| Show THE celebration yesterday morning the sun rose bright and glorious ad as if 0 o wel wei welcome conie conle with his full splendor the anniversary of independence and with the first gleam of his rays over the eastern mountains a salute of thirteen guns was fired by a detachment of mor major M ai or ladds artillery and the stars and stripes were unfurled furled from the public buildings and many of the principal stores of the city and from thab that time on thare there was every indication that the people young and old were alive to the business of the tho day and were d determined 0 ter mined to celebrate the fourth with becoming demonstrations at 8 a salute of three guns was fired as a signal for the assembly assem assembling bli ilg of the children at their respective schoolhouses and at J past 9 the civil officers met at the city hall whence they were escorted by the committee of arrangements to the lion house rouse I 1 where the party were joined by presidents smith and wells and athance proceeded to the NEW ie W tabernacle whither they had been preceded bythe by the schools numbering bome some ch children lidren ildren and a large concourse of citizens on the stand ere ene Presidents young smith and wils wells elders orson pratt john taylor wilford Woo woodrum woodruff drum druT geo Q canno cannon B young junr of the quorum Quo of the twelve the city council the committee of arrangements marshal of the day and others at about i past 10 the audience numbering not less than ten thousand was called to order by the marshai marshal when the tho exercises commenced edwith with I 1 hall hail columbia by Crox alls brass band which was followed by the following national hymn words selected A music composed for the me occasion by professor G careless f 1 hyms HYMN Y ax N for che the he fourth of july WORDS musio MUSIC BY peor G CARELESS bless unto us this day whose birth first dawned upon that great decree whose stirring words proclaimed us freda sovereign people of the earth bless thou our land I 1 from east to west make fruitful all the deemin teeming 9 soil bless to the farmer all his toil toll our oar harvests lord 0 make them blest I 1 oh bless thou our rulers ma may y they serve with largest wisdom to fulfill fulfil thy holy cause with strength of will and power of brain and iron nerve bless thou the union I 1 may its cause be thino thine 0 lord throy good and ill III hirm firm fixed upon the peoples will and be sustained by righteous laws ohl oh prayer by the chaplain music by loth ward band col david mckenzie read the declaration cl of independence when after a salute of three guns glins and yankee doodle by the martial band the orator of the day hon geo Q can non delivered the ORATION FELLOW CITIZENS ninety four years a ago to this day the representatives of the united states of america in general congress assembled appealing to the supreme judge of f the world for the rectitude of their intentions did in the name and by the authority of the good people 0 of f the colonies solemnly publish and declare that the united colonies were were and of right ought to be FREE ebee E and independent STATES conscious of tho the justice of their cause these heroic men pledged to each other their lives fortunes and sacred honor to maintain this glorious declaration of freedom at all hazards this was avs no idle pledge those who made it knew fall well the terrible consequences chic ja waited awaited them in case of failure it was an easy matter to declare the colonies free and independent but it was not so easy a matter to maintain that declaration the power with which they had to contend was a nation in the plenitude of its strength whose flag swept every sea and whose armies had gained the title of invincible on many a hard fought field it is eminently proper that we who have so large an interest in liberty and have suffered so much for its sake saki should assemble together as we have on this occasion to solemnize the anniversary of this thia day we would not de tract from the value which others may place upon this grand palladium of rights which was the electric touch that thrilled all nations and awak awakened ened a latent but inexpressible yearning for freedom in the hearts of the slaves who dwelt under the shadows of despotism but who can better appreciate the sublime courage self belo denial and und the stead fast devotion to liberty of the men of 76 than the people of this territory or who in view of present events ought ta feel more grateful to the almighty j han than they for that glorious 7 manifesto in the signing and proclamation of which even the first napoleon skeptic as he was had to acknowledge that the finger of god was there to such a people the celebration of the fourth of july is no hackney hackneyed dd theme if itis Is consolatory and inspiriting to lis the stirring an and d courageous words of the men who made that day historic to ponder upon their deeds and properly estimate the greatness of the sacrifices which they were vero willing to make to secure and perpetuate the freedom which we now enjoy th the e examples of men who loved liberty more than life and who thought that freedom was a counterbalance for poverty discord and war can always be studied with profit by any people and most of all by a people pie such as we there is nothing plainer in history t hin than the fact that it was not for the gratification of ambition ambit ion lon that the revolutionary fathers sought to dissolve their connection with the mother country up to a few months before the declaration was madette ma dethe idea of political independence when expressed met with little favor favot even among many of the most ardent patriots in the original bent of their minds was a strong attachment to the mother country mingled with devoted loyalty to the government under which they had been born and no stronger proof of this can be given than the evidence of franklin himself one of the revolutionary patriots before the british house of commons when asked what was the temper of america towards great britain a few years previously he replied the best in the world the people were led by a thread they had not oni only a respect but an amm aff affection action for great br britain t for its laws its customs and manners and even a fondness for its fashions that greatly increased the commerce natives of britain were always treated with particular regard to be an old england man was of itself a character of some respect and gave a kind bind of rank among us no from this thia it will be seen that separation was a painful step and involved consequences from the contemplation of which they in the beginning shrank back appalled but by the working of that providential law which overrules the errors and pas rions of men for the accomplishment of its grand designs they were urged irresistibly sisti bly forward to the great consummation involved in the declaration let lot us for a few moments consider the causes which led to this of ing and we can do BO so with the m more ore profit because there are many features in the history of those times which are paralleled by events in ours we have seen that only thirteen brief years had pm passed sed since the feelings ot of the colonists towards great britain were according tto ito Fi Fian frankiin frankiln anklin biln blin the best in the world the mass of the people proud of their political and social birthright as children of the british empire maintained a loyal spirit and regarded old england with filial reverence but paramount to these feelings of loyalty and amm aff affection action was their love of df liberty this was an sit intense feeling with the people of every colony but especially BO so with the people of new england one hundred and twenty eight years after the discovery of america and one hundred and fifty six years before the declaration of inde pen dence their fathers fled from oppression and became exiles for religion previous to their leaving the cabin of the mayflower they formed themselves into a body politic by a solemn voluntary compact being equal in rank as in rights and bound by no locodo code but that of religion or the public government on the babis basis of equal laws for the general good that compact has been regarded as the first instrument of civil government ever subscribed as the act of a whole people it was democracy pure and simple and can we deem it str strange ange that from their planting such a beach branch should bloom As nations envy it followed as a necessary sequence that from such seeds the great truths should spring that all ali men are by nature equally free and have inherent rights that religion can be directed only by reason and conviction not b by y force or violence and therefore all men are equally entitled to it according to the dictates of conscience A people of such a parentage entertaining such views and breathing an atmosphere in which tyranny could not thrive were ready to uphold and defend the theory of the british constitution not as rebels but as free englishmen stab standing ding up for the liberty which it guaranteed they had rights and they were conscious that if they permitted those rights to be infringed upon they but encouraged the growth and development of a despotic exercise of power hostile to liberty and hence when en croach ments were attempted by britain they were met with prompt and energetic protest and that failing with armed resistance on the one hand the colonists regarded their charters aa as solemn contracts between the crown and themselves on the other hand the minions of british power repudiating this do doctrine decla declared red the charters not contracts between two independent parties but grants of powers and privileges from the king which the people of the provinces could claim only so long as the sovereign choe to ratify them and ano which he always had the power to annul a doctrine of tyrants all the world over the enunciation of which is not confined to times earlier than our own where such differences of opinion existed there were not wanting instruments i to increase and misrepresent ant them whose chief aim seemed to be to ma make maue kethe the king lords and commons totally deaf to t the he voice of justice and consanguinity the most moat active of these were the officers who had been sent out in fil various capacities to the colonies by the british government their letters to the government and their friends gave a most unfavorable picture of the state of affairs amongst the patriots the temper of the people and especially of their leaders whom they accused of making up by their audacity and turbulence for their want of respectability and influence these men were determined to rule or ruin they urged the necessity of the most coercive measures and also that a change of constitution and system of government should be made and they even went so far as to suggest the carrying of popular leaders from the provinces to england for trial our experience enables us to understand what effect such letters aa as these would have upon a king and parliament already exasperated because of the firm stand which their subjects had taken in resisting the stamp and other tax acts and in protesting against taxation without representation the result was a public opinion was created unfavorable to Amei amel america amelica ica it was an easy matten matter after the ministry to push bills through throng h parliament having for their object the therom com of the colonies ad a dissentient voice was lifted against the bill closing the port of boston this was the thin edge of bf the wedge which was to be mercilessly merc driven until divided asunder crushed crashed and reduced to abject serfdom the americans should be brought helplessly prostrate to the feet of a tyrannical king hing another bill shortly followed which deprived the people of new england of almost utmost every vestige of their ancient liberties by this act the royal governor was empowered to appoint all ali the civil authorities these authorities were also to have the nomination of juries jurlee functions which previously had been vested in the people thim themselves selves town meetings were also entirely prohibited except for the purpose of electing representatives another act followed designed ostensibly for the more impartial administration of justice which provided that the governor might send any person indicted for murder or any anyo tuen ther capital of off fenee fence ence to another colony or to great britain for trial this was followed by the appointment of a governor who embodied within himself civil eiju functions and the command of the kings troops against all these acts sets of injustice america pleaded remonstrated and petitioned in vain the papers transmitted transmuted to england drew forth eulo giuma from the elder pitt who found nothing to prefer to them in the celebrated writ ings of antiquity it was obvious Us t 0 him that all attempts to impose seal tude upon the men who wrote and the bodies who adopted them would he be vain and futile the agents of the cod colo nies also represented the actual condi tion of feeling and of affairs in america v A few british statesmen also warmly advocated the justice of their cause and protested against the arbitrary measures of the king and his hia ministry predicting that the americans would not en dure them if they did they would no longer deserve the reputation of being descended from the loins of englishmen but all in vain the beelin feeling g of the influential portion of the nation was expressed by the university of oxford fort when it addressed the king against the americans as a leopla people 1 I who had forfeited their live lives 8 s and nd fbi for tunes to the justice j of the state 11 I 1 it was the will of heaven that political connection or union between the two countries should be severed and george the third and his bigoted short sighted advisers were as much the ministers of the tho supreme ruler buler of the world in efred effecting ting this object as N yash ington the two adamsey Ad amses jefferson franklin lee or anhof any af pf the other be re ary leaders the conflict came an appeal to arms was madland ma the colonists carried out by their acts the principles and resol resolves resolved ved vei which they had proclaimed in fil their thein immortal manifesto god was wag with them giving wisdom to them in counell council cil eli and valor in the field raising them up friends and controlling cont roling and over ruling circumstances for the accomplishment ment mont of his hia divine will in making them a nation of freemen no r ne can read the history of the revolutionary t war without belag impressed with this fact tin lin undisciplined disciplined in the art and science of war inspired by heaven and the hope of liberty the armies of the routed well trained troops ahoon who on many field fields and in many lands had established themos fr unquestionable character for bravery the like success attended the efforts of the patriots on the ocean which is the more Te remarkable that england at that dayhaw dayl day had acquired for herself Es tha proud 4 appellation lation of mistress of the seas beas upon the foundation they built t un der the sheltering care of the constitution they promulgated whose divine inspiration is s demonstrated by its thor hughly cosmopolitan and catholic character their descendants have reared a superstructure which has been the admiration mi ration of all mankind among the chief glories of a true civil civilization izat ion lon are learning art artand and science and in these respects the united states occupy a front if not the foremost rank nank amon among 9 the nations there are four names which if they stood alone in art and bet set such a proud preem pre em indence as to gratify the most lofty ambition I 1 allude to franklin fulton morse and howe for |
