The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1863-07-30
Wisconsin Correspondence.
WEST EAU CLAIRE, Wisconsin,
July 2lst, 1868.

w EST EAU CLAIRE, Wisconsin,
July 2lst, 1868.
To THE COURIER - was g,atified to
learn in the COURIER of June 25th, that the
citizens of Ottumwa had decided to have
regular old fashioned celebration" on the
4th ofJuly.
wa more gratified to sec in its issue of
the 9th inst, that, although no national flag
was floating over you, the sentiments which
that old flag was designed everywhere to
uphold. were ringing in your ears in the
words of the Grafton addressed to you on
that historic day And we may all rejoice
to know that If the old flag did not wave
its graceful folds in quiet salutatior of the
patriotic and law abiding citizens aSsemhl ID
at the county seat of Wapello, it did not fail
most gloriously to fulfil its mission at
Vicksburg, at Helena, and in Pennsylya-
mia. We can imagine it floating over the
land and the sea, cheering the hearts of
gallant men, many Of whom are citizens of
Wapello county, unfolding it's splendor,
and affirming its authori Y in every State
and Territory Of our Union. the palladium
Of safety to tie free, and the beacon of
hope to the oppressed throughoutth world.
You may imagine it, if you please, more
than five hundred miles from you, east of
the Mississippi. on the banks of one of its
tributaries. in delightful airy grove, float
ing over the heads Of hundreds of brave
men and fair women, who are listening to
words of patriotism, interspersed with
strains of music. both martial and vocal,
and you need not overlook nicely barba
rued OK, in the back ground, covered with
garlands and surrounded with profusion OF
such notions as ladies are liable to bring TO-
sether and arrange for such an occasion -
Is this not little after the "old fashion ~
The readers Of the COURIER can doubtless
remember many things of this kind years
ago, and thousands of miles away. They
are simply American. As Daniel Webster
said, both of the character of Washington
and the simple granite shaft on Bunker
Hill, ''They are WHOLLY AMERICAN"
So common are these things in our coun-
try, that had there been no formid-
able attempt to subvert their very founda-
ton. / should deem it wholly sHperfluous
to advert again to the matter of ian old
fashioned celebration in Ottumwa."
As tits, this idea awakens memories so
precious that like to treasure them up and
am not willing to enjoy them alone. On the
4th of July. 1855, an sold fashioned cele-
bration" took place "in Ottumwa," illustra-
ted and unfolded, as WIS not uncommon in
those days, by long procession of Sabbath
School Scholars, or perhaps speaking more
correctly. the Young people generally found
in the town and vicinity. 1t is not easy to
forget the impression evidently made on the
company, by view of the Des Moines Val.
lev, as some of them looked on it for the
first time. from beneath the shade of some
grand old oaks, which stood near the spot
now occupied by the residence of Joseph
Merrill. =.
Harmony was the normal condition Of
things in those old fashioned days. A speak
er, then. in unfolding the idea of Ameri.
can independence, as set fourth in the Dec
laration, could boldly declare, "That God
never made man to be a slave" without
discovering that he had lrrltated political
nerve in any quarter. Iowa was then gath
ering to its bosom thousands and ten 5
of thousands Of noble emigrants, attracted
to her by the fact that our national Con-
gress had generously covered every acre of
her soil with an act that consecrated it to
freedom and freedom alone. Sovereign
people left behind them the protection of
sovereign States, to abide and rear their
sons and daughters under this aegis of lib
erty, without ever dreaming that they were
abandoning any portion of those rights Sc
cured to them and their posterity, by the
Constitution Of the United States. They
had not learned in those days of primitive
simplicity, that the right to be free them
selves, necessarily involved the right to en-
slave others. They knew that if upaid toll
was to be wrung from the weary or reluc
tant laborer by the fierce, the cruel and re.
lentless hand Of the task master, it must be
done elsewhere than on the sacred soil of
Iowa. There ''the laborer," was ever to be
regarded, in the language Of the Savior,
"worthy of his hire" So exactly and 80
obviously was this idea in entire harmony
with the spirit and teachings of the gospel
and so directly did any allusion to it in the
pulpit seem to support the constitution and
the laws, under whose protection it was ut
tered, that it could not decenty be called
in question, by those who would seem TO
manifest any respect for either law or the
gospel. May we not, then, shake off the
dust of these degenerate days, and cool our
selves with the refreshing memories of a
prouder and a better era five have been
dazzled by the glories of self government
as mere recently developed in the histo-
ry of Kansas, shall we altogether forget the
earlier condition of Iowa when we abode in
peace, protected against any infraction of
the law of liberty. by the authority of
great nation If some are disposed to ad-
mire the chivalry and bravery of Cain.
shall we all, therefore, refuse to sing Of the
"Good old song of Adam and Eve 81
Thanks to the COURIER for refreshing us