Volume 18 , Issue 26

Oration For July 4, 1888 by James L. Knox

On this day one hundred and twelve years ago the people of our good city of Philadelphia were agitated by an uncommon cause. In fact, with all of the people of the thirteen colonies they waited with breathless expectation the result of the deliberations of the delegates assembled in the old State House for discussing the plan for a separation from Great Britain. A state of partial warfare had existed between the colonies and the British troops for over one year. Lexington and Bunker Hill tested the qualities of both.

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Both North and South this spirit of freedom prevailed. Massachusetts was the first of the Provinces forced to enter into the contest with the powerful mother country on account of the taxes which were sought ob e laid in some cases on articles consumed by the colonies, Virginia and North Carolina soon followed Massachusetts in repelling the imposition.

The wrongs and insults of great Britain had not totally destroyed loyalty. Prudence had also a word of caution. Great Britain was one of the strongest nations of the world. The Provinces were then disjointed, lying along the eastern seaboard of the country which is now the Untied States, and badly exposed to the assaults of the great naval power of Great Britain. In respect to the result of the war men's minds were divided both as to the justice and policy in severing the connection with the parent county. At last the result of the deliberations became known, and, to the surprise of some, ti declared complete independence for all the colonies.

The Declaration was read to the crowds in front of Independence Hall, and the country, for good or ill, was committed to its destiny. What varied feelings must have thrilled the hearts of the people when this bold step was finally taken. The cautious and the hopeful, the timid and the brave, the poor and the wealthy were all embarked in a common cause, with years of struggle before them and a doubtful result awaiting their actions. But liberty was their guide, and in that cause they deemed it well to put all else at risk. Let the present state of our country tell how wise as their decision. The once weak Provinces are now a large, strong and powerful nation, feared and respected abroad, and reaching from the Atlantic to the pacific Ocean and from Canada to Mexico, and capable of an equal development with the older countries of Europe in the arts of war and peace; with a future before us which the greatest imagination can but faintly show forth.

How proud may we feel of our present position and how thankful to those gone before, whose labors founded the nation of which we are today a part. Strong in union, may our yet you country prosper as it grows older and may its flag ever lead the van in the cause of equal rights for all.

O ship of State!
Sail on, O Union, strong and great!
Humanity with all its fears,
With all the hopes of future years,
Is hanging breathless on they fate!
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