The Lynden tribune. [volume] (Lynden, Wash.) 1908-current, 1912-07-11
FOURTH OF JULY
GRAFTON atLYNDEN
Delivered at Celebration held
at Fair Grounds this Year,
by Walter F. Fisher.

The following very able address was
delivered at the w. c. T. u. picnic at
| the Fair Grounds on the Fourth of Ju-
ly. by Mr.. Walter F. Fisher. young
resident of this city. and student
al the Washington State University.
'.'he address is especially worthy Of
praise, made as 1t was by young man
who has but recently attained his
majority:
We have met today to commemorate
once more the priceless gift handed down
to us by our forefathers. One hundred
and thirty years ago this Fourth Of
July the thirteen colonies assembled in
a representative body at Philadelphia de-
clared themselvs free from the hands of
our mother country. This was the first
public proclamation, proclaiming to the
world our right to govern ourselves, and
to deny our willingness to submit to
any arbitrary rules Of mankind. From
that day We declared ourselves to be a
tree people Free from the bonds of
sovereign rulership. religious ideas and
non-representative government. Eng
land rebuked our denunciation Of her
right and supremacy over US. Tie
struggle that SO long seemed inevitable
had already begun. For eight long
years this bitter struggle ensued in
which many a father. son. and brother
shed their blood upon the battle field
that you and might enjoy the free
dom and liberty We now have On
September 3, 1888 the treaty of peace
was signed and We were recognized as
"a free people. to be conceived in liberty
and to be dedicated to the proposition
that all men are created free and equal
with certain inalienable rights which
no man can rightfully deny to a
Mother For six years more we exist
ed in a state Of constant upheavel and
turmoil known In history as the crit
ical period" Finally in 1889 our con-
stitution was adopted and our nation
was born-a government by the people.
Friends, this in crude and hasty
fashion gives us glimpse of few of
the important steps in the history of
the formation of this sister-hood of
states of which We may be proud to
enjoy and share apart.
No more had the priceless cost of this
memorable struggle been submerged he
meath the joy Of freedom and liberty. and
| freed from the consciousness of the A
merican people. where there loomed up
before us the first great. seemingly un-
| OuslaNAc tHc PiCSSN
alton of this Union. Steadily 1t grew
and not long after the dawn OF the
early morning in the history of the
negro slavery In this country. the sun
dial pointed at the noon hour. We
| were no longer united body. but a
nation divided against itself. Again,
Providence produced for us a man who
was able to save and to preserve US, a
! in, h, of hpah
coin.
l love to read of the life of Mr.. Lin
coin, born in a cabin amid the sur
rounding Of Kentucky frontier. At
the age of seven he was taken by his
parents to Indiana. where again he liv-
e.i In a log cabin with surroundings still
humber. AT the age OF nine. his
mother died and Lincoln was left dis
couraged boy, without the aid and en-
| couragement Of a maternal love to
guide and direct his footsteps into the
i lture that lay before him. Lincoln
was heart broken. l can see him after
| the death of his mother. when the first
/ frosts Of winter had turned all nature
| to autumn's hue, standing in front OF
1 the narrow window pane with tears
i dropping from his cheeks. looking at
his mothers newly made grave which
1 lay in the heightened shadows OF the
tall pines, at the early morn. Then al
/ n ady his manhood had awakened and
nc turned his thoughts and efforts 10
prepare himself for the mission that lay
before him. Then We see him as a
Il boy with great love for learning. eager
and anxious for books, but unable Ia
afford them. Never discouraged under
L told handicaps, he struggled on gain
Ing for himself a crude education un-
d.. the guidance of his STEP mother.
Cneducated and unlearned in books we