Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1865-03-23
Close of the 38th Congres5-Ths
Speakers Farewell.

the House, said:
GENTLEMEN OF THE HoUsE OF REPRESENTATIVES:
The parting h,ur his come, ani yonder clock.
coon announce thas tn Congress OF which we are
members has passed into history. Honorel by
your votes with this responsible position. have
faithfully striven to perform it, always complex
ani often perpleIing duties without partisan bias
and with the sincerest imp ,rtislity. Whether
have realized the true ideal of just presiding Of
fcer, aiding on the one hand the advance of the
public business, with the responsibility OF which
the mijoritv is charged, aud on the ther hind al
lowing no trespIss the parliamentary rights of
the minority ist be left for others to decide
But looking back now over the entire Congress
cannot rene mber single word addressed 10 you
which "dying would wish to blot" On this day.
which BY spontaneous consent, is being observed
wherever our A * hOits, day OF national re-
jolcing, with 4 roar ofc nnons greeting the rising
sun on he rock bound coast of Maine. echoed and
re-echoed by answering voIleys from city to city,
and from mountain peak to mountain peak, till
from the golden gate they di'. away far out on the
Pacific, ming'e our congratulations with those
OF the fFeemen represent over the victories for
the Union that have made the winter just closing
warm with jDy aai ho)e. With them we rel lice
tiIt the national standard which revolutionary
f.thers unfhrled oyer the laLd but which rebellion
sought to strike down ami destroy, waves a. unds-
puied at this hour over the cradle of secession at
CnIrle'toa ~ over the cradle ofliherty At Faneuil
n al. an thu: the whole fir. lnsnt is al ,me with
the brllian; glow Of triumph for that cIuse. We
h I'VE but recently cOmnemOrItel the birthdIy of
the Father Of his Country. aud renewed our pledge
- each other til the nation he founded should not
be sin ,erci nv the htni Of tire tson AMI the good
news th,t assures thr salvation of the epublic is
dDn1ly joyous, because it tells us that the PRAYERS
OF the past -four years have not been unanswered.
AMI the priceless. blood of our brave defenders so
freely shed and profusely split, has been in
vain. We turn. too. to-day, with rrouder joy than
ever before to that b.nner brilan; with Stars from
the heavens and radiant with elories from Bunker
Hill TO Yorktown, from Lundy's Lane to New Or
leans, and Al through the darker hours Of the Re-
bellion Of the past, 10 Savan ah, Fort Sumter,
Charleston, COlumbi,, Fort Fisher and Whining
ton in the present, which has ever symbolized our
untv AMI our ,tional life rs we see inscribed on
in inehfacesbly that now doubly noble inscriptiun,
Liberty AMI Union, and forever, one and in
separahle." But in the hour of gladness can
not forget the obligations. rara and undying,
we owe to our heroic defenders on every battle
field upon the land and upon every rocked
monitor and irigate upon the Inspired by the
ublimest spirit of self sacrifice, they have realized
million fold the historic fable OF Curtus, as they
have offered TO close up with their own bodies If
need be, the yawning chasm hat imperiled the Re-
public. For you and me, and for their country.
they have turned their backs on the delights of
home. and severed the tenderest Of ties, to brave
death in thousand foims, % confront with un-
blanched cheeks the tempest Of shot and she'll and
a,me. to storm frownng batteries and bristling
entertainments, TO suffer, and to die. AZ We look
from this Capitol hill over the nition, there are
crushed and broken hearts in every hamlet
There are wounded soldiers, mangied with Rebel
bullets. in every hospital. In every church yard
there patriot graves. There bleaching
bones on every bitte field. I. is the lofty and un.
faltering heroi>m OF the honored dead that has tt,
ken Us from every valley of disaster and defeat
of victory. The granite shaft my COM
mcmorate their dceds-our American "Valh,lla"
my be crowned with the statues of our heroes
but the debt .f gratitude to them can never be
paid while time shall last and the his: ory OF "a res
cued nnion shall endure. If my voice from this
Representative hall could be heard throughout the
land, | would allure all who love the Republic to
preserve this obligation ever fresh in their hearts
The brave who have fallen in these struggles to
prevent an alien f,g from waving over the ashes
Of Washington. or over the graves where sleep the
great and patriotic rivals of the last generation.-
The hero Of New Orleans, and the iustrious
Statesman of Kentucky. cannot return to Us. On
Shiloh's plain and Cardinals sandy shore, before
Richmond. and above the clouds at Lookout Noun
tain, the patriot martyrs Of constitutional liberty
sleep in their bloody shrouds till the morning of
the resurrection. But the living are left behind,
and, it the sacred record appropriately commends
the poor "who are ever W th u.s. TO our benefac
tons and regard, may I not remind you that the
widow and the iatherless, the MANNED and the
wounded; the diseased and the suffering, whose an
guish springs from the great contest, have claims
on all o. US, heightened immeasurablv by the sicred
cause for which they have given SO much. Thus.
and thus alone, BY pouring the oil Of consolation
into the wounds that wicked treason has made can
We prove our devotion to fthcrland md our
afrctionatc gratitude to its defenders. And re-
joicing over the bow Of promise we already see
arching the storm cloud of war, giving assurance
that no deluge Of secession shall again overwhelm
or endanger our nation, can join with heart and
soul and sincerely and trusting.y in the poets
prayer,
Now Father, lay Thy healing hand
! In mercy on our stricken land;
| Oh. lead its wanderers to the fold,
| And be their shepherd as of old.
| So shall our nations song ascend
To Thee, our Ruler Father, Friend;
. While heavens wide arch resoundsa again
With Peace on Earth--good will to men.
We o hence with our official labors ended, into
the Senate Chamber, and from the portico of the
Capitol there, With the statue Of he Goddess Of