Fourth of July. Every effort should be made, on the part of the moral and religious portion of the community, to rescue the anniversary of our national independence from the dissipation and immorality which have too generally desecrated it. The foolish and dangerous custom of firing salutes would be much ‘more honored in the breach than in the observance.’ It is ‘full of sound and fury, signifying nothing’ but a childish love of excitement. Every year, moreover, it is attended with disastrous consequences to the limbs and lives of multitudes. Let the day be observed in a rational manner; and whilst we are exulting in the spirit of freemen, let us not forget to sympathize with the millions who are held in slavery on our soil.
(Liberator, June 25, 1841, pg 3)
