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Show LIBERTY BELL ID OLD INDEPENDENCE HALL To the Editor: At mention of those names what emotions start into being! be-ing! Liberty Bell is America's holy grail! It Is the visible oracle that links tho present with the sacred past' It has defied the tooth r-f time and the mutation of factional st ri t o 1 It reminds us of obligations to the men v ho laid thi foundations of a nation whose flag is the silent expres-slon of sympathy for stricken peoples now plunged In a sum Ida! war. where hungry children and helpless help-less women are submerged in the ashes of despair, and whose night of sorrow portends no morning of de-livera de-livera nee. Liberty Bell and Independence Hall! An Inspiring picture rises before be-fore us! We hear the diapason of the i cean mingling with the melody of new dispension that litts the world to higher fields of thought! The stage was set and the actors played so well their parts that the day was made Immortal, a hundred and fortv yean ago the fourth day of next July. "And still tho picture is before us and fasclnatee while we contemplate it! A hundred and forty years ago the Colonies, then a feeble handful of separate and semi-organized governments, gov-ernments, assembled Its delegate! In the only public place available, since known as Independence Hall, and in the quaint little city of Philadophls And still the picture urows and grow;. We see the grave and determined deter-mined faces of the delegates con voked in Independence Hall: We seem to hear the calm declamations of Hen Franklin and Roger Sherman; the rincing denunciation of Entrland by John Adams, and a vocal echo comes back to them from the impas Bioned lips of Patrick Henry as be roused the heart of Virginia thp year before in defiant affirmation that "There is no retreat but in suhmis- , ?ion and slavery our chains ar- al-j al-j ready forged. Their clanking may be j heard on the plains of Boston. The next gale that sweps from the north will bring to our ears tc clash of resounding arms Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish'' Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to hp purchased by the price of chains and slavery'' Forbid it Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but. as for me, give me liberty or give me death'" That day in Independence Hall is an alluring theme and as we dwell on it more and more the picture leans out of the canvas and a dilne light seems to illuminate it And now the day of days ia come and its setting sun will have witnessed a page of history his-tory to be the oriflah of civilization or he wiped out. in blood' The draft of the declaration is offered by Thorn-as Thorn-as Jefferson and la up for debate. A flood of thrilling oratory swells through that strange old council chamber, such as it never heard be fore. Timorouj s wis- there were who offered amendment after amendment to placate the mother country, but also al-so thpr- were giants in those days and that inexorable galaxy of patriots voted them down one by one, except a few unimportant. Ardent. John Hancock signed the declaration with letters so larse and plain that King George could read the name without glasses' The curious curi-ous may find a copy in most libraries r,nd will be impressed with the legi-bilit legi-bilit of John Hancock's name. It was then that John Adams declared in his immortal speech on that occasion oc-casion that '.Vow we have signed away the few claims to protection we already had we must continue to be united and all hang together," when that same astute old John Hancock interrupted in-terrupted to grimly observe "other wise we will all han separately!" And he was right, for the die was caai and if the cause failed their acts would be treason and every mother's eon would hang That was a stormy time. In thf aftermath of a like debate when Patrick Henry was venting patriotic pa-triotic fire somr onp shouted tbe word "treason ' at him but that doughty Scotchman hurled back the challenge: "If that be treason make the most of It!" But the Bell ah, the magk Bell that listened to the sentient program of that day and told the ston In unfor getful chimes that were heard around the world is coming to visit us all the way from Independence Hall, the scene of Its triumph What an in-ppiration in-ppiration for us and for the childron who will be men and women when wej are dust. Let the flags, our starry I Hag that now seems to be the last I hope of civilization float from windows win-dows and housetops, and let the bands play, and a husy people forget the ways of industry for a day and be come pilgrims to a shrine that means so much for us and all the world. Liberty Lib-erty Bell proclaimed the magna char-ta char-ta of our llbprties. a hundred anl forty years ago. Let the preache-s and the teachers tell to the children the wonderful story of its inarticulate eloquence while swinging from the rafters In old Independence Hall, seven sev-en score years ago. Tell them of the deaf old grandsire who was the belfryed genius In the ominous das that lowered dark and foreboding how he had stationed his 'little grandson below to gne him slcn j of warning if the declaration should j pass, for a hot debate was on anions I the delegates. And tell the children I about the anxious people who urged around old Independence Hall when i the deed was consummated when a I rubric of mighty import floated through the open windows into the I heart of the radlent summer to be a message of hope in every patriotic home And toll them of the little boy. with every fiber of his being alert, how he caught the oral demonstration of triumph, tri-umph, for even the winds had found voice, and in transports of delight he hurls his ragged cap in air. shouting. "Grandfather, it is passed the declaration declara-tion is passed, and we dare be free'' J And tell them. too. how the old man. feeling again the blood of youth surging surg-ing through his withered veins and pulsing along his palsied arms, clutch es the bell chord In his thin bon hands till the conscious bell swings on its rusty trunlons and the iron throat proclaimed a gospel that would be written in blood, but thrones and kings would hear and understand. Here In thy presence, O laberty Boll what a place for meditation' What an occasion for a renewed dedication dedi-cation to the great things wherein thou art the symbol! Here how manl test the golden time for all partlp.' and denominations, racos and colo'-, to oxpress confidence In our prosl dent, always for the time being th sole arbiter of American purjJbsei, and whose heart-breaking task is nos to compose a foreign complex situa tlon in the name of justice, and if it bo possible without bloodshed The grim visage of war looms everywhere every-where threatening around our borders, bor-ders, and a feeling of nervous disquiet dis-quiet pervades our country as ne'r before, and men and women of large perception and wise discretion are needed to vindicate the hopes, sacrifices sacri-fices and aspirations of the fathers, when that old Liberty Bell was voung' A. S. CONDON. |