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Show I T3he FIRST II f FOURTH It rmiulrHd a long, limn tii prnpars fnr lliu ctilvbratliin of tho (lrt Fourth of July; It dpinaiidt'it nnrvo, courage; hnrnlam; tha man who hunand, for lib-arty lib-arty than wag In dangxr of putting hla baad In a niioaa and h who rd a pin In honor of the (xvnalnn wrta ahot without trial It caught. ( Nowadaya, poil who wak np on " ' tha Biornlua; of tha Fourth of July. ' ' amid tha booming of pannoo. tha titiUa of trumpiita, crarkla of gnna and anan-pliif anan-pliif of lira craokora, and a aoncrul pandnmonlum of frr anil gmirrmia aula, aaluoru think of tho yuara of antlnty. aiilTfrlng and Moodahad through which tho rolonlal Americana paaapd bofnra rai liln thi groat day whau ihoy could ahiiut for frrnlum. Thars had boon long roalaianra to tyranny, opprnanlun and luluatlcn. Tha laiilngtnn ahot that waa "hoard around I lie world" had hn flrad, Harry li hail pmi'lnlnicil Imlcpcnil-nca, Imlcpcnil-nca, I'alrlck Henry had domandnd "Itbarty or doalh." hut tha llnio tu sot qultn rlpo for that day of all daya In American hlatory, tha Fourth of laly, 1T7. On that day, fifty all determined patrlota aaaemlilrd In lha alatu houae at 1'hlladclplila. They had a purpoae In aaaenihllng. and that puruoao waa of (rara Import to 111" holn world. Thirteen Thir-teen colonlea, with tholr Ihreo mil-Uona mil-Uona of people know what the purpoan waa; thoy had annclloncd It, appnivod It, and what the fifty al nu n wura about to do they wore to do on be-i be-i half of those three millions of pcupla . who had fought, auirored, hied and atarred that It mlRht be done. Kvery-hody Kvery-hody knew what waa ro1ii to happen, area the amall Imy who now tnaki-a aa aim h nulae aa ho ran, waa there with the crowds assembled lo hear tha tocsin of liberty. A ntenibur of tbla great Conweaa of tha pmiplo arose, and atopplug a mo-wient, mo-wient, looked at tha (rare facoa before t htm, then ho began to read from a .' paper he held In his band: J "When In the courso of buraan GGri$ I 1:" ..." ow-n'iri I ' Ihi atky. . (t went off Til? kit u Ul events." rcuillng on along down the I lll of grievances until he reached the ronaumuinllng words that rrontod a ' new nailon: "We, ilmrefore. the represunlatlyea of the fulled HUles of America. In I uennral Coniireas assHiiihlixl, apprallna I lo the Huprenie Judge of tho world for the reciliuilo of our Intentions, do, In the name and by the auihorlly nf ' the good people of these Oilonltia, sol-! enmly iiulillah and declare. That these United Hlales are, and of rlKht ought lo be free and lnriieiiilcnt " here (aiiin an Interruiillnn In tha person of a small hoy who waa blowing fuse lo hoop It burning he had a amall cannon ready loaded to lie the tint to celebrate tho rery flrat Fourth nf July -he rushed to the old bellman, waiting wait-ing with the ro In hla hand to ring out liberty on liberty hell. "King! Illng! Ring!" he shouled, ami the old bellman threw his wholo weight lomfrTic.irioodrif.? A kind MJir;.V h wouUtry' rf .fJ. X 41 OwtpT' To see U " K UP rm.inj on how nacrv tdg' J could withy JjSi SbAddF ( rVj powdar ' iiHn tho rope and tho tongue of thnt llherty boll spoke to the crowd, and said, "We are free, the llfo of a new and great nation has begun. Itejolce and ho glad " Ami the people shouted 'llu.a! We are frtu!" Then they embraced one auothir, and shouted themselves hoarse, and when Ihey could shout no more they fired guns, touched off Kn powder, and waved flags, but tho tongue of liberty hell ke,pt on ringing, for two long hours tho old bellman pulled with all his slrens'h, and when asked why ho did not stoii he aiiHwereu, "I can't: I don't wunt to. 1 could keep ou ringing liberty lib-erty to the world forever." Then the fifty sis men a'one and shouled, and htiKKtied and embraced, the deed was done, tho nation u born, and the flrat turth tif July was Inaugurated. Wo have been keeplni: It up ever since, and as we grow larger and stronger, we make more noise, whloa Is very natural and quite proper. |
