The national Republican., 1861-02-15

ehort OF woman that accomplished the result. |
[Applaase.
we appeal, therefore, under that Providence,
to the women of America. Loud and long up.
pause We ask them, in their ma esiy and in
their peaceful might, 10 rise TO the height Of
this great argument. We ask the mother to |
impress upon her boy this lesson: that the
dsseverance of this Union is the destruction Of
| the freedom Of the world. We ask her to draw
that husband into the paths Of Union and Con.
federation. We ask her to teach all her chill.
dren, by all her influence, this great lesson
Patriotism first; interest afterwards" Ap
plause.
So, sir, am authorized by these very women
to confer upon you this gift they are the EN-.
your military exploits, and may It hereafter be
evidence upon other occasions that they have
withstood the storm of battle, that they have
been cleaning under the canopy Of smoke, that
they have been where wounds have been re.
ceived and dealt, and at last have Huttered
amid acclamations of joy at their success-that
freedoms banner had at last been successful
Applause.
In their name, therefore, I present to you
these coors and these arms. They symbolize
the patriotism and the virtue of those who pre-
sent them, and am sure they will ever be an
incentive to you to deeds of chvalry and mill.
tary valor. lApplause.l
REPLY OF Mr.. CLAMpIrT.
MosT RESPECTED Sir 1t is with pride and
pleasure that present myself before you upon
this occasion, to receive, in behalf Of Company
c, Washington Light Infantry Battalion, these
beautiful tokens Of friendship, which the ladies
Of Washington, through you, have so kindly
bestowed upon US. Not more does the travel.
Ter who treads the burning sands Of Sahara,
hail with joy that oasis, from whose gushing
fountains he may quaf the sweet waters Of life,
and where he may lie down to rest in the shad-
ow of the olive grove, than we, as a company,
hail this green spot in our history, created by
the warm heart and open hand Of friendship.
We feel proud that our mission as citizen SOL
diery has not been totally in vain. We feel
proud tonight as American soldiers, that there
beams upon US womans approving smile.
God grant that by no act Of ours, either in
peace or in war, we may ever fail to merit
woman's smile.
There is something in the character Of wo.
man that commands the admiration and merits
the study of man, the world over. The mission
Of woman is as wide as the universe. Where.
ever civilization exists, the power and domin-
ion of woman is established. The Creator has
endowed her with elements of character that
man, in an eminent degree, does not possess.
To be sure, we say that we are of sterner stuff,
that we are the protectors of woman. We are
the warriors of our generation we build cities
and rear empires we tear down old systems
} Of government, and build up new; we develop
, model modes of government, and revolutionize
} them in the lifetime of man. In all this the
| voice Of woman is silent, except by her ind
D vidual counsel. Her mission lies in different
b. sphere, and the great acts of her life are plan
8 ned and developed under far different aus
f pices.
, The mission Of woman is of high and holy
= order. Where is the man who has forgotten
Q the influence Of that first deep impress up
on his mind and heart, as in his childhood, al
ter the pleasures and sorrows of the day, wher
/ the earth was hung with the drapery Of night
f and the stars, all night clad, moved on in long
q and dark procession, knelt down at his mother.
!. knee, and as she folded his tiny hands in devo
!, ton, taught his infant lips to lisp Gods holy
{ name.
I Go with me to the bed of anguish and o
!. suffering; 60 with me to that silent chamber
l.. where the proud form of man lies PROSTATE be
:, fore the ravages of disease, when the cheel
a has paled, which once beamed with the rudd,
|. hues of health. Whose form is there so cheer
ing-whose heart more constant-whose ey
:, more watchful-whose hand more soothing II
,r the aching brow Of man, than that of woman
a Go with me to the battlefield, where bloc,
~ and carnage reigns; where the brave younI
a heart lies down to sleep, upon that bourn from
IL whence no traveller e'er returns where heap
80 of mangled slain and mounds of dying mel
- - meet the gaze and quail the heart OF the bra
@ vest soldier, and there we find woman, willis
!, bombs are bursting around her, placing tn
!, cooling draught to the lips of the dying soldier
10 Go to the hospitals and in the silent watches Q
the night we behold woman ministering to tn
10 wants of the wounded, and consoling the dyin
IL man, who soon shall sleep the long eternal slee
10 Of death, resting from his labor, beneath tn
9, soil of a foreign land. Go to the islands of tn
a Paci6c-into the depths of Africa-yea, to tn
q shores of all dark, benighted lands, and ther
70 we behold the angel form of woman, Dreakin
ls the darkness which for ages has bound tn
t. minds and governed the hearts of the heather
Go back to the Revolution, which burst asur
n. der the chains of tyranny that bound us to a
We fees of woman. When the younger brothe
as grasped the rifle from the hands Of the dyin
at elder, and hurried on to meet the coming fo'
er the mother gave her only son to ll in the rank
s. of freedom his dead fathers place. Yea VI
on those battle.felds of freedom was woma
e, found in person, fighting bravey in the foo
SO steps of her dead husband. And it was W
rd mans hands in Mexico that raised aloft our Q
at sign Of freedom, when by shot Of the enem
x. the stars and stripes had been stricken fro
the ramparts.
re In nearly all enterprises, either of publ
70 or private nature, we behold the smiles an
al, counsels of woman and tonight, individual
'k and collectively, Company feels proud thi
ch in their tokens of friendship On the part of Il
Ii. ladies', we have knowledge Of their con6dent
in the military OF our city, that in the darkne
'e, and gloom that overshadows our sorrown
p, land-in this, our country's dark travail, whe
the greatest Government on the face Of God
a. | earth seems nhnut to be rent asunder and til