The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1855-06-20
Speech of Hon. Kenneth Rayner,
OF NORTH CAROLINA.
AT THE AMERICAN BANQUET. PHiLADE1.-
r11lA InNE Z l9h5

| AT THE AMERICAN BANQUET. IHiLADEL.
rIiiA, JUNE Z, 1855.
Tho Americans of Philadelphia gave
grand Banquet to the delegates to tue
National American Convention and 9th.
er guests. at which Mayor CONRAD pre-
si6cd. That gentleman "opened the
ball" with an eloquent and patriotic nd.
dress. After quiet was restored, the
President announced the first regular
toast of the evening" "Tho Union" and
called upon the Hon. KENNErH RAlNER,
of North Carolina to respond. "The
toast" the Mayor remarked, deserved
three times three, not only from our
mouths and hands, but from our hearts"
After nine cheers for the Union. Mr..
RAYNrR arose amid louG applause and
spoke as follows:
Hard. indeed. is tho task imposed on
him to whom is assigned the duty Of re-
spending to such sentiment as that of
the Union. around which cluster so many
hallowed aud heart stirring associatious.
The Union The very word is poetry
itself aye, the poetry of patriotism
What tongue so eloquent as to portray
its beauties what heart so full as to ap
prcciatc its e!orics what brain 30 capa.
tious as to estimate its value2
The Union the very mention Of the
word is enough to still all the tumuts
of our troubled nature-to hush all the
angry contentious Of conflicting interests
10 lallow all the nnxietics of the pa.
triot's heart in regard to our countrv's
/ future. The idea of the Union of these
/ States How vast the field Of contem.
/ piation which il opens before the human
mind. 1t grasps within itself first, the
most glorious associations of the past
the most intense appreciation of our rre
sent bcssings-ihc most intense and anx.
ious hopes as to the gl,rics of our coun.
try's future
The union Of these States Why the
very idea carries back the mind to the
time when our Pilgrim Fathers landed
on Pil grim Rock, at jamestown at Roam
okc. when theirs hearts and their arms.
norved with strength and vigor. impcllod
by devotion to civil liberty and rcsis-
tnncc to reIigious oppression they bravcd
AL the storms Of the ocean. they suffer
ed all the privatons and porils which
were peculiar to PEOPLE fleeing from op-
preston to a distant wilderness The
same idea of union omptohends the
time when we glide further down the
stream Of history 20 that time when our
latriot fathers. stung by the oppression
of the mother country, wero lnshcd into
resistance for the purpose of asserting
the grca, nrincir les which we're the birth.
right of British subjects and which they
supposed had been invaded.
The same iGea of the Union covers
the time when that conclavc of savages
met IN his very city, and, my brethren,
within few hundred yards of the spot
where We are r0w congreeated, and renl
ly when | alludc to that important event
in our history. when feel the sterling
associations connected with it. ! feel
am in the sight Of tha, hallowcd place.
feel as Moses did when he behcld the
burning bush, that the very ground upon
which | stand is sacred ground Gap.
plansc)
Aye. my friends and brethren, this
idea of the Union carries your minds
| '"'h W luhh Cb'il'. when Iilat CODclANC
Of sages, whose hallowcd bones nots rest
in our classic soil. had pledged their
lives their fortune and their sacred hon
or. That these colonies were, and Of right
ought 10 be free and independent States
1t covers associations still more thrilling
than that. 1t carries votl back to all
the battle fields Of the Revolution. This
idea Of the Union covers the sacrifices of
our fathers at Bunker Hill, Mt Saratoga,
at Brandywinc Guilford and Camden,
where the best blood of America Grim.
sonod the soil, and watered the tree of
liberty under whose spreading branches
we are now reposing in peace and hap
pincss Great applause
Yes, ny friends. this idea of the Tn.
ion, which was the result of our fathers
sacrifices, carries the mind back TO the
peril, the suffering, the sacrifices of our
fathers when that man whose name is
halo@od in the hearts and affections of
every lover Of his country. at time
when British cannon was booming across
the harbor Of Boston. at time when pa.
triots heart shrank with anxiety; at a
time when patriot mothers Rugged their
babes TO their bosoms that very
time when Washington drew from
his side his trusty sword and led the
sons of Freedom to battle.
In contemplating the glories of that
time. you cannot fail ever to observe in
the foreground Of the picture. that the
calm countcnarce of that man to whom
| have alluded was placid amid the
stormy strife aud tumult of the battle :;
that great man who is come down to his
tory the greatest the noblcst, and tho
mightest among "the few, the immortal
names that were not born to die " (Great
applause)
My Brothers this idea Of the Union
covers an event in our history no less
momentous. refer to that time when
those hero Statesmen assembled for the
purpose Of forming that glorious Consti-
tuition under which We live. when coming
together from all parts of this vast Con-
federacy, with conflicting feelings and in.
teresis, they laid deep and strong the
foundations of that Temple of Liberty
around whose altar their sons may Assem-.
bic and offer Up their saeriices in peace
and fratcrnal concord, (Applausc)
This word the union of these States,
/ tl,at ;1oo I eay xvb;ah oyon ooyar, L.