Burke once spoke of civilization as a contract between three parties,
the noble dead, the living and the unborn. The English statesmen held
that our fathers have a great stake in this republic. It could not be
otherwise. Washington and Hamilton, Webster and Lincoln, who struck
out the free institutions of this country, are vitally interested
in their preservation and their future. The merchant who founds a
great business, the educator who establishes the academy or college,
the architect who rears some capital or cathedral, the patriot and
soldier who gave their life-blood to preserve their institutions, the
parents and teachers who have reproduced themselves in their children
and pupils,--all these have a great stake in society. Of necessity,
each Franklin or Edison follows with solicitude the tools invented
for the redemption of men from drudgery. Are not the Pilgrim Fathers
interested in the outcome of their ideas? Has the great Emancipator
no regard for the black race whom he redeemed? Can the husbandman
lose all interest in the orchard and vineyard he has planted for the
support of succeeding generations? Little wonder that the Gothic legend
represents the fathers drawing near to the battlements of heaven to
watch every assault upon liberty in the plains beneath! From time to
time the illustrious souls, redeemed out of the body, pluck the red
roses from the tree of life, and fling them down upon those who are
struggling on the plains. When the roses fall upon the arms of the
enemies of liberty they turn to coals of fire, that burn the hands of
tyrants and make them drop the sword unsheathed to promote oppression.
When the roses fall upon the gashes of those who fight for humanity
they become medicines that heal all wounds. Our children, and our
children's children to the last generation also have a great stake in
this republic. Our own generation is at best a trustee, whose duty it
is to safeguard the institutions won by our fathers, and then to hand
them forward, unimpaired and greatly enriched, to the generations that
come after us. God weaves the ages upon a loom. Civilization is a solid
texture, that belongs to the noble dead, to the living, but chiefly to
the unborn. Every motive, therefore, of reverence and loyalty to our
fathers, and of affection for our children, bids us dedicate our lives,
our fortunes, and our sacred honour to the overthrow of autocracy and
militarism, and the establishment upon abiding foundations of the
institutions of our fathers.