The weekly Oskaloosa herald. [volume] (Oskaloosa, Iowa) 1855-1885, 1872-07-11
GRAFTON
Delivered at indianapolis, Iowa, July 4,
1872, by Prof. G, 7. Carpenter.

Delivered al Indianapolis, iowa, July u
1872, by Prof. @. T. Carpenter.
FELLOW CITIZENS :--Ninety-six years
ago to-day, there stood in old Independ-
ence Hall in Philadelphia, noble son OF
the old Bay State, a man of imposing FORM
eagle.eye, patriotic heart, and far reaching
| intellect in the prime ofhis early manhood.
Upon the soil of his State had been shed
the first martyr blood of the Revolution at
Lexington and at Bunker HILL This man
was John Adams, who, little more than
a year before, had, in the same Assembly,
moved that George Washington OF Vir
ginia be appointed Commander-in-C Chief OF
| the forces raised or to be raised in defence
of American liberties" Two days ago, he
had supported the motion of Richard Hen
ry Lee, favoring the independence OF the
colonies. lie, with Benjamin Franklin
Roger Sherman, and Philip Livingston,
had assisted Thomas Jefferson in drafting
the now worldwide famed Declaration to
which we have Just listened. The ever
memorable 4th day of July, 1776, mad
come and the Immortal fifty six" would,
within a few minutes, determine by final
vote, whether they would pledge their
! lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor
in the support of this declaration. The
destiny of America and of the world was
piyoted upon the decision of the hour,
when he calmly rose to say with semi-pro
phetic voice: 1--WE shall make this
glorious Gay,-an immortal day. When
we are in our graves, our children will
honor it. They win celebrate it with
thanksgiving, with festivity, with bontres
and illuminations. On its annual return
they will shed tears-copious, gushing
tears, not of subsection and slavery, not OF
apony and distress, but of exultation, graf
itude, and joy"
He and the immortal drafter of this in
strument, both so noted in American his
| tory and so endeared to the hearts Of all
lovers ofliberty, lived to witness the fifth
eth anniversary of that great event and
both, upon the 4th day of July, 1926,
closed their earthly existence amid the
commemorative booming of cannons, the
roll of the drum, the fiuttering of flags, and
the warm, grateful pulsations Of the great
American heart.
To-day, after the lapse of an additional
forty six years, not only upon the virgin
soil of the then unknown Iowa, but from
the Atlantic to the Pacific. and from the
Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. all over this
vast country, is verified the prediction of
this patriotic Statesman /; this instrument,
that day ratified, is read and the noble
names and the noble deeds of the Revolu-
ton are rehearsed by orators, and scribes !;
and the millions of American mothers, with
their little ones at their knees, recount the
stories of the struggle of nearly a century
ago, and thus inspire, with just enthusiasm
the future monarchs of this great nation.
The Henrys, Lees, Hancocks. Adams, JEFF
Persons, Franhins, and Washingtons. with
all their patriotic co-laborers, have long
since crumhled TO dust but to-day they
live anew, and their voices are heard fresh
and clear as they sounded in council cham
Der or on battle field hundred years ago.
To day, from the nursery of the pioneer
shanty to the national chambers, the bat
ties of Lexington, Bunker Hill, Trenton,
Brandywine, Monmouth, Saratoga, Charles
ton and Yorktown are re-fought. To-day,
under 2 July sun, we shiver with our half
starved and almost naked Revolutio nary
sires around the camp fires at Valley Forge,
or tread with them the path of retreat
marked by the blood OF bare and frozen
feet or in more genial cline, We sit and
dine with the brave Marion and his Brit
ish guest upon log, on ash baked potatoes
alone.
| 1t is we'll TO recount the struggles of our
fathers and OF our mothers in the death
grapple for liberty and national life, that
we may know the price that has been paid
for the blessings which We enjoy. Let our
children learn the story of our ancestors,
who
Left their plough share in the mould,
| Their fiocks and herds without fold,
| And mustered In their simple dress,
| From those wrongs to seek stern redress,
that the rising generation may initiate their
virtues, and prize the legacy bequeathed to
posterity.
A brief comparison of what we were and
what we are, may quicken our sense of re-
sponsibii.y. Then there were but thir-
teen feeble colonies aggregating about
three million people now, We number
thirty seven powerful States and eleven
Territories, besides Alaska, aggregating
nearly forty millions of Inhabitants and
by our French, Spanish, Mexican and Rus
sian purchases, we have about trebled the
original area of our territory. Then, we
were practically without a government,
without revenue, and without credit; now
we have one of the strongest and best or
dered governments on the earth, an an
nual income of hundreds of millions of dol
lars, and credit that everywhere gives Ut
financ ial superiority. Then, we had nc
steamb ,at, no railroad, no telegraph, nc
cotton gin, no manufactures worthy the
name, no reapers, mowers, or threshine
machines, and no sewing machines; now
majestic steamers pillow our oceans, lakes
and rivers, railroads link with iron chains
opposite oceans, and the iron horse neigh
among the everglades of Florida, speeds
among the hills Of New England, across tn,
prairies of the "far West" climbs the rug
ged sleeps OF the Rocky Mountains, anG
snorts his fiery breath from the summit o
the Black Hills at an elevation of more thar
eight thousan; feet above the sea. w,
have stretched telegraph wire enough Il
hoop the world, while the hum of millions
of spindles, and the buzz of every kind o
machinery is heard all over the land. In
ventive genius and skillful industry hav,
regenerated household, farm and shop
Then, We had but few schools, and thes
of an inferior order /; now, we have NOR,
} than two hundred thousand five hundred
of which are Seminaries, Colleges, ant
Universities, some of which stand full,
abreast with those of the old world which
have celebrated their thousandth anniver
sary. Then, we had few newspapers, TIVE
specimens OF which, exhibit to you tn,
one, the Boston Gazette, printed March IL
ITO, containing an account of the massa
ere of the five citizens of Boston by tn,
British soldiers, seven days before /; the
other, the Ulster Go. Gazette, printed a
Kingston, Jan. 4, 1900, containing TIT
obituary notice of General Washington
These present a sorry appearance in com
parison with some of the mammoth sheets
ofthe pr esent day, or even with our owl
county papers now, there are more thar