The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1878-07-17
Fourth Of July at snanh.vi,,e-

Fourth OF July az snanksyiste.
You bet We had. Came IN at .
o'clock G. m. We took him by the
forelock aSd escorted the old boy to q
pleasant grove one mile west OF town
where, by u pleasant ways and i'm
mense baskets we induced him to re-
main with US until 4 p. m. The
coming Of the celebrated gentleman
also brought to our notice other dis
tingaished guests, not the least
amongst whom was an Assembly
man, that is TO be-A. j. Colb0rn-
the crater of the day, who made e
very able and appropriate speech.
An able speech was addressed TO the
children by Rev. Poffenberger. in
which he set forth the great necessity
of becoming good citizens of this
grand Republic. Rev. J. ii. Perish
ing also delivered an address, which
we give below. We feel proud TO
say that there was not c drunken
maa on the grounds, and that p~rofan-
isy was unknown All seemed to en-
iov themselves alike, the old, middle
aged, and young; tue lame, The hal;
and the blind. Our ladies deserve
cur hearty thanks for the grand
choruses they ~discoursed during the
day.
SPEECH OF J.. Il. PERsuING.
The Scriptures speak something OF
this wise. that 4 nation shall be born
in a day, located between two seas
flowing with rivers, aud peopled from
q far or country. And that 1t
shall come TO pass they shall have it
fsf al Inheritance, they aud their
children which are bora ia it. That
s1aagers hail fesd their a5cks, dress
their vices. asd kaoWiedge shall in
crease. TaeHe references would
seen 10 be to our nation, between
the Atlantic and Pacific, with the
most rivers 10 the world. Oar fore
fathers did come from a far of coUn-
try. and diled The land inhabited by
az uacivilizsd rae Of people, to-Gay
raising enough wheat TO bread the
world: educating the poor as well as
the rich; blessing the world with
her inventions; the Government CIV
ing by tie Homestead Act lG0 acres
Of lard to tae individual now i1-
habited by c free people with the
best governmen. in the world. A
Christian nation. To-day strangers
do more than feed aocks and dress
vines-theY are generally employed
on public works.
Then the three and one-half times
spoken Of, from the destruction of
Jerusalem, or the 1890 symbolic
DAYS. equal COS years and 1919 days
of solar time, according to the eelips-
es Ct the sun, which is an infallible
rule. This, beginning in the year IS,
at the time Of the morning sacrifice,
at 5 O'Clock and 2S minutes in the
morning, would expire at precisely
on the Attn day Of July, l776, at 2:45
u. m. Here stick a pin while we
take up a few points Of history inter
vening between these dates.
With the minds eye we look across
the befogged Atlantic to Italy, there
we see q boy going to school, study
ing geometry, astronomy, geography
and navigation. At the age of IS
years we find him atthe greatcity and
seaport Of Portugal. IN vain did be
try a project Of sailing westward
Too poor to fit cut an expedition him
self, he starts, no doubt partly on
foot, to Spain and for seven long
years be urges his enterprise, ua.il
aided by Qleen Isabella, at day.
break on Friday, August u, 1892.
Christopher Columbus, with l2O
men. set sail from Palos, Spain. AZ
ter weeks Of arduous labor be found
himself on q trackless ocean, sailing
toward an unknown port, and that,
too. ia the midst Ct o mob, resisting
the course pursued by Columbus,
some shedding tears, others almost
phrensicd broke into loud lamenta.
tations. For their relief, 10 the ev-
eling twilight OF October 20,t tley
espied indications OF land. With
buoyant hearts they watched as the
heavens darkeued into midnight.
when suddenly there burs. upon their
vision q light on the shore. With 81
most the voice Of inspiration, from
lip to lip and from ear to ear rang
the w0rds-"I see a light" Joy
filed every heart as they aoAiously
awaited the morning. As the twi
light gray bursted along the eastern
sky. all eyes were bent OF catching
the FIRST glimpse of land. Many
hands were ready to point 10 joyful
anticipation. soon to be realized. The
ever wearvless, watchful eye Of Col
umbus. catching the first glimpse, Of
| saw in the statuary work at the
Centennial Exhibition, leaning over
the edge of the vessel, with one
hand On the shoulder Of his comrade
and pointing with the ~other-almost
bringing the land to touch his
forefnger. So great was their JOY
that when alighting they all knelt
aud kissed the ground.
From here, to be brief, we take
another stride to the month Of March
I1T6, when our forefathers began il
earnest to foster the feeling of indie.
pendence. After many epochs il
history which we have not time OIL
space here 20 enumerate, a day wa:
set apart for lasting and prayer in be
half of the colonies. Holy men
bowed a. the church affairs, fathers
lifted their hearts to God 10 earnest
prayer, mothers clasped their infants
TO their bosoms, and with streaming
eyes looked up to heaven for help
A few days after, for the love of lib.
erty and, as we believe, by the direc-
ton Of God, a great number assem-.
bled in the city Of Philadelphia, in a
congress, writing a3d rewriting the
great Declaration of Independence.
1t declares: ave hold these truths
to be self-evident, that all men are