Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1886-07-16
INDEPENDENCE DAY IN ITS.

lt dld not take tne AlneTlcdh pcO'
pie long to find out how to celebrate
Independence Day. They took to
it so naturally that / know not |
whether there has ever been a pref
tier celebration than the very first /
one of all, although it did not occur |
on the fourth.
The great news OF the Declara-
tion reached the city of Boston
about the fourteenth of the month.
At that time there was not in all
New England, one British soldier
who was not a prisoner Of war, nor |
one vessel in New England waters |
showing the British flag. When
the declaration arrived, therefore,
there was nothing to hinder the full |
expression of the public joy, and |
Boston extemporized a very spirit
ed and elegant celebration.
The town authorities were so po.
lite as to invite TO the public cere-
mony all the English officers then |
on parole in and near the town. 1t
took place at the Town House on
the eighteenth of July. One of the
British officers wrote q brief ac
count OF what he saw. The whole
town, he said, was thronged, and
all the people we're in their holiday
suits. Every eye sparkled with
delight. and every tongue was un-
lOOsed.
The streets all about the Town
House were lined with infantry,
whom our officer thought we're "tOl.
erably equipped" In Queen street,
near by, artillery was stationed, the
gunners standing near with lighted
matches. The crowd treated the
British officers with all due con.
sideration, opening a passageway
for them to approach the building,
and the troops giving them, as they
mounted the steps, the usual mill
tary salute.
Just as the clock struck one Col.
onel Thomas Crafts, the chairman
of the occasion, rose and read aloud
the Declaration of Independence
When this was finished, "the gen.
tlemen stood up, and each, repeat
ing the words as they were spoken
by an officer, swore 10 uphold the
rights of his country"
While this was gong on within
the building, the town clerk on the
balcony outside read the Declara.
ton to the cowd. At the close OF
the reading, shout Of applause,
which began in the hall, was heard
by the people in the streets, who
responded with loud hurrahs.-
Then was heard the measured firing
of the cannon and rattling salute
OF musketry. In the Council Cham.
Der q banquet was prepared, which
was partaken of by the principal
inhabitants.
The central point of interest in
the evening was the corner of King
and Kilby streets, in front Of an old
tavern called The Bunch of Grapes.
To this spot we're brought all the
insignia of royalty which had adOrn-
ed Boston, such as the royal arms
from the Town House, from the
Court House and the Custom House,
all of which we're heaped up 1T this
historic corner and burned in a
grand bonfire.
In New York, where the Ameri-
, can troops were assembling to de-
fend the city against the expected
, attack, the celebration had a more
military character. At least, 1t be-
gan in that way. In the afternoon,
the Continental army was drawn
; up on parade, and at the head OF
each brigade the Declaration of In
dependence was read. Both the
troops and the people received it
with loud acclamatlons.
In the evening, the equestrian
statue of George the Third, which
had been for some years the most
conspicuous ornament of the city,
: was pulled off its pedestal in the
Bowling Green, and, to quote the
language ofa newspaper of the day
"was laid PROSTATE in the dirt
the just desert of an ungrateful ty
rant" The newspaper continued
\ "The lead wherewith the mOnu
3 ment was made is to be run into
g bullets, to assimilate with the
7 brains of our infatuated adverse
/ ries, who, to gain a peppercorn
y have lost an empire"
u This last remark was an allusloT
= to famous sentiment uttered by
+ Lord Clare in the House OF Com
s mons, to the effect that a pepper
8 corn in acknowledgment OF Grea
@ Britain's right to tax America wal
't of more Importance than milllon'
o of revenue without that acknowl
. edgment.
II On the same glorious day all thu
d debtors in the New York Jail wer'
d set free. The next morning, th'
& leaden head of the statue of Georg'
y the Third was conveyed in a wheel
u barrow to the quarters of Genera
o Washington, and there left on thu
Ie sidewalk before his door. lt doe
'f not appear that General Washing
ton had any other use for this Oh
iect than the one to which the res
3. of tbe statue was applied. Proba
3, bly the head. too, was run into bul