Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1911-06-01

CT tie edrneStneSS the VaIor and the
magnaniinity Of the American people
that will compel them to maintain a
Republic worthy of the sacrifices
made worthy of the ethical patriot
ism that made these sacrifices;
prompt them to confront with the full
exercise of honest, fearless. intelligent
citizenship, every attack upon the
individual or collective rights of the
people. whether made by autocrat or
aiiat chist obliEarchist or socialist
plutocrat or demagogue: impel them
to Il full discharge of every civic duty
incident To honorable peace or Just
war
And while such sentiments of duty
do animate the people of our whole
country. so long will our flag. around
which our fathers rallied when found =
ing this Republic. and Our Boys when
defending it, rallied once again be the
emblem of Government worth loving.
worth honoring. worth living for: so
long viii such citizens believe that
such Government is worth dying for
The grandest temple ever reared in
this world is the Constitution of the
United States. The greatest emblem
between earth and sky is that which
floats above the dome of that temple
the Stars and Stripes. We are on the
threshold of new century. What is
the most wondrous development of
these one hundred years? 1t is not the
telephone whereby we speak from
New York to the village by the lake
we call Chicago. 1t is not the tele-
graph which brings all lands together
encirclng the globe in forty seconds
II is not the steamship assoeiating
and amalgamatng distant peoples, not
proud navies which guard the seas,
not a great citizen army which sprang
into being in day, with a battle front
longer than from London to the Nile.
not the melting back of that army
into the heart of the Republic. but
what Lincoln has put into one immor-
tai sentence: The Preservation of
the Jewel of Liberty in the Frame
work of Freedom" The statesman of
olden times knew how to "mortise"
the framework. but failed to include
individual freedom and individual man
hood. This is what the United States
Of America has been doing for the last
one hundred years. evolving thereby
the greatest product of all the cen.
taries the American man: or it may
perhaps be permitted to add. in this
gathering Of fair women" the Ameri-
can woman. recognizing the graceful
analogy of Robert Burns:
ellis prentice hand He tried on man.
And then he made the lassies"
Old Glory, moreover. has not only
shielded this browning product of the
ages, individual liberty. but also typi-
fies throughout its history a union
one and undivisible There were nine
teen families in the Mayfiower. There
we're thirteen stars and thirteen stripes
in the flag. a number indivisible from
its birth The old flag is also greater
and dearer for its rebaptism:
Those stars are there in setting blue
Because you answered to the call,
We bring no eulogy to you
You honor us-you won it all"
In the light of your victory Old
Glory today is the emblem of hope
Everywhere all over the world strug-
Cling souls are yearning for freedom.
and that flag is the inspiration and
promise of a wider liberty. In Its
bright folds we see the heaven born
token Of Gods chosen people. and it
is the only flag which borne aloft by
Angel fingers to the very gates of the
eternal city. seems at home in the
all embracing blue thick sown with
shining stars.
We cannot think of Anniversary day,
coming at the time of the year when
Nature is unfolding her most attrac-
tive beauties, without involuntarily
going back to the spring of 1861, and
the elimination of the dispute between
strong men then in array; of the North
and of the South. in armed combat.
Argument had exhausted itself. and the
dominant characteristic. of the Ameri-
can, action in support of mis- judgment,
took the place of words, and the battle
was on.
The war is over. save in the hearts
of a few from whose memories bitter
losses cannot fade. and however sharp
the antagonism in the early days.
however strong the resentment, the
fierce desire tor retaliation; the pas
sions have yielded to the soothing m
Huence Of time, and the receding con-
flicts are softer in outline as the dis
tant mountain in the purple haze OF
reconciliation.
1t is the god-like essence of charity
that bids us be to cur feIlowman as
we would have him be to us. There
are those amcng us here today who
can recall the early days of the war
The anxiety, the eager search for
news, the slow disclosure of the In
evitable. and then that great. over
towering. irresistible wave of enthus-
iasm that swept old and young, father
and son, without hesitation, without
waiver. without question. into armed
defence of the principles for which the
North and the established government
stood.
The American man is a patriot. The
American woman is a. patriot Who
car say to whom the greater credit is
due?
The man, who setting aside his bust
ness and domestic cares and RESPONSE
bilities. freely and voluntarily gave
himself to his country; or the woman,
unselhshly accepting the demand for
duty, courageously taking up the bur
den that the man perforce had left,
carrying on the struggle of life, her