The western Democrat. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1852-1870, 1859-06-14
THE RECEPTION OF THE PRESIDENT
AT RALEIGH.

We copy from the Standard the following
speeches delivered at the reception of Mr. Buchanan
at Raleigh on the 3lst ult:
! After the arrival of the President at the Depot,
Gov Ellis advanced to the front OF the party and
! said:
Ladies' and fellow citizens, / have the honor to
present to YOU James Buchanan, President of the
| United States.
MIR Buchanan then advanced to the front, and
was received with vociferous cheering; after which
Hon. D. NJ. Barringer Gin the absence of the
| Mayor of Raleigh who was unavoidably prevented
from being present,) addressed the President as
! follows:
| In behalf of the citizens of Raleigh, I give you
! hearty welcome to the capital of North Carolina.
We offer you welcome and hospitality without
vain display and receive you with a cOrdlaity
! frank generous and without dissimuation. We
welcome you not only as the chief Magistrate of
great nation but as one who in long life OF pub
lie service, amid all the mutations of mere party,
/ has shown himself to be true friend one of the
greatest advocates and of the ablest defenders
of the constitution and the Union under which we
live (Applause.) The people of North Carolina
are law-abding people. n. Carolina was among
the last of the States to adopt the constitution and
come into the confederacy: she will be one of the
last to stand by the principles of the former and to
abandon the blessings of the latter. (Applause.)
We are a people who believe that liberty cannot
exist without law; that RIGHTEOUSNESS is not liber
ty; that true liberty consists in obedience to just
laws made by the people themselves. You
welcome in the midst of such people. From
every portion Of the State you the signs of well
come; from every portion of the State they have
come to the capital to geeet you; and now, in the
name of this vast assemblage, / greet you, and
welcome you, not as a conquering hero, but as one
coming mission of peace Who can fail to
be struck with the spectacles presented in both
hemiSpheres to-day? In the we meet three
crowned heads leading their hosts to battle amid
the pomp and pageantry peculiar to that form of
government; in the other we are receiving without
much ceremony the President of great nation
enjoying all the blessings of civil and religious
liberty. (Applause.) Again we give you
dial welcome to the capital Of the old North State
| Mr. Buchanan said-Fellow citizens cannot
fail whilst gratitude is the feeling of my heart,
recollect the reception which have met from my
fellow citizens ever since | entered the State of
North Carolina. My public life has been long; |
have been engaged in many political conflicts, but
the reward of long life is now in your approving
smiles. l glad to be with you here; am glad
to be in the capital Of North Carolina, rightly named
Raleigh. The first attempted settlement that was
ever made in the Union was within the limits of
your State, and you have given the name of that
great man to your capital and his name will thus
be perpetuated among freemen for hundreds and
| thousands of years. He fell; he was the victim Of
a weak, pusillanmous and wicked tyrant, who
sacrificed his life to crafty another tyrant of the
Old World. But, thank God, no such injustice
can be practiced here among such great and
glorious people, You famous rebels in the
| times OF the Revolution. (Laughter.) Lord Corn
wallis said that you were the most troublesome set
of people he had to deal with; that fast as
he moved to one place the people rose behind him,
and never master of any ground except that
occupied by his army. (Applause and laughter.)
You were the first that raised the standard Of In
dependence by your glorious Mecklenburg Declar
alton, and to defy the power of Great Britain
But you have done better since. You have raj
lied round the government that your forefatheTs
nade-you have been true to the constitution and
the Union, and will remain so as long as the prn-
ciples which have actuated you for half century
continue to animate you-as long as the young
men preserve the civic virtues of Macon and other
distinguished statesmen of your State You have
not only produced distinguished patriots, but scat
tered them abroad, and wherever your native sons
have gone, Fast or West, North or South, they
carry with them the principles of the old North
State l trust that you will cherish recollection
of these great and follow their example. 1t
has become fashionable of late years to discuss the
value of the Union. Its price cannot be estima
ted 1t has become fashionable whenever any lit
tie discomfort arises in the country to threaten to
break up this glorious Union These threats were
not spoken Of when was young man-they were
not spoken Of twenty years ago-not that | was
very young twenty years ago
Hon. j. FL. BRYAN-I knew you twenty years
ago, and you were certainly not very young at that
time.
Mr. BUCHANAN-I know was not But let
reflect. 1t is not every transtory or real evil
in the administration of the government which
ought to induce us to think of disunion. The
tide of public opinion fuctuates, and if we have
evil to-day, as long as the Union is preserved we
may expect good tomorrow, through the Amer-
can PEOPLE. If they 60 wrong, they will, after
some reflection, take the backward track and soon
get right. If, in the frenzy of political excite
ment, this great Union should be dissolved, ages
yet unborn will curse the day that we had in our
trust the liberties OF the world. Let this Union
cease to exist let the sovere en- sister States be
separated; let intestine wars arise, and liberty
upon earth is gone forever. This would be the
joy and delight of many, while every friend of
civil and religious liberty will consider it the worst
! catastrophe that ever mankind endured. Zap
plause) My friend, here, referred to what was
going on in the old world. Four millions of men
collected together by the sovereigns of the old
world, and the despots ready to enter into
tai conflict and to destroy each other. And for
what? For the interests of dynasties, the pride Of
sovereigns, and the glory of commanders. But the
poor people from whose hard earnings the money
is extorted to pay the expense of this war will be