Constitution Its Makers PDF Download

Excerpt from The Constitution and Its Makers: An Address Delivered Before the Literary and Historical Association of North Carolina Mr. Lodge said: Before this society and on such an occasion to speak on any subject not connected with the history of our common country would hardly be possible and would certainly not be fitting. I have, therefore, chosen a subject which touches the history of the United States at every point. I shall try to set before you some of the results of a great work in which your State and mine alike took part a century and a quarter ago and which possesses an interest and an importance as deep and as living to-day as at the moment of its inception. I shall touch upon some present questions, but I shall speak without the remotest reference to politics or parties, for my subject transcends both. I shall speak as a student of our history with reverence for the past and with a profound faith in the future. In a word, I shall speak simply as an American who loves his country "now and forever, one and inseparable." A little less than twenty-five years ago great crowds thronged the streets of Philadelphia. Men and women were there from all parts of the United States; the city was resplendent with waving flags and brilliant with all the decorations which ingenuity could suggest, while the nights were made bright by illuminations which shone on every building. Great processions passed along the streets, headed by troops from the thirteen original States, marching in unusual order, with Delaware at the head, because that little State had been the first to accept the great instrument of government which now, having attained its hundredth year, was celebrated in the city of its birth. Behind the famous hall where independence was declared an immense crowd listened to commemorative speakers, and the President of the United States, a Democrat, honored the occasion with his presence and his words. Two years later, in 1889, the same scenes were repeated in New York. Again the cannon thundered and again flags waved above the heads of the multitude gathered in the streets, through which marched a long procession, both military and civil, headed as before by the representatives of the original thirteen States. Again, at a great banquet, addresses were delivered and once more the President of the United States, this time a Republican, honored the occasion by his presence, and in the name of all the people of the country praised the great work of our ancestors. In Philadelphia we celebrated the one hundredth anniversary of the formation of the Constitution of the United States. In New York we commemorated the one hundredth anniversary of the inauguration of the Government which that Constitution had brought into being. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.