Oration of Cassius Marcellus Clay Before the Maumee Valley Historical and Monumental Association, of Toledo, Ohio, at Put-In-Bay Island, Lake Erie, on the 10th of September, 1891 (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Oration of Cassius Marcellus Clay Before the Maumee Valley Historical and Monumental Association, of Toledo, Ohio, at Put-in-Bay Island, Lake Erie, on the 10th of September, 1891
Mr. President, Ladies, and Gentlemen:
The birth, maturity, and death of nations are the basis of history, and Pope well says, "The noblest study of mankind is man." The Almighty God has given to man-the head of creation-no higher quality than courage, -held in common with the beasts that, by physical impulse, attack and defend to the death, -but in addition thereto that moral courage which is not shared by the lower animals, which is ready to meet death in aid of good to mankind. Not those who have died to destroy but to save nations are to be honored; and yet more worthy of immortality is he who not only saves a nation's life, but its liberties. There is no doubt evolution in nature is eternal advance to a higher plane of perfection. As the dying vegetation fertilizes the soil for a superior growth, so the death of nations gives the material for higher civilization. Thus the liberties of nations rise in new vestments of glory from age to age.
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