Western sentinel. [volume] (Winston [i.e. Winston-Salem], N.C.) 1856-1886, 1858-03-19

was fitted to the healthy discharge of all Il
the functions that are necessary to high
and progressive civilization. Well might
he leave it to such deeds for themselves,
and to posterity to assign him his rank and
his order amongst the great names which
are the consecrated objects of human love
and admiration in the pantheon of history.
Purchase of Mt. Vernon.
The Conczusio,o qtf the Speech Of IT.na. ".
-Bil5o, at the State Capatoz, Nashvszze,
Tennessee, IN Behazf Of the Mt. Vernon
-1ssocl0taon.
I have said that I cordially sympathized
with the Ladies of the Union, in the lauda-
be objects of the Mount Vernon Associa-
ton. They do not propose by pillared piles,
triumphal arches, OF animated marble, to
rescue the name and memory Of the i'm
mortal WASHINGTON from an untimely OBJ
livion. No. For these cannot die, though
the Earth should forget her haughtiest
Empires in just decay. AS long as the
blue waters OF the Potomac continue to
mingle with those of the stormy Atlantic
as long as on Times beaten cliffs there re-
mains solitary vestige of the glorious Ma
tlonalties of a world Scared by revolution
and ruin, the memory Of WASHINGTON will
ullll IL III CfCI tlldG lOfCS
liberty, and his name wiring a reluctant
pressor. The memory of WAsH1NGToN is
upiquity, his fame is eternity.
Ladies: The pious gratitude, the fervid
patriotism, the civic virtue which dictated,
and still animate your Association, should
warm every heart alive to noble sensibili-
tv, and fire every tongue that can be NOV
ed to inspiring eloquence. You propose
to do that which National Congress and
State Legislatures have wilfnlly y neglected.
or refused to do. You propose to purchase,
by free contribution, the spot, where the
mortal remains of the beloved Father of
his country lie quietly inurned, and conse-
crate it as a Mecca Of Pot7Totisn, to the
Pilgrim and exiled patriots Of every cline
You propose to preserve his yet unscatter-
ed dust, from the blight Of ages, from the
rude desecration of Vandalic hands, from
foreign and intestine wars, when fierce des-
olation shall ride upon the sulphury Siroc.
You propose that the very trees Of the for
est, that now weep their dew drops as he
sleeps in his glory-the hills and dales,
and ocean-bound streams, that were the
Revolutionary contemporaries Of his i'm
mortal achievements, shall ever remain ST.
lent witnesses of an universal and indis-
criminate veneration-of the spontaneous
ovations Of patriotic hearts from every
realm of the sun.
Surely, if the affecting strains of the po-
ct Eurepides, repeated by the chain-boun
captive in Syracusan dungeons, could re-
lent the heart and move to tears the fierce
Barbarian. and restore once more the for
lorn Athenian to his beloved country, will
not the story of this deed of national graf
itude and patriotic devotion by the Moth
ers of the Republic, in all time to come
through the ever-changing tides Of empire,
relent the heart and unnerve the arm of
the rudest despoiler, who should attempt
to violate the holy sanctuary Of national
love?
If the Grecian warrior or orator, when
he wished to inspire the people to great
and heroic achievements, would point to
the Acropolis, crowned with the monu-
ments Of their valor; or repair to the
plains of Platea and Marathon, and invoke
the shades of their mighty dead to prosper
and sanctify the cause in which he was en-
gagged if the Swiss for five hundred years
after the establishment of their independ-
ence, assembled on the fields of Morgarten
and Laupen, to spread garlands over the
graves, and invoke the spirits of the illus
trious dead, to still maintain their country S
liberty, and protect it against the formida-
bic aggressons of their naughty foes-then,
too, may the sons of America, when thick
gathering public disasters shall threaten
us, from home or abroad, repair to this
spot, as to holy altar, and invoking the
spirit Of the immortal Washington, swear
anew never to despair of the Republic,
| but whithersoever its honor or glory bid
them, there to march forth, firmly resolved
to conquer or to die. For will not liberty
ever reanimate, and glory rekindle, at the
urn of Washington?
But will the ladies be ultimately sue
cessful in this, their commendable enter
prise? They will-for who can resist the
fascination of their address, the eloquence
of their tongue, and the magic Of their
beautys Like Douglas and Hotspur uni.
ted, they could vie with world in arms
Shall we, the young men of the State, de-
ny to their cause our gallantry and elo-
quence? Shall we hear of ourselves, Gas
Tasso informs ns,) what young Bouillion
speaking of Armida, exclaimed: "What