Kentucky Gazette

ADDRESS.

To the "Ladies' Legion," on the presentation of a Flag by Miss HENRIETTA AUSTIN, Lexington, June 3d. 1836,

GENTLEMEN VOLUNTEERS,—At the request of my aunt, Mrs. Holley, and in the name of my country, I present you a Flag, designed by Gen. Austin, and kindly executed by my young friends, Miss James.

This flag, gentlemen, is historic. The British Union Jack, in the corner, represents our Anglo-Saxon origin. The thirteen stripes, our immediate descent from the United States of the North. The Sun, the radiant Sun, is Texas. The head of Washington in the centre of the sun—his name under—and "In his example there is safety" over it show our attachment to his principles. The rays which emanate from the head of the FATHER OF LIBERTY, represent the light of Liberty, or "Lux Libertas," which is to illuminate, not only Texas, but Mexico—which is represented by the green Border.

Take this flag, gentlemen; go plant it in the Land of Flowers; the land of the myrtle and the vine, the bay and the holly, our beautiful Texas. There let it flourish beside the undying oak. There let it take immortal root and reach the skies. There let it wave defiance to a perfidious foe. What tyrant would not quail before the light of that benignant countenance—the LIGHT OF LIBERTY which illuminates the world? What perjured soldier would not hang his head and drop his arms, in view of greatness like that of WASHINGTON, whose WORD WAS TRUTH?

Go, ye generous and brave; I commend you to the heroic, the victorious, the magnanimous Houston. Go, fight the battles of my country; go, earn the gratitude of a Nation and win the smiles of her Fair. Do or Die, as honor bids. Suffer not a treacherous foe to call you coward, or perjured. Make Him make the world feel the grandeur, the solemnity of moral worth, as well as the power of your rifles. Let this beautiful banner, which fair hands have wrought for you honor, and the thought of the youth—Pul La Fayette, inseparable from the image of Washington, be your inspiration.

Remember, gentlemen, the immortal Laurel is indigenous in Texas. The sacred olive is no less congenial to her clime. Fairy fingers will not be wanting to wreathe them for your brow. Leave, I pray you, the Spanish moss crown for your IGNOBLE FOE.*

*Santee Anna, after climbing the tree, (a live oak) endeavored to hide his 'diminished head' in the surrounding moss.

The Flag was received by Dr. B. J. Gause, on behalf of the Legion, who made the following

REPLY.

In behalf of the Ladies' Legion of the city of Lexington, I receive with emotions of the deepest sensibility this Flag. In their name do I now tender to that distinguished Lady, at whose solicitation you present it, and whose name is so intimately identified with the cause of Texas, their liveliest gratitude. For your friends, by whose skill it was designed and wrought, and to yourself, the organ of its presentation, we present the homage of our grateful acknowledgments.

In performing this, the public ceremonial before we leave our native land, let me here, in the presence of our assembled fellow-citizens, and in the name and by the authority of those whose humble organ I am, express their deep and earnest belief, that the cause which impels them is not less just and holy than that which animated our fore-fathers in our own revolutionary struggle.

The occasion is not, perhaps, appropriate to enter into a detail of the origin of the Texian revolution, much less to recite the deep perfidy and inhuman atrocities by which its progress has been marked; let me rather indulge in the pleasing hope that since the author of these calamities is now a captive suing for life, Mexico will now feel how vain and futile is the effort to place a military yoke upon men "who know their rights and knowing dare maintain them."

Should it, however, be otherwise—should another Santa Anna rise up, breathing war and devastation; should Texas yet be forced to consummate her revolution through more blood and more slaughter, then, Miss, will this Flag, with all the noble and glowing recollections which it inspires, float proudly to the battle and the breeze, with the hearts of men rallied under its folds who will remember that, as it was the gift of beauty, so shall it be defended by the arm of valor.

The scene here presented is well worthy the most serious reflection; and if anything ever partook of that which has been denominated the moral sublime, it is the zeal and ardor with which those assembled here are animated in the cause of human right and constitutional liberty. Cold philosophy may reason upon the effect, and sordid interest may calculate the profits and loss of embarking in an enterprise like the present, but it remains for patriotism, for freedom, and those who deserve to be free, throwing off all restraints, to rush at all times, regardless of all sordid calculations and selfish considerations, to the defence of human rights and to the protection and rescue of suffering freedom. Such are the feelings by which we are animated in our present undertaking. 'Tis no filthy lucre that prompts us to the battle field of Texas; no desire to enrich ourselves in lands, which have been deluged in patriots' blood. Ours is, I trust, a far purer and nobler aspiration. It is to avenge the death of martyred heroes in the cause of Liberty. To rescue the grave of Crockett, and Travis, and Milam, and their compatriots, from the ruthless footsteps of an invading, mercenary and heartless Tyrant. When this is done, and the Flag which you have this day presented is planted upon the walls of the Alamo, our task will have been accomplished, and we shall return with free hearts to our native land, and with us we will bring this fair and beautiful banner, and lay it, unpolluted, at the feet of those who knew how to appreciate hearts that are steeled against usurpation and tyranny. In doing this, however, should it be the lot of this devoted band to fall beneath the strong arm of the foe, each heart, looking to this Flag and remembering its glorious association with the Ladies of Lexington, will beat true in death to the cause of Texas and Liberty.

We are now, Miss, about to go to another land—your own bright and beautiful clime—to do what we can to rescue it from a just yoke of military despotism and a degraded priesthood. It is hard to quit our homes, to break those ties which bind us to the spot of our nativity; but the pain of the separation is almost extinguished in the consciousness that we are accompanied in our pilgrimage by the hopes and the prayers of the brave and beautiful. Yes, Miss, we will go—we will go, with the stern resolution of Freemen in the cause of Freedom. And should you hear of us in the strife of battle, be assured you will hear of this Flag—your own proud and honored gift—waving in victory, or stained with the blood of the slain and the mangled bodies of those who now bow in veneration before it.

Kentucky has gained a reputation for deeds of chivalry, which the proudest might envy. Scarcely a battle field of the late war does not bear testimony of the honorable bearing, the lofty and unbending patriotism, and the magnanimous bravery of her sons. It has been truly said of those, that they never knew danger, but to overcome it. And may I be so bold as to say, that the regiment which Col. Wilson has the honor to command, will never prove recreant to the trust reposed in them: and that the plains of Texas will attest that her Allens, Daviesses and Harts, have not all been destroyed by savage barbarity.

Again, let me assure you, that with feeling of no ordinary pleasure do I, as the organ of the Texan volunteers, accept from the Ladies of Lexington the Flag which has just been presented. To know that we have a memento of their kind feeling, regard and best wishes, will be to us in the darkest hours of privation, toil and trial, sufficient cause to bring us up under every difficulty. In conclusion, in the language of those of our countrymen who have gone before us, and who encountered tyranny in its most odious form, we here pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor, to defend it as the Flag of Freedom, and let its graceful folds wave on Texas free, or die in the effort.