ome to distinguish
ourselves in arms, and meanwhile neglecting the plain, prosaic duties of
citizenship which call upon us every hour, every day of our lives.

The Dutch kept their freedom in the great contest with Spain, not merely
because they warred valiantly, but because they did their duty as
burghers in their cities, because they strove according to the light
that was in them to be good citizens and to act as such. And we all here
to-night should strive so to live that we Americans of Dutch descent
shall not seem to have shrunk in this respect, compared to our fathers
who spoke another tongue and lived under other laws beyond the ocean; so
that it shall be acknowledged in the end to be what it is, a discredit
to a man if he does not in times of peace do all that in him lies to
make the government of the city, the government of the country, better
and cleaner by his efforts.

I spoke of the militant spirit as if it may only be shown in time of
war. I think that if any of you gentlemen, no matter how peaceful you
may naturally be, and I am very peaceful naturally, if you would
undertake the administration of the Police Department you would have
plenty of fighting on hand before you would get through; and if you are
true to your blood you will try to do the best you can, fighting or not
fighting. You will make up your mind that you will make mistakes,
because you won't make anything if you don't make some mistakes, and you
will go forward according to your lights, utterly heedless of what
either politicians or newspapers may say, knowing that if you act as you
feel bound according to your conscience to act, you will then at least
have the right when you go out of office, however soon, to feel that you
go out without any regret, and to feel that you have according to your
capacity, warred valiantly for what you deemed to be the right.

These, then, are the qualities that I should claim for the Hollander as
an American: In the first place, that he has cast himself without
reservation into the current of American life; that he is an American,
pure and simple, and nothing else. In the next place, that he works hand
in hand and shoulder to shoulder with his fellow Americans, without any
regard to differences of creed or to differences of race and religion,
if only they are good Americans. In the third place, that he is willing,
when the need shall arise, to fight for his country; and in the fourth
place, and finally, th