The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-06-17

was anxious to secure a more irnnae-
 diate control over American affairs,
 and accordingly caused the Navigation
 Act to be rigidly enforced. The peo-
 pie murnaured-but this was but the
 beginning. The Stamp Act followed;
 upon it's repeal new burdens were i'm
 posed; the history of the ten years zf1-
 mediately preceding the commence-
 ment of the war is record of the1 consistent efforts of an arbitrary
 prince to undermine the liberty and self government of race that had never known a conqueror's yoke
 r The ministerial party of England turned deaf ear to all the petitions
 of the American people: in vain did they protest their loyalty and vfndi- cate the righteousness of their cause
 The Parliament of 1774 refused to ne~
 gotiate; 1t sent troops to Boston, and annu1ied Charters instead. II baca1ne manifest, to all that America must either go down in the coming storm. or prepare herself to strike the op- pressor. The Battle of Lexington. in April, 1775, was the call to arms of
 the whole country The New Eng flanders rallied outside of Boston; at
 the Battle of Bunker Hill the sta1wart
 sons of Connecticut and Massa chusetts
 hastily assembled and led by brave General Putnam, taught the British to ; respect American valor in a manner which they never forgot.
 General Washington arrived at Cambridge during the sumner, to take command of the troops hence forth known as the Continental Army. It was an suspicious day for the cause of America, for truly he was chosen of Heaven for the gigantic task that fay before him. Words are but idle 1 that would praise the genius, or e1tol the power over the hearts of men, that Washington possessed. His was the masterrnind that planned; his the lion l strength that sustained a nation in 1 it's day of despair, and wrought ui- 1 unph out of the chaos of defeat He 1 was the noblese commander that ever led an army into the fray fn bEhalf
 of Liberty and Country. There was abundance of courage and patriotism | in tho camp at Cambridge, but It's troops were sadly inferior in military training and experience to the veter- 1 ans who composed the army of the British; neither was there vestfge of po1np or g1ittering display. Could the 1 proud cavalcad de of feuda1 fame have been permit tsd to leave their cruMnb | ling ton1bs arrayed in g1earntng ar nor and mounted on noise1ess charg- CTS, to pass in review that motley ar my, they would have be7le1d in utter | Aznazem ent the men who presumed 70 | enter the lists in such array; and dottfIeess the Yankee 1aOest wou9d 9faye presented a sorry spectacle beside the l stee1-cIad warriors of the past. But the latent power and high purpose of the Americans was destined to gain a to the niche reserved for feuda1 lords in the worlds Hall of Fame.
 The controversy had hitherto been sustained on the part of the Colonies | with the sole view Of recovering the traditional rights of English subjects; af, khe idea of severtng the ties that bound them to the Empire. But they had swiftly and unconsciously dF1fted into new seas 11upe1ied by the curl rent of recent events and sudden1yi there Ioomed lip before them, dimIyf oSz&Iined against a new horizon, the vision of America azS a new and i1fde- pendent nation. The Declaration Of Independence was the immediate re- suit of that vizfon; it was the noble herald of the rise of the United States of ATner1cas henceRorGh owing afIe-I glance to no earthly monarch. The Colonies received the Declaration with universal exclamation. Their cities were the scenes of 5ubilant festtvftges in honor of the new order of things. Yet there were fearful breakers ahead of the brave people who had dared to take this step. For them the Dec3a-i ration of Independence was a war-t song; 1t is, truly "a stately and past sionate chant of human freedom; tti is a prose lyric Of civil and mfIftaryi herofSm."
 Years of deso1ating warfare were fr-i deed reserved for the land that had proclaimed itself free. Never was al struggle more unequa1. America wasl suddenly confronted by three immense armies, composed of vVel1-appointedI troops, trained on the batt1e-daids of Europe and commended by. skHRul generals. Her coasts and especially She chief cities, were at the mercy of the proud British feet; commerce was crippled and the country was begin ming to sink fnbo debt. In the an- auznn of 1TyS General Howe carried all before him. and popular enthuss- asm gave place to conBternatfon An the face of the dire disasters of Long Island and Fort Washington. Few recognized power that would soon turn the tide of victory in the st1r1nk- en forces that retreated with Wash-1