“All of South America save Brazil and the two Guineas, all Central America, Mexico, the entire territory west of the Mississippi, now embraced by the United States, beautiful Cuba, from whose eastern province of Santiago Ponce de Leon across the lucent waves of the tropical sea coveted the ambrosial forests and fertile meadows of Porto Rico, whence he was to sail to the floral empire of Florida.  But this was not all of Spain’s magnificent domain.  Far across the waters of the South Pacific was the now famous cluster of islands bearing the name of the Spanish king.  And from their great cities, via Guam, and Hawaii, and San Francisco, to Acapulco, sailed the famous Manila fleet, huge galleons, loaded to the gunwales with the silken and golden wealth of the orient.  Where are her colonies now?  The declaration of the senior senator from the noble state of Illinois has been fulfilled:  No race outside of her own borders, even if Spanish by origin, has ever been able to endure her reign, and every race which has resisted her ultimately succeeded in withdrawing from her control.

“In the meantime the Americans, as declared by the German philosopher, Lessing, were building in the new world the lodge of humanity.  The determined malignity of the Spaniard toward the adventurous men of our race who were fringing the Atlantic coast with sparsely peopled and widely separated settlements was promptly disclosed.  They had threatened to send an armed ship to remove the Virginia planters.  They laid claim to Carolina, and they directed powerful armed expeditions against the young colony of Georgia.  They were now to meet, not the helpless savages who had been their victims, but men of that same fighting strain who in this good year breasted the hail of death, swarmed up the heights and planted the colors on the intrenchments of Santiago.

“That field where the Georgian and Spaniards on that momentous day in 1742 met is yet called the Blood Marsh.  The commander of our colonial forces was James Edward Oglethorpe.  To his military genius and the heroism of his slender force is due the fact that the southern territory of the United States was not added to the dependencies of Spain.  That illustrious Englishman should ever live in the memory and veneration of the American people.  He did more to exclude the Spaniards from American soil than any other man of the English speaking race, save that successor of Washington, the president, who evinces his fervid love of country and graces the occasion by his presence to-day.

“Defeated in their scheme of invasion, the Spaniards remained intensely inimical to our fathers.  What more striking demonstration of that superintending providence, which administers justice, not only to individuals, but to nations, than the spectacle in this mighty city, builded on the heritage of which Spain would have deprived this people of this gathering of Americans to mark the epoch when the last Spanish soldier has been driven from the last foot of soil of that hemisphere discovered by Columbus.  May we not justly exclaim with the psalmist of old:  ’Oh, clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.’