Alexandria daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1803-1808, 1807-07-08
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G, DENEALE, Sec'y.

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AMIDST every observance of this birth.
day Of our Republic, some Indulgence may
| no doubt be reasonably accorded to the ebulli=
tons of national pride and national enthusiasm.
In every genuine and jealous display Of these
emotions, feven when they sometimes appear
for an instant to 6 o'erstep the nodesty of ma
tute, we are still gratiied to discern the
symptoms Of healthful pulse, the traces of
remaining yigor and purity and animation in
the body polite. 1t were indeed !" devoutly
to be wished" that whenever and in whatever
partsiof this land the day may be honored,
we might always behold y certain evidence
and pledge of patriotic feeling-of that feel
ing which in truth spasseth all show which
does not merely seem but really is-which still
| rears It's loyal crest, undismayed by the storms
of adversely, unbrokcn by the wastes of time,
unpolluted by the faint Of foreign excitement,
unaffected to disguise the influence or the flu
~ OF sinister passions.
But whatever degree of license may be-
tolerated elsewhere, however others may be,
permitted in g the full flow Of SOUL to foregol
somewhat of the sober dignity of Amencali
citizenship, upon an occasion like this it will
not behooye this asscmbIage to content itsellj
with the mere illusions; of vulgar and cla-
morous Blirth, with the glare of transient
parade, and still less perhaps with the 6 len
ten entertainment" Of all inconsiderate un-
| nacarrs,5 declamation. Enrolled under the
most veneratca ct AL names, devoted to the
best and noblcst of all purposes, am aware
at least that there is more serious RESPONSE
bility imposed by the very nature and oharac-
ter of that institution-in Difference to whose
authority self-aistrust has been made to sacri-
fee its own scrupes-anG under the sanction
Of whose appointment and presence it would
! now hope to avoid reproach, since itrhas not
sought to excite notice, and does not here
! presume on any pretensions to favor.
In entering upon the performance Of this
task, it cannot be deemed necessary, after
such frequent and labered recital, to unfold to
view all that train Of motives, circumstances,
accidents and achievements which combined
to give Our country rank among the nations
of the earth, and established the Anniversary
, in whose solemnities we now oficiate To
pursue the same hackney'd path which has
been SO often explored before, would not only
indeed be doing violence to inclination, but
would be wandering far from the scope and
tenor of the design now proposed. Already
| /" It's like tale thrice told"-and the attempt
would be equally improbable, irksome and
injudicious in me to detain you with "a beg
carly account of chronicles yet fresh in the
recollection of the old, familiar ia the lessons
of the young At least all ages and all classes
that take further interest in the enquiry,
maynow resort for intelligence to perspicuous
and ample registry of authentic materials in
a national work, bearing the stamp Of the dis
tinguished statesman and sage, whose lot it
has lust been to weave new and unfading
wreath fer his own brow, as the historian of
the Immortal Man" First in war, first in
peace, and FIRST in the hearts of his ceun-
try
There was period perhaps" So hallow'd
only to be hailed as a proud Jubilee in our
political Calendar, set apart for the rites of
festivity and Thanksgiving when on all sides
the welkin reared with naught but the shouts
of Joy and the acclafnations Of triumph Nor
will it be murmurcd, with querulous and
unwarrantable disgust, but what, in review
ing the general course Of their career, the
people of these states are stii1 well entitled to
approve and feIicitats themselves, and above.
all that they are ineffably bound in gratitude.
to the Supreme Arbiter of the universe, UNI
less by the pervsrseness Of ingratitude they
should hays been alienated and doomed to
become outcasts from his bounty. But while
the recurrence of-this season may even yet
bring with it rational gladness, it is high
time perhaps, and especially in the present.