The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-05-01
At THE TABERNACLE.
The Impressive Grafton By Lieutenant Young
Other Speeches and Charming Music.

The Impressive Grafton By Lieutenant Young
Other Speeches and Charming Music.
Although Q o'clock was the hour name,
for the opening Of the exercises at tn
tabernacle, it was about 2 80 when the grea
organ, under the sl1illful manipulation o
Prof. Daynes pealed forth in the prelude
after which BOD children, under the batol
OF Prof Evan Stephens, rendered, Hail
Bright Smiling Morn"'
THE OPENING PRAYER
was offered by Elder Elias A. Smith, VIII,
asked the blessing of God upon the countr!
and upon the people of the United State:
who. throughout the broad domains of thi:
country, We're assembled to celebrate thu
one hundredth anniversary OF the inaugu
ration of the first President of the United
States-the immortal Washington. He wa:
thankful to COD that the citizens OF the re
public are at peace with one another anC
with the world beside, and that we were
living under the greatest and grdndest gov
eminent upon which the sun had ever
shone. He invoked the blessing of Goo
upon President Harrison, that he might
faithfully and honestly discharge all the
dom and justice.
Stephens class sang: ''SchooI thy Feel
ings."
LIEUTENANT YoUNG's GRAFTON.
Lieutenant Richard W. Young, in clear
forcible and eloquent manner, delivered
the grafton of the day. The vast audience
listened artentively during the time OC
cupied by the orator, and when ne con
Guided, he was rewarded with hearty,
resembling round Of applause.
For a number of years, he said, 1--WE
have been celebrating the anniversaries of
days important in the struggle for
independence. The skirmishes at Lex
iugtOn and Concord, the Declaration OF
| Independence, the adoption Of the Consti-
tuition and other events in that patient
battle for freedom have received national
or local recognition. But in the long train
Of events that eliminated in the successful
formation of the government, none
| is Of greater magnitude than the
last. Other occurrences anticipated,
! but the last realized, the successful
! issue Of our fOrefathers' hopes. The prep.
aration of the timbers, the construction Of
| the frame work, the driving Of every nail
are indispensable steps in the building of 4
ship: but of all the days in her early career,
the proudest is the day of launch
! ing, whel, tn labor Of construction
/
! pressiye ceremony, she glides into the
water and rides upon the waves as a water
fowl. 1t is her day Of birth So, in the
| history of our country, Is this day. OUl
patriot ancestors fought at Lexington, but
il required many battles and many years TO
determine the event OF the struggle; the
declaration that the colonies fare and Of
right ought to be free and independent
states was the assertion, but was by NO
I ba n1aoT11nli Gb TonOt of the dos red
result The successful issue Of the war
left unsOlVed the great problem of the gov
| eminent Of the colonies. The adoption of
the constitution by the convention was to
| be followed by the ratification of the col
onies; and the result was matter OF grave
uncertainty. But the revolution was sue.
cessful, the colonies were destined to be
come free states, the constitution was
framed and ratified, and finally the day
came for the launching OF the ship Of state
That day was the Both Of April,
ONE CENTURY AGO.
The first Wednesday in March had beer
named as the occasion for the Inauguration
but the hour for Congress to assemble came
and there was not a quorum present.
The electoral vote was not counted until
the sixth day of April upon which day
George Washington was declared elected
President and John Adams Vice-PreSident
of the United States.
| Messengers were Immediately dispatched
to Mount Vernon, Va, and to Braintree
Mass, TO notify these statesmen Of Their
election.
Washington set out for New York, the
temporary capital, Immediately upon re
ceipt of the notification. His journey was
a triumphal march; MS way was strewn
with flowers. He was eight days on the
Tourney; the Distance may now be ac
complished in as many hours The build
ing on the balcony of which the distin-
guished patriot took the oath of office, has
now disappeared. Upon its site on Wall
street. opposite the head of Broad street, is
now situated the Unitod States sub-trea
sury, and the exact spot Of the solemn
ceremony, as nearly as can be, is marked by
a heroic statute of the general in the attl-
tude of raising his hand from the scriptures
after the administration Of the oath. The
April number of one of the leading maya
zines gives an illustration of the page which
Washington kissed upon taking the oath
1t is the page that relates the bless
lings of Jacob upon his sons, and
which refers to Joseph, the fruitful
bough by a well, whose branches run
over tho wall; to him who was separate
from his brethren, and whose blessings
reached to the utmost bounds of the ever
lasting hills-a most fitting page to mark
one OF the grandeSt events IN TINS history OF
this the land of Joseph, and in the history
of the world. The government of the
United States was then inaugurated-to
day it has finished its first century.
THE MoMENTous CHARACTER OF THE DAY
we have met to commemorate is not to be
Edged alone by events subsequent to it; tt
sense it trulywe must gaze back into the DARK
ages that preceded it. We must contrast
the sweets of liberty with the bitterness OF
despotism to appreciate the glorious mission
of the constitution. For US, among whom
the blessings of life, liberty and property
are so manifest-whose form of govern
ment is based upon that principle of divine
origin that all men are created equal before
the law-it is difficult to coniure up the
demons of oppression and tyranny that
have held sway over mankind almost con,
tinuously from the inception of the species
The world was in bondage; nations were
ruled by monarchs, who owed their posi-
ton to the accident of birth. The right OF
the people to voice in their own govern
ment was scarcely asserted. Men were
largely treated as chattels; their property
their freedom, and even their lives were
sacrificed at the bidding of the tyrant
Their religious views were bent into con
formity. Despotism asserted empire. over
body and soul. There was little or no law