The Springfield herald., 1909-07-02
INDEPENDENCE DAY

On Sunday next the nation will COM
memorate the one hundred and thirty
third anniversary of the Declaration of
Independence. 1t has become custom
each year since its inception to observe
this occasion by the overt demonstra-
ton of such games and diversions that
manifests the patriotism that is in
herent in our people, and this occasion
will again be duly celebrated by our
people throughout the land on the Sd
or the 5th inst---that the Sabbath may
not be desecrated.
} There is no day in the year that
arouses the patriotism of true Ameri-
can citizen as does the fourth day of
July. For on this day he is caused to
reflect upon the scenes that took place
in that rustic but now memorial lnde-
pendence Hall, in Philadelphia, on July
4th, 1776. 1t was then and there that
fifty-six members, representing the
thirteen colonies, had assembled in
congress to vote on resolution that
was to repudiate their allegiance to
England, their mother country, and
which was to contain articles establish
ing themselves into free and indie
pendent government. The man who
was chosen to transcribe the document,
history tells us, was Thomas Jefferson,
and he in company with John Adams,
Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman
-.,nI pf,1,a I ,,-tY Tod
committee to draft the famous Ameri-
can Magma Carta---the Declaration of
Independence.
A less fearless body of loyal and
patriotic men, had never before or
since assembled on a like occasion--an
occasion where but comparatively
few men, honest at heart and patriotic
in spirit, would cease to abide by the
dictates of the then strongest power in
the world. The ordeal was a serious
one. A failure meant the inhiction of
the death penalty at the hands of the
British subjects, for such move would
be characterized by England as the acts
of traitors, while in any event it meant
rebellion, long drawn out struggle
against overwhelming odds; the loss of
many lives and the endurance of un-
told hardships, and in the end there
appeared but little hopes of success.
Nevertheless this selected body of pat
riots, backed by only thirteen small
colonies and they sparcely settled,
with but a handful of soldiers and
they poorly equipped, stood as adamant,
and in the face of apparant dispair,
but with a heart and soul teeming
with a sense of duty, declared them
selves an independent government and
all her people free citizens.
And now within the short period of
one hundred and thirty-three years, we
have grown to be the greatest and the
strongest nation in the world. Our
flag is now honored by the civilized
nations of the world as the emblem of
peace and liberty. These conditions
were only made possible by the decisive
action of that small body of men in the
city of Philadelphia on that fourth day
July in 1776. What nation on the face
of the earth has better right or more
cause to celebrate than America? On
this day every American citizen should
spontaneously effervesce with patriot
ism and enthusiasm and rejoice in the
memory of the memorial deeds of his
gallant forefathers. May this day con-
tinue to be cherished and may its
commemoration live ever increasingly
in the hearts of our people.
And yet let us not forget the men
who have occasioned this cause for re-
joicing, and may it be our reverent
duty to bow in prayer to their sacred
memory--th who signed that sacred
document holding those truths to be
self-evident, that all men are created
equal"