The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1867-09-05

and national games are to be commended
and fostered a. ssafety valve to theS pent- q
up steam of our mental generatlves.
The American is q procrastinator IN {
enjoyment, or if not that, preeminentay
characterised for making tail OF pleasure. !
Endowed with indomitable energy, untiag.
pinr perseverance,, and an inventive gen.
IN. nneoualled, he seeks wealth, looking 70 L I
4. accumulation, and the future, for the X
Measures which he blindly thinks it viii II
confer. while all around him are sources of ,
;oy and pleasure in the utmost profusion Il
and if at times the loneliness of nature OBJ
trudes itself on his view, with averted eye he
passes I'M and resumes his pursuit of the un. |
real. Example is better than precept,
and it is to be hoped that the /
example here to-day win not be lost l
on the rising generation. /
Gathered here on this classic ground are |
the men and women, heroes and heroines of
. thousand battles; battles with Indians;
battles with adversely; battles with food and
field, with hunger and cold, and all the bat
ties incident to a frontier life. Nearly half a
century ago they took up their line of march
westward, guided by the star Of empire.
Faithful to their principles, derived from the
Pilgrim stock-principles of self govern
ment; principles of religion, honesty, thrift |
and economy, they are here to-day prosper
GUS and victorious, enjoying the well-earned |
fruits of their toll. Some are yet on the |
summit level, others on the down grade,
and more still, nearing the final terminus,
l oil reckoning to those commencing the as
cent to take this train, tickets free) and |
| we'll for them if they follow. Look back!
We are all looking back. 1t is q peculiar |
| and signal evidence of declining years, that
l after fifty we find ourselves looking over the
| shoulder. Look back at the old settlers,
men and women, and see if they are not
worthy of emulation.
l Old man Harrold-the very embodiment
of truth and honesty, thrift and industry,
child-like in simplicity, mild in remonstrance.
Here DR.. Gregg related characteristics anecdote
of Mr.. Harold in relation to his wish that the
black birds had been kept out of Noah's Ark.l
The accomplished gentleman and liberal
friend-Col. Davenport. Here the DR.. re-
lated another anecdOte in regard to his per
lis when young physician, in crossing the
Slough (Silvan Water) to visit q sick person
at Col. Davenport's residence, and being
/ rewarded with a hundred dollar bill, which
enabled him to get the first horse he ever
owned.
The industrious Brooks, who at the age
of nearly sixty, planted his apple seeds in
town lot, grated them in due time, and
lived to eat the fruit and have an income of
two thousand dollars year from his
: | orchard.
Andy Bell, who at the age of nearly
eighty years, drove his own stout team and
performed the work of a man. The amiable
, Father Bowling, Powars, Wells, Cook, Case,
Bartlett, McMurphy, Moore, wild cat) Bal
ley, the christian gentleman, Col. John Bu-
ford, the seer and prophet, John Wilson, the
pioneer ferryman, the honest man, respected
/ by all; Erskine Wilson, his son, the Rock
} | River ferryman, Hartzell, and others whose
names do not occur to me, but equally
, | worthy Of notice.
Il And over the water, lie Claire,
! the public benefactor, Mitchell, Mach.
| lot, Mcintosh, the strong minded honest
!, man Roe, Hawley, the Parkers, Clark, the
$ eccentric but honest Bronson, and the no
less eccentric Gordon, and many others OF
| not less note.
And the women. You look in vain for
| qualities superior to those possessed by old
s Lady Powars--qualities of mind and body
: fitting to adorn cottage or grace throne
e | Who will soon forget the busy, industrious
r, tidy, exemplary Mrs. Brooks, Mrs. Wells
! Arcularius, Mrs. Cook-time does no,
t permit to extend the list.
IL But | must not, in this feeble eulogy, for
get the brave and good women of Iowa.
Y have no list of the dead, but they emuateG
y their sisters of this side in every womanly
virtue and accomplishment
Il l speak of the iamented dead. Those
who are to follow, at distant day it is to bt
O hoped, will get their need of praise from q
0 more competent euiogist.
al 1t is not my province, nor my purpose K
:, | stem the tide of fashion or its innovations
d but simply say that the women of the pas
nd tho.r ho.s
e gracefully and becomingly, and if they spreat
themselves it was at the hospitsble board
r | presiding with equal grace in the kitchen
g. parlor or dining hall. Peace to their ashes
is What more fitting place for this assem-
D. blage than this famed Rock Island. Fo
n here it was beneath the folds of the gloriou
2 flag, and under the walls of old Fort Arm
strong that the families of the first old SCI
y | tiers sought protection from the ruthles
d knife OF the savage, while the men wen
D. forth to battle for their wives and little ones
# their affairs and their homes. This was tn
G, camp meeting ground of another race. II
q that sequestered cave, beneath yon point O
IS rock, (Gibralter of the Mississippi) dwell;
IF (so the legend goes) the Good Spirit of tn
Indian in form of a snow white dove.
IS A simple faith had they, Evolutionary
e was. Ours more complex, revealed. Thei
IT God they saw in the clouds, and heard hin
D. in the winds. We see him On the cross
- and hear him from Mount Sinai.
e. Have our advanced civilization and tn
g light of revelation, developed, more than hi
q good or evil? For the change is there
S; iustifable compensation.
For out of the graves of a barbarous rae
ot the spires of our temples of worship poin
a heavenwards. On the site of the wigwar
Is are being reared our marts of commerce.
oil Where once the tiny birchen bark did glide,
III By dusky squaw propelled ON Mississippi tide
rs The fre canse in swift commercial strife
It. Speeds DER the water like q thing of life
to Let us see to it that our boasted higher civi
cation bears its fruit, and that we do not sui
stitute for the simple faith and psrctices {
barbarity, the more Objectionable vices an
immoralities of that civilization.
A fitting place for here we can learn, b
contemplation, lessons of soldierly quelitie
and exalted patriotism. Here, in troublou
times of yore, might be seen the stalwal
form of the ilustrious Scott, marshling h
hosts for contest; and, with moral courag
superior to that demanded on the battle fell
with his own hands ministering to his brave
when confronting that fell destroyer, choler,
more terrific in its onslaught, than the mo-
impetuous charge on the field of strife
Here too, the soldier and statesman (mol
eminent as the former), the goods ii
mild, but heroic Taylor held commando
Many anecdotes illustrative of his kindness ,
heart are yet spoken of by the old settler