New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-07-05

ing about what had been done in the Revolution
would have awaited anything If you had not had
u IN you to add to these great memories BY the
deeds which We're to make. in their turn, for
ever memorable the years between the firing on
Fort Sumter and Appomattox So we come to-
gether here on the Fourth of July to see what
great people we are TO how well the gem
erations of our dead have done their duty. IL
we fail 10 realize that there is before us the OBJ
legation of handing down unmpaired 10 our
chlidren the courage that we have received from
our fathers, then the truth is not in us. We can
pay 10 the great men Of the past the only hon.
age really worth paying if we show by our deeds
that their spirit still lives in our souls Only by
so doing show that have right to
celebrate this day that marks the birth of
nation.
THE DEEDS OF THE GREAT WAR
YOU the men Of 1861. you the men OF the
great war. you left more than reunited ma
uon for you left 10 us the undyirfS memory OF
the deeds by which 1t was kept united, and you
left examples not merely for war, but examples
for peace. And can continue to keep this
nation it and is only as we so handle
ourselves in meeting the lesser tasks Of to-day;
as you handled yourselves in the face of the
great crisis of the past You left us the right
OF brotherhood and example in what broth
erhood means; not the brotherhood that is mere
" talked about. but the brotherhood that is act
ed and felt First and foremost you left US, you
most fortunate Of victors, the right of brother
hood with the gallant vanquished. Wherever l
go. from one END OF this country to the other, l
find that there is body to which speak
with certainty of immediate response when 1
speak Of the courage of the men who wore the
gray. and that is the men who wore the blue.
Not another war Of recent times left what those
terrible four years Of war left this nation-the
right to feel proud of each American who did
his duty. IL given to him to see his duty,
whether he followed Grant or followed Lee.
Having paid the fullest tribute, not merely
TO the Valor, but to the. self-devotton and
steadfastnes Of the brother in gray, it yet re-
mains true that the men in blue fought in the
one contest which our history has seen in which
success for the Union, in which success for the
flag of the Republic, meant not merely great
ness for this nation but welfare for all man
kind in the future. To you it was given to fight
IN the one contest, wherein failure would have
meant that all our last history was meaning
less. If when Lincoln called if when Grant came
into the field, the people of this country had not
failled TO uphold the staesmanshlp OF the one
and TO make good the generalship Of the other;
the Declaration Of Independence would have
rung as an empty plautude, and TINS nauoh $
history would have counted only because II
would have been another example in the failure
of free government The men of the great war
the veterans of 1861 and 1865, have a propre-
tary interest in this day that we now celebrate
For to them as much as to the men OF 20 we
owe the existence of this nation as a nation
We do not intend to let slip away from our
minds the fact that everything we now nave
as a nation. all that now glory in, would be
nOn-existent If the men of 81 rad not SHOWN
in the supreme hour those qualities Tor the
lack Of which no nation and no indivldual can
atone. You showed those qualities, NOW what
qualities?
LOYALTY TO IDEAS.
In the first place. power of disinterested 10y
atty to the idea, the power of beng stlrreo 10
lofty emotions of casting aside considerations
of self when the welfare of the people whole
was at stake. Patriotism first; the spirit Whlch
uanjfests itself in time of war, in ability to
serve the flag in time Of peace, ability TO 90
citizens work decently and squarely First
that spirit. Now. that was not enough no mater
how patriotic man was, in 1851 II ne old NOT
have 4 fghting edge, his patriotism did not
count. It was absolutely necessary 10 ndEe
patriotism, but patriotism was OF no use II the
man away.
Exactly Now, so it is in the ordinary work
aday tasks of citizenship at the present day
If the man is not decent, in the first place then
he is not merely useless to the community, put
menace to It. In time of war, if the man dld
not have in him the power Of loyalty TO the
flag, loyalty TO the nation, loyalty TO ms regl-
Inent the more dangerous he was. He had 10
have that quality first of all. In civil life we
need decency, honesty and the spirit that makes
the man a good husband, good father, good
neighbor and good man to work alongsloe OF
or 10 deal with. That makes man, conse-
ouently who does his duty by the State.-.The
worst crime against this nation which can be
committed by any is the crime of dishon-
esty whether in public life, or whether in pri-
waite life. and we are not to beexeused as a peo-
Die If we ever condone such dishonesty, no mat
ter what other qualities it may be associated
with. 3;
MERE sDIARTNESs.
One of the least admira DE traits that any of
our people ever developed is a tendency. That
think all OF us nave hII tb of moral
Nov-. every one of us knows some one who
acts the part of a scoundrel and yet of whom
some one else would say: oh yes, perhaps he
is a little crooked. but he is dreadfully smart
II has been said to me. We need to feel against
wrongdong. No mere passive reprQl2auon, out
The active desire 10 hunt the wrongd4er down.
So. the first requisite for good cltlzeIshlp We
need decency. honesty and the spirit that gives
a man a square deal More than that no man
has right to ask And less than that uhueF
cur government no man ought TO receive.
NOT ENOUGH TO BE HONEST
But that is not enough to be decent and to be
honest. If you are merely decent and keep at
home in your own parlor II you are COCO , Dur
timid, you not going TO amount to anything
in the world The clustered virtue is not the
virtue that counts in our American life The
virtue that counts is the virtue that is able TO
hold its own in the hurly-burly of actual life.
II any mans virtue is Of quality so frail that 1t
can serve only in his own State, he is Of mo use
TO the rest of the world. The man who. counts
for good citizenship is the man who is good. but
who also has the power to be citizen in every
sense of the word. We need courage IN G!Ell
life just much as il is needed in military ire:
We need the robust power which wars against
wrong instead of enduring it,
No manner of complaint about things will help.
You have got go out and strive to make them
better and you can make them better If you
are leading a mddling decent life yourself.
Everybody abhOrs hypocrite ENeryb BODY ought
TO- You have got TO have courage ana decehcy,
and the two together are not enough DO not
care how courageous and decent a man is, and
how perfect man rs r he is a fool you can do
nothine>--H.th him In addition TO decency. in
addition to courage, comes the need OF the saw
ing grace Of common sense.
Now, just all that was true of you In the
var, so il is true to-day in peace. We come to
gether TO commemorate the nations birth
day because this nation has done so much IN
the past that each Of holds his head higher
because he is an American citizen Now, If We
prcVe false to duties i'm the present we
deprive our children of the right which we have
been given by those who went before US. The
other day 1 spoke at the dedication Of the monu-
ment to the sailors who went into Manila Bay.
/ spoke in the great city of san francisco |
came there in pride I came there to speak
IN, rtrFG n