Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1875-08-11

4.
osophy when, speaking Of the Govern ,
mcnt Of the United States, hc says that /;
this system of u Federal Union, "wherc
the rights and powers Of tho individual
States arc maintained entire, IL tho
very greatest rcincmontn social policy
to which any state Of circumstances ,
has ever given rise, or TO which any
age has ever given birth" /,
What son Of tho sircs who pledged !
their common lives and fortunes TO es-
tablish such system of liberty cannot ,
but exult this day in the grandeur of
the deeds of his noble ancestors? ,
The theme invites many more peril. ,,
nont details for this days commcmora-
ton, but time will not allow full rcior- !
cnce to them all. Suffice II to say that ,
the new Constitution, so framed by /,
the convention, was reported TO the
Congress of the States, and being ap. :
proved by them, was submitted to the
several States to be approved and rati- ;
fed by them before II should 90 into ,
operation. The last article Of the new
Constitution so proposed, declared that:
"The ratification Of the conventions Of
nine States shall be sufficient for the
establishment of this Constitution be-
tween the States SO ratifying tho same
The ninth State that ratified il was !
New Hampshire. This was on the
2lst of June, 1888. Tho news of this
filed the country generally with joy.
The ratification Of Virginia, the tenth
State, was on the 25th Of the same
month, The news Of this event reach
ed Philadelphia the I'd day of July
The joy was inexprcssiblc 1t was
now settled that the Federal govern
ment was to go into operation under /,
the new Constitution and new organ ,
.ization on the 4th of March, 1888, as
Congress had provided.
A GRAND CELEBRATION OF THE 4TH OF
JULY
was Immediately resolved upon, and a
magnificent demonstration it was.--. ,
The procession, extending for miles, ,
was filled with elaborate emblematical
representations. ltwas a longpageant /
of banners of trades and devices. A [
decorated car bore the Constitution,
framed as a banner and hung upon a ,
staff Then another decorated car car |
ried the American Flag. Then fol- I
lowed the Judges in their robes, and
all the public bodies, preceding grand
Federal Edifee, which was borne IN a
carriage drawn by ten horses.
What lessons and truths were i'm
pressed upon the popular mind by
these allegorical representations? The
ten horses that drew the Federal Eii-
fee were evidently designed to repre-
sent the ten States by which the new
Constitution had been ratified, and by
which it was to bc borne, upheld, kept
preserved, and maintained as Fed
erdi Compact between them whether
the other three joined them or not.
Arc these small matters to bring
forth upon this occasion2 Far from il.
They are the deep footprints of truth
impressed upon our earlier history, fix
ing the character of our unparalleled
System of Institutions, which assertion
can never oblterate, argument can
never remove, sophistry can never OBJ
scure, time can never erase, and which
even wars can never destroy. They
stick to the very fragments of the
primitive rocks of our political forma-
tom and have only to be dug up and
shown, with their unerring inscrir-
tions, to utterly refute all false theories
10 the contrary. This is the time, and ,
this is the occasion for exhibiting at !
least few of them. We should ever [
discriminate between the principles of !
a Government and the acts of its adj !
ministration. Entire devotion to the /
one is not at all inconsistent with stern |
opposition to the other. I
THE GEORGIA CENTENNIAL.
This is Centennial period The
day we celebrate is not only the ninety
ninth anniversary of the Declaration
of the Independence of the United
States, but also the one -hundredth, or
Centennial anniversary Of the day on
which Georgia, for the first time, com
menccd organized resistance against
British taxation without representa-
ton. Ii was on the 4th day of July,
1775, that her duly elected delegates
met in Convention in Savannah, for
the purpose of linking her fortunes
with those of the other Colonies
Doubly dear, therefore, should this
commemoration be to us. A little in I,
cidept attending that Convention should
not be forgotten while considering their
other noble acts and deeds. A vessel
from London, laden with $4,000 pounds
of powder, and other articles for the
British troops, arrived at Tybee. II
was determined to seize the ship and :
use its contents in Colonial defense, :
rather than permit them to be used for
the subversion of Colonial rights. Ii
was accordingly seized by about thirty !
men. The cargo was secured, and five !,
thousand pounds Of the powder were
sent by the Convention TO their patri- !
otic brethren at Boston, who had lost
the battle Of Bunker Hill for want of
ammunition. Amongst those who dis !.
tinguished themselves in this exploit
were Col. Joseph Habersham (whose !.
blood flows in the veins of your reader
today, and Ebenczer S. Platt, whose /,
names should be handed down to pos
terity for their gallant deeds on that
occasion.
THE PHILADELPHIA CENTENNIAL. )
But there are other considerations q
which give this demonstration here, !
to-day, at the seat of government of !
Georgia, an unusual Importance. This, 3
| have said, is centennial period q
The grand demonstrations in honor of s
the hundredth anniversary OF the des- S
truction of the tea at Boston and Bal (
timore, which took place last winter a
and of the battles of Concord, Lex [
ington and Bunker Hill, in Massachus- q
etts and of the Mecklcnburg decla- /
ration in Charlotte, North Carolina, v
which have recently so stirred and
thrilled the hearts OF the friends of S
constitutional liberty throughout the {
length and breadth Of the whole land;
and which have brought the different
sections into more harmonious accord, 8
by awakening the recollection of the c
noble deeds Of common ancestry in c
a common struggle for those common 4
principles of local sclfgovernment up =
on which the whole structure Of our S
institutions rests, are but prelude to \
that grander centennial celebration G
Of the anniversary of this Declaration q
which is TO come off next year in d
Philadelphia. The question is mooted G