The true Democrat., 1857-05-19
Caleb Cushing's Speech.
GREETING.

Fellow citizens, 1 greet you, one and all with emotions of heartfelt and sincere affection ana respect. You have wiled that nv return h' hcr, alter an absence of four years of politi (" rSl functions, should be public, in the assem
 'et' Pe"pie'S presence, and it was your right so ~ ~ "c'e'inine; for vou have been, to me, throufh '"7 S'ocG'>lVe stages of not uneventlul life, WIZ " MlSnef' always, candid judges of opiIion "''' c' "G,l"n' even Where we diti.rel, and zeal- ou' 'l'e1'"' l many Crisis of popular commo- ''o" "''. 'o'l'eh 'ofi--Ih word, the kind home com ip'i""hs o' my chilIhood, youthhood and 'il"hhonn lhvifati"n from you has the double Force, "l command to be ob4yed in du ilul .,rati l"af, and oi summons to the enjoyment of ox- Iu''ite g'atlileauon. now, therefore, appear among yon, to reciprocate your friendly saluta- ton|, to renew suspende! aosoriationa and thus asaln t" become resident citizen of New bmyport.
 LOCAL ATTACHMENTs
 o'aidlnS here, on this familiar spot, with all these well known faces before me. and in the SiSht oi old homestead objects 1t seems to me 'haV our natal earth Is d part of our intellectual ana mora being; that though we be not vislblv at'ached to It, still the roots of our hearts pene- tra'e unseen down deep into it; and thus, even WhlIe lar away, we continue like the fast oak H'eIl, to draw nourlshment and vigor from the same iresh breezeS and bright skies, and fair hlii'Idts and clear streams, where life began anu that, roam over the world as we will, mys- Vefious tles oi birthplace remain strong upon us -teHuehclcS of focal attraction as fixed as in Vhe ioad-Stone-lnstincts of remmisceuce which carry back to earl Y scenes the mounting spirit as IireSlsuplE, as uuerrn9y as the carrier P9eol lies over land and sea to its lost home o"e ieeIS thl>, m whatever distant countries t'uai temper may place him; he feels t still more When, as now, after long absence, he comes to reiread the paths of youth, and to naIhe anew, ao It were, in he sunlight of other oay', ana m himself reaHina,el by 1t and Iortled for the further trials of life, liAe tue l i'9fims to the tpnutaiu of juyeneScrncn or the wrestling Titan as he regaiued his mother earth
 do not pretend to say that such local attAch- mrnta are ~ vays wr.l piAc+d rnev are no.. hey are sentiments, not reasoar.-jinptes 'l'iH "n the nlLi rather than eXtarpa, t4.,s-- or, l" so far as fact, they arc not the results of the acton oi circumstances Oil the meutal and lhySica. constitution. But where, in the broad ImiJs 2! the Union, sIiali we ful aloveHer re,
 
 @intlu1 win Its 2eld iounts in the lofty gorsts oi thc White mountains, travrr,in, the bealri- iuI lake of Wnnjpi@seoLee, flowing on from waterfall to waterfall amil al the riches of t,.,- tafe aAd oI industry, and coming to pour forth lts accumulated volume ot waters here into the outNpread bosom ot the great Atlantic? And Is there not that iii it which breeds true men ana women aye, the harIv fruit of the teem- U I,tII If j soldiers orators, poets, uveutors-apt for uotn arms and arts--mastrls of crcums; aces alike on earth and ocen-With heads Of wit to con- tons requires. We will cherish the fertile ya.- ley ot the Merrimac.
 Magma Parens virum,
 Magma trugum."
 ltiS the object of no misplaced affection. It merits our attachment, as well for what 1t s in all natures gifts as for the strong minded and strong handed race of men, which It has pro- duced or sustained. Of the living, it were in- vIdlous to speak; but of the doal, names of sons ot Massachusetts and New Hampshire spontaneously rise to the memury--iamiJiar on our lips as household worj,, enrolled for inn mortality in the brightest pages Of the annals ui the republic.
 Ie"Ier io Non 'nr Warmest thanks, them, that here yo1 welcome me back VI the lal oG my own mather earth, n ,he m.ost q 1iudreI lowed and friends cherished. .uelt to rnst from cares of stdte and to halt as 1t were ou tht wea- Iaomc journey of life.
 MANIFEaT DESTINY.
 It was my fortune, at another time, to Staul on the summitoi the lofty ridge ol iall N ncu dlvi.eo the sources Of the Mississippi lnm those Of Lakes $ Superior, Huron, f.uc anl Ou- taro, havIu5 ol my -ht hand the waters of that mighty river, which drains, an a~ 1t flows on to the Guit Of Mexico, lertillze, the largest and thc richest valley oi cui. vtU.r land on the lace ui the earth; and, on my left hand that unique succession of rivers and ltkes-tue rvers alternately expanding into m m,s'iicea: fresh water seas, and the sea, narrowing again into beautiful rivers, and so through fore, and meadow and over cataracts and rtui.ls. ruiHty on with lavish protus'on, thousand miles Iu the tar-oH Cali of St. Lawrence. Such wos the standpoint of view. Before, behind, all around me, were noble forests of oak, and pine. and maple, and elm, earth born giants of the primevai world; amt beyond them, strachin1 lar away to the utrermo>t bounds of the hori- lon verdant savanuahs, in aIl the luXuriance oi vIrslnal natures uust'nted prplis .lity, sub 1mciN mmeAse IS au oceau, lovely as t ,!rt,ln pi PdIaiiSe. StreamlctS and lakes were spark Ing amId the trees in the sunlight, like dra. mons and sapphlres scattered over the rich tres 'es oi some talr maiden, as she steps in the pride of her beauty and her vouth. All that scene, however, was but wilder ness where the Indian still roamed at will in hls native forests, or paIdled his light canoe 1n river and lake; and where uo sign of culti- vatlon, no mark oi cvilation, was to be seen save h the glorious banner of the stars and 'trpes floating over some military station or outpost, to be witness of the omnipresent DOW er of the Union.
 Here, again, the thought came to me-can 1t be that all this wealth of land and sea s to remaln lost to the uses of huma greatness and happiness. It half tempted one to impeach the Divine justice, to reflect that millions and millions oi men were at that hour stiH.n. for want of space m the crowded countries Ut Eu- rope" cabined, crbbed, confined, {" in marrow lands, where industry had no field to work in. lnd ambition was dcvcurug hjs own heaIt for want of scope and object; and wives and chi- iren were pning away on the crusts of destiiu- -!on and mlSery--whie here was earth cuna.t P be the seat of imperial dom'uion, sluaader- 3d, apparently, on a haudtul of untamnd ant lntamabIe Indians. But mpiouS woull have oe"n such d tnou5ht-tne foolish imprLy of ntnS imprnvideuce and 5nornnce G1I's wis ipm IS not our WY 'sdom. He had his own great purposes tn work out in his oMn guoi tune tHd with the instruments of his own eiecttou For now there, also, American activity. indus, try, enterprise, have been eXertel; aud yellow narvesttieidS on the prairie, busy mills at the water tal, popuIous communities at the river 'ide, have transigurod the face of the desert; and another powerful -Mi9uesnta-hls arisen there, to add to the greatness Of the American Union.
 Is not that manifest destiny Is not that mission? Is not that one of the steps m tue march, march, march " of the Union, which, when suggested bv me on for mer occasion, IS What the Uuou hal perforce to do, was taken to be the personation of some awful monster, shaking forth pestience aud death from its horrid hair? Ay, in the pioneer colony of Massachusetts, doubled with Ply mouth, on the very rock of Plymouth itself, wh ere d free compact of self-poyerument first