The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1869-12-11
Richmond 1ispatcIr,
DECEMBER II, 1869.
TIE CIRCULATION OF TIE "DIsPATCHn
Is LARGER THAN THE CoMBINED CIRCU-
LAT1nN OF ALL THE UTHEE DAILY NEWS
tAPERs OF THIS CITY.

LATInE OF ALL THE UTHEE DAILY NEWS
tAPERs OF THIS CITY.
From the Boston Advertiser.
speech of Joseph s. Ropes, ESQ, of
Boston, at the Dinner given i'm
tonor OF the National Board of
Trade AT Richmond. Va. Dec. 4.
MIR. Chairman and Fellow Citizens, Tpro-
lonSed applausel including, I beg to saw,
the gentleman who has Just taken his
Seat;f and l would interpoate word of
consolation to that gentleman in his dis
tress. lLaughter.] His humility prevents
his reckoning himself, at this time. as a citi-
zen OF the United States. He thinks lie is
outside; he thinks he is kind of hereto.
not entitled to the full privileges Of the
church. happened to remember, at the
moment he spoke, a most comforting sem
tence OF that judicious man Archbishop
dooker, who says, IS nearly as l cen recall
his language, ''We cheerfuly recognize
hereaesns being part, n manned and i'm
perfect part, it is tr,,o, butsr',I s,l'nsFs,
the True Church." daughter and applause.]
Mr.. Chairman, it was not until after had
cast the die, passed the Rubicon, "taken
up my carriages" as an old version has it,
and set out On my journey to Richmond,
that found, to my great dismay, that the
true chairman OF our deputation (Hon. A.
II. R!ce) had taken the train in the other
direction. The silver-tongued president of
the Boston Board OF Trade, whose voice
has been heard with SO much pleasure, not
only in Boston, but in the halls of Congress,
at the head of important congressional COM
nlittees, and in many public places, and
always with pleasure and instruction, was
prevented by family circumstances from
giving us the satisfaction of his presence
here, and thus relieving me from what |
painfully feel to he position for which /
I'M utterly untitled.
At this late hour, Mr.. Chairman, you will
hardly expect me to make a speech, and,
gentlemen, ] have too much compassion for
our aching heads and weary hearts, espe-
Tally for those Of you who feel that they
nave not the comfort Of American citizen
ship to cheer them in their sorrow, TO inflict
q speech upon you; and yet, sir, will tell
this august assembly Of a little fable which
has come to my mind, and very naturally,
during my visit here--the old classic fable
Of the sun and the wind Gtwas north wind
al>d q southern sun) which beset an unfor-
tunate traveller and tried to get away from
him his cloak. know not what it was called;
whether it was the cloak of State rights, or
Self-conceit, or isolation, or peeviShneSs, or
perversenesS, but il was cloak. The north
wind attacked it with all its blasts and gusts,
but failed to tear it away the traveller only
drew it closer about him. But when the
southern sun came out and shone strong in
his face, it warmed him up so that he could
not bear the cloak, and he flung it away and
stood out as he was, il man, in the presence
OF the sun and the sky. [Applausc.l
Now, Mr.. Chairman and gentlemen, we
have occasionally invited our friends Of the
South and the West to Boston. The wind
has generally been from the north OH those
occasions. Laughtcr.l We have attacked
them with argument; we have belabored
them with logic we have almost Suilocatcd
them with sophistry we have overwhelmed
them with categorical questions; we have
packed them into great, mammoth, freezing
sleighs, and taken them out to enjoy the
pleasures OF an arctic drive by moonlight !;
and they have come home shivering, and
wondering what this northern reception
meant. Now .l:c t::blea arc turned, .nd we
have como down herd TO experience "a ,e-
ception-shali | say?--ot Il very different
kind. We have been comprised about with
such an atmosphere OF southern hoSpl-
tality-such genial warmth, Of which the
beautiful southern sun OF to-day was
such noble and fitting type-that we have
been fairly melted down in the atmosphere
of your kindness and cordiallty, and have
lung away everything except ourselves,
and we have put ourselves into your hands.
[ApplauSe,l And, finally, gentlemen, having
surrounded us, and circumventcd us, and
driven us into a corner, and brought your
batteries and planted them against Us, you
last night brought up your reserves OF lovely
women and took us captive. [Great ap-
plausc.j There we arc, Mr.. Chairman !;
not one of us Will dare to bulge al inch,
nor wag his tongue, nor move his FOOT we
can every one Of us be kept here as long as
is your pleasure, by the mere presence of 4
corporal's,, or-shall say?-a Picket guard.
Loud applause, and shout of "Boston
lorever."l
MIR. Chairman, I cannot forget, and 7
know not why l should forget, chat this has
not always been so. \ few short years ago
| stood on the sacred soil OF Virginia under
very different circumstances. was on one
side of the Rappahannock, surrounded by
sentinels, and fr0wning batteries Of cannon,
aud lighted matches, and piled arms, and
multitlldes Of troops, waiting the signal for
attack or defence. On the other side there
was similar display. The flooring Of the
bridge which so easily un;tes the two cities
on that river was taken away, and it was
like the river Of death. ] cannot forget,
and none Of you can forget, how many
near and dear to us were then standing
opposed in arms to one another-hoW
many have gone to that country "from
whose bourne no traveller returns" We
shall never see them again. They were the
sacrifice, in the providence OF God, to what
I-devoutly believe will be the future wei
fare Of their country; and say this, Mr..
Chairman and gentlemen, because [ rejoice
TO feel that all this has passed away Tor
ever loud applause] THAT the sword Is
thrown into the sea-that the hatchet IS
buried so deep that it is beyond the power
of man ever to dig it up again. There Is
peace in all our borders, and by the bless
Ing Of God it is q peace that shall never
more be disturbed by those wretched broil>
which have too often made brothers nlisera-
BILE heretofore.
And now what remains for us, .tell0u cth-
zens-I dare to say it again-of one COM
mon country? What but throw aside all
the bitter feelings OF the past, all the me-
mories which may stir up unhappy or un-
pleasant thoughts? There is not one OF Us
who need look with bitterness upon his
neighbor. Every one of Us has, before God
and his country, endeavorcd to do what, at
the time, he thought to be his duty. You
are not ashamed Of the part you took in the
defence of your State [applause], and Ger
tainly we are not ashamed that we stood by
what we believed to be our Constitution
and our laws. [Renewcd applauSe.l 1t re-
mains, then, as l said before, only TO throw
all these things behind our backs, TO for
get the things that are behind, and reach
forward unto those that are before, ana 10
devote all our energies to building up d
great, noble, peaceful, prosperous. an
enlightened and law-abiding country. lap
plause.] ,,1e, .,n,5 .ho+