Volume 18 , Issue 26

NW Okie's Journey

J. Reynolds McKee in 1888 stated: "We, the inheritors of liberty, must not abuse our privileges. WE must have respect for the rights and opinions of our neighbors as well as our own. Let liberty, not license, be our watchword."

I give to you this week a glimpse of what public school students were thinking and writing about when it came to our Declaration of Independence, with this piece written by a Northwest Grammar School student, Grace Henderson, in Pennsylvania:

Found on Newspapers.com

The Fourth of July
On the 4th day of July, 1776, was first proclaimed to the world the Declaration of Independence, by virtue of which the confederated States of America were to assume henceforth a separate and distinct sovereignty among the nations of the earth. On that day "Liberty throughout the land and to all the inhabitants thereof" was made the final issue, on the success of which the weal or woe of this nation for all time was made to depend.

It is a day to be held in perpetual remembrance. let the parent forget the child, let the right hand forget its cunning, let the tongue cleave to the roof of the mouth, rather than patriotism should forget the birthday of its hope and promise.

Born amid the labors, struggles and sacrifices of revolution, baptized in the blood of our forefathers, this day emerged to stand we trust forever on the fair pages of history as the brightest and best that has ever cheered the hearts of enslaved and downtrodden humanity.

It is the nation's jubilee, the world's bright day of promise, the day star of hope to cheer the oppressed of all nations and inspire them to similar heroic deeds of suffering and sacrifice for like emancipation.

Let patriotism pause, that it may learn the cost of freedom. Can the blood of patriots slain be measured? Shall not their silent mounds, around which we ofttimes gather with reference to decipher anew those tablets, with inscriptions scarcely legible, long since moss-covered and hoary with age; shall they not repeat to us the story of those dark days when brave hearts, having consecrated their lives, fortunes and sacred honor upon their country's altar, sealed their unshaken purpose of heart upon the tented field? And shall they not also point us to the places where blood-stained footprints upon the frozen snow tell plainly of men who were in battle invincible, in difficulty undaunted and in defeat undismayed?

As we look upon our starry banner floating upon the breeze shall we not read inscribed within its folds those immortal words that made it at once an inspiration and an emblem of victory: "Our cause it is just and isn God is our trust."

Who can estimate the blessing that have descended to us by reason of this day? Could we but take our position upon some mountain peak and look over this vast national domain, whose boundaries reach from ocean to ocean, from the Great Lakes to the Gulf, with its inland lakes and broad rivers; its majestic mountain ranges and picturesque valleys; it factories, mines and industries; its great prairies rich in harvests; its railroads, bridges and furnaces; its grand edifices, public and private; its ships on every ocean, and its flag floating from a thousand hilltops, respected at home and broad, and aloe all, its population teeming millions of happy, untied, free and prosperous people, instinctively we must confess God hat not dealt so with any other nation.


In closing this NW Okie leaves you with this quote by Edwin Jeiltels in 1888 said it best, "Let every American voice from the North, South, East and West cheer the noble work that was done by our forefathers, and let the memories of all those who helped us in that great struggle for freedom be revered and honored."

Good Night! Good Luck!
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