The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1878-07-04
THE NATAL DAY OF OUR NATION.

contributed, each In their peculiar way.
It was glorious tribute to us as peo-
pie and as a Republic that these peo-
pies Of the old world, with their tradi-
tions ani'their prejudices pertaining to
republicanism and its sentiments espec-
tally enunciated in the econstitutionofthe the
country, should thus come to honor us
and acknowledge us as a power In the
land. OF course. we felt, naturally
enough, fattered, but at the same time
we accepted the fiattery as sincere and
well-deserved Of men. "a
Since that glorious day when atPhil-
adelphia was witnessed this homage of
the nations to America, the country has
passed through one Of the severest poli-
tical contests ever known. Vitupera-
tions and acrimonies were layishly be-
slowed by either party, and had either
candidate been 'sas chaste as ice, as
pure as snow,n they could not have es-
capped calumny. The people were al
most equally divided, and equally anx-
ious and excited. The country trembled
for time on the brink of seeming
mine, the scales balanced, and it was q
question Of doubt which would .out-
weigh the other. The suspense was in
tense. Fears were aroused, doubts
were freely expressed threats were
made and for . time all was seeming
chaos. But the clouds cleared away
and the bright sun once more sends its
rays upon us as a united people. The
question was amicably decided; people
became generally satisfied; confidence
was restored, and the country once
more enjoyed its tranquility, and was
brought over the threshold OF century
and safely launched upon a new era.
And to-day we are called upon to cele.
brate the second anniversary Of the
second century of the Republic Of the
United States of America, and it be-
comes every American citizen to put
his shoulder to the wheel; to exert his
influence regardless of political views
to keep the country in healthy and
condition, SO we can hand
down to our children as rich legacy as
our fore-fathers did to u.s. 3,iA94t
To-day.we celebrate the one hundred
and second anniversary Of that time
from the first Of which orations have
been made in nearly every part of near
ly every State in the United States and
and the grand, progressive
of the country each year has
given ample theme to each orator for
each oration. 1t is the anniversary Of
the wedding Of the States, and the mar
rage bells Of q century ago are stin
ringing their naturalization down the
sounding years. 1t is the anniversary
Df that time "when freedom from her
height" unfurled our starry
and sounded the call to Liberty,
and the echoes that It then awakened
are still floating in the air. Could the
men of those days, the participators in
those scenes which have, afforded mat
ter for the novelist, dramatist and his
torian, upon which have been founded
romance, tragedy and history, awake
from their dead slumbers, could the
now inanimate clay become animated
into the beings Of a hundred years ago,
they would see their rich legacy has not
been permitted to moulder in the dust,
but has reached degree of eminence
far beyond their most sanguine antici-
pations, They would see where, forests
stood, thriving, populous cities, and
waving fields of grain, and by the
mighty rivers and old oceans sea-girt
shores the handiwork of a mighty peo-
pie is to be seen in its commerce, whose
ships carry their flag to the furthermost
ends Of the earth. They would see the
Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Neva-
das with clustering towns upon them,
and traversed by the iron band that
brings the east to the west, and over
which rushes the locomotive, plowing,
as it were, the plain, diving into the
deep mountain gorges, sleaping to the
peaks, crossing the silver
fields Of Nevada and the golden beds of
California, and burying itself in the
great metropolis of the west, that is to
the Pacific what New York is TO the
Atlantic.
The advancement of the civilized
world in the past hundred years has
been wonderful, and America has been
q liberal contributor. Grand and sub
lime physiological discoveries have been
made that will stand as monuments to
the genius Of the age. Steam and cleo
tricity have almost annihilated space
and time. Agricultural implements
and mining machinery is in the zenith
Of its glory. Improvements in the va
rious modes of travel have been mar
velous. The plodding immigrant train
and fioundering hulks have given way
to palace sleeping cars, travelling res
taurants ON wheels and floating palaces
that mock the summers heat and win
ter's cold, bidding defiance to the ter
rors Of the plains, and the ocean in its
tempestuous rage. Industry has pre-
dominated. Science is in the ascend
ancy, and education is as free as the
air. This is America to-day, July 4,
1878, the glittering star of prosperity.
America at peace with the world, with