The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-06-06
GOVERNORS SPEECH.

Governor Daniel II. Hastings. on be-
half of the state. accepted the gift in a
choice speech. an extract Of which is
given hereto:
Ladies and Gentlemen:--More than a
century ago the poets told IN fitting
phrase the thrilling story of the Eddy
1t was in a rocky and dangerous sea.
Science admitting the necessity for its
erection, declared that, amidst rock amt
surge and swelling deep. It's construction
cuuragcment 1t was completed. And then
the doubling spectators and wary mari
ners said wait for the storm; walt for
such tempests as We have seen; and 1t Will
snap like the stem of pipe AT length
the storm came. Never before had wind
and rain, lightning and thunder united III
such carnival of destruction. Villages
We're swept away. mahy lives We're lost
and vessels small and great We're wrecked.
Then the tiInid and faithless survivors
said the lighthouse and its keeper are
surely gone and our phrophecy will prove
true when the morning comes. AS day
light broke, all eyes We're strained in the
direction of the warning beacon eager to
learn the truth. There 1t proudly stood
towering out OF the deep, bidding defiance
to storm and tempest, wind and wave.
Other nations said of us that America
must go the way of all republics; it coul1
when the dreadful storm. which had been
gathering for decades and raging for
three years, had burst In all its relentless
fury, amidst these hills ard valleys; when
charge and countercharge had ended;
when the cannon no longer gave forth 1e-
fiant thunders; when death had claimed
her own and the high carnival of hate
and passion was exhausted; and the
smoke OF musket and battery was lifted
from the scene. here, on this very spot,
upon his horse sat the victorious COM
mander. the cnieftain Of the conquerors.
the proud Pennsylvanian, George Gordon
Meade, and when the sun fell fair and
bright upon Little Round Top there ana
Big Round Top yonder, and upon the
Cemetery's ridge, and the plain beyond
where Pickett's men had come and gone;
the valley Of death. the peach orchard and
the wheat field where torn blue and gray
uniforms lay side by side with the rider
less horse. the spent musket and the silent
cannon; when the clouds had lifted and
tloated away, behold. Old Glory, every
stripe and every star undimmed in beauty,
proudly waving in triumph an answer to
the nations Of the earth that the time was
near at hand when the mightiest republic
of all time was to be reunited in stronger
bonds of union than ever before.
Today there Is presented to the CON.
monwealth Of Pennsylvania that bronze
image of the horse and rider Here i,
will stand near the cabin that was his
headquarters when the battle was on. a
perpetual memorial OF Pennsylvanfa's
great commander
As the chief executive. for the time be-
ing, Of the commonwealth wherein his
most heroic services were rendered, for
the people of the present generation, for
the memory Of his comrades who sleep in
yonder cemetery. for the widows and Or
phans whose dear ones rest beneath the
shadow of this statue. In behalf of the
brave men from sister states who rushed
to Pennsylvania rescue in the hour Of
her peril and for the generation yet 20
come in this Keystone Of the National
Arch, J accept this precious trophy. |
notify you that no van,lal hands shall mar
it's noble proportions. and / promise you
that the patriotism, loyalty. and pride Of
our people-our Pennsylvania freemen-
will preserve 1t in honor TO the latest gen.
Grafton.