Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 43, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 July 1877 — FOURTH OF JULY. [ARTICLE]

FOURTH OF JULY.

Addresses Delivered in Rensselaer at the Celebration of the 101st Anniversary of Our National independence. Tin Condition of the Colonise July 4th, 1776. HON. U. F. IMVUiiiIX'S. One hcudred ami one yea*-* ago to-day, at two o’clock in the after noon, the old Liberty Bell on the tower of Independence Hall rang <*n» the glorious nowx that a nation lta«l been born on the western Insniepht re; that hencelortli the American continent was to he “the land of the- free and the home of the brave;” that the western half of the world was not to be governed by thy easier*) MjlH *" f utHre the seeker after, a true, good, great and inajrnattiHiotie government should turn his steps ' towards America; that anatiou was born -which gnaraytt'td the light to worship God neeording to tlie dictates of conscience; a nation the substructure of which was tho intelligence and patriotism of ti e whole people; a nation wi h equal rights t > all as its chief corner alone, and love and reverence lor the Creator and Preserver of all as a climax. The colouies that made tiu Declarat oi you have just heard read were, in some respects, very weak; in others they were as strong as adamant. They wore weak in numbers, weak in munitions of war, and weak financially; but they were strong in the justness of their csusu, strong in their faith that the right would prevail, strong in their determination no longer to submit to the tyranny and oppression of an unjust government, imposed upon them by asking in whose veins not a drop of the milk of human kindjuts* ever flowed. They went into the struggle determined to succeed •oi*f>erishfn the attempt. They lelt no way open behind them through which to retreat in case of failure. They pulled up the bridge. The battles at Yorktown and Bunker Hill, the seige of Boston and-other historic places had been fought. The heroic Warrin, the brave Montgomery aod many others, had,prior to this time,-laid down their livesin defense of the right. Ail efforts to induce tha gnv^rn;oftfll,nfj.hernother country to right the wrongs,that had been imposed 'upon them from lime to time had failed. No alternative was left them but to submit to the unjust demands of King George aud his Parliament, or declare themselves a tree and independent nation and. defend their declaration, if need be, utritl) their Jives. They chose the latter. In carrying out their decision how nobly and grandly they spoke! How bravely and gallantly they fought! There is no parallel In history. The Declaration of Independence as a state paper is nnequaled. It is now more than a century old; it hae been criticised, I may say condemned, by the crowned heads of the world, yet it stands to day and will continue to stand as long as time shall last as the proud monument which marks the period in the woVtdls history when the principles of selfgovernment were first adopted and carried into practical effect, ft is the beacon light on the shorea of time which marks the successful inauguration of a purely republican form of government. It is the bnlwask that restrains the monareha of the world from fn»-ther encroachment* upon the rights and liberties of their subjects. To some extent the American i •colonists, at the time of the signing

■ ■» rl 1 / of the Declaration of Independence, bold the destinies ot the entire world in th*ir hands. They bad asserted the doctrine of the right of every peraou to worship God in hia own way, without any hindrance oa dictation from the government under ffbieh he lived. They announces t|le doctrine that governmenU among men'have no right to interfere with the religion of their subject*. What signified these assertions if,' when assailed, they should hot defend them? If the government /of Croat Britain could legally and tax American colonists without extending to them the privilege of representation, it couUL with equal justice prescribe their Religion. Jt could by act of like'King Darius of old, rnake it a capital offense for people to pray with their faces tuined towards Jerusalem. Finally, n»y countrymen, let me exhort you to. “Stand by and defend the declaration of onr fathers. It is the pillar cloud by day, leading us onward through the wilderness of time, and when the night of persecution and trouble shall close around us ltd light shitll gleiun -brightly iu the darkness until it becomes a pillar of fire to conduct us through the Red Sea of financial trouble and pplitical differences, until the North and the South, the East and the West, the White naan and the Black, the Democrat and Republican, shall gather around the alter of our common country and >hout hosannas to the God of nations. Thtw may it ever continue until the sands of time shall be run out and the angel Gabriel descends from heaven with Ills trumpet in hand, aud, placing his right foot upon the sea and his left foot on the earth, declare with a loud voice that time is no mote.