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of civil and religious liberty, which they encountered the dangers of the ocean, the storms of heaven, the violence of savages, disease, exile, and famine, to enjoy and to establish.—And we would leave here, also, for the generations which are rising up rapidly to fill our places, some proof that we have endeavoured to transmit the great inheritance unimpaired; that in our estimate of public principles and private virtue; in our veneration of religion and piety; in our devotion to civil and religious liberty; in our regard to whatever advances human knowledge, or improves human happiness, we are not altogether unworthy of our origin.

There is a local feeling connected with this occasion too strong to be resisted—a sort of genius of the place which inspires and awes us. We feel that we are on the spot where the first scene of our history was laid; where the hearths and altars of New England were first placed; where Christianity and civilization and letters made their first lodgement in a vast extent of country, covered with a wilderness, and peopled by roving barbarians. We are here at the season of the year

at which the event took place. The imagination irresistably and rapidly draws around us the principal features and the leading characters in the original scene. We cast our eyes abroad on the ocean, and we see where the little bark, with the interesting group upon its deck, made its slow progress to the shore. We look around us, and behold the hills and promontaries where the anxious eyes of our fathers first saw the places of habitation and of rest. We feel the cold which benumbed, and listen to the winds which pierced them. Beneath us is the Rock on which New England received the feet of the Pilgrims. We seem even to behold them, as they struggle with the elements, and, with toilsome efforts, gain the shore. We listen to the chiefs in council; we see the unexampled exhibition of female fortitude and resignation; we hear the whisperings of youthful impatience; and we see, what a painter of our own has also represented by his pencil, chilled and shivering childhood, houseless but for a mother's arms, couchless but for a mother's breast, till our own blood almost freezes. The mild dignity of CARVER and of BRADFORD; the decisive and

soldierlike air and manner of STANDISH; the devout BREWSTER; the enterprising ALLERTON; the general firmness and thoughtfulness of the whole band; their conscious joy for dangers escaped; their deep solicitude about dangers to come; their trust in Heaven; their high religious faith, full of confidence and anticipation;-all of these seem to belong to this place, and to be present upon this occasion, to fill us with reverence and admiration.

THE HONOURABLE EDWARD HANNEGAN,

SENATOR FOR THE STATE OF INDIANA.

THIS is a genuine son of the West; ardent, impulsive and undaunted; thinking, acting and daring with the most perfect freedom. His spirit is youthful and buoyant, and he is ever sanguine of success, though he feels acutely the bitterness of disappointment. The character of the Western men has been greatly misunderstood, even by the other sections of the Union; they have their faults like all the world beside, but they are the faults of youth, and are corrigible, because they proceed not from neutrality, but from exuberance of character; not from the deficiency, but from the abundance of material. If they are hasty and impetuous, they are also generous and forgiving; but eager of enterprise,

indifferent to money, but

patient of endurance, full of courage, regardful of

the feelings of others, and above all men they are respectful and considerate to the female sex.* They are fluent of speech, quick in action, and ready in expedients; they are, in fact, the very men required for the position they hold, that of Borderers of the Republic. They are a new power, whose interests, although inseparably blended with those of the other sections of the Union, are yet distinct and individual; the West but now begins to assert herself, to exhibit her strength, and, though yet an infant, to claim her share in the "balance of power;" a political mystery, which exists no less in a Confederation of Republics such as the United States of America, than among the several compact Monarchies of Europe. The West has found a devoted lover in her Hannegan, and many a fervent vow he made to win for her the Oregon, nor will these vows remain unanswered; so sure as rivers run into the sea, so sure as mountains hide their heads in

* This trait of character is said by the sages to contain the germ of every virtue, and some assert that it is the highest attribute of civilization. But I am a woman, not a philosopher, and these things are too high for me.

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