Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1906-06-28
Presentation SPEECH
BY Geo. W. Hughes at the HhiiaIl Man
sion, Red Bank, June q, 1906.

MI. 1TtStHtItt uJt0 DtCUtOcfo ~ OtVtttcotrt
County Historical Society:
By choice Of that patriotic organization.
the Order United American Mechanics
Of Woodbury., it is my pleasant privilege
to present to you our ccuntry's flag. Not
that first suggestion to the Continental
Congress, the rattlesnake flag, with its
motto, Don't tread on me, = so heartily
endorsed by B. Franklin, who said. Il like
the rattlesnake, he is an American bird and
no coward; he always warns before be
strikes, then strikes to kill, = but the stars
and stripes, sometimes called the gridron,
which name comes from an incident said to
have occurred in one of the ports OF France.
On certain Sunday morning, as the navies
represented there were hoisting the national
colors at sunrise, the Englishman being
little ahead hiseolors caught the breeze first;
and as it fioated out he called to those around
there goes the roast beef Of England. =
The Yankee sailor, ,tugging away at bis own
halyard, called out hold on there a min
ute Johnny Bull and I'll show you the grid
iron that beef was cooked on. And, my
friends, some of it was cooked right here at
Red Bank.
The flag comes to US replete with mem
cries Of the 'sdays that tried mems souls,
when the summer soldier and the sunshine
patriot shrank from his duty to God and
country.
sIn chariot Of light from the region Of day.
The Goddess OF Liberty came;
Ten thousand celestiaIs guarded her way,
And hither conducted the dame;
A fair budding branch from the regions above.
Where millions with millions agree
She brought in her hand as a pledge OF her love,
And the plant she called Liberty Tree
And that plant, my friends, is the flag
we present. you to-day-the Star Spangled
Banner. Our fathers received it from the
hand of the Goddess Of Liberty, They
planted ii deep in revolutionary soil,
watered ii with their blood and rIannred it
with their bodies, and like native it
fiourished aud bore" 1t takes us back to
ssThs days of the dark revolution,
When son and sire to the battle did go,
Teir garments all tattered, their feet bare and
Each otr footprint was in the cold winter snow.a
Trenton, Princeton, Monmouth, Red
Bank. All speak to us to-day through
that flag. Dame Wfitall sits in the old
mansion here spinning. while shot and
she'll are dealing death and destruction all
around her, and at the close comes forth
ministering angel to friend and foe alike.
* i,, l,on,, kl,o ~ IL Al, n H. in kho
Whitall family that day, and we are proud
to baye her great grand daughter with Us
to unfurl the flag to-day. Turning little
to the left and looking at those old weather
beaten redoubts, we haYe only to heark
back little and we hear
ssThe cannon's mouthing loud,
Heave out wild wreaths of thunder cloud,
And corey sabers rise and fall
Like shoots of flame on midnlght pail,
There amid the sulphurous smoke and wild
roar of deadly conflict stands gallant Greene
with his 400 Rhode Island heroes, another
Spartan band at another Thermopyle, with
another Leonidas to lead them, hurling
back the hirellng Hessians OF George the
Hand that dear old flag waves from its
hickory tree, defantly over all.
No wonder they called it ''Old Glory"
and almost worshiped it, have read, or
heard Of one Of our Revolutionary heroes
who had one made into bed-quilt, which
he slept under and thus covered himself
with glory every night.
What of the future; it has changed the
unlucky number thirteen into synonym
Of good luck, having increased the original
13 stars nearly four fold, and there are
more wanting to come with us.
From the great Atlantic ocean,
Where the sun begins to dawn,
Leaps across the Rocky mountains
Far away to Oregon"
Will not suit as now Already we are half
way across the Atlantic and all the way
across the Pacific, and the end is not yet.
We haYe our big new boots on, +" and are
bound to travel. No power on earth can
say thus far shalt thou CO. and no farther
Dr. Dagger may not be far wrong when he
says the trinity destined to conquer the
world is the christian religion, the English
language and the Star Spangled Banner.
God grant he may be right for we have all
three.
This dear old flag to US is what the Ark
Of the Covenant was to the Jews; it means
Gods presence with us, and while we love
and obey Him, and serve our country with
true and honest fidelity He will meyer
withdraw that presence from us.