lYacuation by the British. 



4ON. f^HARLES ^. g)TREET. 



BY a remarkable coincidence the two hundreth year since the formation 

 of Suffolk County happens to be the one hundreth year since the 

 triumph of the American Colonies over British oppression and the 

 departure ot the British troops from Suffolk County. I am assigned to 

 speak to you concerning the memorable events which cluster around this, 

 as it were, "halfway house" in the history of our country; events which 

 always stand out in bold relief and the memory of which always stir the 

 hearts of all patriotic citizens with the deepest emotion. The lew minutes 

 only given me in which to deal with this topic will only enable me to pre- 

 sent a "bird's eye" view of the subject. 



You are all familiar with the story of the Old Revolution and how one 

 hundred years ago, out of the terrible sufferings, the gloomy apprehensions 

 and the desolation of seven years of war, the patriots suddenly emerged 

 victorious: How Suffolk County, desecrated with the tramp of invadinti: 

 armies and environed with hostile fleets, was in 1783, one hundred years 

 ago, liberated, and freedom and independence established. 



Some of you who are about my age will remember how in our youth 

 the gray haired men of the Revolution were seen on the platforms at all 

 Fourth of July Celebrations, and how we then listened to the story of the 

 war as it fell from the lips of our grandfathers and grandmothers. Now 

 they have gone to their graves and our children only read in books a his- 

 tory of these events. The old time hon<^red custom of celebrating Inde- 

 pendence Day by popular assemblages of the people, by music and oratory 

 has largely fallen into disuse, but we may well, at least in this centennary 

 of the triumph of our forefathers, honor them and their cause with a few 

 moments of our thought. And what was the oppression from which the 

 people of Suffolk County were then liberated.'' antl in what way did the 

 relief come ? 



My friends, go back with me in imagination, just a moment, to the 

 period of the outbreak of the Revolution. Suffolk County then occupied 

 a strong and prominent position in the Colony of New York. In numbers, 

 wealth, resources, the physical and intellectual power of its people, and in 

 political influence, it stood in the front rank. For more than a hundred 

 years these people, and their ancestors through many generations, had been 

 building for themselves homes in this land and had incessantly struggled 



