PRESENTATION OF THE CANE OF WASHINGTON. PREFATORY NOTE. In the summer of 1857, the directors of the Ladies' Mount Vernon Association became possessed of one of the gold-headed canes and one of the spy-glasses mentioned in the will of Washington; and they determined to present the former to Mr. Everett and the latter to Mr. Yancey of Alabama, in acknowledgment of the services of those gentlemen in aid of the fund for the purchase of Mount Vernon. The presentation took place in the theatre at Richmond on the 23d of February, 1858, being the day after the dedication of Crawford's statue. In an account of the ceremonial contained in the Richmond Enquirer of the 25th of February, it is stated, that, "long before the hour appointed, a dense crowd assembled in front of the theatre and clamored for admittance. A few moments after the doors were thrown open, the theatre was crowded to overflowing, and thousands were turned from the doors. The scene disclosed, when the curtain rose, was very imposing. In the centre of the stage sat Governor Wise, LieutenantGeneral Winfield Scott and Major-General Persifer F. Smith, Governor Holley of Connecticut, Governor Bingham of Michigan, Lieutenant-Governor Jackson, Mr. Speaker Crutchfield, Hon. J. M. Mason of the senate of the United States, Hon. L. W. Washington, Hon. W. C. Rives, General A. A. Chapman, R. A. Claybrook, Esq., and a number of other dignitaries, whose white heads and benevolent countenances gave great interest to the general grouping. In front of this assemblage, on the left of the stage, sat Colonel Munford, secretary of the commonwealth, with Washington's cane and spy-glass on a table at his side. On the right, Mr. Edward Everett and Mr. W. L. Yancey occupied arm-chairs. The ceremonies commenced with Colonel Munford's address to these two gentlemen, and his presentation of the sacred relics to each in turn. This discourse, which was delivered in a clear, sonorous voice, was eloquent, powerful, and very moving." After the conclusion of Colonel Munford's address, Mr. Everett placed the cane in the hands of General Scott, and replied as follows: : SIR, I want words adequately to express the emotions of satisfaction and gratitude with which I receive this most interesting personal relic of the "Father of his Country; invaluable in itself, and rendered if possible still more precious, by the circumstances under which it comes into my possession. I shall keep it while I live, as a sacred trust, and so dispose of it as best to promote the patriotic intentions. with which it has been bestowed upon me. I acknowledge myself under the highest obligations to the Ladies' Mount Vernon Association, who have honored me with this most expressive token of their approval of my humble coöperation in the great cause to which, with such fervid energy and noble enthusiasm, they are devoting themselves; and I pray you, sir, to accept my grateful acknowledgments for the very obliging manner in which you have been pleased to express yourself, in performing the office kindly undertaken by you, on this deeply interesting occasion. I feel, sir, that, in reference to an honor so distinguished, so peculiar, there would be a degree of arrogance, even in disclaiming any title to it as a reward of merit. Such a thought is almost too absurd to be disavowed. Nothing but the most distinguished service rendered to the country, in some crisis of imminent peril, could furnish an adequate foundation for such a pretension. But I may claim, without presumption, to have been trained, from my cradle, to the reverence of the great and honored name, of which you now enrich me with this most desirable personal memorial. I was born within sight of Dorchester Heights, where he achieved one of the most brilliant and important successes of the war, - the first in which he was individually concerned. I was reared in a community filled with recent personal recollections of him, cherished by those who all but idolized his character. I am old enough to remember the shock, which struck to the very heart of the land, at the tidings that he was gone. My first little declamation at school was the familiar elegy, beginning "From Vernon's mount behold the hero rise, I remember but as yesterday the emotion of my father, as he placed round my neck, with its black riband, the medal which was worn by the school children throughout the country, bearing the likeness of Washington, with the inscription, "He is in glory-the world is in tears;" and the eulogy pronounced by that honored parent on the ensuing twentysecond of February, at the request of his fellow-citizens of Dorchester, was the first public discourse, of a secular character, to which I ever listened. Had it then been foretold to me that after a lapse of fiftyeight years, filled with no inconsiderable share of the labors and the cares of life, I should live to see a day like this; that I should have the privilege, in so many of the States and cities of the Union, of pronouncing a eulogy on that illustrious name, before crowded and favoring audiences, and devoting the pecuniary proceeds of its delivery to the noble object of placing the home and the tomb of Washington under the ægis of the public protection; that as the rich reward of this service, I should here in the capital of his native Virginia; here in the presence of illustrious chieftains, who have borne the flag of the country with honor, from the frozen North to the tropics; of the chief magistrates of Virginia and other sister States; of statesmen who have filled and are filling the highest places in the public councils; of the ladies who have clothed themselves with the honor of originating the noble enterprise which appeals so powerfully to the patriotic sentiment of the country; and of this vast and sympathizing audience,- truly I should have deemed it a vision too bright, too wild, to be realized; or, if realized, an ample recompense for whatever of toil or of grief might intervene. But it is no romantic vision. I have lived to see this proud and happy day; I have been permitted by Providence to realize what the most extravagant anticipation could not have foreseen; I have pronounced the eulogy, of which you expect the repetition to-day, seventy times, for the benefit of the Mount Vernon fund, and I am willing, if it is the pleasure of my fellow-citizens to hear it, to pronounce it seven hundred and seventy times for the same noble object. For these efforts and the labor and time required by them, I claim no merit; I have asked, expected no reward; least of all such a reward as I receive this day, sir, at your hands. It has truly been, as you have been pleased to say, a labor of love. I have felt that I was engaged in a pure and honorable work, tending directly to a noble end, and not unproductive perhaps of incidental good. Compelled by illness, a few years ago, to resign a very honorable post in the public service, and feeling no temptation, since the partial restoration of my health, to return to the thorny and thankless path of public life; weary of its labors and cares, and more than satisfied with the trusts and honors which the partiality of my fellow-citizens has bestowed on me, at home and abroad, I find in these inoffensive pursuits, into which I have been drawn, consecrated to patriotism and benevolence, a more congenial occupation for my waning years; happy, if I can, in this way, do any thing to promote this most meritorious object of the Ladies' Mount Vernon Association, and soften the asperity of sectional feeling, by holding up to the admiration of all parts of the country, that great exemplar which all alike respect and love; or relieve, by appeals to the sympathies of the benevolent, the wants of our suffering fellow men; too happy, if, among the last utterances of a voice, which in the course of nature will soon cease to be heard, the praises of him who stands first in the affections of the country, shall be the most prominent theme, as a prayer for the welfare of every portion of that country will be breathed with the last pulsations of my heart.* * Mr. Everett concluded his remarks as follows: "But I feel, sir, that I ought not to prolong my remarks. You are impatient to listen to the distinguished and eloquent gentleman, who is associated with me in the honors of this day; and I am sensible that I shall need all the time assigned to me in the day's proceedings, for the delivery of the discourse, which you expect from me before we part." Mr. Everett's reply to the address of Mr. Munford was followed by that of Mr. Yancey; after which Mr. Everett delivered his Eulogy on the character of Washington. RECOLLECTIONS OF TURKEY.* MR. MAYOR : I HAVE much pleasure in responding to your call, though I have so lately tendered my respectful greeting to our distinguished guest, on another occasion of a similar but more private character, that I feel as if the privilege ought at this time to have devolved on some other person. It is nearly eight years, sir, since I had the pleasure of meeting a company like this to do honor to an officer of the Turkish navy, though of a rank below that of our honored guest, who was sent by his government to this country on a tour of observation. That social meeting took place in the hall where we are now assembled; some of the present company were gath ered round the social board; one majestic form and noble countenance was present which we shall never look upon again on this side eternity. On that occasion, sir, I expressed the hope that the welcome then extended to the agent of the Ottoman government might prove "the commencement of a permanent relation of good offices mutually exchanged." I rejoice to witness in the mission of our honored guest a fulfilment of that aspiration. And having mentioned Emin Bey, I think it not out of place in justice to him; to Mr. Brown who accompanied him to this country and on his journey through it; and I may say to the Congress of the United States which very properly, in accordance with oriental usage, made a small appropriation to * Remarks made at a dinner given by the City Council of Boston on the 25th May, 1858, in honor of Mehemmed Pasha of the Ottoman navy and his suite; his Honor F. W. Lincoln, Jr., presiding. |