St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1863-03-26

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The soldiers from Jour State gentlemen,
viii MT disgrace it, !, There j. not one Of
them who is. not proud that he il a Min
nesotian. ! am proud Of it when see
you, gentlemen, IN this times pushing on
these great .provements; when l see
the wheat, raised by your toll, on your
rich prairies, sent as free gift to the
starving paupers of the British empire
who have cursed US in our affection
Well may VIC thank an all-wise Providence
for casting our lot in so great and glorious
land, and determine afresh that "come
veal or woe, sink or swim, survive or per-
ISL" We will stand by the dear old flag
that has Aoated 50 proudly over US, as long
as man is left, and at last take its beau
tiful folds for winding sheet, and when
VIC have lain down in our last resting
place, damned be the man who says We
lived and died not as becomes American
citizens
6. The American Union.-"It must and
shall be, preserved"
To this toast, Hon. E. .. Hamlin made
the following beautiful response:
2: Mr.. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN
No person, more than myself, can better
realize my inability to respond in an ap-
propriate manner to the sentiment which
has just been offered. And yet, sir, I ann
fully aware that no person however hum
bic he may be, can justly refuse such cou.
tribution as his talents enable him to offer
upon an occasion wherein we do credit to
ourselves by our recognition of the diff.
cult and successful labors of those whom
We now delight to honor. And shall
hope at least for your indulgence, remem-
bering that we can all be witty if "brevity
is the soul of wit" y
The American Union! the proudest
recollection Of tho American citizen; the
highest vision of all that prosperity for
Which we hope in the future the
priceless legacy Of that band of heroes
whose name can never be forgotten The
American Union! eulogized by the elo-
quence Of sages for nearly four score
years immortalizcd by the tribute of some
Of the most mighty intellccts which have
ever shone upon the earth, how shalt /
attempt response!
It has been said that the three sweet
est words which the English language has
given Us, are Mother, Home and Heaven.
Gan / say more than that the American
Union comprehends for each Of US, Moth
er, Home and Heaven?
l shall not detain you, Sir, and you,
Gentlemen, by illustrations of how, when
the human heart has become depraved by
crime and callous by sin, so that all hu-
man sympathy seems dead and all feeling
buried beneath its weight Of wickedncss,
when every tender recollection fails and
even Heaven has lost its beauty, that one
word, Mother, has opened to purest aud
hottest remembrance the heart which had
forgotten that it ever had sinless child.
hood, and yet weeps at the angelic pic
ture Of tender and loving mother.
The American Union is the Mother of
American Liberty; for 1t was the Union
Of the American States-not precisely as
afterwards perfected, but the united eff.
forts Of the American State-which cna.
bled them to successfully combat Tyranny
aud give to US American Liberty. And
we will never cease to hope that even as
no criminal at the last has refused to feel
for bis Mother SO rebellious sons of this
beautiful and loving Mother may at the
last yield obedience to the hottest sympa-
thy which thrills the human heart.
Home! Home!! There is in the most
remote corner of despotism scarce peas
ant 80 downtrodden by Tyranny that he
bias not heard the pleasant sound of the
American Union and yearned to set his
weary feet upon the shores Of that land
which is the "home Of the oppressed Of
all nations" And if it is home to them,
how much moro is it home to us, whose
earliest childhood has listened to its prai-
ses, whose present is sheltered beneath its
Stars and Stripes aud whose future is
bound up in its veal! And looking back
over nearly eighty years of it's glorics aud
its triumphs, shall we not all say, both ma
tive bo1n and foreign born; that it has
been political Heaven ?
Is it any wonder then that now, when
tra,torous hands would tear it down, when
its very existence is threatened, there
comes up fresh from our every heart, the
earnest, honest, patriotic VOW, 1.-THE 4Anser-
icam Union, 1t must and shalt be preseru.
ed :"
And while We feel that palsied be the
arm and cursed be the heart of him vho
does not love his country, let US here in
response to tho sentiment renew our VOWS
of love and fealty and in this hour of our
country's trial swear by all the pure rec
collections that cluster around the name of
Mother, by all the tles that bind US to
our Home, by all our lifelong hopes of
Heaven, 'THE AMERICAN UNION, IT,
MUST AND SHALL BE PRESERVED =
s. The State of Minnesota Though her
people have known what it is for 1.-THE grass
hopper to become q burden; desire to fail
and her mourners to go about the streets, yet
the indomitable euergy, undying patriotism
and determined courage Of her sons have not
only accomplished her prosperity At home, be-