Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1851-05-14
SAINT JONATHAN.

Englands patron saint, St. George, he com
menced warm and generous encomium o
Saint Jonathan. But, with the best inten
tions, and with powers of oratory which VIZ
quite agree with the Washington Republic
have been rarely equalled on such occasion:
by the best speakers of our own country
the orators fancy evidently tagged wher
it approached this homely name. About
'Saint George of Merry England" there are
a thousand sublime and poetic associations
but when the attemptis made to canonize
Brother Jonathan, however kind the pur-
pose, we feel that there is much in name,
and that however well Jonathan may figure
in corn field o. in tM counting room, he
isn't fitted to achieve much renown upon a
calendar of saints. Saint Jonathan! Saint
John Bull Saint Johnny Crap All, no
We knock under to Saint George, with his
red cross, and his slain dragons and dead
Frenchmen. We can't make saint OF
Yankee Doodle, any way we can look at
him.
Upon farther reflection, however, we don't
know but that Sir Henry is right, and that
Jonathan is quite as much of a saint in his
own way as George in his. It is true that
the name is not near as well adapted for
poetry, or romance, nor is there about it the
softening influence of antiquity yet, in the
realms of hard reality it holds a monarch's S
place. Let us hear what the representative
of "St. George" says of him:
"And now, gentlemen, since you have
been so kind in your reception of the name
l just uttered, will you allow me to propose
the health of near relative of our patron
/ Saint mean St. Jonathan' have seen
this same gentleman in many guises. | have
just come from visiting him as Virginia
planter; have shaken hands with him as
Western farmer; have been feasted by
him in this very hall as New England
pilgrim; laughter; ] l have dined with him
socially as a New York merchant, and
know him well as an American statesman,
both IN and out of Office, applause. And
will tell you that do not believe there is
more generous or honest-hearted saint In
the whole calendar; applause; one who
is more willing to give his best bottle OF
wine to friend, or to drink his friends best
bottle of wine if he gives it him; laugh
ter who is more skilled to turn penny
or more splendid to spend guinea. APP
plause.1 But St. Jonathan though not sole
ly, is especially scattering sort of saint,
| laughter, and he has at this time vessel
on the ocean, about which he is somewhat
anxious, though in reality there is no sort
of danger. | think see flying from her
topmast the Union Jack, loud applause
think hear cry of "a long pull, strong
pull, pull alogrthsr,' from the lips of the
crew, long and loud applause j and she
carries as her freight the language of Shak-
speare, the code of Blackstone, and the creed
of Christ! Great applause. Let us drink,
gentlemen, to this great ship of State; sem
sation i let us drink to her long and pros
porous voyage, and let no wind from the
North or from the South impede its progress
or peril its precious cargo! Loud ap-
plause.]"
Saint Jonathan then be it To do him
Justice, he has been seen in "many guises"
worth mentioning, besides those referred to
by Sir Henry Bulwer. He was visible some
centuries ago, clad in plain attire, and stand
ING on the deck of an humble vessel, bid
ding farewell forever to England, and look
ing with stern and sorrowful countenance
towards that western world which was then
but the haunt of savage men. 1t required
brave STRIPPING thus to leave his fathers
house and cross a wild ocean to pitch his
tent in an unexplored wilderness. Nor did
he leave home for the purpose OF wasting
his substance in riotous living. For Jona-
than had at least this much of a saint about
him, that he was poor as st. Peter or st.
Paul. He had no substance to waste, and
owned no riches of any kind save strong
arm and a fearless heart Yet he possessed
at that time the elements ofa greatness and
wealth destined one day to surpass those OF
St. George-the principles of civil and re-
ligious freedom. In imagination we see St.
Jonathan now, landing with this his only
patrimony, upon the coast of wild contl-
nent, singing psalms of thanksgiving for his
deliverance, and with his plough in one
hand and his gun in the other, going forth
to work out his manifest destiny"
A very plain looking clod-hopperis Saint
Jonathan, in comparison with the gay no.
bles of his native country and the knights
of chivalry in their glitterlng armor. But
when did Chivalry ever produce such con-
queror or Christianity, since apostolic days,
send forth such legate He had no "drag-
ons" to fight but he slew wild beasts by the
thousand with an arm stronger than that Of
Samson. He entered upon dismal waste
and converted 1t into the garden of the earth
He established small household in the
wilderness and it has become one of the
foremost empires of all the world. He found
before him land of Heather, and without
lighting one torch of martyrdom or forging
one chain of persecution, that land is nov
covered with Christian temples, their spires
rising above the ancient trees of the forest,
and their altars glowing with the fires of a
pure faith. After all, Jonathan is not an
Indifferent Saint even by the side of Eng
lands patron. And that he has, notwith-
standing his humble name, some of the sub
limest qualities Of heroism, is evident from
the manner in which he acquitted himself
when he met the rival banner of st. George,
and proved himself as true son as ever
sprang from the loins ofthat famous dragon
killer.
ST. Jonathan Not so bad after all He
rises in the calendar the more we reflect
upon him. Sir Henry Bulwer has styled
him "a sea-faring sort of saint" And SC
he is He seems to have loved the ocean
that first bore him to his western home, anG
made it the theatre of his most daring ener.
gies. Now we see him returning from the
far Fast with her richest treasures; now