The weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1852-1858, 1855-07-14
!. MONDAY MORNING. JULY 9. 1855.
Mr.. wilkinson,s Grafton.

fore the people of St. Paul 10y M. S. Wilkinson,
Esq. 1t is not often that we find one who is
sufficiently fearless of present and future con-
sequences to treat the great Revolutionary
Principle of'76 as it should properly be treat
ed. Mr. Wilkinson has come fully up to the
notwithstanding the old hum drum style of
his predecessors on such occasions-and has
given us an Grafton entirely understandable
in all its parts, and not perfect unless presented
to the public in full, without curtailment of
any of those parts.
Mr.. PRESIDENT Ladies and Gentlemen
We have met together to-day in obedience
to the time-honored usage of the Republic,
and in obedience to principle of our nature,
deeply implanted in the human mind.
We have met with hearts full of gladncss,
surrounded on every hand, with the richest of
heavens blessings, and under circumstance of
peculiar prosperity, such as no nation or peo-
pie ever enjoyed before. These reflections
should make us mindful and l trust they do
make us remember not only the eStimable beS-
sings which our fathers have transmitted to us
from the past, but also the duties and the re-
sponsibilities which rest upon US, as patriots,
as citizens, and as men.
We should, also, be mindful that He who
holds the wind in His fist; and the waters OF
the sea in the hollow of His hand. has not f +
saken us as nation or been unmindful OF our
wants.
On such occasions as this, the heart invol-
unfairly turns back to the speaking, truth-tell-
ing pages of history to the time which gave
rise to the event which we this day celebrate,
and our affections naturally centre upon the
fathers of this Republic. Successive genera
tons which are past rise up in silent grandeur
before us, and point us 10 the cold, frozen
Rock of Plymouth, and to the bloody scenes
of the Revolution, where our fathers poured
out their blood like water, for the establish
ment of princi pie which now does and for all
time to come,will constitute the great vital ele-
ment in the government we all prize so highly.
This is a day Of commemmoratiOn, OF cele-
braton and of jubilee but at the same time,
it should be regarded as day Of reflection, OF
gratitude, and of stern resolves. 1t should by
US be regarded as a day of cOmmemoration, in
which we should do honor 10 the memory OF
our fathers, and should recount and treasure
up an W in our hearts, the many deeds of vr-
tue and of patriotism which marked their nc
tions while living and which rendered them
illustrious in history after they had been gath
! STCu W tilclT IulfCIS DuJ IL StlOu u uOt VIC Ill
the formal ceremony mercly-not only in "ser-
mon and song that we should do them honor
! but our actions and our deeds should also
/ testify our reverence for their memory. We
should here make the stern resolve to treasure
u in our hearts whatever in them was noble
! and pure, and also improve upon the lessons OF
virtue and Of truth which their examples have
ta,.rht us. 1t is also for us to improve the
rich inheritance which we have received from
them.
This day. then, shoald also be day Of re-
Election. Of gratitude ard of resolves. We
should reflect seriously ,ca,'cnly reject upon the
many and transcendant virtues OF our iathers.
We should feel gratitude pl,c'ourd. un-
ceasng gratitude for the rich blessings ,rhlch
they were enabled through Providence to be-
queath to US. But above ALL we should here
make the stern resolve to improve and enlarge
the legacy which has been lett us, and to trans
nit it, not only preserved and unimparcd, but
highly improved, adorned and beautified, to
those who arc TO come after us. By so dol ,g
alone can we Americans, fulfil our high destiny
and render ourselves worthy of the trust which
has been reposed in US. 1t is pee iliary fit
and proper Tor us Americans, 10 be here to-day
Nav we here renew our faith and strengthen
our resolve to perform our duty. May we here
take our reckoning and ascertain whether we
have been driven, by the fury of contendng
elements, away from the standard of our faith
crs.
1t is, perhaps, frailty Of our nature, that
under circumstances OF peculiar prosperity,we
are apt to become unmindful of our duty, and
to turn away from the maXims and the princi-
pies through which alone can be perpeluated
the great blessings we have inherited. The
son of the laboriOus and successful man of bu-
siness, when he comes in possession of the
boundless wealth which the long and toilsome
life of his father had accumulated almost at
once forgets its origin, and turns away from
the great lessons of industry, prudence and
economy, through which alone his fathers sue
cess in life was made sure,an, by an adherance
to which alone, can an Inheritance so acquired
be preserved. He is almost certain to enter
upon life of needless, thoughtless extrava-
gance. He despises that which his father most
regarded and he respects and courts that which
he most avoided and despised. lie thinks
that he is greater than his father was, for in
addition to all his parents virtues, he is as.
sured that he adds un immense fortune and
boundess experience, neither OF which in his
youth his sire possessed. lie, therefore, looks
with Indifference upon the cautious, prudent
example which was set him, and like some of
our modern politicians, thinking only OF the
great doctrine of progress, aud regarding it as
his especial duty to ignore everything which
was said or done by some one Older than him
self. he boldly dashes out into on unknown sea.
Perhaps it is u sea of FOLLY aud of dissipa
tion;-he has no chart to guide him, for he has
thrown his fathers chart away. Vague, unde-
fined notions of destiny, fly in rapid succession
Al. b,,i b.sr Ernv
whittier, until a cloud, mot larger than his hand,
is seen in the heavens Suddenly, the heavens
are black with storm; the deep bosom" of
the "blue ocean, is no longer smooth and un-
ruHled around him the angry heaving pillows
already testify his danger. and a thick log like
the sable curtains of midnight is spread over
the heavens, shutting out all impending danger
from his view. In his extremity our young
mariner turns to seek his pilot, but finds no pi-
lot on board he searches in vain for the Old
chart of his father, for he has forgotten that
he had thrown that old chart away I; at last he
is bewildered and lost, with no power to direct
or control it his vessel is left entireiy at the
mercy of the elements Perhaps it is to be
stranded upon some rock, which the ignored
chart of his father would have pointed out to
him; or, perhaps, to be run into, while cross
ing the track OF some old and slliliul seaman
WHO is cautiously pursuing his course over the
angry pillows, aud through the thick black
fog with his eyes intently liked upon tile chart
40. 4 A.