National Jubilee - July 4, 1826

American Friend & Marietta Gazette, July 6, 1826

The 50th anniversary of our National Independence was celebrated in this town, agreeably to previous arrangement of the Committee appointed by the citizens for that purpose.

At 11 o'clock A.M. a very large procession was formed near the New Court House, by Capt. Billy Todd, who had been appointed Marshal of the day, and was conducted, under appropriate military music, to the Congregational Meeting House, where the Declaration of Independence was read by D. H. Buell, Esq. - an excellent Oration was delivered by Arius Nye, Esq. - and Washington's Farewell Address was read by James M. Booth, Esq.  The religious exercises were performed by the Rev. Messrs. Bingham and Kenny - all of which were followed by appropriate Odes, &c. by a choir of singers.

After these exercises were finished, and a collection made for the benefit of the Colonization Society, the procession was again formed by the Marshal of the day, and conducted to the New Court House, in the avenue of which an excellent dinner was prepared by Mr. Silas Cook.  After the cloth was removed the following toasts were drank:

1.  The Day we celebrate.  May the principles, which gave it birth never be forgotten.
2.  The United States of America - The Tree of Liberty.  May its branches spread until they shall cover the nations of the Earth.
3.  George Washington.  May his private virtues be our path, and his farewell Address our Political Compass.
4.  The Declaration of Independence.  A solemn protestation against the usurpation of arbitrary power.
5.  The State of Ohio.  The fourth in the Union - brilliant and powerful in the constellation of confederated Strength.
6.  The Ohio Canal.  May it prove the channel of Ohio's wealth.
7.  The American Navy - the pride of the nation.  The chivalrous spirit of her officers has maintained our dignity in foreign countries, and humiliated the pride of Britain on the Ocean.
8.  Thomas Jefferson and John Adams.  Two venerable patriarchs of the Revolution, let us remember them as efficient co-operators in procuring for us the blessings which we this day enjoy.
9.  South America.  Freedom is the birth right of the New World - patriots like Washington and Bolivar are her sons - if the vassals of the Old World dare not be free, let them cease to asperse that virtue, which they are unable to emulate.
10. Gen. Bolivar.  Who, like Washington, has triumphed over a powerful enemy, and taught Tyrants that men are invincible, when fighting for liberty.
11. The New Republic of America.  May their statesmen soon be sufficiently enlightened to sever from the Tree of Liberty that deadly Upas - an Established Religion - which has uniformly been found to swallow up all civil, political and religious Liberty.
12. Greece.  Once the nursery of Science, Politeness and Arms - long debased by the ruthless sway of merciless barbarians - gloriously struggling for freedom - may she triumph, as she has heretofore done, without any obligation to the despots of Europe.
13. France.  The nation of Universal Genius - may we learn to appreciate her worth, by a more intimate acquaintance with her writers; and no longer derive prejudiced views of her character, from the calumnies of English authors.  The French Nation helped us in the hour of our utmost need - may we never forget the obligation.
14. Ireland.  The land of the warm-hearted - may the light of liberty soon dawn on this unhappy country - the chivalrous spirit and native genius of whose sons destine her one day to a conspicuous station among the nations of the Earth.
15. Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams, and Benjamin Franklin.  The Fathers of our Republican Government.
16. Roads and Canals. The grand arteries to wealth and power.
17. The prevailing spirit of Internal Improvement. May it never suffer restraint from party feeling or local interest.
18. The Panama Mission. The New Republics just sprang into existence - they have asked our counsel and it has been granted.
19. The Nineteenth Congress. Unmindful of the common interest of the people distinguished only for legislative bickering and personal abuse.
20. Controversy.  The medium by which TRUTH is brought to light - may the spirit, that lighted the fires of the Inquisition, or that influences the councils of Kings, never be able to suppress it.
21. Literature.  Without the cultivation of solid learning, it is impossible that any nation should be civilized, virtuous, happy, or independent.
22. Political Economy.  Which consists not in parsimony, but in a liberal and equitable expenditure, in all things that relate to the public good.
23. Woman.  May the experiment, about being tried at New Harmony, of the same intellectual cultivation of the sexes, prove, that Woman's mental capabilities are equal to those of Man.
24. The American Fair.  The Citizen's Solace and the Soldier's Pride.

Volunteer Toasts:

By Col. L. Barber.  The Panama Mission - Recommended after great deliberation, and attacked with all the virulence of a disappointed faction - May its success equal the best hopes of its friends.

By W. B. Barnes.  King-craft and Priest-craft - Twin brothers - produced from and re-producing mental darkness.

By Joel Tuttle, Esq.  John Randolph, a Senator in the congress of the United States - A single flash of Justice from the countenance of John Quincy Adams is sufficient to strike dead all his aassertions in the Senate.

By A. V. D. Joline.  The NATIONAL JUBILEE, a propituous Era big with events; The last half Century has witnessed the downfall of tyrany, and the establishment of FREEDOM, on the fairest portion of the Globe!  May the next Fifty Years witness the political conversion of the Old World to correct principles.

By C. C. Robinson.  The essence of Hickory oil - a certain cure for the King's Evil.  Tune - "Jackson is the Boy."

By Mr. Silas Cook.  The Declaration of Independence, that was proclaimed to the world on the 4th of July, 1776.  May it be echoed and re-echoed from one end of the Continent to the other, till the last shock of time shall bury the empires of the world in undistinguished ruin.

By S. H. Gates.  The venerable Champions of the sword and the quill - while we appreciate the martial virtues of the one, let not the civil merits of the other be forgotten.

By Notley Drown, Esq.  John Hancock and Samuel Adams - Patriots of the revolution, whom Geo. 3d would not pardon, may such as they ever be so plenty that kings cannot catch them.

By Mr. Amos Dunham.  Our present Representative in Congress - the Hon. Samuel F. Vinton - "Well done good and faithful servant."

By Isaac Morse.  Jackson - May he thrive and prosper through his life - and his honors grow as the grain in the field and never be forgotten.

By Lyman Lawrence.  May the firm friends of freedom our blessings inherit, And our foes be advanced to the post which they merit.

By Mr. R. Parker.  The 50th year of Independence.  May it never be forgot, While bold Americans stand true upon the spot.

Toasts drank but not written.

By ____  The Memory of the late Governor Return J. Meigs.

By ____  The Memory of General Rufus Putnam.