The Hawk-eye and Iowa patriot. (Burlington, Iowa) 1839-1843, 1840-10-29


pages have rendered immortal. You
have, in substance, often repeated the fa-
nous injunction of the Lacedemonian
mother, who presented a shield to her
son just going into battle for The first time,
with these words tliis, my son;
return home with it or upon il"
Ladies, IL have been induced 10 say
thus much, because the command to
speak came from a quarter which will al
ways be sovereign with me. shall trea-
sure up the memory Of that command as
one Of the most pleasing incidents of my
life, and shall never think Of it bur with
gratitude and pride. a
The call having proved so efectual in
the case of Gov. Barbour, i, was immedi-
alely on his taking his seat, renewed for
Mr. Leigh. who, not to he outdone in gal
lantry and submission in the expressed
wishes of a female auditory, responded,
without hesitation, and proceeded to adj
dress the meeting nearly as follows:
MY far Co,mtryicomen.-I have in
the course of, now, a pretty long life, been
not little used to public speaking; but it
is the first time ever had to face such an
audience, and feel, / confess, somewhat
embarrassed as to what l shall say to you.
In certain very orthodox paper, with
which most Of us are acquainted, | have
seen it stated, that have been deputed,
by Tippecanoe Club No. l, to go 10 Mas
sachusetts and there to negotiate mar
riage between the States Of Massachusetts
and Virginia. | declare to you, that had
not been before appraised Of this duty $
having been imposed upon me, and Twill
venture to affirm that the honorable gen
tlelnan from Mass. had as little knowledge
OF it as 1.-Neveriheless, if such mar
riage was to take place, should be very
happy TO have MY share III the matter
But according to our usual views, both
States are equally female; and before a
marriage could take place between them,
it would be necessary that one should be
acknowledged as the husband and the 9TH
er as the wife. Now as you all know me
TO be very Jealous Virginian, should
insist that Virginia should have the SUI
premaey; and understanding something Of
the holy matrimonial relation, as it exists
in Virginia, aud especially on Shockoe
Hill, it is very natural | should therefore
insist that Virginia be the bride and Mas
sachuse,,s the bridegroom, (alangh )--but
whenever it came to that point, depend
upon it, | should have very serious con-
test with the gentleman from Massachn
sets; and lie would be quite right; for if
he should not do his best to make Mas.
sachusetis the bride. he would bring an
old house upon his head when he got
home, much laughter)-for l am well
assured, the same devotion to the best part
of Gods creation exists there which OBJ
tains here. But the metaphor was rather
an unfortunate one; for the marriage, or
rather the sisterhood of the two States. is
not to be formed: it already exists-hav-
ing been formed in the days of the Revo-
luton. The mothers of Massachusetts
sent their husbands, their brothers, and
their sons, and the mothers of Virginia
sent theirs to mingle their blood on what
ever fields the battles of freedom were to
be fought. But more; the holy union has
already been established by the God Of
Heaven, who hath made us both of one
blood; and we acknowledge the tie with
pleasure and with de.-And now let
me remind you of fact not inappropri-
ate to the subject:-When CORVALLIS in
vaded Virginia, Gen. Washington deput-
ed the then youthful Lafayette to maintain
the military power of the State, (all her
own troops having been sent to the Caro-
linas under Green;) and with him he sent
two New England regiments, who got as
far as Baltimore almost without clothing.
The ladies of Baltimore Immediately vol
unteered and clothed those two Yankee
regiments, with which lafayette under
took to do battle against the enemies Of
Virginia;-an he did do battle with them
till they were beaten. So that to the la
dies OF Baltimore, we owe, at least, all
the success of Lafayette and ultimately
the glorious triumph at Yorktown. Keep
this example before your eyes, and your
fathers, brothers and husbands will bless
you; and, moreover, the blessing Of AL.
mighty God will be upon your heads.
Mr. Lyons was next called upon, and
responded in few words, modes,ly pro-
Tossing his inability for the task after the
addresses Of the distinguished gentlemen
who had preceded him; -he would only,
in the name Of every Whigin Va, return
10 the ladies the most profound thanks
Alluding TO the sentiment expressed by
Gov. Barbour, that the countenance ex-
tended by the ladies was means and
guaranty Of success.-he observed that,
with Wing mothers there must be Wing
sons and Wing daughters: with Wing
daughters there would be Wing sweet.
hearts. Give me these, said Mr. L., and
a great Wing family is formed at once,
which must be irresistible. Cheered by
the smiles of beauty, and guarded by the
shield Of female purity, how could they
do otherwise than conquer? The Lace
demonian spirit had not departed; it still
survived in Virginia. TO that spirit all
must do homage. sfa
The meeting was then adjourned to the
square in front of the Capitol.