American Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1855-1860, 1855-06-21
Morning June 9I,Is0S
speech of the Hon. Kenneth Rayner.

otto speech of Hon. Kenneth hayner, Ol
North Carolina, delivered at the banquet
to the American National Convention. ON
last Thursday, is one Of the richest speci-
mems Of eIoquenoe we have read for a long
time. 1t elected thunders of applause.
Hard, indeed, is the task imposed on
him to whom is assigned the duty of re-
spending to such a sentiment rs that of the
Union, around which clusters so many
halowed AMI heart-stirring associations
The Unioni Thevery word is poetry itself:
aye, the poetry of patriotism. What
tongue SO eloquent as to portray is beau
ties; what heart so full as to appreciate
is glories; what brain so capacious as to
estimate It's value?
The Union! the very mention of the
word is enough to still all the tumul;s of
our troubled na.urc-to hush all The angry
contentious of conflicting interests-to
hallow all the anxieties of the patriots
heart iu regard to our country's future
Tho idea OF the UnioA of these States!-
How vast the field Of contemplation which
it opens before the human mind. 1t
grasps within itself, first, the most glorious
associations Of the past-;he most intense
appreciation Of our present blcssing-the
most intense and anxious hopes as to the
glores OF our country's future
Phe union of these States! Why the
very idea carries back the mind to the
time when our Pilgrim Fathers landed on
Pilgrim Rock, at jamestown, at Roanoke,
when their hearts and their arms, nerved
with strength and vigor, impclled by de
votion to civil liberty and resistance to re-
ligious oppression, they braved all the
storms OF the ocean, they suffered all the
privations and peris which were peculiar
TO people fleeing from oppression to
distant wilderness. The same idea o
union comprchends the time when W,
glide further down the stream of histor,
to that time when our patriot fathers
stung by the oppression of the mother
country, were lashed into resistance for the
purpose Of asserting the great principlei
which were the birthright Of British sub
iects; and which they supposed had bcel
The same idea Of the Union covers thu
time when that conclave of sages met II
this very city, and, my brethren, within
few hundred yards OF this spot where W.
are now congregated, and really when
all1le TO that important event in our his
tory, when feel the sterling associations
connected with it, feel am in the sigh
of that hallowed place, feel like Nose,
did when he beheld the burning bush, tia
the very ground upon which I stasd i,
sacred ground. (AppIause.
Aye, my friends and brethren, this idef
OF the Union carries your minds back tc
that scene, when that conclavc of sages
whose hallowed bones now rest in ou
classic SOIL had pledged their lives, thei
fortunes AMI their sacred honor, 'tha
these colonies were, and of right ought /,
be free AMI Independent States" 1t cover
associations stu more thlling even thai
that. II carries you back to all the battle
ficlls Of the Revolution. This idea Of uh
Union covers the sacrifices of our father
at Bunker Hill, at Saratoga, at Brandy
vino, Gul(ord and Camden, where III,
best blood Of America crimsoned the soil
and waiered the tree of liberty, unde
whose spreading branches we arc now re
posing in peace and happiness (Grea
applause.
Yes, my friends, this idea Of the 'Unior
which was the result of our fathers sacr
fees, carries the mind back to the peri
the suffering, the sacrifices of our father
when that man.whose name is hallowed
tho hearts and affections Of every lover
his country, at time when British canno
was booming across the harbor of Bostor
at time when the patriots heart shran
with anxiety; at the time when our patric
mothers higged their babes to their bc
SONS with anxiety, that very timo whe
Washington drew from his side his trust
sword and led the sons of freedom to battle
In contemplating the glorics of thp
time, you cannot fail ever to observe i
the foreground of the picture, that III
calm countenance of that man to whom
have alluded was placed amid the storm
strife aud tumult of battle; that great ma
who is come down to history the greatest
the nohlost, and the mghtiest among 9Th
few, the immortal names that were nc
born to die" Great appIausc.)
My Brothers, this idea Of the UDo
covers an event in our history no less mo
mentous, refer to that time when thos
hero Statesmen assembled for the purpos
OF forming that glorious Constitution unde
which We live, when coming together fror
all parts Of this vast Confcderacy, wit
conflicting feelings and interests, they lai
deep and strong the foundations Of TIM
Temple OF Liberty around whose altar thei
sons might assemble, aud offer up thei
sacrifices in peace and fraternal concord
(Applause,)
This word, the union Of these States
that idea Isay, which even covers the glo
ries achieved by our flag during our las
war with Great Britain, for it was becaus
of the nationality of our country tn
equality of rights growing out Of nationa
equality represented by this Union, EN-
bematized by the stars and stripes whic
were violated on the ocean, that we DIRE,
tho sword in that contest, national equait
was invaded. Applause. Looking to
period still later within the knowledge
all: our recent war with Mexico was III
der the broad psis Of Union rs embodie
in the stars and stripes. when our sol
marched over hetacombs Of the slain
the very walls of the Montezumas, and |
the very beams Of the sun shot athwa
the eastern mountains, they saw that glt
ria,,s A.