The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1876-07-15
PHILADELPHIA LETTER.
pnILApELrnIA, Pa July 7th.

oaalnh;s Tbe esr,snnisl rsnrlh of July
celebration tlnt lms been nntieipated for
v,.,rs ,n,k Mao. viii, ,nnropriate form and
,eremony nn,l,r ~, e,v.s Of the old In.
denende,s, bnil,l;n. n which the signers
mide their u,m,,, imnor,al by aaixing
tbem In Thar rsiunrkable dcclaratiuu. The
,in,e.worn opiginal Declaration itself was
there mi thr Mayor Of the city held it
nm 10 tbe gazo If shontinr nultitades. and
Richard Henry Lee. n grandson and name.
sake Of one of the sirners, read il with
earnest unaffected cloeution. Bayard
Taylor read n poem which think will
lonr survive tho occusiou and the century,
and tho Hon VIM. M. Eyarts delivered
an oration which but for liz prent length.
would serve as a perfect model foraIl ora
tors Of the future. As for the music,
choral and pedestrian. presume il was
worthy of the great occasion. Oliver
/ Wendell Holmes had written hymn of
welcome to all nations, and his majesty
Dom Pedro, Emperor of Brazil, presented
hymn Greeting from Brazil, compos-
ed at his request, by A. Carlos Comes,
court musician of Brazil During the
I performance Of the Greeting from Brazil /
the Emperor came to the front Of the |
stand held his head to one side, and with |
his hand to hi. ear, in vain effort to hear
distinctly the music Among the distin- |
gushcd personagcs ON the stand were the |
Vice President Gen, Banks, Generals |
Sherman and Sheridan, Gov Hayes, the |
Republican candidate for President Sir
Edward Thornton, the Minister from Eng
land, as well as many other distinguished
foreigners.
We Were celebrating our escape from
British bondage, as the saying is, (not
such big bondage after alb and the
British Embassador was on the stand but
no sentiment in Bayard Taylors noble
poem excited 50 much enthusiasm as that
in which the poet referred to our English
origin, English tongue and traits
1t is useless to attempt description of
the civic torch light procession on the
evening OF the third, or of the grand mill
tary parade on the fourth OF July, Great
professions aud paradcs like great battles
can be seen only ut points and in sections,
and can scarcely be seen in this way when
the pageant is in the narrow streets Of a
great city. Far more interesting than the
half organized bands Of citizens, bearing
torches, banners aud devices, or than the
perfectly organized and disciplined mill
tary-is the dense mass of spectators that
I'LL the windows, trees aud side walks, and
surge back and forth, cncroach upon the
streets, and obstruct the passage of the
cars, There Is something fearful and sub.
lime in an immense crowd, in this juxta-
position aud condensation of humanity,
Heterogeneous in condition, age, sex, mo-
rails, life and yet most Of them live through
1t aud emerge us individuals. | saw the
military parade as 1t passed, from the top
OF an ice wagon. \ column of ten thou.
sand superbly uniformed aud disciplined
troops marched, almost every company
headed bya band OF music, The Southern {
military organizations attracted much at Z
Ientlon aud won piaudits by the perfection
Of their discipline, and by the ardor with
which they Joined in every patriotic de-
monstration The weather was excessively
warm, many were entirely overcome by 5
.he heat, aud some Of the companies were ,
oliowed by servants carrying buckets of i
water, from which the soldiers drank ut
very halt,
On the evening Of the fourth, there was
grand display of fire works from Lemon
I'LL, in East Paramount Park At s, p.
D., there was general illumination with
olored fires, which could be seen for a c
ircat distance. Next there was grand :
scension of fire balloons dropping at in
ervals IN their @rial flight, beautiful fire
o1neis Of many colorcd light, and then
he heavens clouded by an approaching 4
ain, were made respondent with signal 4.
ockets, The next display was an allegory VI
the birth and growth of the :,
jnited States, in which the names of the :
thirteen colonies We're written in letters of ~
ire. A grand explosion, like volcanic S
fuption of bombs bursting high in air G
nd falling in every variety Of colored
tars, flight Of meteor and maroon rock Q
It's, 4 beautiful figure Of red, white and i
'lue lights, representing an immense cas- Il
AIDE, and fusihdc of bombs, dropping e
uby, purple, emerald, sapphire. eold and il