The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1859-09-30
NUMBER a.

| GEN. HoUsToE TO THE WOMEN o.
ITExAs.-The closing part Of General
Houston's Nacadoches speech is one Of
the most eloquent tributes to woman
ever uttered:
Ladies, I know that politics are all
ways uninteresting to you, yet | believe
you have in the general result an abid-
ing interest. 1t is always gratifca-
ton to me to behold my fair country
women in assemblages like these. II
is always a guarantee that their hus-
bands and fathers and brothers are men
fof intelligence and refinement, who ap-
preciate their mental capacities, and
desire their countenance in their I'M
dertakings. Your presence exercises a
calming influence upon these antago-
nisms, which are to often engineered in
the heat of political contests. All par
ties desire your presence. / know that
in the direct administration of political
affairs you have no share; but yet, reign
ling as you do, supreme in the realm Of
love, your influence often controls the
destinies of nations. Woman's love is
the great lever which arouses man to
action. The. general, as he plans the
stragetic combinations which are to IN
sure victory, looks forward to a recon-
Ipense dearer than the laurels upon his
brow; the soldier, as he trudgea along
on the weary march, or mingles in the
scenes of the battlefield, even with
death around him, forgets awhile the
carnage, and turns his thoughts to the
fond girl he left behind him !; the
mariner, tempest-tossed, driven by the
rude, waves sings merrily aloh as he
thinks of the little cottage by the shore
where his wife and dear ones await
him the statesman, as he devises amid
deep and painful thoughts plans Of gov
ernment, which are to tell upon his
own and his country's fame, never
loses sight Of the joys which await him
when cabinet councils are over, and he
enteIs the portals of fame the sentinel
as he PAGES his weary watch, loves the
moonlight tramp, that he may look
beneath its rays at the dear memento Of
| a mothers or a sisters love. Over
man. in all bis relationships, the infu-
lence Of woman hangs like a charm
Deprive US of your influence, which
dignifes and stimulates US to noble
deeds, and we become worse than bar
barians. Let it be ours, and we can
brave the cannon's mouth, or face dan
/ ger in ten thousand forms. You stim-
ulate vi to all that is good. You check
US in ignoble purposes. You have also
an important influence upon posterity.
The early impressions which the child
receives from you outliye all the Wis
dom of later days. sages may reason,
and philosophers may teach, but the
voice which we heard in infancy will
ever come to our ears, bearing a moth
er's words and mothers counsel
Continue to instil into your children
virtue and patriotism. Imbue them
with proper yereration for the fathers
of liberty. Learn them to lore their
country and to labor for its good, as
the great aim Of their ambition. Bid
them proudly maintain our institutions.
Point them to the deeds Of their an
cestors. Make these their escutcheon,
and bid them hand it down to their
children as free from stain as 1t came
lto them. Do this, ladies, and your in
Ifiuence will not be lost in the future
Ii the language of the poet, it will stil
be said:
Woman il lovely to the sight,
/ As gentle as the dews of even,
| AS bright as morning 5 earliest light, I
And spotless as thesnows of Heaven.