M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1861-02-14

TO the honorable position you have as.
signed me. A long separation from
al deliberate bodies has rendered the
rules of their proceedings unfamiliar
10 me. while | should tiEd in my own
stale Of health, variable and tickle as
it is, sufficient reason to decline the
lonor Of being four presiding officer,
but, in times like these, one has bnt
little option left bim-personal con.
sideratOns should weigh but lightly
in the balance. The country is in
,danger-it is enough-one must take
the place assigned him in the great
work Of coneiliation and adjustment.
The voice of Virginia has invited her
co States to meet her in council. In
the invitation OF this Government that
same voice was heard and complied
with, and the result Of seventy odd
years have fully attOsted the wisdom
Of the decision then adopted. Is tie
urgency Of her call now less great
than it was then9 Our godlike fathers
created-we have to preserve. They
build mp though their wisdom and pa.
triotism, monuments which have Gsr.
naIised their names.
You have before you, gentlemen, q
task equally grand, equally sublime,
quite as full Of glory and Immortality.
You have to sngtch from ruin a great
aud glorious Confederation, to pte.
serve the Government, and to renew
asd invigorate the Constitution. If
you reach tic heigthof this great occa.
sion, yOur chiIdren's children will rise
mp and call you blessed. | confess
myself ambitious ofshsring in the
glory accomplishing this great and
magnificent result, To have our
names enrolled iu the Capitol, to be
repeated by future generations with
grateful applause; this is an honor
higher than the mOuntains-more en-.
during than monumental alabaster.-I
Yes, Virginia's voice, as in the olden
time, has been heard. Her sister
States meet her this day at the coun-
ell board. Vermont is here, bringing
with her the memories of the past, re,
vivilg in the memories of all, her
Ethan Allen and his demand for the
surrer der of Ticonderoga in the name
OF the Great Jehovah aud the Amer.
ican Congress. New Hampshire il
here her fame illustrated by memorial
annals, and still more lately for the
ct him who won for himself
the name of Defender of the Cons'itu-
tion, and who wrote that letter to John
Taylor which has been enshrined in
The heurts OF his coun,rymen. Massa.
chusetts is not here-(ons member
said she is coming-I hope SO said
Mr.. Tyler, and that she will bring
with her her daughter Maine. did
not believe it could well be that the
voice which, in other times, was so
familiar to her ears, has been address.
I'd to her in vain. Connecticut is here
and she comes | doubt not, in the spir
t oI Roger Sherman, whose name {
With our very children has become !
household word, and who was in life c
N embodiment Of that practical sense 7
which BELTS the great lawgivers and
constructors Of governments. Rhode i.
sland, the land OF Roger Williams, is
lere, one Of the two last States in her |
ealousy Of the public liberty, to give t
n her adhesion to the Constitution, .
md among the earliest to hasten to its
escue The great Empire State Of I
New YOrd--represented thus far but
~ one--delegates to-day Il fuller force h
o jSin in the great work Of healing 6
he discOntsnts Of the times, and re-
toring the reign Of fraternal feeling. -
New Jersey is also here, with the :
memories OF the past covering her all d
yer. Trenton and Princeton live =
immortal in story-the plains of the a
sst epcrimsoned with the hearth q,
lood OF Virginia's sons. Among the =,
elegat'on rejoice to recognize a son y
# signer Of the Declaration which B!
announced to the world that thirteen VI
rovinces had become thirteen indie. '
eDdent States; and, here, TOO, i s Del n
ware, the land ofthe Baynards and q
be RUdneys, whose soil at Brandy " v
tine was moistencd by the blood Of f'
youthful Monroe. Here is t
iaryland, whose massive columns CO
'heeled into line with those Of Vir. W
inia in the contest for glory, and
hose State. house at Annapolis was
le theater ola spectacle Of success y
il commander, who, after liberating ia
is country, gladly uugirlhed his re
VOID, and laid it down upon the al .,
'r ofthat country. Then comes Penn 60 "
ylvania rich IN Revolutionary lore, W
ringing with her the deathless names Ii
FRANKLIN and Morris, and, | trust, ii
lady to renew from the beliry OF Ia. O,
ependence Hall the chimes OF the old .,
ell, which announced freedom and
Independence in former days. All % "
all to North Cardinal with her f'
ja.L1aphrro Daolaro+;on IN bo, b,,d 81