title: Liberty and union, one and inseparable. Speeches delivered at the Republican union festival, in commemoration of the birth of Washington; held at Irving hall, Feb. 22, 1862, under the auspices of the Republican central committees, of the city and county of New York.
text: ,• / % -: <^ o ^ "•• ^y ^^S^C,■ S'^^ .* <.^^ "^CJ. ''.^^^.* . -^^ ^ V-^^ '^o^ 'oK ;* «.^ ^^..^^ .* 'bV o_ * .-^ ... 'bV' G^ ^i>, 'o.T* ^A <v- *'7VV* <G^ ^ '"•» * ■ A r> ^. r •• ^'^''^ --.I ^^ ^^-. ^^c,'^ . ** A A,* i» . « • , %* ' • • • ^W ^ .^^"-^ ' A^*x. - ' * A V Vis • :r .V r-i '^.T* .A. V* ♦- LIBERTY AND UNION, ONE AND INSEPARABLE. SPEECHES DEtlVEBSO AT TES REPUBLICAN UNION EESTIYAL, IK COUMEUORATIOK OF THE BIRTH 07 WASHINGTON; HELD AT IRVIlSrG- HALL, FEB. 22, 1862, UNDER THE AUSPICES OS" THE REPUBLICAN CENTRAL COMMITTEES, OF THE CITT AND COUNTY OF NEW TORK. NEW YORK: G. P. PUTNAM, 532 BROADWAY. 1862. LIBERTY AND UNION, ONE AND INSEPARABLE. SPEECHES DELIVERED AT THE REPUBLICAN UNION FESTIVAL, IN COMMEMORATION OF THE BIRTH OF WASHINGTON; HELD A.T II^VING^ HALL, FEB. 22, 1862 UNDER THE AUSPICES OF TDS REPUBLICAIN CENTRAL COMMITTEES, OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF NEW YORK. NEW YORK: G. P. PUTNAM, 532 BROADWAY, 186 2. ^^ nA^^CajU. V SPEECHES BY ELLIOT C. COWDIN, PROF. HITCHCOCK, DE. BELLOWS, WM. M. EVARTS, HON. HEiS^RY J. RAYMOND, HON. HORACE GREELEY, HON. GEORGE FOLSOM, AND E. DELAFIELD SMITH. The Republican Union Festival formed no insignificant portion of the celebration of Washingion's Birthday. About six hundred guests sat down to a splendid collation, provided in the best style of Mr. L. F. Harrison, the proprietor of Irving Ilall. The collation was most bountiful, and received full justice at the hands of the guests. At the main table sat Sheridan Shook, Esq., Chairman of the Republican Central Com- mittee, Dr. Tyng, Dr. Bellows, Dr. Hitchcock, Ex-Judge Peabody, Wm. M. Evarts, Hon. Geo. Folsora, James A. Briggs, Geo. W. Blunt, Hon. H. J. Raymond, Joseph Hoxie, Erastus C. Benedict, Col. Frank E. Howe, Hon, Horace Greeley, Hon. Hiram Barney, Rufus F. Andrews, S. B. Chittenden, and others of equal note. The other tables were presided over by Hon. Janies Kelly, Justice Welsh, Hon. Abram Wakemann, Owen W. Brennan, Timothy. G. Churchill, John Keyser, Daniel L. Pettee, Andrew Bleakley, Hon. Wm. A. Darling, Andreas Willmann, and Wm. S, Opdyke. They were decorated with appropriate emblems, comprising national flags, forts, ships, and Union mottoes, of a patriotic nature. At 8| o'clock Mr. Shook called the assembly to order, and nomi- nated for Pi-esident Mr. Elliot C. Cowdin, who was unanimously chosen to that office. Mr. CowDiN, on taking the Chair, was received with applause; and spoke as follows : — Speech of Elliot C. Cowdin. Fellow-Citizens : — My first duty is to thank you for the honor done me ; and I beg leave to make my grateful acknowledgments to this distinguished company for their generous greetings. Certainly, the position belongs not to me, but I obey the call, and, in discharging the honorable trust assigned me, I ask your kind indulgence. We are assembled to celebrate a day of happy omen to the friends of civil liberty throughout Christendom, to commemorate the Anniversary of the Birthday of the Illustrious Washington : "The world's great master and his own." (Applause.) It is well that we are here. Manifestations of attachment to our common country and her free institutions are at all times a gratifying spectacle, but in this hour of national solicitude they are of uncommon interest and full of hope. Verily the spirits of 4: Repiihlican Union Festival. our forefathers hover over us, and the father of his country looks clown upon us with approbation, for we are come together in the name of the Union, so truly dear to us, never to be divided. [Loud cheers.) We meet, too, for mutual congratulations on the approaching downfall of the most causeless and wicked rebellion the world ever knew. The good tidings that have reached us from the Carolinas, from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri, conveying the brilliant exploits of the army and navy — now moving like an avalanche, carrying victory in their paths — gladdens our hearts, strengthens our faith, and excites our enthusiasm. [Applause.) All honor to our gallant heroes. Their deeds and daring shall be remembered and cherished by an admiring and grateful people. Encircled with glory shall be their names in the Temple of Liberty, for sacrifices so great, and services so efficient rendered the nation in the hour of advci'sity. What a spectacle our country now presents ! With an army of more than six hun- dred thousand men in the field ; with a navy powerful and eff'ective ; with resources in abundance; we are, moreover, feeding the famine-stricken nations of the world, and thereby putting them under bonds to keep the peace. [Cheers.) As our gallant men go forth by land and by sea, imbued with the sentiments and interests of the farm, and the shop, and the counting-house ; so they will carry back to those fields of industry the military and naval accomplishments there acquired. In peace they were taught to prize their rights, and in war they learn to defend them. Thus shall we teach every nation to value our friendship and dread our enmity. Nevertheless, the times demand renewed energy, courage, grit. Napoleon was right when he said, " Leave sensibility to women, but men should be firm in heart and pur- pose, or they should have nothing to do with war and government." On this auspicious day, at least, and especially in times like the present, it is fitting calmly to recur to the principles of the founders of the Republic. To cherish most fervently the exalted doctrines of 17*76, asset forth in the Declaration of Lidependence. To declare our firm devotion to the great principles of liberty stamped upon the ordinance of \1S'l. To venerate the Constitution of the LTnited States, in all its parts, with all its obli- gations and all its blessings. To adhere inflexibly to the Union of the States, one and inseparable. To arouse and foster a spirit of genuine and fervid patriotism among the people. To inculcate the noble principles of the Father of his Country bequeathed to us as his parting legacy. To assert, with Washtngtoi^, " Let us have a government by which our lives, liber- ties, and prosperities shall be secure. If defective, let it be amended, but not suff"ered to be trampled upon while it has an existence." [Applause.) Let private einoluments and personal honors give place to whatever is most essential and best for the cause of freedom and the perpetuity of a free Constitution ; and if, in the Providence of God and the progress of events, the 2^eculiar institution falls, then, like Lucifer, let it fall to rise no more. [Tremendous applause.) Already the lamenta- tion of its votaries has gone forth : " The thorns I have reaped are of the tree I planted. They have torn me, and I bleed." Forgetful of past jealousies, and bickerings, and petty feuds, let us here and now, once more, renew our vows of unceasing devotion to our common country. Mr. CowdirbS Speech. 5 Macaulay says : " No men occupy so splendid a place in history as those who have founded monarchies on the ruin of republican institutions." Heaven forbid that such splendor should ever dazzle the eyes or excite the ambition of American citizens. [Cheers.) I cannot but believe that the Federal Union is destined to outlive every vicissitude, and bear up against far greater shocks than it has yet encountered. Its foundation is laid upon public justice, public virtue, and public liberty, and though for a time it may encounter great peril, and suffer momentary eclipse, thank God, it possesses a recupera- tive power in the hearts of millions of freemen, who will restore its wonted repose and inaugurate a new era of National greatness. But, as good citizens, we must rise to the height of this great occasion, and do our duty. Indifference and repose are unpardon- able, aye, criminal, when the very existence of the nation is assailed. We should be recreants and dastards of the basest stamp, if we did not defend — resolutely, unitedly, and to the last — the institutions which Washington inaugurated — the most beneficent in the history of mankind. [A2rplause.) Finally, fellow-citizens, let me conjure you to stand by the Government; it is the guardian of your liberties — of your wealth — of your strength. Stand by the Presi- dent — he is able, faithful, honest. [Cheers.) Stand by the army — it is strong, devoted, invincible. Stand by the navy — it is powerful, efficient, triumphant. Listen to no reconciliation and talk not of peace, until every rebel, by an unconditional surrender, has laid down his arms. [Cheers.) Then may justice be done. But let the first con- dition of adjustment be the unqualified admission by all, that the Constitution and Laws are supreme and the Union indissoluble. [Loud applause.) " By our altars pure and free ; By our law's deep-rooted tree ; By the past's dread memory ; By our Washington ; By our common kindred tongue ; By our hopes, bright, buoyant, young ; By our ties of country strong ; We will still be one !" The President concluded his opening address amid enthusiastic applause. Music — " The Star Spangled Banner." The Chairman said, I rise to propose the toast which is first upon our list, as it is uppermost in our hearts. 1. Our Country ; In peace or in war, still our Country, to be cherished with all our hearts, and defended with all our hands. Music — " Yankee Doodle." The President said the second regular toast is one which needs no comment from me. 2. The President of the United States. This was greeted with loud and continued cheering. Music— "llail to the Chief." The Chairman then announced that, in reply to invitations to be present, letters had been received from the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the United States, and others, a part of which would now be read. He called upon Mr. Henry H. Huelet, to read those of Messrs. Seward, Chase, and Sumner, which are as follows : Republican Union Festival. Secretary Seward's Letter. Depahtment of State. \ Washingtox, Feb. 18, 18G2. ) Elliot C. Coivdin, Esq , Nev) York : Dear Sir : I have had the honor of receiving the note, in which you have invited me to attend a Union festival to be celebrated on the approaching anniversary of the birth of Washington. It would be a source of great satisfaction to me to meet the people of New York on so interesting an occasion. But Congress has instituted similar ceremonies to be obsers'ed at this Capital, and has made my attendance upon them an official duty. I need not say that in my heart, and mind, and soul, I approve these proposed observances. Disloyal citizens have seized upon that great anniversary to pervert it to a more complete organization of the conspiracy for the overthrow of the Union of which Washington was the founder, and for the betrayal of the people' of the United States back again to the foreign yoke which the hand of Washington smote and broke. Ma}^ we not hope that the mighty shade of the Father of his Country will be allowed to look down from its rest on that day devoted to his memory, and say which of the two are, indeed, dutiful children — those who are engaged in the destruction of that country, so blessed of God above all other lands, or those who have committed themselves to its salvation. I am, dear Sir, yours, very faithfully, William II. Seward. Secretary Chase's Letter. "Washington, Feb. 20, 18G2. Sir: Most gladly would I unite with the citizens of New York in celebrating the anniversary of the Birthday of Washington, could I leave, even for such a purpose, my post of duty at this time ; but I must remain here. The celebration which you propose, and similar celebrations spontaneously springing from the same impulse, all over tlie country, justify the hope that the memory of Washington, ever living in the hearts of his countrymen, will lend an appropriate inspiration to all our endeavors to restore the Union, which he contributed so much to establish. We need that inspiration. We need for the trials of these days his firmness, his patience, liis disinterestedness, his true courage, his lofty sense of justice, his enlight- ened zeal for impartial freedom. These are the virtues, wdiich, exercised in such degree as men are capable of, will not only restore the LTnion, but reestablish it in more than its pristine vigor, compactness, and beneficence. Yours, very truly, S. P. Chase, Elliot C. Cowdin, Esq., etc. Senator Sumner's Letter. Senate Cuamber, 19th Feb.. 18G2. My dear Sir : I should be glad to be with you at your Festival of the 22d February, but my duties will keep me here. Let us honor the memory of Washington, but sincerely honoring him, w^e cannot become indifferent to those great principles of Human Freedom, consecrated by his life, 'and by the solemn act of his Last Will and Testament, Ever sincerely yours, Charles Sumnkr. Elliot C. Cowdin, Esq. The third regular toast. 3. The Governor of the State of Neiv York. This was a signal for much applause. A letter from His Excellency Governor Morgan was then read. Letters from Govs. Morgan^ Ourtin^ and Sprague. Gov. Morgan's Letter. Executive Department, ) Albany, Feb. 21, 1862. \ Sir: I have received your letter of the 14th inst., inviting me to attend a Union Festival at Irving Hall, to be held on the approaching anniversary of the birthday of Washington. 1 am compelled to say, in reply, that official engagements here will deprive me of the pleasure of accepting your kind invitation. The 22d of February should always be a holiday to be kept and celebrated in a becoming manner, but there are reasons now, not hitherto existing, for more jubilant rejoicings. Nor can any one, at this time, read Washington's Farewell Address attentively without a deeper and a more abiding impression than ever before of the wisdom of that Patriot and Statesman. Let, then, his warning voice, as well as his glorious deeds, be ever remembered and cherished, his brilliant example be everywhere followed, and let this Union be prized and adhered to, not only for the benefits and blessings it has conferred in its past history, but for the richer glories and triumphs which lie in the future. I have the honor to be, with great respect. Your obedient servant, Mr. Elliot C. Cowdin, etc. E. D. Morgan. The President said — I hold in my hand two other letters, to which I invite your attention. They are from Governors of neighboring States, who, like our own Chief Magistrate, have evinced untiring devotion to the Union, and have rendered sio-nal service to the Government. One is from Gov. Curtix, of Pennsylvania, and the other from Governor Sprague, of Rhode Island. Gov. Curtin's Letter. Pennsylvania Executive Chamber, ) IIaerisburgii, Penn., Feb. 19, 1862. ) Dear Sir : I have your letter of the 15th, inviting me to attend the Union Festival in New York on the 22d of this month. I shall on that day be engaged in the cele- bration of the festival in the metropolis in which the Declaration of Independence was adopted, and where was the home of Washington during the period of his civil service. It will, therefore, be impossible for me to be present in New York, in accordance with your invitation. It has pleased the Almighty so to shape events, that our brave and loyal men have been at last permitted to move in earnest; and thus in the approaching anniversary of the birthday of Washington, we shall at once refresh our memories of that patriot and sage, and glory in the certainty of the speedy overthrow of the monstrous rebel- lion, which for so many months has been rampant among the besotted and benighted people of a portion of our country. I have the honor to be, Sir, with much respect. Your obedient servant, A. G. Curtin. Elliot C. Cowdin, Esq., Chairman, &c., &c. Gov. Spr ague's Letter. State op Rhode Island, &c., Executive ) Department, Providence, Feb. 20, 18d2. \ Dear Sir : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your invitation of the loth. I cannot be present to address your Committee at their "Union Festival" on the 22d inst., and no letter could enhance the pleasnre of the occasion. The recent success of our arms furnishes abundant cadse for congratulation aud rejoicing. I take 8 Hepuhlican Union Festival. pride in assuring you that the people of Rhode Island will unanimously join with the patriotic observers of this day. My presence with them requires that I should accept of no invitations away from my own home. I observe with pleasure the name under which you assemble. Let the Union of these divided States be uppermost in your councils and first in your prayers. Strive for the preservation of the Constitution. I know of no shelter so secure for the liberties of the people, no asylum where their rights can be more zealously guarded, no method more safe by which the blessings of free government which we have enjoyed can be transmitted to our children and our posterity. I beg you will assure your Committee that, although unable to be with them, my interest in the cause, and the object of their meeting, is still warm and active. With sincere good wishes, I am, my dear Sir, your obedient servant, Wm. Sprague. To Elliot C. Cowdin, Esq., &c. The fourth regular toast, 4. The Mayor of the City of New York was received with loud applause. Mr. Jas. M. Tiiomson proposed three cheers for the Hon. C4eorge Opdyke, which were enthusias- tically given. Tlie chair remarked that His Honor, Mayor Opdyke, would have been present, but for duties elsewhere connected with the celebration of this anniversary. The fifth regular toast, 5. The Character of Washinyton — It possessed a power to rally a nation in an hour of disaster; amid the storm of war it cheered and guided the country's friends ; it flamed, too, like a meteor to repel her foes ; in peace it commanded a nation's confidence and the world's respect. The President said — This sentiment will be responded to by one distinguished for his services in the cause of religion and education, and equally so for his devotion to our free institutions. I invite your attention to the Rev. Dr. Hitchcock. Speech of Professor Roswell D. Hitchcock, D.D. Mr. President : — I have learned several things as I have been sitting here this evening. From a recent outburst of applause, I infer that none of you voted for Fernando Wood at the last municipal election. I have also concluded that you like " Old Abe" very well, and do not like Slavery. And, furthermore, it is pretty plain to me by this time [the hall 'was now quite fall of ciyar smoke^ that you not only mean to maintain the integrity of the old Union, but that you are already annexing Cuba, or Havana at any rate, to our domain. (Applause.) By some oversight, as the Committee assured me, I had late notice of my expected appearance here to-night. The very civil gentleman who brought me at once the invi- tation and the apology, tried to persuade me that it made no great diff"erence, since I was desired to speak to the Memory of Washington, " and that, you know, is so easy." "So easy/" It reminded me of the New England deacon, who had an itching to preach, and, after giving his minister a good deal of trouble about the matter, was at length permitted to make the attempt. The good man broke down very near the beginning of his discourse, and cut short his unlucky experiment by stammering out: "Beloved brethren, I used to think it was a mighty easy thing to preach. If any of you think so, I advise you to come up here and try." If your Committee-man, or any- body else, thinks it so easy to speak of Washington, let him try it. (Cheers.) I Speech of Professor Roswell D. Hitchcock^ D.D. 9 Seriously, Mr. President and gentlemen, -whether on short notice or on long notice, I legard it as anything but easy to speak to the memory of this peerless man. Many doquent tongues have attempted this familiar theme, and still the theme remains defiant of them all. So free was the character of Washington from everything pro- tu'oerant and jagged, so admirably balanced were all his faculties, so complete, rounded out, and even, the whole genius of the man, that the handling of his character is like the grasping of a large and highly polished ivory ball. In all my studies I encounter no sucL miracle of Providence. I ani as proud as any man of our Continent, and proud of the Republic, but I dare not claim for them the credit of such a harvest. He who was " first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen," is vastly' more to me than the great American ; he is the great Man of all the races and of all the ages. I hail him, more in gratitude than in pride, as the gift of God to our nation, sent rather from above than from amongst us, to be our one pattern man and pattern Republican for all coming time. God be thanked, then, let us all say, God be thanked, for the glorious Memory of Washington ! * Met now to celebrate his birth, let us be warned against incurring the just and bitter condemnation of those who garnish the sepulchres of their Prophets, while they neglect their teachings. The President of the United States, in this hour of our national distress, did wisely in inviting the clergy of the land to open their houses of worship to-day for the reading of Washington's Farewell Address to his Countrymen. I have not been able to take part in any of these public services, but twice during the day have I read over carefully by myself, in the retirement of my study, this incom- parable document. Of course I had read it before, as we all have many times perhaps, but to-day I have read it with an astonishment and an admiration, which I can hardly express. I am stariled to find it so prescient. The duties it enjoins upon us, are pre- cisely the most needed lessons of the day and the hour. The evils against which it warns us, are precisely the evils which are now upon us, clutching at our throats. I am sure I cannot do you a better service than by reviewing briefly the leading points of this remarkable Address. Four points are specially prominent. 1st. Our attitude towards foreign nations. We are solemnly warned against all foreign entanglements, whether of alliance or of hostility. We are neither insanely to hate England, nor insanely to love France. They are on one side of the Atlantic, and we on the other. There let them stay, and mind their own business, while we stay here and mind our own business. As a nation we have been altogether too sensitive in regard to the opinions and doings of other nations. For a long time we cherished bitter memories of England. Quite recently the tide was turned. The Prince of Wales, for his mother's sake and for his own, was showered with our eager and generous benedictions in every city and in every hamlet through which he passed from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, and from the Mississippi back again to- tlie- Atlantic. England in his person asked us to be her friend and ally in the troublous times which are perhaps before her ; and we answered. Yes, we will. That bond is new broken, if not by the English people, at all events by the English government. Its selfish, one- sided, misnamed neutrality has stung us to the quick. We do not regret the lavish hospitalities of a little more than a year ago ; we still bless the widowed' Queen, whose honored husband served us with his dying hand ; but against the scornful aristocracy, of England we have closed our bosoms as with bars of steel. They have had their 10 ^^^IP Republican Union Festival. choice, and now let them abide by it. We meditate, I trust, no revenge. But fror.i this hour onwatds they must tread their OAvn path of destiny, while we tread ouis. The lesson has been a painful one, but worth' all its cost. Henceforth we obey the early mandate of our Washington. We shake ourselves clear of all foreign entangle- ments. W^e wrap ourselves in the mantle of our own institutions, our own traditions, our own ideas, our own interests, and stand here erect and solid on our own continent to work out our own salvation. We thank Russia for her generous sympathy, and we hail her rising power as destined to divide with us the real empire of the future; but we ask no help, as we dread no rivalry. From this time forward we wish to be, and mean to be, only Americans. (Cheers.) 2nd. Another point of equally vital moment, is Union amongst ourselves. First, as against geographical divisions and rivalries; and equally as against the spirit of party, imperilling the public weal. Our government is not a loose confederation, but a com- pact, organic, close Union of the States. For ten years (from 1777 to 1787), our Fathers had ample trial of the principle of Confederation, and then sent it to the tomb of the Capulets. There let it rest, with no resurrection trumpet ever sounding its recall. Our nationality is no artificial, dead conglomerate of independent, sovereigr. parts, but an organic, living, puissant body, knit limb to limb. This is the doctrine which we are now proclaiming in the hoarse thunder of battle over the land and over the sea. Our territory is a unit, made so by the hand of the Almighty, when our, mountains were heaved to their place, and our rivers had their channels cut for them. This unity we mean to keep, maintaining it, if need be, against the world in arms. Over this undivided, indivisible heritage, purchased for us by the valor of our sires, we have sworn that no flag shall ever wave but our own dear old flag of the Stripes and the Stars, rendered more and more dear to us by every fresh baptism of blood. Terri- torial dismemberment is nothing less than national assassination, which we mean to resist to our last dollar and our last man. The West is ours, not less than the East; the South, not less than the North ; and we intend to hold them all together in the name of liberty and order. If foreign intervention threatens us, we shall beat it back. If domestic rebellion lifts its hateful front, we shall strike it down. The cotton fields of South Carolina must be for ever ours, if we have to sow them with salt. The mouth of the Mississippi must be for ever ours, if we have to keep it for alligators. This issue was not clear to us at first. Before Sumter was fired upon, multitudes amongst us, lovers of peace and freedom, honestly believed that there was nothing left for us but to endure dismembermen.t. We had then no proper sense of nationality. But the angry roar of Beauregard's artillery, in the twinkling of an eye, changed all that. The thun- der which was designed -simply to detach the border States from their old allegiance, and to shake them 'down into the lecherous arms of the Confederacy, in the good .Providence of God ihad quite another office to discharge in rousing the nation from its «tupid slumber. At that call, the giant started to his feet, and with one impatient stamp shook the continent from sea to sea. Six hundred thousand men are now follow- ing the bugles of victory, and will not turn back till they have planted the flag of the Union in every rebellious State. (Great applause.) But it is not enough that we save the Union. We must save it as patriots, and not as partisans. You, gentlemen, are Republicans. What I have been, and am, is no concern of yours. I address you to-night as an American. And I warn you solemnly against going into this holy war as Republicans. Go into it only as Americans, and with all your might. Praise no General becaiiee he has been a Republican. But there remains another topic, on which I cannot be silent without being utterly false to the very spirit of the occasion which has now called us together. A topic ignored in the Address of Washington, as it is ignored also in our Constitution. But not ignored by Washington in his last w'ill and testament, in which he gave freedom to his bondmen ; nor ignored in the Constitution because of any want of fidelity to the rights of man. Washington regarded slavery as a curse and a sin. So likewise did the framers of onr Constitution. They permitted, indeed, its continuance as a local institution, supported by local legislation. But they studiously excluded it from the great charter of our nationality, looking forward confidently to the time when it should go down out of our system, as we trust the last of the piratical craft of the Confederates will soon go down before our loyal cannon, and leave in an hour no bubble to mark the spot. Since then there has been a great apostasy. Slavery, instead of being merely tolerated for a season, is now embraced and eulogized as a Divine and beneficent insti- tution ; and we of the North are called upon to leap down into the same abyss of apostasy and shame. We will do no such thing. We stand by the better doctrine of our fathers. Slavery we denounce as a cruel wrong to the black man, as a fatal cancer eating its way to the very vitals of the white man. As a local institution, destined eventually to be uprooted and disappear, we can give it tolerance. But as a political power, enthroned in our national Capital, and dictating our national policy, we have registered in heaven our oath that it shall no more have dominion over us. The Con- stitution, framed in the interest of freedom and not of slavery, we have sworn shall be administered in the interest of freedom. No more slave territory, is now emblazoned upon our banner, never to be erased. AVliat territory it now has, slavery may keep and curse, if it will ; but it shall snatch no more. And what it has we will hem in closer and closer with free soil tilled by free men, till it shall be like the scorpion begirt with 12 JRejmhliccm Union Festival. fire. This is all we ask for. We counsel no violence to tlie provisions of our present Constitution. We pray for no better Constitution. We are altogether content •with the Constitution as it is. Our single demand is, that it be administered in the spirit of its framers. Then shall we be insured against the hatching of another such rebellion as this, against which we are now in arms. Then may we anticipate the time, not. far remote, when slavery itself shall be shaken from our bosom like a nightmare dream. (Renewed cheers.) The sixth regular toast : — 6. The Union — "The main pillar in the edifice of your real independence : the sup- port of your tranquillity at home, your peace abroad ; of your safety ; of your pros- perity ; of that very liberty wliich you so highly prize." The President said — I have great pleasure in coupling with this' toast the name of one, who, by his voice, his pen, and his untiring devotion, has rendered signal service to the Union, and to its brave defenders. I present to you the Rev. Dr. Bellows, Pre- sident of the United States Sanitary Commission. (Applause.) Speech of Rev. Henry W. Bellows, D.D. Rev. Dr. Bellows responded. He said that the Union was a fact, and a very tough fact. The natural features of our country could not destroy its geographical integrity. The Almighty had established such geographical connections and relations between the parts of this country, shutting us between the lakes and the Gulf, and extending us from ocean to ocean, that this geographical fact cannot bo lost sight of, and must be deferred to and respected. The Union, too, was an ethnological fact. We were one people. We Avere of one blood and one lineage, and one language ; and by this rela- tions and communications, aff"ections, sympathies, intercourse, inter-marriages had been established between the various parts of this country. Our very difficulties were the very things wliich bound us together. The very fact that we understand each other's censure, and hear our sentiments hurled back to us in the same language, is the very reason that we are so much exasperated against one anotlier. It was because we were brothers, and because this is a family quarrel, having all the animosity of a family quarrel. But they could not divide this people. Slavery, black as it was, and hateful and accursed as it was, had not the power to separate that which God, ethnologically and by identity of language, had united together. (^Applause.) Then, too, the Union was a great economical fact. We were united by commercial and industrial relations in such a way that the country could not be broken up. It was a curious f^ct, to be observed about this time, that the Stocks of the disloyal States grew better and stronger in our market for every thrashing we gave them. The moment we had a victory, makino- the fact more ai)parent that the rebel States could not get out of the Union, it caused a rise in stock of the rebel States. That fact spoke louder than any other. When England saw that a victory which tended to demolish the rebels made their own property the more valuable, he would like to see what England would think of that. The Union was also a great political fact. We had political antecedents ; we had a Constitution ; we had aft'ectionate memories of our fathers who created it. AVe had solemn oaths registered in Heaven of fidelity to that Constitution. That Constitution was solemnly rooted in the whole history of the country, and it was destined to keep us one people, and as to the Slavery question, if there was a mighty Anti-Slavery docu- ment in the world, it was the Constitution of the United States. [Applause.) What Speech of William M. Eoarts, Esq. 13 was this rebellion ? It was a rebellion against the Constitution, because it would not strengthen, and extend, and give political power to Slavery ! What had made this wicked rebellion, but the simple fact that in this country, faithful to the Constitution for long years, (luring which the Constitution had been interpreted in behalf of Slavery, in the course of events, in the charge of those who wielded the power of the Govern- raent, the Constitution came to receive its natural interpretation, unfavorable to Slavery? The rebellion arose because the Constitution was an Anti-Slavery document from the moment that the political majority was enabled to interpret it in the interests of liberty. It was a most formidable battery — a most tremendous agency, against which nobody could say a word. They should so press it that it should do its whole work, and if he was not very much mistaken in the character of the people, whatever party should raise its head and endeavor to stay our hand by an effort to make a false peace, before the war had done its work, and this Constitution had been fully sped to its home, would be entirely put down by the moral sense of the people. The Union, too, was a great moral fact. It had become imbedded in the mind and had shaped the intellect of the people. It had become the expression of their hopes and desires in a political direc- tion. It was also a great spiritual fact. There was intrusted to us a sacred duty to vindicate free institutions, and to turn that dreadful tide of reaction which, for the last few years, had been apparent, by which free institutions had been read backward. In conclusion the speaker alluded to the effect which had been produced abroad by American history, and of the false estimate that was formed of our institutions, as to their permanency, by reason of the sraallness of our army and navy in times of peace. He gave the following toast : — The Union — The land and the waters, mountains and rivers, lineage and language, laws and Constitution, interests and instinct, affection and passion, duty and destiny, all cry out against its dissolution, and proclaim it perpetual. [Ai^i^lausc.) The seventh regular toast. Y. The Constitution of the United States : — With all its privileges and blessings, may it be perpetuated to the latest posterity. (^Applause.) The Chairman remarked : — I beg to associate with this sentiment the name of William M. Evarts, Esq., a gentleman to whom we all delight to listen. (Loud cheers.) Speech of William M. Evarts, Esq. Mr. President and Gentlemen : It is my good fortune, by the kind invitation of 5'our committee, to take part now, for the third time, in the celebration of this great national festival, under the auspices of the Republican Association ; and the three occa- sions, including the present, are at three notable stages in the great national transaction for the inauguration of which, in support of the constitution, and for the triumphant main- tenance of the constitution through which the Rupublican party is, in my judgment, mainly responsible. [Applause.) We celebrated the day in 1860, in advance of the Re- publican nomination for the Presidency, which had for its purpose to defend the Constitu- tion against the encroachment of a great State interest, that was striving to impress a local institution upon the national life and character. We succeeded in the election, under the peaceful forms of the Constitution, and had transferred the power of the government from the faction that had so long wielded it, to hands that were faithful to the spirit of the Constitution. [Applause.) We celebrated this anniversary in 1861, in the waning months of the Administration of Mr. Buchanan, in the very midnight of the gloom 1-i JRejpuhUcan Union Festival. which prevailed over this country, from the period of the election of Mr. Lincoln, until the guns of Sumter proclaimed the breaking day. [Applause.) A military rebel- lion was planned and threatened, and had commenced the revolt which since has made such head. We celebrate it now, sir, when the armed rebellion has assumed its fullest proportions — whea the power of the country has been raised against it, — and whea the declining fortunes of treason announce that, soon, reinstated and re-established, the Constitution will resume its sway over the whole territory of the Republic. [Loud Applause.) Mr. President, it was the Constitution as our fathers framed it, before tlie rebellion broke out; it is the same Constitution while the rebellion rages; — and it will be the same Constitution when the rebellion is over, [Ajyj^lausc.) And, without lay- ing any stress upon the great topics of popular liberty, and of national strength and pride, which have been aimed at, at least, in other political constitutions, let us under- stand that the vital and peculiar principle of our Constitution is, that a great nation can be formed, with the strength of government and its fund of power so distributed as not to be an overmatch for the freedom of the people — that a nation can be constituted powerful enough to maintain itself in the family of nations, and to secure to its citizens the honor, respect, and protection which only a mighty nationality can command, and yet, by the division of the great fund of power essential to government, between the general and the local administration, the people can be protected in their freedom, and secured in the management of their every-day interests by representation, neither remote from them, nor insensible to every duty to them, Mr. President, the first essential safeguard of this distribution of powers is, that the General Government shall deal only with that which is common and national, and the State Government shall have the exclusive administration of what is local and peculiar. The struggle, under such a distribution of power, constantly is, or constantly may be, for local institutions and interests, to strive to force themselves into National life and character; and, on the other hand, for the General Government to establish rules and laws for domestic institutions and interests, which its policy and its purpose, as the policy and the purpose of the majority of the Nation, may suggest. I hold that the funda- mental principle of the Repulican party, — the key-note of its political purpose and action, — has been, and is, to oppose this invasion by domestic aud peculiar interests, of the domain of National power. [Applause.) To stop the encroachment of slavery, and to destroy the political power of slavery, was the purpose and end, and will be to the last, as thus far it has been, the success of the Republican party. According to the experience of the Nation, when, by the suffrage under the Constitution, we had placed a Republi- can Administration in Washington, we had accomplished our political purpose, and secured the triumph of our principles. The Ballot, which our Constitution decreed should be the final arbiter in political controversies, had placed the control of the Government in our hands. But, a strange novelty in our affairs, an appeal was taken to arms; and we, the people of this country, have been obliged to try over again, by the bullet, and the bayonet, those questions which the will of the Nation had settled by the ballot. The Constitution is to be maintained — and it is always and in all things to be maintained — and when that question has been settled by the absolute suppression of the rebellion and the peaceful resumption of the dominion of the laws, then, but not till then, the triumph is complete. And, now, Mr. President, allow me to say, that the Constitution is equally concerned, and the maintenance of our liberties and our power is equally concerned, that the invasion by the General Govermnent of the sphere of local and domestic institutions Speech of William, 21. Evarts, Esq. 15 and interests, shall never be permitted. It will be found tliat the good Ship of the Constitution has hco broad sides, equally well armed, and whose thunders alike are sleepless when danger threatens. [Loud applause.) Whenever danger comes, as it has done, from local or State interests striving to control the Federal Government, wc have a broadside for the enemy in that quarter ; and whenever the rage of the contest seeks to make the struggle revolutionary, and to carry the Federal Government into a suppression of the clear right of the States to the control of their domestic legislation^ it will be found that the other broadside of the Constitution has as many tiers of guns, of as heavy metal, and with ammunition as effective, as when it was bearing upon its enemy on the other quarter. (Applause.) We are attached to our government, wc know that it will bear the stress to which it is now subjected, and, in the future, we fear not but that it will outride every storm. Therefore, all fears and alarms that because we are sustaining the Constitution against one hostile power, we shall, by the zeal of the contest, be carried beyond the lines of duty, and press this war into a revolutionary interference with what the Constitution attributes to State control, are, in my judgment, wholly vain. But, gentlemen, a word as to the Constitution and its relations to slavery as rising in this war. In the first place, with all the reading that I have been able to give to the Constitution, I have never been able to see, that, beyond a single clause in it of very narrow application, there was the least obligation, or the least duty, in regard to the protection or maintenance of slaver)^ anywhere. (Applause.) We have, undoubted!)', a constitutional provision and duty, that in a certain specific case, where slavery presents itself outside of the State in which it prevails as a domestic institution, it shall be remanded to its home, there to be dealtt with. I refer, of course, to the fugitive slave clause of the Constitution. We have another provision, generally referred to as having some concern with slavery, which obliges the Federal Government to assist loyal State authorities io suppressing insurrections, too great for their own power to subdue. But that provision, gentlemen, applies to an insurrection of free white men, just as much as to an insurrec- tion of black slaves; to an insurrection in Massachusetts, just as much as to an insurrec- tion in South Carolina. It is in matter of general concern that the civil structure of the State shall not be overthrown by an armed rebellion, too powerful for the resources of the State to put down. ' Indeed, the only occasions, in our constitutional history, where this power of the Federal Government has been invoked, have been to suppress seditious combinations of white men in the free States of the country. Now, gentlemen, men think differently, in dealing with the subject of slavery, as to the end at which they should begin. Many men, enlightened, public-spirited, earnest, and zealous, think that the social structure of slavery must be undermined, in order to overthrow its encroach- ing political power. My own judgment and feeling have always been, that the political power of slavery must first be overthrown, in order that its social structure may be undermined. It is our duty to see to it that slavery gains not one ounce of strength, not one day of duration by any added support of the Federal Government. But they have repented, and they have brought forth fruits meet for repentance. They no longer sustain or protect it. And just as surely as the weight of the Federal Govern- 16 Republican Union Festival. menl, thrown into the scale of slavery, hitherto has influenced politics in the free states, and made them pro-slavery in sentiment and in action, jnst as surely will the power and patronage of the Federal Government, when engaged on the side of free principles, make the slave states anti-slavery. But it will do it without injury to the text or to | the spirit of the Constitution ; — correcting its bad support of a feeble and enfeebling institution, it will leave it to the processes which its own society will provide for its destruction. Why should we consider slavery, when robbed of its political strength and driven to depend upon its own merit, and its own ui aided forces, a dangerous insti- tution ? To whom is it dangerous ? Look at the states on which it turns its fond gaze and upon which it bestows its smiles; and look at the states on which, retreating, it turns back its frowns. No, gentlemen, believe me, the favor of slavery is a false, a meretricious favor, and, as of every other harlot, it is its love and not its hate that should inspire fear, and its rage inflicts no wounds so deep as its caresses. (^Applause.) Gentlemen, we are fighting, and we arc fighting for the Constitution. War, to sustain the Constitution, however diflerent from peace in its methods, is just as constitutional. 