The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1860-03-07
SPEECH OF pREs1DENr BUCHANAN.


The President received the gavel, and, COM
ing forward, was greeted with general and pro-
longed applause. He spoke in a distinct and
animated tone, as follows:
FELLOW CITIzENs-I accept the suspicious
omen now presented to us in this calm sunset
almost without a cloud. The early part of the
day was boisterous. Many accidents also oc-
Cured to delay the progress and the compile
ton of these ceremonies. But these occur
rences have terminated as, thank God, always
has been the case in the history of our couptry.
IF storms and tempests beset us in the morn
ing, the end of the day is still clear, bright
and animating. Such, 1 trust, will ever be
the issue of the gloom and darkness that for a
season appear to envelop us. (Applause.)C
The honorable and important duty has been
assigned to me of dedicating this statue Of
Washington, which is a noble production of
native American genius. This welcome and
grateful task 1 now proceed to perform, stand
ing here on this beautiful and commanding
position surrounded by the Senators and Rep
resentatives of all the;States of the Confederacy,
zens, civil and military, and in full view of the
noble Potomac, which Washington loved so
well, and of the shores of the ancient Common
wealth which gave him birth, / now %solemnly
dedicate this statue to the immortal memory OF
the Father of his Country. (Applause.) L
perform this act of pious devotion, not in the
name of the people of the North, or the South,
the East, or the West; not in the name of
these who dwell on the waters of the Atlantic
or of the Pacific, but in the name of the whole
American people of the United States, one
and indivisible, now and forever. cloud ap-
plause, and cries of "Hurrah for Old Buck.")
May the God of our fathers preserve the Con-
s~titution and the Union for ages to come
May they stand like the everlasting hills,
against which the tempests from every quarter
of the heavens shall beat in vain. In a word
may they endure so long as the name of Wash
ington shall be honored and cherished among
the children of men. (Renewed and prolong-
ed applause.) May Washington City, which
he founded, continue throughout many gener-
atoms to be the seat of government of a great,
powerful and united confederacy. Should it
ever become a ruin by a dissolution OF the
Union, it will not, like the ruins of Balbeck
and Palmyra, be merely a monument of the
vanity of human greatness; but it will teach
the lesson to all the jewellers upon earth that
our grand political experiment has failed and
that man is incapable of self-government.-
May such a direful disaster to the human race
be averted, and in the language of Solomon
at the dedication of the Jewish temple, "May
the Lord our God be with us, as He was with
our fathers. Let him not leave us or forsake
u.s." (Applause.) May this be the prayer of
all present, and may each one return to his
home in heart more ardently patriotic and more
determined to do his whole duty to God and
his country than when we assembled here to-
day.
The President took his seat amid general
and most enthusiastic applause, his speech be-
ing pronounced, by common consent, among
the most beautiful and appropriate ever deliv-
cred on a like occasion.