Nor let it be supposed that we, as Americans, are entirely selfish in this matter. We believe that this Union is the most sacred trust ever confided by God to man. We believe that this American Union is the best, the brightest, the last experiment of self-government; and as it shall be maintained and perpetuated, or broken and dissolved, the light of liberty shall beam upon the hopes of mankind, or be forever extinguished amid the scoffs of exulting tyrants, and the groans of a world in bondage. (Loud applause.) Thanking you, ladies and gentlemen, for the kind indulgence with which you have been pleased to receive these remarks, I will now proceed to the toasts which have been prepared for the occasion. Ladies and gentlemen, the first toast will be, 'The President of the United States,' under whose proclamation we are this day convened. Before asking you to respond to that toast, I would say that we are honored by the presence this evening of his excellency, the American Minister, Mr. Adams. (Prolonged applause.) This is a name for a century, and during three generations most honorably and conspicuously connected with the cause of our country and of human liberty. The grandfather and father of our American minister were each elevated to the presidency of the United States by the votes of the American people. The first, the illustrious John Adams, moved in 1776 the Declaration of American Independence, and supported that motion by an immortal and most eloquent address. He was the successor of the peerless Washington as the President of the United States. The second, John Quincy Adams, eminent for courage, for integrity, for opposition to slavery, for devotion to the cause of liberty, for learning, science, eloquence, diplomacy, and statesmanship, was the successor of President Monroe. His son, our honored guest, inheriting all these great qualities and noble principles of an illustrious ancestry, is requested to respond to the first toast, 'The President of the United States.' (The toast was drunk amid the most enthusiastic applause.)
Order of Exercises.
I.—Reading of Thanksgiving Proclamation, R. Hunting.
II.—Prayer.
III.—Hymn (prepared for the occasion).
Tune—Auld Lang Syne.
We meet, the Sons of Freedom's Sires
Unchanged, where'er we roam,
While gather round their household fires
The happy bands of home;
And while across the far blue wave
Their prayers go up to God,
We pledge the faith our fathers gave,—
The land by Freemen trod!
The heroes of our Native Land
Their sacred trust still hold,
The freedom from a mighty band
Wrenched by the men of old.
That lesson to the broad earth given
We pledge beyond the sea,—
The land from dark oppression riven,
A blessing on the free!IV.—Dinner.
V.—Prayer.
VI.—Address of Hon. Robert J. Walker, introducing Toasts.
1. The President of the United States.
Responded to by His Excellency Mr. Adams.
2. Her Majesty the Queen.
The Company.
3. The Day. Devoted to thanking God for our victories in the cause of Liberty and Union.
Responded to by George Thompson, Esq.
4. The Union. From the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the Lakes to the Gulf, from the Source to the Mouth of the Mississippi, forever one and inseparable.
Responded to by Z. K. Pangborn.
5. The Emancipation Proclamation—Slavery's Epitaph, written by the finger of God on the heart of the American President.
Responded to by Hon. Freeman H. Morse.
6. The Army and Navy—Immortal champions of freedom, who bleed that our country may live.
Responded to by Capt. Mayne Reid.
7. Washington. The Man without a Peer. We follow his farewell advice—Never to Surrender the Union.
Responded to by Capt. J. C. Hoadley.
8. The Press. The Tyrant's foe, the People's friend—where it is free, despotism must perish.
Responded to by Mr. Snow.
9. The Ladies. Our Sweethearts, Wives, Mothers, Daughters, Sisters, Friends. Their holy influence will break all chains but those which bind our hearts to them.
The Company.
LITERARY NOTICES.
Peculiar. A Tale of the Great Transition. By Epes Sargent. New York: Carleton, publisher, 413 Broadway.
Mr. Sargent has given us a tale of the times—his scenes are laid in our midst. He grapples with the questions of the hour, handling even Spiritualism as he passes on. Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, George Saunders, Senator Wigfall, &c., are sketched in these pages. The story is founded on the social revelations which Gen. Butler, Gov. Shepley, Gen. Ullman, the Provost-Marshal, &c., authenticated in New Orleans after the occupation of that city by the United States forces. These materials have been skilfully handled by the author of 'Peculiar,' and the result is a novel of graphic power and sustained interest. It will make its own way, as it has the elements of success. We must, however, give a caution to our readers: 'Kunnle Delaney Hyde' and 'Carberry Ratcliff' are true as individuals of the South, but it would not be fair to regard them as typal characters. Let the magnanimous North be just, even to its enemies. Slavery is a great wrong, as well as a great mistake in political economy; men are by no means good enough to be trusted with irresponsible power; slaves have been treated with savage cruelty, and the institution is indeed demoralizing: all this, and a great deal more, we readily grant our writer; and yet we cannot help wishing he had shown us something to love, to hope for, in our enemy. He makes an earnest and able protest against a great wrong, and as such we gladly accept his book; but as a work of art, we think his tale would have held a higher rank had he given us some of the softer lights of the picture. In this we may be wrong, for a dread Nemesis stalks even through the plains of the Ideal. To stand up truly for the Right, we must comprehend the Wrong; meanwhile an important end is answered. We are taught, a lesson we should all learn, compassion for the negro, and enabled to understand some of his latent traits. For the ability and tenderness with which this has been done, we have reason to thank Mr. Sargent. The tale of Estelle is one of pathos and beauty, and 'Peculiar,' the negro, shines in it like a black diamond of the purest water. The book cannot fail to interest all who trace the cause of the mighty transition through which we are passing to its true source, the heart of man.
Poems by Jean Ingelow. Boston: Roberts Brothers.
Many of these poems are vague and incomplete, others evince maturity of thought, and are of singular beauty. We are quite charmed with the 'Songs of Seven.' It is highly original and tender. The rhythms vary with the chimes of the different ages, always in tune with the joys and sorrows sung. The poem is full of nature and simple pathos. There is a dewy freshness on these leaves, as if a young soul were thus pouring its spring carols into song, Jean Ingelow has been highly commended by the English critics. In regard to her poems the London Athenæum says: 'Here is the power to fill common earthly facts with heavenly fire; a power to gladden wisely and to sadden nobly; to shake the heart, and bring moist tears into the eyes through which the spirit may catch its loftiest light.'
Alice of Monmouth, an Idyl of the Great War, with Other Poems. By Edmund C. Stedman. New York: Carleton, publisher, 413 Broadway. London: Sampson Low, Son & Company.
With the many stirring events passing around us, the heroic deeds enacted in our midst, it is fitting that the poet should begin to find his scenes in his own country. Mr. Stedman has so done in his 'Alice of Monmonth.' The story of the Poem leads us from the fruit fields and plains of New Jersey, from love scenes and songs, to the din of battle, and the sufferings of hospitals in Virginia. There are various changes rung in the rhythm, so that it never becomes monotonous; and many of the descriptive passages are full of beauty.