The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-06-20
Burning Danbuy

Of the Declaration of Independence, Compo Hill. Oliver remembered his mothers admonition when she handed him his fathers f1intlock "to conduct himself like a good soldier" He war treasurer of the U. s. for five years and Governor of Connecticut for nine years.
 The large majority of those who re- sponded to the call and followed the officers, were, those who had Ueen Ie.. to care for the farms while the regu- lars were with the army. Many were very old. some very young. came in their homespun, with weapons with Wn1ch they were most familiar. They were only a fraction of those who were enduring hardship for the cause of independence but they were actuat- ca by the same spirit and entitled to the same glorious recognition as those Who fought where the enthusiasm of numbers and the inspiration of the martial music made one forgetfu1 of seIf and stirred to deeds of valor.
 With such a sturdy and irrepressfbIe foe at his door and an unconquered country stretching away to the east or the Hudson, is it surprising that Lord Howe turned a deaf ear to the entreaties of Gen. Burgoyne to send him achievements?
 Three thousand troops arrived for Howe. Clinton moved up the Hudson river but too late to save Burgoyne, and thus the first great victory came to American arms. Howe rightly di- vined the purpose of the militia, for the day Clinton moved up the river, the Connecticut men were marching to the Hudson
 We cannot at this time describe what occurred in the different engagements and how from point to point the Con- tinentals endeavored to capture the de e170 "a their loss was three hundred. probably double that of the Americans. When the Kings troops reached their vessels they threw themselves on the decks completely exhausted: they claimed they had fought twice their number and had been worse handled than at Concord and Lexington.
 We are not here to exhibit the tro- phies of war, to describe battles to dis play ancient armor, or to uphold mill tarism, but we are here to commend that spirit which is in man. that will stand for the right, because it is right. A nation is sinking into decadence that does not cherish the memory of those who died in her service. or of those who have wrought for her emancipa- tion.
 We have passed through the gate way of the century. behind us are the years of our fathers around us the heritage they have given us and to all
 W with it's wonderful possibilities
 The minute men as an organization may have passed into history with the first battle of the revolution. but the minute men as individuals have been, and will continue to be, the men who in the hour of their country's peril. or need, were and are ready and waiting to consecrate their lives to her service. They made possible the Revolution, they answered by the tens of thou nd fr~oT ha Ia 0y7f. when President Lincoln called for vol unteers to save the Union. We re- joice that as we dedicate this memorial to the heroes of the distant past we have with us the heroes of Gettys- burg, Vicksburg and some of them are wearing that precious emblem bearing the inscription of minute men because they were first of their towns to place their names on the rolls
 Truly in this glorious fabric of the union the chief architect is the plain man. As the structure rises in truth and loyalty it will be more lasting than granite, and reflect that light, liberty and justice which proceed from the throne of God.
 Our artist may have gained his of that firm. noble and res olute face we have before us today, from a study of the life of his Idns- man and whose name he bears. whose statemanship towers above his con  mains unsurpassed. Mir. Webster's parents left the New England hills to found a home on the western plains. The son has returned that we might have his conception of what the true American is, under whatever skies it may be his fortune to live 1t is not the perfect form. or his equipment of ancient arnor, that stirs our souls and fires our imagination. but the spfr- it that is em bodied in the man that JAod 1 l til the right is triumphant Human forms pass away, the armor of yester- / day is the junk of today, as ours will be of the tomorrow. but the spirit of the past will continue to actuate lives as long as the sun floods hilton and valley with it's glorious efflugence. This beautiful memorial should hear rom the past to the future the thought of the great orator who when speakfux of those who were to follow said. we welcome you to the blessings of good government, and religious liberty. to the treasures of science. and the de- lights of learning, to the iT1measurable blessings of rational existence the irn- mortal hope of Christianftyf and the lights of everlasting truth.
 We glory in the sages
 Who in the days of yore,
 In combat met the foeman.
 And drove them from the shore
 we glory in the spirit.
 Which goaded them to rise,
 &nd form a mighty nation
 Beneath the western skies"
 Our minute man looks not out across the seas for the foe but rather the challenge comes to us, to be instant
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