Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1850-04-06
The Two Heroes.

he lOilOWiuS pdidileu Dsl "coH
two of the most wonderful notabili-
ties of the age, the Iron Duke, the
apostle of affliction, and Theobald
Matthew, The apostle of Temperance,
the great regenerator, appeared some
time ago in the Richmond (Va.) Re-
publican:
ut has been the fortune of Ireland,
that prolific mother of heroism, elo-
quence, and song, to produce two per-
sonages whose names, even among
the list of her immortal children,
stand sublimely pre-eminent, and bid
fair to defy all the buffetings OF
change, and of time.
One of these characters is now an
old man, his form bent by the pres
sure of advancing years, and his eagle
eye, which once drank in, unblench-
ing, the full blaze of the sun of glory,
is waxing dull and heavy as it gazes
through the dim twilight of old age
upon6a a world which to him has long
since lost its freshness and beauty.
Wherever he treads, however, crowds
look upon him with profound respect;
even mobiles recognise the higher no.
bility of nature, and kings feel proud
er of tneir throne because it is sus-
tanned by such a pillar. Time was
when that infrm and decrepid form
sat erect in the saddle, the center Of
the chivalry, and the leader of the ar
mics of Europe; when, upon every
step of his, the fate of some kingdom
hung, and upon the results of his wis.
dom and decision were suspended the
destinies of a world. Well may men
make way for his trembling gait, and
fathers point him ont to their child
ren. and history seek to embalm his
every act in the roll of immortality
for in him Ireland has given 9to the
world one who has conquered the
great conqueror of the earth, and
proved himself, upon the crimson fiele
of Waterloo, the master of the king
of kings.
And vet. how little docs the world
how little does even the country tha
bore him find to regard with sympa
thy ins the career of Wellington
There is much in it to admire much
to fear, but how little to love Fo
every deed of greatness that he ha
performed, how many lives have beef
offered For every smile that he ha
earned from fortune, how many hu
man bodies have been piled up il
mountain heaps to propitiate tn
bloody demon of war For ever,
star that shines in his diadem of glo
ry. some far more precious gen
wrung from the casket of a bleeding
heart, glistens in the eye of the widoy
and the fatherlessl Every laure
that he wears upon his brow ha
grown in a soil fertilized by human
blood. Five millions of the huma
race have fallen in the front and tn
rear of his fiery columns, and, to hi
enormous harvest of death, his nativ
Ireland gave the first fruits Of he
d valor and her chivalry. tiA ever
proud old hall within her borders sen
forth the cry Of bereavement, an
every peasants lonely cabin echoe
h it in sorrowfuls walls Of desolation.
d We turn from this hero to anothe
for Ireland has another hero who's
fame bids fair to rival him of Waite
: loo. He is a Man who never saw
battle, or fired a hostile gun. Sti
apparently in the prime of life. he he
achieved conquests rs far superior
y y any ever accomplished by Wellingto
.s as the soul of man is greater than th
= BODY. He saw his native countr
j made captive and enslaved by mon
'e ter vice more terrible than the fe
cest soldier, and more cruel than tx
most relentless tyrant. He WEI
forth, as simply armed as David
! his contest with Goliah, bearing r
# weapon of human device, and III
folding no banner but the emblem I
j. our salvation. Yet, wherever he hs
gone, his cause has gained a succe
sion Of the most glorious conques
recorded upon the page of histor
a His victorious course, instead of b
: ing marked by fertile plains la
waste, by thriving villages destroye
by beautiful cities burned down, me
every where be traced in cottages r
,e built, in wasted fields covered wi
y luxuriant grain, in the wilderne
G blossoming like the rose, and deser
:, fresh and musical with the rush of Il
flowing streams. Histriumphs, wo
Il lderful as they are, have brought |
:, crimson upon any human cheek, sa
: that with which returning heal
h. h. visits the wan cheek of disease; th
have caused no tears to flow fre