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which endure come from the soul of
the people. The mighty in their pride
walk alone to destruction. The humble
walk hand in hand with providence
to immortality. Their works survive.
When the
people of the colonies were defending
their liberties against the might
of kings, they chose their banner
from the design set in the firmament
through all eternity. The flags
of great empires of that day have
gone, but the stars and stripes
remain. It pictures a vision of
a people whose eyes are turned to
the rising dawn. It represents of
the hope of a father for his posterity.
It was never flaunted for the glory
of royalty, but to be born under
it is to be the child of a king,
and to establish a home under it
is to be the founder of a royal
house. Alone of all flags, it expresses
the sovereignty of the people which
endures when all else passes away.
Speaking with their voice, it has
the sanctity of revelations. He
who lives under it and disloyal
to it is a traitor to the human
race everywhere. What could be saved
if the flag of the American nation
were to perish?
America has
many glories. The last one that
she would wish to surrender is the
glory of the men who have served
her in war. While such devotion
lives, the nation is secure. Whatever
dangers may threaten from within
or without, she can view them calmly.
Turning to her veterans, she can
say: "These are our defenders.
They are invincible. In them is
our safety."
After more
than five years of the bitterest
war in human experience, the last
great stronghold of force surrendering
to the demands of America and her
allies agreed to cast aside the
sword and live under the law. America
decided that the path of the Mayflower
should not be closed. She decided
to sail the seas. She decided to
sail not under an Edict of Potsdam,
cramped in narrow lands, seeking
safety in unarmed merchant men painted
in fantastic hues as the badge of
an infinite servitude; but she decided
to sail under the ancient Declaration
of Independence, choosing her own
course, maintaining security by
the guns of her ships of the LINE,
flying at the mast the stars and
stripes forever, the emblem of a
militant liberty.
With peace
has come prosperity. Burdens have
been great, but the strength to
bear them has been greater. The
condition of those who toil is higher,
better, more secure than in all
the ages past. Out of the darkness
of a great conflict has appeared
the vision of a nearer, clearer
than ever before, the life on earth
and less under the deadening restraint
of course more and more under the
vitalizing influence of reason.
Moral power has been triumphing
over physical power. Education will
tend to bring reason and experience
of the past into the solution of
the problems of the future. We must
look to service and not selfishness,
for service is the foundation of
progress. The greatest lesson that
we have to learn is to seek ever
the public welfare, to build up,
to maintain our American heritage.
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