Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1906-07-12
TRIBUTE 70 THE Fathers.

NJ y ifienuS, 10 10 uVo NY Pui Pooo w piA =
you with a long speech depicting the inci-
dents Of the seven years war which guar
anteed to you and your descendants the
privilege which you now enjoy, nor to en-
croach upon your patience with recital Of
the sufferings endured by those noble men
and women who lived and died during that
revolutionary period. All this was elo-
quently brought to your notice BY the ora
tors who took part in the exercises at the
dedication of the Battle Monument as Red
Bank two weeks ago, and are still fresh in
your memory to-day, but with your kind
permission shall endeavor, in few words,
to give you brief history of the events
and causes that gave birth to the great
uprising of the people which has made
this day sacred to every American.
I am pleased to see number Of the
veterans Of Cavalry Post of the Grand
Army Of the Republic who were with us
last year. These noble men who responded
to the call of the immortal Lincoln to aid
IN crushing the Rebellion forty-fve years
ago, are growing fewer in number each
year, and it will not be a great while before
they shall have all crossed over to the
great beyond, = but while they are with
us it behoves us to accord to them every
honor, and after they have answered the
last sbugle call'' and are no longer with
us, let us drop tear to their memory for
the heroic service they haye performed.
One hundred and thirty years ago a small
group Of men, representing, but to very
uncertain extent, she people Of thirteen
small and disconnected colonies, already in
insurrection, dared TO defy the power Of
Great Britain, and TO declare themselves
and their fellow-colonists to be no longer
the subjects Of King George III.
Without any army, wItnous navy,
without money to carry on long and dis
astrous war, they rose in defiance Of one Of
the most powerful nations upon the face Of
the earth.
They did not constitute even a coherent
government. They did not have behind
them anything like the unanimous senti-
ment Of the people, which at that time was
split up into factions, and in comparison
with the resources Of the King, sheir own
were most pitiful. While the progress Of
the war had aroused the martial spirits Of a
majority Of the people, it had also deepened
the line Of cleavage between the loyalists
and the patriots, and it had done little to
reassure the latter Of their military powers.
But the time had come when the Amer
ican colonists had reached their majority.
1t was essential for their own welfare and
for the future of the rights Of man that they
should no longer be ruled by a King and
Parliament across the sea, although they
were already in the partial enjoyment Of a
considerable measure OF self-goyernment.
The men who assembled in tie old State
a1ouse at Philadelphia, (now known as
Independence Hall ito legislate with vague
and scanty powers for their oountrymen
were conscious Of these facts, and they had
the heroism to act in accordance with them,
appalling as were the adverse odds against
them
A grander spectacle was never seen than
the discussion Of, and the voting upon, the
Declaration Of Independence. The mem-
bers Of the Congress were carried away by
no wave Of enthusiasm. They were intel
iigent enough to know the cost, and sensi-
BILE enough to count is They were no
visionaries They were no fanatics domin-
ated by a fixed idea. They were not theor-
lists. They did not dream Of renoyating
human society, and they were as loyal to
the ideas Of law and government, Of Social
order and religion as the most ultra-con-
servatives.
But with the eyes Of statesmen they saw
that the colonists owed it to themselves
and to mankind TO establish the principle
that governments derive their just powers
from the consent Of the governed AMI
that whenever any form Of government
becomes destructive Of its proper ends lit
is the right Of the people to alter or abol-
ish it, and to institute new government,
laying It's foundations on such principles,
and organizing its powers ia such form as
to them shall seem most likely TO effect
their safety ard happiness. .
Seeing that this was the duty Of them