Monday, June 20, 2011

June 20, 1776: Thirty-One Toasts!

On June 20, 1776, an account was written of the "elegant entertainment" the New York Provincial Congress hosted on June 18 for "his Excellency General Washington and his suite, the General and Staff Officers, and the Commanding Officers of the different Regiments in and near this city...." At this event, participants offered thirty-one toasts.

Toast 19 expressed the wish that any brutality by the enemy would not provoke American forces to acts of cruelty: "May no injuries erase from our bosoms the sentiments of humanity."

Toasts 7 and 8 celebrated the Edmund Burke and the Rev. Richard Price, British advocates of the cause of freedom in America. Toast 23 wished freedom for Ireland: "May the generous sons of St. Patrick expel all the venemous reptiles of Britain."

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