Weekly Trinity Journal

Flag Presentation:
The "Douglas City Rifles" were the recipients of a beautiful flag, presented by the ladies of that place, on Saturday, the 9th inst. In behalf of the fair donors, Miss Emma Mabie made the presentation, and delivered a most eloquent and patriotic address, which we give below, with the very appropriate reply of Capt. Hough:

OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS: -On behalf of the ladies of Douglas City, I have the honor and pleasure of presenting you this Flag, the proud ensign of our country, as a token of the high consideration for your gallant Company, enrolled and disciplined, in readiness to obey the behests of duty in vindicating the Constitution and laws, and maintaining with strong arms and brave hearts the integrity of our beloved Union. We must never forget that this glorious banner, unsurpassed in beauty of design, with its rainbow hues and brilliant stars beaming from its azure field of blue, is a choice legacy bequeathed from our patriotic sires, as an emblem of our national freedom, greatness, unity and power, and that it is our most sacred duty to defend and transmit it, untarnished, to succeeding generations. Traitors may rend it, and recreants may trample it in the dust, but it will in God's good time emerge from the smoke and carnage of battle, borne aloft by twenty millions of patriot hands, unbefouled and undefiled, honored and beloved with increasing devotion, on account of the fiery ordeal through which it shall have passed unscathed. For nearly a century, on land and sea, its ample folds have not only given protection to our property, our lives and our sacred honors, but it has challenged the respect and admiration of every civilized nation. To your guardianship we cheerfully commit it, confident, that in the future as in the past, it will never be struck in disgrace May it soon be restored to its original position, and float proudly and forever over every inch of our national domain. The eloquent words of Drake, seem most appropriate and expressive of the sentiments of the donors, which I beg the kind indulgence of the donees to repeat:

flag of the free heart's hope and home,
By many hands to valor given,
Thy stars have lit the welkin dome,
And all thy hues were born in heaven!
Far ever float that standard sheet!
Where breathes the foe but falls before us,
With freedom's soil beneath our feet,
And freedom's banner streaming o'er us.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: -With feelings of gratitude unspeakable, in behalf of the Douglas City Rifles, I receive, as their officer, this beautiful and highly embellished emblem of our country's nationality, at the hand of its fair donor, who, with an example worthy of emulation, has tendered this evidence in glowing, beautiful language, of the possession of that noble patriotism of which the loved, honored and revered women of the Revolution were so highly imbued. Evidences of this character are deserving of more praise than words can portray; they teach, if anything, that the women of our loved country are not behind us in the proper expression and acts of patriotism, and that in heart, feeling and love, are enlisted with us, and none can calculate the immense influence of the knowledge such fact. Show me the man—the soldier, particularly—who is utterly devoid of those sentiments susceptible to such influences, comprising the virtues of our manhood, and I will show you a traitor At such a time, when the machinery of Government being strained and racked like the ship upon the breakers, threatened at each moment to be rent asunder and cast upon shore, to be picked up in such fragments only as to be rotten and worthless, leaving behind the historian's sad record, that a republican form of government-the hope of ages-perfect in its form, correct in its workings, where every citizen was a sovereign, officers were servants and not dictators, had once existed, but from the extreme folly of its people, the sad allurements of office and corrupt practices and designs of unprincipled political partisans, had been broken, dissolved and made use of as the prop to the dynasties of Europe, and held out as the frightful example to those who in future would become the champions of the rights of man, it behooves us to tender all the aid in our power to our Flag and our country. In times like the present there are duties devolving upon both sexes. Man owes his property, owes his honor, owes his life to his country. Woman, her love, benign influence and healing succor.

Here in California, possessing more bountiful blessings of nature--a sky rivaling that of Italy-a more varied climate owning all the Blessings of peace, one would suppose that this great people had not yet awoke to the proper understanding. such inference the record denies. Of my own knowledge I speak that there exists within the breast of the loyal citizens of this State an ever burning impatient fire of that patriotism which heeds but the spark of an overt act to be applied to burst forth sweeping like the tornado everything before it, and in the end leaving no vestige of treason to again mar the workings of the most free, bountiful and glorious Government that ever God allowed to exist.-

Ladies of Douglas City, allow me to extend to you our sincere and heartfelt thanks for this appropriate testimony of your appreciative kindness, and to assure you that the trust reposed in us will never be betrayed.

Order arms, fellow soldiers-I leave you. I have convened you together as your Captain for the last time. With what regrets--recalling to your minds the many past pleasant associations we have had together—I leave to those of you who have known me so long to judge. Be zealous of your organization, avoid dissension, put down envy, be careful in your selection of officers, pay them that respect and duty which is at once their due and your honor. And now with the proposal of three cheers for our glorious country, and the hope that ere a year shall roll by this proud ensign shall in triumph be found floating from the lakes to the Gulf, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, I bid you, good bye,

At a special meeting of the Douglas City Rifles, on Monday evening, May 11th, M. W. Personette was called to the Chair and T. E. Jones appointed Secretary. On motion, a committee of three was appointed to draft resolutions expressive of the sense of the meeting. T. E. Jones, B. F. Flynn and S. J. Thayer, were appointed such Committee. The Committee reported the following, which were unanimously adopted:

Whereas, the business relations of Capt. John H. Hough, are such as will no longer permit him to continue a member of this Company, and, whereas, we cannot part with him without an expression of the friendship and esteem in which we hold him, both as a citizen and officer of this Company, be it

Resolved, That in the resignation and departure of Capt. Hough, we have to regret the loss to this Company of one of its most influential and active members, and to this community of one of its most worthy, loyal and patriotic citizens.

Resolved, That the thanks of this Company are due to Capt. Hough, for the interest he has ever manifested in its behalf.

Resolved, That while we part with our late companion and officer with regret, we feel assured that wherever he may be, his influence will be given in favor of the Government of his country, and against the traitors who are endeavoring to destroy it.

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be sent to the Trinity JOURNAL for publication.

After the evening festivities were over, quite a goodly number of the over-patriotic (the Jones family being largely represented) repaired to the City, drank and sung till broad daylight, and went home with the head ache in the morning.

Yours, for this glorious old country in her darkest and brightest hours, bigger than a skinned horse, by the Eternal."

JACINTO.