Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1876-07-14
THE CENTENNIAL ronRTn.

be revered by Americans, VIC cory from
the Toledo Sunday Journal 1t sounds very
much as though it came from the fluent
pen Of Mrs KATE NJ. SHERWOOD
On that momentous Fourth Of July, one
hundred years ago, there was one bell
which rang ont more joyfully than any
bell which shall be heard on our Centen-
NAL Day. It's tongue has long been ST.
lent, and its voice cracked and weak with
old age. Yet its echoes are still flying
through the land as on that cventful morn
ing W hen the old bcll-ringer, waiting from
grey dawn until the tropic midday, rang
out yociferously the first true proclamation
OF Liberty throughout the land TO all the
inhabitants thereof" Then there was a
hurrying through the streets of old Phila.
dclphia, md tumultuous shouts heralded
the day-star of freedom rising in blood in
the East. Eight days after New York
pulled down the lcaden statue of George
Ill. which afterwards made excellent bull
lets for the gunners OF Washingtons bri-
gades. The Kings arms were seen no
more on the Court Houses, nor the inane
royal features on the swinging tavern
signs. True patriotic fcrvor and few
coats OF paint very speedily changed the
| royal robes OF George, the King, to the
military long frock Of that George who led
the van OF Obdurate rebels. The heaven
OF Democracy works rapidly in the heat
OF revolution, aud the divine image of
George the Third disappeared simultanc-
onsly with the repudialion Of his vested
| rights. With the climax Of revolution the
Colonists flung away all traditions and
symbols that had marked their allegiance
to crown and country, whose very naAes
had become synonymous of oppression and
injustice.
| The steps from Indignation to protest
| from protest to armed resistance, and f.
nally to revolution, filling the decade from
! lIG6 to l77G, were long and tedious and
marked everywhere with Tory resistance
and ridicule. Nor should we forget that
It took all the eloqucnce Of Patrick
| Henry, the keen logic of Franklin, the
| rugged protests OF Tom. Paine, the stir
ring maniiestos of a Mexican, the sturdy
| championship Of the Oliscs, Ouncys
Adamses, IIoncocks, Jcfftrsons and Lees of
that heroic age, to carry the country I'M To
the dizzy heights of Revolution and eli the
trembling conservatives Of the Continental
Congress with enthusiasm enough to drive
| the Declaration quill, Patrick Henry start
led the curled barons OF theNirginin Assem-
| bly, to cries of "Treason Treason I" upon
the occasion of his first memorable protest
against the usurpation of British rule. Ten
years after that same Assembly, falling i'm
line with the old North State paid tribute
to the prophetic genius of the great orator,
and was the first to declare in the Con
grcss OF rs the Independence of the
| States.
1t is fitting on our Centennial dav that
we hold these names and memories in
highest honor. Over that memorable Con-
gress presided the immortal Hancock.
grand in intellect, splendid in dcmcanor
and unreasonable in resources and mag
netic power. We can almost see him
clasp the hand of Franklin, when the Dec
larntion Of Independence was at last adopt
ed, he says: ave must all hang together
now" And surely we can hear that great
philosophers reply: "Yes, indeed, we
must all hang together, or most assuredly
we shall all hang sepnratelyw The elder
Adams, great of heart and grand Of deed,
who, side by side OF James Otis and Josiah
Quincy, first raised the battle cry, "No tax
alton without representation % and the
younger Adams, eager and watchful, rug
ged in morals and staunch in all homclv
virtues, true to his guiding maxim 81
would rather be in the wrong with Plato
than in the right with Epicurus," stand
shoulder to shoulder for the Republic, like
the great twin brethren who fought so well
for Rome. Robert Morris, the fnancier
of the Revolution, whose private fortune
was for time the whole resource of the
country, we must also remember; and
and Witherspoon, the great divine, com
bining the highest patriotism with the
purest Christian zeal; and Rutcdge, ut the
zenith of fame and in the sprlng-tide of
Iia- physioul spiendor; Richard lIeury
Ice, the indomitable and elegant ccurticr;
John Penn, the benign and sturdy son OF
Pennsylvania's gentle Romulus; and
Charles Thompson, "the man OF truth, the
friend and advisor of Franklin, who, when
the latter wrote from London on the pas.
sage of the Stamp Act, "rhe sun OF Lbcr-
ty is set. Henceforth America must light
the torches OF economy and industry" sent
back the startling reply, eve will light
torches of very different characterw 1t
was n time that required the most exalted
patriotism, the sublimest courage and the
largest measure Of faith in the untried ex.
pertinent Of Republican government. 1t
was country without allies, without cred
it and without flag. That noble symbol
of a Union soidilied, the battle-baptized
Stars and Stripes, was yet n slumbering
dream, locked in the heart of the ages.
The flag of Paul Jones and of Patrick
Henry had not yet blended with the flags
Of Warren and Putnam and Penn. On the
East were the frowning monarclies Of the
old world, and on the West the hostile alb
origincs Of the new. All the omens of the
times were dark and threatening. Nowon-
der the wine cup tremblrd in the hands of
| Il.
previous to his taking the field, proposed
the toast: "To the COmmtndcr- r-in-Chief Of
the Armies OF America" or that the whole
| company, who had arisen, sat down in ST.
lence, without so much as tasting the wine
poured out.
Yet il was with n full realization of the
consequences that the Colonisls took up the
alternative of war. The sons of the Puri
tan and the Pilgrim looked dangers
squarely in the face and knew we'll the
cost OF meeting them. The same order of
patriotism that prevailed in Congress ral-
lied the minute men OF Lexington and
| piled the defences at Bunker HILL The
same patriotism that sent Warren from lis
medical researches, the first great martyr
for Independence, and turned Putnam
from the plow, manned the floating ice
pontoons that Christmas day upon the
Delaware, and sustained the starving vet
Grams at Valley Forge. The Revolution
was the grand triumph of mind over mat
ter and is a sublime spectacle of what n
handful of people may accomplish under
the inspiring incentives of holy purpose
and an utter abandonment of selfish inter
ests and ambitions.
In our estimate of the services and sac
rifices OF the soldiers of the Revolution
we must remember that no human chari-
ties contributed to their comfort or relief.
There were indeed times when devoted
women met to provide clothing for the
ragged veterans; but no benign Sanitary
Commission sent forth continued stream
OF supplies for the wounded and the sick.
No government trains went regularly
freighted with comforts and needlul
clothing. No daily mails and humane
telegrams carried sweet home messages to
the remote fields OF war. Weary weeks
and months went by and no tidings from
the absent ones reached the cherries
Il