The Wyandot pioneer. (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1853-1868, 1857-01-22

the State dovcfnmenI IL essauhsheu
should distinguish the occasion upon
which the State Capitol is first opened
for occupancy, by an invitation to their
fellow.ctizens Of ether counties. to join
With them In this Festival OF congratula-
ton. The multitudcs who now thropg
these halls. attest the cordial promI titude
with which the invitation has been ac-
eepted. Only the words of welcome
which you have uttered were needed to
complete their satisfaction.
In their name. sir, ] thank you in
their name thank the citizens whose or
gan you are in their name l thank the
Committee, under whose care this pleas
ant Festival has been provided. I only
wish that all the people Of the State could
not be here to participate in it.
We dismiss to night all memory Of
party divisions. We forget the things
wherein we differ; we remember only
those wherein we agree.
Over the gates Of city of Scotland
once appeared. and perhaps appears now.
this inscription: I" Let Glasgow flourish!"
In the heart Of every son and daughter
Of Ohio. native or adopted. in city or in
country, at home or abroad. lives and
shall live, ever fresh and ever fervent.
the warm aspiration, "Let Ohio Flour.
ish."
A century ago, Ohio was French do
minion. French forts at Sandusky-on
the Maumee, then the Miamis-at Erie,
then Presqu' Isle. at Pittsburgh. then
Dnquesne, commanded its whole extent,
and connected it with the great line Of
French Possessions, extending through
the interior, from the mouth of the 81
Lawrence 10 tho mouth Of the Mississippi
The apparent destiny Of Ohio was to
French civilization and despotic Govern
ment.
But. though England. careless of inte-
rior possessions, actually offered to yield
to France all the territory west Of New
York and the Alleghenies, there were
Americans who better understood its i'm
mediate value and future Importance
Conspicuous among these were Washing.
ton and Franklin: The former in 1854
led military expedition to the banks Of
the Moncngahela; the latter. indefatiga-
bic in his endeavors to arouse attention
to the importance of extending English
colonization beyond the Alleghenies, con-
fdently predicted that the country be-
tween the Lakes and the Ohio would 'oe-
come perhaps in less than another centu-
ry. ropulous and powerful dominion. F"
The efforts of Franklin were partially
successful. Nine years later the French
dominion had passed away forever. By
the Treaty of Paris of 1868, France ceded
to Great Britain all her North American
possessions east of the Mississippi.
But the substitute for French civilza.
ton proposed by Great Britain was bar
barism. Already jealous OF the increas-
ing strength of her American Colonies,
or believing that they would be, COM
mercially. more profitable if confined to
the Atlantic Slope, she attempted to re-
strict their westward extension by Roy
al Proclamation prohibiting settlements
west of the Alleghenies.
Under the effect Of this proclamation
Ohio remained a wilderdess for twenty
years, until in IT'S 8, another Treaty oi
Paris annihilated British dominion with.
IN its limits, and transferred its posses
sion 10 the American Republic, then first
acknowledged as an independent mem
Der of the community of Nations.
A new era was now to begin its course
Anglo Saxon Civilization and Republican
Institutions were now to take the place oI
savage barbarism. Plans Of emigration
and settlement were promptly devised
and adopted. At the mouth Of the Mus
kingum, between the Miamis. and on the
borders OF Erie, the noble old pioneers OF
the West, many of them distinguished
officers and soldiers of the Revolution.
commenced the work of subduing the
wilderness. Regular institutions of Gov
ernment were organized under the Ordi-
nance OF l7S7 and that grand career oil
development and progress which has SO
far outstripped anticipation. was fully
inaugurated.
Another twenty years passed away,
and Ohio was a State in the American
Union. Her first public act recognized
the inviolability Of personal rights; the
sacredness of private obligations; the
absolute freedom of conscience and
the indispensable necessity to good
government, of religion, morality
and knowledge. Upon these stable
foundations she has built wisely and pros,
perously. need not recite her recent
history you know it well. Nor need
remind you of her great work Of improve.
ment. of her liberal provision and oroani