The Washington herald., 1910-03-17

lS4th anniversary Of the evacuation OF
Boston by the English army and navy in
I77G
The banquet hall is located on Dor
chester Heights. where Gen. Washington
planted his cannon and built earthworks
on the night of March 1s. 177e, compelling
Gen. Howe to evacuate In part, Gen.
Sherwood's speech was as follows:
Two hundred and seventy-six years ago
DR.. Thomas Sherwood and his wife and
little brood Of boys and girls came into
Boston Harbor in a creaking old sailing
vessel, three months ont from England.
Boston Author Right ON Pedigrees.
Il have been reading a book by a Bos-
ton writer. Ia which he characterizes the
leaders of the American Revolution, based
on Tory traditions, as base IN morals and
of low repute. So thought the man who
Knocked the sturdy Provineials marshalled
to protect their rights against the invad-
ing Red Goats. II was not the gentle
blood of heredity that made America and
achieved the independence OF the Amer
lean colonies.
THE recent Boston bookmaker was
right on pedigrees. They were a mot
ley mob Of men. those farmer folk in
homespun and bucks1in breeches. It
was democracy against autoeracy, and
1t ali depends upon your point OF view
as to how you gauge their services in
the world conflict that has been going
on for nineteen hundred years. and is
still going on.
1T Is not great men who make great
epochs. 1t is great epochs that make
great men. Had there been no Trojan
war there would have been no Homer
Had there been no conflict OF the kings
In the formative period OF English litera-
ture there would have been no Shakes
peare. Had there been no war OF the
Rebellion there Rould have been no
Abraham Lincoln.
In I776 the rising tide of democracy
broke through the sea wall of class and
and IN the ebb and flow OF the
waters principalities and king
doms went down In America never 20
rise again.
To-day the only barrier to demo-
cratic evolution lies in the corruption OF
legislators and lowering the ideals OF
the fathers. Let US hope that every
holds these old-time ideals
sacredly in his heart tonight as we
stand on the historic heights OF Dor
chester 10 celebrate the 18th anniversary
OF the emancipation of Boston.
Inspiration vs.. Training.
THE first standing army England ever
had was organized under the Stuarts to
check the growing demand for civil and
religious freedom and Of such an army
the colonists had hereditary and whole
some fear. Without trained soldiers.
without skilled engineers OF officers ex-
perienced in the tactics of war, without
powder or adequate war munitions.
George Washington. Virginia cavalier,
assumed command. If the provtncials
were unshlled in war they had faith and
courage and the inspiration of a great
cause. elements to make more invincible
the soldiers of liberty and humanity than
all the arts of war taught in all the mill
tary schools.
Heroes of Liberty in True Light.
strip of all the false glamour and
picturesque posing that painters, and
poets, and Fourth OF July orators have
cast over the patriots of the American
Revolution, and what do We find? A
land of plain, common working men on
strike, battling for their homes and fire.
sides against the Entertainments Of
plutocracy and hereditary aggression.
Washington, who organized the first boy
cott in command
To-day the boycott. such as Wash
ington formally Endorsed in the Virginia
legislature. would land the boycotter in
prison with q terrifying fine. And did
you ever stop to think that we need
something now more than a skin-deep
inocuTztion of that president spirit that
animated the staIwart men and women
of Massachusetts, 134 years ago?
'SuIlivans Irish Brigade held Dor
chester Heights that memorable morning
OF March Il, 1776. That night their
watchword was st. Patrick and when
at 8 O'Clock in the morning Howes army
began to sail past Governors Island. a
shout went up that made that 6sly the
most memorable in the history of st.
day in the morning
Masses Barred from Benefits.
THE 1874 years that have passed since
the soldiers of England evacuated Bos-
ton, never TO come back, have marked
the march Of democracy triumphant in
this and many other lands. The wonders
of invention and discovery. the marvels
Of steam and electricity, have brought
the workers OF the world into lasting
union
"But steam and electricity invention
and discovery. have not brought proper
tonate benefits TO the masses of our peo-
pie. The telephone and the telegraph,
linking kingdom to kingdom, have
brought no tidings OF great joy TO the
weary workers in sweat shops and fac
tories. There can be no such things as
equal rights without equal opportunities.
This is the most vital question of the
hour; its solution is in the broad domain
Of craftsmanship end beyound the province
Of the historical essayist
Military Spirit Is Rampant.
"Our victory over Spain has made the
young men of to-day war mad. and the
spirit is rampant and dangerous.
Just at the close of that war brave
soldier and born leader. who won fame
N Cuba and who was lifted by the
American people to that dizzy seat in
the White House, addressed the military
cadets at West Point, saying in a public
address:
A soldier should NOT only be willing
% fight, but anxious to fight
This reminds me forcibly of what the
Sage of Concord the great Emerson,