The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1865-04-05
vaieasctory ofspeaI4er olmsted


The following impressive remarks were
delivered by Speaker Olmsted, yesterday
on vacating the chair, aud we commend
them to the careful perusal Of our readers
viz:
Gentlemen Of tse House Of represent
otioes
The labors of the session are over.
" hat we have done, we have done, and
We can only hope now that good and not
evil may result therefrom. l PROMISED
you, gentlemen, when | assumed the
position in which your partia:ty placed
me, that | would endeavor to discharge
its duties faithfully and lmpartially, and
now 10 this presence | aver that | have
sought earnestly to keep that promise.
How we'll [ have succeeded is not for me
to say. | know what my effort has been,
and beyond that am not responsible.
You have sustained me without excep.
tion, ali of you. You have been indulg.
ent and disposed to pardon my errors.
whatever they mig have been. For all
this thank you most sincerely. This
session, although full Of care and labor,
has been to me a pleasant one, and its
hours have passed pleasantly away
cannot close without alludiDg for a mo-
ment to the affairs of our common country.
For four long, weary years the nation has
struggled for its existegce. The energies,
the wealth, the patriotism aud the life.
blood of the people have all been brought
farrsara ana ia.I --r>.---, aArnnann aI.e~
for common sacrifice The deep ter.
rors Of the bloody conflict have rot made
the people faithless or forgetfQl of sheir
duty. The constantly recurring demands
of the Government for money aud for
men, have always met an affirmative an
swer. The people have only asked that
their treasure should not be uselessly
squandered aud that their blood should
not 60 down into the ground in vain.
The worlds history shall not say again
that a republican government cannot
protect itself from foes within as well as
from foes without. Itshall not say again
that the people will not remain faithful
from their own volition to that which
they have created For 10! the morning
breaks ? The fringes of the curtain that
hides the future are luminous with the
glories Of the coming dawn the Nation
lives and lives purified and exalted con-
fusion and disaster come sure and fast
upon tbn troitOrony bocts Do+L tbov
and their cause shall fall together Our
sin and curse dies, and forever "des and
makes no sign" American slavery
joined hands with American treason, and
as the Lord reigns they shall find com
mon sepulchre. And it is fit and proper
that it should be So "They were united
in their lives and in their deaths they
shall not be divided" The giant curse
of the country has applied the asp to its
own bosom and dies of self-inficted
wounds.
a few years since the English poet
exclaimed
"That every flap Of Fngland's flag
ProcIaims that all around are free;
From farthest Ind to each blue crag
That beetles DER the western sea"
And so shall it be with our national
emblem.
This generation and this people shall
see the hour when from the pine forests
of the Northern lakes to the orange
groves Of the Rio Rrande, the sun will
neither rise upon a master nor set upon
a slave.
But oh the slain-the slain of the
conflict
GAS man may they have fought their fight,
Proved their truth by their endeavor
Now they sleep in solemn night,
Sleep forever and forever"
1t has been truly said that "the blood
of the marty is the seed Of the church"
and SO the blood of the patriot is the
seed Of civil liberty. There is nothing
valuable in government but comes thro'
seas of human blood. Why this is So
we cannot tell
''God works no otherwise no mighty birth
But comes by throes of mortal agony,
No man-child 'mnng the nations of the
earth
But indeth baptism in stormy sea-
Heaven forbid that those who reap the
fruits should forget the heroes slain.
Let us pray, and pray earnestly, that
the indications which seem to promise
speedy restoration of honorable peace
may lot prove delusive; and that this
fearful greed Tor gain which has seized
upon all classes of the community, and
is now more dangerous to the best inter-
ests of the country than armed fOes, may
speedily pass away and society return
again to its normal condition. Let us
hope for the speedy triumph of truth
and justice and the everlasting right.
In conclusion, gentlemen of the House