The Irish standard., 1910-11-05

cd or independence. They put their
dreams into action. 1t was an uphill
fight from Lexington to Valley Forge,
and from that midnight of despair to
Yorktown's cloudless day. But they
succeeded; and they rolled the stone |
from the sepulchre of progress and J
found therein two angels clad in shin
ing garments-nationality and liberty. !,
And what Columbus accomplished
by his discovery is only paralleled
by what the Declaration of Independ-
ence did for the world. He threw
open a country for the oppressed;
the declaration uncrowned kings and
wrested from the hands of titled tyr
amy the sceptre OF usurped and arbi
trary power. 1t gave the peasant a
career, it knighted all sons of toll,
it opened all the paths to fame, and
put the star of hope above the cradle
of the poor mans babe.
Columbus braved the pillows and
taught the mariner how to overcome
the ocean. Before his time the sailor
would not venture out of sight of
land. Since then the pilot has learned
that there is more danger of shoals
and bars and rocks near the coast
than where the breakers roll in their
unchecked career. So it was with the
colonists. Their victories not only
made us free, but, the different ma
tions seeing how smoothly they sailed
when no longer moored to the reefs
of royalty, their example rendered
tyranny in other lands as insecure
as snow upon volcanoes lips. Ma
poleon, alone at st. Helena, remember
| ing Moscow and it's fateful march,
said: Before another century the
world will be either Cossack Or Re-
publican" Was he not true pro-
phet? The Cossack Is still confined
to his bleak and famine-haunted re-
gions, while liberty has taken wing
and finds supporters in every cline.
Only couple of decades ago, Dom
Pedro, the last and gentlest of his
race and Of his form of government
left our shores. England still retains
the outward show of royalty, but it is
not the ghost of what it was. The
poorest man there today has more
rights than the barons dared to ask
of John at Runnymeade. Where Louis
the fourteenth once proudly said: Il
am the State" president admins
tiers the affairs of republic. Ger
many is now united under the very
limited sway of an emperor where
seventy years ago petty despots ruled
independent states. Russia has still
her car, but she has no serfs. The
spirit of 1875 has worked it's way as
! though a train had been laid from
country to country. The spark
flashed into being by the muskets at
; Lexington now enlightens the world
Such was Columbus; such was the
land that he discovered. There are
: not wanting men to asperse the mo
lives and defame the character Of
our hero. But each shaft that leaves
the Bonded bow only recoils on him
who sent it. Nor are there wanting
men to predict that this government
cannot stand, while the facts of more
than century and a quarter of grant
achievements belle their assertions
Their hopes and their fears are onl!
morning shadows, huger than the
l shapes that cast them. We are tn.
l standard-bearers of liberty. Shall w,
not also be the protectors of it? W.
are the inheritors of the legacy lef
by Columbus. Shall we not Prov
2 worthy of the trust? A hundred year,
: ago there was no commemoration o
the discovery by Columbus, because
t there was practically no America. W.
z were then in our infancy. Our stand
3 ard was splashed with scarlet stains
J, We were only recovering from the Ell
: fects of the revolution. Since thel
3 America has grown and with it tn
e fame of Columbus. A hundred year
$ hence. Oh, could we dip into the fl
r ture and see how those who com
: after us will celebrate. Columbu!
J will, with Gods help, long ere the
I have won the Confessors crown. Ar
Q other saint will be added to the ca
J. endar, another tone will be in tn
\ song of praise. May America be the
0 as in the past, worthy of her discover
g er. May the same flag float from he
r fortresses; the same love of libert
I sustain her sons They say that graf
!, tude is the fairest flower that shed
l. it's perfume in the heart; and tonigh
q the gratitude of many millions VIII
r inhabit this continent, from the HON
Q of the Esquimaux to beyond the Ian
e of the Aztecs, goes out in love to tn
s great navigator Nor this alone TIL