... ..... .. .. 4pePI Whole Xo. 200. Turborough, Edgecombe County, JV. ft Friday, -jwt I, 1828. FoZ. IK No. 50. THE "FREE PRESS," 7?V Gfo. Howard, js published weekly, (every Friday,) at DOLL J US per year, (or 52num-tjt-vs.) it P:lid wthn one month after Sub-s-ri'tK-rs commence receiving their papers Dollars If Fifty Cents, if paid within j's months and Three Dollars at thcexpi- t;-nof the year. Subscribers at liberty to Jscaiitinue at any time on paying arrears. yrJ Subscribers residing at a distance must ;,nrU!lypv in advance, or give a respon se reference in this vicinity. No subscrip ji.vi discontinued unless a notification to that tiicc: is given. Ail. crt i ements not exceeding 16 lines will h-inserted at 50 cents the first insertion, and : , cents each continuance. Longer o'nes at tint rate for every 16 lines. Letters addressed to the Editor must be ha id. Communications: . . , i . FOR TllT, FREE PRESS. Cdebration of the 4th July. A highly respectable number of tho citizens of Edgecombe coun ty, convened at the house of Mr. Figures Philips, on Friday, the 4th of July, for the purpose of ce lebrating in a becoming mariner,! the Anniversary of our National Independence. The Committee of Arrange ment previously formed, met at an cariv hour to choose officers and adopt other suitable preparations, uhen: Mr. Frederick Philips was appointed President of the Day, and Gen. L. D. Wilson, Spencer L. Hart and Joseph S. Battle, were appointed Vice-Presidents. The company being seated un der ix delightful shade, the Presi dent in a brief but very affecting and appropriate manner, called their attention to the object of the meeting. Richard 11. Battle read in n manner highly impressive, the De claration C Independence. Richard II. Lewis immediately arose and delivered an eloquent and appropriate Oration a copy of which, by request, has been fur nished for publication, and is sub joined. , Tho citizens then sat down un der a large and pleasant arbor, to an excellent and plentiful repast, furnished by Figures Philips. After dinner the cloth was re moved, and the following toasts were drank. REGULAR TOASTS. 1. The day we celebrate fifty -tvo years have proved its blessings Tune American Star. 2. The Signers of the Declara tion of our Independence, and the principles it promulgates. Jefferson and Liberty. 3. Thc-mcmory of Washington "in war he was the mountain storm, in peace the gentle gale of spring." (Drank standing.) Washington's March. 4. The Heroes of the Revolu tion may the memory of their (tec.!s and invaluable services be handed down to posterity, and embalmed in the hearts of their countrymen of every age 'till time Kinll be no more. Au Id lane svne 5. The memory of Adams and Jcfierson. Hail to the Chief. 6. The thirteen old States and their younger sisters the bright est constellation in the galaxy 0f 'r it., t Star-spangled Banner. 7. lhe Republics of South A rnerica -may no other principles than those of 76 be recognized in the Western hemisphere. Hark from Southern climes afar. 3. Patrick Henry, "the forest Demosthenes" among the first exciters of the Revolution: the able defender of liis country's rights. n Hail Columbia. y. lhe Army and Navy of the United States. Cheer up, my gallant band. 10. Plie state of North-Carolina the first to declare her Inde pendence; she will be the last to desert it. North-Carolina. H.OurUn iversify possessing advantages equal to any similar institution iu the Union: it de serves the encouragement of eve ry patriotic citizen of the State. College Sohf. 12. The rights of the States, against the present exorbitant Turiir. South-Carolina cheers. 13. The Union of the States let the warning voice of our vene rable Senator Nathaniel Macon be heard: it is vain to preserve tiie Union of the States by restrictive measures. Three Cheers. VOLUNTEERS. By the President. May the Porte feel in a sensible manner! of Independence. cient hero Geo. Washington still be remembered. A. A. Bellamy. Liberty and equality in these U. States: may they never cease to reign while the earth bears a plant or the sea rolls a wave. Saml. Bellamy. United States: be Americans still, to Americans tl u.e, 11011 slum niinc sed semper in remembrance of this glorious day, turn off a crimson bumper. . Elias Bryan. The fair of N. Carolina, who are in favor of An drew Jackson. Edwin L. Moore. Inasmuch as bur first parent Adam who was made of Clay was banished from Paradise for disobeying his sove reign, so in like manner may Ad ams the President who was made by Clay be banished from his earthly Paradise for his mal administration. 9- Robt. Bryan. Andrew Jack son, freedom's strongest advocate: may he be our next President. lly. Johnston. Gen. Jackson: may he be our next President. Harrison Pittman. Old Hicko ry: may its branches spread thro' the Union, and all feel the effects thereof. M. E. Manning. May the he ro of New-Orleans, the modern Saviour of our respectable Repub lic, reign as the next President for eight successive years. Robt. Sorey. The young gen tleman who read the Declaration the resentment of the Russians, and may the result be freedom to the noble and oppressed Greeks. By L. D. Wilson, (one of the Vice-Presidents.) Washington and Jackson, the heroes of our first and last war of Independence. Orator of the Day. The prin ciples of the free institutions of! our country, founded in nature: may they descend unimpaired to our latest posterity. S. L. Dart, (another ot the V. Presidents.) Tho Navy of the United States. Exuni Lewis. The Patriots ofj 70: may the blood and treasure which purchased for. us the liber ties and blessings we now enjoy never be forgotten or abused, but ever kept in mind while time shall last. Reddin Pittman. John C. Cal houn: an inflexible republican, a successful legislator, and a pro found statesman worthy of the There were about 120 persons present, and the utmost harmony and friendship was manifested until late in the evening, &c ORATION. Fellow-Citizens: The day we have assembled to commemorate, is fraught with the deepest inte test to American liberty, and should ever be celebrated with a dignity and solemnity suited to the great national epocha which it is intended to perpetuate. It was proposed on this occasion, simply to read to you the Decla ration ot our Independence, as be ing sufficiently adequate to the purposes ot the day and compri sing, within its scope, by far the most instructive lesson, on record, touching the eventful period of that revolutionary struggle which severed the bonds of Union be tween Great Britain and her Co lonies in North America. But as Ihere may be some, in this assem highest office within the gift of bly, on whom fortune has not so the American people. J no. N. 'Philips. Charles Car roll of Carrolton: he alone of that patriotic few survives the wreck of time. Jos. Bell. The soil we live on: may it produce an abundance, and the surplus after supporting our families command a good price R.ni. Wilkinson, buccess to Old Hickory. Hy. Pittman. The Orator of the Day: may lie meet witn an necessary encouragement L. R. Cherry. May our an- propitiously smiled, as to bless them with the invaluable benefits of an education and a consequent knowledge of the history of our common country, a deviation from the original design, has been urged as absolutely necessary. Trusting, therefore, to the indul gence of this very respectable au dience, its attention is humblyso- licited lor a tew moments. A little more than two centu ries ago, fellow-citizens, our fore fathers, exhausted by the perse cutions of religious fanaticism and its concomitant scourge a civil war, emigrating from their native country Britain, sought an asy lum, from their cruel and unre lenting fury, in this western hem isphere, where they might enjoy the rights of conscience and the blessings of civil liberty, free and unmolested. The vast tract of country, extending from the At lantic ocean on the east to the Pacific on the west, from the lakes of the north to the Gulf of Mexico, and which now comes un der the jurisdiction of the Repub lic of the UNITED STATES, was at that time, little less than a boundless waste of wilderness, tenanted only by the savage beasts of the forest and the still more savage Indian, whose natural ele ment, next to the chase, consisted in war and plunder. Undismay ed by these appaling circumstan ces, they established themselves, at different periods, in distinct co lonies, along the shores of the At lantic. United to the parent state by the most fervent attachment, flowing from a national pride and the less extensive though' more deep-rooted ties of domestic affec tion, which are so closely inter woven in the nature of man, and give to life its peculiar zest, they brought over with them, in their emigrations, charters from their sovereigns, by which they fondly hoped to maintain a connexion with the mother country, to se cure to themselves the rights of British citizens and the protec tion of British arras. But they were soon destined to experience the frailty of hopes having for their support no other nucleus than the written obligations of kings, b or scarcely had they dis embarked from the vessels which transported them to this conti nent, when, in defiance of all sense of human equity, and in dis regard of those great principles by which the conduct of nations as well as individuals should be regulated, their charters were openly violated, their commerce restricted and themselves treated with indignity and contempt, as though mere vassals of the Brit ish crown. Too weak, in this early stage of their career, to sup port, by arms, the riffhts and pri vileges guaranteed to them by their charters, their only remedy rested in petition, which generally proved or little or no avail. Not withstanding the difficulties at tendant on the first settlement of a distant and unknown region and in spite of the oppressions with which they were loaded by the mother coantry, the colonies con tinued to flourish and prosper to such a degree, that by the lapse of a century and a half they had attained to the number of THIR TEEN, peopling the hitherto in hospitable wilds of America Tith two millions of freemen. As yet fellowT-citizens, contrary to what you would naturally suppose, theijg attachment to the land of their

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