INTRODUCTORY. LESS than half a century ago, memorable words were uttered, on a certain occasion, by one of England's greatest thinkers, which may be said to have received from our national history, if not their accomplishment, at least their successful illustration. "The free parliament of a free people is the native soil of eloquence, and in that soil will it ever flourish and abound-there it will produce those intellectual effects, which drive before them whole tribes and nations of the human race, and settle the destinies of men." Our Republic, founded by our Pilgrim fathers upon the Bible, with civil and religious liberty for its charter-when contrasted with the several States of Europe, may be said to be unique; since, to quote the words of Carlyle; "They are ever in baleful oscillation, afloat as amid raging eddies and conflicting sea-currents, not steadfast as on fixed foundations," whilst a century of progressive strength attests the enduring stability of our country. Castelar has also declared that "Saxon America, with its immense virgin territories, with its republic, with its equilibrium between stability and progress, is the continent of the future; stretched as it is by God, between the Atlantic and the Pacific-where mankind may plant, essay, and resolve all social problems." Youngest in the great family of nations, America is thus found in the foremost rank of our Christian civilization. Although as a nation, she may not boast of the "antique glories of the classic arts," yet has she shared liberally with others of maturer growth, in the triumphs of modern genius and inventive skill, while she may pre-eminently claim the honor of having given to the world the well-attested illustration of the feasibility of popular self-government. This is thy praise America! Thy power! History has its representative eras, as well as its representative men; and our American Republic has in this, its first century, been eminently signalized by both. No century of the world's history has been so replete with grand events, or ennobled by so many illustrious names as ours. No epoch has been characterized by such magnificent achievements in science, art, literature, æsthetic culture and popular education. It was one of President Lincoln's quaint but expressive remarks made in reference to our recent struggle, that "this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of Freedom, that governments of the people, by the people and for the people, shall not perish from the earth." We have, like other nations, had our revolutionary or heroic age, as well as our age of progressive culture, physical and moral. The former has transformed vast wildernesses into fertile fields, decked with happy homes and cities. The other, as by the enchanter's wand, has "called into being a broad empire of self-governed, industrious and prosperous millions." Justly proud of our signal prosperity, we hail with triumph the glorious present, with our national escutcheon thus honored before the world. It has been aptly remarked that the "Declaration of Independence by its recognition of the "Rights of Man," gave a new impetus to political morality, and marked a new era of intellectual revolt against old established institutions and modes of thought. It was natural and fitting, therefore, that America should be the theatre where the great problem of popular liberty and self-government should be solved. Nor was that the only grand result achieved-the captive has been made free, the barriers that, for so long a time, had separated the races, have been removed; Civil and Religious liberty, our boasted national inheritance should thus become to us a benison inexpressibly precious, inspiring us with a truer reverence for the past, a purer patriotism and more exalted aims for the present, with an exultant and hopeful anticipation for the future.." 66 CONTENTS. [The orations following Pennsylvania are given in the order of the ad- WM. CULLEN BRYANT; Centennial Ode, [fac-simile of original manuscript]... 5 13 RIGHT REV. WM. BACON STEVENS, D. D., L. L. D.; Prayer.... 19 DEXTER SMITH; March--Our National Banner... HON. WM. M. EVARTS; What the Age Owes to America.. PITTSBURGH. HON. FELIX R. BRUNOT; The Genius of America.... HON. JOHN M. KIRKPATRICK; Echoes from Lexington and Bun- DOYLESTOWN. HON. HENRY CHAPMAN; The Magnificent Present.... NEWARK. HON. CORTLANDT PARKER; The Open Bible.. 92. REV. JOSEPH H. TWITCHELL; The Grand Mission of America..128 GEN'L JOSEPH R. HAWLEY; Address. HON. ROBERT C. WINTHROP; A Century of Self-Government....145 OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES; Hymn-Welcome to All Nations.. 21 HON. BENJ. FRANKLIN THOMAS; The New Century. .215 MARYLAND. SOUTH CAROLINA. NEW HAMPSHIRE. HON. FERNANDO WOOD; Democracy the Hope of the Nation HON, RICHARD O'GORMAN; The Grandeur of Our Republic.. JUDGE H. A. GILDERSLEEVE; American Citizenship..... REV. MORGAN Dix, D. D.; The Hand of God in History REV. THOMAS ARMITAGE, D. D.; Our National Influence... REV. H. H. BIRKINS; Our Flag... 348 BINGHAMPTON. REV. J. P. GULLIVER, D. D.; Our Success-Our Future.... .410 |