The Peril of the Republic of the United States of America - Percy T. Magan

life, no sharp sound of the reveille has broken upon
their ear. The air has not reverberated with the
thundering of artillery perfecting itself in the dark
sciences of death. No clash and clank of trotting
cavalry have they heard upon their highways.
There has been no measured tread of infantry upon
their country roads.
By the sea, the fishers of this land have gone
down into the deep with their nets. On the bosom
of the twin oceans their boats of commerce have
gently rocked. Scarce a steel-clad ship protected
them. No cruiser bristling with great guns has been
necessary to make them safe, or to guard the shores
from which they came. A stronger arm than that of
sailor or marine with Gatling gun and fighting-top
has been here to ward away all harm.
Last summer I visited a “cousin from the
motherland across the sea.” He had come to the
great republic to make his home at a quiet spot on
the banks of the lone Columbia River. His cottage
stands upon the very brink of the noble stream. I
stood by the window. On the table beside me lay a
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