Wisconsin tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1847-1854, 1847-10-08
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The Fourth of July, 1776.
BY GEORGE LIPPARD.

hour, glowed every point of the massive
structure, its windows gittering like living
gold, its roofs with heavy ornaments along
the caves, bathed in light, while the stee-
pie stood clearly out against the blue sky.
1t was toward the close of day when the
trees In the lawn shook their leaves in the
rays of the setting sun, while over the city
from the forest on the west, to the waves
of the Delaware, the mild golden radiance
invested the roofs in a veil of bright sun
beams.
/ The zenith OF the sky, calm as an in
fant's sleep, extended above the scene, a
| dome of clear deep azure, and on the west,
over the wide sweep of woods, huge mas
ses of white clouds, piled up in the hori-
the green of the foliage, the blue of the
/ heaven - slowly rolling apart, disclosed
the full glory OF the setting sun.
Such sun had never set for eighteen
hundred years.
Not that Its glorious beams arrest our
attention alone, nor the many dyes which
J 1t flung in parting, over roof and tree and
sky, alone attract our gaze, but because
the Day, which its setting closed, marked
an Era in the history of Man.
On that day continent in fierce travail
/ for its rights, struggled into birth and be-
came People.
As evening came on, the crowd which
had all day thronged the arena of the
State House, and darkened in the open
space along its front, or gathered in
dense mass under the old trees in the
lawn, was swelled by new accessions.
1t seemed as if the city had poured It's
pc ople from their iresides, and sent them
thronging into the scene. Nor was the
crowd merely composed of the rich, in
their soft apparel, nor Of the poor in their
worlI-day attire but the men whose
hearts beat for their country, were there,
and among their ranks. with side-long
looks and ominous scowls, gided the crea-
lures of the king.
The women, too, were there, some with
their young faces glowing more beautiful
with love of country, some with their
" arm lips curling in sneers, as the word
+" Freedom was whispered on the air,
and some, with anxious faces, holding in
their arms those babes whose fathers were
absent fighting the battles of their coun-
try. They came in silken attire, they
came In their coarse linsey peasant garb,
they came in matronly apparel, with
brows the women of the city and the
field, forgetting the severe modesty of
/ their sex in the interest of the day, were
there.
For all day long = from the moment
when the first beam of light played upon
the State House steeple, until now, when
It's last kiss fingers there-a rumor had
crept through the city, and deepened and
spread until it filled every heart.
/ And all day long, without moments
/ interval, the Congress had been holding
/ their secret session in the large hall, on
I the east Of the main avenue, while the
/ people waited in quivering anxiety the
/ result Of their deliberations.
/ As the day wore on, that rumor deep
ened, and now from lip to lip word
! thrills like electric fire" INpEPENp-
ENCEl'
Let us wander through the crowd, in
front of the State House, and see the va
rylng passions painted on each face, and
listen TO the whispers until we feel our
hearts swell with the same interest that
fills every bosom. Oh, the eloquence of
/ those women's faces, the stern anxiety of
those patriot looks
HarkI murmur sweIls through the
crowd, you hear it surging far from the
walls Of the State House, away to the
trees that rise on either hand. There Is
a sound IN yonder avenue, the tread Of
many feet = listen! that murmur, " Con-
gress has closed its session, and the work
Is done ?"
Then from that door, with massive pill
lars, come forth one by one, the members
OF the solemn council. How the smile up
on their faces flashed through the crowd
First, while other Delegates mingle
with the crowd and answer their hurried
questions, gentleman of mild appear.
: ance, vet with bold brew and keen eye
. Games IN the yprra Of the stems and hold,