| Show celebration OF THE FOURTH the gist anniversary of the national birthday birth day was duly celebrated in this city according to the pro gramme arranged by the committee and published in the last number of the NEWS in recording the civil dignitaries who were invited to take part in the proceedings ce however we accidentally omitted the county and city officers after territorial Off officers leers but the gentlemen though omitted in type were present in person and participated in the enjoyment of the exercises at dawn artillery gave the signal for raising the national flag and the bands soon made inspiring music about half past nine the ward groces began to appear near the temple block and were conducted to their places in the bowery the display of flags banners bann erets and other species of bunting was unusually large even for a celebration including a great number of mormon child children reh who seem to have a strong predilection for such showy emblems to describe the flags 0 ac and record the mottoes on them would require b more space than we can command so we will have to be content with a passing 0 mention many of the banners were very tastefully designed t and executed but the most artistic one that we noticed was the sunday school banner of the th ward which bore two pretty little childish faces intently gazing on an open page with the motto study the best books the ward had for one of its mottoes god and our country we worship the first and defend the last another one from the same ward love at home homol was very suggestive one of the banners of the ward bore the arms of the united states with the word peace inscribed and the mottoes one country over the arms and wo no north no south underneath the ath ward had in its procession thirteen young ladies dressed in white wa with ith blue sashes and floral wreathes led by a young lady similarly costumed bearing with them a banner having the inscription the gals of GT 11 seeing that tat the celebration wa was s in commemoration of 76 with its thirteen colonies the transposition was very happy and the gals were sufficiently interesting looking to make more than one of the boys wish to have them pass from separate colonies to be members of the 11 united state all the wards appeared to much advantage emulating each other in celebrating the day and carrying out the suggestions of the committee capt Crox alls brass band capt earli earll ear d lys brass band the tenth ward brass band major Hunting dons martial band and the ward martial band made the air musical with sweet sounds while the processions professions process ions were passing to and being seated in the bowery when all were seated the first presidency and the officials who participated on the occasion arrived in carriages from the city hall sail accompanied by the committee and took their seats on the stand when the exercises commenced after the opening song by the choir written for the occasion by H W naisbitt esq prayer by elder george A smith the chaplain and music by Crox alls band the declaration of independence was read by hon geo Q cannon followed by one gun and yankee doodle bythe martial band the honjo hon jonn taylor ataylor then delivered the following ORATION friends AND FELLOW CITIZENS we are met here to commemorate in common with the citizens of these united states baates the return of the fourth of july the anniversary of american independence de en ence a day esteemed as a day of jubilee jubliee ju bi lee iee by y every american patriot sa s1 since ce t the h e fourth of july 1776 it is customary on suck such such sueh occasions to read the declaration of independence setting forth the accumulated wrongs endured by the first settlers of this country at the hands of great britain and proclaiming to that government and to the world their determination to endure them no longer pledging their lives their fortunes and sacred honor in defense of the free and independent states of america it is also usual to give toasts eulogizing the constitution of the united states if any body of men in the united states feel interested in the principles enunciated in these documents we ought to we do not wish to treat them with levity or carelessness but to value them at their intrinsic worth to abide by them ourselves and to teach our children and childrens children to maintain them inviolate joseph smith emith said the constitution of the united states was given by inspiration of god and therefore it ought by us as every other inspiration to be be held sacred it may be said we are met here to have a political jubilee and why introduce religious subjects I 1 answer that my religion and politics are so blended and intermingled that it is is extremely difficult to separate the one from the other the honorable signers of the declaration of independence were not ashamed in their day in support of said declaration to profess a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence I 1 and why should we feel ashamed to acknowledge that those patriots and statesmen who framed the constitution of the united states were led by inspiration it is an honor to any man or set of men to seek the inspiration of the almighty it is a greater honor to obtain it was it nothing that kinge rafn raft or had ruled with an iron hand throughout europe asia and africa and that liberty as stephen says of abraham concerning palestine could find no inheritance in it no not so much asto as to sether foot vas basit it nothing that freedom had bad been hunted from nation to nation and that the victims of tyranny fleeing from england and other nations in hopes of finding an asylum here were pursued by their relentless lent less persecutors and that the sacred germ of liberty just springing into life was endanger in danger of being crushed by the iron heel of despotism was it nothing that the fate of a mighty continents bents a new world was at stake stage and the destinies of unborn millions in their hands for bealor weal or for wo woe for bondage or freedom was it strange that men of keen perceptions enlarged minds and philanthropic hearts should sensibly feel the heavy responsibilities resting upon them and seek for and obtain divine assistance and shall we of all others fail to recognize the dispensation of providence in this great national revolution and acknowledge the hand of almighty god Letus let us rather rAer reverently thank his name for the benefits of life liberty and the pursuit of happiness derived which we now enjoy let me here remark chatin that thab in no part of the political world could a government like ours have been established in no pait part of the natural world could so good a place have been found and in no van part of the world could we as a people nave have enjoyed the amount of liberty and freedom from oppression that we enjoy here this may seem strange to the ca ears rs of tho those s e who h have a ve not reflected u pon upon the subject it is nevertheless true wo we talk sometimes of mob violence of persecution se of official and governmental corruption and depravity what of that while the constitution is acknowledged it places the wrong doer in the wrong condemns their practices and reveals the right and whether mobs or congress violate it they come alike under its reprehension in other nations the laws would be against us in this the constitution and constitutional laws sustain us I 1 do not a agree aree ree with a certain writer who says if there be a country in in the world where colcor concord 1 according to common calculation would be least expected it is america made up as it is of people from different nations accustomed to different forms and habits of government ern ment speaking dif dlf different languages and more dimm diff merent different in their forms of worship it would appear that the union of such a people was impracticable coming from dif dlf different nations yet all of whom though different in manner were oppressors they would naturally combine to guard against all kinds of oppression sio n and institute the largest amou abou amount nt of bf f freedom edom consistent with the general welfare being of different religious i us persuasions sua they would all feel ito ino interested te rested in protecting their own from aggression ann and ana in so doing must of course accord accord the same liberty to others and many of them having been used as so many machines in arms for the oppression of themselves and others they would necessarily cessa rily guard against too great power of a military character and having seen nearly all powers assumed by government they would necessarily be careful what powers they granted to the general government to the several states and what they reserved to themselves these those principles are all clearly indicated in the constitution and they were evidently well matured in the minds of its framers A question frequently propounds itself to the minds of reflecting men what is government in scanning the history of many nations one would conclude it to be a machine for the manu facture of armies and implements of destruction st to slay and plunder subjugate subjugate and destroy such at least is the history is of the babylonian medo persian grecian carthaginian Cart hagenian roman the turkish the french particularly under napoleon the first and the british how did these nations obtain their power and possessions by conquest it is said of alexander the great that after he had conquered the then known world he sat down and wept because he had not another world to conquer what is implied in conquering what I 1 said before mustering armies for the purpose of fighting plundering ravaging ng and destruction and how vere were were the he possessions of the aforementioned afore mentioned nations lations obtained they were acquired by conquest subjugated by that inhumanity to man which the poet tells us makes countless thousands mourn I 1 what has become of poland lately and portions of denmark and austria not to mention the I 1 sick man of europe the cutting up of the turkey and the the complications of mexico these thes e are fair samples of governments the question naturally arises are these governments vern ments thus constituted and organized competent to legislate for the iene benefit of suffering humanity we should not among civilians appoint such men to places of trust and profit one would think from the acts of others that governments vern ments were instituted in order to furnish famish offices sinecures sine cures pensions and positions of honor and profit for certain classes of men and their connections i ih n the civil lists the a army rm navy navland nav yand ind church and that governments were instituted foi for them and their benefit such ideas however contrast strangely with the welfare of society and the common rights of humanity we will take england it was against her that our fathers rebelled we will not refer to her east indian conquests to her treatment of the chinese her european conflicts to her boast that the sun never sets on her possessions for we might be tempted to ask did she originally hold these possessions did she purchase them if not how did she obtain them and we are not dis dig posed to enter into a discussion of this nature at present neither do we wish to trace the order of her kings the antecedents and acts of william the conqueror would not be pleasant to trace a line of kin hin kingly gly authority from nor is the importation of william and mary from holland much more credi table tabie ta ble bie what are we vre to think of a par diament who would convey the authority to govern a country to their heirs in the tho following terms we the lords spiritual and temporal and commons do in the name of the people of england most humbly and faithfully submit ourselves our heirs and ties to william and mary their heirs and ties for ever what have the people to do with such a government in its inception or organization and I 1 might ask what has god to do with it the english government consists of three powers the king or queen the lords and commons now what have the people to do with electing or making choice of king simply nothing he was an imported power which the lords spiritual and temporal and the coin coln commons mons bound themselves and heirs in behalf of the people of england england to submit to forever next we have the lords spiritual and temporal what have the people to do with appointing appointing them nothing whatever they hold hoid ho d their position either by hereditary right or by appointment two branches of government are therefore entirely out of their reach the I 1 one they are bound by their superiors to submit to the other claims to govern as a matter of right their only resource is the commons they have one word out of three and that restricted by a very limited franchise was it any WO wonder ader that the king of england gre ire refused his assent to laws wholesome and necessary to the public good he was wag king and acting in consonance with the power and policy of kings and not professedly for the bublie public good they complain t that at he I 1 dissolved representative houses for opposing his invasions on the rights of the people what had the people to do with opposing him they were bound by their representatives to obey not op oppose ose him with manly firmness I 1 and vi all ali the catalogue of ills and oppressions oppress ions complained of came within the purview of his power it was really not him then but the form of government of which whick he was the ostensible representative they had to combat with the powers conferred on the king and that of the lords spiritual and temporal they were living on a large contine continent nt their ideas expanded commensurately with its magnitude they were panting for freedom and could ill brook the clanking of their old manacles maracles maha man acles eles etwas it was not a struggle between the king and colonists but between monarchical government backed by lords spiritual and temporal and the rights of man and let me here remark that this was then and is today to day one of the most liberal governments in europe I 1 would further remark that many of the english en lish and other european monarchs have haxe been humane high minded liberal men but what has this to do with their governments the present queen of england is a very intelligent humane amiable and honorable lady and has won the admiration and ana respect of not only her own nation but that of others but that does not alter the form of government and it is that of which we speak here then were a body of men gathered from the tho various nations desirous to form a government to meet the wants and exigencies of common humanity the experience gained in those nations had taught them their evils it was for them to avoid the rocks and shoals on which many of them had foundered and to produce a strong a just and equitable government deriving its just powers from the consent of the governed they stood upon an elevated platform they were the pioneers of a anew new world they the v verge 0 knighty f continent and wernex were vere f ex experimenting peri perl on a gigantic scale thousands of miles separated from the old overgrown systems with a 4 mighty ocean roiling rolling between their government once established and secured they were far e enough removed from front any influence or power they could exert hero here was a vast continent to be peopled a land rich in agricultural and mineral resources whose oceans bays sounds inlets and rivers were the most magnificent on earth and whose territory embraced every variety of climate from the tile icy biting chills of the frozen north to the luxurious perpetual spring of the torrid zone embracing all the changing latitudes of the earth capable of producing vegetables fruits and grain in all their rich varieties whose vir virgin soil unturned forages was |
