.44 .N644 PROCEEDINGS AT THE d$ Jllcetrag 0f JTogiil Citizens, ON UNIOI SQUARE, NEV-YORK, 15th DAY OF JULY, 1862, UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE STATE OF NEW-YORK, THE UNION DEFENCE COMMITTEE OF THE CITIZENS OF NEW-YORK, THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEW-YORK, AND OTHER COMMITTEES LOYAL CITIZENS. LETTERS AND SPEECHES. PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF JOHN AUSTIN STEVENS, Jr., Secretary. NEW-YORK : ORGE F. NESBITT k CO., PRINTERS, CORNER OF PEARL AND PINE STS. 1862. ^^^r^^ Rnnk . iV^ A- PROCEEDINGS AT THE rp-^ im Xlci;li«0 0f '$m\ Cttiitiis, ON mim SQUARE, NEW-YORK, 15th DAY OF JULY, 1862, UNDER THK AUSPICES OF THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE STATE OF NEW-YORK, THE UNION DEFENCE COMMITTEE OF THE CITIZENS OF NEW-YORK, THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEW-YORK, AND OTHER COMMITTEES OF LOYAL CITIZENS. LETTERS AND SPEECHES. PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF JOHN AUSTIN STEVENS, Jr., Secretary. N E W - Y R K : GEORGE F. NESBITT k CO., PRINTERS, cornee: of pearl and pine sts. 1862. '61 PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. ORGANIZATION OF COMMITTEES. Chamber of Commerce of the State of New-York, [ New-York, July Zd, 1862. \ At a meeting of the Chamber of Commerce, held this day, the President in the chair, the following Preamble and Resolutions were unanimously adopted : — On the 19th day of April, 1861, the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New- York declared its sentiments in regard to the duty of loyal citizens of the United States to sustain the Government in its efforts to suppress a wicked and injurious rebellion, then but recently commenced. In accordance with the sentiments at that time expressed, and in the discharge of the like obligations of duty to the country, this Chamber does hereby Resolve — First. That it will continue to sustain, by its influence with the commercial community and to the fullest extent of its means, the National Government in a vigorous and determined effort to main- tain the integrity of the Union, and effectually to put down rebellion. Second. That in the recent appeal made by the President to the loyalty of the country for additional militaiy forces, the Cham- ber recognizes the patriotism and energy which should insure con- fidence in his fidelity to the Constitution, and in his determination to preserve the National honor. Third. That this Chamber will cordially unite with other bodies of loyal citizens in any measures calculated to give efficiency to the military and naval power of the Government, and to preserve and maintain the character of this community for patriotism and loyal devotion to the Union. Further. That a Committee of thirteen members be appointed bj the chair to consider and recommend to the Chamber, such measures as they ma}' deem advisable, to give practical effect to this expression of the sentiments of the Chamber. The President named as such Committee : GEORGE OPDYKE, Chairman. JoHX A. Stevens, Charles H. Marshall, A. A. Low, S. D. Babcock, Prosper M. Wetmore, George W. Blunt, Denning Duer, Robt. B. Minturn, William E. Dodge, Jonathan Sturges, Christopher R. Robert, Royal Phelps. A true extract from the Records of the Chamber. John Austin Stevens, Jr., Secretary. A copy of the Preamble and Resolutions was, by direction of the President of the Chamber, engrossed and forwarded to the President of the United States. Chamber of Commerce of the State of New-York, New- York, July 5th, 1862. To the President of the United States : Sir, — I have the honor to present a copy of Preamble and Resolutions unani- mously adopted by this Chamber at their general meeting this day. The Chamber show the will to meet with cheerfulness all present sacrifices, and the determination to aid the Government to the extent of their ability in prompt and vigorous prosecution of the war, until the national authority is re- established and the integrity of the Union restored. With great respect, your obedient servant, John Austin Stevens, Jr., Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce. On the 5th July, the Committee of Thirteen, appointed by the Chamber, met and addressed invitations to the Union Defence Committee of the citizens of New- York and the Common Council of the city of New- York, inviting their co-operation. Chamber of Commerce Rooms, ) New- York, July 5tL 1862. \ To the Union Defence Committee of the Citizens of New-York: Gentlemen, — 1 have the honor to communicate the following resolution, unanimously passed this day by a Committee appointed on the part of the Chamber to take into consideration the present state of our national afiairs : Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed to meet a similar committee from the Union Defence Committee, and committees from other bodies of loyal citizens, to unite upon the proper measures to sustain the National (•'overnment in crushing out this rebellion, with power to call this committee together to re- ceive their report. Under this resolution the following gentlemen were appointed on the part of the Chamber of Commerce : Hon. George Opdyke, Clinin, Jonathan Sturges, C. R. Robert, Denning Duer, John A. Stevens. With great respect, your obedient servant, John Austin Stevens, Jr., Secretary. Union Defence Committee of 'he Citizens of New-York,) New-York. July 8tli, 1862. \ Jo/in Austin Stevens, Jr., Esq., Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce: Sir, — I am instructed to acknowledge your communication of this day, invit- ing a deputation from this body to confer with a committee of the Chamber of Commerce in relation to the public affairs of the country. This committee will cheerfully unite with the Chamber in the furtherance of any measures calculated to promote the public welfare ; and I am accordingly instructed to transmit to you the followins; names composing a committee of conference : Messrs. Hamilton Fish, A. C. Richards, A. T. Stewart, R. A. Witthaus, R. M. Blatchford, Samuel Sloan, P. M. Wetmore. I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, PROSPER M. WETMORE. Secretary pro tern. Union Defence Committee, ) New- York, July I2th, 1862. \ Sir: Id accordance with the expressed desire of the Convention of Committees appointed to call a public meeting of the citizens of New-York, I am instructed to inform you that the action in question received the sanction of all the members of this committee present at the meeting of the 8th inst., viz. : Hamilton Fish, Chairman, R. VI. Blatchford, Simeon Draper, M. H. Grinnell, Samuel Sloan, R. H. McCurdy, Wm. E. Dod«e, R. a. Witthaus, Hon. Geo. Opdyke, W. F. Havemeyek, RoBT. T. Haws, A. C. Richards. Isaac Bell, P. M. Wetmore, I am,, respectfully, your obedient servant, PROSPER M. WE'I'MORE. Secretary pro tern. John Austin Stevens, Jr., Es(|., Secretary Joint Convention. PROCEEDINGS OF BOARD OF ALDERMEN. The following communication was received from His Honor the Major, transmitting a communication from the Chamber of Com- merce, relative to the state of our national affairs : — Mayor's Offic:e, New- York, ) July 1th, 1862. j To the Honorable the Common Council: Gentlemen, — The events of the hist fortnight appear to call for a renewed ex- pression of our devotion to our country, and of our unfaltering determination to sustain the Government in its efforts to suppress the rebellion. After an almost uninterrupted series of victories for half a year, we have at last met with two re- verses—one at Charleston and the other before Richmond — which, though inde- cisive and temporary, do yet disappoint our confident expectations, and tend to prolong the war, supposed by some to be well-nigh ended. Upon such a disap- pointment, it seems fitting that we, as the official organ of the most populous and opulent city of the Republic, should repeat the declaration of unwavering con- stancy, which neither victory nor defeat can change, and our unalterable resolution to stand by the Government in maintaining the supremacy of the Constitution and the integrity of the country, at all hazards, and at every neces- sary sacrifice of lil'e and treasure. In the presence of the great conflict in which the country is engaged, we will forget all past differences of party or opinion- for all party considerations sink into insignificance in the presence of danger to the Government itself: we will summon every loyal citizen to join us in supporting the Government, and to aid us by his services and counsel ; we will give a generous confidence to the President and all whom, in the exercise of his just authority, he thinks proper to place in positions under him ; and while we must exercise the privilege of freemen, to criticise pubHc men, and exact from them fidelity to their trusts, vigor and promptitude in action, and such a comprehensive and well-considered policy, as to adapt the means to the end— availing, for this purpose, of all the instrumentalities that the usages of civilized warfare will justify — we will declare to them that our lives and fortunes are at the service of our country, and that we ask only to be informed how much is needed, and to be assured that what we give shall be faithfully and wisely applied to that service. It is one of the uses of national reverses that they serve to winnow the dis- loyal from the loyal. Now is the time to know who is true and who is false. The country never needed the services of traitors, and now less than ever. But she does need the services of all her loyal children, that she may not only over- throw this gigantic but causeless rebellion against her authority but mny repel, with becoming spirit, the first approach to that foreign intervention in her affairs which is at times obscurely threatened, and which we cannot admit for one instant without national disgrace. Let us. then, seek out, discover, and bring to punishment every disloyal person ; and let us call on all the loyal to stand together, and to speak and act as one man. for the safety and honor of their country. If we had never had a victory ; if, from the beginning of the war till now, a series of uninterrupted disasters hiid fallen upon our armies, we could not even then have compromised with revolt, or submitted to dismemberment without the basest pusillanimity. But our arms have been, for the most part, victorious ; the area of the rebellion has been gradually contracted by the advances of the armies of the Union ; the great rivers of the West have been •opened ; all but four of the seaports on the whole coast, from Cape Henrv to the Rio Grande, have been retaken and restored to the Union. 'I'he Federal authority has been re-established over many fortresses and cities, where a year ago it was contemned, and we are gradually winning them all back by the irre- sistible force of our arms. Our country lias, therefore, no cause of discourace- mont, but every reason to hope, and every motive to persevere. Considering these things, I suggest respectfully to your Honorable Bodies, the propriety of passing resolutions, pledging the people of this Metropolis to the support of the Government in the prosecution of the war and the maintenance of tlie national honor ; and that you authorize your Joint Committee on National Affairs to unite with the Committee of the Cbanib(M- of Commerce, and other committees acting with them, in calling a public meeting of citizens of all parties, to express, without reference to any party question whatever, their undiminished confidence in the justice of our cause, their inflexible purpose to maintain it to the end, and to proffer to the Government all the aid it may need, to the extent of all our resources. Since writing the above, I have received the accompanying resolution of the Chamber of Commerce, on the same subject, with a request that it be transmitted to your Honorable Body. GEORGE OPDYKE, Mayor. Chamber op Commerce of the State op New-York, ) New-York, July 5th, 1862. f To the Honorable the Common Council of the City of New-York: I have the honor to communicate to your Honorable Body, the following resolution, passed unanimously this day, by a committee appointed on the part of the Chamber of Commerce, to take into consideration the state of national affairs : Resolved. That a committee of five be appointed, to meet a similar committee from the Union Defence Committee, and committees from other bodies of loyal citizens, to unite upon the proper measures to sustain the National Government, in crushing out this rebellion, with power to call this Committee together to re- ceive their report. Under this resolution, the following gentlemen were appointed on the part of the Chamber of Commerce : Hon. George Opdyke, Denning Duer, C. R. Robert, John A. Stevens, Jonathan Sturges. With respect, your obedient servant, John Austin Stevens, Jr., Secretary. Alderman Dayton moved that tlie communication from Lis Honor the Mayor be referred to the Joint Committee on National Affairs, and that the Committee on National Aifairs be authorized and directed to co-operate with the Committee of the Chamber of Commerce, in the manner recommended by his Honor the Mayor in his communication. The whole subject was referred to Committee on National Af- fairs. Same documents sent to Board of Councilmen, and thereupon Councilman Orton moved that the communication be received and referred to tlie Committee on National Affairs, with power to confer with any other committees relative to the state of the Union, if in their judgment advisable. Which was carried. The Joint committee on National Affairs appointed as a sub- committee to confer with the other committees the following : Councilman WM. ORTON, Chairman. Aid. Peter Mitchell, Councilman Wm. H. Gedney. " Henry Smith, Aid. Ira A. Allen. This committee attended, and chose Aid. Mitchell to represent them on the Committee on Resolutions. 9 MEETING OF CONVENTION OF COMMITTEES. The joint Committees of the Chamber of Commerce, the Union Defence Committee and the Common Council, met on Wednesday, the 9th of Jul}^ A Committee of live on the part of a body of citizens, who met at the Mayor's oflice, July 7th, consisting of — Judge JAMES W. WHITE, Chairman, Dr. Francis LiEBER, Geo.D. Piielfs, David Dudley Field, Isaac Sherman, appeared, and was requested, to take part in the proceedings ; as was also a Committee of five, on the part of a body of citizens who met at Fifth Avenue Hotel : KOBERT H. McCUEDY, Chairman, Charles Gould, Morris Ketchum, William Curtis No yes, Nathaniel Hayden. A sub-committee was appointed to draft and prepare an Address and a series of Eesolutions, to be submitted for ratification to a public meeting, to be called at an early day. An Address and Resolutions were submitted on the 10th of Jul}^, and unanimously adopted. The Committee of Thirteen appointed by the Chamber of Com- merce, met on the same day. and unanimously ratified the action of their sub-committee. The Chamber of Commerce met on the same day, to receive the report of the Committee of Thirteen, which was unanimously accepted, and the Committee continued, with power to carry out the objects proposed. A true abstract of the proceedings of the Chamber of Commerce and of joint Convention. John Austin Stevens, Jr., Scrrdorij of Chainhrr of Commerce nnd of Joint. Conreniiioii. •9 10 INVITATION TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. In accordance with a resolution of the Committee of Arrange- ments, a sub-committee consisting of Hon. George Opdyke, J. W. White, Samuel Sloan, Denning Duer, and R. H. McCurd}', was ap- pointed to visit Washington, and to request the President of the United States to be present at the meeting. Two of tlie Committee being imexpectedly prevented by other pressing engagements from fulfilling the commission, F. S. Winston, though not a member of the Committee, was subsequently added. A copy of the Address and Resolutions was handsomely engrossed and placed in the hands of the Chairman, for delivery to the President ; and the following- letter was also addressed, to serve as the credentials of the Com- mittee. Rooms of the Chamber ok Commekck ok the State of New-Yokk, | New-York, Jidii im, 1862. j" To the President of the United States: Sir, — I have the honor to inform you that at a Convention, held this day, of Committees severally appointed by the Chamljer of Commerce of the State of New-York, the Union Defence Committee, the Common Council of the city, and other bodies of loyal citizens, it was unanimously Resolved, To hold a public meeting of the citizens of New- York, in favor of supporting the government in the prosecution of the war, and the suppression of the rebellion ; to express, without reference to any party question whatever, their undiminished confidence in the justice of our cause, and their inflexible purpose to maintain it to the (Mid, and to profi'er to the Government all the aid it may need, to the extent of all their resources. A Committee of Arrangements was appointed, to take all measures to render the meeting as effective as the occasion for it demands, by whose direction, and in whose behalf, Messrs. J. W. AVhite, R. H. ]\[cCurdy, and F. S. Winston, visit the capital to earnestly invite the presence of the President of the United States at the proposed meeting, believing that such course will arouse the enthu- sia.sm of this city, of this State, and of the whole country, in this imminent crisis of the national destiny. By order of the Committee of Arrangements, George Opdyke, Henry Smith, Denning Duer, George D. Phelps, Jonathan Stubges, J. W. White, Samuel Sloan, Charles Gould, P. M. Wetmore, Robert H. McCubdy. Peter Mitchell, A true extract from the Minutes. Respectfully, your most obedient servant, John Austin Stevens, Jr., Secretary of Convent ion, and of Committee of Arrangements. To the President : 11 Washington, J ah/ 12lh, 1862. Sir,— The undersigned have been appointed l)y a Convention of Conniiittees, from the Common Council, the Chamber of ( \)nnnerce, tlie Union Defence Com- mittee, and other loyal bodies in the city of New-York, to proceed to tliis city and present to you the invitation of the Convention, to attend a mass meeting of tlie citizens of New-York, to be convened on Tuesday, 15th instant, for the purpose of dechiring tlieir continued inflexible determination to support the Government at all hazards, and in every measure necessary for the suppression of the existing rebellion, "and, to that end, to proffer to the Government all the aid in their power, to the extent of all their resources." Presenting to you, sir, this invitation, which we have been commissioned to deliver, we beg leave respectfully to add, that we have been charged by the Con- vention to say, that, in their judgment, nothing could be more gratifying to the people of New-York, or would tend more to invigorate the patriotism which ani- mates every loyal heart, than to meet their Chief Magistrate thus in General Council in this momentous crisis of our national destiny. The Convention are aware that the act to which they thus invite the President of the United States — to attend a mass meeting of citizens assembled to consider important national questions — is one not in accordance with any previous usage or precedent ; but when they remember that the occasion is one without a pre- cedent in the past, and which they trust in God will be without anything like it in the future — a struggle with a rebellion which, in the history of the world, has no parallel, for its causelessness, its magnitude, and its monstrous wickedness as a crime against the whole human race, the Convention hope that you may be able to lay aside for a day other important public duties, and meet your loyal fellow- citizens at the time and in the manner suggested. We are, sir, with the greatest respect and consideration, ITour obedient servants, James W. White, Robert H. McCurdy, )- Committee. Frederick S. Winston, To Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States. REPLY OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. Executive Mansion, ) Washington, July lith, 1862. f Messrs. James W. White, Robert H. McCurdy, and F. H. Winston, Committee: Gentlemen,— Your letter conveying to me the invitation of several loyal and patriotic bodies in New- York to attend a mass meeting in that city, on Tuesday, the ir)th inst., is received. While it would be very agreeable to me to thus meet the friends of the country, I am sure I could add nothing to the purpose or the wisdom with which they will perform their duty ; and the near adjournment of Congress makes it indispensable for me to remain here. Thanking you and those you represent for this invitation, and the kind terms in which you have commu- nicated it, I remain, your obedient servant, A. LINCOLN. 12 INA'ITATION TO CORPORATIONS. ASSOCIATIONS AND SO- CIETIES TO ATTEND THE MEETING OP LOYAL CITIZENS. New-York, July llth, 1862. Sir: At a Couvontion of ('ommittees, severally appointed by the Common Council of this City; by the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New- York ; by the Cnion Defence Committee ; and by bodies of Loyal Citizens of this city, it was resolved to hold, on Tuesday, the Inth instant, a Mass Meeting of all parties who are in favor of supporting the Government in the prosecution of the war and suppressing the rebellion : and to express, without reference to any party question whatever, their undiminished confidence in the justice of the cause, and their iuflexible determination to sustain it ; and to that end to proffer to the Go- vernment their aid to the extent of all their resources. ' In accordance with this purpose, the undersigned were appointed by the Con- vention a Committee to invite the attendance of all Associations, Corporations, and Societies. In performance of this duty, we request that you will issue a call to the mem- bers of your Association, and convene them on the afternoon of 'I'uesday, to proceed to the Scjuare, where accommodations will be provided, and places on the Stands be reserved for your officers. Jamks W. White, "1 Geo. Opdyke, j Samuel Sloan, I o j ^ /-. Prosper M. Wetmore, I ^'^''^ Committee. Denxixg Duer, I Charles Gould, J John Austin Stevens, Jr., Secretm-y of Convention. 13 CALL FOR THE MEETING OF LOYAL CITIZENS, The citizens of New- York, of all parties, who are for supporting the Government in the prosecution of the war and the suppression of the rebellion, are requested to meet on Union Square, on Tues- day afternoon next, 15th inst, at 4 o'clock, to express, without reference to any party question whatever, their undiminished con- fidence in the justice of our cause, and their inflexible purpose to maintain it to the end, and to proffer to the Government all the aid it ma^' need to the extent of all their resources. New- York, July lO/A, 18G2. Committee of the Cliamber of Commerce. GEORGE OPDYKE, Chairman, JOHN A. STEVENS, CHARLES H. M.IRSHALL, A. A. LOW, S. D. BABCOCK, P. M. WETMORE, G. W. BLUNT, DENNING DUER. ROBERT B. MINTURN, WILLIAM E DODGE, JONATHAN STURGES, C. R. ROBERT, ROYAL PHELPS. Committee of the Union Defence Committee. HAMILTON FISH, Chairman, SIMEON DRAPER. ROBER'l' T. HAWS, R. M. BLATCHFORD, SAMUEL SLOAN, ALEX. T. STEWART, WILLIAM E. DODGE, R, A. WITTHAUS, MOSES H. GRINNELL, A. C!. RICHARDS, ISAAC BELL, WILLIAM F. HAVEMEYER. Committee on National A fairs of the Common Council of New-York. WILLIAM ORTON, Chairman. HENRY SMITH, PETER MITCHELL, IRA A. ALLEN, WILLIAM H. GEDNEY, TERENCE FARLEY, CHARLES J. CHIPP. MORGAN JONES, JOHN IIOGAN, ALEX. H. KEECH. A Committee of Citizens who met at the 3fai/or\i Office. JAMES W. WHITE, Chairman. FRANCIS LIEBER. DAVID DUDLEY FIELD, GEORGE D. PHELPS, ISAAC SHERMAN. Committee of Citizens who met at Fifth Avenue Hotel. ROBT. H. McCURDY, Chairman, CHARLES GOULD, WILLIAM CURTIS NOYES, MORRIS KETCHUM. NATHANIEL HAYDEN. John Austin Stevens, ,Tr., Secretary. 14 REQUEST TO CITIZENS TO CLOSE PLACES OF BUSINESS. The loyal citizens of every class and profession are respectfully and earnestly invited to attend the Grand Mass Meeting, to be held on Tuesday next, 15tli inst, at four o'clock, on Union Square. It is recommended that all places of business be closed at three o'clock, in order that those who desire to show their loyalt}^ to the Government may be present. By order of the Committee of Arrangements, GEORGE OPDYKE, Chairman. John Austin Stevens, Jr., Secretary. The Committee of Arrangements, together with speakers and invited guests, met at the Everett House, to receive their several badges, and at precisely four o'clock, the procession was formed, and, preceded by the band and headed by the Mayor, moved toward the designated stands, amid salvos of artillery and accompanied by thousands of citizens. OFFICERS. STAND No. 1. Under charge of Committee of Arrangements, JONATHAN STURGES, SAMUEL SLOAN John Austin Stevens, Jr. President. Hon. GEORGE OPDYKE, 3Iaijor of (he citij. Vice-Presidents. John T. Henry, John J. Phelps, a. lockwood, Stephen Cambreleng, Elijah F. Purdy, Robert 'J'. Haws, Edwards Pierrepont, Hiram Barney, Horace Greeley, RuFUS F. Andrews, A. C. KiNGSLAND, James Boorman, David Dudley Field, Samuel R. Betts, Nehemiah Knight, Wm. B. Shipman, Cornelius Yanderbilt, Edward Learned, Simeon Draper, Charles P. Daly, Abram Wakeman, Charles H. Russell, Henry E. Davies, Peter S. Titus, W. V. Brady, S. B. Chittenden, Charles Butler, John C. Hamilton, Robert Murray, Paul Spofford, George W. Brown, Charles Burkhalter, Greene C Bronson, Sydney Mason, Joseph Walker, James Whiting, Daniel F. Tiemann, Morris Franklin, Chas. Yates, Chas. W. Sandford, Charles Lamson, Charles J. Chipp, William Watt, A. Davidson, Henry A. Heiser, Charles H. Macy, B. Westermann, Fred. Willman, n. roseman Bern HARD Cohen, Henry Bruggman, Joseph Lawrence, George 'J\ Elliott, George F. Thomae, Samuel Wetmore, Wm. G. Lambert, Edwin Hoyt, William Oothout, Oliver S. Strong, Isaac Sherman, Jeremiah Burns, Andrew Carrigan, James A. Hamilton, George Greer, Richard M. Hoe, Fredi^^ick H. Wolcott, W.^LDKN Pell, Teunis Quick, Hyman Morange, George B. Butler, J as. W. Beekman, Eli White, 16 John Baii.kv, J. M. Maksu. ('iiARi.Ks Nelson', John J. Bkadlky, A\'ashin(;ton Smith, AVm. H. A.nthon, David Belden, Amos Robbins, C. Y. Wkmple, John K. Bkady, Joiix J Cisco, E. 1)ei-afiei,d Smith, Gkorgk Dkxison, John P. Cuosby, Nathan Chandler, .). 8. bosworth, Charles G. Cornell, James iMoncrief, Henry Brewster, Georck Starr, S. S. Wyckoff, James Brooks, George Bliss, Edward S. Jaffray, Thomas Lawrence, Henry Hilton, Clarence A. Seward, Georok F Nesbitt, George P. Putnam, Erastus C. Benedict, Thomas Stevenson, Morgan Jones, William F. Havemeyer, Nathaniel Hayden, Joseph Hoxie, Eleazar Parmly, Ira a. Allen, Geo. F. Talman, Ben.t. F. Manierre, C. C. Pinckney, Richard Busteed, James Kelly, Charles S. Spencer, Levi Apgar, William C. Wetmore, Alex. H. Keech, H. N. AViLLHELM, R. Weil Van Genesback. A. Wind.mixler, Frederick Kchne, I). Lichtenstein, M. Levin, AxDRfs Whilman, John ILvyward, B. VV. Osborne, Daniel Slate, Daniel Wells, P. Pfeiffer, William W. Todd, J. PiEitREPONT Morgan, C. H. Marshall, Jr., Henry Vandewater, M. D. Gale, John Hayward, C. H. Sand, R. Vonder Heydt, N. Wheeler, J. B. Cornell, Charles Steinway, Ernest Predt, Joseph Balestier, Rudolph Dulon, Otto Ernst, David Miller, M. S. Dunham, Max Schaffer, Charles 'J'aylor, Hexry Seaman, J. Penniman, Latham Parker, Natii. VVorley, Enoch Chamberlain, Wm. H. Webb, Henry S. Smith, Jambs Horn, Philip Hamilton, Warren Ward, D. A. Wood, Wade B. Worrall, John H. Williams, Frederick Reichfuss, Eugene S. Ballin, John Watson, Benjamin Floyd, Julius Brill, William A. Kobbe, Charles Schaffner, Theodore J. Glaubensklee, Leopold Bierwith, Sigismund Kauffman, Edward Byrnes, Henry A. Casseleer, Louis Naumann, William Aufermann, John C. Brant, Lsaac G. Ogden, Oliver Holden, Elias Howe, Jr., James K. Pell. Nath'l W. Burtis, A. MiCHELBACKER, Philip Frankenheimer, A. Menzesheimer, Charles Chjdius, William Scharfenber(}, William Tellinghause, i n John Brooks, John E. (jtayitt, F. E. Wkujngton, Skth B. Hunt, FiJANK E. Howe, Richard Berry, James Gordon Bennett, Ezra Nye. Isaac Dayton, Ar.EXANDER Hamilton, Joun Hogan, Robert Bavard, Samuel Hotaling, J. M. Olesen, SiGiSMUND Waterman, William C. Prime, Secretaries. John Austin Stevens, Jr. John M. White, Frederick Sturges, Wm. S. Oi'dyke, Edward A. Wetmore, Theodore Roosevelt, Brockholst Cutting, Francis A. Stout, Edward King, W1U.IAM F. Cary, Jr., Jaaies W. Underhill, Petkr Marik, Charles G. Clark, Alexander Becker, James E. Mauran, Cruger Oakley, William J. '1'odd, AVashington Murray, J. Howard Wainwright, G. Norman Lieber, Murray' Hoffman, George McC. Miller, Henry Winthrop, Geo. F. Betts, Wm. F. Smith, Sidney Webster, R. Fulton (jRary, Lewis Carr, Joseph H. Choate, N. W. Howell, James Couper Lord, Stuyvesant LeRoy, Ethan Allen, Robert Morris Vandenheuvel, John McClave, Oscar Schmidt, John H. White, Charles H. Tyler, Samuel W. Tubes, Joseph Howard, Jr., Theodore Tilton, John J. White, Wm. H. Everett, Wm. H. Peet. Jas. H. Frothingham, Chas. E. Stevens, Clinton Rice, David Rowland, Floyd Smith, B. H. Howard. PROGRAMME OF PROCEEDINGS. STAND Xo. 1 Salutes of Artillery, by the Anthox Light Battery, and by the Workmen emploj-ed by Henry Brewster & Co. 1. Grand March by Mendelssohn, by Hehnsranller's Grand Band. 2. JoNATifAN Sturges will call the meeting to order, read the Call for the Meeting, and conduct to the Chair, Hon. GEORGE OPDYKE, Mayor of the City. 3. Denning Duer will read the list of Vice-Presidents and Sec- retaires. 4. Hon. George Opdyke, Chairman, will address the meeting. 5. David Dudley Field will read the Address adopted by the Convention of Committees. 6. John Austin Stevens, Jr., will read the Eesolutions adopted by the Convention of Committees. 7. Song on our Country and our Flag, by Francis Lieber ; sung by Grand Chorus with band accompaniment. 8. Charles King will address the meeting. 9. William Eoss Wallace will read an Ode. composed for the occasion — "Keep Step to the Music of Union." 10. Music — Star-Spangled Banner. 11. Hiram Walbridge will address the meeting. 12. Music — Hail Columl)ia. 13. Senator Spinola will address the meeting. 14. Music—Hail to the Chief 19 Mr. Jonathan Stueges called the meeting to order, read the call of the meeting, and conducted to the chair Hon. George Opdyke, Maj'or of tlie city, amid the clieers of the people. In the absence of Mr. Denning Duer, John Austin Stevens, Jr., read the list of Yice-Presidents and Secretaries, which was ado])ted. SPEECH OF THE HON. GEORGE OPDYKE. Fellow-Citizens — We have assembled for a high anil lioly pur- pose. We come to renew our vows at the altar of patriotism ; and at what place so fitting as in the presence of a monument erected to the memory of Washington 'i [Cheers.] We come to reaffirm our earnest devotion to our country ; to pledge our lives and all that we possess in defence of the Constitution and Union which our fathers bequeathed to us, and to declare our unalterable detefmination to defend them to the last, not merely against the assaults of traitors, but if need be against a world in arms. [Cheers.] Come what may, whether disaster or suc- cess, we are determined to " fight on, and fight ever," until a glorious and enduring triumph shall crown our eftbrts. [Cheers.] We are here, too, to denounce treason and to disown political fellow- ship with all who sympathize with it. We have no toleration for those who, without provocation, have drenched our country in blood, in a fiendish attempt to overthrow a Government at once the mildest and most beneficent that human wisdom ever devised. Plistory records no blacker crime against society. lu a contest with such a foe there can be no middle or neutral groimd. All who are not earnestly opposed to these enemies of their country and of the human race, must be regarded as participators in their guilt ; all who apologize for their crime must share in the infamy that awaits them. Mor are there any grounds of compromise with such an enemy. Unconditional submission to the Constitution and laws they have contemned, is the only basis of recon- ciliation that honor or safety will permit us to ofter them. [Cheers.] We are here to stimulate and encourage the President, and all others charged with the duty of suppressing this infamous rebellion ; to declare to the Administration our confidence in its honesty, ability and single- ness of purpose ; to bid it be of good cheer, for the people, regardless of all party affinities, have resolved that the Union must and shall be pre- served, [loud cheers ;] and that to this end, and the speedy suppression of the rebellion, they are. prepared to stand as one man in support of the Administration iu every advancing step it may take in earnestness of etfort, and in the employment of every means justified by the usages of wai\ [Cheers ] But, above all, we are here to rekindle the half-slumbering patriotism of our countrymen, and to urge them to respond with alacrity to the call of the Government for additional volunteers. A bitter and relentless foe is striking at its vitals, and appealing to the enemies of free government everywhere to aid in the unholy work. Their efforts will fail utterly and hopelessly. But to make that failure quick, sure, and overwhelming, let 20 there be a general uprising and arming throiigliout the loyal States ; and let this be followed l)y a prompt t'orwaixl movement of the armies of the Union, so strong and irresistible th-it tlie armed traitors will be quickly driven to choose between flight and unconditional submission. [Enthu- siastic cheering.] D. D. Field, being called upon by the Chair, read the following ADDRESS, Adopted and RECOMNrEUDED by the Convention of Committees. The war in which the United States are enga2;ed is not a war of conquest, but purely of defence. We are lighting for that which w^e received from our fathers: for the Union, which Avas freely entered into by all the parties to it ; for the Constitution, which is older than this generation, which was made, in part, by the rebel States, and which every rebel leader has oftentimes sworn to support. \Ye did not resist till our forbearance was imputed to pusillanimity ; we did not strike till we had been struck ; and when w^e took np arms, we sought only to retake that which had been taken from us by force,- or surrendered by an imbecile or traitorous President and Cabinet. The Rebellion had no cause or pretext w^hich was even plausible. Misgovernment by the Federal power was not even pretended, nor any just apprehension of misgovernment, for, though a Presi- dent had been chosen whose opinions were hostile to the extension of Slavery, the other de|)artments of the Government were so constituted that no legislation hostile to the South could have been perfected. The Eebels revolted, therefore, against a Gov- ernment which themselves or their fathers had, of their free choice, created for them, whose powers the}' had generally wielded, and whose offices they had for the greater part filled. What this rebellion w^as for is declared by the Constitution w^hich the rebels immediatel}^ adopted for themselves, and to which they invited the adhesion of the loyal States. That instru- ment may be regarded as their manifesto. It is for the most part a copy of the Constitution of the United States, with these two important additions — the perpetual servitude of the African race, and the inalienable right of each State to secede from the rest at will. Slavery and secession are the two corner-stones of the 21 rebel constitution, the cliU'ereiices between tliat and our own, and, of course, the onl}' causes and ol)jeets of the rebellion. Whoever, therefore, eitlier in this country, or in Europe, sym- pathizes with the rebels, or abets them, must justify the taking up of arms and filling the land with distress and slaughter, for the establishment of the perpetual right of slaNer}'. and the ])erpetual right of secession. The bare statement of the proposition, so far as slavery is concerned, should seem to be a sulhcient argument. In this age of the world, under the influence of our Christian civiHzation, it seems incredible that any set of men should (hxre to proclaim perpetual human servitude as a fundamental article of their social compact, or that any other man should be found on the face of the world to justify or even to tolerate them. In respect to the assumed right of secession, the argument is short and conclusive. Our Constitution established a Government and not a league ; that was its purpose ; the aim of its founders to make it a Government indissoluble and immortal, was as clearlv expressed in the language of the instrument, and of contempora- neous writings, as it was possible to express it. That man must be most ignorant of American histoiy and law, who does not know that the idea of a league or partnership is wholly foreign to our constitutional system. The union between England and Scotland is as mucli a league or partnership; as the union between ISTew-York and Virginia, and when Englishmen talk of the right of Virginia to self-government, let them ask themselves if they think Scotland has a right to secede from Eng- land at will. So much for the legal right — now for tlie political necessity. The secession of Louisiana and Florida from Pennsylvania and Ohio can no more be admitted, considered as a question of policy alone, than could the secession of Wales from England, or Bur- gundy from Fi-ance : nay, more, it would be possible for France to exist as a powerful empire, without a foot of the old domain of the Burgundian princes ; and England might be powerful and re- spected, though the Welsh in their mountains still maintained their independence. But such is the shape of this continent, and the net-work of waters which flow thro uuh the Delta of tlie Missis- 90 sippi into the Gulf of Mexico, tliat one part of the great valley cannot secede from the other. Providence has written its eternal decree upon the rivers and mountains of our continent, that the north-western and the south-western States shall be forever joined. But if it were possible to be otherwise — if several independent communities, without any national tie, could exist side by side in the great basin of our continent — they would be rivals, and from rivals would become enemies, warring with each other, seeking foreign alliances, obstructing each others prosperity, and assailing each other's power. The great experiment of Republican Govern- ment would have failed ; an experiment depending for its success upon the possiljility of uniting the independent action of separate States in respect to the greater number of the functions of govern- ment, with the action of a national government upon all matters of common concern. If, as we believe, the fate of Republican Government in America is to determine whether a great country can be governed by any other than the monarchical form, with its concomitants of privileged classes, and standing armaments ; and, of course, whether this country of oui's is to continue to be the asylum for the poor and the op])ressed of all countries : there can be no greater question presented to any people than that now presented to us ; none in which the millions of this continent, and of Europe, are more deeply con- cerned. If such a sacrifice were necessary, the thirty millions who now inhabit these States could do nothing so useful or sublime as to give themselves and all tliat they have, that they might leave this broad land under one free, indissoluble, republican govern- ment, opening wide its arms to the people of all lands, and promis- ing happy homes to hundreds of millions for scores of ages. We are persuaded that there has never been a struggle between authority and rebellion, whose issues involved more of good or ill to the human race. We are fighting not for ourselves alone, but for our fellow-men, and I'or the millions who are to come after us. These are scenes in the great war of opinion, which began before the century opened, and which will be ended onl}- when it shall be decided whether government is for the few or the manv. We do not war with monarchical governments, or monarchical 23 ])rinciples. T\icy may be the best for some countries. The He- publican form of government is tlie one we prefer for ourselves, and for that, in its purity, and its strength, we are offering up our substance, and pouring out our blood like water. We are contend- ing for that scheme of government for which Washington and the rest of the Fathers took up arms; for the integrity of our countrv, for our national existence, for the Christian civilization of cnir land, for our commerce, our arts, our schools ; for all those earthly things which we have been taught most to cherish and respect. Such being the magnitude of the stake in this contest, can it be wondered at, that we feel that all that we have, and all that we can do, should be given to our country in this its great hour of trial. If there be a man among us who does not feel thus, he should leave us. We cannot endure the thought of a traitor in the midst of us. For ourselves, we are wulling to make every sacrifice necessary to secure the triumph of the Government. It can have all the resources of twenty millions of people. All we ask of it is, that it shall use them quickly, vigorously and wisely. Let us have no disunited counsels, no uncertain policy, no insuf- ficient armaments, no paltering with rebellion. The crisis is most serious and imminent. The nation is not in a mood for trifling. It believes that the surest means of suppressing the rebellion ai'e the best. It complains only of delays, vacillation, weakness. Ig wishes the strength of the nation to be collected, and when collected, used, so that not a vestige of revolt remain. We know that we have the men and the means ; we only demand of the Government that it do what it is bound to do, use them with singleness of purpose, with well-considered pJan, under the lead of the wisest counsel and the most skillful command. This rebellion is a matter between ourselves and the rebels. No person other than an American has anything to do with it. If another intrudes into it, we must regard and treat him as an enemy. And if any foreign Government, forgetting its own duties, attempts to interfere in our affairs, the attempt must be repelled, as we are sure it will be repelled, with that firmness and spirit which become the American people and their representa- tives. If there be anything about which we are all agreed, it is 24 the wisdom of our traditional policy, that we will not interfere in the alihirs of other nations, nor allow their interfei'ence in ours. To the maintenance of this policy the nation is devoted, and the Government can count on the unanimous support of our people. Forasmuch, then, as the actual rebellion and the possibility of foreign intervention make it necessary that the whole loyal people of this country should be banded together as one man, for the defence of all they hold most dear, we here pledge ourselves to each other, to Congress, and to the President, that, with all our resources, we will support the Government in the prosecution of this war, with the utmost possible vigor, till the rebellion is utter- Iv overcome, and its leaders brought to merited punishment. The Address was adopted by acclamation. John Austin Stevens, Jr., next read the following RESOLUTIONS, Adoptkd and recommended bt the Convention of Committees. "Whereas, at a meeting of the citizens of New- York, convened on the 20th of April, 1861, it was resolved to sujjport the Gov- ernment in the prosecution of the war then opened by the rebels, W'ith all the means in our power; and whereas, nothing has since occurred to change our opmions, or our determination then ex- pressed, but everything to confirm them ; and whereas, after a series of successes to the Federal arms, interrupted only by a few temporary reverses, the casualties of war have reduced the effective strength of the regiments in the field, so that recruits are needed to fill them up ; and whereas, the occupation of the places repossessed by our army requires an additional force, and the President has called for three hundred thousand men, and for these reasons another meeting of citizens has been called, and is now assembled, it is thereupon Resolved, That we reafTirm all the resolutions of the meeting of April, 1861, hereby declaring, that every event that has since occurred lias served to strengthen the convictions, then held, of the wickedness of this rebellion, and the duty of all loyal citizens to suppress it with the strong hand, and at all hazards. Resolved, That this war is waged on the part of the loyal for the overthrow only of the disloyal ; that we seek not to enforce any claims or to establish any privileges beyond those given us by the Constitution of our fathers ; and our only 25 aim and purpose have been, and are now, to maintain the supremacy of that Constitution, over every foot of soil wliere it ever bore sway, with not a line in- terpohited, or a hne erased. Rp'iolml, 'I'hat we are for the union of the States, tlie intef^rity of the Country, anil tlie maintenance of tliis Government, without any condition or quahfication whatever ; and we will stand by them and uphold them, under all circumstances, and at every necessary sacrifice of life or treasure. Resolved, That while we recognize, and will sedulously maintain, the rights of each State under the Constitution, we abhor and repudiate the doctrine— fatal to national uoity, and so prolific of treason in the army and navy, and among the people— that allegiance is due to the State, and not to the United States ; holding it as a cardinal maxim, that to the United States, as a collective Govern- ment, is due the primary allegiance of all our people ; and that any State or con- federation of States, which attempts to divert it. by force or otherwise, is guilty of the greatest of crimes against humanity and our National Union. Resolved. That we urge upon the Government the exercise of its utmost skill and vigor, in the prosecution of this war, unity of design, comprehensiveness of plan, a uniform policy and the stringent use of all the means within its reach, consistent with the usages of civilized warfare. Resolved. That we acknowledge but two divisions of the people of the United States in this crisis ; those who are loyal to its constitution and every inch of its soil, and are ready to make every sacrifice for the integrity of the Union, and the maintenance of civil liberty within it, and those who openly or covertly endeavor to sever our country, or to yield to the insolent demand of its enemies ; that we fraternize with the former, and detest the latter ; and that, forgetting all former party names and distinctions, we call upon all patriotic citizens to rally for one undivided country, one flag, one destiny. Resolved, That the Government of the United States, and its people, with an occasional exception among the reckless inhabitants where this rebellion was fos- tered, have wisely and studiously avoided all interference with the concerns of other nations, asking, and usually enjoying, a like non-interference with their own, and that such is, and should continue to be, its policy ; that the intimations of a contemplated departure from this sound rule of conduct on the part of some of the nations of Europe, by an intervention in our present struagle, is as unjust to them as it would be to us, and to the great principles for which we are con- tending; but we assure them, with a solemnity of conviction which admits of no distrust or fear, and from a knowledge of, and a firm reliance upon the spirit and fortitude of twenty millions of freemen, that any attempt thus to intervene, will meet a resistance unparalleled in its force, unconquerable in its persistence, and fatal to those whom it is intended to aid ; and that it will tend only to strengthen and elevate the Kepublic. Resolved, That the skill, bravery and endurance exhibited by our army and navy, have elicited our admiration and gratitude ; that we behold in these quali- ties the assurances of sure and speedy success to our arms, and of rout and dis- comfiture to the rebels ; that we urge the Government to aid and strengthen them by all the means in its power, and carefully to provide for sick, wounded and disabled soldiers and their families ; to prosecute the war with increased vigor-and energy, until the rebellion is utterly crushed, the integrity of the Union in all its borders restored, and every rebel reduced to submission, or driven from the land ; and that to accomplish these ends, we pledge to our rulers, our faith, our fortunes, and our lives. 26 liesoliTil, That we api)rove of the administration of the President of the United States, and of the measures recommended and sanctioned by him for the prosecution of tlie war, the suppression of the rebellion, and tlie welfare of the country ; that we sanction as wise and expedient the call for three hundred thousand more troops, and earnestly exliort our countrymen to rally to the standard of the Union, and bear it aloft until it shall fioat in peace and security, and be everywhere respected and honored. Rcsofved, That a general armament is required by every consideration of policy and safety, and the Government should lose no time in filling up our armies and putting the whole sea-coast in a state (tf complete defence. ■ Re-lue reflects the crowding stars. Bright Uniou-emblein of the free ; Come, all of ye, and let it wave — That floating piece of poetry. Our fatliers came and planted fields, And manly Law. and schools and truth ; They planteil 8elf-Rule, which we'll guard, By word and sword, in age. in youlh. Broad Freedom came along with them On History's ever -widening wings. Our blessing this, our task and toil ; For " arduous are all noble things." Let Kmp'ror never rule this laud. Nor fitful Crowd, nor senseless Pride. Our Master is our self-made Law ; To Jiirn we 1)0W, and none beside. Then sing and shout for our fi-ee land, For glorious Frf.eland's victoi'y ; Pray that in turmoil and in peace Freei.and our laud may ever be ; That faithful we be found, and strong. When History builds as corals build, Or when she rears her granite walls — Her moles with crimson mortar filled. The Chairman introduced Hon. Charles King, who was wel- comed Avith enthusiastic applause. SPEECH OF THE HON. CHAS. KING, LL. D. Fellow-Citizens, — You see before you a man for many years with- drawn by the nature of his pursuits from all political affairs, but yet with a heart that beats as Avarmly toward the interest, and welfare, and honor of the country, as the youngest in this vast concourse. [Cheers.] I come before you, therefore, to speak in behalf of a cause common to every American heart. We are here to-day to co-operate in putting down the most wicked, wanton, causeless rebellion that ever offended the justice of God or stained the annals of man. [Applause.] We have been called upon by those in authority to send forth new regiments to the field, and recruits to the old regiments whom the fortune of war has decimated, and we come together now to pledge ourselves, that so far as each one of us is concerned, those men shall not be wanting, and those regiments shall be filled up. Can there be a more sacred cause than this i Can anything appeal more strongly to our interests, our feelings, our honor, our patriotism, than this? Can we submit to the shame and degrada- tion of permitting our sons and our brothers who have gone forth at their country's call, to stand exposed and unaided, to be cut down and decimated by the enemy, while we are calmly carrying on our daily avo- 28 cations at home ? [Cries of " No, No."] Surely not ; it cannot be ! [Cries of " iSever ! Never!"] Let us resolve here, once for all, that we will support our brothers in the field— that we will put everything at hazard to conquer the Rebellion and re-establish the Union. [Cheers.] We have heretofore lacked in earnestness of purpose in the conduct of the war. "We have dealt too mildly with those whom but a little while mro we regarded as our friends. Ihey are no longer friends, but deadly enemies, "xhey make war in earnest. They omit no means of strength- ening their hands and weakening ours. Ihey fight with no remem- brance that we were once brothers. Why, then, should we remember it ? They fight us like incarnate fiends ; let us, at least, meet them as our deadliest "foes. [Applause.] Let us now go forth and make the war as fierce and bloody as it is possible for a civilized nation to make it. No moderation is shown to us ; let us show none to them. We are far more ])0werful in numbers, and better prepared than our enemies. We have heretofore acted too much on the defensive ; let us now act on the offen- sive. [Cheers.] Let us henceforth strike rapid and constant blows — blows that shall tell. Let us no longer hear that the Army of th- Poto- mac is " safe." Safe ! Great God ! The army should be triumphant. [Loud applause.] We have no criticism to make. I only speak com- mon-sense when I say that war is a fierce game ; that they only prevail who wage it in earnest. War cannot be waged in silken gloves. When we send forth our armies, it must be understood that they go to battle. Gentlemen, I speak to you as a citizen of New-York, older than any one that I look upon here, quite as much interested in everything that concerns the city and the country as any of you. Indeed, I have done almost every- thing that a man of my age can do to give success to the war. I have sent sons and grandsons to it, and I am ready, if necessary, to go myself. [Loud cheers.] And I promise you that neither of those sons will ever dishonor the name he bears or the education he received. [Cheers.] They are false friends and pernicious counselors who, in so great a cause as this, would interpose side issues, and would seek to advance mean and misera- ble personal or party aims and ambitions, by sowing the seeds of discord and jealousy among our public men, whether in civil or military life. Let all such discussion — all intermediate questions or discussion, which of necessity nmst be subordinate to the great and vital question of our Na- tional existence, which is now in the debate of arms — be postponed till tlie battle is won. llien there will be a great nation — calm in conscious strength, to judge and to determine all political questions. JVow, let there be only a nation of soldiers, resolved upon trampling treason in the dust, and eager and earnest for aggressive war. Aggressive, I repeat, in every form that the laws of war permit. Now our armies in the field are made the special guardians for the benefit of rebel women and children — of the property which the husbands and fathers have abandoned in order to join the rebel army — and upon many a bloody field our wounded and dying- have been obliged to ]»ut up with such wayside fare and nourishment as the chance of battle left for them, while hard by, rebel houses, and rebel gardens, and rebel granaries, abounding in comforts which might have saved life, and certainly would have mitigated sufi'ering, are "sacredly guarded by our troops for the benefit of the rebel families. This may be magnanimous, but it is not war. I would liave all this changed. [Cheers.] 29 I am for the AVcar in its fiercest form— always and in all things, however, havino- regard to our own character and superior civilization. [Applause.] Our antagonists claim that they are the mostt'r i-ace, and, as such, entitled to rule the land and give law to the baser sort, whom, as by one general term of reproach, tl ey stigmatize as Yankee. This claim of superiority, indeed, was announced in a recent article of one of the leading newspa- pers in Richmond, as among the determining causes of this rebellion. We of the North, it was said, confident in our numbers and wealth, seemed to forget that we were an inferior race, and to be disposed to throw off the yoke of the chivalry, and set up for ourselves ; and thence the neces- sity, it was argued, that the master race should assert its supremacy, and bring us back to wonted submissiveneso. The Yankee must, be made t« take" off his hat Avhen in the presence of a Southern gentleman ! Perhaps so ! But before that lesson is learned, a good many Southern heads will fall. Why, in every element that constitutes true manhood— in physical power, in educated mind, in religious instruction, in habits of self-com- mand, in the dignity of bread-winning industry, in the knowledge of his own rights, and in respect for the rights of others — in all that constitutes a man and a citizen — the Northern race is far, very far, superior to the Southern i-ace. [Cheers.] With this moral and physical superiority, how can it be otherwise than that, admitting equal courage on both sides, (and that is a generous concession to the South,) with our great preponder- ance of numbers, we must, when once fairly aroused, etiectually subdue them ? [Cheers ] We are to listen to no talk of compromise, of negotiation, and, least of all, of foreign mediation. Compromise of what ? Our right to exist as a nation ? for that is the whole question. Negotiation with whom ? Rebels in arms, traitors that have struck at the bosom of our common mother !^ And who among us would listen for an instant to mediation on the part of either France or England ? [Loud cheers, and cries of " No one !"] Under what pretence of rig-lit shall either of those nations, or both together, ven- ture to interfere inour domestic quarrel ? It is an offensive assum])tion of European superiority which we will not brook. We are a people of ourselves, and by ourselves — competent to manage our own affairs, without the aid or counsel of others — owing allegiance to God — but none to any earthly powers — and thoroughly resolved to submit to no dictation or intervention from any such powers. No, friends, this is no time for parley, for negotiation, for half-way measures of any sort. The people are far ahead of the Government. They are in earnest, and will not be paltered with ; they mean to put down the rebellion, and to punish the traitors with the most condign punishment. They have a policy, whoever else may lack one. They mean war, in earnest, and they mean that war deals with men only as friends and as enemies. [Applause;] It has no cognizance of political questions, of social institutions ; it deals plainly and directly with men, and the only question it asks of them, without regarding race or color, is, " Are you for us or against us ?" If for us, come and help ; if against us, we shall know how to deal with you. This is war, according to com- mon-sense and universal usage. A general in the field is bound to suc- ceed, and in order to that to use all lawful means conducive to success. He may take the life — none deny that — of the enemy. Shall he, then. 30 hesitate about taking his property Avhenever and wherever it can be useful to Ills own force ? [Cheers.] He maj' seize his crops, his cattle, and whi' not his slaves ? What rififht has a general in the field to expose our sons and our brothers to the horrors of unequal war, when thousands stand ready to help him if he will only say the word ? A general in the field knows nothing of slavery — that is a political and social question, with which it is none of his business to deal. He has to do only with the means of successfully prosecuting war, and wherever these means are to be found he must use them. This is so plain, that but for the prejudice of color none would hesitate about it ; and yet it is not conceivable that the existence, possibly, of this great Continental Republic, the lives of our sons and brothers, should depend upon a question of complexion. If the issue be between the pre- servation of the Union and the preservation of slavery, who shall hesi- tate ? It may, indeed, be — who shall say that it is not ? — within the in- scrutable purposes of Prondence that, Avhereas all this great disaster and crime arises from slavery and the disappointed, mad ambition of slave- holding leaders, the result of this dire conflict shall be the total extinc- tion of the great evil which has thus culminated in the greater crime of rebellion ? But of that I am not here to speak. All I urge is, that in the war to the death we use all the means which, according to all the usage of civilized war, we are entitled to use ; and that while our adversaries stop at no expedients to strengthen their hands, we shall not weaken ours by half-way, halting, mean and miserable hesitations. See to it, you my friends; let us all, individually and collectively, see to it that henceforth the lightning's flash shall tell of assault, of battle, of victorjr — of the enemy overthrown and subdued — of our old and honored flag restored in all its amplitude to every contested point throughout the land — of treason vanquished, and of the Union reaflSrmed and consolidated. Men of New-York, this you can greatly help to do. Fail not, then, as you value your peace on earth, your hopes of Heaven. [Prolonged applause ] After music b}- the band, Wm. Boss Wallace spoke, with thrilling aud dramatic effect, an ode prepared by him for the occasion. The following is the OI>E BV WILLIAM ROSS WALLACE. Keep step witii the music of Union, Tlie music our ancestors sung. When States, like a juhilant chorus, To hoautiful sisterliood sprung ! 1 thus shall their great Constitution. 'J'hat guards all the honus of the land. A mountain of freedom and justice. Kor millions eternally stand. North and Sout/i. East and West, all loifuiiiiKj: UxE Banner alone o'er the sod, Onic voice from America sicellmg In worship of Libert if s God! dI Keep step with tlie iimsic of Union, AV'lmt jiTandeur its Hair lias unrolled — For the loyal, a star-lighted Heaven, For traitors, a storm in each t'uld ! The glorious shade of Mount Vernon Still points to each patriot's grave, Still cries — " O'er the long mighty ages That Eagle of Lexington wave." North and South, East and West, tS'c. Keep step with the music of Union, 'Ihe forests have sunk at the sound. The pioneer's brows been with triumph And Labor's fjroad opulence crowned ; Oh ! yet must all giant rude forces Of Nature be chained to our cars — - All mountains, lakes, rivers and oceans Crouch under the Stripes and the Stars. North and South, East and IVest, ^x. Keep step with the music of Union, Thus still shall we nourish the light Our fathers lit for the chained nations 'I'hat darkle in Tyranny's night ! The blood of the whole world is with us, O'er ocean by Tyranny hurled. And they who would dare to insult us Shall sink with the wrath of the world. North and South, East and West, ^-c. Keep step with the music of Union, All traitors sliall fall at our march. But patriots bask in the blessing- Flashed down from yon heavenly arch ! Then hurrah for the Past with its glory ! For the strong, earnest Present, hurrah ! And a cheer for the starry browed Future With Freedom, and Virtue, and Law. North and South, East and West all unfurlino; One Banner alone o'er the sod. One voice from America su'elling In uvrship of Liberty's God .' SPEECH OF GEN. HIRAM WALBRIDGE. Gen. Walbridge was then introduced, by liis Honor the Mayor; who observed, that he would present to them their distinguished fellow-citizen, who as early as April, 1861, was in favor of calling, at once, six hundred thousand men to suppress the rebellion. Gen. Walbridge said : — Mr. Mayor, Friends and Fellow-Citizens : Fourteen months ago, from this very platform, the city of New- York, in the presence of a quarter of a million of loyal citizens, declared that she would not sit tamely by and behold a wicked, reckless, malignant iiiinoritv consuniiiiate the overthrow and ruin of the only representative constitutional Government on earth. When she tixed this determination, and announced her will, eleven rebellious States had attempted to sever their counectioii with the Federal Government ; had torn from the forts, arsenals, magazines and harbors within their limits the banner of the con- stitutional Union. This reckless, rampant treason, though long threat- ened, took the civilized world by surprise ; and, as the conspirators by thousands poured their murderous hail of shot and shell upon that thirsty, half-famished garrison at Fort Sumter, with its seventy exhausted but loyal men, they little realized that throughout the whole Christian world they were calling silently into exercise forces wholly beyond human control ; for that man must be an atheist, or have no soul, who does not realize, that since that first event God himself has been manifest in the moral and political phenomena which this great, loyal nation now pre- sents, and statesmen, and philosophers, and generals, will begin to reason right and act right, when they realize this great truth. The establishment of free institutions on this continent toward ameliorating the condition of the human race, was second to the inauguration of the Christian religion, and their dismemberment and overthrow is reserved only to Jehovah himself. Fellow-citizens, when last we met here, on the occasion to which I have referred, bold, rank, audacious treason pervaded almost every department of the Federal service. Army, navy, embassadors to foreign courts, collectors of customs, postmasters, the very defences at AVash- ington, limited as they were, could not then be relied upon. The nation trembled for the satety of the national capital ; the personal safety of the President was endangered even in the Executive mansion. Consterna tion and despair briefly ruled the hour. How stands the matter now ? Ihe ( apital is secured ; the rebels are trembling for Charleston, Savannah, and their entire coast, while we have New Orleans and Nashville. Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri, then on the verge of rebellion, are secured ; Virginia, then completely in the grasp of the rebels, has become loyal in the greater portion of her territorial extent. Over eight hundred thousand troops have been called into the field, armed, equipped, and provided, equal to any army ever before called into service ; a navy, like Pallas, from the brain of Jove, seems to have sprung at once into complete existence ; three thousand miles of coast have been blockaded, and a landing has been effected upon the soil of that pestiferous State, which first instigated and finally produced this wicked rebellion. I would that we could here have first made our terrible visitation of the power and resources of the Federal Government in quelling the treason, firmly believing, had that been done, the border States would never have hesitated in their allegiance. Twenty millions of people are on the one side, backed by the consciousness they are contending for the integrity and maintenance of the Government from which they have achieved greatness and commanded respect throughout the worhl. Eight millions of rebels oppose them. The grounds of the contest are clearly defined — treason, revolt and anarchy are on the one side ; liberty, security and prosperity on the other. Great as is the disparity in wealth and numbers, the traitors thus far have maintained the unequal contest. But the end is not yet. An additional 83 300,000 troops liave been called into requisition by our exigencies. This patriotic action of the Government must be sustained, traitors at home must be punished, spies and informers must be annihilated, the Union must be preserved, and condign punishment afterward inflicted upon all who have taken this period in our history to fatten upon the nusfortunes of the Kepublic. A broad and beneficent statesmanship must be adopted, and the policy of the Government must be borne upon our victorious standards as they advance into the rebel territory. That policy should be broad, national and statesmanlike ; but it should be so rapid, so powerful, so wise, and so energetic, that the national life will survive, and the authority of the Constitution in the rebellious States be recognized, if to accomplish it every existing institution, order, monopoly, or privilege, should be swept before our advancing hosts. Rights should be recognized, privileges discarded, and the authority of the United States floating again over its former territorial limits, its flag everywhere emblazoned in characters of living light — " The Union, it must and shall be preserved." It is to be seriously deplored that at this juncture our fears are appealed to lest the proportions of this contest shall be largely augmented by some eflbrts at intervention from foreign powers, which may result in collision in our present domestic dissensions. From the first dawning of our domestic dissensions the governing class in England have desired, not their repression, but their increase, and have actively sympathized with these internal traitors to dismember our Government. They thus hope to render the people of North America as impotent to oppose their political and commercial domination as similar domestic contentions have already reduced the people of the South American Republics. Hence at tlie very commencement of the rebellion the English ministry made haste to recognize the rebels as belligerents, and to place them on the same level as the Government against which they had rebelled. Intervene to make peace ! Intervention will deluge the earth with blood. This country cannot be dismembered but by subjugation, amid seas of blood and oceans of flame. Never. England and France combined, with what is left of the rebels, cannot subjugate and dismember the United States. In such an atrocious attempt every lover of liberty and fair dealing in Europe will be our friend ; every hater of British tyranny will be our friend ; every hater of Napoleon will be our friend ; the Pope would rejoice to see the end of a dynasty which seeks his degradation ; Venice would find herself a part of Italy, and Austria would find a compensation in exemption from future dangers on the Rhine, and in a division with Russia of the "■ sick man's estate." Intervene for humanity ! Transparent falsehood ! The United States will neither be subjugated or dismembered while the loyal American people remain true to their Revolutionary origin. But as becomes wise and practical men, we should closely examine the means of assault and the means of defence if this burden should be forced upon us ; and here again we shall witness abundant opportunity for confidence and hope. It is fair to assume, should intervention ever come, the two Western powers of France and England will act in unison, as they did in the Crimean war, and as they have recently co-operated with Spain by intervening with the internal affairs of Mexico. These two powers combined possess a large army. If undisturbed, in from eight to nine months, by gigantic 5 34 efforts and at vast cost, they might ferry across the Atlantic from 240,- 000 to 275,000 soldiers, with all their armaments and supplies. This ■would, however, be doing far more than they were able to do in the Crimean war, though largely aided by American steam transport ships. At no time in the year can they in one voyage readily transport 100,000 soldiers, and the immense amount of necessary arms and supplies. Even if able to shelter their soldiers till the last detachment arrives, and all move together, some nine or ten months after hostilities should arise they would stand in the presence of disciplined troops twice as numerous as themselves — in the presence of troops who have fought far more battles against resolute troops than themselves — a few thousand French troops alone excepted. The American troops — regiment for regiment — six months from to- day, will be as well drilled, m better condition and practice, will have seen more active service and as many battles, and will be better armed, than the regiments to which they will stand opposed, and will be more than twice as numerous. Their next means of assault consists in vessels of war — numerous and powerful — and, in addition, the English have constructed canals from the St. Lawrence into the great chain of Ameri- can lakes, to enable them to convey gun-boats into these waters. We have no such connection with the ocean. They can transport their gun- boats among our commercial vessels, and in front of our inteiior cities, along a lake coast of more than two thousand miles, unopposed. We have nothing at this time — absolutely nothing — with which to oppose them on these great inland seas. But, per contra, we have to-day more armored vessels — genuine iron-clad — than both France and England. That much good has come out of this evil rebellion. In a few weeks — - not months — we shall be able to teach the English, if they demand it of us, a new version of the naval lessons of 1812. Six or eight of our armored vessels can readily destroy the entire unarmored fleet of Eng- land. We shall soon have afloat iron-clad vessels, armed with carefully tested ordnance, carrying elongated projectiles with " punch points," of four hundred and eighty pounds, fully competent — first, to resist the con- centrated fire of the Warrior, aided by the La Gloire, Aapoleon's largest iron-clad ship ; and second, by the use of shot alone to sink both of them, should they come within its range. We now have on hand the tested ordnance competent to speedily destroy any vessel yet armored by any nation. Our iron-clads are the most numerous at this time, and cannot be exceeded prior to January or February next. The English troops are dispersed all over the Avorld to guard isolated colonies. Her available troops cannot be massed to an amount of eighty thousand ; and one hundred and fifty thousand, if she had them, would not be troublesome . to a powerful nation, possessing from 800,000 to 1,000,000 of troops already called to the field ; ami the French army, once shut on shipboard, even if convoyed by the whole English and French fleet, could not in an ordinarily fair fight escape destruction. A single conflict between an English or a French iron-clad and one of our far more heavily armed iron-clads will settle that question. The result will be so decisive as to admit of no mistake, if there is any virtue in ordnance throwing projec- tiles four times heavier than any approved gun with which any English or French vessel is now armed. Let us examine our means of defence. Of course, before going into battle, a soldier puts on his armor ; when a 35 man leaves home he locks the doors of his house. So a nation goint^ to war v.ith a naval enemy, will, at an early day, carefully lock the nioutlis of all those valuable harbors, inlets, sounds, and rivers, which have narrow entrances, and thus lessen the home duties of the fleet, as well as furnish a place of refuge when disabled by storms, or pressed by superior force. The mode of obstructing entrances to harbors, so as to eftectually secure them, and yet allow of a passage of a friendly ship with but little hind- rance, is pointed out with great clearness by the Board of Engineers in a report made to the Secretary of War in 1840. The obstru(;tion can be created in the entrance to a harbor like that of IVew-York in probably two or three days. The wdiole British navy could not force a passage through the entrance, without first removing the obstruction ; and the ob- struction could be removed by an enemy only after the silencing of the forts under the command of whose guns it is placed. Having taken steps to carefully secure the most important entrance by temporary obstruc- tions and by heavily armed forts, let us promptly provide an interior water communication between our chief cities, parallel v^ith our Atlantic coast, and having numerous communications with it at protected points. This has been frequently recommended by the Board of Engineers as a work of vast military importance. In April last, the Military Committee of Congress, in an able report, demonstrated how this object could be speedily and cheaply accomplished, viz. : By enlarging the locks of three short canals, of an aggregate length of only 78^ miles. A vessel enter- ing the sound of North Carolina, from the Atlantic Ocean, can proceed ■by way of the Dismal Swamp Canal (22 miles long) to Norfolk; then passing up the Chesapeake Bay, communicating with both Washington and Baltimore, if desirable, it can sail into the Delaware River through a canal only 134- miles long; after communicating with the great city of Philadelphia, it could sail directly into New- York harbor, by passing through the Delaware and Raritan Canal, a distance of 43 miles, and thence proceed up the East River, 140 miles, to New London, before going to sea. Here is an inland communication between almost all of our lead- ing ports and cities along the maritime front of the populous and power- ful States of Connecticut, New-York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Dela- ware, Maryland,Virginia, and North Carolina — a distance of nearly 1,000 miles, and having many facile and easily protected outlets to the sea. Suitable timber locks, capable of passing large war vessels, can be made ready for use, in a case of pressing emergency, in from twenty to twenty- five days. The Government has ample legal authority to make this great improvement, if a military necessity. As it is, let it be done, and in such a manner that we can easily concentrate large ships at any desirable har- bor to resist any invasion, when the telegraph shall announce the dis- asters or separations wrought on the enemy's fleet by storms or by our returning squadrons. The engineers strongly recommend this double coast line as a remarkable military advantage possessed by neither Eng- land nor France. Our own sense tells us that if a ship or ships of war or commerce should be blockaded in a harbor, and thus prevented from going to sea, the evil would be lessened if the harbor was connected, by a safe and unexposed interior channel, with all the harbors on the coast for a thousand miles — so also a blockade of one harbor could be broken up, by quietly concentrating in it a superior force drawn from the other harbors connected with it by the interior channel. 36 Let us also earnestly request the Government to aid in opening the comnuinication for our iron gun-boats from the Mississippi to the Hudson, the Delaware and St. Lawrence. Then in the event of war, our iron-clad ships from the West, through the loyal States, could sail directly into the lakes, proceed to the head of the St. Lawrence, and protect the crossing of an array sufficiently powerful to conmiand that river as low down a^ lAIontrea!, and thus prevent a single British soldier from pene- trating the interior. This accomplished, what amount of opposition could the unaided and defenseless Canadians make to our Western troops ? The navigable waters of Canada secured, this inland fleet could forthwith repair to the aid of our defences at the mouth of the Hudson. A period of from ten to twenty days would place them at either point. In thirty days, in despite of the utmost efforts of England, the United States could control the upper St. Lawrence and the whole chain of lakes, for they have no iron-clads competent to navigate those waters, and to meet our superb Western iron-clad fleet, with its 11, 13 and 15 inch guns. Since the inauguration upon the waters of the Chesapeake, of a new era in the art of naval warfare, we have placed our country at the head of naval powers in eftective strength, and the mechanical force of the country, for the time being, should be called into requisition in enlarging and strengthening the navy ; and the comprehensive policy should be adopted of allowing the merchant marine to aid in its own defence by its incorporation into a militia navy, under proper laws and restrictions. We ought now to commence, and complete within six months, a heavy fleet of iron-clads of superior speed, and at least twice ■ the capacity of the Monitor : and of the three millions of enrolled militia in the loyal States, with • one million in the field, we may confi- dently anticipate bringing this infamous Rebellion to a triumphant close. With such an army and navy, with the forts armed with the modern im- proved ordnance of large calibre ; with the valuable inlets to harbors, roadsteads and sounds, skillfully obstructed ; with an interior water com- munication between the several ports and harbors on the Atlantic, so as to make it safe and convenient to speedily pass a fleet from one to another entirely beyond the observation of any enemy lying off" a fort ; with a navigable communication between New- York bay and the lakes, and between the lakes and St. Louis and New Orleans, that would allow of a _ movement of the whole fleet from New Orleans to New-York, or from New-York to New Orleans, by an inland route free from danger and ob- servation, surely we can maintain our national unity and our national honor. But I must draw these remarks to a close. New-York again to- day, as at the beginning of the struggle, demonstrates that she is still loyal to the Government and the Constitution. She feels the deepest sympathy for the martyred dead, who have fallen in defence of constitu- tional, well-regulated liberty. As the tidings of this great gathering are borne throughout the loyal camps, it will animate the heart and nerve the arm of our brave and intrepid soldiers. In behalf of that immense army of privates, Avho have left home and kindred and friends, to meet the traitors striking at the heart of the nation, and who never mean to abandon this contest until the old flag again floats over every inch of our original territorial limit, I ask you to send them the cheering words of your hearty commendation. 37 Gen. WalbridCxE was cheered throughout most enthusiasti- cally, and as he was concluding, said he had prepared some resolutions, which he would read and if they met the approval of this vast, intelligent and patriotic assemblage, he would request the Mayor to ask for their adoption. As Gen. Wa lb ridge read each one, cheer after cheer welcomed them, and when tlie last was concluded, the whole vast assemblage gave one unbroken and hearty Yea. The Mayor then formally oftered them again, when they were carried, amidst the most tumultuous and enthu- siastic applause. Resolved. That the territorial limits of the United States, as they existed before this infamous rebellion beg-an, and the Constitution which guarantees their ex- istence, should forever remain one, entire, united and indivisible. Resolved, That the division of the former, and the overthrow of the latter' would constitute a damning crime to all eternity. Resolved, That as the blood of our slaughtered citizen soldiers, fallen in de- fence of constitutional liberty, cries to Heaven for redress, we declare that, to suppress this Rebellion and sa,ve the national life, the Government should call into exercise every agency employed by the Rebels themselves to make the war eiFective, conclusive and of short duration. Resolved, That we tender to our unfortunate countrymen, now languishing by captivity in Southern prisons, our earnest and cordial sympathy, and we beseech- ingly implore the Government to effect their honorable exchange and release at the earliest possible moment. Resolved, That since integrity by public servants in the discharge of official duty is the only guaranty for good government, we call upon Congress to give the authority, and the Government to execute it. by hanging upon a gibbet higher than ever Haman hung, every official in any department of the public service, who attempts at this juncture of our public affairs to fatten upon the misfortunes of the Republic, either by defrauding the public Treasury, employing his public position to advance private pecuniary objects, or who shall be found guilty of im- posing upon our brave soldiers any base article either in the food or raiment provided for them by the Government. Resolved, That Congress should provide for opening the great line of interior water communication along our Atlantic coast, capable of passing our naval fleet and our commercial marine from the waters of the Roanoke and Chesapeake Bay to the eastern terminus of Long Island, and should at once open the means of internal communication, by which our gun-boats can pass from the Mississippi through the loyal States, by the various canals and lakes, until they reach the Atlantic sea-board, by the most cheap and expeditious routes that scientific and practical knowledge may develop. Resolved, That our commercial marine, now largely in advance of any other nation, should be so organized as to aid in the means of its own defence, and that it is the duty of Congress to provide for this by incorporating a portion of the same into a " Militia of the Seas," and thus inaugurate a new element of Nation- al strength and defence, commensurate with our growing importance as a great leading maritime power. 38 Resnlvpfl, That steadily pursuinp; the wise policy of our fathers, we never mean to interfere in the internal conflicts of foreign States, but here, beneath this out- stretched sky, in the presence of Almij^hiy God, and of one another, we pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacn^d honor, never to abandon this struggle while there remains a traitor in the land ; and that any armed intervention by any foreign power in our present dom;e of secession, and shall crave your indulgence for only a short time. Humphrey Marshall, of Kentucky, happened to move up with ten thousand men, but he was not long until he moved down again. (Loud cheers and laughter.) I know him personally, and I have very little to say in his favor, only that he soon discovered his mistake and did not make a second attempt. (Loud cheers.) I know the spirit of secession well, and have seen its workings. I have no hesitation what- ever in declaring that its object is to uproot the principles of free govern- ment in this country, which have been so securely established by the first founders of that glorious, happy, and free Constitution. (Loud cheers ) Would time permit I could enter more into detail, but shall content my- self with these few remarks. The proceedings were here closed, and the meeting adjourned. OFFICERS. STAND No. 2. Under charge of Committee of Arraug'ements, PROSPER M. WETISrORE. SAMUEL SLOAN. President, PELATIAH PERIT, President oj the Chamber of Commerce. Vice-Presidents. Royal Phelps, A. A. Low, John A. Stevens, John C. Green, Robert B. Minturn, John D. Wolfe, James W. Otis, Henry J. Raymond, T. H. Fah.e, James G. King, Joseph W. Alsop, Moses Taylor, Benjamin R. Winthrop, James Gallatin, William A. Booth, Shepherd Knapp, R. A. Witthaus, E. E. Morgan, Robert L. Kennedy, Richard W. Weston, Manton Marble, J. Smith Homans, W. W. De Forest, Wilson G. Hunt. Samuel D. Babcock, Henry F. Vail, H. W. T. Mali, Jacob Herrick, Charles King, John S. Giles, M. Marble, Josiah Sutherland, Edwin J. Brown, F. Schroedler, W. H. Leonard, Frederick A. Coe, 6 John Jacob Astor, Jr., Henry A. Hurlbut, Francis W. Skiddy, WiLLARD Parker, Samuel T. Skidmore, William C. Gilman, E. V. Haughwout, William Watson, D. T. Ingraham, John Raymond, Philip Dater, Jr., Samuel P. Williams, George Bliss, Jr., U. A. Mubdock, Jno. L. Hasbrouck, Geo. W. Brainerd, Austin L. Sands. Lemuel W. Hopkins, Samuel B. White, Moses M. Laird, George 0. Totten, Nathan Kixgsley, Chester A. Arthur, John Hewett, William B. Taylor, James Renwick, Jr., James A. Roosevelt, Benj. Arnold, Jacob Nevins, William J. Corwin, Lucius Tuckerman, Joseph P. Varnum, Jr. William B. Hoffman, David Miller, D. C. Hayes, Eugene Keteltas, 42 Alfred Colvill, Abraham M. Cozzens, Theodore L. Mason, R. D Hitchcock, John H. Swift, Geo. Clark, A. B. Hays, James Oliver, Albert Speyers, Andrew Mathews, Robert L. McIntyre, John Warren, Paul S. Forbes, Timothy G. Churchill, E. Caylus, Robert S. Hone. Richard D. Lathrop, William Hall, Daniel B. Fearing, Charles A. Bristed, Justus Dill, James B. Taylor, George Osgood, Charles B. Beebe, Edward Minturn, Chas. L. Tiffany, George S. Parker, George Anthon, James Gerard, William Kellock, Oscar Coles, Samuel D. Bradford, F. S. Lathrop, Joseph Lee, James Udall, Hamilton Bruce. Secretaries. Edward C. Bogert, J. Smith Homans, Jr., Henry I. Barbey, George D. Lyman, Irving Grinnell, William E. Dodge, Jr., William H. Crenelle, Walker Burns, J. Howard VV^illiams, Andrew Warner, Frank Shepherd, Louis Belloni, Jr., John H. Draper, Temple Prime, Bleecker Oothout. Geo. Wilson, Edward Willets, Frank Otis, Washington Coster, David Bishop, Andrew H. Sands, John W. Minturn, Henry Keteltas, Joseph P. Norris, Jr., Edward S. Renwick. PROGRAMME OF PROCEEDINGS. STAND No. Salutes of Artillery by Axthon Light Battery and by the Workmen employed by Henry Brewster & Co. 1. Music — Grand March. 2. Prosper M. Wetmore will call the meeting to order, read the Call for the Meeting, and conduct to the Chair Pelatiah Perit, President of the Chamber of Commerce. 8. A. C. KiCHARDS will read the List of Vice-Presidents and Secretaries. 4. Pelatiah Perit, Chairman, will address the Meeting. 5. Charles H. Russell will read the Address adopted by the Convention of Committees. 6. Samuel D. Babcock will read the Resolutions adopted by the Convention of Committees. 7. Music — Yolunteer Chorus, by Henry Camp and Friends, — Star-Spangled Banner. 8. Rev. Francis Vinton will address the Meeting. 9. Music — A^olunteer Songs — God Speed the Riglit. 10. Charles P. Daly will address the Meeting. 11. Music— Hail Columbia. 12. David S. Coddington will address the Meeting. 44 Mr. Peosper ]\[. Wetmore called the meeting to order, read the call for the meeting, and also the following letter from Mr. Pelatiah Perit, who had been designated by the Committee of arrangements to preside over the stand. LETTER OF P. PERIT. New Haven, Jitlij Uth, 1862. John A. Stevens, Jr., Esq., Secretary Chamber of Commerce, N. Y. : My Dear Sir, — I liave been favored to-day with your telegraphic note of this date informin": nie tliat I have been appointed to preside at the stand of the Chamber of Commerce, at the public meeting to be held to-morrow. Having been confined to my bed by sickness since my return from New-York, 1 am quite unable to proceed to the city, and shall thus be prevented from tak- ing part in the great demonstration. 'I'hat the meeting will be large and enthusiastic, I cannot doubt, and I trust it will be as powerful in its influence for good as was that which followed the at- tack on Sumter. I shall be present with you in feeling though not in person. "Very truly, yours, P. PERIT. Mr. Wetmore nominated for Chairman Mr. A. A. Low, second Vice-President of the Chamber of Commerce, who was unani- mously elected. Mr. A. C. RicnARDS read the list of A^ice-Presidents and Sec- retaries which had been prepared by the Committee, and which was adopted with unanimity. ADDRESS OF A. A. LOW, ESQ. Fellow-Citizens, — I share with you in your regret that the much re- spected gentleman, who was expected to preside over this meeting, is prevented by illness from being present. The honor naturally belonged to one who has, so often, by liis cheering presence, imparted grace and dignity to our public gatherings ; and I know with what pleasure he has answered every expectation when the interests of this community have been involved. In the absence of Mr. Perit, to whom I have just referred, and in the absence of the first Vice-President of the Chamber of Commerce, it de- volves upon me, in obedience to your vote, to announce the object of this meeting. Indeed, it needs no announcement. There is but one call that brings together men of all parties, of all professions, and of every name. It is the call of our country. The existing emergency is too well understood to require any labored explanations. Your response to the summons which has brought you here lias been too hearty and enthusiastic to war- rant a passionate a[>peal to your patriotism. In tliis great metropolis of llie Union, in this Square, consecrated to the Union, by the great pledges recorded here a year ;igo in Aj)ril, it is especially meet that, at this critical juncture, men of all parties should assemble once more and unite in a fresh resolve to support the Constitu- tion and the Union ; to sustain the Chief Executive of the nation ; to give a new impulse to the popular mind ; to manifest by word and by deed an unalterable determination to sustain the great cause for which such sacrifices have been made — for which so much blood has been shed. For more than a year one great burden has rested ui)on every loyal heart. Your most anxious thoughts for yourselves and for your children have centered upon our country, convulsed by civil war, and still doomed to suffer. Your brightest hopes, your most glorious anticipations have all been directed to the re-establishment of this great Republic, in its full and magnificent proportions. For this, brave men have fought, and good men have prayed. Through all discouragements, and through all reverses, this has been the undeviating purpose, the unfaltering trust of good and true men. To see the people of the United States, from North to South and East to West, bound together once more by a common interest and a common love in our vast brotherhood, has been the jjaramount desire, the ardent prayer of every true patriot. Touch your throbbing hearts, and tell me if this be not so ; if, through all the anxious and eventful scenes of our great national struggle, supe- rior to every fear, one hope has not predominated all other hopes — the ever ardent aspiration that our country may survive its fiery trial — may soon issue forth triumphantly, "both purified and glorified!'' That this last experiment of man to found and sustain a Republican government, whose standard is the symbol of civil and religious freedom, may l)ecorae an unquestioned success ; and that these United States, increasing in number and growing in grandeur, may continue to be the asylum of the oppressed, the admiration of all lovers of liberty, the fear of all the foes of freedom throughout the world. During the great crisis which has so tasked the energies of the whole country, the city of New-York has poured forth in unmeasured flow her money and her men, answering every requisition with an unstinted hand. True to the inspirations of her extended commerce, her contribu- tions to the finances of the country have been generous and bountiful. The merchants of this city know too well the value of free and uninter- rupted intercourse with every section of the Union, of open ports and navigable rivers, to be inditferent to the issues of this great controversy, did not a more worthy patriotism prompt to the largest sacrifices for the attainment of the noblest ends. Your presence here to-day, in answer to the call, so hastily promul- gated, shows that you are alive to the importance of the crisis; that no- thing will be wanting on your part which may be asked of loyal and intelligent men that is conducive to an honorable adjustment of our Na- tional difiiculties ; that you appreciate the magnitude of the eft'ort still to be made; and that you are prepared for every sacrifice that duty en- joins, that patriotism dictates. The Committee of Arrangements have caused an Address to be pre- 46 pared, which will now be read to you ; and a series of Resolutions will be submitted for your consideration. I shall presently have the honor of introducing several distinguished citizens, who have been invited to enforce these resolutions by their elo- quent words. Mr. Samuel Sloan read the Address adopted by tlie Con- vention of Committees, which was received with great applanse. Mr. A. C. EiCHARDS read the Resolutions adopted hj the Con- vention of Committees which were accepted with cheers. JUDGE DALY'S ADDRESS. The Chairman then introduced Hon. Charles P. Daly, First Judge of the Common Pleas, who was received with applause. He said : — When two parts of a great nation have divided, and are arrayed in open Avar against each other, it is a waste of time to dwell upon the causes that have produced it. Having thrown all other considerations aside, and grappled together in mortal strife, nothing remains then but to determine which of the two will be compelled to yield. [Cheers,] There was a time when mediation and compromise were possible. It has passed, and it is of no consequence now who are responsible for the neglect or opposition by which that opportunity was lost. He that supposes that the South would listen to any terms of settlement now, except such as it is impossible for the North to grant, is a political dreamer. Nothing can be done now except what is done by military means. The South has taken its position, and it will not recede from it unless it is compelled to. Whatever Union sentiment may have existed there, it is crushed out, and there is nothing apparent there now but sympathetic unanimity and a dogged determination to persist in the course they have taken. Whatever doubt, hesitation or difference of opinion may have prevailed at first, the sentiment is now universal that they have gone so far that they cannot go back ; that they must now go on, whatever may be the consequence or the sacrifice. Everything with them, then, is reduced to a question of endurance, and the sooner we wake up to the consciousness of this state of facts, the more fully will we comprehend our own position and the obligations and duties that are imposed upon us. [Cheers.] Leaving out of view the political dif- ferences which may have incited and led to this war, what is it that the South have determined with such great unanimity to do, and which the North, with equal unanimity, have determined to resist ? Constituting but little more than one third of the population of the whole country, the inliabitants of the Southern States have determined to seize the largest part of our territory, geographically ; to appropriate to themselves nearly tlie whole of our sea-(;oast, and tlie mouths of nearly all our principal rivers — and construct out of it a foreign nation. Of the eighty- 47 four rivers which, descending through a common territory, tind their way to the sea and serve as the great outlets of the industry and commerce of the whole people, they modestly propose to take to themselves the pos- session and control of seventy-two, including the largest and most impor- tant ; leaving to us but the nund)er of twelve, watering that comparatively small strip of territory extending from the Hudson River to the northern boundary of Maine. [Groans] They propose to cut us oft" from those elements of national existence determined by the curvature of mountain forms and by the course of rivers, and leave us a territory so irregular and so badly adjusted in respect to its dependent parts, as to make it impossible for us to keep it together as a nation. Look at the political boundaries of the nations upon the map of the globe, and not one will be foupd with a territory so disjointed and fragmentary as the one that would then be left us. If a foreign nation undertook to do this, we would resist to the last drop of our blood ; and does i,t make any difterence that those who are seeking to accomplish it, have hitherto been a part of our- selves, and profter to us in the future nothing but vows of eternal hate ? [Applause.] After eighty-six years of existence as one government and one people, eight millions rise up and say to twenty millions, " We will take the largest part of this country for ourselves, and you must accept what we think proper to leave you ; we are the better born, the nobler race, the aristocracy ; we do not choose to labor ourselves, we prefer to have a servile class to labor for us, and therefore have no sympathy with the trading spirit by which you have increased and multiplied, nor with the mechanical, manufacturing and various industrial pursuits to which you are devoted." [Groans.] They say to us, " There has never been such a thing as the American nation ; it has been only a mere partnership of sovereign states which any one might dissolve at its pleasure. We have respectively dissolved it, and in the partition of the partnership eftects we have made our own adjustment, taken what has pleased us, and left to you what we thought proper." To submit to this is to allow the weaker to dictate to the stronger — [cries of " Never "] — to allow the eight millions of the South to prescribe to the twenty millions of the North what shall be there future position. The man who v/as born in a Northern State, or who became a citizen by adoption, is as much a citizen of South Carolina as those who were born or who dwell there. [Cheers.] And neither their Southern doctrine of State rights, nor their rebellious attempt at exclusiveness, can deprive him of it. To submit to the designs of the South, is to consent to national annihilation. It is to consent, in a national point of view, to take territorially an inferior and subordinate position ; to take a territory so placed geographically, that its dismemberment, the breaking of it up into several parts, must be the inevitable consequence. The question, then, is not whether we shall conquer the South, but whether the South shall conquer us. [Cheers.] It is whether the present aristocracy of the Southern States, and their retainers, shall deprive the intelligent and industrious masses of the North of a territorv, the joint possession of which they have equally inherited, and which is essential to the unfettered exercise of their industry, and to their full development as a nation. It is this which gives to this contest the character of a n:ortal struggle, in which neither will yield unless compelled to do so by tlie superior military prowess of the other. [Applause.] It is not like other 48 civil wars — a struggle between two classes of society, living ' together, where the one seeks to get the mastery over the other and establish a form of o-overnment ; but it is one part of a country enjoying in every respect the same political privileges Avhich insists upon breaking otf territorially, and which for that purpose has arrayed itself in open war against the other. [Cheers.} The thing which most nearly resembles it is the division of the once compact Republic of Colombia into the now insigni- ficant IStates of Ecuador, New Grenada and Venezuela, with the fruitful lesson which that furnishes in the miserable state of anarchy now prevailin!*: in these distracted and wretched countries. We have scarcely yet risen in the North to the full consciousness of the magnitude of the struggle in which we are engaged. We have not fully comprehended the "momentous consequences which are involved and the vital afid disastrous effects upon us if we fail to succeed. In this struggle, which to us is for existence, we have a task upon us equivalent to the conquering of a nation. [Cheers.] We have from the beginning undervalued the capacity and power of resistance on the part of the South, and have men now in Congress, who believe that the South is to be conquered by the enactment of laws — [laughter and cheers] — Con- gressional doctors ignorant enough to think that an armed rebellion of eio-ht millions of people can be put down by the passage of statutes. We have not realized the extent of resources that is demanded — of money, of men, and of the material of war. As a peaceful people, suddenly roused up, we iiave displayed extraordinary energy, and in so short a space of time have put forth an extent of naval and military strength almost in- credible. [Cheers.] But great as has been our effort, that of the South has been greater. She has drafted the whole of her available population, determined to overmatch us by the promptitude with which she has brought troops into the field. She is said to have two hundred and twenty thousand men now at Richmond, while we have not half that number. She has made a last great effort ; and, should we pause here, it will be, on her part, a successful one. We will be beaten, humiliated and disgraced. All that we have hitherto done will have gone for noth- ing, and we will retire from the contest with a contracted territory and a gigantic load of debt, which of itself will be a reason for one part of the country to shift it off upon the other by acts of dismemberment and separation. To avert these calamities, a call is made by the Government upon the country for three hundred thousand men ; and if that call is promptly responded to, the suppression of the rebellion will be but a question of time. [Cheers.] It will soon be seen whether our people are, or are not, equal to the great emergency which now calls upon them to act. If they fail in this crisis, then the South are, as they have claimed to be. our masters. They will triumph in the consciousness that they have chafed into submission those artisans, tradesmen and laborers of the North. We are masters upon the water, but on the land the heart of this rebellion has not yet been reached, and it will not be unless this levy is raised. If this call is responded to, and three hundred thousand men rapidly put in the field we shall be armed in a double sense : — First, it will secure us against foreign interv^ention — [loud cheers] ; and, secondly, \ve shall ac- complish what we undertook to do when we first rose to the defence of our government and our flag. The season, being the time of harvest, is 49 not a propitious one, and if, from that or any other cause, this force can- not be raised by vohinteering- in time to meet the present pressing emer- gencies of the government, I can see no good reason why a draft should not at once be made. [Loud and general expression of approbation.] Our enemies have resorted to it, and it is now the chief soun^e of their strength. The government of Europe which most nearly resembles our own — the republic of Switzerland — was placed a few years ago in a situa- tion exactly like ours. The southern cantons undertook to break oft' and establish a confederate government by themselves. The northern can- tons,- constituting, as we do, the maiority of the population, raised an army and crushed the rebellion. The plan which they resorted to, and which proved eminently successful, was to draft the whole of the requisite force in the very beginning. It brought into the army men of all ranks and conditions, making it a high-toned, intelligent and patriotic body. While our system of volunteering is enormously expensive, the measure adopted by the republic of Switzerland was economical and brought together a devoted, disinterested and patriotic body of men. It is at least fair and just in its operation, as it casts the duty of defending the government equally upon all classes — [cheers] — and if the necessity should exist I do not see why we should hesitate to resort to it. The man who is not will- ing to defend a free and liberal government like this, when the lot is cast upon him. is unfit to live under H and enjoy its blessings. [Loud applause.] Our national existence, then, depends upon our obtaining the three hun- dred thousand men. To that every other consideration is subordinate. Like Aaron's rod, it swallows up every other, and the whole energies of the people and of the Government must be devoted to it. But the men now called to come forth to the rescue of the nation, have a right to de- mand that they shall be led by generals, and not by politicians in uniform ; and we, men of all parties assembled here to-day in this mighty gather- ing of the intelligence and patriotism of the masses of this great metropo- lis, have a right to call upon our temporary rulers at Washington to imitate the example which is here set them of unity, of public spirit and patriotism, [cheers] ; to leave off the discussion of measures upon which we are a divided people, and think only of the preservation of the country in this pressing crisis. Let them bear in mind that they are not as great men as they suppose themselves to be, and learn something of that fine element of character — humility. Let them remember that more than two thirds of the men composing the army of the Union are opposed to them politically, and, above all, let the civilians in Washington give up directing and controlling the operations of generals in the field. [Loud cheers,] The Archduke Charles was but little inferior in military genius to Napoleon, and with the superior numbers at his command might have been more than a match for his great adversary, had not his operations in the field been controlled by the Aulic Council sitting at Vienna. To this body every unemployed general and intrusive civilian, as at Washington, had access, and, ignorant of the changes and vicissitudes which attend a campaign, this Council baffled the best laid plans of the Archduke by controlling his opinion and prescribing beforehand what the movement of the armies should be ; and had not Wellington, in the war of the Peninsula, openly disregarded the suggestions, and even orders, that came to him from London, the British arms would never have triumphed over 50 the generals of Napoleon. [Cheers.] No general under heaven can accomplish anything if, in addition to the enemy in front, he has also to fiofht against an army of detractors and advisers in his rear. [Prolonged applause.] If he is incompetent, take the responsibility and remove him ; but while he is in command let him command. We can raise the three hundred thousand men ; but if the spirit of meddlesome interference at Washington, controlling the operations of generals in the field, does not meet the contempt it deserves in the indignant rebuke of our whole peo- ple, then our energies will be wasted again, and in the fullness of national calamity we will be left but to lament over the madness and folly of our temporary rulers. [Loud applause.] Three cheers were given for Judge Daly. SPEECH OF HON. DAYID S. CODDINGTON. Hon. D. S. CoDDiNGTON was the next speaker. He was greeted with api^lause, and said : — Fellow-Citizens, — In this hour of alienation, tumult, and disaster, no man, however humble, has a right to sit still when the nation has sprung to its feet, and the Union lies bleeding upon its back. [Cheers.] We have come here in the darkest hour of National existence to de- clare before the world that the unity and nationalitv of America shall not be dissolved, either in the swamps of the Chickahominy or the Coun- cil Chambers of Paris or London. [Great applause.] We are all, under moral martial law, now bound to obey every draft upon the brain, the heart, the purse, and the life, to serve a Government, whose authority has dropped upon us with the gentleness of a flower, and yet shielded us with the strength of a giant. We may have our weaknesses, and these weaknesses may serve to point an English sneer, or round a Southern taunt ; but they never yet have succeeded in vitiating the grander points of our National character, neither have they, for one moment, obstructed the beneficent action of our hitherto unassailable institutions. [Cheers.] If secession is right, then all order, all regulated society, is wrong. If sec^ession cannot be put down without war, then war is the highest duty and best business of the American citizen — more profitable than mer- chandise, more beautiful than poetry, and, for the time being, as sacred as the ministry itself. True, we may fail sometimes ; so do all business and sciences until experience teaches them. By degrees we shall learn the art of blood, and mayhap the foe will find the Yankee shop-boy an efficient chronic portable slaughter-house. So far we have fought half tiger and half brother. No half man accomplishes much. We Vnust be all tiger now, that we may be all brothers by and by. [Laughter and applause.] ^ If fevers and blunders have wasted the strength and tampered with the glory of our armies, the beautiful enthusiasm of this day's proceedings illustrates how heartily and abundantly we try to redeem our errors and relieve our heroes. Was it not a sublime spectacle to see the President of the United States pouring the balm of his sympathizing Presidential 51 presence into the serried ranks of the wearied army of the Potomac — Abraham Lincoln confronting Geo. B. McClellan ? [Loud cheers for McClellan.] The embodied representative of the National authority shaking* hands with the genius of American safety — the great rail-splitter reproaching therailers against the noble army and its gifted chieftain. When Abraham Lincoln was nominated, I laughed at the convention ; when he was elected, I trembled for the country ; but since he lias been inaugurated, I have learned to love and honor the man who has so faith- fully wielded the National resources. [Great applause.] When the South struck at the President, they fired at a man in the stocks, cooped up in judicial decisions, bound down by legislative restrictions, warned away from all philanthropic mischief by the wholesome hostility of an adverse popular vote. They found him in quiet, helpless, party paralysis, and only left him an aroused, wounded, angry National giant, with all the resources of all parties at his command. The South sneered at our poor, under-fed, over-worked soldiers, who fled from Bull Run ; but now the world laughs at a whole comnmnity who ran away from a shadow. Our soldiers left a few arms and knap- sacks on the field, Avhile they threw away long years of happiness and prosperity. Daily are we taunted with their superiority in arms and birth. They claim Washington, as if their deeds had made him. Out of the 200,000 troops who fought in the War of the Revolution, the South did not furnish 20,000. But for the North, Washington would have gone down to posterity with a halter around his neck. It was Northern hands that moulded his Virginia clay into an immortal statue. [Sensation.] Compared with our solid successes, what have the South achieved in this war ? Two or three land checks and one steam fright. [Laughter.] The ghost of the J/er/m"c will haunt the nation for centuries By di- verting the base of operations from the James River, it has cost us $100,- 000,000. That sum would have built us 300 Monitors^ which would have blockaded all intervention. The march of events now means the march of armies. The progress of our institutions depends at last upon the speed of our bullets ; when they rain the Union is safe, when they slacken the Union reels. War is a cruel alternative, but not more so than a peace which removes from danger without relieving us of disgrace, disorder, and disintegration. We want not lamentation over this war, but enlistments in the war. Let us shed no tears but volunteers. [Great laughter.] We cannot succeed in this gigantic war until all classes are worked up to the thrusting point. There must be a fighting man from every family and every calling ; a fighting lawyer, a fighting doctor, a fighting priest, ay, and a fighting dandy. Now is the time for white kiiis to redeem themselves. Now is the time for all that army of fashionable loungers who have been growl- ing all their lives for lack of opportunity. Now is the time for them to rise, strike and be immortal. [" Good, good."] While the South have sent a thousand men to battle, we have sent a hundred. While they have mounted science to lead on their armies to victory, we have too often skipped experience and thrust politics on horseback to save the country. Twenty-three millions of people are tired of being told that they are outwitted because they are outnumbered. [Cheers.] If we fall now we will be the oddest ruin on record. Rome was four hundred years 52 dying of her own corruptions. We, instead of being enervated by luxury or discomfited by invasion, go down with all our strength and all our wealth, and all our wits about us. [Applause.] Destroyed by a remark, our great light blown out by the passionate breath of partisan oratory. [Great applause.] I, for one, can never believe in such a death. The ablest sword of the age is hanging by our side. The heaviest purse on the Continent is in our pocket; the noblest cause for which man can draw his brother's blood, calls him to the battle-field, and if we Avait patiently and act vigorously the greatest victory of modern times is in our grasp — the victory of the Republic over itself, the victory of democrat virtues over aristocrat vices, the victory of law, order, and Government over dis- union, distraction, conflagration, and dainnation. [Long applause,] On conclusion of the honorable gentleman's remarks, three cheers were proposed for Mr. Coddington, whicli were vociferously responded to. The Chairman, A. A. Low, Esq., said : — Fellow-Citizens, — We have here the Rev. Dr. Francis Vinton. He did not intend to speak ; but if there be a man from whom we have a right to expect a word, it is he. He belongs to a family, (as many of you know,) who have not only given their voice and their service, but their blood, to the country. He himself, though now a clergyman of one of our principal churches — old Trinity — is a West Pointer, and has served in the United States Army through one war. His nephew com- mands the 43d New- York Volunteers in the Army of the Potomac. A brother is the distinguished Deputy Quartermaster-General of the Army in this city ; and another brother, father of the Colonel of the 43d, died while in command of the trenches before Vera Cruz. [Cheers and cries, " Let us hear him."] I will ask the Rev. Doctor to say a few words to us [Cheers.] Dr. Vinton then came forward and spoke, substantially, as follows : — SPEECH OF REV. DR. FRANCIS VINTON. Fellow-Citizens, — I could not, after listening to such a call as that which I have just heard, remain silent and decline to lift my voice to speak to you. This war was not begun by us. When Major Ander- son was summoned to surrender Fort Sumter to the rebels, he refused, but added, in an unofficial w^ay, that in three days he would be starved out, and compelled to evacuate the fort. When his reply, official and unofficial, was telegraphed to Montgomery, the lightning flashed across the wires this response from the Confederate Gove^rnmenl, " Open fire at 53 once." Those rebel guns inaugurated the war against the Fhig and the Constitution and the Union of the United States. We have been, ever since, waging a defensive war — a war to defend, to protect and to maintain the Union and Constitution of our country, and thus to preserve our life as a nation. At this particular crisis, the war has become a question of honor or dishonor, of liberty or slavery, of death or of life, to you and your children. I waive all debate as to foregone points of policy or of party, of mis- take, of fraud, and whatever things soever liave irritated and divided the Free States, and I say that a crisis is upon us, when every ])atriot, whether he be father or mother, son or daughter, must lay the offering of his dearest possession upon the altar, in obedience to the command of God and of the State. Let our Isaac be ever so closely knit to our hearts and our hopes, we must be the faithful Abraham to give him up in sacrifice. [Cheers.] I have served our country in her army for ten years, and I speak to you as a military man. And I tell you that we have not lost an equal battle in this whole war ; even at Bull Run, we beat the army opposed to us. Beauregard, in his official report of that battle, says to Davis, that he had reluctantly given orders to retreat — that when he saw the columns approaching in his rear, he did not know whether they belonged to Patterson or to Johnson ; but when he found that they were reinforce- ments, and not opponents, then he began to hope for victory. In every action since Bull h'un (except, perhaps. Ball's Bluft) the loyal army of the United States has conquered the rebels, in fair fight and often against odds, causing them to evacuate and " skedaddle " after their first elan and onslaught. In proof of this, look at Bowling Green and Corinth, and the previous battles which delivered Missouri ; look at the evacuation of Columbus, of Manassas, of Yorktown, of Norfolk, and the defeat at Williamsburg, to say nothing of what our arjny and navy combined, have accomplished at Port Royal, and Fort Donelsou and New Orleans. But what chiefly demonstrates the superiority of the Union forces over the rebels, are the late series of victories of McClellan [cheers] in his march from the Pamunkey to the James River, in the last week of June and the first two days of .July. McClellan conquered the rebels in seven successive battles on seven successive days ; wherever he encountered the rebels he overthrew them, and is nearer Richmond now than ever he was before. [Cheers.] With the strong right arm of the country supporting him on James River — the navy— I say he is nearer to Richmond than ever. Though in the change of front to the new base of operations on James River, our army lost ten thousand men, yet the enemy lost (as they confess) thirty thou- sand : while we succeeded, in that manoeuvre, in concentrating the power of our forces, and the rebels were defeated in their attempt to prevent it. Fellow-citizens, there are some among us who echo the rebels' boast, and misname McClellan's change of front, a retreat^ and his casualties, a defeat. Nothing, in a military point of view, is more false than this aspect of the late battles before Richmond. What are the facts of the • case? The James River is the natural avenue to Richmond; McClellan 54 could not advance on that route while Norfolk was in possession of the rebels, and while the iron-clad Merrimac blockaded the mouth of the James River. When Norfolk was taken and the Merrimac was destroyed, and our ijun-boats had reached City Point, it was the true policy of McClellan to join the gun-boats, and unite our naval and military forces. McClellan, as early as Friday, in the third week of June, gave orders to remove the stores from the White House and the York River, round to the James, And it was done effectually, and without interruption or loss, by the following Tuesday. On Tuesday he moved his army ; it was attacked, and the attack was repulsed ; fresh hordes of the fugitives of Beauregard with the veterans of Johnson and Lee repeated the assaults on Wednesday, and Thursday, and Friday, and Saturday and Sunday, and each onslaught was repelled : on Monday, the advance of our army reached the James River, driving before them three thousand head of cattle and dragging their siege guns through the swamps of the Chicka- hominy, without the loss of a hoof or the abandonment of a gun. The dead and the wounded were necessarily left behind, and several field- pieces (twenty-five in number) were disabled and captured. Prisoners were taken and provisions in baggage wagons were captured. "J his was all our damage, though it was fearful and saddening. On Monday the rebels renewed the fight on the rear-guard, and were again repulsed with loss of whole brigades of rebel prisoners and of twenty six of their guns. On Tuesday the reserve of the enemy marched from Richmond, fresh and untired, with the expectation of getting into the rear of our exhausted troops ; but they were met and held until our gun-boats, the G-dena and the Monitor^ opened a terrific fire, which sent the frightened rebels hurly skurly back to Richmond. Thus ended the foiled attempts to outgeneral McClellan. [Cheers.] Thus terminated the rebel efforts to beat our brave soldiers of the Army of the Potomac. [Cheers. J It is worth noticing, that the correspondent of the New-York Tribune relates that he was on board of the Galena when McClellan arri\ed on board from a skiff", and posted the gun-boat by his own direc- tions to her commander; that then he went aboard of the Monitor, and pointed out the proper position for that champion to take. [Cheers.] It was a spectacle like that of Perry passing from the Lawrence to the Niagara, and plucking victory from a competent foe by the force of mind and valor. It was the shots from these, his naval coadjutors, which gave the finishing blow to the rebels in their last assault, and sent them back to their rebel capital. [Cheers for McClellan.] Now, fellow-citizens, does all this wear the aspect of McClellan's defeat, or of McClellan's victories? The rebels were foiled, and the Union Army was successful. And I claim the series of victories, costly as they were, to McClellan and his army, and so will history record her judgment. Why, let me put the case in a familiar way ; suppose that you were going over the ferry to Brooklyn, Avhere two or three rowdies encountered you, and swore that you should not go ; they attack you, and you knock them down, one after another, and go on your way, and reach the other side as you intended. Who conquered? Who got tiie victory? Will you say that you were defeated, because your clothes were torn and your nose bloody, or even if your arm were broken and your purse gone ? .ID These are the casualties of the occasion. You were not the conquered, but the victors. This is a plain and homely, but true illustration, of the seven days' battle of McClellan. The enemy assailed him three to one, and he drove them oft". [Cheers.] Fellow-citizens, I knew most of the leaders of this rebellion at West Point and in the army. And amoni>; them are men, whom, before the rebellion, I have known as gentlemen ; but the Bible says, that " Rebellion is as witchcraft ; " Samuel uttered this divine condemnation to Saul, and when Saul became a rebel, his very nature was, as by witchcraft, changed, and so now again, has this rebel- lion changed those whom I once recognized as friends and gentlemen. They have become our foes, and, in their attempts to destroy the Consti- tution and Union and Government of the United States, they would be our murderers, like Saul against David. They would kill us or make us vassals. Shall they do this, or shall every traitor to the Constitution be made to feel the authority and power of the Government of the United States? The Army of the Totoraac must be recruited and reinforced. The President has called for 300,000 loyal soldiers. Shall we go to the army or stay at home ? Who will not ofi"er himself as a champion or a martyr for his country, in this crisis of constitutional liberty? Who will not enlist Avhen victory or death are the issues ? Who will not go to the altar, like Isaac, to be priest or sacrifice, as God may appoint, and win an imperishable name on the muster-roll of a nation's heroes ? Let the example of Mr, Seward's son be an example to us. The Secretary of State, in his letter just now read, tells you that he has offered his young- est son to the service of his country, as a private in one of the military organizations of New York. [Prolonged and enthusiastic applause.] SPEECH OP PETER COOPER. In response to a call from the IMeeting, Peter Cooper came forward and said : — Fellow-Citizens, — I can assure you that nothing could give me greater pleasure than to be able to say a word, if possible, that would awake the slumbering energies of the nation to the magnitude of the war in which we are engaged. [Cheers.] We are contending with an enemy not only determined on our destruction as a nation, but an enemy that is determined to build on our ruins a government with all its power devoted to maintain, extend, and perpetuate a system in itself revolting to all the best feelings of humanity. An institution that enables thousands to sell their own children into hopeless bondage, [A voice — " That's so ! I have seen it."] Shall it succeed ? [Cries of " No ! No ! "] You say no, and I unite with you and say no, also. We cannot allow it to succeed. We should spend our lives, our jjroperty and leave the land a desolation before such an institution should triumph over the free people of this country. [Applause.] I know, my friends, tliat will be the feeling when the people wake up to the importance of the present occasion ; and I believe the time has now come that we begin to see that thousands, nay millions, are sighing to help us, but are afraid because they say we are lighting to restore an institution that will keep them in perpetual bondage. 56 I trust the day has come when vie sliall unbind the heavy burdens and let the captives go tree — when we sliall meet these men who are ready to unite and aid us, and give us the help we need. [Cheers.] A help that will take from the rebels the power on which they depend for digging their trenches, plowing their fields, raising their crops, and leaving them leisure to play upon us the game of war. Shall it be so any longer ? I trust it shall not. Let us unite and do what we can to con- vince the people of the South, that their best interests call for the freedom of their slaves, and not only of their slaves, but the freedom of the Avliite people of the South from the terrible thralldom, the terrible dependence they are in, when they allow themselves to rely on a coerced and uncompensated labor. [Cheers.] Let us unite in an effort to sustain the Government by every means in our power, and get the army built up in the shortest possible time, with the best men and arms that can be found. [Enthusiastic applause.] The proceedings at tins stand were tlien closed. OFFICERS. STAND No. il. Under charge of Comniitiee oC Arran<>enients, FEPEK MITCHELL, CHARLES GOULD. President. HAMILTON FISH, Presided of Union Dcfeme CimmiUn. Vice-Presidents. William B. Astor. .Moses H. Crinnell, AVilliam C. Bryant, Luther Bradish, James Lenox, Joseph Sampson, Charles H. Marshall, George Bancroft, Robert Ray, Samuel B. Ruggles, Peter Cooper, C. R. Robert, Henry W. Bellows, ]\Ierritt Trimble, James W. Beeknu^n, Alexander T. Stewart, Richard M. Blatchford, Thomas Tileston, George T. Adee, John Cotton Smith, Frederic Depeyster, Cyrus Curtiss, William Aymar, Henry L. Pierson, F. S. Winston, Adrian Iselin, George T. Strong, James L. Morris, Benj. D. Silliman, Frederick G. Foster, William A. Darling, Charles A. Heckscher, Japliet Bishop, Hugo Wesendonck, A. C. Richards, Charles B. Hofthian, Lorillard Spencer, George S. Bobbins, James Pimnett, William Post, A. L. Robertson, AVilliam I3arton, Richard Warren, Otis I). Swan, Elias Wade, Jr., 0. D. F. Grant, Theodore Polhemus, Anthony S. Hope, William Allen Butler, Edward A. Bibby, Jacob Hayes, William F. Cary, James Rcnwick, Samuel M. Fox, J. Butler AVright, Frederick Sheldon, Caleb Barstow, Frederick Prime, J. B. Giraud Foster, James B. Murray, Alexander Hamilton, Wm. P. p]sterbrook, Alexander S. Leonard, John Trenor, William Black, Edmund Schermerhorn, David S. Coddington, George Donalson, Franklin H. Delano, Jonathan Thorne, John Sedgwick, Robert J. Livingston. 58 I'hilctus IT. Holt, Samuel 'V. IJiiil^haiii, 'riionms M. Adriance, V. Eonisen Strong, Isaac Gretn Pearson, Adam Norric, Jolin Ward, "William C. Rhinelander, Israel Corse, 'jieorge W. Blunt, Francis B. Nicol, Daniel H. Turner, Henry Drislcr, Wickliam Hotl'man, Albert R. Gallatin, Horace Green, Howard Potter, Lorenzo Draper, James A. Briggs, James M. Cross, Henry A. Smythe, Thomas Addis Emmet, Herman R. LeRoy, 0. E. Detmold. Secretaries. Frank Moore, John H. White, Sheppard Gaudy, George AY. Ogston, Samuel Blatchford, James F. Ruggies, Frank W. Ballard, John Nesbitt, Robert Cutting, William S. (Chamberlain, William Bibby Oliver King, Samuel Curtis, Henry R. Benkard, Charles C. Nott, Charles Neilson, J. Winthrop Chanler, William J. Emmet, Henry A. Oakley, Charles Goodhue. George B. Waldron, Elliot F. Shepard, Robert Benson, Jr., Nathaniel Prime, William Rhinelander. PROGRAMME OF PROCEEDINGS. STAND No. 8. Salutes of Artillery by Anthon Light Battery and by tlie Workmen employed by Hexry Brewster & Co. 1. Music — Grand Marcli by 2. Peter Mitchell will call the meeting to order, read the call of the meeting, and conduct Hamilton Fish to the chair. 8. AY. E. Dodge will read the list of Vice-Presidents and Sec- retaries. . 4. Hamilton Fish, Chairman, will address the meeting. 6. Charles Gould will read the Address adopted by the Con- vention of Committees. 6. Peter Mitchell will read the Eesolutions adopted by the Convention of Committees. 7. Music. 8. Ethan Allen will deliver an Address. 9. Music. 10. B. D. Hitchcock will deliver an address. 11. Music. 12. John A. King, 13. Music. HO In the absence of Hamilton Fish, who had been designated to preside over this stand, Charles Gould, of the Committee of Arrangements, was called to the Chair. Mr. Gp:ouge W. Bltxt read the Address. The Kesolutions were read by Alderman ^[ITCIIELL, and adopted unanimously. Weigand's band having given the " Star-Spangled Banner," the first speaker introduced was Mr. Ethan Allen, Assistant U. S. District Attorney, who spoke as follows : — ME. ETHAN ALLEN'S SPEECH. Fellow-Citizens of New-York, — Once more the tocsin sounds to arms, and freemen rally to the call. It is now nearly a century ago that mass meetings of our fathers were held in this city, to devise ways and means for the defence of that very flag, which to-day is given to the winds of Heaven, beaming defiance from every star. Fired then with the same spirit of freedom that kindles on this spot to-day, for the time throwing aside the habiliments of peace, our fathers armed themselves for vengeance and for war. The hutory of that war, go read it in the hearts of the American people ; the trials and struggles of that war, mark them in the tear-drop which the very allusion calls to every eye ; the blessings of that war, count them in the gorgeous temples of trade that rise everywhere around you ; the wisdom of that war, and the promised perpetuity of its triumphs, behold the one in our unexampled national prosperity, and the other in the impulses that like an electric flash bind heart to heart throughout this vast assemblage in the firm re- solve, that, cost what it may, rebellion shall go down. [Loud applause.] Again the American people are assembled in mass meetings through- out the nation, while the States once more rock in the throes of a revo- lution. Once more the cry to arms reverberates throughout the land ; but this time we war against domestic foes. Treason has raised its black flag near the tomb of Washington, and the Union of our States hangs her fate upon the bayonet and the sword. Accursed be the hand that would not use the bayonet — blighted be the arm that would not wield the sword in such a cause ! Everything that the American citizen holds dear hangs upon the issue of this contest. Our national honor and reputation demand that rebellion shall not triumph on our soil. In the name of our heroic dead, in the name of our numberless victories upon the battle-fleld, in the name of our thousand peaceful triumphs, in the name of our unexampled national prosperity, our Union must and shall be preserved. [Enthusiastic cheers.] Our peacefid triumphs! These are really the important victories which we should be jealous to guard. They are worth fighting for ; they are worth dying for. They are fostered and multiplied under the protection of tlie " Union ;" otherwise the term " Union " were but empty sound. Let others recount tlieir marshal glories; they shall be eclipsed 61 by the charity and the grace of the triumphs which have heeii acliievetl in peace. " Peace hatli her victories, not less renowned than War," and the hard-earned fruits of tliese victories rebelHon shall not take from us. [Cries of " No," " No," " Never."] Our peaceful triumphs ! • AVho shall enumerate their value to the millions yet unborn? What nation, in so short a time, has won so many ? On the land and on the sea, in the realms of science and in the world of art, we everywhere have gathered our honors, and have won our garlands. Upon the altars of the States they yet lie, fresh from the gathering, while their liappy influences fill the land. Of the importance and value of our thousand peaceful triumphs, time will permit me to mention only one, which is yet fresh in the memory of us all. It is now two years ago, when up the waters of the Potomac, toward the Capital, sailed the representatives of an empire till then shut out from intercourse with all Christian nations. In the eastern seas there lay an empire of islands, which hitherto had enjoyed no recpg- nition in the Christian world, other than its name upon the map. No history, so far as we know, illumined it — no ancient time-nuirk told of its advance, step by step, in the march of improvement. There it had rested for thousands of years, wrapped in the mysteries of its own ex- clusiveness, " gloomy, dark, peculiar." It liad been supposed to possess great power, and vague rumcrs had attributed to it, ingenious arts to us unknown. Against nearly all the world, for thousands of years, Japan had obstinately shut her doors. The wealth of the Christian world could not tempt her cupidity, the wonders of the Christian world could not excite her curiosity. There she lay, sullen and alone, the phenomenon of nations. England and France and the other powerful Governments of Europe had at various times tried to conquer this oriental exclusiveness, but the Portuguese only partially succeeded, while all the rest signally failed. At length, we, bearing at our masthead the glorious old stars and stripes, approach the mysterious portals, and seek an entrance. Not with cannon and implements of death do we demand admission, but appreciating the saying of Euripides, that " Resistless eloquence shall open The gates that steel exclude," we peacefully appeal to that sense of right, which is the " touch of nature that makes the whole world kin," and behold, the interdiction is re- moved, the doors of the mysterious empire fly open, and a new garland is woven, to crown the monument of our commercial conquests. [Loud applause.] Who shall set limit to the gain that may follow this one victory of peace, if our Government be perpetuated so as to gather it for the gene- rations? Who shall say, in an unbroken, undivided Union, that the opening of the ports of Japan shall not accomplish for the present era all that the Reformation, the art of printing, steam and the telegraph have done Avithin the last three hundred years? New avenues of wealth are thrown open, new fields are to be occupied, arts new to us, doubtless, are to be studied and to be Americanized, and science, perhaps, from that arcana of nations, has revelations to make to us, equal to anything which we liave ever learned before. Reciprocity bids us to exten:hteous, justifiable, and hopeful as that of the Revolution of 'TO. Jn view of these facts, then, it is not simply an expedient, subject to our discretion, ichicli wai/ to use to put down the rebellion ; for it is patent to the huniblest understanding, that an earnest purpose to put down rel)ellion will be indicated by using ercry instrumentality calculated to compass that end. If this be so, then, how are we to understand a discussion of three weeks' duration, as to whether it would not be better to prohibit bi/ law, the use of loyal men oi' a particular shade in quelling this rebellion. The arguments adverse to the employment of blacks being silenced by the Battle of New Orleans, and more emphatically so. by the operations in Hayti in the attempt to re-enslave that people— when the negroes, under the leadership of a nu\n born a slave, hurled the disciplined troops of two of the most warlike nations of Europe, quivering from their shores ; when only by a meanly contrived strategem of the great Napoleon, and by it getting the person of L'Overture in his power, could France temporarily subdue the little island of Hayti. I am not advocating either the social or political rights of any race, adversely. I prefer to speak on one subject at a time, and I speak of the muscles of a black man as I would of the muscles of a horse, for a definite purpose ; and, in ray opinion, nothing can transcend the beetle-heeded stupidity of those men, who cannot discuss the digging of trenches and shooting of rifles without merging, by an affinity of ideas known only to themselves, into the most occult questions of ethnology, as to essential equalities of races, etc. How absurd it would seem if we stood in '• Fives Court," London, about a century ago, while Cribb and Moleneaux were contending for the championship of England, and would there suggest the essential difference of the white and black races as a settlement of the question contested by the two giants. It will be remembered that on that occasion the black was beaten hjfoul phiij — a thing of which the negro seems to have always had his share. I would suggest to these philosophers that we do not stick to purity of races in the army now. A mule compared to a horse would be consid- ered a rather illegitimate style of an animal, yet nothing but mules could pull long enough and fast enough to suit our recent march to the James River, not- withstanding the inferiority of the race. But, seriously, I would here make a remark which I will not allow my shoulder-straps to suppress ; shoulder-straps or no shoulder-straps, I say that 1 have seen men suffering the privations insepa- rable from the line of duty during the recent campaign on the Isthmus, doing a hard day's duty in the field, followed by a hard tour of duty in digging trenches, and humannature has sunk beneath the load, and I have seen them rolled in their blanket and laid down in their final rest — superinduced, doubtless, by a tax upon their energies which might have been divided with the slave, who must, inevitably, share the benefit of the triumph. I leave the transcendental philoso- phers to defend that policy which sacrifices a white man to save a black one, while at the same time, contending for the superiority of the former. Let every man who claims to be a patriot banish his theories of the past, and suspend his schemes for the future, wherever they would interfere with present usefulness. We are now at war with the rebels, we arc noio at war with the rebels ,• therefore, all words and acts indicating any other treatment of the rebellion than by the sword, is treason or imbecility. When war begins, diplomacy is exhausted. That man is simply a knave who speaks of conciliation while the red tide of blood dyes the banks of the James and the Chickahominy. The two policies of combating and conciliation cannot be at the same time pursued by the Govern- ment. And it is a still bolder treason and fraud to suppose that they can be both applied by a general in the field. It would seem in the ^jast, as if some of our generals thought Civil War, meant a war conducted without giving offence to the enemy. And some have secured the applause of the enemy by olive branch campaigns and conciliator ij conflicis ! Let the line be drawn at once, and let those who still chirp conciliation seek the purlieus of putrid politics, and let not the '• tainted rebel stain the soldier." 1 here utter an apothegm, and roconimend to rigid application ; whenever a general has become popular with the enemj-. it is time that we were done with him. 'I'he American Nation mean to conquer treason, and will view as enemies those wlio stand between them and the foes of our Hag. We cannot conquer without being deeply in earnest ; for our enemy is determined, numerous, and brave, and your superior numbers aiid resources will not save you unless you bring them to bear. \o man will think liglitly of this contest, who stood, as I did, at Fair Oaks, and saw the enemy for six hours pour tiieir masses into the very jaws of death ; for I saw them march boldly into the open field, as near as the outskirts of this assemblage, where every discharge of our cannon marked a deep gulf in the advancing mass, who still advanced, literally over heaps of the dead, till that bloody arena was so covered with prostrate confederates, till at nightfall, it was like a' ghastly bivouac, terribly significant of the desperate energy of the rebellion. Yet we will triumph ! I feel assured in saying this, from the evidence of my senses, of the indomitable valor of the individual soldier in the Union ranks. And 1 will confess to some surprise at the bravery and efficiency of mere boys on the battle-field. I saw young Americans in the Union ranks, so light and frail, as to preclude their acceptance as soldiers, having been mustered as drura- ers, shoulder rifles and rush into the fight, loading and firing with a rapidity and tact, that brought many a brown unilbrm to the dust. And when, atter a con- flict of over six hours' duration, in various duties and parts of the field, I found myself surrounded by nine members of my command, whose devotion found expression in voluntarily remaining by my side, two of the nine were drummer- boys, thfir faces begrimed with powder, but lit up with an inspiration that showed they felt the majesty of their mission. How can such an army be finally conquered ?" Is there not a sublimity in that comparatively little band of Spartans making a Thermopyhe of Harrison's JJar. and holding their clinched hands in defiance at the rebel hosts around them. Shall these men cry in vain for a suffi- cient numlier to join their decimated ranks, to give them a proximate equality of numbers for the last grand contest, where all the hopes of our hearts arc at stake? Is not this blood too precious to shed in contests where nothing is de- termined, except to show the world that our country is a nation of soldiers ? Then promptly furnish the three hundred thousand bayonets that will end this contest with the lasting triumph of Liberty and Union. And my word for it, that if this be promptly done the cadence of three hundred thousand marching on tlie rebel capital will shake with their earthquake tread the centre of the rebellion, and there will be no more battles in the sense of Pittsburg Landing, Fort Donelson, Fair Oaks, and the contests of the last two weeks. Then what we want is, that you, your lathers, brothers, friends, join in every movement cal- culated to haste the consummation Ity a rapid reinforcement of the army on the James River. Let no man or boy who can bear a rifle mistake or neglect his dutv in this hour of our country's peril. Li this great contest there is not a man in this broad land so humble as to be removed from the consequences of the issue. I have sometimes, while pacing outside of my tent under the beautiful star- light of a Virginia sky, the quiet and darkness inspiring a reflective mood, tried to grasp the momentous interests involved in this struggle. I have looked in imagination into the dark gulf of disintegration and ruin upon the verge of which our country seemed to stand upon a trembling base, and contemplated the possibility of the splendid temple of our Liberties and Nationality broken into as many conflicting fragments as there are States and Territories, with rival interests, institutions, policies and prejudices, proscriptive passports, postage and commercial laws, contiguous territory and consequent necessities for ponder- ous military establishments, with the perpetual danger and tendency of a combi- nation of a portion against the remainder, and the temptation to foreign invasion, till, with rapid pace and throbbing brow, I have wondered if these reflections are a secret, or how men can be so dead in the midst of a storm so portentous. 89 Then let us be adinotiishetl, and know that national existence, liberty, order, law, the organization of human society ui)on a civilized basis, and flie vast charge given us by our fathers for posterity, signified in the star-spangled emblem of the brotherhood of freemen — all tremble in precarious existence, so long as there is upon the continent a pole on end with the three-barred ensign of treason and murder upon it. And let us not only bring to a bloody grave this monster of our day, but let us bring our children, like young Hannibals. to the altar of our country, and from their infant lips extort the obligation that will doom the man whose temerity leads him to the remotest sympathy with the foul instigators of this hideous drama. The whites of the South plead, by the circumstances to which I have hurriedly alluded, for deliverance ; for a large portion of the passion and patriotism now swelling the rebellion would, by tlie power of a free press and an honest pulpit, be converted to the cause of the Union. But you must remember tliat the iron arm which now grasps the throat of press and pulpit in the rebel States, must be broken with the sword before you can inaugurate these remedial measures. A free press and an honest pulpit cannot precede your arms, but can only come on the heel of rifled cannon and Federal bayonets. Then let us show how we prize our liberties by alacrity in their defence ; let us not be stingy of blood where it will bring such large revenue of blessings to our country and the human race. And doing our duty in this dark hour, we will sustain that flag whose folds are radiant with glorious memories of the past, with all its proud significance intensified by the struggle, and see our country rise from this bloody baptism into a new life and majesty as truly the land of the FREE and the home of the brave. We will triumph the moment we deserve to. Then let us vindicate on the field our sincerity when we say, — "Forever float that standard sheet, Where breathes the foe but fiills before us? Wlith freedom's soil beneath our feet, And freedom's banner floating o'er us." SPEECH OF COLONEL SIMON H. MIX. Colonel SiMOJsr H. Mix, of the Second New- York cavaliy, Burusides exj^edition, came forward, and was greeted with cheers. He spoke as follows ; — My fellow-citizens, it is the duty of a soldier at all times to fight. [A voice, " AVe know that."] It is sometimes the duty of a soldier to speak. 1 consider this as one of those occasions ; for inasmuch as I am incapacitated from doing the former, through the politeness of an invitation extended to me by your com- mittee, I shall try my hand at the latter. It seems to me, my fellow-citizens, but a day since I left the city of New- York to go to the battle-field. Almost the last day I spent in this city was on the occasion of a great monster meeting in this Square, held aliout eighteen months ago. I then resolved to go to the in- terior of the State, from whence I came, and appeal to the Union men there and raise a cavalry regiment, and I did not appeal in vain. .My friends, I wish to say here distinctly that I am not here for the purpose of criticising any of the acts of my superiors. With the man who is placed over me will I serve and fight at all times. [Vociferous cheering.] I have served under Gen. McClellan. [Here three cheers were given for Gen. McClellan.] I have served under Gen. Banks — [cheers] — I have served under the great and glorious Burnside. [Great cheering] In tliis connection I wish to say a word. Experience is the best teacher, and when any man comes to you and tells you if the negroes of the South are employed in the army the soldiers that we have there will not fight, do you tell that man he is a fool, and that he does not know what he is talking 12 ^0 about. [Great cheering.] In the South they have what we term farmers by day and soldiers by night ; rebel bandits, who prowl around and shoot down our soldiers upon the outposts. Only yesterday, when I came from Newberu, I brought several soldiers of my regiment who had suffered in that way. I would take the negroes of the South and put muskets in their hands, for nowhere in the swamps of North Carolina can you find a path where a dog can go that the negro does not understand. 'I'here are gentlemen here who will bear me witness when 1 state this fact, that in all our expeditions in North Carolina we have de- pended upon the negroes for our guides ; for without them we could not have moved with any safety The information we have received from them has always been reliable and always correct. I have never known an instance to the con- trary. [Applause.] My friends, you all no dou):)t wonder how it is that the South has arrayed in front of the Federal army at Richmond two hundred thou- sand men. But it can be easily explained. Every man in the South who can carry a shot-gun, had, of necessity to become a soldier. There are two classes in the South — the representative men, who number fifteen or twenty in a county, and the poor whites, if you throw out of the account the blacks ; but so far as my observation extends, the blacks are a much superior class in intellect to the poor degraded whites of the South. What is done with these poor whites ? They are dragged ruthlessly from their homes, and compelled to go into the army. When I first reached Newberu. the duty was assigned to me to advance into the country thirty miles on each side, over ground that our troops had not before then occupied. Wherever I went I found houses deserted, and the mothers, wives and children weeping for those W'ho had been taken from their homes and carried to the army. 1 hold in my hand a scrap of paper, from Tlie Raleigh Standard, which contains the following : — Head-quarters N. C. Militia, Adjutant-General's Office, } Raleigh, Dec. 2lst, 1861. [ Special Order No. 77. — Lieut. Sanford Earnest, of the 71st Regiment N. C. Militia, having declared his preference for the Government of the United States, and having de- clined to march under the flag of the Confederate States, is hereby dismissed, being un- worthy of a commission in the Militia of the State — and will hereafter do duty as a private. The Colonel will have this order read before the Regiment, and printed in the news- papers of his county. By order of the Commander-in-Chief, J. G. MARTIN, Adjutant-General. That is the way they are treated. [Cries of " Shame, shame !"] The Colonel proceeded to give some further incidents connected with his experiences while in North Carolina, which were listened to with great interest, but brought his speech abrtiptlj to a close — • the rain, which came up so suddenly, having already began to fall, and causing the hasty dispersion of a large portion of the im- mense throng. 91 At this juncture a rain-storm set in and rendered an adjourn- ment absolutely necessary ; but previous to separating, Frank W. Ballard moved, and Cephas Brainerd seconded, the fol- lowing resolutions, which were adopted : — Resolved, That the young men of New- York, alive to tlie exigencies of the crisis now upon the country, and, as ever, devoted to the preservation of the pure democratic principle, are bound by every interest to press forward into the ranks, and, in the most earnest, sj)eedy, and effectual manner, put an end forever to the accursed idea of Secession and Disunion. To us life is valueless without Liberty, Liberty useless without Union, and Union merely nominal if the idea of Secession is not finally and forever put to sleep, beyond an awakening this side of Hell. Resolved, I'liat, while we have no sympathy with any class of demagogues who place conditions upon their professions of loyalty to the Union, we are sensible that our army is waging this war with fettered hands, and we beseech this Government to overstep the constructive bounds which prevent the employment of every, evury, EVERY" means of suppressing this infernal rebellion. The Committee of Arrangements and the public were indebted to Major Willard of the Anthon Battery of Light Artillery, and to Messrs. Brewster & Co. and the workmen of their manu- factory, for the salutes which were fired at stated periods dming the proceedings Their thanks are also due to the gentlemen who kindly volun- teered their services as a Chorus, and who added so much to the interest of the proceedings. They were Messrs. Henry Camp, Sigismund Lasar, F. G. Taylor, Charles Loomis, Henry Molten, Geo. N. Seymour, Joseph B. Mather, John J. Ennis, E. G. Bartlett, Geo. E. Aiken, Jonathan Aiken, Charles Aiken, Henry J. Wright, and Messrs. Anderson and Devo. INVITATION TO DISTINGUISHED CITIZENS TO ADDRESS THE MEETING OF LOYAL CITIZENS. New York, July llih, 1862. Sir, — At a Convention of Committees, severally appointed by the Common Council of this city, by the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New- York, by the Union Defence Committee, and by bodies of Loyal Citizens of this city, it was resolved to hold, on Tuesday, the 15th instant, a Mass Meeting of all parties who are in favor of supporting the Government in the prosecution of the war and suppressing the rebellion, and to express, without reference to any party question whatever, their undiminished confidence in the justice of the cause, and their inflexible determination to sustain it ; and to that end to proffer to the Government their aid to the extent of all tlieir resources. In accordance with this purpose, the undersigned were appointed by the Con- vention a Committee to invite distinguished citizens, of all parties, to address the meeting upon its object, and in the spirit in which it is convened. In performance of this duty, it affords us much pleasure to request that you will address the meeting on that occasion. Be pleased to give us your accept- ance of this invitation, by note, addressed to the Secretary of this Committee, at the Chamber of Commerce, as soon as convenient. James W. White, "] Geo. Opdyke, i Samuel Sloan, \ v t t n •« Prosper M. Wetmore, | ^'^''^ Committee. Denning Duer, | Charles Gould, J Chas. Goui,d, Secretary. GENTLEMEN INVITED TO ADDRESS THE MEETING. Hon. Hannibal Hamlin, Hon. William H. Seward, Hon. Salmon P. Chase, Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Hon. Gideon Welles, Hon. Montgomery Blair, Hon. Edward Bates, Hon. Caleb B. Smith, Gov. Edwin D. Morgan, Gov. John A. Andrew, Gov. Israel Washburn, Jr., Gov. N. S. Berry, Gov. Frederick Holbrook, Gov. William A. Buckingham, Gov. Charles S. Olden, Gov. a. G. Curtin, Gov. a. W. Bradford, Gov. F. H. Peirpont, Gov. Austin Blair, Gov. Andrew Johnson, Gov. H. R. Gamble, Gov. O. P. Morton, Gov. David Todd, Gov. Alexander Ramsey, Gov. Richard Yates, Gov. Edward Salomon, Gov. William Sprague. Hon. Lot M. Morrill, Hon. William P. Fessenden, Hon. John P. Hale, Hon. Preston King, Hon. Ira Harris, Hon. John Sherman, Hon. Bknj. F. Wade, Hon. David AVilmot, Hon. H. B. Anthony, Hon. Solomon Foot, Hon. Jacob Collamer, Hon. Charles Sumner, Hon. Henry Wilson, Hon. Zachariah Chandler, Hon. J. W. Grimes, Hon. LyxMan Trumbull, Hon. Henry M. Rice, Hon. M. S. Wilkinson, Hon. J. B. Henderson, Hon. Joseph A. Wright, Hon. Moses F. Odell, Hon. William Wall, Hon. Alfred Ely, Hon. Daniel S. Dickinson, Hon. Edward Haight, Hon. Frederick A. Conkling, Hon. Schuyler Colfax, Hon. Owen Lovejoy. Hon. John F. Potter, "1 Hon. Elijah Ward, I Hon. RoscoE Conkling, I "^ Hon. Galusha A. Grow, j-;^ Hon. Francis P. Blair, Jr., I ;2 Hon. Henry L. Dawes, 1 Hon. Elisha B. Wash burn e, J Hon. Lyman Tkemaine, Hon. Richard B. Connolly, Hon. George Bancroft, Hon. Horace Binney, Hon. Edward Everett, Hon. John A. King, Hon. Joseph Holt, Hon. Carl Shulz, Gen. Hiram Walbridge, John W. Forney, Es([., William Curtis Noyes, Esq., Maj. Gen'l John C. Fremont, U. S. A. David Dudley Field, Esq., Com. Andrew H. Foote, Richard Bustekd, Esq., William M. Evarts, Esq., James T. Brady, Esq., Francis B. Cutting, Esq., Charles King, Esq., Rev. Dr. H. W. Bellows, Rev. Dr. R. W. Hitchcock, Rev. Dr. Vinton, Rev. W. G. Brownlow, Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, Rev. J. P. Thompson, Major Gen'l John E. Wool, Brig. Gen'l Franz Sigel, Brig. Gen'l Shields, Brig. Gen. S. Van Vliet, General Lewis Wallace, Col. Francis B. Spinola, Judge Chas. p. Daly, Prof. A. D. Bache, Lieut. Gen'l Winfield Scott, Major Gen'l John A. Dix, Major Gen'l James S. Wadsworth, Major Charles W. Le Gexdre, Brig. Gen'l John Cochrane, Brig. Gen'l 0. M. Mitchell, Judge Edwards Pierrepont, Frederick Kapp, Esq., Orestes A. Brownson, Esq., L. E. Chittenden, Esq., D. S. Coddington, Esq., James A. Briggs, Esq., George Gibbs, Esq. Hon. W. H. Wallace. REPLIES OF DISTINGUISHED CITIZENS. LETTER FROM WILLIAM H. SEWARD, SECRETARY OF STATE. Department of State. ] Washington, \Atk July. 1862. f To James W. White, George Opdyke, and others, Esquires, Select Commitlce, ifc: Gentlemen, — Your note, inviting me to attend a meeting of loyal citizens of New- York, to be lield to-morrow evening, has been received. The objects of the meeting are of vital importance. They involve notliing less than a choice between an early peace, with the deliverance of the nation from all surrounding dangers, or a protracted war, with hazards of ultimate national dis- solution. Public duties forbid my leaving the Capital at this moment ; but I have given to the only male member of my family, not already in the public service, per- mission to enroll himself as a private in the ranks of the volunteers, which it is your purpose to send into the field. I have the honor to be, gentlemen, Yom- very obedient servant, WILLIAM H. SEWARD. LETTER OF E. D. MORGAN, GOVERNOR OF STATE OF NEW-YORK. State of New-Y'ork, Executive Department, ) Albany, July Uth, 1862. f Gentlemen : I have received your invitation to be present and address the mass meeting of the citizens of New- York, on Union Scjuare, to-morrow afternoon, for the pur- pose of expressing their undiminished confidence in the justice of our cause, and to proffer to the Government their aid, to the eitent of their resources. I feel that this gathering will be worthy the occasion which calls it forth, w^orthy the great city whose potential voice has more than once given encourai^ement to the Government and country in the dark hours of this struggle — a meeting that will be remembered in after-time, as an index of the mighty spirit that moved tiie people of 1862, to declare anew that the Union " must and shall be pre- served." The preliminary work of enlistment, just now, seems to demand my presence here, and I shall, therefore, be unable to meet with you to-morrow. But my interest will be in no degree abated because of my absence, for I feel that the action of New- York at this time is a matter of the deepest importance. Let the great metropolis of the country again emphatically declare its purpose to uphold the cause of the Union to the last, by giving of its men and means, if necessary, "' to the extent of its resources." and it will arouse the whole country. Already meetings are appointed for the same evening as your own. This capital and other cities will have their masses in council at the same hour that you are col- lected together. Here, as in iVew-York and elsewhere, matters of mere political policy are, as they should be, forgotten, and partisan clamor hushed, in view of the country "s peril. Let us, for the present at least, only remember that we are 95 fellow-members of a commoiiwciilth. L(>t us show that in the hour of danj^er we can rise superior to tlK> j)i-('ju(]ices of the [jast, and tonether prepare to defend, successfully, the '• palladium of our political safoty and hiippiness." A period has come when none can hesitate, none can be idle. In the prov- idence of God, it would seciui that before the evil cloud shall pass, all must be brought to sacrifice somethiuf,' for the country's cause ; either to render personal service in the field, furnish nr.iterial aid, or assume; the care of families of volun- teers. 80 much is duty. Let it be done, and done quickly. In perilous times, delay is treason. The necessities of our situation are inevitable. 'i'h(> ((uestions presented are terribly practical. Men are the want of the hour. Our State will respond to tire call of the President ; but to assure this, the families of volunteers must be provided for. Wliile fiuhting for fireside rights, their own firesides, in their absence, must not be })erraitted to be darkened by want. If the response to the requisition is promptly made, we may expect increased vigor in putting down tlie rebellion and vindicating the national power, and that blows ({uick and heavy shall be made to fall upon the staggering forces of the insurgents. All the powers possessed by the leaders of the rebellion are being used by them with passionate zeal. Let us, then, ask that they be met with at least equal earnestness by the National C4overnment. Longer lenity to rebels is rank injustice to loyal men. I have the honor to be, with great respect, Your obedient servant, E. D. MORGAN. To James W. White, Esq. Hon. Geo. Opdyke, Hon. Samuel Sloan, Prosper M. Wetmore, Esq., Denning Duer, Esq., Charles Gould, Esq., Committee. LETTER OF F. H. PEIRPOINT, GOV. OP VIRGINIA. Executive Chamber, Wheeling, Va., i Juhj Uth, 1862. ' f James W. White, George Opchjke, Samuel Sloan, and others, N. Y. : Gentlemen, — Your favor requesting me to address a meeting of the citizens of New-York, composed of all persons, without distinction of party, who are in favor of prosecuting the war and suppressing the rebellion, is received. The delay of the mail in bringing your request in time, if no other cause, prevents my being with you. I would like to be there. The heart of every true patriot will re- spond to the object of the meeting with a joyful Amen. New-York now occupies a position second to no other city in the world. She controls the finances and commerce of the continent. Your city is one of the triumphs of American freedom. Put down the rebellion, establish free schools, a free press and free speech in the Southern States, and New-York's present is only the beginning of her future greatness. It is right tliat such movement should commence there. You say the object of the meeting is " to express, without reference to any party question whatever, your undiminished confidence in thejustice of the ciuise, and your inflexible determination to sustain it ; and, to that end, to proffer to the Government your aid, to the extent of all your resources." Gentlemen these words have the ring of the pure metal. They will gladden the throbbing heart of the nation. What patriot will stop at this hour of his country's peril to cavil about party ? Be sure that we have a ronntrij to govern, before we begin the contest who shall govern it. The cup of our political sins will not be drained, until we can look beyond party to our country, and our coun- try only. Six mouths before the breaking out of the rebellion, all that portion' of our country outside of the rebel States was the most prosperous and hapfiy people on the face of the earth. But the rebels, like Haman, borne down by the weight of 06 their own inipotency, envious of thoir more prosperous neighbors, conceived the scheme of taking- from us. by iuauiyuratiiig this rebellion, the glorious inheritance of our fathers, purchased by their blood freely spilled upon an hundred battle- fields. We owe it to ourselves, to posterity, to the sacred memory of our fathers, to mete to them Haraan's fate. To do this, we should be as economical as possible of the lives of the loyal soldiers, and provide bountifully for those going to the field and for those they leave behind. Say to them when they go, '' Use all the means God and nature and circum- stances have put in your power to suppress the rebellion and punish traitors." Kebeis' property, in the rebel sense of the word, of whatever kind, sensible or in- sensible, should be made to contribute to the suppression of the rebellion in any manner that it can be made available. This war has been inaugurated and prosecuted by the rebels without reference to the rights of Union men. It is not for them to claim constitutional guaranties. They have no rights under the Constitution, save the infliction of the penalty of their crimes. They have grown insolent by their dominion over their own slaves, until they have adojrted as their political axiom, " that Slavery is the normal condition of the working classes." Upon that principle they are attempting to build their empire. This is in derogation of English liberty and American liberty, and of all that has raised the Anglo-Saxon race to its present greatness in this country and in Europe. It is an attempt to degrade every free laboring man in the nation ; not only the native born, but the German and Irishman, who seek an asylum in this land of the free, are denounced as only fit for slaves. Mr. Jefferson has given us advice intended, doubtless, for occasions like the present. He says : — ' A strict observance of the written law is, doubtless, one of the highest duties of a good citizei. ; but not the highest. The law of necessity of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obliga- tion. To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to written law, would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property, and all those who are enjoying them with us ; thus absurdly sacrificing the end to the means." Here is a chart made for the occasion by one who comprehended our institutions and the enormities of rebellion. Gentlemen, this is the last contest our free institutions will have, if we put forth the strength of the nation, and punish rebellion as it deserves. But re- member, there is but one time left to put down the usurpers — that is the present. We cannot fold our arms this year, and fight the next. We must fight now, or all is lost. The contest is gigantic — the result, the freedom or enslavement of the nation. It is the removal of the last fetter thrown around the thirteen old colo- nies. Redeemed and disenthralled, America will rise with new strength, and in sublime proportions, the beauty of the whole earth. This is the most gigantic rebellion the world ever saw. There is the most gigantic stake being played for. The (piestion is : Shall Slavery or Freedom be universal ? There is no concealing it. Tiiis is the issue. The rebels have pre- sented and /'y/av/ it upon the nation. We have accepted, and it is to be tried at the point of the l)ayonet and the muzzle of the cannon ; and were it not for the traitors in our midst, the verdict for freedom would be rendered in three months. Every device that the devil can invent and put into the heads of trai- tors, seems to be brought forward to keep men out of the field, and to paralyze the arms of those already there. 'I'hese traitors are tolerated in high and low places. It is the grasp of their hand now upon the body politic that partially paralyzes our streuirth. They are endeavoring to enlarge their grasp. This is our danger. But there were traitors in the Ciimp of Moses, in the social family of Jesus Christ ; in the army of the Revolution, and it would be wonderful if we had them not now in this our country's struggle. They have ever received their reward, and they will, doubtless, in the present instance. Gentlemen, everything depends on prompt, resolute and determined action, under the blessing of God. I am. yours. mper. (Jod bless our country! and tied bless all who now serve it with singleness of heart I I have the honor to be, dear sir, Your faithful servant, CHARLES SUMNER. LETTER OF M. F. ODELL, REPRESENTATIVE FRO.M NEW- YORK. Washington. Julij 14///, 18G2. Cliarle^ Gould, Secrdurij, and otiieis. Gentlemen, — 1 am in receipt of your invitation to attend and address a mass meeting to be held to-morrow, the Llth inst., in New- York city. It would be my pleasure to attend, but ray duties here will prevent. You propose a gathering of men of all parties. Never, in my judgment, since the first rebel gun was fired, have there been reasons so strong as at this hour when all loyal and patriotic men should combine their energies to crush out. and put down forever, the foes of the Union. Whatever may have been our diiferences of opiniim in relation to measures or policy, it must be evident to all good men, that this country can be saved and the Luiion maintained, by sustaining the gov- ernment in its efforts to put down this rebellion. I have no doubt as to the results of this conflict. Our cause is just and right, and I believe there is a de- termination deep down in the hearts of the people to crush out this monster ; hence I have confidence that men and means will be forthcoming as they are needed. I believe further, that it will be done with no compromises, until the last rebel shall ground bis arms. Yours, truW, M. F. ODELL. LETTER OF EDWARD HATGHT, REPRESENTATIVE FROM NEW-YORK. Washington City, Jidij 14//;, 1862. Charles Gould, Esq., Scc'r/ of Select Committee, and others : Gentlemen, — ^I ani just in receipt of your invitation to attend a meeting of loyal citizens, on Tuesday next, and only regret that my duties here will prevent my being present in person. I most heartily, however, accord with the emphatic language of the call, and have no doubt, as to the hearty and cheerful response of the people to stop the l/fe-hlood of the nation, now rapidly flowing away. The destiny and restoration of the Union is certain, and the opportunity to assist in its consummation, will be one, (if taken advantage of,) that will redound to the honor and credit of the participant for ages yet to come. To preser\e the Constitution and the Union, in their unity and integrity, to vindicate in crer// par/ of this Republic, one and indivisible, its supreme law, should be the paramount object of every loyal citizen. Pledging untiring exertions to accomplish that end, I am, gentlemen, very truly, yours, EDWARD HAIGHT. M. C. 9lh Cong. Dist., N. Y. 102 LETTER OF ALFRED ELY, REPRESENTATIVE FROM NEW-YORK. House of Representatives. [ Washington, D. C, Juhj litli, 18G'2. ( Charles Gould, Esq. ; Sir, — I duly received the letter addressed to me on the 11th instant, by a Com- mittee of whicli you are Secretary, and which was constituted by the Common Council of New- York city, hy the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New- York, by the Union Defence Committee, and by bodies of loyal citizens of New- York city, invitini;- me to address, to-morrow, amass meeting in your city, of all parties who are in favor of supporting the Government in the prosecution of the war, and suppressing tlie rebellion. I regret that my {)ublic duties will not allow me to accept this invitation. Congress is just upon the eve of an adjournment, and the transaction of the im- portant bu:iness still before it, requires that a quorum of its members should remain here. It would give me the greatest pleasure to be present to witness such an out- pouiing of the citizens of the commercial metropolis of the nation as I anticipate from their well-tried and unshaken loyalty, to testify " their undiminished confi- dence in the justice of the cause'' in which we are engaged, and '' their inflexible determination to sustain it." Such expressions as this mass meeting is designed to give, accompanied by the " proffer to the Government,'' by the people of the city of New-York, of '• their aid to the extent of all their resources," will be of incalculable benefit to the country at home and abroad. It will silence faction among ourselves, and demonstrate to European powers that our front to the enemy is still solid and unbroken. Begging you to accept for yourself and the Committee, and for their several constituencies, the assurances of my respect, I remain, sir, truly yours. ALFRED ELY. [ LETTER OF ROSCOB CONKLING, REPRESENTATIVE FROM NEW-YORK. House of Representatives, Washington, July I4:th. 1862. Gentlemen, — The duties resting upon a Representative in the closing hours of the present session, require me to be constantly in my seat. Were I at liberty to accept the invitation with which you have honored me, it would give me great pleasure to address a mass meeting of your citizens on 'J'uesday next. Although debarred the privilege of participating in your proceedinizs, I shall regard them with an interest not likely ever again to attach to any similar occa- sion. The exigencies and demands of the hour give to public action at this moment an importance which cannot now be realized. A great future is enshrouded in a little period immediately before us. Tlie fate of our country depends upon the alacrity of its citizens. Your great metropolis has the leading part in the sacri- fices, and the duties which av.'ait us. The imperial j)osition of our State was never shown so conspicuously ; her re- sources and munificence have never been so indispensable to the whole nation, as since the outbreak of the present rebellion. The position New- York shall now as- sume will exert a commanding influence upon tlie final issue of our luitioiuxi diffi- culties, and the action of the meeting on Tuesday, will do much to awaken feel- ing throughout the State. Let the city s])eak in emphatic tones in favor of sparing nothing that stands in the way of crushing treason at home, and repelling insolence from abroad. The meeting is timely, and I wi.sh it complete success. I have the honor to be, your obedient servant, ROSCOE CONKLING. Hon. James W. White, and others. Committee. 108 LETTER OF SCHUYI.ER COLFAX, REPRESENTATIVE FROM INDIANA. House of Rkpresentatives. ) Washington City, Ja/i/ 14///, 18G2. f My Dear Sir : I thiink you for the lioiior conferred on nic by the fomnuttee of which you are Secretary, inviting me to address the meeting of the loyal citizens of my native city to-morrow, and assure you of my regret that public duties will prevent my attend- ing. I doubt not that the Empire City will speak on that occasion in a manner and with an empliasis that will be heard and heeded througliout the entire Re- public, as well as beyond the Atlantic ; and that will prove tluit our country, doubly dear to us now, not only by the sacrifices of those who founded it, but by the more recent sacrifices of the brave soldiers who have defended it against traitors, is dearer to us all in its hour of trial than in its brightest era of peace and prosperity. I cannot give you my opinion of the duty of this eventful hour in briefer terms than the following resolution, which I bad the honor to offer at a largely attended Congressional caucus last Saturday evening, and which was adopted with grati- fying unanimity : •■ Resolved. 'Fhat we hold it to be the duty of all loyal men to stand by the LTninn in this hour of its trial — to unite their hearts and hands in earnest and patriotic efforts for its maintenance against those who are in arms against it — to sustain, with determined resolution, our patriotic President and his administra- tion in their most energetic efforts for the prosecution of tlie war and the preser- vation of the Union against enenues at home and abroad — to punish traitors and treason with fitting severity— ami to so crush the present wicked and causeless rebellion that no flag of disunion shall ever again be raised over any ])ortion of the Republic. That, to this end, we invite the co-operation of all men who love their country in the endeavor to rekindle throughout all the States such a [latriotic fire as shall utterly consume all who strike at the Union oF our Fatliers, and all who sympathize with their treason or palliate their guilt " Very trulv, yours, SCHUYLER COLFAX. Chas. Gould, Esq., Secretary, tVc, S^c. LETTER FROM COMMODORE ANDREW H. FOOTE. New Have.v, July Utii, 1862. My Dear Sir : Your kind letter, as a member of the committee on invitations and speakers at the mass meeting to be held in New- York, on Tuesday next, for the purpose of inciting a deeper interest in the public mind toward the prompt supply of men and means for crushing this atrocious rebellion, has been received. I deeply regret that an imperative sense of duty to the Government, as well as to myself, prevents my complying with your invitation to be present and address the citizens of the great metropolis on such a momentous occasion. Still suffer- ing from the effects of my wound received at Fort Donelson, although rapidly improving in health, my physicians have enjoined upon me the necessity of repose of mind and body for the present, as essential in enabling me to return at an early day to active service in the war. We owe it to our honor as a nation, to our children and posterity, to transmit to them, if needs be with our blood and treasure, the preservation of the most free and beneficent government ever established upon the earth. Shall the North, with her twenty millions and untold resources, pusillanimously yield to six millions of miserable rebels in arms ? No ! death itself would be preferable 104 to mon who have any claim to manhood. Let every citizen, then, rush to the field, or furnish a substitute, to enable the heroic and accomplished leader of the Army of the Potomac, who is now awaiting reinforcements only, to strike the final l>low in crushing forever this atrocious rebellion. Let the ladies of Xew-York continue to give their support to this glorious cause. They are all potent in persuasive influence ; but in instances where this fails, let them decline — spurn — the attentions of all young men who remain at home when they might be in the fight vindicating the honor of our flag, until these young men shall present themselves aa having done their part on the battle-field toward transmitting the rich legacy of such a Government as theindo- mital)le courage of the fathers of our republic have bequeathed to their children. Let the \orth but appreciate the crisis, and trusting in the Grod of battles, we will hurl defiance at our enemies, internal and external. I am, respectfully, and very truly, yours, ANDREW II. FOOTE. Chas. Goui-d, Esq., New- York. LETTER OF GEN. LEWIS WALLACE. POUGHKEEPSIE, N. Y., JuJ ij 11th, 1862. Chris. Gould, Esq., Secretartj, dc. Dear Sir, — The note from the Select Committee inviting me to address the meeting in your city on the 1.5th instant, has just reached me. I regret it did not come in time to enable me to comply. The army needs recruitment badly, and I am greatly pleased at the manner it is taken hold of in New-York. Be kind enough to inform the committee why their favor was not sooner an- swered. Very respectfully, sir, Your friend and servant, LEWIS WALLACE. LETTER OF A. D. BACHE, SUPERINTENDENT OF UNITED STATES COAST SURVEY. Coast Sdrvey Office, ) Washington, D. C, Jahj Uth, 1862. j" Gentlemen : I thank you cordially for the opportunity you give me of being present at the meeting of ■' loyal citizens," on Tuesday, the loth instant. Every one of your wafchwords touch the very depths of my heart. No party, but the whole country. A union of all for the support of the Government in an energetic prosecution of the war for the suppression of the rebellion, Undiminished confidence in the justice of the cause. Inflexible determination to sustain it. Aid to the Government to the extent of all resources of mind, body and estate. How must such words stir the souls of all loyal citizens ! How nmch I regret that I may not, consistently with pressing duties, enjoy the enthusiasm of this mass meeting. The corps to which I belong is dispersed among the army and navy expe- ditions in Virginia, North and South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana, lending the aid of their miimte local knowledge freely to the army and navy expeditions. After this service they will be ready to contiime maps of the coast and to con- tribute personal information which will be useful in case of intirvention, as that already contributed has been against rebellion. All these men would be de- lighted to be counted as particles in the mass meeting of loyal citizens. All unite with me in three times three cheers for the watchwords of your committee. Very respectfullv vours, " A. D. BACHE. James W. White, George Opdykr, Samuel Sloan, Prosper M. Wetmoke, Denning Duer, Charles Gould, Select Committee. 105 LETTER FROM REV. H. W. BELLOWS, PRESIDENT OF SAN- ITARY COMMISSION. Washington-, D. C, Juhj 12M, 18G2. /. W. White, Geu. Opdi/fcr, ^x. Gentlemen, — I regret that my previous engatjenients, whicli carry me to another section of our troubled country, will not permit me to accept your invi- tation to address the ])eople of New-York at the mass meeting' of loyal citizens on the loth instant. I should rejoice to participate in that important meeting. The 7nasses are the great constituents of those who are waging this defence of democratic institutions against the assavilts of the proudest aristocracy in the world. It is not slavery, but the aristocratic spirit of feudalism, which simply finds its accidental expression in negro slavery, which is now making its last and most bloody struggle (in modern history) in this civil war. AVe are fightinc: the poor man's, the working-man's, the foreign emigrant's, the mechanic's, the clerk's battle. Their last battle for political and social equality. Feudalism on the other side of the water, in all her various shapes — French, English, and Austrian — hates our prospect of success, and loves every rebel who strikes us with bullet or bayonet, as if he were in her own employ. But, if we have the aristocrats of the whole world agidnst us. we have the people of the whole world with us ! AYe are fight- ing against thrones and principalities and powers — fighting for equal rights, the poor man's liberties, the dignity of labor, and the principle of self-government. We are fighting for the gospel of Christ, in its political expression, against the religions of caste and the hierarchies of birth and blood. When the people /;noi« this, every man will drop his quill, his last, his spade, his hannner. his hod, his ledger, his comfort, his party prejudices, his home and his fortune, to enlist! That is the thing to do, and to do at once. It is the only practical proof of patriotism that ought to be accepted from an able-bodied man, between twenty and forty, at this crisis of liberty and democratic existence. Yours, with utmost sympathy, H. W. BELLOWS. LETTER OF EDWARD EVERETT. Boston, Uth Jul;/, 1862. Charles Gould, Esq. : Dear Sir, — I received, a moment since, a copy of your circular of the llth, inviting me to attend a mass meeting of loyal citizens, of all parties, in New- York, to-morrow. It would give me great pleasure, if it were in my power, to take part in a meeting, called in the great Metropolis of the Union, for the patriotic pur- poses indicated in the circular ; but my ofBcial duty as a member of the Board of Overseers of Harvard College, requires me to be at Cambridge on Commence- ment day, the I 6th. New- York needs no voice from abroad to cheer her in the path of duty, at this momentous crisis. I remain, dear sir, very respectfully, yours, EDWARD EVERETT. LETTER OF JOHN A KING. Jamaica, L. I., /;t press forward," and be satisfied with knowing and insisting that, in the future, the sentiments and action of the Government will be, and shall be, clear, decisive and concentrated ; seeking, what thus seeking it is sure to accompli.-'h. the rapid and complete reduction, by military power, of the revolted territory and population to allegiance to their and our Constitution. I know that there are loyal, intelligent and earnest lovers of their country, who conceive that they have no part or heart in this war, if it be not so directed that the social institution of s'aveiy shall not survive it, and others who imagine that they will not help put down the rebellion if slavery is to fall with it. But these opinions gocovi no considerable number of the loyal population ; and, indeed, if those who profess the one or the other of them, were put to the test. 1 am persuaded that the Flag and the Constitution would lose few of them as defenders. Anil now it is prochiiraed, as with a trumpet, throughout the land, to rebels and to loyal men alike, that the buiden and the heat of the war are upon us ; that our manhood and our birthright are iu the issue ; and that the sun which 107 sets upon tliis day of oiir trial, will look upon us a proud, a happy, a free, a pow- erful nation, or a rent, distracted, cruslied, despised people. How foolish and feeble a conception of Die fates that this war carries, have they, who regard it as a contest iiivolviiio-. only, the extent of territory and of population wliich our (Government shall maintain dominion over. A nmtilated territory and a dismembered people are results suiliciently intolerable to our pride and our interests. But the disastrous event of this war stops at no such measure of calamity. The Federal Constitution itsi'lf will have been rent in twain, and the fabric of our National liberties will have passed away as a scroll. The noble heritage which the wisdom and conrai>;-(; of heroic ancestors gained for us will have been wrested from our feeble and faithless hands. For this, our self-abasement, there will be "no cure, no aft(n'-]iealtli, no pardon." I believe that the people understand this momentous issue, and that their hearts thrill with the intensity of the emotions its contemplation begets. Have we, by Divine favor, the power to avert this ruin and maintain the life; of the Nation ? This power can be none other tlian military and financial resources, and the wisdom and courage to apply them. The mass of the population supporting the Government, and counting as the supply of its military and financial strength, numbers about twenty-three mil- lions, of which something like a million are slaves. The miiss of the population arrayed in revolt is over eiglit millions, of which three millions are slaves. We thus stand four to one of the free population of tlie country, ibr the Govern- ment. Are these five millions of free whites, mounted on the shoulders of three million black slaves, able to predominate over our twenty millions of free whites, in battle and in war, as they have done in politics and in peace? Jf they are, they had better be dismounted. But the question carries its own answer. If. on our part, the battles are still political, and the war peaceful, this treason will overthrow our Government. If we are to save the lives, the property, the feelings and the pride of the rebels, and waste only the lives, the courage and the strength of the loyal people, we are the allies of the rebels, not their enemies, and undermine, from within, the citadel, which they assault from without. If. on the other hand, we will dismiss politics and peace from our minds and from our hearts ; if our advancing armies shall treat the population in revolt, whether black or white, slave or free, as rvar groups them — as i-ebel or as loyal, as hostile or as submissive ; if the Government will execute the simple policy, " par- cere suhjectis. debel/are snperbos," — root out the haughty aristocricy that urges on the rebellion, and spare the abject ft)llowers it has cheated wnd forced into its support, '• the hand of the Government will be in the neck of its enemies." We shall see this treason crouch and cower under the thunderbolts of war, and the leaders of the revolt strangled in the cruel rage with which the terrified and suf- fering masses will seek for victims, to save themselves and make peace with the Government. Thus far the weakness of our sentiments has been the strength of the rebel- lion. The battles of the Peninsula— so glorious to our soldiery — have made any further feebleness of purpose, or random aim, impossible, but at the cost of the nation's life. The Government and the people are now thoroughly aroused, thoroughly informed. Our rulers will lead, and we shall follow, fa'^t and far. Everything is full of courage and strength, and the tide of war will never ebb till we are, again, one people, with one Constitution and one destiny. I cannot be at your meeting, but in the earnest and patriotic activity which will there receive new impulse, I shall give every aid of time, of money, and of labor which shall be in my power. I am, with great respect to yourself and the Committee, Tour obedient servant, WM. M. EVARTS. To Chas. Gould, Esq., Secretary, ^c. 108 LETTER OF JAMES T. BRADY. New-York, Jidij Ibth, 1862. Hon. George Opkyke : Dkar vSir, — I regret tliat I will uot be able to address my fellow-citizens at the Union Meeting called for this afttraoon, being troubled with an affection of the throat, which prevents my making such au effort as would be required to speak before a large assemblage, in the open air. I am sorry that some of our countrymen are so prone to despond or complain, because we do not triumph in every encounter with our opponents, and tliat the appreciation of great victories in the past, is lost in mourning over the discom- fitures of the hour. It is (juite likely that errors have been committed in the conduct of the present war. By whom, when, and how, will all be certainly made known hereafter. We have no time now for lamentations or complaints. The whole of our thoughts and efforts should be applied in vigorously devoting the power of the present, so as to secure prosperity in the future. We are engaged in a war with men who display a fierce resolution to overcome us by force of arms. If we do not defeat them, they will defeat us. Our course is, therefore, very plain. We should cheerfully and ener- getically sustain the Government in putting down the rebellion, and restoring our national authority. For this purpose more men are required. I'hey must and will be furnished. No fear of consequences, such as might offend our political opinions, should for one moment obstruct this exhibition of loyalty. AVe did not invite nor begin the war. ^Ve sought to prevent a calamity so dire It is the work of ambitions and bad leaders at the South, whose defeat and disgrace will surely come. AVhen we succeed, as we ultimately shall, then, and not before, will be the time to decide upon all the grave political questions which may arise out of the conflict now progressing, or the cause which produced it. 'I'he su- premacy of our laws is indispensable to ensure a full and free discussion of those questions at the South. It is quite obvious tbat we must have more troops, not only to meet the present exigencies, but also to provide for those which may hereafter arise. It is well to prepare for foreign intervention, although I see little cause for apprehending such an occurrence. France is not in a condition to neglect her own affairs, and attend to ours. England has not for many years shown much eagerness to engage in hostilities with a formidable power. I am loth to believe tliat any large number of the English people will be found as ma- lignant, false, or vacillating as the London Tunes. Jf intervention by a foreign government is ever to happen, I wish it would occur now, while our people have their military spirit aroused. Such a wicked assault upon us would call into the field every man on our soil who was capable of bearing arms. And it is not likely that if France, for the first time, appeared as our enemy, in a foul alliance with Britain, the continent would look on with entire indifference, and furnish us no aid against ancient enemies. Let us have an army under whose protection we can safely and decently announce, that while we seek no (juarrel with any nation, neither will we avoid one, when to do so would, in the slightest degree, impair our strength, prosperity, or honor. For my own part, 1 have confidence in the intelligence, patriotism and judg- ment of the President and his cabinet, although in saying this I do not mean to assert that the course adopted by him or them has, in every instance, been the wisest or best for the occasion. I have confidence in General McClellan. I know that, however foes or slanderers may assail him, he has, and will have, to sustain him in every event, the gratitude, admiration, and love of the masses. 1'ime will confirm this statement, if there be now one reason to discredit it. I have no doubt, whatever, that we are to win the fight in which we are engaged. It may be protracted ; it may involve unparalleled outlay of treasure, loss of life, and suffering. Hui, dreadful at these consequences are, we must encounter them all to preserve the republic, keep unsullied the honor of our flag, and prevent the coming of a time when it may truly be said that there is no such power on earth as •' The United States of America." 109 We are solving tlie great problem whether a free government, founded on the free action of the people, can be permanently maintained. In the solution of that question, it is not alone the American people, or this generation, tliat is interested. It deeply concerns the whole world. It is to affect the happiness of races and' generations to come. That is one reason why the natives of so many lands nobly unite with the American, in the struggle for our success. Let all who feel a desire that we should triumph, forget everything else in the enthusiastic en- deavor to make that triumph certain. Yours, truly, JAMES T. BRADY. LETTER OF RICHARD BUSTLED, ESQ. New- York, Julij \2fh, 18G2, ) 237 Broadway. \ Hon. James W. IVhitc, Geo. Opdyke, Samuel Sloan, Prosper M. Wetmore, Dennino- Duer, Charles Gould, Select Committee, ifc. : Gentlemen, — -I regret it is not in my power to accept your invitation to ad- dress the mass meeting to be held in this city on tlie 15th inst. Circumstances wholly beyond my control, will prevent me the pleasure I would derive from being present to swell the chorus of patriotism which on that day will ari,-e from the great heart of loyal New- York, in support of the Government, and in unmis- takable rebuke of treason and traitors at home, and malignets and meddlers abroad. Be assured, gentlemen, of my entire sympathy in the movement. I regard it as a step in the right direction, and rejoice that there is among our people, an "inflexible determination to sustain" the Government, without reference to mere political views, and looking only to the re-establishment of its power over every acre of its soil, and every one of its subjects. The time is when party must be lost sight of in the higher claims of duty and fealty to country. Who falters now in these, let him henceforward be distrusted, let his name be a byword and a scorn, let him live in shame and die in dishonor. Let it be understood and declared that, " Freedom's soil has only place For a free and fearless race ; None for traitors false and base.'' In this terrible struggle for life, we must not fail. Our shortcoming would justly be accounted treason to the race, and impiety to God. We cannot fail but by being false to the commonest instincts of honor and pride. Let no true man carp now. No real patriot will retard the success of our cause either by personal supineness, or by indulging in criticisms upon the Government, which have the effect of antagonisms. Let it be left to our enemies to cavil, while we bear proudly aloft, and hold up to the wistful gaze of the world, the standard of Constitutional Freedom, symbolized by an unimpaired American nationality. With great respect. Your fellow-citizen. RICHARD BUSTEED. [ no LETTER OF REV. J. P. THOMPSON. No. 32 West Thirty-sixth street, July im, 4 P. M., 1862. Dear Sir : The invitatiou of the Select Committee of the Chamber of Commerce, to ad' dress the mass meeting at Union Square, to-morrow, has just come to hand- ]\Iost gladly would I contribute in any way to the object of that meeting — the support of the Government in suppressing the rebellion — an object to" which I am ready to devote time, means, labor, children, whatever I possess or can in- fluence for so great a cause. All that is dear to us for ourselves and our chil- dren, all that is dear to us as friends of freedom and of humanity, all that is dear to us as Christians, seeking to establish and to perfect upon this w^estern conti- nent a civilization founded upon public virtue and equity, the fear of God and the riglits of man ; all of value from the past, of good in the present, of hope for the future — demands that this atrocious rebellion be subdued, and its more atrocious cause be utterly exterminated. Yours truly, JOS. P. THOMPSON. Ch.\s. Gould, Esq. LETTER OF GEORGE GIBBS, OF WASHINGTON TERRITORY. Washington City, July 13th, 1862. Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your invitation to address the mass meeting of loyal citizens in Union Square, New-York, on 15th inst. I re- gret that official business prevents my accepting the call. Let me assure you, however, that though no one may officially represent the Territory of ^Vashington at the contemplated meeting, I can answer for the truth and fidelity of her people to the Union, without question and without qualification. I am sir, very truly, Your obedient servant, GEORGE GIBBS. Charles Gould, Esq., Secretary. OPINIONS OF THE PRESS, [Froin the New-York World, Juhj 1 (;;//.] The grand demonstration at Union Square, yesterday afternoon, was a gathering- in every way worthy of the great cause that had 'called it forth. An hour previous to the time named for the meeting, the Park was crowded with men and women anxious to secure eligible positions, where they could sit in the shade and listen tu the music for the Union. From the hotels and housetops, and from the churches, the stars and stripes were displayed with the utmost profusion. The windows looking from the residences upon all sides of the Sijuare were thrown up, and the balconies front- ing them filled with ladies and children, whose presence served greatly to add to the animation of the scene below. Broadway and the otiier thoroughfares leading to the Square were thronged with the multitudes who had closed their stores and work?hop3 to attend the meeting. Every class and trade were repre- sented. 'J"he wealthy mil'ionaire, who had left the luxuries of a well-filled table and dashed up in a splendid equipage, had come prepared to counsel with the hard-fisted laborer who had left mattock and spade, crow-bar and Ijarrow, to de- vise mtans for maintaining the Union ; and the voices of both were unanimous that " it must and shall be preserved." The stands were ranged in numerical order, beginning with No. 1, at the monument, passing round the Square in a north-wes'terly direction, and terminat- ing with No. 5. They were substantial structures, and beautifully draped with bunting, the stars and stripes being conspicuous over all. Around these the crowd began to assemble at half-past three o'clock ; and from that moment the num- bers increased until the hour of adjournment. 'I"he utmost enthusiasm prevailed upon all sides. Bands of music were playing at intervals, and Anthon's Light Battery boomed forth a welcome to the coming thousands who were marshaling from town and country in a common cause. As the gathering grew more dense, the cars on the Fourth Avenue Railroad ceased running — it being impossible for them to get through. The Broadway stages ran off their line also, the entire space occupied by the Square being given up unreservedly to the purposes of the meeting. Prominent in the assemblage were the veterans of the war of 1812, in uniform, their swords buckled on as if ready for another contest, and their voices urging the young men everywhere to enlist. At four o'clock the workingmen from the lower wards came up en inas.se, and shortly afterward the "jackets of blue " from the Navy Yard made their appear- ance ; also the ship-carpenters at work on the Union gun-boats, the workmen from Singer's sewing-machine manufactory, and those employed by Henry Brewster k Co. ; these latter a.ssisting to work the Anthon Battery. The New England Soldiers' Relief Association had two huge wagons, one drawn by eight horses and the other by four horses, covered with flags, both laden with patriotic hearts, au.xious with the rest to help on the great cause of crushing the rebellion. It was a mass meeting in every sense of the word. The presence of 100,000 men stamped it as earnest, and likely to be productive of untold results. It was a mass meeting in point of numbers, of wealth, of class, of respectability, and, above all, of loyalty and devotion to the grand old Union, Even the boys iu the 112 street paraded in uniform, waving the American flag, and cheering the patriotic utterances of their elders. Looking from the several stands, the eye encountered a sea of faces not commonly met at great gatlnTiiigs. Th^-re was an almost utter absence of h-vity and disorder. Every countenance said plainly tliat its owner had come there with an earnest purpose ; that the time for trifling had passed ; that the great crisis was at hand ; and, by the help of God and their own right arms, that they meant to meet the issue as became American freemen, worthy to preserve the liberties transmitted them by their fathers. [From the Evening Post, July IGt/i.] If the great meeting of April, 1861, was more numerous and enthusiastic than that of yesterday, it was because the nation then felt the first glow of its patriotic ardor. But, with the exception of that grand outbreak, no meeting ever hi'ld in the city has surpassed the one of yesterday in grandeur and life. A sea of men and women filled the vast spaces around Union Square, so that streets, sidewalks, balconies and windows were filled, while the proceedings were marked throughout by the utmost animation. In the eloquent speeches of (jieneral VValbridge, Judge Daly, Dr. Hitchcock, Mr. Coddington, Delafield Smith, and others, there was a noble utterance of the grand pervading sentiment of the occasion. We have given elsewhere such reports of the speeches and doings as our space admits, and we design In this column merely to record impressions produced upon us by a careful observation of the masses assembled. The war impulse is apparently as vigorous and determined as it ever was ; the devotion of the people to the Union is as strong ; but this patriotic zeal is tempered by a greater thoughtfulness. A year ago we were ready to rush into battle without preparation, and despising the enemy like a troop of headlong boys, who love excitement and are reckless of consequences. But at this time, though we are no less determined to fight, we desire to do so with a distinct object and a care^ ful estimate of the means. We have learned from experience that our enemy, being of our own blood, is no despicable opponent ; we know his desperation ; and we feel that he is only to be overcome by the most strenuous and persistent efforts. We cannot play with him any longer, and if we fight him we must fight him in grim and deadly earnest. We must not stand on trifles if we mean to put down the rebellion speedily and forever. The single result of this great assemblage has been to express the necessity of a more active and stringent prosecution of hostilities. >i'o other opinion was uttered ; no other sentiment tolerated. A drunken fellow near Fremont's stand began to mutter something about •' abolitionists," but he was instantly silenced by the cry that the war must go on at all hazards, and by every means in our power. No one tries to revive those old partisan cries who is not in the interest of secession, while loyal men and women everywhere will echo the resolve of this gigantic congregation, to urge " upon the Government the exercise of its utmost skill and vigor in the prosecution of this war, unity of design, compre- hensiveness of plan, a uniform policy and a stringent use of all the means within its reach, consistent with the usages of civilized warfare." [F^io/n the Coniinercial Advertiser, July 10. | The gathering of the loyal people of this city at Union Square, yesterday after- noon, exceeded the expectations of the most sanguine. In numbers, character 113 and exalted pati-iotisni, it has had no j)arall('l on tliis continent. The siglit of the congregated thoiisancls was calculated to make a New-Yorker feel prond of his citizenship. The uiianiniity of sentiment was niarvelou.s. One loyal pulse beat through the whole mass. One foolish man, apparently of foreign birth, ]iaraded the crowd with a white pocket-kerchief attached to a walking cane, and could not conceal his mortification that he was met everywhere by a smile of conteniyjt. At length, however, somebody gave him a hint that he had made a fool of him- self long enough, and lie was glad of an excuse to " skedaddle." We have said that the unanimity of the multitudinous gathering was marvelous, and we may add that the universal sentiment was that the Federal (Jovernment should be supported in the extremest measures that might be deemed necessary for speedily as well as effectually putting down the infamous revolt of tluj Southern States. One naturally connects the meeting of yesterday with the great Union meet- ing held in the same place when first the news was received that the rebels of Charleston had commenced war against the United States by their attack upon Fort Sumter and its feeble garrison. In some respects there was a similarity between the two meetings, but in other respects a material difference. That of yesterday was much the larger, as we affirm on personal observation. This was scarcely to be anticipated, considering what liberal contributions the Empire City has made to the Federal army. 'I'he fact, however, is suggestive. In the former meeting a universal excitement had suddenly seized upon the community, and every man who loved his country felt all the maddening anguish of the instdt offered to its flag, without any realization of the sacrifice that would have to be made before that insult could be properly resented and punished. Yesterday loyal men came together, after having not only counted the cost of vindicating the country's honor, but having themselves in their persons, their property or their families, actually borne a share of such sacrifice. And yet were the people yesterday even more determined and enthusiastic in their patriotism and de- votion to the Union than were those in April last. "N'or can we withhold our testimony respecting another important feature of yesterday's meeting. That vast multitude most unmistakably declared them- selves in favor of increased vigor in the prosecution of the war, and of greater severity of treatment to those in arms against the Federal Government. And the speakers were manifestly of the same mind. All felt and said that lenity was thrown away upon the vindictive men who have sought, for their own aggran- dizement, the severance of this glorious Union. Men heretofore proverbial for their conservatism— public men who have in days past counseled the exhaustion of all conciliatory measures that could be employed without sacrifice of dignity and right on the part of the Federal Government — merchants whose commercial connection with the South has not unnaturally rendered them averse to extreme measures against the rebels. — prominent politicians, whose party sympathies and party hopes have been bound up with the South — all yesterday agreed and em- phatically declared that the Government must no longer hesitate to employ every power, the use of which is authorized by the laws of warfare, to put a speedy and perpetual end to the rebellion ; and the more emphatically this pm-pose was declared the more enthusiastic was the applause. Another gratifying feature of the meeting was that every allusion to the ne- cessity of further enlistments in the Federal army met with a no less enthusiastic response, while the living mass that filled the Square told plainly that this city has the material for more than its proportion of the additional forces called for. No one who saw the meeting of last night and heard the yearnings and the out- bursts of its patriotism can for a moment entertain any apprehension that volun- teers will be lacking to bear the banner of the Union victoriously to the ex- tremest point of its Southern territory. We should have rejoiced greatly could the President of the United States have seen and heard what transpired in Union Park Square yesterday. He would have received a vivid and indelible impres- sion of this truth, that if he will but strike the rebellion heavily, promptly, de- cisively, a popular support will go with him that will be irresistible. 15 114 [From the Xeiv-York Times, Jidij \6th.] The Voice of the Metropolis. — The great popular demonstration in this city, yesterday, was of a spirit and character sufficiently decided and enthusiastic. It, with the April demonstration of last year, forms the second of the two largest and most influential meetings ever held in New-York. It proclaimed, in unmistak- able language and in clear voice, the purpose of the people in regard to the war and in support of the Union and the Government. From every stand and by every speaker there was but one tone ; and every man present seemed inspired by the spirit of the hour. It was that the war begun by traitors must be pushed on till treason is extirpated from the whole land ; that the Union which, during the year has cost so much blood and treasure, must be battled for while any blood or trea- sure is left in the country ; and that, to this end, the legitimate directors of the war must be upheld in every effort for its successful prosecution, and impelled onward by the people to greater efforts and the most decisive measures. Though during the year thousands of the bravest and best of the sons of New-York have given their lives for the sacred cause, there were yet thousands more ready to meet the ordeal of battle for its support ; and though tens of thousands were now on the battle-field in Virginia, there would be no lack of men willing to follow them there or anywhere else. They were in favor of the strongest measures on the part of the Government ; the most determined vigor on the part of commanders ; the most unflinching prosecution of the war. The most energetic words were applauded with most vehemence ; the most courage- ous expressions met with the warmest response in the people's hearts. Tnere was no talk of discouragement, not the shadow of a thought of doubt of ulti- mate triumphant success. Recent disasters were acknowledged and felt to be but temporary and accidental ; and the long roll of victories that glorify the year gave faith that the triumphs of our arms in the future would be none the less prouder and decisive. There could not have been greater unanimiti/ displayed on the part of all classes and parties in New-York. Men of every political antecedent and of every soc al grade agreed and fraternized, as they have done in the past. There was no thought of any sort of compromise — not a man who dared to propose to turn the back toward the enemy. All felt that whatever stood in the nation's oathway must be broken through, and that nothing in the South nor in the North was so sacred as the Unity of the Republic. On this point the voice of the people, as expressed yesterday, was unmistakable. The meeting of April, last year, was held the day after our troops had been assaulted in Baltimore, and the first blood had been shed in the war. It gave an impetus to volunteering and to the National cause throughout the whole country ; it gave strength and vigor to the Administration, consolidated the sentiment of the city, and was the first unmistakable evidence of a united North. The North has remained united throughout the year, and its unity is still unbroken ; and to this fact, next to the courage of our army, is owing the triumphs of the past over the rebellion. This meeting gives a further expression to the same purpose of the North ; and if it does as much to stimulate the the country and aid the Government, it will be a success. ^ New-York now has had its day of talk. The next work in hand is fighttng. The people have spoken ; now let them buckle on the armor. There is spirit enough, courage enough, faith enough ; let there be no Ijackwardness in volunteering. Three hundred thousand troops are needed — needed at once. Our gallant army, which marched to the field a year ago, has already done more than half the work of crushing the rebellion, and restori g the Union. The men required to aid in finishing the other half of the labor must hasten to do it, and put the capstone of restoration on the National temple. If the masses of the Metropolis act up promptly to the spirit they evinced yesterday, our (|U0ta of troops will be in the field before the close of the week. 115 [From the New-York Herald, July IC] Thk Crisis. — The V'oick of New- York. — No Saorikick too grkat for the Union. — The city of New-York, en itiasae, has risen and spoken again for the Union. Yesterday, in Union Square, we had a re-enactincnt of the sublime spec- tacle of April, 18G1, and a reaffirmation of the same patriotic spirit and deter- mination of our loyal citizens — everything lor the Union. Our great day of April, a year ago, was the response of New-York city to the President's primary call for seventy-five thousand men to maintain " the integrity of the Union," violently assailed by a rebellious conspiracy in the bombardment of Fort Sumter ; and that indignant ujjrising of New-York rallied the loyal North, like the call of a trumpet, to the support of the Tresident. This second grand council of our citizens, after fifteen months of war by land and sea, and after the contribution by our city and State to our army and navy of not less than one hundred and twenty-five thousand men, is in answer to another call of the President for reinforcements to our army to the extent of three hundred thousand men. Anticipating, too, from the diffusion of this imposing demon- stration, such an awakening of our loyal States and people as will meet all the demands of this crisis, we devote a large portion of our available space to-day to the productions of this grand assemblage, in order to spread them broadcast over the land, and to the encouragement of the friends of our great cause and the terror of its enemies at home and abroad. The address of this meeting and the accompanying resolutions speak authori- tatively the voice of our loyal citizens. They stand upon the solid platform of President Lincoln — " The integrity of the Union " — its supremacy, and our Federal Constitution. They expose the disorganizing and anarchical elements of this Southern rebellion with peculiar force — its absurd and hypocritical pre- tences, and its demoralizing and destructive tendencies. The address in ques- tion, after fully establishing the legal supremacy of the Union and its political necessities, condenses the argument into the simple impressive facts that we are fighting '' for the integrity of our country, for our national existence, for the Christian civilization of our land, for our commerce, our arts, our schools ; for all those earthly things which we have been taught most to cherish and respect." The war, then, on our part, is to be prosecuted to the extent of our men, means and resources, for the suppression of this rebellion ; and against any hostile foreign intervention whatever, the Government can count on the unani- mous support of our loyal States and people. Such is the spirit of the address adopted by the city of New-York at this mass meeting, and the accompanying resolutions are equally emphatic in defining our position. The city of New- York looks to no alternative but the suppression of this rebellion. She stands by our gallant armies in the field ; she is prepared for any sacrifice to reinforce and strengthen them ; she approves the wise, just and consistent Union war policy of President Lincoln ; she urges the Government to " lose no time in fill- ing up our armies and putting the whole sea-coast in a state of complete de- fence," and she knows no such word as fail. Each of the numerous speakers on the occasion, though differing from the rest more or less, supports this paramount idea of the vigorous prosecution of the war. We submit our copious reports to the careful attention of our readers : and for their more complete information in regard to the late and the present position of General McClellan"s army, in this connection, we give them a very interesting illustrative map of the field of war around the city of Kichmond. New- York city has spoken, and while the country is responding to her cheering voice let us proceed to action. Let us set an example in action by a prompt contribution of twenty thousand fresh soldiers to our armies in Virginia. That luimber we ought to be able to draw from this grand mass meeting in Union Square. 116 [From the Neu'-York Tribune, Jidtj 16.] New-Yokk is Constant. — A year ago last April, our city held what was probably tho largest public meeting ever convened in America, to emphasize her determination to stand firmly and fully by the Federal Government, in the strug- gle just forced upon it by the slaveholding traitors, in devoting her last dollar and musket to the maintenance of the Union, and the support of its fairly chosen and rightful authorities. That meeting was unequaled in numbers, in unanimity and in dauntless resolution. Nearly fifteen mouths have since passed, and again our city has mustered her tens of thousands to attest anew her devotion to the country and her cause. If the first flush of enthusiasm has passed away, it has been succeeded by a graver, and sterner, more inflexible resolution. At the former meeting, the hope was still cherished that the traitor chiefs would be left to their own devices, and that the Southern masses would compel their assent to a speedy and bloodless reunion. That hope has been dissipated. Though the original and determined secessionists were less than one hundred thousand in number, they have managed to bully or awe the great body of the southern whites into subserviency to their treason. Only from the despised, oppressed, calumniated human chattels of these rebels, has the Union cause any hope of defenders in the States given over to the machinations of traitors. The meeting of yesterday was a fresh exhibition of the earnestness and unanimity wherewith the Union is cherished in the hearts and hopes of our citizens. But it was more than this — it was an entreaty, an exhortation to the Government to employ every influence, every instrument, every energy, in put- ting down the slaveholders' rebellion. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS lUillillllliliil 014 220 427 7