The Magnolia gazette., 1880-07-16
Co1uarB1As REcEPrIoN-Miss Belmont
Phelps.

accumulated treasures aud classic gran
dam az ceaturies Tie stately cathe
dral with its sombre twilight, adorned
with work Of divine inspiration. Pala-
ces enriched by the wealth of centuries
and labor Of generations long passed
away, and scenes hallowed by the grand
est events which mark the pages OF his
tory, meet you at almost every step.
You leave much that is allurlng he-
hind you come out from shadows that
wrong and oppression have for ages
cast on humanity. / gather you in my
great home upon whose broad and deep
foundation are inscribed the heaven
born words, 1--WE hold it as self-evi-
den. fact that all men are born free
and equal.
If not adorned by ancestral grandeur
nature has scattered with lavish hand
the loveliest adornments. Scenes which
would inspire the greatest artists are
scattered from the shores of the great
lakes to the flower crowned island that
rises from the bosom of on southern
gulf and from the shores of the Atlantic
to the Pacific is streached country not
equaed in beauty and variety of produc-
ton in the boundless Universe. Smiling
fields fresh from the hands of the creator
! invite you to develop their wealth. The
earth holds within her bosom mineral
wealth which your industry will unlock.
Truly will you exclaim, when my nigh
/ ty possessions are spread out beforeyonr
astonished gaze, The half has not been
told
Fair Greece-"where burning Sappho
lived and sung"-the land of the warrior
and poet. External sunshine gilds thee
vet" Every grotto and grove is sacred
with the footprints of the gods Thou
art the Mecca toiwhich all scholars travel
| through the field Of classic thought.
La Belle France your skilled arti-
sans and your polished scholars will
here find material which need their de-
velopment. The land of Lafayette will
always be dear to the American heart
The walls of China are slowly crum-
bling before the waves of progress, and
the tide is rising which will carry junks
of Chinese exclusiveness over the sand
bar Of Confncianism. We give Egypt
the honor due from youth to age. Your
| Nile, obelisk and Sphinx, remain mar
vels Of the world Your pyramids, which
have stood in solemn silence for centu
ries, at the touch of silence lend voice to
the dumb past and stand as witness to
| the Lord.
From free Switzerland, clasped in Ma
ture's impregnahle arms of rockribbed
mcuntains-fromt the banks of the broad
and classic Rhine--from Hollands soil,
sacred for the greatest struggle the
world has ever known-from ont the
Scandinavian hills of the North-from
the banks of cleaning Guadnlquivar.
the historic beauty of Grenada's walls.
we call you all.
o the sorrow-striclen Isle that lifts
its emerald crest above the ocean wave,
we encircle YOU with our tenderest sym
pathy "Come, bny food without mon
ey and without price" and may the
blood of your martyred Emmett be the
seed which shall bring the harvest OF
freedom to your brave and suffering
sons.
The harp that once though Tara's halls
Its soul of fmusic shed,
Now hangs as mute on Tara's walls
AS though that soul were dead"
OH sad-eyed daughter of Jndea't
tribe, whose lonely wanderings have
given theme to poet and novelist, WI
early prepared your children HON,
where they could enjoy the best privi
leges Of the citizen and free man. WheI
the cities of the Old World cast then
aside MS unclean, prepared welcome
for the race that was once Gods chosen
people. As were the smiling fields o
Gaanan to the weary Isrqelte may
America be the promised land to Tho
down. trodden of the world, and hel
free institutions shall he for the healing
of the sorrows of the nations. To my
former refractory sons whose hands ar,
joined in friendly grasp, let me sa!
, there must he no war nor rumor of war
but brotherly love, knowing that "uni
J ted we stand divided we fall" May th,
Z people of this God-favored land learI
that not in battlement walls nor il
military achievements, nor the increa
sing wealth of the few who oppress th,
many, does the glory of the nation con
sist, but in the exercise of those virtue
which adorn and elevate the human
, character, and the dissemination o
knowledge through literary channels o
life. Carthage, Babylon aud Rome, sc
/. cure in their strength, awaited but Il
n fill the cup of their iniquities, whel
, avenging justice swept them from thei
s places among the nations of the earth
= | count my Washington, Davis, Lee an,
e Hancock, among the brightest stars O
y my crown, but none the less bright
the glory of the peaceful triumphs q
g Morse, Fields and Edison; yet whe
. America fails to secure the freedom an
II rights of her humblest children. the
indeed will her scepter depart.