Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1853-09-24

IL matter Of tradition that New London and Groon u<ze
among the watch-words at Yorktown
"hen the chyalrous Lafayette, TO whom WashiD s7En
gave absolute command in stoning Of the redo aa
was ABOUT proceeding to the attack he is said to hsse
expressly ordered his party " to remember New Inn-
DON What consolation what eompensatiou woufa n
not have been to Ledyard and his fellow victims ccaza
they nave been permitted to hear that ORDER and to VIA
ness It's results; could they have the arms Of AE
lea nnay victorious and stars and stripes lifted -
last IN triumph to the sky to float evermore grrsx
and glorious Republic!
Let not fail to add, however that while tba
can armies at Yorktown remembered New London ~
they remembered humanity and mercy also They cnr-A
ried the redoub in triumph but Hamilton and Laursns
who Lafayettes lieutenants in stormng H. were IN
capable OF cruelty, In the way Of retaliation Tn
their eternal glory be it spoken they brought of all txr
prisoners unhsrmed; and when questioned how this was
they replied, "We could not, could not, waxun
they begged and cried their knees for their lives In
capable Of initiating examples Of barbarity sad HAM
on IN his official report to Lafayette himself and With
unmistakable aluson to New London,) and scrgef,nr
recent provocations they spared every that cesss
TO resist.x
You will agree with me- my friends that there are fp
nobler passages in American history any history
than this. Cur armies that day achieved douk2e
victory-a victory the British forces, and st1
more glorious victory themselves in subduiDg the
base passion for revenge and heapDg Goals OF fire eDy
in the true Scripture upon the heads of their
mics.
And now, fellow citizens if fathers at YORKTOWN
six weeks only after the Groton took ylam
could forget the provocation, and hold back their ha
from the retaliation which within their inmecnz2
reach we Of this generation than threescore ana
ten years afterwards, are not assembled to-day in
Of inferior magnanmity You not here, am snrs<
Of Connecticut to this sad chapter
your history with any feelings Of resentment towards
Great britain You cannot have forgotten either tx
after ALL it native Brton who commanded sx-
petition which perpetraed this inhuman massacre Ks
cannot have forgotten that it your soil wAsA,
reversing for the whole character of its prodSc1
and concentrating all its poisonous ingredients In
gle nature, gave being to that bold, bad wkcs
satisfied with turning traitor to his country in genxSn2
his new hy danl
parricda blow at the very State and neighborhocd in
which he had been born and brought up. Let me 1sS4
polute this pure air by giving utterance to his nareE
Let it be blotted out from the remembrance men s
if recalled at ALL let it only be warning Of th1 Rzz
imagined depths of dopravity and infamy into wh5el
daring and desperate valor and vaulting and
GUS ambition may plunge man when utterly unresya
ed by any thing Of moral and religious principle N
Nor under any circumstances would it be worthy %
to employ such occasion this in reviving fse1sE
ofbitserness and luminosity towards those with whom ma
differences upon this have been long ago setse
Great Britain and the United States may continue haze
their little jealouses and controversies contentiot
and and then ambitious and arrogant men on hxa
sides of the may push matters, for their p
purposes, to the very verge and beyond rhr
down into the fearful and fiery Of HEE
forbid that any such catastrophe should be wtuSS
in generaton But in the long run, thesetwo ghtg
nations must go along side by side and shoulder sh
der together in the great of civilization Dad cra
tianity of civil and religious liberty that VIE
be put back and lost it may be forever Lei thzRs
cherish and cultivate spirit of Cancellation and kinnszx
to say what every of at this moment feels ss
could have chosen parentage frcntsamong ala fe
families of thsearth, would not have come Of sDE
other stock would not have spoken any other fna
guage than that Of Shakespeare and Milton and Chat
Ne would have inherited any other history or traz-
tons than those Of Runnymedc and Magma Charsa ann
the Petition of Right and the Revolution of 1888 Let
realize, rs we proudly contemplate own natitnal
growth and grandeur, that after all she was the cy
mother capable Of bearing such child Let US go ss-
hind these remembrancers of her Injustice inhumazr
and to that old original spirit which animated f
Of your colony when they gave the OF tf
Tgs and of New London to yonder river and town, nl
surely imagining that they could rival the wealth.
and pendor of the great metropolis of the world bni n
of regard and affection las have it in the handur
ing of John Winthrop himself to their dear nAtssx>
country and in honor Of its famous capital.
No, my friends, II is with view of raking open ste
ashes in which your resentments towards Britain were
long ago buried that you have gathered those
memorable heights. Youhave your plsgsR
of devotion to your country and not TO indulge IA
any feelings of hostility towards other countries. Ion
have to remember the vaor Of your dead and
! the hopes Of your own living.
The great end of concentrations like this ons2a
to be and TO impress upon minds and upon t
minds of children deeper of the value Of tx
liberty and Of those institutions which, atSsnx
so much treasure and blood to establish. Certainly IN
view Of such scenes Of suffering and slaughter E
messed here and elsewhere during revolutionary sr
ge may say With the Apostle Paul another occaz
with great price purchased they this freedom. And
sfor us to see to it that this great price not
vain and that the estate goes down. not only unimpar
but improved and fortified, to postery. We cAlxd
theywere-let thank God that MOTTO pe13
fortunes snd leopard lives unto the death in AS
defence We not summoned to fight against tbs
mics of the aliens, to wreste against flesh and hs
Butweare caedupon confront foes by Less Ser
mdable We called upon to contend against the tc
tations and Establishments Of national and individual
prosperity We called to restrain and resist tac
inordinate lusts which involve danger to kes
ties than ten thousand hostile armies hostile eetssfse
lust Of power the lust Of wealth, the lust of Office, th
lust Of territory, the lust Of national aggrandzemex
and, may add the lust of the flesh and the pride sf
lfe and whatever else goes to make up the aggrszsr
of that corruptng luxury which has caused the DECLINE
and downfall Of many other republics before
In word my friends Of this genera ton
moned, by nfabe signs and signals, to stern moral
wsrfsre for the maintenance of the institutions for wie
fathers fought and bed We have reached i'm
national existence, if mistake not, in which fcsh
is demanded to those fashioned, Connsx
cut Puritan virtues moderation, and temperance, and
ustce and efdenia and purity and piey which hars
been often and admirably illustrated and person.
fed by your Shermans, and Wolcotts and Griswolas-
and Trumbuls, and Williamses, and OF which faase
decacy shall restrain me from saying that John Win
throp OF Connecticut, like his father of Massachusetts
among the brightest examples in your annals. In
this way alone free institutions be preserved
unimpared and in this way alone true, safe,
tiona and regulated progress the only progress worthy III
the name, be promoted and secured.
Here, then, to-day on this hallcwed spot, over ahc
graves Of your martyrs and this anniversary Of ths
fall, beneath this canopy, which lately vocal with
the praises Of the pilgrims Of Plymouth Rock, and unrr
whio have with hear