The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1870-03-10
A CAPITAL SPEECH

On the 10Th ult., the Legislature of
Kentucky paid visit to Cincinnati.
In the evening the citizens entertained
them with sulnptuous banquet at the
Burnet House, on which occasion
Hon. George H. Pendleton was chosen
by the citizens to welcome the guests
in their name, which he did in the
following admirable speech: atoi
Gentlemen of the State Government
and Legislature of Kentucky, fel-
low-citizens of Ohio:
q feel that I am honored in being
selected to speak tonight the word of
Welcome to Kentucky only obey
the instructions with which / am
charged by the public authorities. !
give inadequate expression to the SEN
timent which rises spontaneous in the
breast OF, every man and woman lin
the community. l give, if 1 may be
pernlitted to ssy.ity the feeblest utter
ance to the emotions which stir my
own heart at this moment, when on
behalf of them all j extend to you,
sons of Kentucky, most warm and
cordial, aye. and fraternal greeting.
lCheers] The heart of our people beats
with unusual quickness tonight !; its
pulse throbs with unusual strength,
for it feels, and would be glad to utter
Welcome, thrice Welcome to our
Queen City, you, brethren of that no.
BILE commonwealth. s.1a.r .74i
/ welcome you not as strangers
even though the faces of many whom
you see about you are not familiar-I
welcome you as brothers, bound to
each other by the common tie which
binds us 10 one mother. Citizens of
Kentucky! Citizens of Ohiol are we
not, therefore, citizens of the same
country, bound up with her in com
mon destiny? Is not her honor our
honor, her prosperity our prosperity,
our liberty her true glory o. Does not
the character of her government re-.
fleet the opinions and test at once the
wisdom and happiness of all her peo-l
pie? Are we not all children of one
mother, who opens wide her arms,
and forgetting all our follies, and
pardoning all our weaknesses, and
soothing all our jealousies, enfolds us.
all alike to her warm and loving heart?
[Cheers] And are we not bound to
each other by the tie which binds JUS
all to her? Citizens of the same
country, we cannot be altogether
strangers to each other. Children of
the same mother, / invite you as,
brethren and friends to the hospitali-
ties of our homes. 4 do not know
the philosophy by which eur souls are
governed. / have seen on the plains
of Central Europe the people of
Switzerland pine and die for the pure
aiE and'pnowy peaks Of their native
mountains. 1 have seen the Isrealite
through pain, and trial, and danger,
push his way to the Holy Land, that
he might there enter the opening por-1
tails of theNew Jerusalem. I have
seem in the wastes of the desert, the
| Mussulman put his hand on his mouth
and his mouth in the dust, ,as at the hour
of prayer he bowed his head toward
Mecca. do not underrate material
interest. 1 do not fail to see the infu-
ence of material prosperity, but lap
peal to your own consciousness,
whether there is not a magic in the
name of home, and love of country
which springs Spontaneous in every
human heart? [Applause.l That
magic spell invoke tonight to bring
Kentucky and Ohio closer together
than ever they were before. ft.o.
The tie which binds the people of
these States is not weak one. Iden-
titY of race, of origin; of language, of
religion, of institutions, of dangers, of
hopes, of aspirations, have bound
them in close communion. Location
has added its strength also. We in.
Ohio form part of that great belt
which nature and man have made the
highway from New Y ork to San Fran
cisco. You in Kentucky almost skirt
those valleys which mark the course
of railways through the mountains of
Virginia and Tennessee on their way
from the Chesapeake to the Bay of
California. We in Ohio from our
northern shores look upon the cold
lakes and feel the blasts of frozen Can
ada, while You in Kentucky from
your mountains can almost catch the
breezes which come from the Gulf
laden with the perfumes of lemon and
olive, and can almost look down upon
the fields luxurient with tropical rich.
ness. Climate, and soil, and produc-
ton have also contributed to give us
identity of interest. These infences
have produced their natural results.
Citizens of Kentucky and Ohio, they
have made us one people. The voices
of the past rise up tonight to pro-
claim it. fCheers.] @a2' ilbH
Kentucky was the dark and bloody
ground, yet before her own soil was
dry she sent her sons to pour out
their blood in defense of this infant
settlement, and the battlefelds of
Wayne and St. Clair, and later of the
Thames and Tippecanoe, attested not
only their Yalor, but their love for
Ohio.
In 1882, when trouble threatened
the country, a statesman of Kentucky
proposed the compromise, which for
third of a century averted the hor-
rors of civil war. Cheers.
In 1850, the same great statesman
left his retirement, in. order that he
might again, by compromise and con-
Citation, avert the calamities which