Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-04-18
THE BURLINGTON FREE PRESS: THURSDAY APRIL 49, 1907

scope he was developing it for YOU
and that when Isaac Newton discover
ed the law OF specific gravity he was
discovering 1t for you? All these mon
were seed planters They were the
giants who laid the foundation stones
upon which the superstructures of our
industrial prosperity have been Greet
ed. They themselves received very 1T
tie personal benefit out Of their seed
planting. but they made millions Of
dollars for other men. The next gen
Grafton reaped the harvest Of their
seed planting. cone man soweth, and
another reapeth."
This fact was powerfully illustrated
In he life Of one of my friends In
ny ?lttsburg church there was a fam
lily which for generations had produced
bridge builders and contractors. The
first member of that family who came
TO the western part OF PENNSYLVANIA
was a contractor. His grandson. whom
I knew well. was also contractor.
Some years ago this grandson of the
first pioneer had contract to build
over or reconstruct railroad bridge.
As he dug down into the foundations
to relay some Of the old stones. much
to his surprise he found there a tool
chest marked with his own initials,
ar. s." That tool chest could have be-
longed to but one person, and that his
own grandfather, after whom he had
been named One of his grandfather's
ha1 foNonftan nnI 1oft tools
there when his grandfather built the
original bridge. SO when we begin to
dig down into the foundations Of orr
modern industrial prosperity we al
ways find that our modern industrial
life has been built out of the inventions
and the discoveries of the generations
that are dead and gone. Like the coral
reef we have been growing in a TEN.
poral sense. our industrial prospect,
ties are built uNon the catacombs and
the tombs Of our ancestors. These for
mer generations may have received
but little personal benefit from their
seed planting. We have reaped the rich
harvest. zone man soweth, and an
other reapcth."
History OF the Flag.
What is true Of the industrial life Is
emphatically true Of the political and
the social life The flag under which
we live and breathe and have our be-
ing was not designed entirely by Il
Betsy Ross. II was not woven by the
fingers Of a Martha Washington. That
flag is a combination flag 1t was dyed
red on the bloody soil Of many a hard
fought battlefield. It's white stripes
we're cut from the saintcd robes Of
many martyrs Its many stars repre-
sent the states added one by one to
the great FANNY. Tho men who fol-
lowed it when it was first unfurled and
who made it glorious by love and sac
rihce rcaped hut little personal ad-
vantage in this world, but these noble
patriots were seed planters. The pres
ent generation and all coming genera
tons will gather the plenteous harvest
of their sowing
DO you for one instant suppose that
even there we are at the beginning?
There would never have been Decla-
ration of American Independence I'M
less there had first been a Magma
Charta Why those stern faced, iron
listed, unrelenting English barons who
gathered about the round table" at
Runnymcde in 1910 and compelled
King John TO grant them their person
al liberty unconsciously fought as
much for American independence as
~ hn,tn 1;-.l, vt t-
Washington and Samuel Adams and
Jefferson and Patrick Henry would
not have been possible unless these
patriots Of seven centuries ago had
first dared to challenge the doctrine OF
the divine right ot kings. Do you sup
pose there would ever have been a
constitution of the United States I'M
less there had first been a BannoCk
burn or a Beverly Manor Housei John
Witherspoon was only a reincarnation
OF a Sir William Wallace. Miles Stan
dish and Israel Putnam may have liv-
ed 200 or 500 years apart but they
were twin brothers. Governor Carver
and Governor Bradford spoke in the
Continental congress through the lips
of John Adams and Franklin. \ man
may seem to die hut his spirit never
dies 1t has its first incarnation, then
its reincarnation. and then it lives In
thousands of other lives. You see the
doctrine Of pSychlcal heredity display
ed in these national crises far apart
in time and place. it Is made up OF
the combinations Of thousands and
tens Of thousands If heroic men who
when they lived did not or could not
dream of a country like that in which
today we are living. These patriots
in their own time received little per
eonal benefit from their sacrifices
| They were governmental seed planters
But the present generation and all sue
ceeding generations shall be the gath
erers of the harvest which they sowed
'One man soweth, and another reap
eth"
! Did Not Die In Vain.
| Many patriotic martyrs have dice
deaths Of ignominy, but that does moi
| prove that they lived and died in vain
! No. From the blood soaked planks OF
the French guillotine has been lifted
the glorious French republic. From
the sacrifice OF human life at Valley
Forge Bunker Hill and other fields
have been evolved this mighty govern
ment of the United states today, IN
/ Il frttI itsn