The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-07-04
TODAY IN HISTORY
Birthday Of American independence.
MONDAY, JULY q, 1910.

|
dence ball. the Cradle of Liberty" the
patriots severed completely their con-
nection with the mother country. and
s'aTseo apeohs GSt ny to % make make their own way
Ter, ever more perfectly satisfied the
| immediate purposes for which it was set
forth than this Declaration From one
end Of the country. as fast as 1t could
be spread among the people, It was
greeted In public and in private with
every demonstration OF approval and de-
In his preamble to his immortal Dec
| laration Jefferson put forth new poll
| tical gospel and he lifts the strife OF a
small band OF patriots up TO the height
which all ages and peoples are partici-
pants, I'VE hold this truth to be self
evident-That all men are created equal"
This declaration. though a self-evldent
truth TO Jenerson, was really a new revea
lation TO Jeffersons age. In this Dec
laration is the Constitution OF the United
States contained Here you have the re-
public in germ.
One might suppose, at first thought,
that the anniversary Of America S inde-
pendence should date from the day on
which the banner OF liberty was first
unfurled and the first heroic blow against
tyranny was struck, or. at least, from
the day on which the last and decisive
blow was siveB and national indepen-
dence was secured. But our Indepen-
dence day comes from no battle in the
field. Lexington, Concord, Bunker Hill
NOT one Of these is selected.
They arc passed over. and it requires
which they occurred. But the Fourth OF
July, 1T76-the day on which new po-
litical gospel was proclaimed TO America
and to the world-that is the date that
cans. Every schoolboy and every grown
up is familiar with the history that pre-
ceded this momentous event,
On this memorable day in 1776 when
flNof flnn1 actI
going to be taken. thousands OF citizens
anxious to learn the decision of congress
crowded the streets OF Philadelphia. In
the steeple of the old State house was a
was inscribed: proclaim liberty
throughout all the land unto all the In
habitants thereof"
In the morning. when congress assem- |
having placed his little boy below 10 an
nounce when the Declaration was finally
adopted, that his hell might be the first
to peal forth the glad tidlngs, Long he
Suddenly he heard his boy clapping his
hands and shouting; Ring! Ring"
Grasping the iron tongue he swung it
to and fro. proclaiming the glad tidings |
to the waiting thousands. The crowded |
streets caught up the sound. Every
steeple re-echoed 1t. and with cannon
peals bonfres and illuminations, the |
patriots that night declared their joy.
How the old bell shook the air.
TIL the cIang OF Freedom ruf1ed
The calm. gliding Delaware!
How the honiires and the torches
IllumIned the nights rcpose
And from the flames, like Phoenix.
Fair Liberty arose,
THAT old bell now Is silent.
And hushed It's iron tongue.
But the spirit II awakened
Still lives-forever young.
And while VIC greet the sunlight.
On the Fourth of each July.
Wen ne'er forget the bellman
Who 'twiXt the earth and sky,
Rang out our independence:
Which, please God. shall never die"
The first public celebration of the
OF Independence was prob
ably that OF July s. l7I6, when John Nix
on read the statement in the yard OF
kings arms were taken down in the
In New York on July 9.
commander-I In chief, IN
orders announced: The honor
the dictates OF duty. policy and neces-
sity. having been pleased TO dissolve the
which subsisted between this
and Great Britain and to de-
clare the United Colonies of America
Tree and independent states the several
origades are TO be drawn UP this even-
ing on their respective parades at 6
} clock when the declaration OF congress.
showing the grounds and reasons of this
measure. is to be read with an audible
voice"
In 1777. in honor Of the first anniversary
If the glorious day. every soldier was
ordered an extra gill OF rum. In 11IS.
The general orders read; Tomorrow, the
of the Declaration of Inde-
oendence, Will be celebrated by firing
thirteen pieces OF cannon and a feu de
joie of the whole line"
On July the cornerstone of the Wash
ngton monument was laid In 1913 by
President Polk; work on the Erie canal
In 1877; Ficksburg surren-
lered in 1863 and the battle OF Ulundi
vas fought In 1879. 1t is the birthday
II Christian Gelert. the German poe!
,1715); Nathaniel Hawthorne, the Ameri-
,an author $500; of Guiseppi Garibaldi.
he italian patriot GS0O; Stephen c
Foster, the song writer QS26), and the
late of the death of Fisher Ames, the
American statesman OS0I. and two ex-
presidents OF the United States. John