The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1886-10-29


the liberties Of the common people, is
a paradox beyond the power of mere
human energy to have wrought or
solved. The march OF this medieval
chlValry across our States, respecting
persons and property as soldiers never
had before, never taking an apple nor
touching O fence rail without per-
mission and payment, treating the
ragged c1ntinentAls as if they were
knights in armor and OF nobe an
esstry, captivating our grandmothers
by their gallantry and our grand
fathers by their courage, remains IN
.equalled in the postry of war.
As the centuries roll by and in the
fuliness of time the rays of Liberty's
torch are ths beacon lights of the
world, the central inches in the
earth's pantheon of freedom will be
filled by the figures Of Washington
aud Lafayette. The story of this young
French mobiles life is the history OF
the time which made possible this
statue aud his spirit is the very soul
Of this celebration.
Here the speaker gave a brief BIZ
GhOlCh vi LAla ytIbOl Vi
his chivalric. resolve to aid the col
onies in their great struggle against
Great Britain; OF the obstacle which
he overcome in order TO make
tenders of his service to Washington,
and added: at is idle now to specu-
late whether our fathers could have
succeeded without the French a.
lance. The struggle wonld undoubt-
eddy have been infinitely prolonged,
and probably compromised. But the
alliance assured our triumph, and La
fayette secured the alliance. The
fabled arGosies Of ancient and
the armadas and fleets Of
modern times were commonplace voy-
ages, compared with the mission en-
shrined in this inspired boy" Mr..
DePew next gave brilliant and elo-
quent resume Cf the events of the
revolutionary war, subsequent to the
arrival of Lafayette; the friendship
which sprang up between him and
Washington, the surrender Of Bur.
goyse, Lafayette's return on leave of
absence to France, bringing back the
army of Rochambeau ard ihs feet OF
De- Grasse, and continued as follows:
"The flower of the Young aristocracy
Of France in their Brilliant uniforms,
and the farmers and froniiersmen OF
America in their faded continentals,
by common baptism OF blood, be.
came brothers ia the knigbthood Of
liberty. With emuous eagerness to
be first in at the death, while they
shared the glory, they sormed the re-
doubts ct Yorktown and compelled
the bartender Of CORVALLIS and his
army. While this pract'c lily ended
The war, it strengthened the alliance
and cemented the friendship between
the two great peoples. The mutual
confidence ana chivalric courtesy
which characterized their rsations has
no like example in international COM
ity. When an officer Of Gen, Carton,
the British commander in chief, came
to headquarters with an cfer OF peace
and independence if the Americans
would renounce the French alliance,
Washington refused 10 receive him;
Congress spurned Cartoons secretary
bearing like message, and the States,
led by Maryland, denou5ced all who
entertained propositions of peace
witch were not approved by France
as public enemies. And peace and in
dependence meant property and hsp-
piaess to a people in the very depths
OF poverty and despair? France, on
the othsr hand, though soreiy pressed
for money, sa d, in the romantic spirit
which permeated this wonderful
union: 'Of the 100000 livres we
have leaned yeu, We forgive you
5000 900 as a gift OF friendship, and
when Nth years there comes prosper
ity you can pay the bal5nce with
interest The fight for liberty ia
America was Won. lis future here
was thr. a ened with but one danger,
the slavery Of the negro. The soul of
Lafayete, pniasd by battle and
suffering, saw thu Inconsistency and
the peril, ard he returned to this
country to plead with State legisla-
lures and with Congress for the liberia
ton OF what he termed My brethren,
the blacks But now the 100 ysars'
war for lib 9rty in france was to begin.
America was it's inspiration, Lafayette
its apostle, and the returning French
army its emissaries Then at the
trees by day snd in the halls by
night, at Mt. Vernon, Lafayette gath
cred from Washington the gospel of
freedom. 1t was to sustain and guide
him in after years ag iinst temptations
of power and the despair of the dun
geou. He carried the lessons and the
grand example through all the trials
aud tribulations of bis desper .te
struggle and partial victory
for the enfranchis OF
his country. Today in the gift by
one, and the acceptance by the other,
CT this colossal statue, the people OF
the two countries celebrate their unity
in republican institutions, in govern
ments founded upon the American
idea, aud in their devotion to liberty.
Together they rejoice that its spirit
has penetrated all land and Is the
hopeful future OF all peoples. The
sentiment is sublime which moves the
people OF France and America, the
bio OF whose fathers comminRling
upon the battlefeld5 of the revolu-
ton, made possible this magnificent
march OF liberty and their own repuo-
lies 10 commemorate the results of the
past and typify the hopes OF the future
in this noble work OF art. The de-
scendsnts of Lafayette, Rochambeau
and D eGrSsse, who fought for US in
eur fist struggle, aud La Boutaye,
Henri Martin, DtLesseps and other
grand and brilliant men, whose
eloquent voices and powerful sym
patnies were with us in our last,
conceived the idea and it has received
M jestic form and expression through
the genius of Bartholdi." The orator
touched upon the monuments and
symbols of other nations and times,
and added: "But they were all dwarfs
in size and pigmies in spirit besd de
this mighty structure and It's inspiring
thought. Higher than the monument
in Trafalgar Square, which Commemo-
rates the victories of Nelson on the
sea; higher than the column YER
dome, which perpetua'es the triumphs
of Napoleon on the land; higher than
the tower of the Brooklyn bridge,
which exhibits the latest and grsndels