Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1861-02-09
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Patriotic Speech Of Ex-President John Tyler, Of
Virginia, Before the Peace Conference at
Washington, Upon Being Elected Its Presi'
ding Officer.

Patriotic Speech Of President John Tyler, oi
Virginia, Before the Peace Conference at
Washington, Upon Boing Elected Its Presi'
ding Officer.
GENrLEmEs:-I fear you have committed q
great error in appointing me to the honorable
position you have assigned me. A long separa'
tion from all deliberate bodies has rendered the
rules Of their proceedings unfamiliar to me,
while should fnd In my own state OF health, I,
variable and tickle as 1t 10, sufficient reason 10
decline the honor Of being your presiding oficer;
but, in times like these, one has but little oP:
tion left him-personal considerations should
weigh but lightly in the balance. Tho country
Is In danger-it Is enough-one must take the
place assigned him in the great work OF concil-
iation and adjustment. The voice of Virginia
has invited her CO States to meet her In couD.
Gil. In the institution of this Government that
same voice was heard and compiled with, and
the results of seventy odd years have fully
attested the wisdom Of the decision then adop-
ted Is the urgency Of her call now less great
than it was then2 Our godlike fathers created
we have to preserve. They built up, through
their patriotism and wisdom, monuments which
have eteTnaiized their names.
You have beforelyou, gentlemen, task equal
ly grand, equally sublime, quite as full al glo-
ry and immortality. You have to snatch from
ruin great ahd glorious Confederation, to pre-.
serve the Government, and to renew and invig.
crate the Constitution. If you reach the hight
of this great occasion, your children's chill
dren will rise up and call you blessed l con-
fess myself ambitious of sharing in the glory
Of accomplishing this grand and magnificent re
suit. To have our names enrolled in the Cap
itol, to be repeated by future generations with
grateful applause; this is an honor higher than
the mountains--more enduring than monumen.
tai alabaster. Yes, Virgnia's voice, as in the
olden time, has been heard. Her sister States
meet her this day at the council board YER
mont Is here, bringing with her the memories
Of Ithe past,I reviving in the memories OF all
her Ethan Allen and his demand for the
surrender of Ticonderoga in the name Of the
Great Jehovah and the American Congress.
New Hampshire is here-her fame illus.
trated by memorable annals, and still more
lately as the birthplace Of him who won
for himself the name Of Defender of the
Constitution, and who wrote that letter to
John Taylor which has been enshrined In the
hearts of his countrymen. Massachusetts is
not here-(some member said she Is comiDg)-I
hope 80, said Mr.. Tyler, and that che will
bring with her her daughter Maine. did not
believe IL could well be that the voice which,
In other times, was 80 familiar to her ears has
been addressed to her in vain. Connecticut Is
here, and she comes, doubt not in the spirit
of Roger Sherman, whose name with our very
children has become household word, and
who was in life the embodiment of that prac-
teal sense which BELTS, the great lawgiyers
and constructors of governments. Rhode Island,
the land Of Roger Williams, is here, one of the
two last States, in her Jealousy of the public
liberty, to give in her adhesion 10 the Constitu-
tion, and among the earliest tohasten to Its res
cue. The great Empire State of New York
represented thus far but by one-delegates to-
healing the discontents of the times, and re.
storing the reign of fratenal feeling. New Jer
sey Is also here, with the memories of the past
covering her all over. Trenton and Princeton
live immortal In story-the plains of the last
with the hearts blood of Virgin.
Ia sons. Among her delegation IFejoice TO
recognize gallant son of signer OF the i'm
mortal Declaration which announced to the
world that thirteen provinces had become thir.
teen independent and sovereign States; and here,
too, is Delaware, the land of the Bayards |
and the Rodneys, whose soil at Brandywine was
moisted by the blood of Virginia's youthful
Monroe. Here is Maryland, whose massive
columns wheeled into line with those Of Virgin
Ia in the contest for glory, and whose State
house at Annapolis was the theater Of specta
Gle of successful commander, who, after lib
Grating his country, gladly ungirthed his sword
and laid it down upon the altar Of that country.
Then comes Pennsylvania, rich in Revolution,
ary lore, bringing with her the deathless names
Of Franklin and Morris, and, trust, ready to
renew from the belfry of Independence Hall
the chimes of the old bell, which announced
NJ snda ndapo In dara All
hail to North Carolina! with her Mecklenburg
Declaration in her hand, standing erect on the
ground of her own probity and frmness In the
cause of public liberty, and represented In
her attributes by her Macon, and in this
assembly by her distinguished son, at no
great distance from me. -Four daughters
Of Virginia also cluster around the council
board, on the invitation of their ancient moth
er, the eldest Kentucky, whose sons, under that
intrepid warrior, Anthony Wayne, gave free
dom of settlement to the territory of her sis
ter, Ohio, and extending his hand daily and
hourly across La Belle Ripieye to grasp the hand
Of eome one Of kindred blood of the noble
States of Indiana and Illinois and Ohio, who
have grown up into. powerful States, already
grand, potent and almost imperial. Tennessee
g not here, but is coming from be-
ing here only by the foods which have swollen
her rivers. When she arrives she will wear the
badges on her warrior-crest of victories won,
in company with the Great West, on many an
plain, and standards torn from the
hands Of the conquerors at Waterloo. Missou-
Il and Iowa and Michigan, Wisconsin and Min
nessots, still linger behind, but 1t may be hoped
that their hearts are with us In the great work
We have to do. H--
The eyes Of the whole country are turned
10 this hall and to this assembly in expectation
and hope. trust, gentlemen. that you may
prove yourselves worthy of the great occasion.
Onr ancestors probably committed q blunder in
not having fxed upon every fifth decade for q
call Of o general Convention to amend and re
form the Constitution. On the contrary, they
have made the difficulty next to insurmountable
10 accomplish amendments to an instrument
which was perfect for five millions of people,
but not wholly 30 as to thirty millions. Your
patriotism will surmount the difficulties, how
ever great, IL you will but accomplish but one
triumph In advance, and that is triumph over |
party. What tis party when compared to the
TASK of rescuing ones country from danger p
Do that, and one long, loud shout of joy and
gladness, will resound throughout the land
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