The Penn's Grove record., 1919-07-11
British and American Union


containing messages from public mel
in the United States in regards to thu
United principles of the English speak
ing people in the British empire
Among the most noted articles was
that of Owen Wistar, the distinguish
ed author, who, in part, said:
'"To the secular days which yol
mark with especial observance every
year you have added some of ours
Thus, as your most sacred days
Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, have
| always been ours, because we inner
tied your way Of faith, henceforth you
are going to join US in those moments
when we pause to do honor to u his
tory. You could have made no gest-
ure of friendship more gracious. II
will deeply touch every enlightened
heart in my country. May she rise to
the occasionl A few weeks ago, on
May 80, while we were decorating the
graves of those who died in III Civil
War, you were strewing flowers over
those $4,000 American soldiers who
lie in England's earth, united with
your dead in their supreme gift to the
great cause we share. Today you
join us again.
mot any British festival that |
know of do you celebrate with the fer
vor that we Americans give to u In
dependence Day. We more than cele-
brate it, we live it. Upon it u great
traditional emotion arises to the sur
face and unifies us. Beneath the noise
of the day and the rockets of the night
la.,,, - AZ -s1naoo &C +h4 cni1it fhot
which puts US at our best. | cannot
believe that any of those of foreign
speech who have mingled their lot
with ours wholly know OF wholly feel
what this day mean to us of English
descent.
"To the general American mind you
are still what it supposes you have
been in the day of Washington, some
thing which, even at the time of the
split, was only a part of you and was
even then on the wane. Upon the split
l must now eXpatiate a little before |
can reach the unison.
in London, not many weeks ago, the
question was asked me: And do you
still dislike us as much as ever?'
'As much as ever, Pm afraid was
my answer. we can't get over
George Third
George Ill Our Idea of England
"This pleasantly is truer than it
George the Third is more
alive with US than with you. You
have had several monarchs since him,
you see, but he was u latest! 1t is
our school histories that has been keep
.ng his memory green. Don't blame
hem too much. Let me tell you why.
We were weak and young. We had
not long broken away from you. We
mad to make out our case. Now our
case, once you go into the original
documents, was not over strong. The
of it was, you had been driving
Is colonies with such light reins for so
ong that directly you frightened them
took the bit between our teeth and
We meant to be III own ma
ion and not your colonies, no matter
low easy with US you might be. And
you were easy, very easy, until late in
our Revolution. So III school histor-
es had to make out a case.
"They played up George the Third
md Lord North strong, and they sup
pressed Burke and Pitt and the whole
LIBERAL element in England that was
sympathy with US, thought of us
is free British brothers over the water
Who were insisting on u British
lights. In short they painted a dis
orted picture of England's political
condition at that time.
Generations of American school
Joys have studied this picture. To
,athers and grandfathers all over our
states the names Concord, Bunker
Hill and Valley Forge mean resistance
the tyrannical enemy of liberty,
england. England is still that to our
of today, though not to so
many. A movement to correct the
chool books has been started and will
70 on. 1t will be thwarted in every
way possible by certain Of your enem-
es. These will busily remind us that
7ou burnt our capitol in the next war
We had; that you let loose the Ala
upon US during our Civil War;
hey will never mention the good turns
rou have done us. They would spoil,
f they could, the better understand
ng that so many of US are striving
They would pry US apart if they
,ould. They viii fail. Our dead over
whom you strewed flowers on May 30
will help US living to defeat them.
Could | name all the matters wherein
have varied much or little from
you since that original Fourth of July
l43 years ago q teeming page would
be compiled. In truth, a whole book
devoted to these differences, with the
history Of each divergence, would
have that same light-throwing quality
which is possessed by any great die
tionary giving the evolution and sue
cessive uses Of words. We vary from
you, for instance, in u Protestant
Episcopal p~rayerbook, here and there,
written and spoken; in the custom of
primogeniture, the rule of the road,
coinage, spelling, pronunciation, enun-
citation. Many of US speak through
our noses, none of US drop our his;
omission of the G., as in shockin', de-
notes, mostly, the tumble with US, the
'aughty with you. And SO forth, and
so forth.
"What then?
The Ties That Bind Us
"This whole mass of divergence is