Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1882-07-04
1O6.
Historic Celebrations of the Declare
ton OF Independence.

Inc QrSL rOuTlug % al AAShhAu
might say, was eelebrated on the eighth.
From JAMES PATRONS historic
sketches of independence anniversaries,
We gather that the Fourth of July, l776,
was Thursday, and it was not until the
following Monday that the Declaration
was publicly read in Independence
Square.
Things moved little slower in those
days than now, and it required time for
news to travel, as it went principally by
stage-eoach.
On Monday at nnnu, July the eighth,
that first celebration took place in Phil
adelphia, when the Declaration was
read to vast multitude by a young
man ofstentorian voice, who stood upon
a platform in Independence Square,
which had been erected sometime be-
fore for the purpose of observing the
transit of Venus.
In the evening the royal insignia of
lion and unicorn was brought dOwnfrO
the large hall of the State House in the
same square, and there burned, amid
the cheers Of the crowd.
A copy of the Declaration, printed
upon a broad sheet, was sent to every
State, and as soon as the news reached
them similar scenes occurred. 1t was
read at the head of every regiment, at
every center of population and at every
gathering Of the public. Debtors were
set free from the prison; statues of the
King were overthrown; the lion and
the unicorn were everywhere burnt and
the unanimous and hearty approval OF
that spunky document was everywhere
made manifest.
Credible tradition reports, says Mr..
PARTON, that the author of the Declare
ton spent portion of that memorable
Monday as the guest of DR.. ENCCH ED
WARDS, at Frankfort, near Philadel-
phia, little village long ago absorbed
in the growing city. Mr.. JEFFERSON
and a few members of Congress had a
festive gathering at this quiet retreat in
honor of the august event which had
occurred on the previous Thursday.
But Independence" then, had not
been won, it was only declared. AT
that time there were arranged against
the thirteen colonies fleet of an hun
dred armed vessels and an army Of fifty
five thousand men, backed by all the
resources Of the British Empire. But
the first day was celebrated very much
as it has been ever since; guns were
fired; there were military parades; the
shipping and public landings were gaily
dressed i'm flags and streamers; and there
were magnificent banquets attended by
United States officers.
The following is an extract from a
Philadelphia paper of that week:
The Hessian band of music taken at
Trenton the 18th of December last, at
tended and heightened the festivities
with some fine performances suited to
the joyous occasion; while corps OF
British deserters, taken into the service
ofthe Continent by the State of Georgia,
being drawn up before the door, filed
I'D the intervals with felGr-dejOie."
At Charleston, S. c., the celebration
was Joyous and splendid, beyond any
thing of the kind ever before seen in q
city famous for its pageantry.
Two historic anniversaries Of the Dec
laration of Independence, says the same
historian, stand out eOnspicuously inthe
records of the century. One was the
fit eth, when, by most strange coin
eidenee, its author, Mr.. JEFFERSON, was
very near his end, and there arose in
the household q desire that his life
might at least be prolonged till mid
night, so that he might die on the great
day itself. He also wished it.
At eleyen in the evening he had
movement of consciousness, when he
asked
This Is the Fourth?"
His attendant could not bear to say
no, and therefore remained silent. In
very faint whisper, Mr.. JEFFERSON
repeated, ''This is the Fourth?''
The attendant nodded; and the dying
man, wearing an expression of pleasure,
sank again into Inconsistencies.
lie lived until twenty minutes of one
in Ike afternoon of the Fourth, when
be ceased to breathe.
JOHN ADAMS lived few hOurslOnger.
As the sun was setting, the old man ar
ticilated some words, which were sup
posed to be: 'THoNAs JEFFERSON
still lives"
As the sun sank below the hills, a
noise of shouting was heard in the VII
lage, and reached the room where the
aged patriot lay dying.
The people were cheering the toast
which Mr.. ADAMS himself had given
them for the occasion the day before:
EIndependenee Forever" While the
cheers were still audible in the chamber
the old man breathed his last.
A few days ago, q gentleman read
a paper before the New York Historical
Society In which he asserted with much
positiveness that he was prepared TO
prove that JEFFERSON was not the au-
thor of the Declaration Of Independence,
and wound up by calling JEFFERSON
himself as his witness to prove the as
sertion.
He thereupon quoted from JEFFER-
.soS's autobiography clause in which
he. JEFFERSON, states that ne had ''pre-
uareei draft Of the RI aEation Com
-oiftsd 10 us, % hing the proyoes too strong
"a Quarter, and va -~llI =,
Tor ms ~ no general feeling IN Steaot
whereupArst her sister city; Inc severe
t,rro,,Sf the time the concert was snn0un
- beeiu also interfered with the st.e .n