We justly pride ourselves on our marvelous material prosperity, and such prosperity must exist in order to establish a foundation upon which a higher life can be built; but unless we do in very fact build this higher life thereon, the material prosperity itself will go but for very little. Now, in 1903, in the altered conditions, we must meet the changed and changing problems with the spirit shown by the men who in 1803 and in subsequent years, gained, explored, conquered, and settled this vast territory, then a desert, now filled with thriving and populous States.
The old days were great because the men who lived in them had mighty qualities; and we must make the new days great by showing the same qualities. We must insist upon courage and resolution, upon hardihood, tenacity, and fertility in resource; we must insist upon the strong virile virtues; and we must insist no less upon the virtues of self-restraint, self-mastery, regard for the rights of others; we must show our abhorrence of cruelty, brutality, and corruption, in public and private life alike.
If we come short in any of these qualities we shall measurably fail; and if, as I believe we surely shall, we develop these qualities in the future to an even greater degree than in the past, then in the century now beginning we shall make of this Republic the freest and most orderly, the most just and most mighty nation which has ever come forth from the womb of time.
Sixth. Grand chorus: "Unfold Ye Portals."
Seventh. Address by Hon. Grover Cleveland:
MR. PRESIDENT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: The impressiveness of this occasion is greatly enhanced by reason of an atmosphere of prophecy's fulfillment which surrounds it. The thought is in our minds that we are amid awe-inspiring surroundings, where we may see and feel things foretold a century ago. We are here in recognition of the one hundredth anniversary of an event which doubled the area of the young American nation, and dedicated a new and wide domain of American progress and achievement. The treaty whose completion we to-day commemorate was itself a prophecy of our youthful nation's mighty growth and development. At its birth prophets in waiting joyously foretold the happiness which its future promised. He who was the chief actor in the United States in its negotiations, as he signed the perfected instrument, thus declared its effect and far-reaching consequences: "The instrument which we have just signed will cause no tears to be shed. It prepares ages of happiness for innumerable generations of human creatures. The Mississippi and the Missouri will see them succeed one another, truly worthy of the regard and care of Providence in the bosom of equality under just laws, freed from the errors of superstition and the scourges of bad government."
He who represented the nation with whom we negotiated, when he afterwards gave to the world his account of the transactions, declared: "The consequences of the cession of Louisiana will extend to the most distant posterity. It interests vast regions that will become by their civilization and power the rivals of Europe before another century commences," and warmed to enthusiasm by the developments already in view and greater ones promised, he added: "Who can contemplate without vivid emotion this spectacle of the happiness of the present generation and the certain pledges of the prosperity of numberless generations that will follow? At these magnificent prospects the heart beats with joy in the breasts of those who were permitted to see the dawn of these bright days, and who are assured that so many happy presages will be accomplished."
There was another prophet, greater than all—prophet and priest—who, higher up the mountain than others, heard more distinctly the voice of destiny, whose heart and soul were full of prophecy and whose every faculty was tense and strong as he wrought for our nation's advancement and for the peace and contentment of his fellow-countryman. From the fullness of gratitude and joy, he thus wrote to one who had assisted in the consummation of this great treaty:
"For myself and my country, I thank you for the aid you have given in it; and I congratulate you on having lived to give these aids in a transaction replete with blessings to unborn millions of men, and which will mark the face of a portion of the globe so extensive as that which now composes the United States of America;" and when, as President, he gave notice in a message to Congress of the actual occupancy by the Government of its new acquisition, he happily presaged the future and gave assurance of his complete faith and confidence in the beneficent result of our nation's extensions, in these words: "On this important acquisition, so favorable to the immediate interests of our western citizens, so auspicious to the peace and security of the nation in general, which adds to our country territories so extensive and fertile and to our citizens new brethren to partake of the blessings of freedom and self-government, I offer Congress and our country my sincere congratulations."
Our prophets do not live forever. They are not here to see how
stupendously the growth and development of the American nation,
or the domain newly acquired in their day, have, during a short
century, outrun their anticipations and predictions.