Charles Morris

“ One can easily imagine, as he looks off in every direction and notes a wooded horizon, that he is—as in Ohio, Indiana, or Kentucky—in a farming region which has been cleared out of primeval forests. There are many towns I might mention which twenty-five years ago, with their new, wooden shanties scattered over the bare face of the prairie, seemed the hottest place on earth as the summer sun beat upon their unshaded streets and roofs, and seemed the coldest places on earth when the fierce blizzards of winter swept unchecked across the prairie expanses. ”

“ Thus at the close of the nineteenth century, the Greater United States assumes its appointed place among the foremost nations of the world, and stands on the threshold of achievements whose grandeur no man dare attempt to prophesy. We pause, awed, grateful, and profoundly impressed, when we recall the mighty events, the amazing progress, and the wonderful advancements in discovery, science, art, literature, and all that tends to the good of mankind that are certain to give the twentieth century a pre-eminence above all the years that have gone before. ”

“ It may fairly be said, then, that the founders of our nation came from the cream of the populations of Europe, born of sturdy Teutonic stock, and comprising thrift, energy, endurance, love of liberty, and freedom of thought to a degree never equaled in the makers of any other nation upon the earth. They were of solid oak in mind and frame, and the edifice they built had for its foundation the natural rights of man, and for its super-structure that spirit of liberty which has ever since throbbed warmly in the American heart. ”

“ The late war with Spain marks a momentous epoch in the progress of our country, whose history, stretching through the centuries of discovery, exploration, settlement, the struggle for independence, foreign and domestic war, lofty achievement in all departments of knowledge and progress, is the most interesting in human annals. It is a record full of instruction and incitement to endeavor, which must fill every American with pride in his birthright, and with gratitude to Him who holds the earth and the sea in the hollow of His hand. ”

“ Enough has already been stated to show the real cause of the war between the United States and Spain. It was, in brief, a war for humanity, for America could no longer close her ears to the wails of the dead and dying that lay perishing, as may be said, on her very doorsteps. It was not a war for conquest or gain, nor was it in revenge for the awful crime of the destruction of the Maine, though few nations would have restrained their wrath with such sublime patience as did our countrymen while the investigation was in progress. ”

“ Our whole country seethes with excitement from the hour when the first candidate is hinted at until his nomination is made, followed by his election or defeat a few months later. Some persons see a grave peril in this periodic convulsion, which shakes the United States like an earthquake, but it seems after all to be a sort of political thunderstorm which purifies the air and clarifies the ideas that otherwise would become sodden or morbid. It is essentially American, and our people's universal love of fair play leads them to accept the verdict at the polls with philosophy and good nature. ”

“ It was after the Revolution that the progress of this country first fairly began. The fetters which bound its hands thrown off, it entered upon a career of prosperity which broadened with the years, and extended until not only the whole continent but the whole world felt its influence and was embraced by its results. Manufacture, no longer held in check, sprang up and spread with marvelous rapidity. Commerce, now gaining access to all seas and all lands, expanded with equal speed. Enterprise everywhere made itself manifest, and invention began its long and wonderful career. ”

“ As in Cuba, there are but two seasons, the rainy and the dry, the former lasting from July to December, the latter from January to the close of June. The delightful, dry and salubrious atmosphere of midwinter and spring, with its general healthfulness, promises to bring this island into prominence both as a resort for invalids and for homes to those who would escape the rigors of northern winters.
Porto Rico is an ideal lazy man's country, and the overworked American will, undoubtedly, come to make it more and more his Mecca for rest and recuperation. ”

“ The oppressive measures of Great Britain led to a war of seven years' duration, in which more clearly and decisively than ever before the colonists showed their warlike spirit and political genius, and whose outcome was the independence of this country. At its conclusion the United States stepped into line with the nations of the world, a free community, with a mission to fulfill and a destiny to accomplish—a mission and a destiny which are still in process of development, and whose final outcome no man can foresee. ”

“ Sparsely settled, strung at intervals along the far-extended Atlantic coast, silhouetted against a stern background of wilderness and mountain range, their sole bond of brotherhood was their common aspiration for liberty, while in all other respects they were unlike in aims and purposes. The spirit of political liberty was strongest in the New England colonies, and these held their own against every effort to rob them of their rights with an unflinching boldness which is worthy of the highest praise, and which set a noble example for the remaining colonists. ”

“ They were men who thought for themselves, and refused to be bound in the trammels of a State religion; men who were ready to dare the perils of the sea and the hardships of a barren shore for the blessings of liberty and free-thought; men of sturdy thrift, unflinching energy, daring enterprise, the true stuff out of which alone a nation like ours could be built. ”

“ In the next great exhibition, that at Chicago in 1893, we had the satisfaction to perceive, not only that we had made great progress in our points of superiority, but had worked nobly and heartily to overcome our defects, and were able to show ourselves the equal of Europe in almost every field of human thought and skill. In architecture a vision of beauty was shown such as the world had never before seen, and in the general domain of art the United States no longer had need to be ashamed of what it had to show. ”

“ The most formidable war in which the early colonies of New England were involved was with King Philip, who was the son of Massasoit, a firm friend of the settlers until his death. Philip was one of the great Indians of history. Like many of his people he saw with anger the growth of the white men, who in time would drive him and his warriors from their hunting grounds. Realizing the magnitude of the work of exterminating all the settlers, he visited the different tribes and used every effort to unite them in a war against the invaders. ”

“ They seem as impervious to the fiery heat of Arizona and New Mexico as salamanders. Tonight they may burn a ranchman's home, massacre him and all his family, and to-morrow morning will repeat the crime fifty miles distant.
No men could have displayed more bravery and endurance in running down the Apaches than the United States cavalry. The metal-work of their weapons grew so hot that it would blister the bare hands, and for days the thermometer marked one hundred and twenty degrees. ”

“ The task, long committed to England, Germany, France, Russia, and later to Japan, must henceforth be shared with us, whose glowing future gives promise of the crowning achievement of the ages. With a fervent trust in a guiding Providence, and an abiding confidence in our ability, we enter upon the new and grander career, as in obedience to the divine behest that the Latin race must decrease and the Anglo-Saxon increase, and that the latter, in a human sense, must be the regenerator of all who are groping in the night of ignorance and barbarism. ”

“ We have probably had too good an opinion of human nature in forming our confederation. Experience has taught us that without the intervention of a coercive power, men will not adopt and carry into execution measures best calculated for their own good. I do not conceive we can exist long as a nation without having lodged somewhere a power that will pervade the whole Union in as energetic a manner as the authority of the State governments extend over the several States.... I am told that even respectable characters speak of a monarchical form of government without horror. ”

“ War is not only a blight to mankind, but it inflicts wounds that can never heal and brings a train of woe and suffering which lasts for years. The social system is disorganized, industry checked, resources exhausted, and a debt entailed whose burden is felt for generations. The United States had won the priceless boon of independence, but the States were exhausted and in the lowest depths of poverty. ”

“ It need hardly be said that the restless and active spirit of the colonists chafed under these restrictions, and that the attempt to clip the expanding wings of the American eagle had as much to do with bringing on the war of the Revolution as had Great Britain's futile efforts at taxation. The genius of a great people cannot thus be cribbed and confined, and American enterprise was bound to find a way or carve itself a way through the barriers raised by British avarice and tyranny. ”

“ He threw his law books aside when the Indians began their outrages, and we have told of his striking services as a soldier and military leader, culminating with his great victory at New Orleans, the anniversary of which is still widely celebrated. Jackson became the idol of his countrymen, and he possessed many admirable qualities. Never, under any circumstances, did he betray personal fear. He was ready to attack one man, ten men, a hundred, or a thousand, if he deemed it his duty to do so. He was honest to the core, intensely patriotic, and he either loved or hated a man. ”

“ But let us not forget the glorious distinction with which the metropolis among the fair sisterhood of American cities has honored his life and memory. With all that riches and sculpture can do to render the edifice worthy of the man, upon a site unsurpassed for magnificence, has this monument been reared by New York as a perpetual record of his illustrious deeds, in the certainty that, as time passes, around it will assemble, with gratitude and reverence and veneration, men of all climes, races, and nationalities. ”

“ The devastating war raging between England and France was destructive to American commerce and interests. The star of the wonderful Napoleon Bonaparte was rapidly in the ascendant, and his marvelous military genius seemed to threaten the "equilibrium of the world." England had no love for the United States and played havoc with our shipping. ”