The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1858-07-21

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A solemn funeral service was performed
in the {" Invalids," in the presence Of all
that was mast eminent in Paris.ssssA
sorrowful cry,p said Fontanes, the ora
tor chosen by Napoleon for the occasion,
''has reached ms from America, which
he liberated It belongs to France to
yield the FIRST response to the Ilameuta-
tionsi which will be echoed by every
great soul. These august arches have
been chosen for the apo,heosis of a
hero. - S = = 80
How often, in those wild scenes Of
her revolution, when the best blood of
France was shed by the heremorseless and
ephemeral tyrants, who chased each
other dagger in hand acress that dismal
stage of crime aud woe. during the
Reign of Terror--hoW often did the
thoughts of Lafayette and his compan-
ions In arms, who had fought the bat
tics of constitutional liberty in America,
call up the image of the pure, the just,
the humane, the uDambitious Washing.
ton! How different would haya been
the fate of France, if her victorious
chieftsin, when he had reached the gid
dy heights of power, had initiated the
great example which be eulogised! He
might have saved his country from be-
log crushed by the lesgued hosts Of Eu-
rope: he might haze prevented the names
of Moscow and Waterloo FROM being
written in letters Of blood on the pages
of history; he might have escaped him
self from the sad significance Of those
memorable words of Fontanes, on zthe
occasion to which have alluded, when,
in the presence of Nopoleon, he spoke
of Washington as man who, by q
destiny seldom shared by those who
change the fate of empires, died in peace,
as private citizen, in hissnatiye Hand,
whore he had held the frst rank, and
which he had himse made free.
How different would have been the fate
of Spain, of Naples, of Greece, of Ger
many of Mexico, and the South Ameri-
can Republics, had their recent revolu-
stions been conducted by men like Wash
iDgton and his patriotic associates, whose
prudence, patriotism probity and dis
iintefestedness conducted our resolu-
stion TO an auspicious and honorable re-
suit osiha gss.lfEys .aaiasII.g an
+ But it Is of course at home that We
must look for an adequate appreciation
of our Washington's name and worth.
He is the friend Of other countries; he
is the father of his own. own, Mr..
Mayor, that il has been to me q source
of inexpressible satisfaction to find,
amidst all tho bitter dissensions of the
day, that this one great sentiment
veneration for the name of Washington
lis planted down in the very depths of
the American heart 1t has been nv
privilege, within the last two years, to
hold it up t. the renewed contemplation
of my countrymen, from the banks of
the Penobscot to the banks Iof the, Sa-
vannanab, from New York to st Louis,
from Chesapeake Bay to Lake Michi-
gan, and the same Sc 1timents, expressed
in the same words, have everywhere
touched the same sympatheticl chord in
the American heart. % zsa6 -
To that central attraction, I have
been delighted to find the thoughts, the
affections, the memories of the people,
in whatever part of the country, from
the ocean to the prairies of the West;
from the land of granite and ice 60 the
land of the palmetto and magnolia, in.
stinctively turn. They have their gee.
tional loves and hatreds, but before the
dear name of Washington they are abb
sorbed and forgotten. In whatever
region of the country, the heart of pa
triotism warns to him. As in the star
ry heavens, with the ciroling of the sea-
sons, the pointers go round the sphere,
bat their direction is ever toward the
pole. "They may point from the, East,
they may point from the West, but they
will point to the Northern star.n ssIt is
not the brightest star in the heavens, as
men account brightness, but il 10 always
in it's place. The meteor. kindled into
blaze from the rank yapors
of the lower sky, is brighter. The CO.
met is brighter as it streams across the
sEo6 u t4A
Fs,.l 1eT .'And from his horrid hair
a+.s Shakes pestilence and war;"
But the meteor explodes; the comet
rushes back to the depths of the heaven;
while the lode star shines steady at the
pole, alike in summer and in winter, In
seed tune and in harvest It shope for
Columbus at the discovery Of America;
it shone for the pioneers of settlement;
the pilgrims of faith and hope at James
bowu and tymuurh; II VIII shine for
the mariner who shall enter your harbor
to night; it. will shine for the, navies
which. shall bear the sleeping thunders
of your power while the flag Of the
Union shall brave the battle and the
breeze. So, too, the character, the
the example of our Washing
ton; he guided our fathers through the
storms of the Revolution; he will guide
IS through the doubts and difficulties
hat beset us; he win guide our children.
While America shall hold her place in
he family Of nations. - 80