Delaware State journal and statesman., 1861-03-12
GLORIOUS SPEECH OF SECRETARY OF
WAR COL. HOLT.

The following noble speech was made by Sc
cretary Holt, in reply to the congratulations Of
the Indiana delegation on Thursday:
GENTLEMEN; beg you to be assured that
am m st grateful for the honor Of this interview.
My childhood and youth were passed on the
banks Of the Ohio, in eight Of the noble State of
Indiana, whence you came. feel that Ken
tuckians and Indianians are more than neighbtrs
--they are friends; they are brethren; side by
side they have run the same course Of prosperi-
ty, and side by side they have stood upon the
same battlehelds, in defence Of our national
rights and Of ur national honor.
The very Kind words in which reference has
been made to my public services'a are more than
have merited. My humble endeayors TO dis
charge manifest puble duty imposed upon me
have been sincere. and if they have not been
successful, some apology will be found in the
embarrassments by which have been surround
ed. take no credit to myself for being faithful
to such Government and TO such country as
ours. The wonder is how q man Wiiha heart
in his bosom could be otherwise. History will
record with amazement that men have been found
willing TO dismember and destroy q Republic
every page Of whose history has been luminous
with glory, and every throb of whose being has
brought blessings and honor to its people. The
guilty ambition of revolutionary leaders has
assumed imperfections in our institutions far
beyond those which really exist. That, more
from the craft of politicians than from any actual
necessity, there is q temporary jar in the work
ing Of Its complicated machinery, is undenable;
but to abandon to destruction the Government
on that account, would be to commit the folly
and madness OF the man who should turn his
back upon the sun at midday, and fly to the
caves of the earth, refusing to enjoy its light
merely because he had discovered, through
telescope, that there were spots upon its glowing
disc.
will only add that our Government was found
ed in fraternal and mutually honorable eonces-
sions. Compromise was the grandest element
that entered into our Revolutionary councils and
shaped and ennobled the action OF our ReVolu-
tionary fathers. Every pulsation of the life of
the Government has been one of compromise,
and without this spirit our Institutions could not
exist for a day If we can only summon to our
political deliberations and conduct this spirit,
which CLEANS upon US with such transeendent
lustre from the past, but few MONTHS am
assured. will elapse before the cloud that now
darkens our sky and oppresses our beloved coun-
try with distraction aud sorrow will be disarmed
of its ightnings, and we shall again have a return
of our accustomed peace and our ancient pros
periiy. n
In the patriotic effort TO accomplish this re-
suit and save Union with whose preservation
our every earthly interest is bound up, am
proud 10 believe that Indiana and Kentucky will
stand together, linked in hand and in heart as
they have stood in other days upon other fields
of glory.
Expressing to you again my gratitude for
your presence, and for your fattering words of
confidence, l bid you respectful and kindly
sarewel.