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KENTUCKY BARBICUE ON THE FOURTH OF JULY. 



Beargrass Creek, which is one of the many beautiful streams of the 

 highly cultivated and happy State of Kentucky, meanders through a 

 deeply shaded growth of majestic beech woods, in which are interspersed 

 various species of walnut, oak, elm, ash, and other trees, extending on 

 either side of its course. The spot on which I witnessed the celebration 

 of an anniversary of the glorious proclamation of our independence is 

 situated on its banks, near the city of Louisville. The woods spread their 

 dense tufts towards the shores of the fair Ohio on the west, and over the 

 gently rising grounds to the south and east. Every open spot forming a 

 plantation was smiling in the luxuriance of a summer harvest. The 

 farmer seemed to stand in admiration of the spectacle : the trees of his 

 orchards bowed their branches, as if anxious to restore to their mother 

 earth the fruit with which they were laden ; the flocks leisurely ruminated 

 as they lay on tlieir grassy beds ; and the genial warmth of the season 

 seemed inclined to favour their repose. 



The free, single hearted Kentuckian, bold, erect, and proud of his 

 Virginian descent, had, as usual, made arrangements for celebrating the 

 day of his country's independence. The whole neighbourhood joined 

 with one consent. No personal invitation was required where every one 

 was welcomed by his neighbour, and from the governor to the guider of 

 the plough all met with light hearts and merry faces. 



It was indeed a beautiful day ; the bright sun rode in the clear blue 

 heavens; the gentle breezes wafted around the odours of the gorgeous 

 flowers ; the little birds sang their sweetest songs in the woods, and the 

 fluttering insects danced in the sunbeams. Columbia's sons and daughters 

 seemed to have grown younger that morning. For a whole week or 

 more, many servants and some masters had been busily engaged in clear- 

 ing an area. The undergrowth had been carefully cut down, the low 

 boughs lopped off', and the grass alone, verdant and gay, remained to 

 carpet the sylvan pavilion. Now the waggons were seen slowly moving 

 along under their load of provisions, which had been prepared for the 

 common benefit. Each denizen had freely given his ox, his ham, his 

 venison, his turkeys, and other fowls. Here were to be seen flaggons of 

 every beverage used in the country ; " La belle Riviere" had opened her 



