INTRODUCTORY
Page 8

We live in an age of light and of knowledge; an age in which the progress of science and of art is unprecedented in the history of the world. Their progress is onward with the step of a Colossus. We abide, too, in a land of civil and religious liberty. The benignant smiles of an overruling Providence have ever beamed upon us in all their glory and their effulgence. The trump of the warrior, the noise and confusion of battle, and the garments dyed in blood, have passed from our heritage, and we are living in the felicitous enjoyment of those twin boons of freedom and prosperity, purchased by the blood of, and bequeathed to us by, our fathers. Let us emulate their deeds, practice their virtues, and hand down to posterity the rich legacy bequeathed to us, untarnished by them, unimpaired by us. Let us contemplate the edifice they reared, this magnificent temple of CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY! The permanent fruits of liberty are wisdom, moderation and mercy. Its abuse are crimes, conflicts, errors. It is at this latter crisis that its enemies love to exhibit it. They would pull down the scaffolding from the half-finished edifice, and point to the flying dust, the falling timers and debris, and then ask in scorn, where is the promised comfort and splendor of the structure to be found? But there stands this ancient architectural pile, with tokens of a century's age covering it from its corner-stone to its topmost turret. Some of its enemies point to these symbols of age as tokens of decay, while to its friends they indicate the years they have stood; and chronicle a massiveness that can yet defy more centuries than it has stood years. Its foundations are buried in the accumulated mould of an hundred years. Its walls are mantled by ornamental vines of ever green foliage. Dig away the mould of a century, and these foundations were laid by no moral hand. The Temple of Civil Liberty is founded on primitive rock. It strikes its roots to an unfathomable depth. No frost can heave-no convulsions shake it. The Centennial Anniversary of the Temple of Liberty to-day we celebrate. July 4, 1876. COLUMBIA Come forth in all thy maiden charm, Serenely still, benignly fair, For greetings true and glad and warm Are thrilling through the summer air. Come forth, so dowered with youthful grace, Columbia, Lady of the West! And be the welcome in thy face, The pride of every honored guest. A hundred years, in shade and light, Have cast their glory o'er thy brow; But what are they? A watch by night To nations vast who seek thee now, Who heard the overture of morn Swept grandly by the choiring stars, Ere yet across the earth was borne The sound of strife, the clash of wars. The children of the farthest East Have brought their tributes to thy shrine. Though last, fair land, thou art not least, And cordial hands solicit thine. Lo! Out from all her mystic past Steps she who reared the Pyramid; And China opens wide the fast Barred door which once her empire hid. With stately courtesy they bring Their wishes for they long success; Their golden censers gently swing With incense pure as love's caress. With treasures of an elder art, Across blue-rounding waves, Japan Comes mingling in thy thronging mart, To tell the brotherhood of man. And other than these Orient ones Are pilgrims to thy radiant shore; The emphasis of kindred tones Makes sweet the hail from lips, before, A century back, that, touched with scorn, In English accents told thy name- Thy name! To-day with glory worn Whenever reaches England's fame. Italia sends her dreams sublime In marble wrought. From Spain and France, From German lands, From Russia's clime, From Greece, with thoughts of old romance Entwined, the votive offerings come; And syllabled in silvery speech, Beneath the deep cerulean dome, Flow words of cheer thine ear to reach. From where the Amazon's deep tide Full-hearted glides through banks of green, A royal pair have sought thy side, With simplest grace and courtly mien; And from their broad and ample state, Where thousands bend to do their will, Comes, fitly crowning freedom's fete, A wreath of bloom from fair Brazil. A fading shape, the while it fades, That gives thee homage, joins to raise, Ere yet it vanish 'mid the shades Of night and eld, its chant of praise. Its name is on thy rivers writ, Its music crowns thy mountain peaks, Yet, phantom-like, its children flit Before the tongue Columbia speaks. Receive, fair virgin of the West, The friendly plaudits of the world; Receive the love in flowers expressed, By flags in gentle peace unfurled! Begin the century to come In faith unfeigned, in solemn awe, And consecrate thy soil, the home Of Liberty allied to Law!

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