Everywhere  they  illustrated  the  value  and  the  sure  reward  of
economy  and  steady  work.
Thus,  before  the  American  nation  had  lived  one  hundred
years,  our  German  population  had  grown  to  millions,  and
constituted  an  important  ingredient  in  the  mass  of  American
activity.  Then  there  came  a  time  when  the  government  of  the
country  of  their  adoption  was  assaulted  by  rebellious  hands  ;
and  then  our  German  fellow-citizens  had  presented  to  them  an
opportunity  to  prove  the  depth  and  breadth  of  their  attachment
to  the  land  in  which  they  lived  and  wrought,  and  to  exhibit  how
completely  they  had  become  patriotic  American  citizens.  They
allowed  not  a  moment  for  uncertainty,  but  flocked  by  thousands
to  the  standard  of  the  Union  and  bravely  devoted  themselves
to  its  defense.  In  every  battle  the  German  soldiers  fought  with
courage  and  persistence,  and  died  with  fortitude.  This  common
baptism  of  blood,  and  this  partnership  in  peril,  brought  closer
together  every  element  of  our  people,  and  made  them  all —
more  than  ever  and  in  every  sense — Americans.  This  leads
tne  to  say  that  any  opposing  claims  to  ownership  in  the  valuable
traits  of  German  character  admit  of  a  fair  compromise.  No
one  will  begrudge  the  satisfaction  to  be  derived  from  analyzing
these  elements  and  establishing  their  German  origin  ;  and  all
will  concede  that  the  more  they  are  cultivated  the  more  our
country  will  gain.  But  when  all  this  is  done,  let  us  call  these
traits,  so  far  as  they  are  here  exhibited,  American.  They  have
been  with  us  since  our  beginning  ;  they  have  influenced  every
day  of  our  country's  life  ;  they  are  among  the  traits  which  our
government  was  formed  to  foster,  and  they  are  essential  to  our
country's  safety  and  prosperity.
