Columbia Democrat and Bloomsburg general advertiser. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1850-1866, 1860-03-17
MISCELLANEOUS.
A REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENT.

| 49, DO'Nloi, VI a., III TeCeHt Spcecn,
related the following interesting incident
OF the Revolutionary era -
! "When, sir, have heard the name of
gentleman called here, day after day, first
on the roll-a great historic name, (Mr.
Adams)-I have been reminded of Mass
achusetts in her prouder day, in the he.
roic age of the Republic. l have been re-
minded of a historical incident connected
with the county in which livc-that coun-
ty selected by John Brown for his bloody
raid, and feel that | have right to ap-
peal to the Massachusetts delegation here,
If they are not deaf to the voice of consan-
guinity, and if they are, 1 appeal from
them to their people on this question
demand OF them to come up to the rescue of
the country now as they did in the good
old times of their Revolutionary fathers.
"The district which l represent and the
county where live-that county made fa-
nous by the raid of Brown-was the first,
ViS WI III ~ III All llc tOOlJu 10 Scuu sue
cor to Massachusetts in the time of her
direst necessity In one of the most
beautiful spots in that beautiful county,
within rife shot of my residence, at tile
base of hill, where glorious spring
leaps out into sunlight from beneath the
gnarlcd roots ola thunder-riven oak, there
assembled on the 10th of July, l775, the
very first band of Southern men who mar
ched to the aid of Massachusetts. They
met there then, and their rallying cry was
a bce-line for Boston, That beautiful
and peaceful vallcy-the valley of the
Shenandoah had never been polluted by
the footsteps of a foe : for even the Indi.
ans themselves had, according to tradition,
kept it free from the incursion of their en-
emcs. 1t was the hunting range and neu-
tral ground Of the oborignes The homes
of those who lived there then were far be-
yond the reach of danger But 30 ton
was bcleaguered The hearths of your
fathers were threatened with pollution,
and the fathers of those whom | represent
rallied to their protection,
They I'm the plouo! hare in tn, ruoull,
Their focks and herds without a fold,
The sickle in the unshorn grain,
Their corn alf.garncred on the plain,
Ani mustered in their simple dress
For wrongs of yours to seek redress"
"Thus they mustered around the spring
| speak Of, and from thence they made
their 'bee-linc for Boston Before they
marched, they made pledge that all who
survived would assemble there fifty years
after that day. 1t is my pride and pleas
ure to remember that |, though but a child
then, was present at the spring when the
fifty years rolled round. Three aged, fee
Bile, tottering men-the survivors of that
glorious band of one hundred and twenty
were all who were left to keep their
trust, and be faithful to the pledge made
fifty years befoIe to their companions, the
bones of most whom had been left bleach
ing on your Northern hills.
"Sir, | have often heard from the last
survivor of that band of patriots the Incl
dents oftheir first meeting and their march,
how they made some six hundred miles in
thirty days twenty miles a aday-and how
as they ncarod their point of destination,
Washington, who happened to be making
a reconnaissance in the neighborhood, saw
them approaching, and, recognizing the
linsey ywoolsey hunting shirts of Old Vir-
gnia, galloped up to meet and greet them
to the camp; how, when he saw their cap
tain, his old companion in arms, Stephen
son who had stood by his side at the Great
Meadows, on Braddock's fatal field, and
in many and Indian Campaign-who re-
ported himself to his commander as iron.
The right bank Of the POtomgc'-he sprang
from his horse and claspcd his old friend |
and companion in-arms with both hands
He spoke no word of welcome; but the ell
oquence of silence told what his tongue !
could not articulato. lie moved along the
ranks, shaking the hand of each, from
man to man, and all the while, as my in
former told me, the big tears were seen
rolling down his checks,
SAY, sir, Washington wept And why
did the glorious soul of Washington swell
with emotion! Why did he weep? Sir,
they were tears of joy and he wept be-
cause he saw that the cause of Massachu-
sets was practically the cause of Virginia;
because he saw that her citizens recog-
nized the great principles involved in the
contest These Virginia volunteers had
come spontaneously They had come in
response to the words of her Henry, that
were loaping like live thunder through the