Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1857-1865, 1858-12-24
SPEECH FROM MR.. cRITTENDEN

that Hon. y Ohm .Crlttenden made nnoth-
er great speech on the Union at the din
ner Of the st. Nicholas Society, on Mon
day night. Three hundred old Knicker,
bockers applauded to the echo of the no.
Bile and soul stirring sentiments SO forci-
bly, uttered by the eminent orator He
was introduced after the reading of the
following toast;
"The UniOn--Many States, but one People
henor rivalry--no jealoosy--one ce tiny
Music--Hai Columbia.
After this toast the President remarked
that honored as they had been by the at
tendance of so many distinguished gem
tlemen, yet it was an additional honor for
him to introduce to them the Hon. John
j. Crittenden, Senator of Kentucky.
The audience arose and applauded Mr..
Crittenden, and he responded in the fol-
lowing speech;
MR.. CRIrTENDEN's SPEECH,
Mr.. Crittenden rose amid excessive de-
monstrations of applause, at the conclus-
ion of which he returned thanks for the
honor done him, and begged leave to be
excused from proceeding. (Cries of "go
on, "go on."] The aattering manner in
which the toast had been received, proved
plainly that the sentiments which it ex-
pressed we're dear to the hearts of those
around him, Loud cheers. Our indie
pendence as an enlightened nation, our
liberty as freemen, our existence as men,
consisted in the preservation of our Re
publican form Of government--our con-
soldated and undivisabe States. cloud
cheers.) The Union! Glorious word
By that name our fathers rushed into the
struggle for liberty; by that name they
formed our Constitution, and upon the ex-
istence of that Union, our national desti-
ny must forever rest. The Union was the
soul, the very heart of the nation itself,
and in its existence consisted the existence
of national life in the American people
(Applause.) To preserve ourselves-to
save us from ruin in every shape-to up
hold the fight for universal independece,
the conlederacy must and should be main
tanned. (Cheers.) When be reflected up
on the glorious memories of the past, of
attles lost and one, of dangers braved
nomes desolated and blood spilled, as we'll
as upon the hope of the present, his
heart burned with new love for our
united country. (Applause.) Such re-
Election would serve good purpose every
where, and if only INDUCED in, would tend
to cement the States together for all time
in feelings of amity and brotherly love-
(Applause) The st. Nicholas Society, he
believed, cherished the Union, and we'll
they might. The ever to be remembered
struggle of William of Nassau, at the head
of the seven provinces, for liberty, was
very similar to our own national struggle.
Though often defeated, yet never dispirit-
ed, and still ever fighting on, the battle
seemed to him as to our Washington, that
Though 't~us often lost,
"Twas ever Won" (Cheers.)
He wished to give utterance to his belief
that it was the destiny of this Union to
perpetuate and establish liberty. The old
Dutch ancestors of his audience when
coming to this country, had brought with
them the seed from which our liberty
sprang and ripened. The rise of the
Dutch republic more closely resembied
that of our own than any other recorded
upon the pages Of history, and William Of
Nassau bore, as any reader of the record
knew, no mean resemblance to the great
characteristics of the Father of our Coun-
try. (Applause.) The members of the
st. Nichols Society were bound to this
country and Union by hereditary obliga-
tions, and he believed that they cherished
in their hearts, as he did in his, (placing
his hand upon his heart, amid great cheer
ing) He knew his country only by its
name, its holy name of UNION. Well did
he love his native State, and feel but too
proud to boast that he was Kentuckian !;
tremendous cheeringD but prouder yet
was he to lay claim to that God given title,
an American citizen. (Renewed cheering
If there was a spot Of ground upon which
he trod, from the Battery to San Francis
co; he felt proud in knowing that it be-
longed to his united country. 1t was, in
deed, great and glorious country. Pro-
vidence seemed especially to have designed
that country for the habitation OF liberty.
We were bound together by one language
"a language that would not allow us 10
designate one State from another. lie
had also given US the same laws, and sub
jected us to the same ordeas in the early
settlement of the country. He so wisely
arranged it, that even before there was any
agreed-upon COnfederacy, We felt the ne
cessity in our respective colonies of Civ
ing and taking assistance-of uniting for
some object which one alone could never
have obtained. He introduced US into
the Revolutionary struggle, at a time when
no one colony could have carried it on for
a day, and thus brought US to Union
which had long existed in our feelings, and
which could never have been avoided, Sc
intimately were our interests, our hopes
and our fears, as we'll as our safety, blend
ed. Could the South claim all the honor
of that great struggle for liberty2 Or the
North? No! mol Washington said il
| kis fnrnunn aAdress thnrn wns n Drnni