The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1886-07-04

1 n
united colonies we're declared to be free
al d independent States.
You e Joe Niz on lad he dared .wouId
ha tossed his little three-cornered hat
II tsse air with a loud hurrah, but the
lg.niIemen OF the CongrAs. he thought.
| enied strangely quiet about il ali. He
did rot see that their wiser heads COM
pretended that the vote of the Congress
on that 2i Of July meant years OF strug-
gle against a mighty power-sorroT
and privstion aud. perhaps. after ali
only defeat and. 10 the leaders, the dis
graceful death OF traitors. He saw
only the glowing colors Of victory and
excitement as young folks are apt TO,
and as il is right Trey should.
And vet that very hight. as the Con-
gress adjourned. portly Mr. Ohm Adams.
with whom the lad was quite a favorite,
noticed the i'll concealed exuitation OF
the boy. and laying 8 hand. upon his
head, said 20 him: "a great day this.
my young friend; a great cay, is it
not!'
20. yes sir" repli d Joe with energy;
Il IN so glad il PASSED, sir"
And so am 1, my lad" said Mr..
Adams. with almost equal enthusiasm;
you are a bright and seemly little lad.
and will not soon forget this day. l II be
bound. So mark my words, my lad.
The % OF July, 1776. Will be the most
memorable day IN ali the history OF
America. 1t will be celebrated ere you
grow to manhood and by succeeding gen.
erations, as the great anniversary fesu
val, commemorated as the day Of de-
lne rance, by solemn acts Of devotion TO
God Almighty. from one end of the con-
tInent to the other, from this time for
ward for eVermore -
Yes, sir" said Joe respectfully. He
did not cOmpreh nd all the meaning OF
Mr.. Adams solemn words. but he wa
quite as confident as was that gentle
man, that it was a day the anniversaries
of which would mean in future plenty
of fun and jubilee.
Good Mother Nixon could get but
little work from her Joe on the follow
ing morning. And though, in her
p' acelul Quaker way, she babe him be-
ware of too much glorying in all the
strife and warfare that seemed a-foot. l
rather suspect that even her PLACID face
flushed with quiet enthusiasm as she
/ besought her boy 10 remember thai
right was always right. and that it was
nobler and m nl;eT TO boldly face what
ever might betide than TO be as were
some men in their Quaker Town who
so she said. Loved toe much their
money and their ease, and did but
make conscience a convenience. instead
OF being sincerely and religi0usly scru-
pulous OF bearing arms" All OF which
meant that: there were some craven
folk in that day OF manly protest against
tyranny who. to save themselves from
annoyance pretended to be QEakers
and mon bRtants, when they were
only skplking towards. And all such
-. L. - a
But young Joe Nixon, too fuh of the
excitement of the moment, paid but
little regard to his good mothers words.
RRsmuch as they did not apply TO his
case; and, hot and painting, fearful lest
he should miss something new. dashed
up to the State House, and slipped in
beside his friend, the doJrkeeper
The Congress was already in session.
Mr.. Jefferson'spaper called the Declar-
alton resp citing independence" had
been taken up FOR consideration, and
was being soberly debated, paragraph
by paragraph.
Frequent repetItions had made Joe
familiar with some of the phrases in
this remarkable paper. Even bis
youag heart beat high as he heard some,
of those ringing sentences about all
men bein s-created equal.and being ZEN
doWed vita the inalieBeble rights of
life. liberty. and the pursuit Of 'hsppi-.
ness" how that '-whenever any form Of
government becomes destructive to
these ends, 1t is the right of the people
TO alter or abolish it," that 1.-The history
Of the present king Of Great Britain is a
hNrory of repeated injuries and usur-l
patiOns;" that "a prince whose -charac-
ter is thus Eaarksd by every act which
may define a tyTant is unfit to be the
ruler Of free people," that I'VE mus,
therefore, botd the British people, as we
hold the rest of mankind, enemies in
war, in peace. friendS:" that I'VE. the
representatives Of the United States Of
America in general Congress assembled.
appealing to tie Supreme Judge of the
world for the IectItude OF our iuten-
lions. do, in the name and by the
authority of the good people of these
colonies solemn ~ publish and declare
that these united colonies are and of
right ought to hra free and independent
States" and. lastly. that for the sup
port Of this declaration, with firm re-
lance on the protection of Divine Prov
idence. We mutually pledge TO each
other our lives, eur fortunes, and our
sacred honor"
. Joe. as-I have said. had felt his young
heart glow and his young pulse beat
declarations, and all this debating and
questioning appeared 70 him Is fear
fully SLOW and faint hearted; he Won
dered why, since the Congress had a.
ready passed Mr.. Lees resolutions of |
Independence. they should so hesitate
over Mr.. IeEerson's Declaration OF In
dependence. and, quite frequently, lie
fei. compelled to dash out into the hot |
and sunny street and work of his i'm |
patience in Wild and pGrposeless ''go-
a s-you-plezse" arouHd what was called /
- Ny. RittenhOu e's ObserE atory" in |
tue center OF the square
The day dragged on and so did the I
debate Even Mr.. Jefferson lost patience
and, eoniessing that be was "writhing
under" all ehis talk, needed all of DR.. |
Frankiin's philosophy and example to
calm aim down sgain. So IL Is not to
be wondered 81 that. late in the after
noon, Joe Nixon. enthusiastic young
patriot though re Eas, grew wearied with
the talk aBc the delay, and determined
10 90 home. But. Just as he was leav-
ing the building, there dashed into the
State House yard. a big chestnut horse
covered With foam aad dust. Its rider.
J fne, weh-built man in dust-stzSned
-