xt74mw289b6x https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt74mw289b6x/data/mets.xml  1860  books b92-158-29919124 English Robert Clarke, : Cincinnati : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company. Excursion made by the executive and legislatures of the states of Kentucky and Tennessee, to the state of Ohio, January, 1860 text Excursion made by the executive and legislatures of the states of Kentucky and Tennessee, to the state of Ohio, January, 1860 1860 2002 true xt74mw289b6x section xt74mw289b6x 












      EXCURSION

          MADE IT THE


EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATURES



           OF THlE STATES OF



yetu th       all       fi;tistf5te

                TO THE


     STATE OF OHIO,



       JANJTUA.,. 18360.





    HIC OLIM MEMINISSE JUVABIT.





      ROBERT CLARKE  CO.)
LAW PUBLISHERS, BOOKSELLERS, AND IMPORTERS,
     No. 55 Wzwr FOuRTn STREET, CLCMIXNATI,
             1860.

 
This page in the original text is blank.


 



P RO CE E D IN  S.



   THE opening of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad,
uniting two States and two prosperous commercial cities,
and extending the facilities of trade and of social inter-
course from the great river of the west to the interior, was
an event of great interest and importance. In the exist-
ing state of the public sentiment of the country, it excited
especial attention, as presenting another link in the chain
which binds us together as a people. In accordance with
these views the Legislatures of the two States immediately
interested, were invited to meet at Louisville to unite in
commemorating the event. The assembling of the Legis-
latures of two sovereign States in one city, to unite in
the celebration of a civil triumph, was a novel spectacle,
which could only be witnessed in a republic where the will
of the people is law, and the good of the people the supreme
object. It was a spontaneous movement, and it found a
response as wide-spread as it was prompt and hearty.
  The proprietors of the Mail Steamboat line, between Cin-
cinnati and Louisville, anticipating the wishes of their fellow-
citizens of the former city, and certain of their hearty co-
operation in a measure combining patriotism with commercial
liberality, offered the use of one of their palatial steamers
to the Legislative and Executive officers of Kentucky and
Tennessee, so assembled, to enable them, with the authorities
of Louisville and others, to visit Cincinnati.

-->
 



  Upon the first intelligence of these proceedings, a public
meeting was held in Cincinnati, on Saturday, the 21st of
January, 1860, at the Merchants' Exchange, the Mayor,
Hon. R. M. BIsHoP, presiding, at which the following resolu-
tions, offered by Judge JAMES HALL, were unanimously
adopted:
                    RESOLUTIONS
Passed at a Public Meeting of the Citizens of Cincinnati, at
the Merchants' Exchange, Saturday, January 21st, at which
the Mayor of the City presided:
  WHEREAS, It is understood that the Legislatures of Ken-
tucky and Tennessee, or the members thereof, are about to
visit the City of Louisville, to unite in commemorating the
completion of a great commercial avenue, connecting the trade
and intercourse of those States, and promising greatly to in-
crease and promote the same; and
  WHEREAS, The City of Cincinnati, by her intimate com-
mercial relations with the citizens of those States stands con-
nected with them by the bonds of a common prosperity, and
the recollections of a long-continued interchange of recipro-
cal benefits and mutual courtesies; therefore,
  Resolved, That we most cordially unite with our friends in
Kentucky and Tennessee, in hailing the completion of the
Louisville and Nashville Railroad as an event conducive of a
larger prosperity to the Ohio Valley and a more active inter-
course among our people, but especially as an event which
adds another link to the chain which binds us together as a
people.
  Resolved, That among our social and political advantages,
there is none that we value higher or hold more sacred than
the Union of the States, which, by making us one people,
makes it our right, as it is a duty and a pleasure, to rejoice
in the prosperity of each other.
  Resolved, That the States separated by the Ohio River,
bound together by geographical contiguity and commercial

 



5



dependence, as well as by a common political creed and line-
age, should always be united, and their people should regard
with execration the political demagogue, the fanatic and trai-
tor, who would disturb their Union.
  Resolved, That a Committee of five be appointed by this
meeting to proceed to Louisville to express to the members
of the said Legislatures, and the citizens of those States so
assembled, our earnest and cordial congratulations upon the
completion of a work so important to the commerce of the
West, and to our intercourse, prosperity and union as a peo-
ple; and also most respectfully to invite the members of the
said Legislatures, the Mayor and Council of the City of
Louisville, and the Directors and Officers of the Louisville
and Nashville Railroad, to visit our city and partake of its
hospitality.
  Resolved, That a Committee of Arrangements and Recep-
tion, to consist of fifteen persons, including the Mayor of this
city, who is hereby requested to act as Chairman of the same,
be appointed, who shall make preparations to entertain our
said guests in a manner worthy our said city and the occa-
sion-and indicative of the cordial friendship and profound
regard cherished by the citizens of Cincinnati toward our fel-
low citizens of Tennessee and Kentucky, and who shall receive
said visitors, and extend to them the welcome and the hospi-
tality due the most cherished guests.
  Resolved, That the Legislature and Executive officers of
Ohio be, and they are hereby respectfully invited to visit this
city, to meet the Legislatures of Kentucky and Tennessee,
and to partake of the hospitalities of Cincinnati; and that
the Chairman of this meeting communicate this invitation to
them.

   The following resolution, presented by THOMAS J. GAL-
LAGHER, Esq., was also adopted:

  Resolved, That the City Council of this city is hereby
respectfully requested to take such action as will in its judg-

 


6



inent carry out to the fullest the object and intention of this
meeting as expressed in the foregoing resolutions.
  A dispatch from Capt. Zach. Shirley to Mr. Thomas
Sherlock, was read, announcing that the Legislatures of
Kentucky and Tennessee bad already accepted an invita-
tion from the Mail Company to make an excursion on their
steamer, the Jacob Strader, to Cincinnati, and to return
on the same boat; also a dispatch from Mr. Rogers, mem-
ber of the Ohio Legislature, to P. W. Strader, stating that
the Legislatures of our two sister States would be invited to
Columibus by the Legislature of Ohio. Great enthusiasm
followed.
  The Mayor announced the following Committees in pur-
suance of the Resolutions:
  Oil Invitations-Judge Hall, Iarz Anderson, Henry
Stanberry, J. S. Chenoweth and Wash. McLean.
  On Arrangements-Miles Greenwood, John D. Jones,
Elliott Pendleton, Rufus King, Bellamy Storer, C. G.
Pearce, P. W. Strader, Pollock Wilson, W. J. WVhiteman,
J. C. Butler, Benj. Eggleston, L. B. Harrison, Thompson
Dean.
  On motion, the Mayor was added and appointed Chair-
man of said Committee.
  On Finance-B. F. Brannan, J. W. Hartwell, R. B. Bow-
ler, C. W. West, J. H. Brotherton.
  A joint meeting of these Committees was called-the
Mayor presiding.
  Communications were read from E. Flint, of the Ohio
and Mississippi; H. C. Lord, of the Indianapolis and Cin-
cinnati; S. S. L'Hommedieu, of the Hamilton and Day-
ton, and R. B. Bowler, of the Covington and Lexington R. R.,
tendering the use of their respective roads for the accom-
modation of the excursionists.

 



7



   A package of three hundred tickets, to the National
Theater, for the use of the excursionists, was received from
John Bates.
   The following gentlemen were appointed a Committee
to report a Programme for the occasion: B. Eggleston,
Miles Greenwood, P. W. Strader, Pollock Wilson and Mr.
Brannan.
  On motion it was resolved that the Committee of Invi-
tation have full discretionary powers to invite guests.
   The Committee on Programme reported the following
as the order of reception for the Legislative guests:

  1. That a public reception be given them at the largest
hall in the city.
  2. A public dinner at such hotel as may hereafter be se-
lected.
  3. The public exercises at the hall of reception to be
opened by the Mayor, on behalf of the city, to be followed
by a speech from Hon. Bellamy Storer.
  4. That the military of Cincinnati be invited to act as an
escort.
  5. That proper badges, with suitable devices, be prepared
for the guests and committees.
  6. That tickets for the banquet be sold to citizens as the
committee may deem proper.
  7. That a committee of three be appointed to arrange for
the banquet, and proper care of guests at the various hotels.
  8. The appointment of a committee of three to arrange
with the military, and for firing a salute on the arrival of the
boat from Louisville.
  9. The appointment of a committee of three to procure
carriages and omnibuses.
  The matters in the report were considered eeriatim, and
adopted.
  On motion, it was resolved that a Committee be appointed
to receive the Ohio Legislature.

 



8



  A resolution requesting the citizens generally to decorate
their houses and places of business on the day of reception,
was adopted.
  On motion the members of the press accompanying the ex-
cursion were included among the invited guests.
  The Chair appointed the following sub-committees:
  On Banquet-R. B. Bowler, Miles Greenwood, L. B. Har-
rison.
  On Military-W. J. Whiteman, Jos. C. Butler, C. W. West.
  On Omnibuses-Thompson Dean, P. Wilson.
  On Reception-John D. Jones, W. G. Crippen, C. G.
Pearce.
  On Ohio Legislature-Thos. J. Gallagher, B. Eggleston,
Jos. Torrence.
  On Toasts-R. King, Stanley Matthews, W. W. Fosdick.
  On Invitations to the Press-One from each of the dailies
of the city.
  Reception at the Opera House-S. S. Davis, S. N. Pike,
G. B. Hollister, Capt. Dean.

  A communication from the Committee of the Ohio
Legislature, en t ozte for Louisville, to invite the Legisla-
ture to visit Columbus, was received, requesting a con-
ference with the Cincinnati Committee of Arrangements
at the Burnet House.
  Meanwhile, and on the same day with the Cincinnati
meeting, the Governor of Ohio transmitted the following
message to the Legislature:

                          EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
                        COLUMBUS, January 21, 1860. f
To the General Assembly:
  I have received information that the Legislatures of Ken-
tucky and Tennessee will visit Cincinnati on the 26th inst.,
and I take great pleasure in respectfully suggesting the pro-
priety of the General Assembly tendering them a cordial in-

 



9



vitation to visit this city prior to their return to their
respective States.                     Wm. DENsON.

  In the House of Representatives, on motion of Mr.
BROWN, of Miami, the morning business was suspended to
take up this message, when
  Mr. PARROTT, of Montgomery, offered the following
resolution:
  Be it Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio,
That the Governor be and he is hereby requested to invite
the Legislatures of Tennessee and Kentucky to visit this city
on the - inst.
  Resolved, That a joint Committee of Seven on part of the
House, and        on part of the Senate, be appointed to
proceed to Cincinnati, in person, to bear such invitation, and
act as a Committee of Escort to the said Legislatures.
  Resolved, That the Committee on Finance be instructed to
report a bill appropriating the sum of five thousand dollars
to defray the expense of entertaining the said Legislatures.

  The resolutions were adopted.
  The Speaker appointed the following gentlemen as the
committee: Messrs. Parrott, Collings, Vincent, Blakeslee,
Woods, Flagg, and Andrews.

                            SENATE, January 21,1860.
  The Message above-mentioned, having been received
from the Governor, the House Joint Resolutions concern-
ing the visit, were read and adopted.
   The President appointed as the Committee on part of
the Senate: Messrs. Garfield, Cuppy, Ready, Holmes, and
Foster.
   The Joint Committee waited upon Governor DEmumNm
and was presented with the following:

 




10



            STATE OF OHIO, EXECUTIVE DEPART MENT,
                         COLUMBUS, January 21, 1860. 4
 Gentlemen:
   I have the honor to transmit herewith a copy of a Resolu-
 tion, passed this day by the General Assembly of this State,
 requesting me to tender a cordial invitation to the Legisla-
 tures of Kentucky and Tennessee, to visit this city on the
 26th inst., which duty I am happy to perform.
   The citizens of this State will never fail to extend a hearty
 and fraternal welcome to the Representatives of their sister
 States, and I shall ever esteem it as one of the most gratify-
 ing incidents of my executive administration, that I have
 been the honored instrument of inviting the Legislatures of
 the patriotic States of Kentucky and Tennessee to visit the
 Capitol of Ohio.
 Permit me, in behalf of the General Assembly, and the
 citizens of this State, and individually, to express the earnest
 hope that no engagements may prevent you and your honor-
 able bodies from accepting this invitation.
 Agreeably to the directions of the General Assembly, I
 forward this communication by its Joint Committee, who are
 charged with the duty of accompanying you and your col-
 leagues here as an escort.
 With sentiments of the highest consideration, I have the
 honor to be,            Very respectfully, yours, etc.
                                         W. DENNISON.
To Messrs. THOMAS P. PORTER, Speaker of the Senate of
                 Kentucky.
           DAVID MERIWETHER, Speaker of the House of
                 Representatives of Kentucky.
           T. W. NEWMAN, Speaker of the Senate of Ten-
                 nessee.
          T. C. WHITTHORNE, Speaker of the House of Rep
                 resentatives of Tennessee.

  Upon the arrival of the Joint Committee at Cincinnati,
and a conference with the Committees of Invitation and

 



11



Reception, appointed by the citizens, they proceeded to-
gether to Louisville in discharge of the duties devolving
upon them, and were received with distinguished hospital-
ity at that city.
  On the night of the 24th a banquet, was given by the
citizens of Louisville to their distinguished guests, the
Legislatures of the two States of Kentucky and Tennessee,
to which the Governors of Kentucky and Indiana were
invited, as ;iso the Committees from the Legislatures of
Ohio, and from Cincinnati.
  The banquet took place at the Masonic Temple, and the
bill of fare embraced all the substantials and delicacies af-
forded by the forests and rivers, orchards, vineyards, pas-
tures and grain fields of the land.
  Six tables, each capable of accommodating one hundred
persons, were ranged in the body of the hall, and two on
the platform to seat about one hundred more. Around
the walls and pendant from the chandeliers, festoons of ever-
green decorated the place, and in front of the dais some
choice flowers from a conservatory, imparted a delicious
fragrance to the air. Between the windows, shields with
the national colors, bearing inscriptions, bringing to our
memories the great men of the world of literature. Upon
the platform, which was bordered by an edgeways of plants
in pots, were seated the executive officers of Tennessee
(Lieutenant Governor Newman), Indiana (Governor Wil-
lard), and Kentucky (Governor Mlagoffin), who, support-
ing the President, Mayor Crawford, were in return sup-
ported by the members of the committee from Ohio, and
and other distinguished personages.
  JUDGE BULLOCK introduced the first regular toast by a
speech, of which, and the other speeches and incidents, the

 




12



following, owing to an unexpected disappointment, is the
only report that could be obtained:

Fellow Citizens of Tennessee and Kentucky:
  On behalf of the Mayor and Council, and of the citizens of
Louisville generally, I tender you a hearty welcome to our
city. It gives us pleasure to see the chosen Representatives
of Tennessee and Kentucky united in the bonds of a common
brotherhood around this festive board.
  At all times these noble States have been firmly united by
the ties of interest, and blood, and affection, but they are now
drawn still more closely together by the apprehension of a
common danger.
  It is natural that Tennessee and Kentucky should take
counsel together in the present crisis of public affairs. They
have a common interest in the past, the present, and the fu-
ture. That interest is not susceptible of division. It is too
precious to be subjected to the rules of cold and selfish cal-
culation. There is nothing mean in the union of Tennessee
and Kentucky. It is as pure and unselfish as a sister's love.
All that each holds most dear would lose more than half its
value if it could not be freely shared with the other. If there
be a political union, which is so strongly cemented that it can
not be severed, it is that which binds together the people of
Tennessee and Kentucky.
  We call this a Union festival. And it is an occasion of
more than ordinary interest. Kentucky and Tennessee are
here to renew the pledges of mutual confidence and of earn-
est, heartfelt devotion to the American Union. The Execu-
tive and Legislative authorities of both States are here, and
as if bay a common impulse, are in joint session and in Com-
mittee of the Whole on the state of the Union. Who can
doubt their joint and unanimous action in obedience to the
wishes of their enlightened and patriotic constituents The
Representatives of both these States, and of all the States in
this glorious confederacy, can have no wiser or nobler rule of

 



13



action that that contained in Kentucky's motto, stamped upon
her broad seal by the founders of the State, as an ever en-
dearing precept and memento for their sons, "United we
stand, divided we fall."
  It has been truly said that the American Union is the prin-
ciple of the national life, and its dissolution would be national
death. But may we not cherish the hope that what is here
exhibited in the close and intimate alliance of Tennessee and
Kentucky, is only typical of our glorious National Union
May we not indulge the inspiring hope that the Republic is
safe; safe from the assaults of faction, safe from the influence
of sectional animosity, safe from the inroads of bigotry, fan-
aticism, and crime, safe in the love and confidence of a virtu-
ous, united, and enlightened people
  I will detain you no longer. Permit me to read the fol-
lowing sentiment.
  Tennessee-In this national crisis she will cherish in her
heart of hearts the noble sentiment of her patriot hero-
"The Union, it must be preserved."

   The Hon. T. W. NEWMAN, Speaker ot the Senate of
Tennessee, responded as follows:

  I stand before you to -night to apologize to the Representa-
tives for the non-attendance of the Governor of Tennessee.
He, sir, would have been with you but from severe indispo-
sition; and it remains for me, as an humble organ of the
people of Tennessee, to return you, gentlemen, the Mayor,
Common Councilmen, and Aldermen of the city of Louisville,
and to the people of Kentucky, our thanks for your hospital-
ity; and in reply to the toast, to say that Tennessee repeats
the words of her great hero, in double terms. Tennessee
and Kentucky stand as one in this great Confederation of
States, as they have stood in past days-in days of trouble.
Tennessee's soldiers were at King's Mountain in defense
of our common liberties, and, therefore, it should be that
Tennessee and Kentucky, in these dangerous times, should

 



J4



meet together again. Tennessee and Kentucky have ever
been united. They came into the Union about the same time,
they knocked at the doors of Congress for admission about
the same time, and they were admitted together; and to-day
there is no division. Kentucky, I say, sir, is our favorite
sister of all the States. In the war of 1812, when blood was
freely spilt in defense of a common country, the soldiers of
Tennessee and Kentucky stood shoulder to shoulder and arm
in arm in the contest; in charging they charged together,
and the same stars and stripes that covered the one covered
the other. They were wounded together, they died together,
and they were buried together! We meet on this festive oc-
casion to commemorate the memories of those who have gone
before us, and to re-assert that this Unioli must and shall be
preserved. Hitherto there has been, as to-day, a dark cloud
over this Confederacy. But in Kentucky there was the noble
Clay. Do you not indorse his noble and patriotic policy in
that exigency, and desire to emulate his disinterested zeal in the
cause of his country When the question was to be deter-
mined, who stood together Tennessee and Kentucky united
in the Congress of the United States as one man on the side
of my good, your good, and our good Constitution. Such
was the sentiment of the people of these two States, and I
repeat, on this occasion, such are still their sentiments; and
we pledge the honor, we pledge the faith, and we pledge the
arms of Tennessee to the union of the States under the Union.
In conclusion, I beg to offer a sentiment:
  Kentucky's great 8tatesman-Who knew no North, no South;
nothing but his country, his whole country, the Constitution,
the Union, and the laws.

  In response to a toast by the Mayor of Louisville, in
honor of the State of Indiana, GoV. WILLARD spoke thus:

  Mr. Mayor:-I return to you, sir, my thanks, not only
personal, but of my State, for the honor of being present on
this occasion; but what to say in addition I hardly know. I

 



15



come here from the other side of the river,-from a great,
sovereign State. I come to you; where shall I rejoice-
where shall I begin Shall I be glad that Kentucky has
been kind to Indiana in inviting us here No. In years
gone by Kentucky has welcomed Indiana and her sons upon
this soil, and they have been treated kindly. Shall I come
to join with you in this festival to rejoice because you have
built a railroad from Louisville to Nashville  No. That
thing was done long ago all over this mighty country. But
that you are one people as your fathers made you, I come to
rejoice among you. Here is the cause: you are an honest,
Union-loving people. It is because you think more of the
Constitution of the United States, and the Union made under
it, than you do either of Kentucky or Tennessee.
  Can we live together There are a great many people in
this country who say we had better give up this Union. For
one, I say, No! I shall not give it up. We may just as well
talk politics to you about this thing first as last. There is
but one question before this country that imperils the Union,
that is the relation that exists between the white man and the
black man in this country. There is no other question that
enters this Confederacy to cleave it open. Now, the true
and honest Union-man, the one who loves his country, will
say to the Southern man: You may have the negro your slave.
Every true and honest Southern man who loves the Union,
will say to the Northern man: You need not make the negro
your slave unless you want to. Kentucky has no right to say
to Indiana, You shall be a slave State. Indiana has no right
to turn upon the other side and say Kentucky shall be a free
State. And this quarrel does not grow up between Tennes-
see and Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio. All along the border
line between these States are people, friends of the Union.
They know full well that Kentuckians' blood has been poured
out as water upon Indiana soil. We have been friends, yea,
from the mouth of the Missouri river clear beyond the line
of the Wabash, up the Miami, and beyond it,-true men on
the one side and on the other. But up in the far North,

 



16



where many men never saw four negroes in their lives, we
have a quarrel, and down in the extreme South a great many
Southern men are not satisfied with the present state of gov-
ernment. I, for one,-and I think I speak the voice of my
people,-am satisfied where the laws now are. They were
made by no mean statesmen: they were made by men who
knew more of this government than I could learn, though I
studied for years. That Constitution was made clear; every
gap has been closed. They have said that the African slave
trade should not be re-opened. There we stand. We say,
moreover, there was a bond put in that Constitution, not for
Kentucky alone. Why, Kentucky was not alive then! It
was put there for everybody who was to live under the Con-
stitution. It was for criminal runaways from one State to
another. A negro who runs away from one State to an-
other, owing his allegiance as a bondsman in one State,
should be given up. That is all! I say, we are done with
legislation, and if we will but execute the laws that now exist,
a more truth-loving and loyal people will not be found upon
the earth.
  My fellow-citizens, let us come and bind up in closer unity
these States; give up discussing the policy of government in
a personal sense, and rise to higher grounds of deliberation
and nobler spheres of political action. Who are we that
would listen to the voice of dissention! Are we not of one
race, of one blood, of one family, of one destiny Have the
rains of heaven poured upon these States and washed out all
the blood spilt at Lexington, Bunker Hill, Trenton, York-
town  Or are those who there filled martyrs' graves to be
forgotten forever Is there nothing left There is a great
inheritance left-a priceless treasure-this country, the Con-
stitution, and the Union. Tell me, shall any men or set of
men, living in the extreme portions of this Union, jeopardize
this inheritance for the gratification of private interests and
low born, selfish aspiration Shall this peaceful section be
made the battle-ground of these factions Shall we who are
brothers, having everything to lose, be pressed into a conflict

 



17



with one another I say, young man as I am, to old men
around me far my seniors, let the day and the hour come
when a battle shall be for or against this Union, and I will
take the most faint-hearted girl in Indiana and place in her
hands our national flag, and there will rally around her more
soldiers than followed the footsteps of Peter the Hermit!

   To the next regular toast, introduced by Mr. WouE-

   Kentucky-If treason to the Union shall prevail in the
North or in the South, our noble State will stand between the
two sections as stood the people of old between the living and
the dead, to stay the progress of the pestilence-

   Governor MAGOFFIN, of Kentucky, answered:

   Gentlemen:-I thank you and the gentleman who has made
me the object of his remarks. In response to the toast,
I say that never cn earth do I expect to see such another
spectacle as this. In this festive hall, amid these blazing
lights, and under the inspiration of this soul-stirring music,.
there stand here to-night one thousand freemen, of which any
nation may be proud-the representatives, probably, of ten
millions of people, all conservative, all patriotic, who are met
together to strengthen the fraternal ties that bind this glori-
ous Union together. After the speeches and. the responses
that have been delivered to you to-night, I think we have
been faint-hearted ever to despair of the Republic. The
slave States have spoken to the free States, and the free
States have responded in the same sentiment to the slave
States. Kentucky and Tennessee have spoken to Indiana,
Indiana has spoken to Kentucky, and now Kentucky echoes
back the sentiment of a deep and undivided attachment to
this Union. I say to Tennessee, as my distinguished friend
has said to Kentucky, she is our favorite sister. Alike in
physical beauties, alike in soil and productions, alike in man-
ners and customs, alike in chivalry, and so alike in their
various features that you can scarcely tell the one from the
       2

 




18



other. They will stand side by side in defense of this glori-
ous Union. Among other ties which bind them together, is
one of iron-the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, not only a
State, but, in a more liberal sense, a national work. Thus
are we bound together in the closest union; in a unanimity
of sentiment, in political associations, and similarity of insti-
tutions, by the memory of associations that hang around the
Hermitage and Ashland. To-night we hear voices of greet-
ing coming from Nashville to Louisville, the two great com-
mercial emporiums of two great States, from Kentucky to
Tennessee; and the echo of that greeting is a cheering sound
throughout the Union. That echo mingles with the words of
past statesmen, reiterating the sentiment of Washington, that
there is no danger to this Union, except a sectional party.
We are in the center of this Union, a rich country, highly
conservative, highly patriotic; a people occupying the middle
ground between the two conflicting parties, the fanatics of
the North and those of the South; a people gathering
strength every day, and holding in their hands the political
power of this Republic, with patriotism enough and wisdom
enough to maintain this ground, where the honest lovers of
the Union, from everv section, can meet and become identi-
fied in their interests. We have power to exert this salutary
and saving influence, and I doubt not we have the will. How
is it to be done Well, I think we have only to go on as we
have gone under the law. We have got to stand under the
law. We have got to stand by the Compromises of   , I
don't like to use that word-I mean the adjustment of 1850-
asking nothing we will not concede-occupying the middle
ground, making no discriminations between one kind of
property in legislation, standing by the repeal of the Mis-
souri Compromise, by the Dred Scott decision, by the Fugi-
tive Slave Law, and by the Executive powers that will carry
out these laws; we would stand up for the principle of leav-
ing this question of Slavery localized; we would not give it
to the Congress of the United States. You may talk about
it as you will, if you pass laws that the people do not want,

 




19



you can not execute them, and it comes at last to that prin-
ciple of government which leaves the disposition of domestic
institutions in the hands of the people. So far as the dis-
cussion of this inpracticable and dangerous question is con-
cerned, openly and plainly I express the opinion here to-
night, that this favorite question ought never to have been
made the test question in the Democratic party, or in any
other party. We should take no position in the present con-
dition of affairs that would drive from us a man who stood
up in the hour of peril, and in the midst of dangers, in de-
fense of those privileges that were about to be wrenched
from us.
  All I have to say, in conclusion, gentlemen, is this: No
matter what comes, we will keep step to the music of the
Union, defend the rights of the States, conceding all we ask,
and ever abiding by the compact of these States.

  Among the other toasts, was the following:

  The State of Ohio-One of the giants of the American
Confederacy. We tender her Representatives a hearty wel-
come to this Union Festival.

  To which Messrs. J. A. GARFIELD, or the Ohio Senate,
and E. A. PARROTT, of the House, replied; and this oppor-
tunity was taken by them to extend to the Governors
present, as well as to the Legislatures, the invitation from
the Governor and Legislature of Ohio:
  Mr. GARFIELD said-

Legislators-of Kentucky and Tennessee, and
             Fellow-Citizens of our Common Country:
  With pleasure undissembled I rise to respond, in behalf of
the State I have the honor to represent, to the sentiment just
offered. We greet you here to-night as brothers of this great
Union-zealous for its common good and its common glory.

 




20



This is an auspicous hour-and the Representatives from Ohio
are happy to participate with you in its festivities. It is a
new epoch in our history when the Legislatures of two great
States, and delegations from two more, are permitted to clasp
hands "beside the beautiful river," and let the strong barriers
of party prejudice be, for a time, overwhelmed and swept
away by the stronger currents