Of
allegiance to whom? Of allegiance to no one, unless it be God--certainly
not of allegiance to those who temporarily represent this great
Government. You have taken an oath of allegiance to a great ideal, to a
great body of principles, to a great hope of the human race. You have
said, "We are going to America not only to earn a living, not only to
seek the things which it was more difficult to obtain where we were
born, but to help forward the great enterprises of the human spirit--to
let men know that everywhere in the world there are men who will cross
strange oceans and go where a speech is spoken which is alien to them if
they can but satisfy their quest for what their spirits crave; knowing
that whatever the speech there is but one longing and utterance of the
human heart, and that is for liberty and justice." And while you bring
all countries with you, you come with a purpose of leaving all other
countries behind you--bringing what is best of their spirit, but not
looking over your shoulders and seeking to perpetuate what you intended
to leave behind in them. I certainly would not be one even to suggest
that a man cease to love the home of his birth and the nation of his
origin--these things are very sacred and ought not to be put out of our
hearts--but it is one thing to love the place where you were born and it
is another thing to dedicate yourself to the place to which you go.
Pages:
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227