Carroll free press. [volume] (Carrollton [Ohio]) 1834-1861, 1855-07-05


viii hear with impotence the erudites and
cOmmOn-BlAseS Of an ordinary after disner
speech, and especially 50 as they must still be
under the spell Of enchsntment east upon them
and US, by him Of New York. who has just
made the Old Cradle to rock as in days Of
yOre-6lling the venerable shrine With slO-
qusnCs almost il not altogether equal to their
own. (Great applause.
But you ask ne 70 respond TO GIeutinent in
honor Of the West The duty 10 grateful
one; for the best memorials Of my life are AssO.
} ciated with that great Western land. What
the valley Of the sacO, the green banks Of the
} Kennebec, the granite hill country, and the
wooden slopes OF Vermont, contain for many Of
this company, the Western country holds for
me-the one most sacred Of al earth's acres
the place of birth. There are the scenes of
chidhOOd's joys and griefs. There is the
homestead and the household gods of youth;
the ruins of the log school house that stood on
the village green, shadOwed BY single guar-
led. many ringed oak, and there are those 9TH
er trees, (and who does not remember trees. }
wide brachings hanging over the deep places
in the brook. (it seemed then very Amazon
and Mississippi and where, among the mos
sy roots. the boy would lay and forget to watch
his fishing g-line, e,-being intent upon visions Of
glory that went by with the sailing summer
clouds, or sending up through the whispering
bcughs. when the cleaning had come, vague
longing and aspiratiOns-asking in vain Of the
twilight stars Why manhood fingered so long,
and what It would bring when It came, and
when the supreme Joy of life would be gained.
And there in the West is the village church.
where from the lips Of the sainted Rogers the
quaint, coutemplative, genial hearted scholar,
and the accomplished dialectician, from
Plngree, man without guile--a soul all alive
with love Of truth and Of his kind--in privale
life as gentle and sweet tempered as FenelOn.
in the pulpit and in debate as impetuous and
impass ioned and terrible as Knox-fOm these
envangelists did first hear proof of that faith
which alone leads to the supreme good. They
gave me an answer to the most vexed and vex'
ing questions touching the present and the fu'
ture-gave me a key to unlock all the enigmss
of life-put a golden thread into my hand,
which leads from the darkest and most intricate
labyrinths into the radiance Of an eternal day.
They taught me religion which harmonizes
erason and faith, and answers all cavil against
God and his rule, by proving that all evil 10
partial, and that all partial evil is universal
good.
have heard to-day son ofNew England
speak with PRIDE of the land of his fathers
His complaisanCy is natural and commendabe.
We allow the Esquimaux and the Bushman to
boast Of their native soil, and we thank kind
nature that she has made her surroundings as
dear and pleasant to them, as bis Alps and his
valleys to :he Switzer. May not man, then
be proud Of his brth-land, when it is such
land as this New England, or that good cOun-
try, there far off beyond the Alleghanies?
wish, sir. could speak in fitting praise,
or indicate even thousandth part OF its glO.
ries and its blessings. Your toast expresses
the wish that there may ever be a correspond.
ence in the physical capacities and resources Of
the West, and in the principles and sentiments
of her people. DsvOutly do say, Amenl and
I point you to her history for proof that such
have been and a.e her tendencies, That is in
deed too broad land for the success Of mar
row and restrictive policies. Those who shape
her destiny when they attempt to put upon her
the bonds that may not be out Of place and
character in small and confined communities,
must feel rebuked for their nanowness Of spir.
it BY the majestic scenes around them. A
country so vast as that--with fields vide and
fruitful CROUCH to grow the bread ofthe world
l-riyers and lakes that could hOaL its com.
merce--forests Of woods, and mines Of coal that
can feed its fres-in short, land with resour-
ces equal to the demands gilmore than one
hundred millions of men, can never be the ft
scene for the working Of proscriptive, partial
and exclusive systems-political, social and re-
HgiOus. And so her statesman and her peO.
pie, think, feel. s. a-
The West is the last and dearest hope Of the
over worked and under-fed millions Of white
slaves, driven by the cruelties of European dy-
nasties and the unjust Legislation, instigated BY
capital and corporate interests Of the older States
of the Republic--out from the homes Of child
hood, To the West they must 60 to find true
freedom and independence, political and per.
sonal ,- I
The West has, indeed, bOundless physical
resources. but assure you. sir, she is con-
scious that Nations and States are weak indeed
if they have none other than large material
possessions. She knows shat the test Vi peo'
Pies strength is not their ability to amass