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Supplement to the Augusta Chronicle, No. 572.
BOSTON, August 18.
REPUBLICAN GRATITUDE .
The papers having announced the in
tention of the PRESIDENT of the U
nited States to pay a visit to his native
state, thf of Boston were fore
'mofl in Testifying the high opinion which
they entertained of his character and fer
vi«es, and accordingly a fubfeription pa
per was opened for the purpose of provid
ing a public entertainment for him. The
sentiments of the fublcribets cannot be
more forcibly expressed, than in the lan
guage which preceded the fubfeription.
“ 80/lon, Augujl i, 1797.
«« Desirous of expressing in a public
and dignified manner, thrir refpcCt for
the personal character and official conduct
•f the president of the United Statep—-
The fubferibers do agree, at their joint
•xpenfe, to provide a public and hand
some dinner, and to request the honor of
hi* company—and in «*rder that the fame
may be conduced in a manner refpefta
blc to themselves and suitable to his rank
and character, a committee (hall be ap
pointed to make all necefiary arrange
ments, and to provide every thing requi
site to the objeiL”
This paper was immediately fubferibed
by 233 merchant and other citizens, ma
ny ot whom were distinguished for their
high official fituatiops, their age, their
properly, their virtue and their talents,
and many others, equally refpeftable,
were excluded by the unavoidale limits
which the managers were compelled to
preferibe.
The fubfeription being filled, the gen
tlemen aficmbled and made choice of the
hon. B. Lincoln, Tho. Dawes, Jona
than Mason, O. Wendell, Stephen Hig
ginfonand Jonathan Jackson, Efqrs. as a
committee to wait upon the president,
and in their name to present him an af
feftionate and refpedlable addrefi, and
to request the honor of his company at a
public dinner, to be provided at any time
which might be mofl agreeable to him
At the fame time Samuel Bradford, Elq.
msjor-gneral Elliot, major T. H. Per
kins, major Frazier, J. T. Apthorpe,
Esq. and Mr. J. Lowell, jun. were ap
pointed managers, to iuvite his excel
lency the governor, his honor the lieus.
governor, and such other persons as they
lhall think proper, and to provide and
arrange an entertainment suited to the
occasion.
On Monday the 7th of August, the fe-
committee waited upon the president,
at Quincy, and presented to him the fol
lowing refpeftful
ADDRESS
Boston, August 7, 1797.
Sir,
We are commissioned by a large num
ber ot refpeftable citizens of Bolton and
its vicinity, congratulate you in their
names, upon your fafe return to your fa
mily and friends, and to allure you of
the. high refped they entertain fer your
personal charafter and your ojficial con
«Judh To evidence tjiis publicly and re
fpeftfully, they have made arrangements
for a public dinner upon the occasion, at
they request the honour of your
pre fence.
At a period critical and important as
the prcicr.t, when domestic fatiion ap
pears to have coofpired with foreign in
trigue, to deltroy the peace of our coun
try—when our conlhtuied authorities are
reviled and iniulted, and the molt daring
attempts tofeparatc the people from their
government, are openly made and avow
ed:-—At luch a crilis wc are excited, no
lei's by our inclination than our duty, to
reprobate opeply their wicked macniua
lions, and to declare our hxed resolution
to iupport the mcafiues, which govern
ment may adopt to defeat their netarious
designs.
To us, fir, it is a pleasing reflexion,
that at this conjuncture, the intcrclts and
the honour of our country are, in so great
a degree, committed to your immediate
care and protection; persuaded, that this
sacred and important trust can no where
else be depolited, to command so gene
ra! and peifait confidence.
Permit us, fir, to add, that, as citizens
of iVlulLchufetts, we feel a peculiar pride
and pieafure in your being placed at the
head of the union, when we recolicct, that
WC have the honour to recognize you, as
one of our number.
May your health and ufefulncfs long
be continued to our country ; and may
its citizens ever retain and express a grate
lul sense of the benefits they have derived
ftom your public lerviee.
Benjamin Lincoln ,
Thomas D dices,
Oliver Wendell,
Jonathan Mason,
Jonathan Jackjyn,
Stephen iiigginjon.
To the president of the
United States.
To which the prejidetu was pleased. to mafic
the joLLowing reply :
Gentlemen,
Yooi Kino congratulations on my re
turn to my tamily and triends, are very
Obliging. Your polite invitation is ac
cepted with pieafure.
At this period, when, in many parfs
of ihe world, uiforder, indifciphne and
difobedicnce to every kind of authority,
faduoned into a fort of science, are vin
dicated a6 rights, and inculcated as duties,
11 is not to De expected that our country
fhouid wholly eleape their contagious et
lccts.
Although many of our worthy citizens
may ft.utei themlelves, that calumnies
and contempts against the conlfituted au
thorities will not-make a dangerous itn
preflion upon a pub tc opinion, which js
formed with so much deliberation, in
telligence, and integrity, a3 it generally
is among us; and may believe, that the
fagacitv and candour, with which the
body of the people oblcrve the charafteis
of public men, and weigh the tendency
of public mcafurcs, will be a fufficient
fccurity for the government; yet i can
not but be of the opinion, that the pro
fligate. spirit o* falfehpod and malignity,
which has appeared in some, and the u?
guarded disposition in others, to encou
rage it; ate ietioea evils, and bear a
threatening afpeft upon the union of th#
states, their constitution of government*
and the moral charader of the nation.
The idea of separating the people front
a government of their own choice, can
originate with none but enemies of re
publican governments. Such a projed,
were it practicable, would be a demon
stration, that the people are not capable
of such a government j and by a fuddctt t
introduction of wafting calamities, would
soon convince the people themselves of
the neceflity of instituting another form *
for their own security and protection. The
decided reprobation of such nefarious dc
figns, by the citizens of Boston and it*
vicinity, will have a great eflfed in de
feating them. j
Theprefent age has furnilhed example*
in abundance, of degradations and disa
sters, brought upon nation*, by confpir*.
cies between foreign intrigue and dornc
ftic faCtion. It will be happy indeed for
American citizens, if they could leap*
tvifdom from the woes of others. I
The personal compliments you arc
plcafcd to present to me, are the more ,
grateful, as it has been the pride of mjr < *
life to be reckoned as one of yous num
ber. Aflurances of approbation, in age,
from the friends and companions of our
youth and riper years, I (hall ever efteetn
among the choired delights of life.
Accept, gentlemen, of my kindfft
wifhc* for your health and happiness, and
for the prosperity of the town of Bolton,
and its vicinity, venerable in our Ame
rican hiftory, for virtues and wisdom, a*
well as antiquity.
JOHN ADAMS.
Quincy, Augujl 7, 1797.
The president at the fame time inform
ed the committee, that it would be a
greeable to him to wait upon the gentle
men who had requested the honor of hi*
company on Wednesday, the i6thinft.
His excellency the governor having
been informed of the entertainment, ai«l
invited to partake in it, difeovered *
warm and animated deftre to co-operate
with the committee in paying a marked
refpeCt to the president upon this oCca
fion. In pursuance of these fentimcni*
and feelings, major general Elliot was
induced to order federal uniformed corp*
to do the military honors of the day.
On Wednesday morning, precisely a*
9 o’clock, the Boston cavalry, under cap
tain Amory, paraded in front of the pre*
fident’* house in Quincy; after partaking
of an elegant collation which had been
prepared for them there, they escorted
the president and a numerous cavalcade
of the firft citizens of Quincy, under
Beals, Esq. to his excellency the go- .
vernor’s.
At Milton the escort received a respec
table addition by the jundion of the of- 1
ficers of the Boston regiment. ■ ll
Upon moving from his excellency'# \j
house, the governor took a feat in thp )
president's carriage, which was preceded L
by the senior committee in three carriag--V
cs, and followed by his honor the lietit*
tenant governor and other refpedable ci
tizens. As soon as the escort paffcd th»
Boston line, a salute was fired by the Bo
ftoa artillery Rationed 11 the acck, Tim