The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1860-03-09

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In the House of Representatives during
the contest for Speaker, Hon. Mr.. BorE-
LKR, the representative of the Harpers Fer.
ry district, made most eloquent and
thrilling speech. We quote the conclusion !:
The district which 1 represent, and the
county where live-that county made
famous by the raid of Brown-was the first,
the very first in all the South, to send sue
cor to Massachusetts, in the time of her
direst necessity! In one of the most beau
tiful spots in that beautiful county, within
rifle shot of my residence. at the base of a
bill, where glorious spring leaps out into
sunlight from beneath the gnarled roots of
thunder riven oak, there assembled on the
10th day of July, It's, the very first band
Of Southern men who marched to the aid of
Massachusetts. They met there then, and
their rallying cry was, a bee line for Bos.
tom That beautiful and peaceful valley
the valley of the Shenandoah, had never
been polluted by the footsteps of foe; for
even the Indians themselves had, according
to tradition, kept it free from the incursions
of their enemies. It was the hunting range
and neutral ground of the aborigines. The
homes of those who had lived there then
were far beyond The reach of danger. But
Boston was beleaguered! The hearths of
your fathers were threatened with pollution,
and the fathers of those whom l represent
rallied to their protection
They left the ploughshare in the mold,
Their focks and herds without a fold,
The sickle in the un shorn grain,
Their corn half garnered on the plain,
And 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-line 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 pleasure
to remember that l, though but child then,
was present at the spring when the fifty
years rolled round. Three aged, feeble, tot
tering men-the survivors Of that glorious
band of one hundred and twenty-were all
who were left to keep their tryst, and be
faithful to the pledge made fifty years be-
fore to their companions, the bones of most
of whom had been left bleaching on your
northern hills.
Sir, have often heard from the last sur
vivor of that band of patriots the incidents
of their first meeting and their march how
they made some six hundred miles in thirty
days-twenty miles day-and how, as they
neared their point of destination, Washing
ton, who happened to be making a recon
noisance in the neighborhood, saw them
nh nd ha
woolsey hunting shirts of old Virginia, gal
loped up to meet and greet them to the
camp how, when he saw their captain, his
old companion in arms, Stephenson, who
stood by his side at the Great Meadows on
Braddocks fatal field, and in many an In.
dian campaign, and who reported himself
to bis commander as from the right bank
of the Poton1ac!" He sprang from his
horse and clasped his old friend and COM
panion in arms with both hands.
He spoke no word of welcome but the
eloquence silence told what his tongue could
not articulate. He moved along the ranks,
shaking the hand of each, from man to man,
and all the while-as my informer told me
the big tears were seen rolling down his
cheeks.
Ay, 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 because be
saw that the cause of Massachusetts, was
practically the cause of Virginia; because
he saw that her citizens recognized 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 leaping like live tbun-
der through the land, telling the people of
Virginia that they must fight for Massachu-
sets. They had come to rally with Wash
ington, to defend your fathers fresides, to
protect their homes from harm. Well, the
visit has been returned! John Brown Sc
lected that very county, whose citizens went
so promptly to the aid of the North when
the North needed aid, as the most appro-
pirate place in the South to carry out the
doctrines of the irrepressible conflict" and,
as mentioned in the Senate yesterday, the
rock where Leeman fell was the very rock
over which Morgan and his men marched a
few hours after Stephenson's command had
crossed the river some ten miles further up.
May this historical Renaissance rekindle
the embrace OF patriotism in our hearts /!
Why should this nation of ours be rent in
pieces by this irrepressible conflict? Is it
irrepressible? The battle will not be fought
out upon this floor. For when the dark day
comes, as come it may, when this question
that now divides and agitates the hearts of
the people, shall be thrust from the forum OF
debate, to be decided by the bloody arbitra-
ment of the sword, it will be the saddest day
for us and all mankind that the sun OF hea-
ven has ever shown upon.