Minnesota weekly times. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1854-1859, 1854-12-26

''WOnOerLul cniAu SoouS, WAOm INC Wlb6 men "a
the East, did visit with presentsof frankinosnse
and myrrh. 81 Ih ~
The political PRINCIPLES Of the Pilgrims could
not but be affected by their faith. Though they
bowed the knee in the presence Of the Invisible,
they placed their foot upon the neck of tyrants.
The first written constitution was prepared as
they neared the shores of Massachusetts,. Assem-
bling themselves in the cabin of the May Flower,
they engaged in prayer, they then formed civil
compact to which they affixed their names, the
leading principles of which, was submission to the
will Of the majority expressed in accordance with
the forms of law. ,ae.,.t
This principle has permeated every constitution
since formed by their descendants; it is the chief
corner stone of that constitution which has sus-
tanned so many states. -.
Time is failing me, to tell of their respect for
learning and their humanity to the Aboriginees.
l would not forget while speaking at the fes-
tive board, the letters written, if memory is not
treacherous, over the study door of that great
Puritan, Cotton Mather, &c Be short .. f-
ssBe short" we must, yet as stand upon this
floor feel, as if stood among the descendants of
warm hearted men, as full of social kindness
as any of those who boast of the hospitality of the
South, and.whcn they come to the West do continu-
ally pirate about the first families of Virginia, of
which however they are not, or they would be 81
lent.
Mr.. President, am the son of q Southern man,
and in Southern grave-yards lies much precious
dust am too the son of a venerable mother
whose ancestors stood high in the synagogues OF
the followers of Penn, yet 1 feel at home, here,
tonight. Under New England principles l was
trained, in New England institutions Twas educa-
ted, and obtained those views of life, which, by
the grace of God, hath rendered me what am,
and made me citizen of Minnesota. New Eng
land pecularities will and ought to die; New
England principles, never. Only let every son of
New England be true, and as certain one of your
own poets hath said
That little May Flower, convoyed by the winds
And the wide waters, to our rocky shore,
And nations the Earth shall come,
Singing, to share the harvest home Of Truth.''
The soil upon which we tread was I" terra in
cognita" to the Pilgrims of Plymouth, and yet
the very names of those we see around us, show
that Pilgrim blood is here.
The Secretaries of the first meeting of the sons
of New England are perhaps descendants of that
good Mistress White, who, you will remember,
Mr.. President, gave birth to her son Peregine,
before the time of their arrival at Plymouth. The
"Winslow House," in which we are assembled
erected by one of those bearing that name, who m
see here tonight, under obstacles that would
have discouraged any but son of New England
recalls the name of that mild and amiable Ed.
ward Winslow, whom not only the Pilgrims of the
May Flower, but the untutored children of the
forest did admire for his kindness and energy
Elder Brewster is another name in this community
which recalls the venerable Elder Brewster, thai
came over in the May Flower; and in the name OF
Emerson, we see tho representative of family
who have been sons of thunder and sons of con-
ISOLATION in the pulpit of New England from its
earliest settlement until this hour.
have not yet, Mr.. President, taken my seat, mol
can l, until perform a duty for a son of New
England, whose body has long since crumbled to
dust.
Nearly century ago, native of Connected
wandered over the beautiful land in which we
dwell. He was a man of shrewdncss, foresight
and enterprise. He projected the water commu'
nication between New York city and Minnesota
and route via. Minnesota to China. He once
made claim to the site of the city of Saint Paul
to the Falls of Saint Anthony, Lake Pepin ant
the regions adjacent. While in London, the wal
of the American Revolution broke out, and AZ
vulgar parlancc hath it, his &C claim was jumped
Shortly after, he did write book, which hold
in my hand and in it he thus speaks of his pro-
jet, -rcferring to the short route to China, by
way of Minnesota:
" How far the advantages arising from such ar
enterprise may extend, can only be ascertained
by the favorable concurrence of future events
But that the completion of the scheme, have
had the honor of first planning and attempting
will some time or other be effected, / make nc
doubt. From the unhappy divisions that at pres.
ent subsist between Great Britain and America
it will probably be some years before the attempt
is repeated but whenever it is, and the execution
of it carried on with propriety, those who are SC
fortunate to succeed, will reap, exclusive of the
national advantages that must ensue, emoluments
beyond their most sanguine expectations. AnO
sclist their spirits elated by their success, per-
blessings on the person who first pointed ont to
them the ,cay. These, but a atadOlry recompenss
Of all my toll, I shall receirc ,cith pleasure"
If the idea of the ancient Greeks is true. let US
give pleasure to his shade. Captain Carver, Of
the Provincial Troops in America, SO called in the
fictitious deed of the land of Minnesota, purport-
ing to have been given to him by the Dakotas, in
the cave, on the premises of Mr.. Dayton, "oul
good brother Jonathan,' we remember him to-
night, as the first son of New England in Mime
sofa, and the first regular Yankee who walked
over the ground of the city of Saint Paul.
I'd. Our Pilgrim Mothers.-The Pilgrim Fa-
theirs gave us New England institutions, but the
Pilgrim Mothers gave us New England homes 5
grateful posterity should give each, in return,
grateful remembrance.
E. C. Palmer, Esq, from Burlington, VT, re-
sponded. He said Mr.. President, Ladies and
Gentlemen 1t would have suited me better to
have borne silent part in the festivities of this
occasion, leaving to others worthier than myself
the task of giving adequate expression to the COM
mon feeling-but since necessity and the wish of
your committee have seen fit to order otherwise, |
am happy in being chosen to respond to this sen.
timent, for it was never so difficult to speak O,
woman as to her; beside am not ashamed, nav
am proud to acknowledge that there is resting
very near my heart tonight, the memory of a
New England mother and New England home
and should but i'll requite the devoted love of
that mother, and the remembered blessings of