Thank you for the opportunity to talk about this, Gordon. It was a lot of fun. And that was a heck of a parade. Sam
Happy Fourth of July, Cornwall, what a great, only-in-Cornwall, parade. Maria Horn, thank you so much for being here today. Our First Selectman invited me to read from the Declaration of Independence and say something about it on its 250th Birthday. That’s what’s commonly known as rolling out the local celebrity, but a big part of my adult life has been spent learning about, reading about, thinking about, speaking his words, and writing about, Abraham Lincoln, and he said he “never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence.” So, I appreciate having this opportunity to talk about it. Thank you, Gordon.
It isn’t obvious what’s grave enough for the occasion — two hundred and fifty years is a long time, it’s an election year in a divided country, there are wars in the Middle East and Europe, unheard of assertions of power out of Washington, it’s hotter than ever, and some part of all that is on us. At the same time, it’s not obvious what would be celebration enough of life here in this happy and beautiful little town where Lynn and I have been so lucky to live, farm, play, make lifelong friends, go to church, raise a family, and grow old together.
Part of the trouble is, the Declaration is so very familiar.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” And the conclusion: “for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”
To me, hands down, the most inspiring moment in American history is the first one. The moment Thomas Jefferson sat down and wrote “All men are created equal” —- that we all, every one of us, not only in America but on the whole planet, have God-given rights that may not be taken from us —- the moment every one of the 55 other members of the Continental Congress signed on to it with him, from that moment on, we had a new country to live in, a reason for being, a destination to head for, and a North star to navigate by. You can’t beat that — “All men are created equal”, what it promised — that no one could be deprived of the right to rise in life, follow their own path, seek their own happiness, speak their own mind, practice their own faith, have a free press, all that — and what it meant — that we would not tolerate anyone lording it over us — that, quoting Lincoln, was ‘the sentiment in the Declaration’ that immediately struck a chord everywhere, including in people right here in this town, made them ready to break up with their home country, ready to risk everything, in what Lincoln called the eternal struggle of humankind.
In divided times like these, it matters to be clear about what that struggle is for and about, and Lincoln was clear. He said,
“It is the eternal struggle between these two principles — right and wrong — throughout the world. They are the two principles that have stood face to face from the beginning of time, and will ever continue to struggle. The one is the common right of humanity and the other…. is the same principle in whatever shape it develops itself; it is the same spirit that says, ‘You work and toil and earn bread, and I’ll eat it.’ No matter in what shape it comes,…. it is the same tyrannical principle.” This makes for us a very handy rule of thumb: take the side of ‘all men are created equal’, of ‘the common right of humanity’, and you can’t go wrong; find out which side the “tyrannical principle” is on and put yourself on the other. No need to solve all the world’s problems, just do the next right thing. There’s precedent for this. My father volunteered to serve in WWII when it wasn’t at all clear who would win. He was not alone in doing this, but I think it gives some added weight to his words, and he told me the great lesson from the Hitler years was, “Never give in to a bully”.
So, that’s all we have to do, and we should be good for another 250 years, at least. That, and beware of anyone claiming to have God on their side. From old King George, right through Hitler to Putin today, tyrants always claim to have God on their side. Lincoln had an antidote for that, too. He said, “My concern is to be on God’s side.”
It’s all as simple and difficult as that, and, this year, like always, it all comes down to us. And, like always, the jury’s out on us: there’s always some living up to ‘the better angels of our nature’ for us to do.
I claim Pogo was the greatest cartoon character, maybe ever, definitely of my youth, and it was Pogo who said, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” Also, in a rare moment of pessimism about us, Lincoln had this to say, “We are not what we have been. When we were the political slaves of King George, and wanted to be free, we called the maxim that ‘all men are created equal’ a self-evident truth; but now when we have grown fat ….. we have become so greedy to be masters that we call the same maxim ‘a self-evident lie’.”
Now is our chance to show we’re better than that. Now is our turn to win a round for the common right of humanity. And I believe we will, don’t you? “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,” applies just as much to us here today as it did when people from this very town mustered on this very green 250 years ago, just as much as it has every time in the past when someone from here who maybe isn’t with us anymore, did the next right thing when it was their turn. Among a host of others, Hunt Williams, old friend, I’m thinking of you. Happy Fourth of July, 2026, Cornwall, Happy Birthday, Thank God for you, and God bless America!
