The Kansas herald of freedom., 1855-04-07

HAOoSiS' ~ ~. NOfOscoI, II. i. 0TctIe,
F. M. Follett, and Wv. Wetherell,
Sandusky, Ohio.ea ~ .sslzl
Original Composition.
ln For the HsraM ef Freedom.
A Scene in Lawrence, Kansas, Twenty
Years Hence.
Z" Coming events cast their shadows BEFORE
ssI 1 would recall vision which dreamed,
Perehance in sleep-for in itself thought,
A slumbeTing thought, is capable of years, ~
And curdies a long life into one hour'
Methought that Time had shot sud
denly forward, some twenty years and
odd; and, in manhood's prime, and
life and health, l stood upon "Capitot
HILL" a lofty eminence overlooking the
great and populous city of Lawrence
Beneath and around me, on every side, a
thousand lofty spires and towering edit
ees glittered IN the mornings sunlight,
and far to, the east and west countless
habitations of humble pretensions, sub
urban cottagesand lovely gardens, seemed
yieing in a common race to cover and
beautify allthe plain; and from grassy vale
and shady nook looked cheeringly up,
or from gentle hill-slope, or 'clinging to
the mountains sleeper side, looked down
and smiled. On the north side of the
Kansas, opposite Lawrence, the city Of
"Aginoria' stretched her snowy front !;
and thence, in every direction, as far as
eyecould reach, villages of lesser note,
the rural palace and the princely mansion,
with here and there single cottage, with
lavish and luxuriant hand, were strewn
over the plain. City. town, and hamlet,
the hill, the valley, the mountain and the
plain, this magnificent river, on which
hundreds of richly laden keels rode
proudly at anchor, were before me. The
sky above me was unobscured by vapor;
$50 cloudless, clear, and truly beaatifSl..
That God, alone, was to beseen in heayen;n
and from the west, over theyast prairies,
on zephrus footsteps, wandered to my
lips breeze refreshing and sweet.
1t was morning. The sun had scarcely
reached the horizon, and already every
street and avenue of the city were crowded
witha FREE, joyous, andprosperoaspo
tion. Men, women, and children, in gaudy
apparel; theaged and the youthful; all cas-
ses, castles, conditions, and compilations,
were mingling in the utmost confusion.
And there was passing to and fro of
military in full uniform, fremen In gay
shirts and caps, members of benevolent
and civic societies, in rich regalia and in
sigma of their several orders, officers of
the army and navy, policemen with badg-
es and maces, and marshals onhorseback,
in gaudy sashes and rosettes; while
squads of mounted cavalry and lancers
were charging hither and thither. Thou
sands of banners, of every nation, foated
over the city and from the steamboats, in
the river; and the flashing of tinseied
uniforms, of bayonets, of sword and
lance, of fire engines, and gay equipa-
ges of every kind, threw back the sun
light. The ceaseless roll of drums and
the clangor of martial music were min
gled with the roarof artillery, which from
early dawn had continued to peal from
one end of the city to the other; and on
the river, and from Aginoria, cannon an
swered cannon, and in tones of thunder
reverberated from shore to shore. 49, -
1t was the Fourth of July" eighteen
hundred and seventy. .Ifue, aud on that day
representatives from the several States
made out of Kansas and Nebraska, as
well as the people of these free and glori.
ous States at large, had eongregated III
Lawrence, for the tworfold purpose oi
celebrating the ninety-aainth dnntgersarg
of Amsricdn Independence, and witness
as well the arrival of the first eastern train
ofears over the great Atlantic and Pacific
railroad from New York to San Francis
leo. - 49,. ...
It was a mighty and glorious event
Since the abolition of slavery in Missouri,
or the annexation of Cuba as a free State,
Lawrence had never seen suchaday of re-
joieing. s. sta as ss4sz.
The sun had scarcely reached the re,
NTH, when the roar of cannon, the sound:
of martial music, and the approach of an
immense procession with banners fioatine
itothe breeze, attracted my attention far tt
the east. | turned, and beheld scene
which for a. moment rendered me almos
delirious with excitement. When ! re
covered myself, the pageant had approach
/ ed so near, passing IN full view of The
jemiHence on which / was standing, as 4
ENABLE me particularly to survey what 3
shall now attempt to describe. The RAID
way was double track, and extended
1entireiy through the city, from the east {
the west.
! Supported. on each hand, by an i'm.
Imense escort composed of an entirc popu
latioa. came the first ftronG1 train froE
New York; the departure Of which hae
been announced here by telegraph dal
or two previous :
/ First, came an open car, richly drapet
and ornamented with banners, and con
tanning . band Of fifty musicians, who
lplayed g Hail Colsaa5ia.'' . Next cams
two splendid locomotives, one on eithe
track, moving abreast. On the one upol
/ the right, I read {. 1Aaaatic !" on that up
ion the ieff, se ePdafc.s Over these. ex
tending across from track To- track, an,
/ for three hundred feet in the rear VAS
loo1t.ny,o,.c r,lafs,xr,, rffsd on zrhaois