Southern sentinel. [volume] (Plaquemine, Parish of Iberville [La.]) 1848-1858, 1851-09-13


! Union Association, on the 26h August, 1851
! MR. PRESIDENT. AND CENTLENES Oh TIL
! 'UHtoE AssOCATIoT:> In returning you ny
! most sincere th&nh> fer the honor conferred
! by the kind ny.tation, extended 10 me. TO ai.
! dress you Oh TINS occasion, ! WOuI also be-
I leave 10 assure you u the additional dcgree OF
| pleasure II affords Elc to meet so many Of my
| old # low citizens of W W.Iknson. TO cav.
| claim to 1raternze with You III your ''.l,>utla-
! tiGn,' no! only because am an American CHI
zen-born and raised in TIE South, with my
| every earthly interest southcrn--but >,r, BE-.
! cause 4 quarter Of a century of nv life has
been spent among you: which fact, think,
secIrcs to the a claim to Southern identity.
am happy in the belief, thai MY claim IS fully
recognised and accredited. especially b. those
fmy countrymrn whose acquaintance | form
ed, hen .!rat located, in this your beautiful
town. | came among YOU 4 stranger, uNoiCs-
sed by the kind aid OF a family or the generou,
assist tance Of friends, with less than two dol
lars in my purse and not q dime elsewhere
vet, prompted BY that noble, generous, Amcri-
can spirit which is euthroncd in the bosom Of
every true hearted Mississppan, YOU extended
me the greeting of a friend and bid NE wei
come to your hosptab'e tire>des. | found
the love of American liberty interviewer with
every ligament of your heart, and the unity Of
Government that constitutes us as ore people,
then, asnoW, dear to ali OF you.
Mr.. President, none can look upon the as
sembly, that to day surrounds you, and evade
the conviction, that the people OF Wilkinson
are fully possessed of the noble sprit--the
love of Union--a birthright legacy from sire
whose blood flowed like rain TO establish this
glorious Republic. From the know ledge,
which have, Of the general intelligence Of my
countrymen, who are assembled here 10 day,
deem it unnecessary and supertluous to remind
them of the causes which drove our torefathers
from their native homes, to the :'deep- tangled
wildwood Of America" where naught was
heard save the war whoop of the savage rs he
grapp!ed with his foe, or the wild chaunt of
his dusky bride as at dewy eve she laved her
Weared limbs IN the purhDg waters of some
mountain rvulet, that ripped at the feet of the
emigrant. as breaking the deep solitude Of the
cane thcket, he mingled his sweat with the
dust of the virgin earth. They soon found
that union OF the colonies was essential to
their safety; for the fierce cry of the. blood
thirsty warrior as it reached them in shrilI
echoes through the surrounding forest, warned
them that the prowling tiend neared their hum
bic homes; and as earl y as 1643, union plat
form was erected by the Colonies of New Eng
land, with the inscription rudely, but deeply
engraven on its base, Omitted we stand, divi-
ded ace taN" This union of the colonies, frail
and imperfect as it was, secured to them the
power of driving the merciless savage beyond
the precincts of civilization. But, ere vet
the startling cry Of savage war had ceased its
echoes and hushed to siIence-before young
{l, 4.l., 90
warfare, had vet reposed his weary limbs upon
his victorious arms, his tender form was clutch
ed in the iron grasp of jealous mother. The
ed them amid the aborignes of the New
tage and here for years, they submssiyely
writhed beneath an oppression, to escape
which, they had forsaken country, home aud
friends, and dared the untold hardships of a
world unexplored. And yet they manifested
no disposition to sever the cords that rve.ed
them at the foot of England's throne. They
were reluctant to abolish the forms of govern
ment to which they were accust omed. nor did
they do so, until some thirty repeated aggres-
gressions and usurpatlons on the part Of Eng
land, well calculated to reduce them to the
lowest state of political degradation, forced
IiSth ~ VII "" SAi thS SoAC VI lHC ut@poS sAiid
strike for liberty, in l774; when all the colo
nies sent delegates to the first general Con-
gress, which on the 4th of July l776, adopted
the Declaration Of l. Istependence, and severed
forever all connection with the mother coun-
try.
They declared themselves 'free and indepen-
dent states" to maintain which it was evident
to every thinking mind, that more perfect
union among the States should be entered in
to, and feeling that "union was safety" they,
on the 9th June, 1878, formed the articles of
Confederation, under which form of govern
ment they remained until 1887, when a con
vention was called to revise the Articles of
Confederation. The question has been often
asked "why did not the convention carry out
the object for which it was convened 2" !
will answer this question, Mr.. President, by
restatlng an anecdote that has ever been of
intsrest to me. You doubtless, recolect, that
>ffov Nv Iotfcrs an vannrfo1 tho noo1s ration ~