Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1829-06-19
Mr.. EvERETT'S SPEECH

III = OHc DWseT 8tUeU ~ MN Oy INC SHt<cUS "
Nashville, 7snnessee
Mn PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN: The senti-
menr which has Just been announced, aud the
kind attention Of which find myself, on this oc-
casion the object demand my particular scknow
ledgemen,s. Coming among you from remote
district Of the country; personally acquainted,
on my arrival, with but a single individual, be-
sides your distinguished Representative in
Congress; possessing none Of those public and
political claims on your notice, which are
usually acknowledged By courtesies ofthis kind.
find myself the honored guest OF this day; cor
daily greeted by SO large a company, where
could have expected only to form few &C
auaintances, auG made TO feel myself at home
in the land Of strangers. I should feel thai
sense of oppression which unmeriled honor
ought always TO produce, did l look within my
self for the reason Of this 1attering distinction.
It is no, here, gentlemen, thai look for it. ]
know that it flows from much higher source;
from your ready hospitality; from your liberal
feeling, which is able TO take IN those parts OF
the Republic which are the most remote from
you, aud which dsposes you, even toward the
person OF an individual stranger, to strengthen
The bonds Of good will between all the brethren.
of the great American family. II is in this
view of the subject alone, tha, could recon
cile my accepting this kind prefer of your pub
lie attentions, with the innffensive privacy
which i, is my study to preserve 10 my present
Journey; for the sake Of which have been led,
on more than one occasion since LETT home, to
express wish 10 be excused from similar at
ten,ions on The par, Of political friends; a,ted-
lions which would have implied public stand
ing which | do not possess; and would have
caused my excursion TO be ascribed 10 another
than its real motive. That motive, gentlemen,
is the long cherished wish to behold, with my
own eyes, this western world, not of promise
merely, but of most astonishing and glorious
fulflmsnt. TIE wonders, as t,ey may justly be
called, Of the West; the prodlgious extent Of the
ter ri,ory; the magnitude Of the streams, that
unite into one gres, system the re'notest parts
Of this boundless region; the fertility Of its SOL
Of which the accounts, till they are verified by
actual observation, seem rather like the fables
Of romance than sober narrative, were among
the earliest objects that attracted nv youthful
curiosity. While visiting some of the mos, an
Gent abodes Of civilization in the elder world
had frequently occasion 10 observe land
have no doubt, M. President, tia, your obser-
| walton confirmed the fact) that the curiosity Of
the intelligent men Of Europe vas more awake
on The subject Of his, than OF any other portion
ID
have some general knowledge, arising from the
length Of time since it was settled, and the po-
litica al events Of which il has been the theatre :
But the Valley. of the Mississippi seemed to
have presented itself, as i, we're, suddenly to
their i'm gina ions, as a most peculiar, import
ant. and hitherto comparatively unknown re-
gion But from the time that have been led
more particularly 10 reflect on the Western
in Il, i.I tha ~ he
t'nlop, have felt an irresistible desire to I'M
ders,and, from personal observation, the stu
pendnus work Of human advancement, whichis
here going IN, and Of which the history Of
mankind certainly affnrds no other example.
csnnor bu, think il the most Interesting subject
Of contemplation which the world at present
aff"rds. Apart from the grand ma, ural features
OF the scene, The aspect OF populous towns
springiug like an exhaIa,ion from the soil-of
vacant or savage wilderness transmitted, in
one generation, into ,hickly inhabited terri
tory mus, certainly appeal as strongly 20 the
inquisilive mind, as he sight of crumbling
towers, Of PROSTATE columns, Of cities once re-
nowned and powerful reduced to miserable ru.
ms, and crowded provinces turned into deserts
While these latter objects are thought suffi,
cient 10 reward the traveller for a distant pill
grim &c to foreign countries, he may well br
pardoaed for feeling himself attracted by the
opposite spectacle which is presented 10 him at
home-a scene, not Of decay, but of teeming
life; of Improvement almost too rapid TO see m
the result of human means.
I, is a remark often quoted Of celebrated
foreign statesman, (Taleyrand,) that America
presents, as you travel westward, in point OF
space, The same succession Of appearances,
which may be traced in Europe, as you 20 back
in point of time; that as you move from the
coast towards the interior on this continent,
you pass through those stages OF civilization
which are found in Europe as you follow its
history back 10 the primitive ages. If we take
the aboriginal tribes of our continent into the
survey, there is some foundation for the rem .rk,
but applied to our own population, i, is rather
ingenious than solid The scene presented by
our Western country, is not that Of a barbarous
race, growing up like the primitive tribes Of
Europe, into civilized nations; but it is the far
more interesting because he more rapid incl
ligent progress Of civilized people, extending
itself through rude wilderht SIS, and transplant