spirit is as
strong to-day as it was in the days which gave birth to our Republic.
The associations now in existence, having their origin in the War of the
Rebellion and the Spanish-American War, are similar in their aim and
objects to the Society of the Sons of the Revolution. This Society seeks
to preserve the records of the founders of the Republic, to cause these
records to be published and preserved in permanent form--not only those
which are to be found in the archives of the Nation and of the States,
but fragmentary facts of vast interest, in the hands of private
individuals, which would otherwise become lost or forgotten. It erects
monuments to commemorate the lives of distinguished men, and mural
tablets to signalize important events; it establishes prize essays for
competition among school children on subjects relating to the American
Revolution, and seeks to inspire respect and affection for the flag of
the Union.

The numerous celebrations and excursions to points of historical
interest, of the District of Columbia Society, within the past ten
years, must still be fresh in the minds of many among this audience.
Each Fourth of July, each Washington's Birthday, as well as on other
occasions within the past ten years, has this Society indulged in
patriotic celebration. The celebration of to-day is of peculiar
significance. Questions, second only in importance to those which
confronted Washington, are before us. The Nation is entering upon a
career of influence and beneficence which even Washington never dreamed
of. Questions of government, involving the rights of men, the
responsibilities of the strong in their relations to the weak, the
promulgation of freedom without license, are problems facing the
American Congress and the people to-day. The force of events has
extended the responsibility of these United States to Cuba, Porto Rico,
Hawaii, the Philippines, Guam, and Samoa.

During the events of the past two years every thinking man and woman
must have been impressed by the gravity of the problems with which our
present Chief Executive has been forced to grapple: problems that have
demanded of him many of the great qualities which distinguished our
first President. These problems involved a steady adherence to what is
right, a lofty patriotism sinking the individual in the consideration of
the public good. Firmness before the enemy, buoyancy and strength before
friends, and humility before the Creator who