306 MAJOR JOHN F. LACEY 



Brown at Harper's Ferry — he must keep his engage- 

 ment. It was destiny, and his soul is marching on. 



Brown captured from Lewis Washington the sword 

 which Frederick the Great had presented to George 

 Washington, and this sword he surrendered to Lee. Only 

 seven years later came the great event of Appomattox. 

 How fast the world moved in those eventful years ! When 

 Governor Henry A. Wise returned to his home, after the 

 surrender in 1865, he found his house converted into a 

 freedman's school; John Brown's picture hung on the 

 parlor wall, and John Brown's daughter was a teacher 

 in the school. 



The influence of New England may be found in all 

 parts of the United States, and particularly in the great 

 West. 



The town meeting has not in its original form been 

 carried to the new states except in the management of the 

 public schools. But her general plan of local self-gov- 

 ernment has become a part of the daily life of all of our 

 people. 



These meetings in which you commemorate the toil and 

 sacrifices of your forefathers are schools of patriotism. 

 It is important that the children of these great ancestors 

 should suffer no decadence. 



There were 20,000 Greeks at Athens bearing arms in 

 the days of Pericles and Athens was powerful. There 

 were still 20,000 Greeks of age to bear arms in the days 

 of Demetrius Phalereus. But they were the degenerate 

 sons of worthy sires. The maintenance of the high stand- 

 ing of the past is possible but it cannot be done without 

 effort. 



