Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1855-07-05


vast as thai-with fields wide and fruitf,
. enough to grow the bread Of the world--ri,
. ers and lakes tha: could float its commerce.
forests OF woods, and mines Of coal that ca
A feed its fres--iD short, land with resource
equal to the demands of more than one hun
, dred millions of men, can never be the f
scene for the working Of proscriptive, par,:a
and exclusive ystems--potitca;, social an
religious. And so her statesmen and her peo
pie, l think, feel
u The West is the last and dearest hope o
the over-worked and under.fed millions o
,chite slaves, driven by the cruelties OF Euro
pean dynasties and the unjust legislation, in
stgated by capital and corporate Interests o
the older States of the Republican, from
the homes Of chilhood. To the West the,
must go to find true freedom and independ
ence, political and personal.
The West has, indeed, boundless physica
resources, but assure you, sir, she is con
scious that Nations and States are weak in.
deed if they have none other than large ma.
terial possesso Is. She knows that the test
of peoples strength is not their ability to
"SottuJ Dut TIC uSGo W "IllCU tuey put
thei. money and means. She Knows that by
the strength Of principles, and the generosi.
ty and elevation ol sentiment, possessed by q
people. they can alone be judged and shown
worthy or worthless.
What, then, are the principles of that peo.
pie! Look, if you please, at that noble band
| of States over which the Ordinance OF 'S7
| ,l Al
soil to freedom and the fruits of unshackled
honest industry forever. The heart Of the
great West is there in the band of States
There at no very distant Cay must be the seat
of American Empire, and. from thence must
the desiinies of ous Nation be controlled.
Now these States are already strong in
these principles of freedom, and truth, and
justice, which are the element Of the best
known politc:l and social States. They are
free Staies;they ave schools, colleges church
es, scientific and literary associations. Ohio
has school law as liberal as that Of Massa-
chusetts. Men and women, who never were
forty miles away from Boston, sometimes
speak Of the Western people as outside bar.
barians. Why. sir, they are a civilized peo-
pie; highly civilized, and as an evidence of
their advancement in the higher arts of civil
lied life, It is enough to remind you that they
furnish such lecturers as Chaplin and King
some of their most appreciative and dscrim-
mating audiences.
There is my native Ohio. am proud Of
her. She is a Queen among the Empires
around hs.-I ~ea-Preal- ef- hor mutrIiui
power, and influence. But she hos not only
strength, but beauty. She exhibits not.cniy
the strength o. E mighty giant-she is,
though but half of century from her birth,
already rich in the grace Of cultivated Intellect
What could not say to the praise of Wes-
tern genius. had the time.
Why, sir, who was it that won from an
English Revew-high authority in critical
circles, and chary of its praise the splen-
did compliments, that she was the most
original among all poets of America! Who
but Alice Carey-an Ohio girl!-(Applause }
And there is Hiram Powers. whose cunning
hand boldly took up the gage thrown to the
moderns by the old sculptors, and his beaut-
ful Slave the 'Eve,' and the Fisher Boy
have challenged comparison with the Greek
and Italian masterpieces. (Applause.) He
too, is o. Ohio growth, And there is Thomas
Ewing, man of ponderous, yet acute legal
intelligence, acknowledged by the Supreme
Court of the United States, the only man fit
to weare the robes Of Webster in their pres
ence. (Appluuse-) .....-..--
And yet again. There is in Ohio one of
the most fascinating, popular orators Of modern
alas: ingloriously silent, and
sublimely Indifferent to the calls Of fame. A
man as witty as Sheridan, as imaginative ,
as Burke, and if need be as logical as Brongh-
ham; as suceinct and clear in the statement
Of principles, and frequently as classic in
icti on as Wendell Phillips, while often
rivaing in impassioned defamation the
'prodigal splendor" of Choate, man who
las wasted in the county court and IN the +
rial of petty cases eloquence enough, if
exhibited on large field and in great causes,
% have given him reputation equal to En- !
,kine's OF Williams Wirt's. Irefer, sir, IAom-
rs Corwin. (Applause.) ..
Allow me one word Of the West,.as great
power in the nation. l sad that there would
soon oe the seat or empire. Tut there, re-
,pect fully submit will be found something bet
er than the seat of the Capitol-there will be
he seat of that conservative power necessary
% the permanence of the Republic. The men
are to save the Union If thai should eUer
-eaHy Be in danger--will be, not the brokers
If wall street, nor the merchant, princes of
State street, but the men of the West-the
mighty thousands of voters who must hold
balance of power ITSELF, at the polls. The
al ners mechanics, traders-the greater mul'
ituGe of workers who show that labor is
cursed without liberty, and that liberty is
insecure with out union-these will be the
Union savers. (Applause.) ,a-
AS that great man said, on the occasion Of
hat picture above your head, is, designed TO
[Webster's reply to Haynel--
There is Boston and Concord, and Lexng-
on and Bunker Hill-and there they will re-
main forever SO say of that great North
vest there it is, and there it will remain
orever,--and when faction is rite-when the
memory Of Lexington, and Bunker Hill and
Yorktown, shall fail to still the mad passions
# the blind North and the blinder South, q
rmed bands from tho sections shall prepare