The Opelousas patriot. [volume] (Opelousas, Parish of St. Landry, La.) 1855-1863, 1855-09-22

Nerve yourselves up, then,to the magnitude Of your mission. Like
Cliff Of Isas while he told him, +" civis Romanas sum- ezclaim
pEoudy to " face Of the wrong-deer, " am an ~ American ;s1 sns citizen !,
the behests Of your noble Washington, who told you to :" guard against
the insidious viles of foreign influence" and in falament also Of g e that
,ttss, binds YOU to. transmit, nntainted and ~unimpaired, to the next
generation the rich legacy Of the Revolution Ut (which. which was 81 purchased u chase i. at
and the triumphs of that torn and shattered banner. ~ ,D;lii
Keep your eyes constantly turned with love ad. admiration to that
proud and gorgeous emblem Of our nationality. It is the cherished
relic Of the days Of old, associated with the traditions Of yore, and iden-
titled with the onward and triumphant march of the Republic, detach-
ing itself in the most gorgeous and brilliant proportions. and preparing
its radiant and rapturous ascension to the elevated heights Of glory.
tiers above Us in the rays Of glory and as it invites the soothing and
refreshing showers Of BE- heaven upon N the r pure re and 9 n spirit ., una uni
Our fathers took the blue 'glancing stars from the bright azure of
the armament, and set them in that cerplean field, that their radiant
and beaming light should guide US in the paths Of homo, and Of duty.
sphere. and left its brilliant tints upon its gorgeous folds, that it, too,
might be a sign IF promise. 1t enshrouded the form Of the gallant
Washington, when he spurred up to the very muzzles Of the enemy's
guns at Princeton, and sat beneath its ample folds while the shot fell
when he aroled' back the tide Of battle" on the foe at Monmouth, or
when he sat on his warsteed in the midst Of the war cloud at German
town, and when his loud and ringing voice was heard far above the
roar, the crash and the din of the conflict, cheering American freemen
to the onset. It has heard the last farewell Of heroes " grow faint on
to it, and to our republican fathers, dead in battle, who snatched red
victory from the lannon's flaming throat!
Every thing around us speaks of Liberty! love to breathe the
bright azure Of your prairie homes. There is not to me the taintest
breath of wind that sweeps in freedom over these lovely plains which
And you, whose smiles have lent a charm to the occasion, Ladies Of
St. Landry! is this day without its power over your minds? When
clothes the eastern horizon with all its gorgeous splendor-when the
proud anthem of Liberty, streaming forth from a nations heaving bo-
with the ceaseless music of the spheres-do you then find in the event
full Past nothing to make you proud of your sex? Oh, no! 1 read
bright aashings Of your eyes. Yes, if the noble character Of woman
ever appeared in the full glow Of its sublimity-if that nature of wo-
heroic IMPULSES and lofty resolves of the man with the teuderhearted-
ness of the child, ever engaged in a holy mission, it was at the hour
the batteIeld-When our ranks had been thjuped bV the WhlrlWlnd of
battle, and our prospects were darkened with u gloom akin to that
Prophets were being coomplished"~at that hour, that supreme and
momentous hour, which, in the sublime language Of Gov. Mcdowell,
of other land, who, as I'll they y laid overwhelmed and crushed under the
weight Of affairs and Of thrones, still poured out their hearts into sobs
and steady light which would never bewilder or betray at that
hour Woman appeared as if the Messenger of God With her hair
the side Of the wounded soldier and ministered to his %suaanngs! She
mingled her voice with the roar Of the pealing artillery, and the cleo
lifted arm as she Haunted defiance to her countrys foe. And at the
solemn hour Of night the plaintiye tones Of her supp!!ieeating voice were
adapea es 'f ain s who 10 once ene osafI,se W Hensen a so IN ans and a beeou selreT H ins
in all the fervor Of her lacerated heart, to turn from her bleeding coun.
pressor. Oh, you also, Sisters, (since we are all members of the great
and glorious family whose patent of nobility is the impression Of the
H Hil, q ft' n Fo to ipp of yniy. f75 5ss h 1os GsS S5a an d jotstsst eo e5s Bp"sfs
to that of all Of us, in the preservation and safe keeping of the rich
legacy we have inherited from the Revolution! |vt
1t was a grand and a magnificent spectacle when light seas, and this
fair and beautiful world fell from Gods hand, being fashioned out Of
s s5;%mer3as sn the light aad Of +, the Re AL Ai%m d 3 s face ao ata t through %;s1nt tRs
presence! The river which watered Edens howery groves shone bright
and sparkling like a sheet of FURNISHED silver the low watt of seraphs
wings was heard in its shady bowers the birds in the thick foliage
wafbled their meek praise, to His glory and bountifulness the blue
in the sapphire empyrean " waxed broad and waving like a banner
free /" all Nature sang q melody in praise of Him who presided over
the first dawn of Creation. Between Nature and Man there was God
between the Native Land and the Human Heart, Woman, the master
piece OF God, comes to cheer and sustain its aspirations. Your smiles
and your presence will sustain us in our endeavors, will cheer US in the
patriotic work in which we are engaged. You will ever continue t
feel what you feel now, that the cabin chamber, as well as the parlol
hall, might have for its inmate the future wife Of a President Of the
United States!
Oh, Motherand! it is at this hour, when thou art as a thing dead
fderision and scorn by those who have come to thee as strangers, anc
who, having felt the warmth of thy great heart, are now despising what
has given life to them! 1t is at all hour like this, that, at the sigh
of thy woes and thy bewaiment, the hearts of thy sons are softenec
with strings of steel grows soft as sinews of the new born babe !" But
when looking at thine oppressors, boated with iniquity and crime. and
reeling like drunken savages over thee-when we see thy sons, bone O
thy bone, and flesh of thy flesh, aiding the pampered foreign foe te
draw the ite-blood from thy maternal heart, oh, then it makes " each
petty artery Of this frail body strong as the Nemean lions nerve"L
and then we feel, Motherland, that thy cause is a holy and a sacred
one, and that we must live and die for thee!
And Thou, Spirit of Justice, Spirit of Truth and Light! whose
home is that world above, /" ribboned with the rainbow and inlaid will
stars wash, oh wash away the foul stain from the beautiful though
thy morning sun, and kissed by the winds Of heaven, it might sing thu
eloquent praise Of thy glory and omnipotence! My Father, my Fa
ther! God of the Patriot and. the Warrior! Omnipotent Ruler o
the Heaven, Earth and Ocean--who " ronst thy thunder DER tn
vaulted skies y! Strike with the %thunderbots of Thy vengeance thu
monuments OF iniquity, that upon their crumbling ruins we nigh
raise thine holy affairs, and offer up to Thee the holy holocaust of Lib
erty, the blood and memory of Thy brave and patriotic servants VIII,
! ' have gone before us, and whose bleaching corpses were swung to ant
fro by the midnight winds that swept over the scafolds raised by tn
hands OF Treason and Tyranny
Collector of Accounts JOSEPH oHEN1ER, Collector for tn
lis services " such to the - Parish of ST. Landry. Office in One,msas