Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1905-06-03
REV. EVANS ADDRESS.
Feature of Memorial Day Observance
in Lancaster Much Talked Of.

1t is difficult to measure the great
ness of an age. So silent is the on
ward march of principles that when
a turning point in history is reached
men are startled by the sudden be-
ginning and outburst of a new
epoch.
All ages possess in common one
great quality which binds them TO-
gether. A house may represent one
of the three orders of architecture;
the Greek, the Roman or the Goth
ic. These orders differ only in the
fact that in the Greek house all the
openings are rectangular; IN the
Roman they are all circular and in
the Gothic the arches are all pointed,
but in the fundamental principle
of foundation, walls, and roof they
are all one. Looking back upon the
nations history we can see that it
represents also three orders of the
architecture of thought and emo
tion-the Colonial, the Constitution
al and the National. AS the Roman
architecture superseded the Greek
and the Gothic grew out of the
Roman, SO the process of building
the Republic was from the local to
the state and through the state to
the national government-Colonies
struggling, at first with new pro
blems and new conveniences. and
then expanding and finally triumph
ing. At first isolated settlements
self contained and self-regulative,
and then the confederation of these
petty Colonial States, and finally
the union of these states into a
federal government. Each period
had it's architects and master build
ers. Each period passed through a
tribulation and a trial of it's own.
The soil of the new world had been
won by toll and struggle; by peril
and privation; by hardship and suf-
. fering. From the conquest of savage
nature, aud still more savage man
a now patriotism was born. The
severe discipline had developed in
the bosom of the pioneer manly
courage, dignity and a defiance
that caused ancient tyrannies to
tremble on their thrones. Strange
march Of Liberty 1t begins as the
gentle breeze of May or June, and
develops the velocity of storm. It
begins with a whisper and passes
into the audible word, and from the
open word into a shout; from the
shout to revolution-andf from the
revolution to Republic.
The great minds Of the last half
Of the eighteenth century differed
from the great minds of the ages
past. Raphael and Angelo were
welded to art; Bacon and Shakes
peare to philosophy and literature
When the procession of master
minds appeared in the seventh de-
cade of the eighteenth century,
they carried not the brush or chisel
OF the artist; not the poems and
dramas Of the ancients or the mod
ems, but the liberties Of the race.
Revolution had sounded the bugle-
blast, and old things passed away;
institutions were transformed, and
a new man and new society heard
the trumpet-call and sprang into
life from the grave of thralldom.
But in this change from the old
to the new there was no break in
the continuity. The foundations of
the structure are still the same
however much the outward form of
the building may change. The
causes and the effects of the events
of civilization hidden and the
invisible facts are the vital forces of
human progress. Wars and battles
and public acts are the outward
things, and manifestations of this
inward, throbbing and pulsing life.
Conflicts on the fields of war are
only means and methods by which
one age transmits that invisible
something which we call Liberty or
civilization, to it's successor. At first
it is an abstract thought without
visible or tangible form but as time
rolls on this hidden thought crys-
talizes into customs, laws and con-
stitutions. This has been true from
the dawn of history, and will con-
tinue to the end of time.
The value of every event in
history Is measured by it's relation
to that divine force that pervades
the human race. The wars, the in
dustries, the commerce, the institu-
tions of a nation are tested by their
influence on this mysterious stream
which we call freedom. Do they