Jamestown Celebration of 1857; Including a Prayer, Oration, Poem, and Speech [pp. 434-466]

[JUNE
CELEBRATION AT JAMESTOWN.
Report of the Proceeding.? of the Celebration of the Two Hundred and Fiftieth
Anniversary of the English Settlement at Jamestown.
ton and arrived at the site of Jamestown
about 9 o'clock on the morning of Wednesday, the 13th following. Several
s teamers, from Norfolk and Richmond,
were in the river with banners flying, &c.
The company lande d by mean s of a
temporary wharf and scow, which the
neighbours had provided, oppos it e to the
fragments o f the old church. Colonel
WI LLIAM F. PHILLIPS was appointed
marshal;'and under his guidance the
company moved in procession, a distance
of about two miles, to a part of the island
on which the military were e ncamped,
and where it was understoo d a rost rum
had been erected. Lt. Colonel CARY of the
First Regiment of Virginia Volunteers, the
officer having charge of the military arrangements, received the Society with
distinguished courtesy, and extended to
them every facility-in his power.
About 12 o'clock Ex-President TYLE,PR
arrived at the landing in the steamer
Glen Cove, from Richmond, escorted by
Mr. MONTAGUE, Chairman of the Committee
of the Society, appointed for that purpose, was received at the landing by the
whole Committee, and by them attended
to the rostrum.
About one o'clock, P. M., PH,ILIP R.
FENDALL, Esq., President of the Jamestown Society of Washington City, addressed the meeting as follows:
The Jamestown Society of Washington City, an association consisting of Virginia gentlemen residing there, having
determined to celebrate, at the site of
Jamestown, the two hundred and fiftieth
Anniversary of the settlement, invited
Ex-President TYLER to deliver an Oration,
and Mr. JAMEs BARRON HOPE a Poem, on
the occasion. The invitations were kindly
accepted by those gentlemen. As the
members of the Society resided two hundred and fifty nles from the site of Jamestown, and were strangers to its neighbourhood, they could not and did not
undertake to do more than charter a
steamboat to convey themselves, and such
as might join them at Washington and
Alexandria, to the site of Jamestown,
land and explore the ground, return to
their boat, and there, in view of the site,
celebrate the Anniversary by the delivery
of the Oration and Poem. Public statements to thi s effect were m ade in answer
to senral communication s fr om V irginia,
made to the Society after its purpose had
become publicly known. At' the same
time it w as stated that the Soci ety would
gladly co-operate in any arrangements
which might be made in Virginia for
having the celebration on the ground. In
the execution of this purpose the Society
chartered the steamer Powhatan. They
also engaged music. It was not till
within a few hours before the boat was
to leave the wharf at Washington that it
was ascertained that the engagement
would not be fulfilled. Every effort was
mad e, but without success, to remedy the
disappointment. The Secretary of War
kindly gave the Society an order on the
commanding officer of Fortress Munroe;
but on presenting the order it was found
that the music, which had been ordered
thither from New York, had not yet arrived.
About 6 o'clock, P. M., of Monday,
May 11th, 1857, the steamer Powhatan,
with a company consisting of members
of the Society and others, left Washing
FELLOW-CITIZENS:
We have assembled to commemorate
the two hundred and fiftieth Anniversary
of the first permanent English settlement
in North America. We are on the site
of what once was Jamestown-pilgrims
to the graves of our forefathers. Their
heroism and constancy here planted the
seeds of a mighty republic, now reaching
from ocean to ocean, dispensing to rail.
lions the blessings of civil and religious
liberty, and animating by its example the
cause of human rights throughout the
world. Auspicious to all mankind is the
great event which we celebrate! Especi
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