If it was great to be a Roman citizen centuries ago, it is glorious, to-day, to be a citizen of the United States. What Nation enjoys such a splendid fame as ours? What other people is so opulent in the blessings of liberty, intelligence and peace? What country can boast of a happier and more prosperous present, or a more hopeful future? We have no venerable antiquity to look back upon; but what Nation, old or young, has enriched history with so long a list of immortal names—the names of jurists such as Jay and Marshall; or statesmen equalling Adams, Jefferson, Hamilton, Seward, and Blaine; or orators rivaling Patrick Henry, Webster, Clay, Douglas, Morton, and Sumner; or soldiers equalling Washington, Jackson, Grant, Sherman, and Thomas; or philosophers such as Benjamin Franklin; or poets of nobler fame than Longfellow, Bryant, Lowell, and Whittier; or financiers greater than Morris, Gallatin, Chase, and Sherman; or historians such as Bancroft, Prescott, and Motley? And what age or country, marshalling all its proud names, and blending the splendid qualities of each in a single person, can match the towering greatness of him who was at once statesman, orator, philosopher, hero, patriot and wise ruler—Abraham Lincoln? The citizens of the United States are heirs to the rights of the Declaration, the guarantees of the Constitution, the protection of the flag, and the fame and glory of all the splendid names I have mentioned. It is, therefore, glorious to be a citizen of this Republic, and in leaving the bleak Scandinavian Peninsula and coming to America, you have made a wise exchange. The true Fatherland is the land of equal rights. The best country is that which affords to all its citizens the best opportunities for acquiring happy homes. The best government is that which makes all men equal before the throne of its Constitution and its laws. This country, this government, as I firmly believe, is the United States. You share in this belief, and so believing, you have taken our National Festival to your hearts, and made it your Festival, to celebrate, to be proud of, to honor and to revere. I greet you, therefore, not as Swedes, but as fellow-citizens. I rejoice in your prosperity. I acknowledge the brave, energetic part you have taken in the work of developing the resources of Kansas. I gladly join with you in celebrating this Festival of Liberty. You and your kindred have witnessed the full fruition of the predictions which one of our great poets attributes to a prophetess of your race, who lived centuries ago: I. “Men from the Northland, Men from the Southland, Haste empty-handed; No more than manhood Bring they, and hands. II.