The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1910-07-13

too, some of you, that you never saw
that tender face again. You remem-
Der the last visits to old friends, the
parting with sweetheart for whom
you promised to send as soon as you
had gained a foothold in the new land
Perhaps you remember the brave
bride who went with you to share the
and the poverty of the new
home. Brave, tender, loving woman
willing to give up all the old ties
for your sake.
While we strive today to live up to
the high patriotism of our fathers lei
us also resolve to live up to the sweet
purity, the patience, the forbearance
the sufferings without complaint, OF
the brave and dauntless mothers OF
America.
e Some of you will remember the last
looksat your native land as the proud
vessel bore you away from the
fjords and mountains that you loved
and the sadness with which you gazed
your last upon her shores; but you
made the voyage in giant steamer
while the early colonists sailed in
small, frail craft that would scarce
be thought sea worthy on our lakes
today. For you the journey wasI q
matter of days, while for them it was
a matter of months. You went to q
nation, strong and great, which had al.
ready made it's name among the couni
tries of the earth, they went to q
wild, unsettled land, unknowing what
of fate awaited them. You went
where friends were ready to greet and
welcome you, they went where the
wild savage stood upon the shore
with battle-ax appraised to meet them.
Ypu were brave, ambitious, dauntless,
bqt how much more SO were they?
mo one knows how many persisted,
when wind and wave attacked the
puny craft. No one may know how
many failed even to see the shores Of
the great new land. No one may
know and none may realize the aw.
full hardships, the fearful odds against
which they fought, the frightful massa-
cres when the war-whoop rang out
through the night, when bright knives
CLEANED through the lurid flames and
red-skinned demons danced and ex.
ultedi over the helpless women and
children, saved for something worse
than death. M
When, after hundred and fifty
years of unprecede toll and effort
the colonists had brought order to the
land, had established homes and
cities and schools and colleges, is it
to be wondered that they loved their
country? is it to be wondered that
they resented the attempts of blind
and arrogant government to undo the
work of years, to force unjust and un-
wholesome laws upon them, to take
from them the fruits of their toll, to
hamper their growth and prosperity
to@make them pay tribute to an inso
lent and well-nigh imbecile monarch,
to deny them that representation in
government without which all men
lose their self-respect, to take away
their charters, to nullify their laws
and to make of this race of pioneers
a nation of underlings and slaves?
Is it to be wondered that the men
and women who had fought back the
savages and who had conquered the
would not tamely submit
TO Injustice and to wrong?
And then came the Declaration of
independence. Who can forget those
opening words? when in the course
Of human events it becomes necessary
for one people to dissolve the political
bands which have connected them
with another, and to assume among
the powers of the earth the separate
and efRlal station tc which the laws
Of nature and of natures God entitle
them, decent respect to the opin-
ions of mankind requires that they
should declare the causes which impel
them to the separation"
b. ~
I'VE hold these truths to be self.
evident; that all men are created free
and equal; that they are endowed by
their Creator with certain unalienable
rights; that among these are life, lib.
erty and the pursuit Of happiness;
that, to secure these rights, govern
ments are instituted among men, de-
irving their just powers from the con-
sent OF the governed" Upon this rock
does our country stand. Insofar as we
cling to it shall we thrive and prosper
and fulfill our destiny, insofar as we
depart from it snail we be engulfed
in the waves of tyranny and fail Of
our high mission among the peoples
of the eartn.
Who has heard the opening sen.