The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1859-07-30
The Fourth In the Fatherlnnd- An Ameri
can Celebration,

Tho Fourth in the Fatherlana An Ameri-
can Celebration.
letter from Heidelberg Germany, to the
BOSTON Atlas, gives an interesting account Of
the celebration of the Fourth Of July there,
By GO Americans, who had chartered, aud aP-
propriateiy decorated, a steamer for their ex-
cursion. The writer says
All the peak. waves the red and yellow hagof
Baden along the sides the eoiors OF Wurtten-
berg and Hesse Darmstadt, and littio american
flags are f~ing over the canopy above .ne
deck. The ueck is ornamented win HoWerlng
trees poInecranites oleandeTs, orange trees,
and others bnt above all, with DrItiiaat
throng of the fair ladies Of America, who, tho
world over, bear the palm of every grace and
virtue Suddenly. rs the boat glldes out into
the stream. a splendid American flag, the gift
of our consul at Frankfort, rises to the mast
head and floats gracefully out upon the
breeze, while cheers, such as none put Amelis
Odin The band strikes up SHali ColumDia,
and cheer follows cheer. in answer to greet
ings from the shore, rs we move up the river
through the town. The Swiss students, onr
fellow republicans, wave their flag and give us
sdr,i mai hoeh :" which answers to our hur-
rah, only Just as you get the enthusiasm START
ed you plug up with doupie consonaht.-
Tins with greetings from all sides--and
must not forget the prettiest OF all, q little
girl dressed in white, perched on the paius-
trade of the bridge, ana waving penuuiul
little sil.en American Hlg-~e passeu On
The company on board the little steamboat
consisted Of about sixty American ladies and
gentlemen. principally residents OF Heidel-
berg, but including also a party Of ten from
Frankforta tand several travellers who happened
at the time to be passing through the place.
Here the writer gives the names OF those on
hoard. among whom were Mr. and Mrs. KIM
berIy of Chapel Hill, N. c., besides repre-
sentation from nearly every section of the
Union. The captain of the boat and his wife
farx nPQ Anna altd
entered in to all the proceedings with the great
est enthusiasm. The letter goes on to describe
the lovely scenery along the banks OF the
river and the throngs OF peas ants looking on
with wonder. We quote:
As we drew near the villcsge of Neckarge-
mund among the crowd upon the pier and d.
rectly under the Badischen flag stood an old
woman waving her handkerchief towards the
boat. We gave them three ri ,ht hearty cheers
in return for their friendly greeting, and, as
we passed by, and long after, we looked
back, there stood the good Old peasa Mt woman
CRYING like little child, rubbing hsr eyes with
her dark blue gown, and still waving her
checked handkerchief towards US, Perhaps
she was thinking Of her children in America,
thanking God that they, at least, We're living
in a free and happy land, and celebrate ng there
this birthday of freedom for all the world.
America has long been known i'll this vicini-
ty and very many emlgrants have gone from
here Before on the right bf ink rises lofty
and very symmetrical conic:u hill, its sides
clothed with that bright, green verdUre OF the
fields its summit crowned with n wa led vii
lage an old feudal stronghold. and one of the
most interesting in the neg hborhood. But the
houses are now nearly all deserted. FCr some
wears since almost the entire population, with
their priests, forsoOk the houses and fields,
and went over to Americ a to settle. No won-
der those who still are lie IT Were full of inter-
est and deep emotion at the sight Of these peO-
pie from that distant la nd thus joyfully cele-
brating their nations ft stiYal
The boat is at the VIII arr ut Neckars steinach,
and the whole village. men, women and chill
dren, are on hand to receive as. The band
strikes up Yankee DC odle," the gentlemen Of
marches up the landi ne through gapingcrowds
to the hotel. Agair We were impressed with
the abject condition. of these poor, simple
hearted people. Trey followed us in silent
wonder. They haI never seen such hne Ia
dies such whole-souled feeling company be-
fore They had never seen the beautiful flag
before. In n few minutes the company were
all assembled in the dining hall, the divine
blessing was invok ed by the Rev. Mr.. May, and
we all fell to with hearty a opetites to do JUS
tice to q German dinner.
After we had experimental on some nine or
ten different courses, the NE citing was called
to order, and DIR. l. W. Faber, of Charleston,
Sc was appointed to the chair. The Doctor
made Il few appropriate rema Tks, and then
proceeded to read the Declarati,' 'n of Indepen
dence 'next to the gospel, the 81 'eatest writing
in the world" 1t was most en- Enthusiastically
received, and the band directly gave us "Ian-
kee Doodle"
Alter The uSuat e. ldnlity OF iuuSlC dllu
toasts, the company started home.
The landings along the river W ere still more
crowded than in the morning, ard at Hedei-
berg the bridge and rivers ban ks were all
alive with people As we drew the bridge,
several Bengal lights were let OF, which show
ed our little craft and all o. board TO the best
advantage. We We're received with hearty
'hOckS." asd 4 salute from q cannon placed
upon the bridge. At the landing, the throng
was dense. The word had gone all through
the city, and every one had tn rned out
"What splendid material here for another
revolution =; said one "And it may come to
that responded young German.
The greater part of our company then re-
paired 10 the house of Mrs. Olds, ON the An
lage, whose hospitable apartments are every
in Heidelberg and there, with mu sic and dan
cling, we whiled away the hours until the
Fourth of July was at an end.
The governments of Germany, Austria ex-
cepted. are by means despoti C, but by no
means free. The people are quiet. submissive,
but not contented. There burns in. many hearts
the longing and the hope for etter state of
things. And it was something hus to be re-
minded of that struggle for liberty in which
our still young but powerful natl on was born,
and something TO witness the evl ldenceS of the
prosperity and happiness of our free republic.
!. wish,'' said Kirchenrath Sche nike, 1.-The cele-
dents, IS wish we had a 18th of July to cele-
brate' And God speed the da.s to this noble
land our Fatherland! God grant to this earn
est, thoughtful, most deserving people, all the
blessings of liberty which we enjoy! God
give to Germany a 4th of July!
Corn rpou THE ~ Ns,y D;spors-