes the true American
creed political.
The progressive civilization of the
last four centuries has been. for the
most part, under the leadership of men
who spoke the language of John Mil
ton, Sir Thomas More, Francis Bacon
and William Shakespeare.
Civilization invariably advances as
tyranny declines. Proud is the part
played by certain English colonies in
the overthrow Of tyranny.
Those colonies were instituted by a
race whose history may be appropri-
ately characterized as Liberty in pro-
cess of evolution" In that history
the American Revolution was the chief
event of an epoch pregnant with great
results.
Splendid arc the culogiums that have
been pronounced upon England and
the English people!
The isle of Britain, at first entirely
Celtic in it's population, behcld the
Roman domination securely establish
ed by Caesar and his successors. in all
save the regions northward of the river
Tyne. The rule OF Rome did not dis
place the original Celtic inhabitants,
hut accomplished their practical en-
slavcmcnt
When the Roman power upon the
continent Of Europe was overwhelmed
by barbarian forces. her sway in Brit
ain terminated and her British sub.
| iccts were left defcnsclcss. Reduced
by the invasions of the Caledonians, to
dire extremity. they solicited the aid
of tho Germans. and their prayer was
granted. The German tribes of the
Baltic. bearing the names of Angles
and Saxons. came to aid the Britons
and, having noted the beauty and great
resources Of the land which they came
to defend, not only rescued that land
but became its possess0rs and rulers
The Teutonic tribes drove the Celts
rudely from their ancient homes fal
to the westward, and the Britons be
coming the neighbors and guests of the
Welsh, gradually faded from the lis
of nationalitics.
| Radical and thorough was the eth
nical and political change in the con
dition of Britain, consequent upon til.
' Gcrmanic occupation. 4 new name
J was given to that portion of the islant
) wrested from the Celts. Britannia be
came Anglia-the modern England
| taking its name from the proud ant
valorous Angles. The people of Angli;
, became generally known as English