The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-03-18

or BT1d GepOrtS owes to the many O1 you here tonight
 LIBUT. GOV TINGIER Lieut.. Gov. Tfngier was next intro duced by the toastmaster in compli- mentary terms.
 Lieut. Gov. Tingier said among other
 things: After that introduction you
 might expect me to be eloquent but
 ties I possess he forgot to make me eloquent. That is probably because 1 | have no Irish blood in me. z Thanking the toastmaster he said that while he
 had attended other banquets on such
 occasions this would be the most glor- I ious of all.
 1 Lieut.. Gov Tlngier said among oth- ] CT things:
 l I desire to call your attention to a
 matter to which have given some though of late and this is the appar-e
 ent lack Of knowledge on the part Of the people of Connecticut of the his- tory of their state ,and deem this occasion to be the opportune time and
 p1ace to disc1ss this question, because lof the presence of so many men of lthat people whose knowledge of the
 history of the land of their fathers \ has passed into a proverb. Not only i does the man Of Irish blood know the story of the home of his ancestors. but every tradition, every song even levery fairy tale is treasured, and hand ed down from generation to generation until everything relating to the old Hand is as familiar to most of you as
 are the recitals of the more important. affairs of the present day, and know lthat what ever may say will be icarefulIy considered by you and given I it's proper weight. The indifference of our people to the lstory of this ancient commonwealth is l ldeep interest in the welfare and good I name of the state, the home of many iof his ancestors, take the liberty to Eurge that your children shall not grow [up in ignorance of the glorious herit-l lage which is theirs.
 | There is no community upon this Hemisphere. nor in the whole world (which has more honorab1e history. I The earliest settlers, as you know, fWere men of English blood; they had fled across the great ocean to escape I thee prosecutions under which they suf- fered at home, and came to 11assaehu- isetts, settling in Boston and the near l by towns but finding that their views lupon political and religious questions were strongly at variance with those Jof their neighbor8, within a short time l began -to look forward to a day when they might found a. home of their Iown where their more liberal and progressive ideas might find freedom lof expression, and so. after much thought and in the fact Of some op-. lposition. they were permitted to de- I part and seek new homes beyond the wilderness Led by their minister. ,l Thomas Hooker. they bade farewell Ito their pleasant homes in Boston, Il Dorchester, and Cambria dge, dhe latter lpIaces being then known as Newtown). Tone hundred of them inc1u ding women land children, and after a journey of two weeks. reached the bank Of the noble river Conenctieut in June, 16S6s and there laid the foundation of our
 1<l-ss I ed and within a year. it s said, there Iwere nearly eight hundred souls dweI1- ling on the great srfver at Hartfords fWethersfe1d and Windsor Within q few years New Haven and other towns Were settled, and the history of our tstate had begun, and from that day to this, her record, save here and there .l a blot, is one of which we, as Connec- lticut men, should be proud
 {: Before the union with New Haven, Il at meeting of the freemen of the lthree river settlements in 1889. under t the leadership of MT. Hooker, there Twas adopted and promulgated the first Il written Constitution for the govern- lredects the broad and liberal views Of Mir. Hooker, who, to my mind. is one of the great figures of American his- ltory. Listen to his noble words ut itered PTS years ago in a sermon to . his people:
 
 tistrates belongs unto the people. ,i 2 They who have power to app point officers and magistrates, 1t is in their power also, to set the bounds and , (which they call tl1em.'' and finally, s-the foundation of authority is laid in the free consent of the peopIe-y
 These words do not sound strange
 to us, but in the days of Charles such utterances were almost ur1h heard Iofs n zraiT 9L I dred and forty years later
 It was no light thing to proclaim . such political doctrines in those days and the author of these words probably
 knew his danger, but this man seem
 ed to know no fear, and thus was
 born constitutional government in America, here on Connecticut soil.
 I fear that we Connecticut men do
 not have a full appreciation of the influence of this event upon the na-
 tfon's history. This constitution which
 . is known as the Fundamental Or iders,'' shows clearly the character of the men who made it. there is no ser vile reference to the king, no subj men were determined to rule them selves without hfndrance by any earthly authority, and they made no facknowledgement to any power but that of Almighty God.
 Insthe War of Independence no state
 can equal her record; she furnished more men to the cause of the colonies , than any other colony. except Massa- , lchusetts, more than Pennsylvania or Virginia, and when population is con- ' Isidered, she exeelled even Massachu- setts, and her money she gave with Eout stint No other colony surpass ed 2 liner in contributing to the success of Ethe American struggle for indepen- dence-
 When the present Constitution of the United States was framed in Philadel- ], phia in 1787, the delegates from Con lnectfcut bore leading part, these men were Oliver Ellsworth, William lSamueI Johnson and Roger Sherman. fThe more populous states Insisted up-