The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1847-04-23

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tnal republic such as ours, the chief
characteristic is restless an unfail-
ing energy; that power Impossible
to resist, kind Of energy urges il
onward from action to action that
in it the State is cverything--indi-
viduals nothing. That in such a po-
litical society il a man has acquired
any reputation, there is but one way
for him TO sustain it, namely, to in
crease it; that the memory Of the
past fame becomes dim unless it be
constantly refreshed by new; that
to such men emphatically applies
the implacable cry of FORWARD
because the wave Of time and OF
competition is ever pressing on to
oycrwhcln them from behind if they
stop, and because events, pride, am,
bition, fayors, and above all duty,
carry them irresistibly along in a
path troubled though glorious, and
with a rapidity dangerous while it
dazzlcS. And If it were otherwise,
| must be dead to all human emo
tons, if | did not feel moved to the
recesscs Of the heart; if feelings OF
never ending gratitude towards the
kind friends who honor me with this
evidence of their esteem, did not
swell up from tie fountains of my
soul so as almost to choke the utter
ancc of speech. But | see that who.
ever enters the path Of active duty
is never without the voice Of encour.
agement and graduation from an ap.
plauding people. This voice you
sir, in behalf Of the friends here pre-.
sent have spoken to me and if mt
language can fully utter the deer
thankGulness feel towards them il
their behalf, this at least may say
this do say, swear in the face o.
Heaven, and oftEiS cloud of witness.
es, that whatever Of strength Goo
may lave vouchsafed to me shall bG
dedicated to the faithful discharge
of my duty to the Commonwealth
and 10 tie Union.
In other days and in other lands,
when the warrior prepared for bat
tie, lie watched the solemn silence
Of some old cathedral, with its mon
umcntal columns, sepulclrcs Of his
dead ancestors around him, and the
ministers Of religion to sanctify the
deed he was armed knight by
honored mobiles apd fair, ladies whr
cheered HIM to the performance o
lis duties.
The forms of chivalry and its rite.
have passed away, but the sentiment
still holds place in every BOSOM
But it is before the assembled PEG.
pie, and in scenes like this, not less
imposing and solemn than the ccre.
monies Of chivalry, that | grid or
this sword, to be drawn only in the
cause Of the country, and to be
sheathed only with honor or in death
For it is not me, but the cause, that
this solemnity is designed to honor
the cause of our beloved country
whose prosperity, whose integrity,
whose glory, are and should be the
highest earthly glory Of her sons
She demands all there is Of devotion
in the heart Of man and in what
ever we perform for her, we but i'm
perfectly discharge the sacred debt
we owe her, TO have done which
constitutes no title Of desert, no claim
Of rccompcnSc.
Athcr call, these gallant and high
hearted men whom you see beside
me, and the brave soldiers we arc
to lead, have spontaneously enrolled
themselves TO fight her battles
They leave behind them cherished
homes, tic safe and easy pursuits oil
peace, and all that may render cXis-
tcnce dear, TO peril their lives on
the tropical plains of Mexico. They
constitute, as speak only the sim
pie truth when say it, as manly a
body OF soldiers as ever went forth
to tread the path of duty and Of glo-
ry; hardy sons Of this our New Eng
land, with the blood of freemen in
our hearts, and the vigor of con-