The Bowbells tribune., 1900-06-29
THE BELL OF LIBERTY.
BY ]. T. HEADLEY.

BY ]. T. HEADLEY.
The representatives of the people
assembled in solemn conclaye. and
long and anxiously surveyed the peril
GUS ground on which they were tread
ing. To recede was now impossible;
to go on seemed fraught with terrible
consequences. The result of the long
and fearful conflict that must follow
was more than doubtful. For twenty
days Congress was tossed on a sea OF
perplexity. At length Richard Henry
Lee, shaking off the fetters that gall
ed his noble spirit, arose on the 7th
of June, and in clear. deliberate
tone, every accent of which rang to
the farthest extremity of the silent
hall, proposed the following resolu-
tion: Resolved, that these United
Colonies are, and ought to be, free
and independent states, and all politi-
cal connection between us and the
states of Great Britain is. and ought
to be, totally dissolved"
John Adams, in whose soul glowed
the burning future, seconded the reso-
luton in speech so full of impas-
stoned fervor, thrilling eloQuence, and
prophetic power. that Congress was
carried away before it, as by resist
less wave. The die was cast, and
every man was now compelled to meet
the issue. The resolution was finally
deferred till the 1st of July, to allow
a committee, appointed for that pur-
pose, to draft a Declaration of Inde-,
pendence.
When the day arrived the Declara-
tion was taken up and debated article
by article. The discussion continued
for three days, and was characterized
by great excitement. At length, the
various sections having been gone
through with, the next day, July 4th,
was appointed for action. It was soon
known throughout the city; and in
the morning, before Congress assem-
bled, the streets were filled with ex-
cited men, some gathered in groups,
engaged in eager discussion, and 9TH
ers moving towards the state house.
All business was forgotten in the
momentous crisis which the country
had now reached. No sooner had the
members taken their seats than the
multitude gathered in dense mass
around the entrance. The belIman
mounted to the belfry to be ready to
proclaim the Joyful tidings of freedom
as soon as the final vote was passed.
A bright-eyed boy was stationed be-
low to give the signal. Around the
bell, brought from England, had been
cast, more than twenty years before,
the prophetic motto:
"PROCLAIM LIBERTY THROUGH
OUT ALL THE LAND UNTO ALL
THE INHABITANTS THEREOF"
Although its loud clang had often
sounded over the city, the proclama-
tion engraved on it's iron lip had never
been spoken aloud.
1t was expected that the final vote
would be taken without delay; but
hour after hour wore on, and no re-
port came from the mysterious hall
where the fate of a continent was in
suspense. The multitude grew impa-
tient; the old man leaned over the
railing, straining his eye downward,
till his heart misgave him and hope
yielded to fear. But at length, about
2 o'clock, the door of the hall opened
and a voice exclaimed, ''It has passed" !"
The word leaped like lightning from
lip to lip, followed by huzzas that
shook the building. The boy sentinel
turned to the belfry, clapping his
hands, and shouted, "Ring, ring!"
The desponding bellman, electrified
into life by the joyful news, seized the
iron tongue, and hurled it backward
and forward with a clang that startled
every heart in Philadelphia like a
bugle blast. ''C1ang! clang!" the bell
of Liberty resounded on higher and
clearer and more joyous, blending in
its deep and thrilling vibrations, and
proclaiming in loud and long accents
over all the land the motto that en-
circled it.
Glad messengers caught the tidings
as they floated out on the air, and
sped off in every direction to bear
them onward. When they reached
New York the bells rang out the glor-
ious news. and the excited multitude,
surging hither and thither, at length
gathered around the Bowling Green,
and selling the leaden statue of
George ILL.,, which stood there. tore 1t
in fragments. These were afterwards
run into bullets and hurled against his
majesty's troops. When the Declara-
tion arrived in Boston. the people
gathered to old Faneuil Hall to hear
it read ;and as the last sentence fell
from the lips of the reader, a loud
shout went up, and soon from every
fortified height and every battery the
thunder of cannon re-echoed the Joy.
Wales ~ . Jockey.
! The Prince of Wales once rode and
won q horse-race. This event took
nlaca in ireland. nearly forty wears