| Citation |
NYJ-N.774.065
9 Jun 1774:41 (1640)
[N]orfolk (in Virginia) May 3. Yesterday was celebrated in
this place the anniversary of St. Tamminy, the tutelar saint
of the American colonies. At one o'clock a royal salute of
21 guns, from the battery erected for the purpose, ushered
in the rejoicings of the day; and in the evening a grand
entertainment was given, at the Masons Hall, by the sons of
the saint, to which there was a general invitation, and the
company exceedingly numerous and brilliant, consisting of
near 400 persons! At six the ball was opened, by one of our
worthy burgesses, in the character of King Tamminy, properly
accoutred in the ancient habit of this country, at which
time another royal salute was given. The ladies, whose fair
bosoms on this occasion seemed more particularly animated
with a generous love of their country, indulged the company
with their presence till four in the morning; and after
their retirement, the sons of St. Tamminy, according to the
immemorial custom of these countries, encircled their King,
and practiced the ancient mysterious war dance, so highly
descriptive of the warmest attachment and freedom of spirit.
The whole was conducted with the strictest decorum, and to
the universal satisfaction of the assembly; while the
cordiality with which the sons of the brother saints, St.
George, St. Andrew, St. Patrick, and St. David, entered into
the general mirth of the evening, gave particular pleasure;
and was truly emblematical of that happy union which had
long subsisted between the parent state and her colonies,
while Britain was just and America was free, and which every
lover of his country would wish should still subsist, for
ages yet to come.
But should corruption, with despotick rage,
Seize the strong pillars that support the state,
Strain every nerve to pull destruction down,
To blend in ruins freedom and her sons,
And crush our growing empire in its youth!
. . . [12 more lines]
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