Belfast Cattle Show 1824 - Toasts [caption title at end of text]

Original bifolio manuscript of 13 numbered toasts to be given at the community "farmer's jubilee" (i.e., the annual Cattle Show). 4to. Three pages, approximately 300 words, No. 4 in full: "[To] The President of the United States [John Quincy Adams]. The wisdom & mildness of his administration shed a lustre on our republican Institutions, which will ultimately penetrate the dark & dreary abodes of despotism & ameliorate the condition of man"; No. 6 in full: To "General Lafayette [at the time on his 1824 tour of the country, but not in Belfast], the adopted son of the father of our country. The grateful, affectionate & spontaneous acclimations of ten millions of free people, with one accord, welcome his return to the land of liberty; & proclaim him the rightful heir of the sublime virtuous & immortal fame of the illustrious Washington, -- the highest honour & richest in heritance, ever conferred on man." The other toasts were to "the farmer's jubilee," "the divine art of tilling the soil," "commerce & manufacturers," "Albion K. Parris [Gov. of Maine]," "our moral, religious, literary & scientific Institutions," "national improvements," "the useful & mechanic arts," "the Gardner Lyceum," "the juice of the apple," "the American farmer," and "the American fair." All of the toasts boast Read's way with words. Nathan Read (1759-1849) served in the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts, 1800-1803; he moved to Maine in 1807 and was involved in civic affairs there until his death. Three words marked through, one corrected. Very good.…