THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 39 



States, for instance, dvie recognition of her substantial contribu- 

 tions to human progress? Will Englishman, Irishman, Scotch- 

 man or Canadian deny the justice of that cause which expressed 

 itself in the Revolutionary War? or withold from the Fathers 

 of the American Republic appreciation of their wisdom, cour- 

 age and political righteousness? The time has gone by for 

 children to be taught, and for adults to flatter themselves that 

 a circle bounded by a square represents the geographical, moral 

 and political world ; that we are within the circle, while the 

 rest of the world — outside barbarians — crouch in the corners. 

 The student of history learns to be ashamed of the provincialism 

 which thinks that his country holds a monoply of all that is 

 wise, and good and great. The United States is a country of 

 remarkable development, with men and institutions placing her 

 in the front rank of nations, but all intelligent Americans know 

 that every free institution flourishing under the Stars and Stripes 

 had its birth under the Union Jack. Ages before the American 

 Eagle was borne, the goddess of liberty inspired the manly 

 sons of Britain to stand for certain " inalienable rights," such as 

 "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Franklin and Jeffer- 

 son, Hamilton, PatrickHenry and the illustrious Washington, will 

 forever hold honored places in the phalanx of defenders of the 

 rights of men ; but six centuries before the American Revolution, 

 stalwart English champions of freedom uttered their Declara- 

 tion of Independence in the teeth of King John at Runnymede. 

 That student will revere the heroes who in 1628 gained the 

 signature to the Petition of Right from Charles I, and will 

 honor the memory of those patriots who wrested the Habeas 

 Corpus Act, that second Magna Charta of English liberty, from 

 Charles II. And such recognition of obligation is forthcoming. 

 Nobler tributes to England's Gracious Queen I have never read 

 than those springing from the American press ; and in the face 

 of the fuss and furore of angry controversy, in the gleam of 

 jingoistic pyrotechnics, strong hearts and balanced heads have 

 given expression to language of honor and fraternity. This is 

 an extract from an American editorial written during the " war 

 scare " of two years ago : 



