Norwich bulletin., 1918-06-15
FLAG DAY GRAFTON.
The "old Flag" is The Oldest Afloat
 Today" Says Rev. w. H. kenndy.


 | In his eloquent oration Rev. W. H. Kennedy spoke as follows:
 This distinctively E. P. o. E. Amer ican Order. can never allow this day to go by without commemorating the birth | of our country's flag. Patriotism and | love and reverence for the flag is a part of tehir principles. They try to make the glory of Americanism a liv- ing reality.
 l And so with beautiful ceremonies tonight they celebrate the Hist anni- versary of the birth of Old Glory Surely we can at this time call our starry banner by the affectionate title 1 of Old Glory. because, so far as we | know, it is the oldest banner afoat today.
 Survives All Other Flags.
 They usually think of and speak l of us as a young nation and of our | flag as the flag of a new people. but let us realize tonight with pride that since Old Glory first kissed the breezes i Al years ago. the flags of all the great nations have changed and new ones ! taken their places. The flag of l France was then the Fleur de Lis. The | flag of old England then represented only the union of Scotland and Eng i land. The black, white and red of unit | ed Germany had not yet come into ex- i istence, for Germany itself was then only a collection of feudal states. United Italy was not yet born. In short, no flag that greeted the Stars and Stripes June 14th, 1I77, has survived. l Our flag is the oldest flag in the world 1 today.
 And Our Country, though we think l 1t young and new, is the oldest un- l changed form of government in the | civilized world. How rapidly other l governments have changed. Since our i birth as nation, France has been 1 three times republic and twice an empire. Spain, Holland. Norway and 1 Sweden have been sub divided and re- united. Persia and Turkey have yielded | to democratic tendencies. The flag of Japan is only a little over a half cen tury old, Russia and China the oldest and most absolute of monarchies, have recently become republics. We may I indeed take pride in the success and endurance of this great experiment in government of the people. by the peo- pie and for the people.
 1 Waves Over .1o0, 1000 900.
 But marvel at the growth of our country in those 141 years. Old Glory then sheltered under its folds, less than three millions of immigrant pion- eers. They were crowded on this
 storm tossed Atlantic coast. Today this same banner is carried over a vast
 continent of 5000 miles It protects
 over one hundred millions of people;
 the strongest, richest and one of the
 largest nations the world has evel
 seen. From ocean to ocean. from th,
 Great Lakes to the Gulf, it binds ir
 loyalty and devotion these millions O
 people. It has even carried our con. stitution to the Philipnines-it wave,
 above the Hawaiian Islands-it,
 colors may be seen by the light O.
 the midnight sun in the northermos
 Alaska.
 Strene United National Spirit,
 They have called us a mere meltin; pot, filled with streams from ever
 corner of Europe. They said WI were patchwork of nation-we hat
 no bond of national feeling. We wer
 merely hastily and faultily stitche,
 together by high sounding phrases o
 political equality. We had no na tional ideals, no national aspiration
 and therefore, no national spirit. My friends, is there a nation in tn world today whose ideals are so uni form as ous? Is there 8 people s
 nearly alike Is there united nationa l. spirit so strong?
 From Plymouth Rock to the Colder Gate there lives a restless and pro
 gressive people with only one Ian guage. one literature and one law True, there arc in our large cities crowded foreign quarters, but hoy
 s'Ann do they mingle in the great Oceal