The Influence of American Liberty
THE world has changed its character and governments have been greatly modified from what the world knew in the century before the Declaration of Independence was promulgated. The influence of the government of the United States is felt and seen on every hand throughout the earth. Ancient despotisms are modified and the monarchies of Europe have developed constitutional guaranties to suit the people. All the world looks to America, and the nations formed in the western hemisphere follow the precedent set by our United States. The influence of our free institutions is felt in the uttermost parts of the earth, and must go on working to free and enlighten mankind until the world is reconstructed to correspond. It is not easy to fix a value on the Pilgrim Fathers’ action, or on the work done by Virginia cavaliers, and by the Huguenots who settled the Carolinas. Differing as they did, they planted on this hemisphere seeds of liberty that have enlightened the world.—Oregonian.