The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-06-12
Washington Day by Day

Washington, the splendid capital of the liberty of mankind. All day long here this beautiful day, as cool as autumnal eurshine, the Liberty Bell has been on exhibition down on Sixth street hard by the railway station. It would be vain guessing to attempt to tell how many America ms have seen that Bell today. All inc school children, numbering perhaps 60,00o were given a half holiday begin ring with noon, in order that they might see the Liberty Bell. You would have thought the world of children gathered there; they may have numbered 60,90O; but absolutely they were uncountable, and the mothers who were with them were innumerable. The fathers who were kept away by their dolly work were un- countable But still the scene was sub Timely beautiful. One standing there by the hour watching the inflow of children and men and women to ;he rim of that ancient bell was inspiring in the highest degree of country love.
 When one stood there and observed the inothe' it up the child to the height that it might kiss the bell. one realized that there was something holier there than the mere cry of patriotism-patriot ism is now So cheap T term. One mother who seemed young gathered to her heart little boy, one guessed him to be her only son, and ss she reached the Bell, she lifted him Up that he might kiss that rhrase proclainng liberty throughout land. The little fellow did Hiss 1t, and felt that it vas a great blessing to the blessed Bell. This childish, prattllng pa- triot ha6 giver his beRediction to the cause thst the Bell has represented for neerly one hundred and fifty years. saw little chubby fist, as 1t was gather ing the flag to the faithful heart of the boy, proclaimng all things glorious to the glcry of the freedom Of the world.
 In the sunshine, I stood there and watched that boy; I watched those thousands of children. They seemed to me tho noblest. the most angelic expo- nont of freedom that have occurred to me in my time. I looked at them and thought that 1T even enc of them were mine, the world were mine.
 There I stood by the Liberty Bell. I saw many thousands of children kiss 1t. May be some of them did not know what they kissed, but surely most of them did. They kissed that which in love of country, is the noblest prototype of our nationhood. It seemed to me I wished to gather each to me, and say "Knowest thou what thou kissed?' No instance in all my lifetime has impressed me as that loving and ten der tribute of American children to the Bell of Freedom. I never knew what freedom meant before. It never seemed before to me that little children could grasp the significance of this splendid realization of what we call the United States of America. The Bell, Freedoms Bell, cothed in flowers that the multitude might gave upon 1t. Being of that multi tude, I sought to throw my cap to the stars, I cried Glory, Glory, Glory" It must have been the impulse of every one. The Bell was there-the Bell which for more than one hundred and fifty years has proclaimed the liberty and rights of this people, The Bell which on the Sth of July. 17O, proclaimed our independ-
 
 of the assembly of Pennsylvania, on Au- gust 27, 1753. The Bell which a little less than two years later declared the colonies would not make law by direction. The Bell which in little less than two years thundered forth the greetings of Ben jamin Franklin, sent to England to solic- 1t redress to England to transact the 1 Of hn Roll ula a little less than month later muffed and told the Ship Royal Chart bearing stamps to Pennsylvania and Delaware and New Jersey and Delaware, reached Philadelphia. At the meeting the demand was made that the stamps should not be landed but sent back to England. And which little less than four years later muffied and tolled when the Stamp Act was put into operation.
 We may run the story through from the end of October. 1765. until July 30, 176S, summoned a meeting in the State House yard, In which 1t was said that "The Parliament" had reduced the peo- pie to the level of slaves; and we run on through to when they called a meet ing which resolved that the ship Polly with a cargo of tea should not be per- mitted to land. And when the muffed and tolled bell rang the announcement of the closing of the port of Boston. call ed a meeting which protested.
 We skip to April 16 17s3, when was pro- claimed the Treaty of Peace Again in December 26, 1799, rang out the funeral of George Washington. Twenty years later, welcomed Lafayette to Washington, and this same bell on the 4th of July, 1926, passage of the Declaration. And twenty days later commemorated the death of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, and this most famous bell of all the world, did. on July 21, 1884, commemorate the. death of Lafayette.
 The mostti. esome phrase or word in our language is patriotism. We dodge it as a stone thr own from a catapult It Is ridiculous, it Is absurd. Nowadays we have patriotic sales at the shops, that is, we have a cheap sale at the shops that is called patriotic. We have patriotic sales, patriotic matters, patriotic butch CTS, patriotic statesmen of all sorts. They do not stop at anything. They ring in George Washington, they ring in Andrew Jackson, they ring In Lee, they ring in Lincoln, but 1t is all for the purpose of playing patriotic sales, We have sales