Volume 18 , Issue 26

1888 - Fourth of July by Pierce McCutcheon

Fourth of July is that glorious day which celebrates our independence and revives a spirit of patriotism within our breasts. Thomas Jefferson, the great man who wrote the Declaration of Independence, in it but bespoke the feelings of the mass of the people.

Found on Newspapers.com

When the Assembly met on that famous day, July 4, 1776, to express their opinions on the wisdom and policy of the Declaration, the people waited with breathless expectation for the result, and when the final decision was made Known, their pent-up breath broke forth in one universal shout of "Independence forever!"

We all know how the great bell in the tower was cracked in its superhuman effort to do the duty assigned to it (the duty of proclaiming liberty throughout the land), and how every bell in town re-echoed its ringing tones, so that they, too, might have some part in sending out the glad news.

As we think the heroes who braved every hardship and peril and suffered alls he vicissitudes of war with an indomitable courage and an undying enthusiasm we feel our hearts swell with pride and admiration for our ancestors.

The first celebration of the Declaration was made in 1777, the year after its adoption; in the beginning of a war whose result seemed doubtful to the American cause. Our people must have had a very independent spirit to celebrate an act which, if they were conquered, would be considered as high treason in England.

There is no one day in the year which is so hallowed to our memory. From the small boy who hoards his every cent so that he may buy fireworks to help in the celebration of the day to the famous statesman who, fired with ambition and patriotism, holds the people rooted to the spot with his fiery eloquence, the same spirit of joyful enthusiasm fills the heart.

Besides the celebrations we owe this day there is a certain degree of reverence; for on it two of our greatest statesmen died - Thomas Jefferson and John Adams.

It is on this day that all of our troubles are forgotten. They melt away like wax before a hot fire, and we feel ourselves lifted up above the every day sphere of our life into a world of happier thoughts and more unselfish acts. The business man becomes once more the happy youth as he relates some tale of reckless daring which has occurred on some Fourth of July in his early life.

Fourth of July is a blessing to the laborer, for then he has one day to himself to devote to pleasure. When the last hour of this day is spent and we sink into our beds, we feel regret that so happy and inspiring a day is over. On the whole, taking every point into consideration, I think that Fourth of July is the best day in the year.
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