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Show BV ALLEY FORGE. Hk A dispatch tells of the celebration of the Bl25th anniversary at Valley Forge. It was most proper. It is strange that tlie place lay so long neglected. Valley Forge is one of the punctua-Btion punctua-Btion points of American history. It was there Bthat the sun of liberty went almost under eclipse; Bit was from there that, the labor having been passed, Freedom had a new birth and, upon the world's oppressed a new dawn arose with the promise of a day glorious in its light and radi-ant radi-ant with hope. B It is said that only a -few, a very few, of the great battles of history have been decisive bat-Btles. bat-Btles. Marathon was one, Salamis was one, Ac-Btlum Ac-Btlum was one, Lapanto was one, Waterloo was Bone, Chapultepec was one, Appomatox was one, Bbut what transpired at Valley Forge was equlvn-Blent equlvn-Blent to one, for out of the suffering and despair Bthere crystalized the spirit so indomitable that thenceforward to the end of the war the result Bwas reduced to a mere matter of time. B Under the snows, the germs of the flower of Liberty were moving, with life, and burst into Bbloom when the snows began to dish )pear. A settlement and reconstruction were possible be-Before be-Before that, but never after it until full independ-Bence independ-Bence was gained. Next to the date of the formal declaration that of Valley Forge is most import-Bant. import-Bant. Battles are swift events, but the events Kleading up to a battle are what the judgment of Hhhe world is founded upon. B; When the preceding year's campaign was closed by winter, the belief in the old world was Bkhat a short campaign in the spring would ef-Bectually ef-Bectually put down the revoluuon in America. H'The awakening was not what was expected by Hthe world. B Rather it opened with the signal that the prayers of the world's oppressed had been heard Bund that the answer had begun. Valley Forge is Bmore a starting point than is either Concord or Bpunker Hill. Those were passloiiate outbursts. BlValley Forge is where the final determination Bwas made; after it all bridges were burned Ahere were no more retreats. If the war was dedicated Bat Concord, it was consecrated at Valley Forge, Band the place should be marked by a great tri-Bumphal tri-Bumphal arch. The one side marked, "By Famine Band Despair," and the other, ' By the Sun of BFreedom," rising above the clouds and holding out Brosy promises of the perfect day that was to suc-Hjfceed. |
