CELEBRATION AT GROTON, JULY 4, 1808. 1 75 



The Fair Sex. — The tyrants of our affections, the only tyrants we 

 will ever obey. 



The next Fourth of July. — May it find us free, prosperous and 

 happy. 



VOLUNTEERS. 



The Officers and Soldiers of the C<5»«(r^r^ Artillery : Good men and 

 true they must have been to have come so far, for so noble and glori- 

 ous a purpose. 



The Orator of the Day : Were we all as correct and well informed, 

 our Country would never have occasion to blush for any of her sons. 



The performances of the day were conducted with an unusual 

 degree of decorum and propriety, united to a cheerful festivity. The 

 citizens retired at an early hour, in order seasonably to prepare for 

 the approaching day of rest. 



CELEBRATION AT GROTON, JULY 4, 1808. 



The following account of a Fourth of July celebration is 

 found in the " Columbian Centinel," July 13, 1808. It took 

 place under the auspices of the Federalists, and was perhaps 

 prompted by a similar celebration of the Democrats on July 

 4, 1807. At that period the two political parties in Groton 

 were very evenly divided, though with a slight preponderance 

 toward the Federalists, and partisan feeling ran high. Mr. 

 Moore, the orator of the day, was a young lawyer of Groton, 

 and later was postmaster of the town. The address of the 

 preceding year was delivered by the Honorable Samuel Dana, 

 another lawyer of Groton, who had previously been the post- 

 master, and it was subsequently printed. 



At GROTON — mass. 

 'T^HE rising sun was welcomed with the usual salute of 17 guns — 

 -*■ a procession was formed, composed of the Rev. Clergy, Civil 

 and Military Officers, the Preceptor and Students of the Academy, 

 and a numerous collection of citizens of Groton, and adjacent towns ; 

 which was escorted to the Meeting- House by the Concord Artillery 

 under Capt. Churchill, a platoon of the Groton Artillery, under Lt. 



