Bicentennial
Fourth of July Address
At Trinity
Episcopal Cathedral
by
The Honorable Sidney S. McMath
July 4,1976
Note: Setting aside the impulse to and rationalization for empire (an artifice of the time that unfortunately remains all too resonant) this speech captures for me the intellectually founded consensus view of America which seems to have prevailed among the leadership class for her first two hundred years. A view that overtly identifies the nation as an outgrowth of and torch carrier for the enlightenment, that sees the nation as evolving forward, towards perfecting her founding values, not backward toward some mythological perfect past. As this speech shows, even post Vietnam, one could speak credibly of America pioneering among the stars. Today, we debate theocracy, and a few miles of high speed rail seems a challenge. We, the "baby boomers", have allowed it to be.
Dean Higgins - Friends and Fellow Citizens -
Happy Birthday - It is good to be on the ground of this great Church - and to join with Family and Friends. This is a tremendous day in our lives, in the life of our Country and in the history of man's long pilgrimage to the stars.
We can be especially grateful this day – despite the trauma of recent events in our Country – our domestic life is tranquil; we are not at war; - and we are enjoying an unprecedented prosperity.
Times have not always been as peaceful as they are today. Two hundred years ago America had a stormy birth - she was born in the midst of a revolution, attended by Dr. Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, John Adams, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, et. al: Rebels all. These men spoke rebellious words. They wrote and uttered dangerous thoughts about liberty, the rights of man, the pursuit of happiness, self-government; they combined and conspired to produce a rebellious document in which they proclaimed to the World that all men are created equal and have a right to be free.
However the King of England and the Crown Heads of Europe were not too concerned. They consoled themselves by saying: (In effect)
"No such rabble could be a serious threat to the established order of things - our inherited right to rule. Besides, the people are incompetent to govern themselves. Nothing can come of this rebellion except mob rule. This primitive Country in a wild and primitive land cannot possibly survive."
But, survive she did, after two hundred years America is strong and vibrant and beautiful and her eyes on the stars.
It staggers the imagination to review the historical events encompassed within this short time span.
America has survived revolution, wars, depressions, prohibition, teapot dome, Watergate. She has built the highest living standard in the history of the World. She is waging a winning war on man's ancient enemies--ignorance and poverty and disease. She has conquered the moon and is exploring the planets and expanding her scientific knowledge so as to encompass outer space.
That which her enemies thought would be her downfall has been the seedbed of her strength!
Freedom: freedom of expression, of religion, of petition, of commerce, of assembly: freedom for
a free flow of ideas and opinions that clash against each other and throw out sparks of truth; an
adversary system that searches for justice for all citizens, rich or poor; black or white; the low and the mighty. Listen again to these words heard around the World:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights and, among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. -" And, to gain these goals, governments are instituted among men.
There were giants in the land in those days.
The action of these far-seeing and gallant men who proclaimed the Declaration of Independence spoke for all mankind; they voiced man's hunger to be free from oppression. They knew what the risks were. They knew that for them; it was freedom or the halter.
The spirit of these courageous men who knowingly risked their lives and their fortunes was in keeping with those Rebel Barons who wrested from King John at Runnymede The Magna Charta.
The seeds of Magna Charta reached fruition in the New World on July 4,1776. Since that memorable date, America has traveled a long way down destiny's road. She has expanded her nation of States from the Atlantic, Westward into the Pacific Ocean and Northward to the Ice-Lands of Alaska. She fought a great Civil War to determine whether a Nation, dedicated to the freedom of all men could long endure. She fought two World Wars to preserve Western Civilization and to give to other Nations the chance to be free; the right of self-determination.
The wars which we have fought; our struggles to remove our flaws and imperfections; our efforts to improve our institutions and to attain the ideals prescribed by the Bill of Rights are in keeping and in tune with the Prayer written by Stephen Vincent Benet for Franklin Roosevelt to use in a Flag Day Address June 14, 1933:
"Grant us, Oh Lord, a common faith, that men shall know both bread and peace; that they shall know justice and righteousness and freedom and security; and that every man shall have an equal opportunity and an equal chance to do his best; not just in this our land, but throughout the World . And in this faith, let us move toward the kind of World our hands can build."
Yes, we have come a long way down destiny's road since July 4, 1776.
"The rains have fallen,
The floods have come,
The winds have beaten upon our house,
and it has fallen not
because it is founded on a rock."
One would think that by now, at long last, America could relax a while; that she could find "ease after war; rest after toil; a port after stormy seas," but there is no rest - not for the great, for the powerful in this World. America, without seeking it, has responsibilities that transcend her own boundaries and cannot be laid down.
Last Sunday in the International Sunday School Lesson, we were told how Paul supported the Roman Government, not alone because he was a Roman citizen but because he recognized that the peace established by Rome made it possible for the missionaries to spread the Gospel.
(We are informed in the Book of Acts that frequently the Roman Magistrate was for the Christian Disciples the safest refuge against the assaults of the mob.)
Paul looked upon the Roman Empire as a divinely ordained instrument to preserve the World from chaos; to provide peace and security and an opportunity for the people to pursue
their daily lives. When Rome abandoned her traditional virtues and became weakened and fell to the advance of the Barbarians, the Dark Ages engulfed the known World.
Rome served civilization for some seven hundred years. One cannot look back to the days leading up to the Declaration of Independence and the flow of historical events since that date, without being deeply moved to believe that America is serving a high purpose, in the divine scheme of things, by her efforts to lead the Nations of this World to the ways of peace and to a better life for all mankind.
As America has built a Nation based upon the ideals set forth in the Declaration of Independence, she must now lead the Nations of the World in building a World community, based upon law - upon a bill for the rights of man.
To continue her mission - America has to remain strong – strong spirtually and economically; she must maintain a formidable and adequate defense. If America be not strong, where will strength be found? If America does not lead, from what source will leadership come? If the shrinking and interdependent World community is not to be built upon Law, upon what principles will it be based?
Yes, our Declaration of America Independence started a Revolution - a Revolution that is still going on in the World. Go to Philadelphia to see the Liberty Bell and experience the sights of Independence Hall; to Valley Forge, and down the road to Gettysburg; and one is impressed by the number of people from other countries who come and look and read and ponder and return to their native lands inspired.
Yes, the men who with undaunted spirit stepped forth and boldly signed the Declaration of Independence started a war; a war for human freedom. Their hearts were touched with fire. They shared the action, the passion and the burdens, the risks of their time and triumphed in a great cause.
Ten days before July 4, 1826, ten days before his death, Thomas Jefferson wrote of America's Day:
"May it be to the World, what I believe it will be to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all, the signal of arousing men to burst the chains under which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves, and to assume the blessings and security of self-government. That form which we have substituted restores the free right to the unbounded exercise of reason and freedom of opinion. All eyes are opened, (or opening), to the rights of Man. The general spread of the light of science has already laid open to every view the palpable truth. That the mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few, booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately, by the grace of God. These are grounds of hope for others. For ourselves, let the annual return of this day forever refresh our recollections of these rights, and an undiminished devotion to them."
The message that comes through to us on this Birthday of our Nation is that the rights, the security, the good life that we enjoy, the opportunities available to all, did not just happen – they were not ordained by nature. They were wrought and won by men and women who were willing to pay any price, in the form of personal sacrifice, in order that we might live in a free and independent land.
On this July 4th and during our Bicentennial observations, we should remind ourselves that America continues to serve a high purpose – that there is sound reason to believe that her greatest and best years are yet to come.
Hence we should have an "undiminished devotion" for our Country; we must respect and continue to improve our institutions; we must honor the flag, and be at all times model citizens.
We should pray for our President; we should pray for a wise Congress; a virtuous people; a brave and adequate defensive force and peace and good will for all Mankind.
The stability and richness of this life that is ours; the blessings; the opportunities that all citizens enjoy; are legacies from America's glorious past:
Let us therefore, on this 200th Birthday, proclaim with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:
"Sail on, oh ship of state,
Sail on, oh union strong and great,
Humanity, with all of its fears,
With all the hopes for future years,
Is hanging breathless at thy fate."
