The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1876-07-06
ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO.

vision once more deeended upon man.
kind, and republic was founded in
which federation, humanity, educa-
tion, and virtue were to be the pill
lars of the rising state. La the midst
of the cruelty, the tyranny, the vices,
of the eighteenth century, our Amer
lean reformers ventured to speak
words of solace to the suffering mul.
titude, to promise them some relief
from their woes, to tell them Of their
duties and their rights, to cali them
even the sovereign people. 1t was
the day that all men had long hoped
for, the day that had once seemed so
near in the early republics, and then
faded into night. Well might John
Adams break into kind Of lyric rap
ture when he surveyed the work he
had just accomplished. "The Sc cond
day of July, l:.6," he wrote to his
intelligent wife, will be the most
memorable epocha in the history of
America. ] an apt to believe that
it will be celebrated by succeeding
generations as the great anniversary
festival. 1t ought to be commemor-
ated as the day Of deiiverance by
solemn acts of devotion to God AL
mighty. 1t ought to be solemnized
with pomp and parade, with shows,
games, sports, balls, bonlires, illum-
nations, from one end of this con-
tinent to the other, from this time
forward, forever"
"Iou will think me transported
with enthusiasm, but l am not.
am well aware of the toll ard blood
and treasure that it will cost US to
maintain this Declaration and defend
these States. Yet through all the
gloom can see the rays of ravishing
light and glory" yesterday" he
cried, "the greatest question was de-
cided which ever was debated in
America, and greater, perhaps, new
er was or will be decided among men.
A resolution was passed without one
dissenting colony, that these United
Colonies are, and of right ought to
be, free and independent States !"
Of the proceedings of Congress
upon the eventful day it is one Of the
unaccountable inadvertences of his
tory that no record has been preserv
ed. No one of its polished writer's
has left narrative Of the stately de-
bate of the I'd of July. None of its
eminent orators have described in
their speeches, or published in
their journals, the particulars Of the
memorable scene. Not line Of its
eloquence has been preserved. We
are better acquainted with the speech
es delivered in the Roman Senate
and the Roman Forum, with the de-
bates of the English Parliament in
l641, with the harangues Of French
Jocobins or English reformers, than
with the grand discussion Of the prin.
ciples of liberty and progress which
on the American continent was so
thoroughly and 50 fearless'y carried
on.
Yet faint outline of the proceed
ings may still be traced, and it is
believed that Dickinson rehearsed
the argument against independence,
and that John Adams replied with
a fiery yet rational eloquence that
startled and amazed even those who
were best acquainted with his pow
ers. at moved the members from their
Seats" said Jefferson, of the speech.
ale is the Atlas of independence"
said another patriot. The speech of
John Adams may we'll be placed
among the most important of liter
ary losses, for which even a book of
Livy or fragment Of Polybius could
scarcely atone. 1t was the voice of
the New World demonstrating against
the old. But to those who visit the
ancient room at Philadelphia where
Congress assembled in 1916, who al
most hear the clangor of the venera-
BILE bell that rang out the first salute
to independence, who tread the sa-
cred soil consecrated by the descent
Of freedom, it will not be impossible
to revive in fancy the memorable
scene of the I'd of July. There in
the presidents chair sat the active,
ambitious, sickly, yet resolute Han
cock, the richest of New England's
merchants, eager for praise, for mill
tary Or political Office, for the popular
regard; patriot who ventured his
large fortune in the service of his
country, and whose vide hospitality
and generous display impoverished
and embarrassed him. Pale, delicate
nervous, feeble, yet Hancock posses
sed all the practical qualities neces-
sary for a chairman of the Congress.
There, too, was the Nestor Of Amer
ican politics, the venerable Franklin
composed, equitable, and resolved.
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