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Show a Independence Bell A Poem That Has Been Read for YearsThat Is Worth Reading AgainWho Wrote It7 Whm It bteamt certain that the Declaration or Independence would be adopted and eon-Jtrmed eon-Jtrmed by 'the elsnature of the delecte in the Continental Com reel It wae determined to announce an-nounce the event by rlnslne the old State Hou.e bell, which bore the Inscription, "PwUtm Ubrrty to 0w Unit to Ml inKtUUnlt thtnofl" and the old bellman potted his grandton at the door or the hall to await the Instruction of the doorkeeper when to rln. At the word that the document docu-ment had been signed the little patriot scion fijft w7SW."c up h,i h'n',, ,houud' There wss a tumult in tho city, In tho quaint old Quaker town, And the streets were rife with people Pacing restless up and down; People gathering at corners, Where they whiapered each to each, And the sweat stood on their temples, With the earnestness of speech. As the bleak Atlantic currents Lash the wild Newfoundland shore, So they beat against the State House, So they surged against the door; And the mingling of their voices Made a harmony profound, Till the quiet street of chestnuts Was all turbulent with sound. "Will they do it?" "Dare they do it?" "Who is speaking? "What's the news?" "What of Adams?,v-"What of Sherman?"- "Ohl Qod grant they .won't refuse!" "Make some way there I" "Let me nearer I" "I am stifling I" "Stifle, then, When a Nation's life's tit hazard We've no time to think of men I" So they beat against the portal, Men and women, maid and child ; And the July sun in heaven On the scene looked down and smiled) The same sun that saw the Spartan Shed his patriot blood In vain Now beheld the soul in freedom Ail unconquered, rise again. 8o they surged against the State House, While, all solemnly inside, ' Sat the "Continental Congress," Truth and reason for their guide, O'er a simple scroll debating Which, though simple It might be-Yet be-Yet should shake the cliffs of England With the thunders of the free. At the portal of the State House, Like some beacon in a storm, Round which waves nrc wildly beating, Stood a boyish, slender form; With his eyes fixed on the steeple And his ears agnpe with greed To catch the first announcement Of the "signing" of the deed. Aloft, in that high steeple, Sat the bellman, old and gray-He gray-He was weary of the tyrant And his Iron-BCopteicd sway, - So be sat, with one liand ready On the clapper of the bell, When his eye should catch the signal, The happy news to tell. See I see I The dense crowd quivers Through nil its lengthy line, As the boy beside the portal Looks forth to give the sign I With his small hands upward lifted, Breezes dallying with his hair, Hark I with deep, clenr intonation, Breaks his young voice on the air. Hunhrd the people's swelling murmur, List the boy's strong, joyous cry I "Ring," he shouted, "King! GrAndvul King! Oh! King! for Liberty!" And straightway, nt the signal, The old bellman lifts his hand, And sends the good news making Iron music through the land. How they shouted I what rejoicing 1 How the old bell shook the air, Till the cljjng of freedom ruffled The culm gliding Delaware I How the bonfires and the torches Illumined the night's repose, And from the flames, like Phoenix, Fair Liberty arose. The old bell now Is silent, And hushed its iron tongue, But the spirit it awakened Still lives forever young, Anil while we greet the sunlight On the Fourth of each July, We'll ne'er forget the bellmsn, Who, 'twlxt the earth nnd sky, Rung out OUR INDUPENDKNCB; Which, plcaso Qod, shjll nevtr die. |