The Illinois free trader and LaSalle County commercial advertiser. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1841-1843, 1841-09-10

"iS I"Shy SHooE'hS III VIC CUililOTldDlt
lap OF Nature who provides for them Will
maternal tenderness and care, as being
her lirst-born, and legitimately entitled &c
her love and protection. If cats and dogs
do sometimes come TO tooth and claw
with each other, and kick up bloody
rows, we can forgive them, because they
know no better; but for reasoning man
to purposely crush the insects in his path
beneath his hgh-heeled boots of AFRO
gance, or to annoy dumb animals in any
manner, is wholly ineXcusable, and he
ought to suffer for it. lie should take a
lesson from what Uncle Toby said when
he opened the window and told the poor
fly to 30, for the world was wide enough
for him and it. Why, my friends, | be-
llcyc that 'coons, skuuks and 'possums
are the true aborignes of AmerIca-the
real natives OF Columbia's soil-that they
have better right to its unlimited pos
session than either you or | have and it
is hard case that they should be chop
ped up and made soup Of by blood
thirsty race of savagc-ciyiizcd carnivcr-
GUS two-leggcd beings.
My frends-.this venerable old coon,
alluded to in my text, i. appears, was
soundIy sleeping upon his iavoritc rail,
III the sllvery light of the moon, and, per-
chance, swectly dreaming of his lady
love who was far, far away. There he
was, quietly repOsing in his own valley
Of contcntment, while the wings of the
zcphyrs brushed the balmy dew drops
from the leaves upon his chestnut pillow
aye, upon the very spot which con-
tanned the bones of his ancestors, and
which had been bequeathcd him by the
God Of nature. lie felt himself secure
upon his elevated couch, and yet when
ever he thought upon his latter end, he
was fearful that thereby hung tail, which
might prove a plague to his peace and
so it turned out-lor, ere the midnight
moon had reached the climax of her am
bition, a wandering loaler, full of wine,
mIrlh and mischief, crcpt slyly up, and
laying hold OF the postcrioual ornament
OF the poor dcicncccss coon, hauled him
upon the ground and abused him in such
ruiianIy manner, that he was glad to
escape with bungcd eye and bloody
nose.-W hat business had he to pull the
nonensivc coon by the tail while his
carcase was unprotected by his senses,
which were drowned in Obvious slum-
Der! How would you, my friends, like
TO be served in the same way! All! YOU
would squeal for vengeance, and invoke
ten thousand curses upon the head OF him
who did it. Such inhumanlly is STEPPED
in the deepest dye OF ccnsurc, and places
"A contemplate grease spot upon the
bright cscutchcon of u civilized COMMUNE
ty. 1t appears TO me that because the
sins of the human race are visited upon
after generations, you want TO make In
noccnt 'coons become responsible for a
portion of them, since they have no mi
quitics of their own to answer for. D,
shame, where didsl thou get SO much
cheek
But, my dear friends, this poor, pcrse-
cutcd old coon is still living in the sun
shine of widespread fame and undying
honor. - While his brethren are every
day falling victims to relentless politi-
clans, and the skins of his kindred hang
parching on the gable ends of log cabins,
he is allowed to roam abroad in the green
cornlcld of freedom, venera,ed and re-
spcctcd by all When the time shall
draw nigh for him to take his gray hairs
down to the grave in peace, he will glory
in the consolation, that, although he once
lost 4 comfortable snooZe by walloping,
still he" gained immortal rcnown by a
cruel and unjust persecution. Beware,
my friends, how you torment creatures
beneath you because they are not endow-
ed with the gift of CAB, and have no way
of manitcsting all the tortures they feel.
| shall raise my leather-lned lungs in their
defence. shs'n't even permit you to
treat them as you do one another; fol
!. they are worthy Of more respect and de-
cency. As my friend Mr.. Morris would
say, so say I-Od coon, while I've ,
hand to save, loaier shall harm thee not
, and | offer the same protection to TIT
whole quadruped kingdom, from a tit
} mouse up to the behemoth himself.
My fricnds-wherevcr you make track
c upon the sandy desert of life, let Mere
t lead you with her rosy bands of love
S and your paths to the grave shall not b
# wholly barren, neither shall the sun G
c existence 90 down i'll the midst OF tn
+ dark, boding clouds OF doubt. So mot
$ it be !
n This sermon was first preached during Il
|. clcctionecring OF 1917.
t, The weather was so warm IN Albany