"The Rev. Mr. Turner then rose and delivered an oration on the merits of which we shall at present forbear to speak as we intend to solicit a copy for publication, and hope in our next to present it as a very acceptable treat to our readers. At the conclusion another patriotic ode was sung.
"At 3 o'clock the company sat down to an excellent dinner prepared by Mr. Casso at the State-house, at which Colonel Polk and Judge Potter presided. Seventeen appropriate toasts were drunk, among which we notice the following: 'The President of the United States, may his administration close as it has commenced, with the applause and general approbation of the people.'
"'George Washington, the hero, patriot, statesman, friend and father of his country, the memory of his inestimable worth and service will never cease to be revered by the American people.'
"'Literature, the arts and sciences, the precursors of national greatness and universal happiness.'
"'The University of North Carolina, may the people see and fully understand the great interest they have in this institution, and before it is too late duly foster and endow it.'
"'The Constitution of North Carolina, the happy, wise and revered work of our ancestors, long may it remain sacred and inviolate.'
"'The social circles of life, may no discordant interests or variant opinions be suffered to destroy their harmony.'
"The Supreme Court of the State being in session, the celebration was honored with the presence of the judges, gentlemen of the bar and many other characters of respectability from almost every part of the State.
"In the evening a ball was given to the ladies."
Of all the joyous throng that crowded these streets at that national jubilee fifty-eight years ago, whose bosoms thrilled responsive to the patriotic sentiments of the orator of the day, or who gathered round the festive board—of all the gallant men and beautiful women who united in the exultant song or chased the flying hours in that evening's dance, there is probably not one present now, not one to contrast the spectacle then presented of a great, free, united, and happy people, with their discordant, dissevered relations in 1867!