Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1824-09-21

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selected as a member of the dcputation wbicl
w,if proceed To Frenchtowu upon the part o
tins city, to welcome the General among us.
/ Bait. american
Ertract from an Oratioa pronounced before The
m 4, Beta KapPu, .aHg. 81, 1924, By the E.
eyes, my friends, such is the exl.orta,on
which calls ON us TO exert our powers To e.npluy
our time, ana consecratc our labours in the
| cause ofOur native land. When we eprape in
that solemn study, the history of our race. when
we survey the progress Of man, from his cradle
IN the East 10 these last limits fhis wandering:
when we behold him forever flying westward
from civil and religious thraldom, bearing his
household goods over mountains and seas. Seek
lug rest and finding none, but stu pursuing the
lying bow of promise, to the glittcring hills
winch 1T spans In Hesperian climes, we cannot
but exclaifn with Bishop Berkeley, the generous
prciate of England, who bestowed his benefac-
tons, as well as blessings on our country,
Westward the Star of Empire takes its way;
The four first acts already past,
The fifth shall close the drama with the day;
Times noblest offspring is the last
In that high romance ifromance ii be, in which
the great minds of antiquity sketche1 the fortunes
ofthe agos tocome, they pictured tothemselves a
favored region beyond the ocean, a land of equal
laws and happy men.--The primitive poets. be-
held II in the islands of the bicst; the Doric
baeds surveyed, it in the Hyperborean regions:
ting sage fthe Academy placed il in the lost At
iaftis; and even the sterner spirit Seneca could
discern fairer abode of humanity, in distant
regions then unknown. We look back upon
these uninspired predictions, and almost recoil
from the obligations they imply. BY us mus,
these tar visions be realized, by US must be full.
uiied thSSc high auspices, which burst in try
ing hours frern the longing hearts of the cham
pions of truth, There are no continents or
worlds to be revealed; Atlantis, hath arisen
from the ocean, the farthest Thule is reached;there
are no more retreats beyond the sea, no more
discoveries, no more hopes. Here then nigh
ty work is to be fulfilled, or never, by the race
OF mortals: The man, who looks with tender
ness on the sufferngs of good men in other times
the descendant of the pilgrims, who cherislies
the memory Of his fathers; the patriot who feels
an honest glow at the majesty of the system, of
which ha Is member; the scholar, who heholds
with rapture the long sealed book, of uupreiu-
diced truth explained to all to read; these are
they by whom these auspices are To be accorn-
plished. Yes, brethren, ii is by Che intellect
OF the country that the mighty mass is to be in
spired; that its parts to communicate and
syrnpatliise, its bright progress TO be adorned
with becoming reGne,nents, lis strong sense ut
tered, its character reflected, its feelings inter
preted TO It's own children, TO other regions, and
to after ages.
Meantime the years are passing away and ga
theripg Importance in their course. With the
present year will be completed the half century
from that most important era in human history,
the commencement of our revolutionary war.
The Jubilee ofour national existence is at hand.
The space Of time, that has elapsed from that
momentous date, has laid down in the dust
which the blood of many of them had already
halowed, most of the great men to whom, uu-
der Providence, we owe our national existence
and privileges. A few still survive among us,
to reap the rich fruits Of their Iabors and suffer
ings, and one has yielded hrnself.o the united
voice OF people, and returned in his age, to re-
ceiye the gratitude of the nation, to whom he
devoted his youth. 1t is recorded on the pages
Of American history, that when this friend of our
country applied TO our commissioners in Paris,
1879, for passage in the first ship they should
despatch to America, they were obliged to an
! swer him, $50 low and abject was then our dear
native land,) that they POSSESSED not the means
nor the credit sufficient for providing single
vessel in all the ports of France. Then ex-
claimed the youthful hero, ssI will provide my
own and it is a literal fact, tl,at when all Anne
RIGA was toopoor to offer him so much pas
sage to her shores he left, in his tender youth
the bosom of home, of happiness, of wealth, of
| rank, to plunge in the dust and blood of our in
suspicious struggle.
& 'sWeicone, friend of our fathers, to our
SHoit-S' ftdPpy are our eyes mat DeHOu tIOSe
venerable features. Enjoy Triumph, such as
never conGuerer ormonarsh-enjoye we'd, the assur-
ance that throughout America, there is not a
bosom, which does not beat with ov and graft
tude at the sound of your name. You have al
ready met and salutcd, or will 5000 meet, the
(! few that remain Of the ardent patriots, prudent
counseilors, aud brave warriors with whom you
were associated in achieving our Liberty. But
! you have looked round in vain for the faces Of
many, who would have lived yGars of pleasure
on da, like this, with their Did companion in
arms and brother in peril. Lincoln, and Green,
and Knox, and Hamilton are gone; the heroes
| OF Saratoga and Yorktown have fallen, before
! the only foe they conld not meet Above all,
| the first of heroes and ofmeD, the friend of your
| youth, thc'rnore than friend of his country, rests
| in the bosom of the soil he redeemed. On the
banks OF his Potomac, be lies in glory and in
peace. You will revisit the hospitable shades
| OF Mount Vernon, but him whom you veneratcd
1 as we dia, you will not meet at IFS door. His
voice Of consolation, which reached you in the
Austrian dungeons, cannot now break It's silence
TO bid you welcome TO ms own roof. But the
! grateful children of America will bid you well
come, in his name. Welcome, thrice welcome,
! to our shores ana rltlierseeger throughout the
limits of tie continent your course SHALL take
| you, the ear that hears you shall bless you, the
eye that sees you shall bear witness TO You, and
| every toDge exciaim, with heartfelt Joy, vel
come, welcome La F4iYETTE."
TIE "NATION'S GUEST"