Excerpt from Speeches

As you stand in the center of statuary hall and look above the entrance, you see the magnificent marble clock done by Franzoni. There is carved a chariot whose wheels indicate the flight of time as it hurries around the globe, about which are carved the signs of the zodiac. In the chariot stands Clio, the Muse of History, with the stylus in one hand and the marble slab in'the other, whereby she records the events of United States history. She must record the truth and nothing but the truth. If she could do otherwise, she would not be the Muse of History.

Whatever may be the errors of men, history never errs. It may be written wrong, but the history itself is as true as the north star. The Muse of History is but a spark from the Divinity himself, and she can not but tell the truth. Let no state or in dividual put upon her the necessity of recording anything of which future generations might be ashamed. When Washington was placed there, she could say he was a patriot and a great military organizer, that he suffered hardships at the Delaware and at the Brandywine, conquered the British and received the sword of Lord Cornwallis in surrender at Y orktown.' When Muhlen berg was placed there, we may presume she wrote he was a great, good man; standing in his pulpit at the beginning of the Revolutionary War, he preached a sermon of patriotism, and at the close, stepped from his pulpit exclaiming, 'there is a time for everything, a time to preach, a time to fight, and this is the time to fight, ' and with dramatic effect he threw off his cloak and revealed his military uniform. He went to the field, became a general and was with Washington at the final surrender. When Ethan Allen was placed there she told of his heroic deeds; and so of Roger Williams, Jonathan Trumbull, Roger Sherman, Richard Stockton, George Clinton, Alexander Hamilton, Nathaniel Greene and the other great representatives of the people.

When Morton was placed there, three years ago, she told of his civil heroism; she wrote upon her marble slab the story of the beginning of the war. Ten father Abraham called for troops Morton immediately telegraphed him that Indiana would supply and how, in response to this patriotic call, men had enlisted in the State of Indiana within one week, and that this was three-fold patriotism on the part of those who followed the magic lead of our splendid War Governor, for she notes in passing that our quota would have been but She then wrote of Indiana's subsequent work in sending 150 regiments of infantry, 13 regiments of cavalry, one regiment and 25 com panies of' artillery and men for the navy. She noted that this brought the aggregate of Indiana's contribution up to soldiers, that Indiana sent her best blood, and that she was second to none either in per cent. Or proficiency of service, and that the patriotism of her sons was due in a large measure to the inspiring leadership of Morton, against whom were arrayed talented andable men who were opposed to the preservation of the Union. The Muse of History recorded that Morton took care of his soldiers, fed them, clothed them and stood responsible personally where necessary. She recorded that he was not only a great war hero, but that in the halls of congress he was a peerless statesman, and that in the executive chair he was unexcelled as the wise ruler of his state, and that he was at all times a patriot. Thus has Clio, the Muse of History, written.

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