Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 34, Number 88, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 July 1902 — THE PAST AND FUTURE [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

THE PAST AND FUTURE

SETTING AWAY FROM THE SPIRIT OF OLD. Fourth of July No Louver a Day for Conservative Patriots—Decadence of Old Customs—Country Is Moving on Broader Lines—Myths Exploded. July 4 seems to have lost its true sigMftcance and now belongs to the small My. whose highest aspiration is to burn incense to the Chinese god of lockjaw, if there is such a deity on the celestial calendar. The pestiferous firecracker and the physician’s ally, the toy pistol, are the small boy’s ycessories, both before ■nd after the fact/in murdering the peace of mind and destroying the nerves of peoHe who have outlived the ebullient stage •f youthful spirits and prefer to take their patriotism on the nation’s natal day as a man takes a cold lunch—solemnly and with a consuming desire to have it •ver with. Apart from Young America, •nd his peculiar ideas of a celebration, the day is given over to even more reprehensible forms of jollification, which ■re supposed to be in conformity with the spirit of the immortal Declaration. "Proclaim liberty throughout the land

and to all the inhabitants thereof,” runs Ao Inscription on the old Liberty bell, and a goodly share of the people of the present day liberally construe the proclamation as a license to commit all manner of offenses against health, sobriety and the peace and dignity of the commonwealth. The Old Customs. Of coarse, some districts still preserve tike good old custom of firing anvils at midnight and daybreak, and between times, and the cock fight and horse race, the wrestling match and the foot race still keep alive the embers of patriotism la primitive settlements where civilization has not yet introduced baseball, the firemen’s parade and the shell game. But for the most part, the “Glorious Fourth” has become a back number. Its celebration has fallen into innocuous desuetude, and when an attempt is made to galvanise the moribund custom, nobody listens to the reading of the Declaration,

and the orator speaks to unbearinc ears. Society hies itself to the seashore to hear what the wild wave* are saying; the pugilist hire* a hall and puts up a mimic fake of a gladiatorial combat, and every - Mj who can manage it gets out of town wtfl the trouble is over. The old fellows lament the decadence as the observance of the Fourth, and aigh fee the vanished days of general training and hard cider, when the gallant miMaasan in brave reginsentab pirouetted an a gaily caparisoned steed and stiffly assented the tactics ia the presence of

the village girls attired in white frocks and prunella gaiters. Recent events have demonstrated that there is no diminution of patriotism in the country, but it is nevertheless true that as a people we are getting away from the days and sentiments of the Conscript Fathers. “Times change and men change with them” is a truism being exemplified in the United States. Whether the change is progress or retrogression will be revealed when the future is unfolded to the view of the historian of the American republic. Turning Back the Years. Turning back 126 years, we find that the Fourth of July was a date fraught with the fate of men and nations. It was a time when, as the homely philoso- . pher Franklin said, the patriots must hang together or hang separately. It is well to remember this, if for no other reason than to remind us that things which have a beginning may have an end, and a nation which was founded in the struggle of man for civil liberty may be overthrown by man’s insatiate greed for glory. That was a solemn and momentous gathering in Philadelphia a century and a quarter ago. Many things have happened since then. Much progress has been made in applied arts and sciences, in discovery, in invention and in commercial and industrial development. Progress has also been made in enlightenment, and many cherished myths relating to men amLevents have been exploded. We have learned some things and have unlearned others. We have learned that the apotheosis of Washington was not justified by the facts. The iconoclast has demolished the godlike Washington nnd left us a man. In his present form he is more human and essentially greater than he was when invested with the attributes of the god-man. On tjte whole, we like him better now, but we did not give up the ideal Washington without a wrench.

SPREAD-EAGLE ORATION 75 TEARS AGO.