Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-07-22
''Best in Man Given Expression"


"They become the memoranda Of the
means by which liberty has been kept
alive, that the best in man might be
given expression. that culture might
dwell in the earth, that there might be
sweetness and light in life. that man. the
individual might stand up in the world
and realize the aspirations Of the poets
and saviors of the race.
And then suddenly, as though 1t had
stepped out of the middle ages. au-
tocracy, reincarcerated in military
despotism, made its apparitton In the
modern world and proposed to tear up
all these charters of human liberty, to
destroy this work Of the centuries. 1t
challenged the validity of the principles
on which democratic actions rest. and
with them the noblest and most exalted
conceptions of the human mind. 1t I'M
pugned justice, it scorned at liberty, 1T
scorned compassion, 1t flouted honor.
and in the name of that amazing theory
that any deed is right If one has the
brute force to commit IT 1t would take
away what Lincoln called the last. best
hope of man.
TT precipitated anew the old conflict
between freedom and slavery. the old
battle between the prince of the powers
of the air and the prince or the power
Of darkness. and thereby 1t decreed it's
own destruction. The world has grown
too small Cor autocracy and democracy
to live in 1t together The urge of de-
mocracy is Irresistible: it Is the destiny
of men to be free: peoples developed in
the light of free institutions do/not
turn backward to the dark. The his
tory of the emancipated nations of the
earth all tends one way-toward lib
erty. upward toward the light
"Valiant France; Heroic Belgium"
Read the story Of valiant France.
Read the story Of Belgium-ah. Bel
GUM! Three years ago this summer
day 1t was a smiling land Of happy peo-
pie whose every scene evoked the mem
Dry of some joyous canvas Of Jourdons
or Taniers. Today 1t Is a land Of sor-
row lightened only by the heroism OF
an fndomitable people. They have not
only endured all the cruelties and the
woes of war, but they have been sub
jected to the ignominies of a military
occupation; they live in the presence
of great injustice. in the shadow of a
mighty wrong. Yet these brave spirits
back there behind that tragic veil come
of 9. line of men who ages since learned
what liberty is. and in their communal
form of government have chung stub
bornly through successive alien dom
nations to the right to rule themselves.
And undaunted and undismayed as she
stood her ground at Liege and along
the User, SO Belgium stands her ground
today in every commune and at every
hearthstone in the land.
-" nat was II tndt leu laIdyotte To
go forth to a new land in the midst
of war? He had a place at the most
brilliant court of his time; he had
youth and wealth and a noble name !:
he had a bride and he was in Paris.
And yet when he heard of the struggle
across the sea he said: My heart was
enrolled and l had no other idea than
to Join my colors.'
"Co1ors Of Liberty Beckoned." i.
my colors! The colors of liberty,
whose radiant vision beckoned him as
It has beckoned the loving and the
daring at all times. He knew that
wherever liberty was menaced there
was his place; that wherever the flag
of liberty was unfurled there was his
post. Noblesse oblige! And the noblest,
like Lafayette and Washington, are not
content with liberty for themselves
alone; they must have 1T for all men
on equal terms. for they know that
character can be developed only in
liberty. where the human soul has the
right not only to live. but the exceed :
ingly more important right to live a
beautiful life.
To-day. as we stand by the tomb of