Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1860-09-11

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. lew SURVIVORS of that glorious day-may be ab
70 recognize their gallant leader, 6LIyPR HtzAI
FERRY, then l am content
Mayor Senter, on behalf OF thccity SIGN
fed the acceptance of the statue and mos,
ment IN the following Words
ACCEPTANCE or THE STATUE Dr MAYOR sESrE
Gentlemen Of the Committee:
As Mayor of the City Of Cleveland. and /
behalf of its Trustees, hereby accept frol
you this memorial Statue of Commodore OH
yer Hazard Perry, to be for this our goodl
city an ornament and to our citizens an hon
OF Tor all coming time The task impose
upon you has been thoroughly and complete
" done. From the first rough sketch lail
before the City Council some years since. a
the present hour, when you here present tim
elegant monument as the completion of YOU
la6ors and the fulfllment OF your trust. vo,
nave applied yourselves to yonr duties with
zeal akin to patriotism and it will not,
trust, when the days Of your lives merge int,
the twilight of death, be among the leas
| grateful OF the "reminiscences of the past. tha
| you have been so instrumental in securing I,
the city OF your home so elegant a work o
art and so enduring a memorial of vreat
deeds. Much however, as there may be O.
honor attaching to you for the accomplish
ment OF this work, the need Of praise is due
also to our fellow citizens the Messrs JONES
VINO have with such good judgment carried
out, nay mere, anticipated the design and
wishes OF the committee. The interest they
have displayed in the work, and the energy
they have shown in surmountinq the obsfa-
cles IN the way of its prompt completion,
characterize and establish their acts as the
most acceptable and enduring manifestations
OF public spirit The names Of those whose
almost divine Imagination and exquisitely
skillful hands have designed and fashioned
the images OF human grace, beauty and
strength, and who have recorded the acts of
heroes IN never perishable monuments, have
ever found place in history as men whom
Genius has stamped as her own. Can it be
then, that the name of WALCUTT will be for
COTTON, while this image of heroism and
bravery, so divinely grand, so noble and so
perfect withstands the attacksof the elements
or while memory endures? 1t pleases me not
so to believe.
Toyou my fellow citizens, therefore, now
attaches high and peculiar honor. You are
the 1rst of all the communities that populate
the shores of the great lakes, to erect a mon
ument to the memory of the man whose
bravery and daring on this day near half a
century since, drove the enemy from our
waters and from our frontiers and secured
peace and quiet which, from that day to this.
has remained undisturbed. This pleasant city
was then scarcely more than a small OUTPOST,
and this populOus and wealthy State was but
an insignificant member OF the great confed-
Grafton. ...... ~.
1t Is tattering, therefore, to our refined
sense of gratitude that this metropolis of
Northern Ohio, though risen to high rank in
The list Of the wealthy and luxurious cities of
.he land, should not be unmindful of the
1ebt she owes one who protected her in herin
ancy and poverty
Republics are ungrateful, it is said, but the
,nme Of ingratitude rests not upon us. ri
This miniature republic, this municipality
lt Cleveland, proves by this DAVIS act. that
he pulses of her citizens beat high with de- !
'otlOR to the memory of him, whom not she
IIone, but our common Union, shonld ever
lOld in grateful remembrance.
The fitness of the design, and the eleoanee
4 the execution of this monument, it belongs
@ @oLlH III uHe 7r5t'Si'--'-zul-l--,.;at, Il stonJs
perior, if such inuettu It illspOas- t6s -.
classic lands Of the old world. '-
Its location is eminently proper, Sur
rounded, as it is, by the speaking evidences Of
the refinement, enterprise and wealth of to-
day, and looking forth, as it does, upon the
eternal and unchangable expanse of the blue
lake, it stands an enduring record of the he
roic past, and beautiful testimonial Of the
grateful present. "a
The breezes that famed the waving locks
of the youthful commander, on that deck
covered with the dead and the dying, play
as freshly now around his sculptured brow,
in this green park, in which, nought is visi-
LIe save the emblems of life and peace. The
waters that were then reddened with the
blood of patriots, cOmmingled with that Of
powerful foe, still flow as then, not at the
feet of the hero living, but by the shores
upon which stands the marble form Of the
hero dead.
The winds that waited the puny fleet on
ward to deadly strife, blow now as then, but
they fill no sails but those of huge argosies
OF commerce; and proudly will the gallant
mariner who walks the deck, point, as he is
borne along, to the city, that has thus hon
Ored the name and the faTne of his hero
brother.
Proud may you be, tellow-cHizens, that
this day has come to you, for lueh comes
not, even once, to the life Of every mar
Here are gathered together for the irst time
since that day of blood, and carnage, snd
victory, men who parted SCARED with wound!
and wearied with strife for their country:
honor and their country's peace. It is {
proud day for them and for you that thi
Past and the Present may TINS meet to d.
honor to the illustrious dead; proud for then
that their eyes may rest upon this subliHe
testimonial Of a grateful posterity; anC
proud for you that it is perR1itted you 10 pay
your respects to them before they depart {,
receive their eternal reward for their patriot
ism.
Here, this day, meet an elder and young
er sister in the Coniederacy. The OceaI
greets the lake, and both Join hands with tht
/ beautiful river, in the shadow Of the Memo
rial Monument of brave defender Of tn
Union. Hither have come, from the hills 0
/ the East and from the plains Of the West
from city and from town, from the shop AM
I the field, the noble and the humble Of tn
4 land. While hairs that were black in th
/ days when thegreat deeds we commemorat
were done, are mingled in the crowd befor
I me, with those that crown heads that hav
nonght save present anda future. Tn
kindly face Of the matron who bade her boy
God speed, when the drum beat to arms
looks up by the side Of the younger on
whose bright eye beams with confident hop
that she too may as bravely do the duties
her time and her generation.
The subject is endless in its suggestions
but time passes, and you will allow me, tel
low citizens, nay, you viii demand Of me
that 1 give place to the gifted men, our CUES
to whom the history of the past is as famiha
as the events of the present and whose grace
full pen has made the record Of brave deed
more attractive than thrilling fiction.
After music by the Band the following ora
ton wa delivered by Hon. Geo. Bancroft
lIEz oP OHIol .
! FRLLoW CITIzHSs oP THE CSITED STATEs'
The defence of our country is not a burden
i,o sbuuuad. hut an fratfruahIe right which