Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1903-06-29


a great number of Virginia Lees pass
ing before macarthur and Francis
Lightfoot and Robert Edward and
Fitz-Hugh and. greatest of all. Robert
+. Lee, the pride of the south" and the
loved and honored of the north. When
l speak the name of Benjamin Harri-
son. another signer, we find him the
father Of William III. Harrison, the
ninth president of the United States,
and the great-grandfather of Benjamin
Harrison, the twenty-third president OF
the United States. The name of Philip
Livingston among the signers suggests
those of Robert II. and Edward and
William. Roger Sherman, who was
one of the great speakers at this con-
vention. was a member of the distin-
guished Connecticut family of that
name. among whose descendants is the
present able senator from Massa-
chusetts, George Frisbie Hoar. FL
bridge Gerry's name suggests not one
Elbridge Gerry, but many Elbridges.
Morris not only means Lewis Norris,
but also that of his great brother,
Gouverneur Morris. The recounting
of these family names alone would
prove conclusively that there is some
thing in heredity. 1t would prove that
when man comes from good ances-
trail stock it is not as difficult for him
to be good or great as if he were born
a nobody, the grandson and the great
grandson of nobodies.
An Encouraging Assurance.
My friends. in whose veins flows the
blood of ancestors who fought at Bun
ker Hill and Brandywine and Saratoga
and Princeton. shall you not serve your
country as nobly and faithfully as did
the soldier boys and statesmen of 177G
and 1888? Can it be that we, whose
forefathers had so glorious a share in
the struggle for national independence,
shall ourselves have no part, no honor
able position in the struggles that are
going on in 1903 to keep our nation
pure and good and true? In olden
times the Scottish youths were inspir-
ed to deeds of valor by the knowledge
that they were members of the clan
MacGregOr or Campbell or Stuart or
Mccoy. They were inspired with the
determination never to disgrace the
one of the northern battles the Mac
Gregors were being driven back Their
chief rallied his followers and led them
forth to a victorious charge with the
cry: my men. come on! Come on!
Fight like brave men! Your ancestors
are today watching you" So let us be
brave and true to Americas best inter-
ests. not only for our own sakes. but
also for the sake of those illustrious
| ancestors who are watching us. Let
this national anniversary be to- us a
day of conservation to the cause Of
right and freedom. As the mother of
| Hannibal led her son to the grave of
! Hamilcar, his sire, and there made him
swear unceasing war against the en-
| emies of his country, 50 may we. re-
membering the graves of the signers
Of the Declaration of independence.
| pledge ourselves anew to the struggle
against the evils which menace the
greatness and righteousness Of the ma
ton that they established.
| The Declaration of Independence is
an encouraging assurance that in ev-
cry crisis of our country's history God,
If we trust him, will always raise up
the right men for the right place. Who
was Thomas Jefferson. the penman of
the Declaration of independence
"Oh." you answer, "he was one of the
greatest Americans who ever lived. He
was the third president of the United
States. He was a man at whose men,
tai acumen and noble, patriotic pur-
poses the more you study him the
more you marvel He was not a
cringing politician, but statesman
who could discern the future with the
farseeing eyes of a prophet and a seer. "
True; all that you say in reference to
the sage of Monticello is true. There
was not at the time of his death a
name more revered than that of Thorn
as Jefferson. But who was Thomas
Jefferson in 1776? He was only thirty
three years of age. He had just en-
tered public life and had become q
member of the Virginia delegation blu,
few months before. In the realm OF
0COobC hC NOulu uOl UC CldSSSu
the great advocates John Adams
Roger Sherman, Oliver Walcott. Lee
and George Wythe. AS writer be
had no such influence in fostering the
independence idea as had Samue
Adams. For the most part, in the de
alterations of the Continental congress
he sat as a sphinx with closed lips
Yet because Richard Henry Lee ha(
proposed the resolution of secession
and also because Lee was compelled t.
absent himself from congress on &C
count of his sick wife and as congress
wanted to honor Virginia by appoint
ing Virginian in Lees place thi
master mind. the young and compare
lively unknown Thomas Jefferson. wa
pushed forward. and he became thu
author of the famous Declaration o
Independence.
Trust In God.