Demoine courier., 1855-07-05
A Witty Speech.

upon at c hicago, on tie occasion of the
return Railroad visi, from Burlington, to
respond TO a toast complimentary of
Mount Pleasant, made a very neat and
witty speech which the Chicago Tribune
says entitled him 10 the %laurels Of the
A good portion Of the speech
will be found below:
Mr.. Mayor, ladies' and gentlemen,
perhaps ! should stop here. In the re
marks which | am about TO make, it may
be | shall be guilty of a great indiscre.
ton. | am afraid | was The last of the
household who should have been trusted
in this position. | am afraid that ! shall
unwittingly be'ray some family secrets.
II | DO, | hope tina, | shall be forgiven
by my fellow citizens who are present.
They must attribute it 10 my very seclud.
CT and rural position TO the fact that |
have not been properly inflated, posted
and guarded in the premises.
was present, Mr.. May or, and wit
messed your reception of your guests on
their leaving the cars. listened 10 the
beautiful poem so delightfully."- recited at
the Theatre. / was with you in the
pleasan, excursion upon the lake; and
have been an attentive listener to the
sentiments and speeches Of the evening;
and everywhere, and in everything per-
tanning 10 this occasion, and particularly
in the sentiment 10 wi ich | am respond
ing, there appears to be but u idea.
,ha, is, that the young aud gallant Chi
cago has taken to himself a bride, and
that bride is our own beautiful Iowa!
And this nigh, we are supposed 10 have
met as happy guests a, the marriage fes,i
val. Ca gen,leman,-"at the infair,')
| stand corrected. Ii is called the ''in-
lair" The marriage ceremonies then,
we must suppose. were performed on the
recent joyful occasion at Burlington.
Mr.. Mayor, your Chicago is undoubt.
edly a '.fast young man, indeed in his
instance, he lie altogether 100 fast -
With sorrow | say it, there has been no
real wedding. This is no marriage fesii.
val. 1t is but the publication OF the
banns! There stands our young. our
beautiful Iowa; she is entitled to all the
compliments you have bestowed upon
her. But she stands free in virgin puri.
,y and maiden %singleness. IT'S true
that she has had her su i,ors. Ills true
that Chicago has stood amongst her
mos, favored AMI acceptable. IT'S true
that she has listened with a pleased ear
and agreatful. flowing heart to your
honeyed accents, and your words OF
praise. But young wooers are apt TO
presume too far. She never for a mo
ment supposed you entitled to the mar
riage rights. Why, my dear Chicago,
you have but kissed the tips Of your
Brides fingers over the fence. We give
you credl. for having made most elegant
advances, bu, under favorable circum'
stances. You are considered quite good
looking, and when you Knocked, the
door was thrown wide open to You -
But if you have been too presuming in
thought, you have beensuficien,ly bash
full in manners. You could moi be per
suaded 10 come farther than the Cliffs
And now ] am going 10 tell you what
had reference TO when | spoke Of letting
gu! o family secret. Ourbeauti(ullo wa'ha;
got another sutton, young, gallant, rich,
and full o. love of adventure. He has
long been intimate in the family, and
his attentions have ever been quite &C
ceptable. Indeed, he makes himse.i
quite at home at our house. He paddles
his own canoe and has been for years
in the habit OF landing al the back GAZE,
and SO coming in without the formaliiy
Of knocking. This Gate is sometimes
called Keokuk. From thence you will
find his well worn pathways over the
prairies, through our groves and along
our streams. For his better accommo
dation he is about opening a new path.
way of iron from his old landing place,
up through our fields and gardens TO the
deep waters above the upper rapids
And nov while Chicago stands ~twirling
his cane on the banks of the Mississippi,
this young spring Of cbivalry-lhis gal
liant ST. Louis, is flying to our southern
borders with horses of iron. With his
usual impe.uosity he will no. larry
He will leap over-he will rush up the
valley OF our own most, beautiful OF riv.
ers, the Des Moines-through the centre
of our State.
l tell you that while you thus seem to
be con.en,ing yourself with kissing the
hand OF the BRIDE, and gazing al dis
lance into her eyes,. the bold Southern
youth is smackipg her very lips
While you are blindly imagining that
the bride is already won and wed, he is
stealing into her very heart. While you
are besieging her by slow approaches,
he is storming her Utmost citadel.
No. LADIES' and gentlemen Of Chicago,
the bride is not vel won. There she
yet stands in the Al arket, more beautiful
than Imagination cap .conceiye-nore
than words can express; with a
rich beyond calculation, and re-
sources which no man can estimate.
JJnDreCedented Performance.