Fraternity-Testvériség, 1941 (19. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1941-12-01 / 12. szám
8 TESTVÉRISÉG THE BILL OF RIGHTS AND KOSSUTH By Rev. CHARLES PAPP (New Brunswick, N. /.) One-hundred-fifty years ago the first ten Amendments of the Constitution of the United States were adopted and signed. These are called the Bill of Rights of the Constitution, which are a carefully guarded grant of powers to the central government expressing the guarantees of personal liberty and security contained in the Constitution. The Constitution of the United States with its Amendments is recognized as the highest achievement of man in the realm of national life in which are embodied the best thoughts by which man seeks to attain that condition of life in which his inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness can best be enjoyed. The great heritage of the citizens of this great country is the program embodied and expressed in the Bill of Rights, guaranteeing to all under the stars and stripes freedom of religion, speech and press, the sanctity of home. The inviolability of personal liberty as guaranteed by it makes it the outstanding fundamental law governing the life of any country on God’s earth. No other nation has given to the world such lofty ideals, no other country has demonstrated to the world the parcticability of living under conditions in which such ideals can best be expressed in those virtues which recognize the worth of the individual and make it possible for him to develope for the good of the whole the Godgiven talents inherent in him. Ninety years ago there came to the shores of these United States a man in whom were embodied these ideals. A man who, born in Hungary, bore in his person the marks of true greatness, the love for his fellow men whose intrinsic worth he recognized and for whose liberty he gave all he had, all he was. This man, born a Magyar, in whose veins coursed the blood of heroes, became a man for the ages through the ideals he proclaimed. For those ideals were not the posession of one race, of people of one country, one land, but were the ideals of great souls of all times, of all peoples, of all lands. In this man America found the personification of its highest ideas. The people of the United States never felt so great an affection for the prophets of the old world as they felt for him, who fought a great fight, who in the face of adversity still proclaimed to the world the ideals of human rights. The U. S. of America gave expression to that love and sympathy when in 1851 it sent its warship to Turkey to rescue this great apostle of liberty and equality from impending doom, to bring him to this country and to honor him as only one other European was honored, the great Uafayette, by having him address a joint session of the Congress. In the great hall of Congress the eloquence of the man inspired a demonstration never equaled in that body when it cheered the words of Uouis Kossuth, the man of men in whose heart lived the ever shining light of human rights. To-day we celebrate the 150-th anniversary of the signing of the Bill of Rights. We homage to the memory of the great Kossuth. We can best celebrate we can best do homage when we reaffirm the precious principles of the Bill of Rights, the principles of Kossuth. These principles which are the cornerstone on which American life rests; the principles of freedom, tolerance and equality, which have stood the test of time. These ideals are the our precious posession, our great heritage. Their perpetuation alone can make us worthy of membership in that society which has dedicated itself to the service of human rights; the inalienable right of man to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. A Testvériség minden olvasójának BOLDOG UJ ESZTENDŐT KÍVÁN Az Amerikai Magyar Református Egyesület Vezértestülete
