Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1866-09-15
GENERAL INTELLIGENCE:
nnrcI,s monruENr eEREnONIEs.
Grafton ny Gen.John a: Dr. $, D shiesro
September 9th, 1865.

September 9th, 1865.
Frr1ow CITIzENs.-The scene, IN
,vbich we are actors to-day, with all It's
s,,rrounding circumstances and accom-
,,snxing recollectiOns, has no parallel
IN t6is city or in any other age. we
are assembled within the confines OF a
80, numbering over 100000 inhabIt-
- distant I. 900 miles from the ocean,
where "a years ago nothing was seen
INT an unbrOken expanse OF prairie on
the one side. and the OutspTead waters
Of lake Michigan on the Other-Do \
extending far Beyond the compass OF
the sigbt: nothing heard but the Volee
Of the GREAT inland sea from the SANDS
on which its waves were breaking, or
the more unwelcOme voices OF the say
aoa tribes who FOamed over their ma
;sstic Mains. Where, within half the
snan Of ordinary life there was one vast
Solitude. all Is full Of activity and pro-
gress and the treasures of a polished
civilization. Industry aud the arts des-
,,Iav their stores with a bOunteousness
which might we'll be mistaken for the
accumulated SURPRISES OF centuiles; sci
ence Is teaching the truths which have
heen developed by the researches
of the past. aud enlarging the bound
aries of human knowledge by new
discoveries: education Is nnlyeT-|
sally diffused; and above all, the
TEMPLES which religion has reared
10 the service OF God, from every
,,recinct and almost every street
Of the city point their spires to Heaven,
as Il were in acknowledgement of the
1perciful protection under which 1t has
triumphed over all the obstacles to ITS
Growth and become strong aud sell
reliant and prosperous. Fellow-citi-
Zens. I'm no country of the present. In
no AGE of the past, could such miracle
of civilization have been wrought
And now this great city and the great
West. of which 1t Is by comparison but
Al ipcOnsiierable part, have poured out
the tens of thousands, who stand around
me. in a mass so extended that no hu-
man voice could reach youT outer ranks.
Yon have come here TO render the hon.
age of yOur respect to the memory OF,
one who rose among you to the highest
eminence for talent and Tor successful
labor In your service. And the chief
magistrate of the Union; who IN the
council chambers of the nation, stood
side 10y side with him IN the darkest
hour of its peril, aud espoused with
equal zeal and elOquence the cause OF
their common country, when other men
with hearts less stOnt and faith less con
slant. duailed before the impending
storm. has come 10 Join with you IN
this act of posthumOus honor to an
honest, courageous and patriotic states
man cut oil IN the fnllness of his
strength, his usefulness and his fame
Where or when. has such concur
fence of circumstances existed to inspire
one with great thoughts, and yet to
make him, by their very greatness, de-
spair of giving them appropriate utter
ance?
No one need look ont of his own
breast for the impulse which has gath
cred SO vast a multitude together
multitude which no other sun shall see
assembled. 1t is one of the strongest
feelings of our nature to desire to per
petuate the memory of those who, from
ties of blood, familiar associations or
valuable services, have become dear to
us. and, by the will of God, have been
separated from AS forever. There are
thousands within the reach of my voice
WHO nave bt'rli lihtAc phiuiuAAa Nthfhatpu'
of this instinct 10y the bereavements
which the unhappy domestic conflict,
lust ended, has visited upon them.
When the burden of grief lies heavy on
the heart, it Is the first impulse of our
nature to prOlOng the remembrance, to
grave into the solid stone, which shall
endure when we have persisted, some
appropriate thought, or IL may he the
simple names, of those We have loved
and lost.
Kindred to these tributes of affection
Is the debt of gratitude, which whole
community, represented here IN count
less numbers, has assembled to dis
charge by the erection of IA monument,
suited In its proportions TO the great
qualities of him whom it is to cOmmem-
orate-tO lay the foundation of the
structure, hich is to be piled up, stone
upon stone, from the earth beneath our
feet into the sky above us, and thus to
symbOliZe the eminence to which he
rose by his genins and his transcendant
public services, above the plane of ele-
walton, where the great mass OF his con-
temporaries stood and tOiled aud strug-
gIed IN the hard battle of life.
Thirty-three years ago, the year after
Chicago was founded, n crowd of people
were assembled at Winchester, IN Scott
county, In this State, to attend a sale of
valuable property. When 1T was about
to commence a clerk was wanting to
keep the accounts, and no one could
be found who was willing to undertake
the service. AT this moment a youth,
slender in person, and feeble IN health,
who had come on foot from "A neighbOr-
ing town, Joined the assembled crowd.
He was at once singled out by the sales
man as one competent to the service,
aud at his urgent solicitation, and
tempted no doubt by the offer of 81 a.
day the youthful stranger accepted it,
The sale occupied three days, and, be-
fore it was ended, he had won all hearts
by his intelligence, his prOmptitude,
his frankness, and his urbanity. 1t was
the general judgment that young man
of so much promise should not be per
mitted to leave the neighborhOod. A
school was provided for him; and thus
as a clerk aud a teacher, stranger,
without friends and without means, not
twenty-One years of age, relying on the
talents God had given hmm, ON an indus
try which never wearied, and courage |
which never waveIed, Stephen Arnold
Douglas entered upon the great field |
of his labor in the West.
1t cannot be doubted that among a |
people battling with the hardships of a
new country, the favorable impression |
which his first appearance had made
was confirmed by a knowledge of the |
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