Spoken at Arlington to the veterans of the Federal
and Confederate armies. There were present men in
khaki soon to carry the spirit of America to the
battlefields of France.
Any Memorial Day of this sort is, of course, a day touched
with sorrowful memory, and yet I for one do not see
how we can have any thought of pity for the men whose
memory we honor to-day. I do not pity them. I envy
them, rather, because theirs is a great work for liberty 5
accomplished and we are in the midst of a work unfinished,
testing our strength where their strength already has been
tested. There is a touch of sorrow, but there is a touch
of reassurance also in a day like this, because we know
how the men of America have responded to the call of the 10
cause of liberty, and it fills our minds with a perfect assurance
that that response will come again in equal measure,
with equal majesty, and with a result which will hold the
attention of all mankind.
When you reflect upon it, these men who died to preserve 15
the Union died to preserve the instrument which we are
now using to serve the world--a free nation espousing
the cause of human liberty. In one sense that great
struggle into which we have now entered is an American
struggle, because it is in defense of American honor and 20
American rights, but it is something even greater than
that; it is a world struggle. It is a struggle of men who
love liberty everywhere and in this cause America will
show herself greater than ever because she will rise to a
greater thing.
We have said in the beginning that we planned this
great government that men who wish freedom might have
a place of refuge and a place where their hope could be 5
realized, and now, having established such a government,
having preserved such a government, having vindicated
the power of such a government, we are saying to all mankind,
"We did not set this government up in order that
we might have a selfish and separate liberty, for we are 10
now ready to come to your assistance and fight out upon
the fields of the world the cause of human liberty." In
this thing America attains her full dignity and the full
fruition of her great purpose.
1. During the World War, President Woodrow Wilson
(1856- ) delivered several notable speeches. In
fact, his ability to phrase a thought neatly,
caused Europe to look upon him as the spokesman of
the Allied cause. This extract from his speech in
the cemetery at Arlington, Va., is a good example
of his finished literary style. Compare it with
Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. How are the two
alike? How different?
2. How long before the delivery of this speech did
the United States declare war against Germany? What
references to this war are in the speech?
3. The cemetery at Arlington is a national burying
ground of the fallen heroes of the Civil War. Read
the line or lines that refer to them.
_ADVENTURE_
_Life is a series of experiences. A few of these we
call adventures because they are out of the
ordinary. If, however, one is keen and alert, every
experience is a fresh adventure. And excitement
galore can be had by reading about the doings of
other people. It is no longer necessary to hunt
lions or to be adrift on an ice sheet to get the
thrill of those who have experienced these things.
Books, pictures, and theaters afford us ample means
of enjoying in comfort the hour of high adventure
of the other person._
[Illustration: A GRANDSTAND SEAT IN THE SKY
(_See following page_)]