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NO. IV.

Correspondence concerning the Texas Banner.

GEN. SAM HOUSTON.

GALVESTON, June 9th, 1848.

Sir-In accordance with a recommendation of the Washington Monument Committee, contained in these words, "As the monument is National, a delegation is invited to be present from each state and territory with a Banner inscribed with the great seal of the State, and some other appropriate device, to be deposited hereafter in the monument, with a suitable inscription to perpetuate to the latest posterity, a knowledge of their use, and origin, and the names and services of the delegations that bore them-if wrought and furnished by females, their names to be recorded and perpetuated, with statements of the times and places of presentation, to the respective delegations:" We the undersigned committee, on behalf of the ladies of Galveston, have the honor herewith to transmit to you the National Banner of Texas, in the full hope that you, with the rest of our Representation at the Capitol, will act as the Texan delegation on the approaching anniversary.

The occasion, sir, is one of high and solemn import. Nations have heretofore sought to confer immortality on the names and heroic achievements of their most distinguished sons, by erecting stately monuments to their memory. It has been reserved for Washington alone to perpetuate to the remotest posterity all that is associated with his name. America can do nothing to brighten his renown. It is coeval with time. It can never perish. In building his mausoleum she only hopes to consecrate the memory of her own virtues; the strength of her patriotism, the eternity of her gratitude.

To you, sir, the trust is now confided, to present our Banner. At no other hand could it be so appropriately received. It is fit, that the same hand which raised it to the staff, after having unfurled it to the breeze, which crowned it with independence after having covered it with glory, should be the hand which, in full view of America and the world, shall lay it as an offering on the tomb of Washington. It is no unworthy tribute. It has lit a nation's path to glory; it has conducted her to Liberty and to Independence.

A participator in the august ceremony which gathered around the grave of Wash; ington the only children with which heaven has blessed him, Texas, a legitimate and loyal child, after having claimed and received her portion of the heritage, now mingles with her sisters' gifts the only one which can properly decorate his tomb, the banner which was dyed in the blood of Fannin, of Travis, of Crockett and of Milam, which floated in triumph over the ramparts of San Antonio, and the field of San Jacinto.

It was ordained of old, that a star should lead the world to the spot where the hope of its future salvation was to be found. Should other lights grow dim, and other hopes be darkened, should the night of despair settle over the prospects of our country, that star, which shines upon our flag, which arose amid despotism and

desolation, and illumined our pathway to freedom, will yet conduct us, with heaven's unerring light to the tomb of Washington, and liberty, and the Republic be redeemed.

The Washington Monument Committee desires "the names and services of the Delegation which shall bear our flag."

Let it be recorded that Houston bore it, and history will proclaim his services. We are, sir, with the highest respect, your most obedient servants,

W. H. RHODES,

T. M. JOSEPH,
W. P. BALLINGER,

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Committee.

THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT COMMITTEE.

WASHINGTON CITY, July 3d, 1848.

Gentlemen-The interesting ceremony which will take place on the 4th instant, the National Anniversary of our Independence, will awaken in every American bosom the liveliest emotions of patriotism, as well as veneration for the Father of his country. He was emphatically the pioneer of Liberty in the western hemisphere.

In looking to the interesting period referred to, Texas has not been unmindful of her duty, but has tendered the tribute of her veneration and respect, as well as her love of country to the shrine which commands her filial devotion.

A portion of the fair and accomplished daughters of Texas have prepared a Flag as their offering, and token of acquiescence in the policy as well as the measure of annexation of Texas to the Union.

It is the Flag that guided her amidst the gloom by which she was surrounded, the star that lit her pathway in her achievements. Hence it has become her cherished emblem.

This tribute has reached the Delegation from the State of the "single star," through the medium of a committee of highly respectable and intelligent young gentlemen of the City of Galveston.

I can only express my sincere regret, that, prior to any knowledge of the trust being confided to us, I had consented to unite in the celebration of the 4th of July in Pennsylvania, and, therefore, cannot witness the delightful ceremony which a portion of our Delegation will enjoy.

I am, gentlemen, your fellow-citizen,

SAM HOUSTON.

GENTLEMEN OF THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT SOCIETY:

The flag that I bear is the one that a portion of the fair and accomplished daughters of the State of Texas have sent on to Gen. Sam. Houston, to present to you, as their tribute, on this occasion, to the memory of Washington, the corner-stone of whose monument you are now about to lay.

In the absence of the distinguished gentleman to whom it was sent, and who, but for prior engagements elsewhere, would have done so himself, I have the pleasure of presenting it to you.

I feel highly honored, although it is in a secondary capacity, in being the bearer of it; as the State from which it came is the one of my adoption, and the County in Virginia, in which he, to whose memory it is given, lived so long and so beloved, is that of my birth place.

In the names of the fair ones who wrought, and the one who commissioned me to bear it, I deliver it to you, as a small token of their, as well as his and my devotion to, and admiration of, the great and good man to whose name you are about to rear your fabric.

July 4th, 1848.

Respectfully,

JOS. F. LEWIS.

NO. V.

Presentation of the Baltimore Banner, July 4th, 1848.

At the Presentation of the Banner by the Baltimore Young Men's Delegation, Mr. Wm. Alexander, the President, spoke as follows:

MR. CHAIRMAN AND GENTLEMEN OF COMMITTEE:

I have the honor to be the medium through which the "Baltimore Young Men's Delegation" present to you this banner, to be deposited among the archives of that sacred edifice, of which this day's ceremonies are for the purpose of laying the cornerstone; and to be there retained as a memorial that the young men of the City of Baltimore were represented on this interesting occasion: time does not permit me more than to say, that the young men of the "Monumental City," cherishing in common with the rest of their countrymen for their country's political father, a feeling of love and veneration which no language can express; a portion of them are here present, on this day-so appropriate for the purpose-to join in the procession, and take part in the ceremonies initiatory to the erection of a monument at the nation's capitol, testamentary of a nation's gratitude to the great and good Washington, and desire that this banner may be kept, so long as it shall endure, within the sacred walls of the temple to be erected to the memory of Liberty's Sire, as a slight memento that we cherish, in our hearts, a grateful recollection of him who was "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."

GEN. WALTER JONES, on behalf of the Managers, responded as follows:

YOUNG MEN OF BALTIMORE:

We, Managers of the Washington Monument Society, accept, with sincere pleasure, your offering of this beautiful flag, to be deposited among the memorials of this ever-memorable day, which is now to witness the laying of the cornerstone of the Washington Monument.

The glorious title of the "City of Monuments" has been well earned for your city by the patriotism of her citizens, and by their brave devotion to her defence, whenever the stormy clouds of danger have gathered thickest and darkest about her. Nothing less was to be expected from the gallant and generous youth of such a city, than the noble and patriotic enthusiasm that impels you, with united hearts and hands, to assist-now, to lay the foundations--hereafter, to raise to its sunny pinnacle, the truly national monument, which is to be associated in the minds of countless generations, with the exalted memories of this ever-glorious day.

Your desired recompense-not exorbitant—priceless though it be—is willingly conceded. Your participation in this great work shall be identified with a record that cannot perish till the very ruins of the monument itself shall have perished.

NO. VI.

Presentation of the Florida Banner, July 6th, 1848.

MR. GREGORY YALE, on presenting the Florida Banner, made the following address : Mr. PRESIDENt and Gentlemen oF THE NATIONAL MONUMENT SOCIETY:

The Delegation representing the State of Florida, at the laying of the corner-stone of the National Monument to George Washington, desire to present to your Society the Banner which was borne by them on that occasion.

In making the presentation to the Society, through you, as they now do, it is their fervent hope that the Banner may be accepted by the Society as a reverential tribute to the memory of Washington, by the Delegation, individually, and by the People of the State they have the honor to represent, at the commencement of this great work which is to perpetuate the gratitude of a free nation to its illustrious founder; and that it may be deposited among the muniments of the Society, as a pleasing reminiscence of the participation which our State had in the interesting proceedings of the day.

On one side of this Banner, you see exhibited the portrait and name of him who, on Easter Sunday, 1512, landed upon the verdant shores of Florida, planted the standard of Castile and Leon, and under the grateful shades of the live oak and the magnolia, and amid the fragrance of the orange, the jessamine and the rose, returned thanks to his maker for the fortunate direction of his voyage. He then gave to this land the name of Florida, which from that day to this, it has always borne, under every vicissitude in its extraordinary history, and which, with the blessings of God, it will continue to bear as long as your monument shall stand.

On the other side, you see inscribed the escutcheon of the State, with a reference to the day when it was invested with the distinguished honor of the sovereignty of one of the American Union, with a motto indicating a reliance on the arm of Deity. You have in De Leon, the earliest discoverer of that portion of the New World now erected into a glorious confederacy of thirty States. You have in Washington, the founder of this confederacy. In our motto, you see declared that spirit which guided Washington from his youth to his death, and with which he inspired his compatriots of the Revolution.

Thus, Florida, first in the order of discovery among her sister states, and on the anniversary of a day memorable in the annals of the Christian era, while among the last in the order of family precedent, will ever be foremost in preserving the fame of Washington, as fresh and enduring as the evergreens of her own beautiful clime, she, trusting in God, will be among the last in deserting the Banner of the Union.

MR. FENDALL, on behalf of the Managers, responded as follows: GENTLEMEN OF THE FLORIDA DELEGATION:

On behalf of the National Monument Society, and by direction of its Managers, I thank you for the banner which you have presented to it. The Society receives

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