Smyrna times., 1876-07-12
The 1" Fourths" Of the Future.

The country, after the great and special |
interest of the Centennial weeks, is once |
more returning to the comparative quiet of
everyday avocations. And yet, if We may
judge by onr own observation, the late |
Fourth of July, centennial as it was, hardly
exceeded in these respects many Of its pre-
decessors. Everybody, while admitting
evidences Of strong popular feeling, is sur
prised that there should have been so little,
comparatively, of merely barbarous demon
stration. The nation appears to have well
advanced from the childish stage Of its life.
Significant testimony to this is to be found
in the real merit of the discourses, which
were not merely spoken but carefully
listened to, and which, being printed, will
also be carefully read by hundreds Of thou
sands.
The oldfashioned Fourth Of July Grafton
was a marvel in its way of bombast, false
metaphor, and cheap rhetoric. Now and
then, it is true, good one was pronounced
by cultivated man; but the mass of these
caTmdgn0lcS were as tawdry and tastelcss
and as full Of tinsel as possible. From one
end of them to the other, through the
whole galaxy Of cheap glory, the banners
| Haunted, the eagles screamed, the stars
twinkled and the stripes served for motley.
The British lion was dcfed in the most
tumid of sentences. The battles of the
Revolution were fought over with more
than their original noise. The yearly
speaker out tOssiancd Ossian. He came
nigh to accomplishing the impossible, for
he almost belittlod the character Of Wash
ington by his fustian eulogy. Such was the
character Of the Fourth of July Grafton fifty
years ago. Two or three men-Everett,
Webster, and a few others less distinguished
avoided these ridiculous methods, but
usually the orators were as full of wrath as
Pistol, and as bright with artificial flowers
as the spoutcrs Of the first French Revolu
ton. We read in yellow pamphlets theil
calico eXordiums and pcrorations, and a:
we compare them with even the leas
meritoriOus of the orations of last Tuesday
we are satisfied that we have now some
thing more to say and know how to say i
more judiciously.
Still there is room for improvement il
our festive methods. We arc by no mean
, entirely cured of the old passion for soun'
and for fury signifying nothing. We arc
however, in a good way, and have give
promise Of keeping the Fourth of July in
manly and rational style. Hereafter, W
shall put on less and less war-paint, Civ
. less unmitigated war-whoops, execute fcwC
: war dances, burn gunpowdcr more mode
ately, and make the celebration a goo
deal more civilized in its details. Nation
. are partly known in history by the mann(
:. in which they arrange their political fes
walls, and by their commemoration Of til
: days in which they were born, or of tho.
in which they were preserved. In our ow
:, case, such observation must have a sem
. military character, since we camo into Ii
y through the pangs and perils of war; bl
- an earnest comprehension of our nation
- responsibilities and of true national grca
+, ness will temper the tendency to mel
parade, and lend refinement to the mo-
. exuberant signs of our happincss.-N
Tribune