The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1915-07-09


gaol not far away.
Precisely at noon Nixon read the
Declaration. The Liberty Bell broke
out in a paean as Andrew McNair
swung the clapper. The people dis
persed as solemnly as they came, first,
however, taking down and burning
the Kings Arms. Patriotism runs
higher-on the surface-at every an
nual gathering about the historic
building on recurrent anniversaries in
July of the Nations birthday. The
great demonstration which on July
5, 1915, babe Godspeed to the relic
as it left the shrine>was far more tum-
ultouS, far more picturesque, than
that which heard the first peal of the
old State House, but thenceforth the
Liberty Bell. Few are word pictures
drawn at the time that have come
down to u.s.
In his autobiography, Charles Bid
die, of Philadelphia, says:
"On the memorable eighth of
JULY | was in the old State House
yard when the Declaration of Indep-
endence was read. There were very
few respectable people present"
Another diariSt says 1T was long
day of sunshine and the night was
starlit and beautiful"
Says Sidney George Fisher, of Phil
adelphia, in his Pennsylvania Colony
and Commonwealth:
Neither the passage of Lees reso-
lutions nor the document adopted on
the 4th aroused much excitement in
the country The sessions of the
Congress were secret, scarcely anyone
knew what was being determined up
on, and when the final result was
made known it was received very
quietly. Few people were present
Cat the Proclamation July 8th). 1t
was not made matter of much cere-
mony or importance. 1t had not then
been signed, and the signatures were
not all appended till August. The
reason for this apparent lack of inter
est was that in the minds of most
people the Declaration was not con-
sidered as very decisive of anything.
The point that was troubling their
minds was whether we should be able
to contend in arms with Great Brit
ain; and the Declaration was valued
only as it would assist u.s. in that re-
spect, by making us more united and
getting us foreign alliance. The
dramatic side of it was not then as
apparent as it is now"
Says Agnes Repplier, Philadelphia:
From the little observatory, The
awful PLATFORM as John Adams calls
it, that had been erected in the State
House yard for the peaceful study of
Venus, the Declaration of Independ-
ence was read aloud to the people of
| Philadelphia-to the few at least who
gathered to hear it, and by whom it
was received in serious and puzzled
silence. The dramatic side of this
great historic event was not, as has
been often observed, apparent to men
who thought less of the documena it
self, than of how it was to be support
ed and enforced. They had thrilled
with anger and pity when Boston
called to them for help. They had eX-
ulted jubilantly over the repeal of the
| Stamp Act, and had watched with
proud hearts the last white sail OF
Captain Ayres' tea ship, Polly" as
she turned seward with her hated
cargo. But it was no longer time
for passing resolutions and rejecting
tea, grim war was at their doors, and
the horror of it sobered their enthus.
iasm and chilled the first wild rapture
of defiance. The men who signed
their names to the Declaration of In
dependence realized to the utmost al
the consequences it involved and tht
terrible responsibility they had placed
upon their shoulders. The State
House Bell rang out its message, pro
claiming for the first time liberty
throughout the land to all the in
habitauts thereof but the people lis
tened gravelv, and with no apparen
response. Those who knew what /
meant knew also that liberty is no
to be won by proclamation, but pur
chased with the life-blood of BRAY,
men who die that their brothers ma,
be free"
1t would be strange indeed, if fame!
should not have supplemented fact
in the recording of the events of
day so momentous not only to tn
new nation but to the world. Andrew
McNair who rang the Liberty Bel
upon the occasion of the Declaration
and who rang it throughout all TIL
Revolutionary period, from 1889 t,
l776, is the central figure in the fol
lowing pleasing conception attribut
ed to Charles Brocton Brown.
There was tumult in the city,
In the quaint old Quaker town,
And the streets were rife with peopl
Pacing restless up and down
People gathering at the corners,
Where they whispered each to eacl
And the sweat stood on their temple
With the earnestness of speech.
AS the bleak Atlantic currents
Lash the wild New Foundland shor
So they beat against the State Hous'
So they surged against the door.
And the mingling of their voices
Made harmony profound,
Till the quiet street of Chestnut
Was all turbulent with sound.
"Will they do it," Dare they do it
who is speaking" whats ii
news"
What of Adams?" What of She
man%
90 God grant they won't refuse
Make some way there" Let II