Red Wing sentinel. [volume] (Red Wing, M.T. [i.e. Minn.]) 1855-1861, 1861-03-13
SPEECH OF GENERAL RILEY.
N THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, OF
MISSOURI. FER. 3. 1891

SPEECH OF GENERAL RILEY.
a 4. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, OF
Il MISSOURI. FEB. 8, 1861.
After long and heated discussion
on the reference Of a bill amending the
char, cr Of the city Of Carondc!et, to a
standing committee of the House,
Mr. Riley obtained the floor, and adj
dressed the House:
MI. Speaker: Everybody is pitching
into this matter like toad frogs ;nto a
willow swamp, on a lovely evening in
. June, when the mellow light Of the
tu!l moon fills with Il delicious food
the thin, ETHEREAL atmospheric air.
(Applausc.) Sir, l want to put in a
word, or perhaps q word and half
There seems to be disposition to
fight. say, if there is any fighting to
be done, come on with your corn cobs
and lightning bugs! Applause. In
the language of the ancient Roman,
:'Conlc one, como all, this rock shall fly,
, From its firm base, in a pigs cye!"
Now there has been great deal of
bombast here to day. / call it bonn
bast from "Alpha'' to "Omega." Il
don't understand the meaning of the
words, though.) Sir, the question to
refer is great and magnificent ques-
ton. 1t is the absorbing question
like sponge, sir-a large unmeas-
urablc sponge, of globe shape, in a
tumbler of water-it sucks up every.
thing. Sir, I stand here with weapons
l have de>ignated,to defend the rights
of St. Louis county. the rights of any
other county-evcn the county OF
Cedar itself: Laughter and applause
Sir, the debate has assumed latitu-
dinosity. We have little black jack
buncombe, a little two bit buncombe,
bombast buncombe, bung hole bun.
combe, and the devil and his grand
mother knows what other kind of
buncombe. Laughter
Why sir, just give some Of 'em a
little Southern soap and little North.
ern water, and quicker than hound
can lick a skillet they will make enough
Of buncombe lathcr to wash the golden
FLOCK that roams abroad the azure
meads of heaven. Cheers and laugh
teri 1 allude to the starry firma-
ment.
The Speaker. The gentlemen is out
Of order. He must confine himself to
the question.
| Mr.. Riley. Just retain your linen
if you please. I'll stick to the text
as close as pitch plaster to a pine
plank, or a lean pig to hot jam rock.
(Crics Of "go on, "you'll do.")
l want to say to these carboniferous
gentlemen, these ingenious individuals,
these detonating demonstrators, these
pcrcginous volcanoes, come OIL with
your combustibles. If don't-well,
III suck the Gulf of Mexico through a
igoose quill. Laughter and applause.
Perhaps you think I am diminutivc
tubers and sparse in the mundane ele-
vation. You may discover, gentlemen,
you are laboring under rs great a
misapprehension as though you had
incincrated your inner vestment. In
the language of the noble bard,
| 81 was not born in thicket
I 10 be scared by cricket"
A'pP'ANoS'J
Sir, we have lost our proper position.
Our proper position is the zenith and
nadir-our heads to one, Our heels to
the the other, at right angles with the
horizon, spanned by that azure arc of
the lustrous frmamcnt, beaming with
, the curruscations and innumerable
consultations, and proud as a speck-
: led horse on county court day.
: Cheers.]
2 "But how have the mighty fallen,'
in the language of the poet Silversmith.
!, We have lost our proper diaganologi-
cal position. And what is the cause:
Echo answers, "buncombe,'' sir, ''bun.
S combc''' The people have been fed
e on buncombc, while a lot of spawned,
! ringboned, han,strung, windgalled
}, swyned, split-hcofed, ,distempered, poll.
, CIVILIZED, pot-bcllied politicians have had
: their noses in the public crib,until there
: amt fodder enough left to make q
{, cruel for sick grasshopper. [Cheers
: and laughter)
J.. Sir, these hungry brats keep tug
e ging at the public pap. They say ''le'
y down your milk Snkcy, or you will
;, have a split bag" Do you think tile,
e they can stuff such buncombe dowr
. our craw? No, sir; you might as vel
t try to stuff butter in wild cat with :
8 hot awl. Continued laughter. The
d thing can't be did.
y The public grindstone is grea
4 institution, sir,-ycs sir, great insti
f tuition. One Of the greatest, perhaps
s that ever rose, reigned or fell. But
: sir, there is too much private cutlery
n ground. The thing won't pay. Oc
J, cas!onally a big axe is brought in to be
e fixed up, ostensibly for the purpose O.
e hewing down the gnarled trunks O.
error; and clearing out the brushwooc
of ignorance and folly that obstruc
G the highway of progress. The ma
e chine whirls; the axe is applied The
It lockers on are enchanted with tht
y brilliant sparks elected. The tool il
J, polished; keenly edged: and while thu
e public stare in gaping expectancy O
: seeing the road cleared; the implemcn
It is slyly taken off to improve the priGat'
o acres of some ssfaithful friend to tn,