of Governor Herbert R. O'Conor 527

UNVEILING OF AUGUSTINE HERRMAN PORTRAIT
STATE HOUSE

November 2, 1941
Annapolis

THE long history of mankind has seen many changes in the forms of gov-
ernments. Out of these various forms, whose basic principle almost
uniformly was the rule of might, and the subjection of whole peoples to the
will of the strongest, mankind eventually came to the realization that there was
another, a finer system, and that system we know today under the name of
Democracy.

Once a people have known the privileges and the blessings of true Democ-
racy, once they have had an opportunity to appreciate to the fullest the spiritual
exaltation of being truly free, they never will be satisfied with anything less
than Democracy.

Such is the tragic condition of the world today, however, that once free
peoples of nearly a score of European countries, now find themselves tempo-
rarily deprived of those blessings of Democracy which we have been favored
above all other nations in the world to know.

The storm clouds that hang over Europe today would be clouds of despair,
indeed, were it not for the spirit and determination of those valiant peoples who,
having once enjoyed freedom, having once tasted of its soul-satisfying benefits,
will never be content until they have regained fully that which has been snatch-
ed from them by aggressor hordes.

The ceremonies being held today, in connection with the unveiling of the
portrait of Augustine Herrman, supply a hopeful note in a period of darkest
gloom. Herrman, a native of Bohemia, who later left his everlasting impress
upon the history of our State and our Nation, was the prototype of the nation
builders of the 18th and 19th centuries, whose descendants of later years have
contributed so forcefully and so abundantly to the cultural and economic up-
build of our Country.

Trader, merchant, diplomat of the highest order, he truly was one of the
earliest Americans, if by that term we seek to connect the type of citizen who
has made this Nation what it is today, the greatest in the world, and who values
his Democratic heritage as the most priceless possession he or anyone could
have.

Augustine Herrman symbolized for all future generations the vast diff-
erence between life in the old, shackled lands of Europe and democratic existence
in this land of new and unhampered opportunity. He was among the first in all
this land to give evidence of the splendid results that would ensue when the
sturdy stocks of Old Europe, transplanted to this new land of freedom, could
flourish and progress without any limits save those set by their own abilities.