The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1921-06-24

little life
 Is rounded with a sIeep!''
 John Ronald Hopkins
 After a well rendered violin solo, 'ReVere,'' Vieulings, by Miss Janette F. Rozene, Miss Alma K Rosen spoke on Teachers of American Thought Her address, which won for her the second Barnum prize, was as follows:
 Leaders of American Thought ..
 Leaders of thought are tools of God, chosen for the purpose of guid- ing mems minds into channels of high and lofty endeavOr-
 In Amerfcaz that endeavor has found its best expression in a tire deSs search for freedom; not the free dom of vain glorious boast which leads nowhere; or the license of sell fish, unbridled action which results, but too often, in ruin and deStruc- hon- Freedom expressed in terms of American thought is an embodi- ment of the nObleSt ideals of demo cracy, and those whose minds have given birth to new and enlightening interpretations of that thought - those are its leaders.
 American thought is composite growth having its origin in the Pill grim mind.
 Three hundred years ago. to the bleak and barren shore of New Eng land, there came a band of eXiles' who had crossed the seas to find a
 
 a little church, surrounded 1t with rude wooden shacks, and in spite of untold suffering and priyatadon they grew and prospered-
 But after a number of years there came a, man who looked upon this snug little settlement and revolted At the mockery of 1t. Freedom to worship God'-it was but an empty phraSe,-holIow, meaningless Ri- Soted minds devised malignant tor ture for the unfortunate who dared 2iOlate the decrees of the recognized Church, and cloaking cruelty with the righteous garb of duty, ImpriS- Oned, banished and even put to death the 'unbelievers.'
 Thought Roger Williams, |In this vast wilderness so near to God, may [ not pray as my heart dictateS?''
 Pursuing this theory of religious toleraItion, in the face of unspeaka- ble hardship and persecution he es- were made for cfTiI things conscience alone was the law of the soul.
 From that colony. founded in the bitter cold and Wretchedness of Rhode Island winter, has developed Americas present. religious thought
 Government and Religion go no longer hand in hand, but march worship God" has become more than a slogan of empty words It is a holy right. a sacred privilege cher ished by all Americans; and who shall deny that Roger Williams is re- sponsible for it?
 '"Thougflt,'' as Carlyle aptly states, When once awakened, does not again slumber."
 For a century and a half, the col Onies developed rapidly, making sur prising strides in industry, science, and democracy.
 Of a sudden, they awoke one day to a rude chafing under the demands of a despoic king.
 Sore was the need of a genius, man of ViSion-a leader of thought Then rose that daring son of the soil Samuel Adams, firing the hearts and minds of the people to the Revolu- ton.
 A visionary, he desired more than grants of freedom doled out as might suit the whims of a monarch. His Utopia consisted of a government by a representative assembly which should not delegate it's authority to any foreign power, but should be free to conduct the mznutest details of administration through the direct personal agency of it's own members.
 He was a Veritable thorn in the side of King George. leading every movement pertaining to independ ence.
 John Adams, second only to his olution said of h3n, Samuel Adams was born and tempered a wedge of steel to split the knot of 1eSium vi taee that tied America to England-''
 He was the originator of the Com mittee of Correspondence writing in long-hand all complaints to the king. He promulgated the Boston Tea Par ty, which was responsible more than any other one event for preci p5tating the struggle, and he reused the peo-