The Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1861-1862, 1861-12-07

grow
y,If With hcr to bias his homo
'.-.
speech of Lieut.. Fairfax OF the San
9acintO, at Boston, giving Full
and dSlideil-..EIOW Il Loyal Virginia
officer secs the War Question and
iEFefterms His Duty. .fu, rff:,i.
j. I thank you, gentlemen, for, this cordial
welcome. /. ann in heart Virgipian--but
am a, native of the United States, and owe
allegiance to the Government of the United
States loud applause. When this Difficult
ty, which has now eliminated in open war,
was pending, was on the coast of Africa,
where, of course, I could not enter into the
merits of the case but, as a Southern man,
felt that could give all my energies to sus-
tain the stars and stripes. [Cheers. When
the question was presented to my mind wheth-
crI should identify myself with my State,
and withdraw from the United States service,
could see nothing but the United States
Government, which pledged myself to sup
b, port. [Applause.] Sticking to that text, /
readily arrived at the conclusion that had
but one duty to perform, and that was the
duty I owed to the United States Govern
lncnt, of which had been for twenty -four years
humble representative. When / saw those
who were seeking the disruption Of this
Union, turning their eyes to the two great
/, Powers of Europe-England and France
as their only hope it seemed to me a pitable
thing that i7an who had contended that no
Y foreign power should put its foot on this con-
tiaent, should now be SO ready to welcome
yacjf aid, and felt the full force of the obli-
Il cations which We all owe to the Government.
1 Captain Mikes put me forward in the posi-
4 tion which has, called forth the expression OF
! ! yeuI feelings tonight; and take 1ittle credit
my self for the part took in the act which
seems to have met the approval of the Gov
!, cri1fment, and il lhe people Of thc county
twas BY no neaiis AL agreeable duty to 20
on board the sT relEs and arrest my old friend
Mason, whose family Is ccfmected with mine
!. by. marriage, thou3h Ne are moi, az sorpc Of
!, the papers have said, cousins saew pretty
waft What hal to do, and iKficw, S0ofi afteF
] got aboard the vessel thH l should have
something more to contend with than the
fesur gentlemen I was 10 take with me to the
SIN Jacinto. Mrs. Slidel and her daugh-
tcrs were there; they were womanly and
aadylke; but they were under a great deal of
: excitement, and YOU may well imagine that
they gave utterancc to good many net very
pleasant expressions extended TO them tine
courtesy, agreeable to the Instructors of Cap
tsGa Wilkes, ola passage in the SIN Jacinto,
which they declined, and they were permitted
to 60 on their way to Europe, and matle as
short work of the matter as | could Laugh
ter and applausc.]
There was nothing at all meTitorious in
what did. introduced myself to the cap
tain of the Trent who received nae properly,
but when informed him Of my mission he
demurrcd considerably to my proposition
Seeing Messrs Mason and Slidell not far off,
| told him it was not necessary to insist upon
what had FIRST demanded, an examination Of
mis- passenger list, as had tangible evidence
that my friends were on board. then ad-
dressed Messrs. Mason and S!idell and told
them my mission. They intimatcd that they
would not go unless force were used. told
them was prepared for that, [chcers] and in
short time I had sufficient force on board to
impress every one in the ship with that fact.
Lieut.. Greer, Of the San Jacinto, came on
board, and took quite as active part in the
transaction as Lieut. Fairfax did. He was
rather apprehensive that the ladies and the
mob would overcome me, and presented six
very inoffensive marines on board to be made
Qfensive; if necessary Applause ] That
gave rise to the report about the charge of the
marines, with fixed bayoncts on the ladies.
Mcssrs Mason and Slidcll conducted them
selves with good deal Of proprety under the
circumstances: Mr. Mason was perfectly
' courteous throughout. Mr.. Slidcll, as we all
know, has more crustiness in his disposition,
but it must be remembered that he had much
more to embarrass him, having his wife and
family with him; therefore it was more difficult
to impress him with the belief that INTENDED
to carry out the purpose of my visit. lie said
he would not go unless employed more force
Z than then seemed willing to- show, but by
the aid of the officers the gentlemen were re-
moved on board the, San Jacinto, where we
made them very comfortable. With the
spirit of men brought up in naval or military
life, We felt desirous to make them feel as lit
tie as possible the discomforts of imprson-
ment. On arriving here was ordered to es-
cort them to Fort Warren, and introduce then,
to Col. Dimmock, to spare them the morti6-
cation of being placed in the hands of the
United States Marshal. Itook leave of them
with those feelings which strike me as perfect
" natural under the circumstances. When
we were about to part, Mr.. Mason said be
: could not express how much gratitude he felt
/, for the attention and kindness he had received
ts [Applause.l s., l,Ia
~ I feel the full force Of your kind exhibition
of feeling tonight, but take no credit at 4
q to myself; it belongs entirely to Capt. Wilkes
1t affords me great pleasure to be here, for
am no stranger to Boston. II went to schoo
in Jaraaica Plain, and have often, as a boy
been to Faneuil Hall, and listened to Mr.. Ev'
erett and the other great men of Massachu
settsa AS Istand here tonight, my memory
n, goes back to the time when our fathers o
Virginia and Massachusetts were boon com
Z rnrinils and nnfla mood chonne in the CITY O