Show THE GLORIOUS FOURTH PROUX AT LIBERTY PARK parr AND otner OTHER 4 by lO 10 the hour announced for the commencement of tho the exercises at liberty paik the large grove especially in the immediate vicinity of the tho grand stand was thronged thron ged with a great concourse of people the number by the time the proceedings were well under way was estimated at between and the stand aland near the northeast corner of the grove was appropriately decorated for the occasion with the stars and str sir stripe ipes lpes while small flags nags with the names of all the states and territories were attached to adjacent trees while the company was assembling Crox ails alls silver band the sixth infantry band and beesleys Bee martial bial ial band played appropriate airs gen M MM M baines balnes baine balne chairman of gite lite fhe the executive committee made bome some opening remarks and introduced governor ell H murray president of the day the governor expressed himself to the eff effect act that he had no doubt that the assembled people would accept with pleasure the excellent pro gramme prepared by the committee the rendition of which would not only do honor to the day we celebrated but also to ourselves ahe then successively announced each part of tho the proceedings the of which was the playing in ifune style ot of hall columbia by ithe sixth infantry lantry band the opening prayer was offered by nev rev ler JER G prof T B lewis read the decla tion of independence his clear and powerful delivery of which was greeted greet edby edly ty s strong burst of applause at its conclusion that nine fine patriotic patri otio otlo song bong the listar stan star cistar spangled alander was waa de rightfully light fully sung by mrs Cate who was in excellent volee her performance being rewarded with ringing plaudits pl audits prof careless and M croxall and M 01 aeu sou played a fine accompaniment judge 0 C goodwin read a poem composed bom posed by him expressly for the occasion want of space precludes its being given here it is a very meritorious production with the genuine poetic ring some of the figures introduced being remarkably fine while the sentiment is elevating throughout its effect was slightly marred however on account of the somewhat defective reading rending of mr goodwin but hut some of the very beat best writers and poets lave have been unable to do elocutionary utice to their own creations nearer my god to thee was feelingly played by Crox alls alPs band the orator of the day judge P T V van yan an zile zuo dt delivered livered the following ORATION today to day we as a nations nation are standing upon the outer boundary of another years march and looking back through the more than a century that has parsed passed are reflecting upon n the grand achievements of uce uge ko lother mother r yes yer years ss with their difficulties and trials stopping here and othere as we on me morys winge retrace our steps to breath in the sweet fragrance of the flowers fl owera that tare blooming by the way side aide nourished and fostered by the beautiful Ben sen sentiment bengimen timen t of frie rrie freedom dorn doin and equal rights and with the history 0 o ol 01 I 1 america that ia is already written before us we try here to peer into the future and discern if it we mn cany upon what grounds tbt the camp bres bros of rot the coming years will ba be lighted and what is in store for us upon such an occasions occasion ruled and ant and p possessed ose essed by such thoughts and reflections as only have place in the heart of a true american citizen what can be said it scorns stems to me ins that the most eloquent oration I 1 could pronounce at guch lach such a time timo would be sm simply y to stand here and point to tho the ris history to ry of this grand count country rythe the birth of which we today to day celebrate A nation whose grandeur Js Is no not noi t oid old old alone alona by her hor vat domains an and d I 1 1 unconquerable prowess whose strength lies not alone in brawny arms and innumerable hosts b but but bat at in the sentiments principles and grand institutions upon which it is build ed into which its life is rooted we hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are aie at life liberty and the pursuit of ha hap pines that to secure these rights governments ern ments are instituted among men deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed never before nor hince kince have such beautiful and comprehensive truths fallen from the lipa lips of men never since nations have lived and man has kept a record of events have thoughts ideas and sentiments been formulated that stirred and fired and determined men to deeds deeda of valor like these these self evident truths filled full to overflowing the hearts of our forefathers upon this their souls fed for this they lived and rather lather than be driven from this their fortress of truth of right of justice they would adles dle die for to them it was better to die for far the right than living be by the wrong these principles wore no however wb wholly ly original with those of our noble tore lore forefathers fathers who drafted the declaration of independence tho the germ of the sentiment senti Fenti ment which they developed into a perfect growth had taken possession of the hearts and lives of their martyred marty red forefathers a century before it was declared by their noble sons in thia sacred instrument and to under understand stand thia this and fully appreciate how thoroughly h y it jt had taken root in those earl eari early y days of martyrdom for truth we need but to read the history of those times when the people were rued by an unrelenting theocracy which deprived the citizens of every privilege which was in the least antagonistic to the ruling tyrant and his followers do you wonder that i men and wo men of those days v were ere found who were willing to and did turn their backs upon their native land thus ruled and oppressed and lacing storms and privations ran Ast starvation and death set out for a wilderness away beyond the eoas seas before them was wai an uil ull untried tried land and an almost trackless ocean but dark and awful as it was and looked to them it was not BO so cruel crul and pitiless aa the lurid smoking fires that were continually burning and shouldering ing the funeral piles of those they loved IN but it was not entirely for the sake of escaping martyrdom that they fled their native shores but it was that they mig might ht enjoy and have and realize liberty from oppression that they might breathe the puro pure air of freedom in a free land thus the watchword and guiding guldIng star of those of our forefathers who first took possession of american soil was freedom freedom to think freedom to act freedom to worship god as opposed to dictation oppress sion and tyranny it was these early pioneers fleeing from opples sion and martyrdom and those who followed filled as they were with a lozi longing ging desire for another and a different government where they might forever shake off the yoke and break the hackels backels fi of oppression which bound and bore them down they and arid their fathers that first planted and nourished the seeds of liberty and free gov sov government in america scarcely had theIr heir ships got fully under nd r way ay guided by the star 0 of fh hops OP Z wh which ich to them never F set bet at bui but stood like ilke a pillar of fire in the vr western estern horizon than they began to feel and understand that governments ern ments were made for men not men for governments and that they had no need of crowned heads and ro royal noyal vai val blood but that they could govern themselves and while they were yet up n the waves of old atlantic far away from their northern country in the cabin of the good old vay may flower with none other othen man than themselves and the omnipotent presence of the great pod of heaven aud end earth who rules alike upon thil the land and tha the tie tle seas to witness ity its it they made a bole sole colemn compact which became a part of the government of the and now standing upon the rock ribbed coast of an unknown wilderness ness to which they ahby had fled they thoy could only look back through the dreary terrible past and into the darie darle and awful present but bui to real tze ize za arid know that they had 0 hardly commenced to baythe pay the arico that must be paid before they could obtain for which they sought but they were not despondent for they possessed pose essed hearts and souls that plowed glowed and burned with the living filea of freedom bres which could never be quenched but with adversity famine and death deaths only grow and blabol the brighter failure to them was a word unknown victory or death for tor li bertys sake was their thein battle cry and EO they and their sons bons and daughters through the long iong weary years pressed forward toward the goal with that grand determination that can only be inspired by dufy duty to one ones onea a colf coif duty to country duty to god separated from their mother country and eo so far away from crowned heads and titles and throne thrones 4 they began to lose respect for them and having governed and defended themselves so we weil well they commenced to talk of independence england looked on amazed but the irrepressible conflict was at hand there way wag no place for a throne no place for the palace of a king prince or royal family in this great western wilderness dedicated to free government and to liberty these principles which had taken I possession of them who through BO so many years had breasted the storm stood like an impregnable fortress to shield and protect t the ke young nation better to them was the shrill war whoop of the merciless savage bavage the crackling flames that burned and fend consumed their thein tin it bomes homes aye even the bight eight of their dead and dying wives and children as they lay upon the blood drenched floore of their little cabins in the wilderness than the nion monarchical monar chica archim oppi ealon of the old world with such willing hearts and strong bands hands to hold up the banner of hope and fan the fires of freedom ther then bould be no question about the result england gasthen wa the strongest of nations and the mistress of the ss B es but there was a land away in the wilderness of the new world that she could not conquer she bhe might take away the lives of her citizens but the beacon fires of liberty would still blazo blaze and burn and with ton tongues M aes ues ot fire speak to all ilia the nations ot of the earth this our sentiment which would rever die but grow brighter and stronger as time counted off the yearb years ali ail all men are created equal equals they are am endowed by their creator with certain unalienable alle aile right rights that among these are lifes life ilfe liberty and the pursuit of happl happi happiness ness nesb s the trial of self seif government haa proven so great a success and their fondest hopes seemed so possible to bo be realized that they were unwilling longer t to 0 pay tribute to useless royalty royally and when E england persisted ted in taxation which could not be boine boines and spurned with contempt their thel peti peli tiona asking for relief these brave men aloie in their might and with one accord answered back to their mother cuu country these them colonies are and of right ought to be 1 e free and independent stales and with this utterance accompanied with a refusal to longer pay tribute to king george and engla England necomes nd comes lle lie theorists ile crisis oppressive and insulting were passed by the english parliament and when dis regarded by the tha colonists british troops were quartered upon our shores to enforce obedience to t he the mandates of royalty depredations were committed intimidation was resorted to but all to no avail our forefathers saw the black dread storm cloud of war fast gathering its mutter luge juge spoke no uncertain language and when it seemed to envelope the whole land within its daik dalk davkand and terrible shadow and was ready at any moment to burst upon them they began to gather ammunition and munitions of war and as best they could pro paro pare for the re result uit alt and as we stand here today to day looking dg back upon those scenes what a picture is presented to tho the one nand and we seo sao the tiie brilliant well organized red sed wl 11 equipped army of england comparatively speaking a host backed by a strong government with inexhaustible resources on the other a handful of men without organization without arms except ss as they could pick them thom up here and thero there without money looking at it b by 3 the thal light we yve can but exclaim what an unequal contes hopa hop 2 less lesa tho the chances of eucce success B isit it how true the sentiment that ali U from the lips of the immortal heair henry I 1 the victory I 1 is s not to tor the tha otro alone klone but to the vigilant tho the active the brave s this was the situation of when england ordered her troops to at once destroy the stores of am and supplies at concord they attempted it and on the day of april 1775 the guns of lexington called a new born nation to regenerate the world the rubicon had been passed there was now no escape to be defeated was but an ignominious ign ominous death to bo be victorious was life and everlasting honor the i for which they contented conten contended zed led and the sentiment give us liberty or give us death was to them a cloud by day and a pillar of bre bra by night and by it they were led from the field of lexing ton too where a cation was baptized in the pure bloo dot dof freemen through that midnight darkness dark nesa of despair at valley eorge forge where but for gods owls overruling providence in which they alone trusted they must have gone down forever on and on through terrible scenes oi ol carnage ca sacrifice aa c of c 0 and death out into that rion glor luus ious light of victory which broke upon them on that cloud cloudless leEs day at yorktown and eo established fortham for lor them and for usand us and forever a nation free and independent on this the anniversary of that immortal ath of july 1776 when there was given to this nation and to the world that divine inspired document which has haa been read in your hearing the declaration of independence it Is not only our right but our duty to talk over the events which culminated in the establishment of this nation today to day wa should gather around ua lis our oun ou rc children hildren and tell them the story of the great greal struggle for freedom that they may know and real ize what the liberty they enjoy and the possibilities that are vouchsafed to them cost le let net et them know and understand that these ceremonies by which we celebrate thia this our cur pat nations ions lons birthday aie not idle arid and meaningless teach them that they live in a country where merit and true morth worth is rewarded dedi and not royal blood teach them that because fe of the remits of the struggle for independence which today to day we remember with glad hearts the possibilities bili ties are rendered alike to all whether it be the child of the mil lion ifon lio Jio alre aire of high birthy births birth or the child of the poor man of humble parentage but while wo ve remember ber bei with pride and gratitude the grand re sulta and brilliant ct of our illustrious forefathers in th their or struggle for liberty with charity toward them but with justice for those who following have ed to us a nation we must not forget that when they had wrenched from england her ac of thoin their independence and established fo for themselves a government s though they had fought for freedom and equal rights and had br |