Marshall County Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1855-1859, 1857-08-06
Governor Wright's Farewell
Speech.

4
Speech.
! Ny FELLOW CITIzENs:-Wordsa are inad-
equate to convey to you my feelings. The
tongue cannot express the emotions of the
heart when the better impulses of our ma
ture are fully aroused. You. my neigh
bors and associates for years, of all parties,
by this manifestion of your kindness and
partiality. by this free and generous out
pouring offriendship, in addition to the in
Vulnerable number so frequently bestowed,
have placed me in such condition that l
frankly acknowledge my inability to ex-
press to you the deep feelings of my heart.
Other events in life's journey may be for
gotten; but the scenes of this night-the
many evidences of your attachment du-
ring a residence of near forty years--the
many parting words of kindness which
have received from my fellow citizens can
not, will not be erased from memory,s tab
let.
1t has been my fortune to enjoy the par
tial favor Of this people in the shape of po-
litical preferment. The highest Office III
their Gift has been twice bestowed on me.
| do not flatter myself with the thought
that they recognized any extraordinary
merit in me. They may have fancied they
found in me the absence of those bad quail
lies which. when developed IN the public
acts Of ambitious and selfish men, make
the people feel their burthen. Certainly
they they did mol choose me on accou 1t Of
any artificial superiority, for it was my
misfortune to be reared poor boy, in the
lays of small things, when the advantages
of education were not within the reach Of
the poor In common with my brethren of
the West, nv education has been more of
the heart than the head. Such of us as
have been reared in the wilderness. have
learned more of our duty to our country
and to one another than Of the wiles Of the
courier and the intrigue of capitals. In
trigue is the companion of mammon. With
oyerthrown and unnatural wealth, ,insincer-
ity, intrigue and unhalloweL ambition creep
in. But you must not understand me to
condemn ambition. When 1t pursues that
noble and unselfsh aim--the good of bu
manity, the elevation and improvement Of
our kind, the blessing of our God will rest
upon it. | speak only of that gross and
selfish kind which would tear down all
merit to secure its own ascendancy. Vir
tue, talents, genius, appeal in vain. Stung
on BY the fires of mere physical temPera-
ment, it ,reads down the nobler impulses
of our nature, and prostrates all that Is
lovely before it. For more than seven years
| have been Governor of the great State of
Indiana. My feeble hands have been held
up by the kindness Of the people in thai
difficult position. The most pleasant mem
ory that shall carry with me to foreign
land will be the memory of their kindness,
their forbearance Nor will l forget those
too partial friends who have clung to the
last to me through all my political troubles
They will hold place in my memory, not
so much because they were friends as
their friendship was not actuated or con
trolled by interest. have had patronage
and power. have dealt out Office to such
as seemed deserving. Those upon whom
| have lavshed my best gifts. have often
proved faithless and ungrateful. trust
have not overrated human nature, and yet
have often been deceived by men who pro-
fessed to be my friends. But cannot be
deceived in those whose friendship has sur
v;ved the tenure Of Office and the possibli-
ty of patronage. They are not the mere
fI;os that buzz in the summer air that sur
rounds the successful. To them my mem
ory shall revert from afar, dwelling with
pleasure upon unsolicited favors conferred
upon me, without the hope Of any better
reward than thanks and gratitude. And
l am proud, this night. to know that even
my enemies join my friends in saying that
have discharged my duty with fidelity to
the people in the position in which they
have sustained me for seven years. While
have been prosecuted and illuminated as
a partisan, thank God that 1 have been