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PliOCEEDINGS 
 
 ATTlCNDIXr; THE OPENING OF 
 
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 UNDEU THE AISPICES OT THE 
 
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 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 
 
 FEBRUARY 22, 1864. 
 
 WASHINGTON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE Br.XEITT OF THE FAIR. 
 
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 Hon. BENJAJIIN B. FRENCH, Presidmt. 
 SELAH SQUIRES, Esq., Secretanj. 
 
 HENRY D. COOKE, Esq.. Vice-President. 
 Mrs. L. E. CHITTENDEN. Treasurer. 
 
 Committee of SlrrauBcmtnt.cs. 
 
 Ho.v. RICHARD WALLACH, Mayor. 
 
 JAMES ADAMS, Esq., 
 
 Mks. S. J. BOWEN, 
 
 Mrs. J. W. ANOUS, 
 
 SIRS. B. B. FRENCH, 
 
 Mrs. GEORGE W. McLELLAN. 
 
 SAYLES J. BO^VEN, Esq., 
 JOB AV. ANGUS, Esq., 
 Mrs. RICHARD WALLACH, 
 Mrs. HENRY D. COOKE, 
 Mrs. PORTUS BAXTER, 
 Mrs. JUSTIN L. MORRILL. 
 
 ^rtcutiijc Commtttcc. 
 
 JOSEPH F. BROWN, Esq. Hon. JOHN :\[. BRODHEAD. 
 
 Hon. GEORGE "W. McLELLAN. 
 SIRS. CAPT. GILLIS, Mrs. J. F. BROWN, 
 
 Mrs. R. FARNHAM, Mrs. J. M. BLANCHARD; 
 
 Mrs. EDWARD CLARKE, Mrs. W. P. DOLE, 
 
 Mrs. D. K. CARTTER, Miss. B. McLELLAN. 
 
 jFmanct Commtttcc, 
 
 WILLIAM B. TODD, Esq., 
 Mrs. W. L. NICHOLSON, 
 
 Mrs. R. FARNHAM, 
 Mrs. D. W. bliss, 
 F. E. SPINNER. 
 
 <2^ommittcc on Dtcoratton. 
 
 HON. J. P. USHER, 
 Hon. E. M. STANTON, 
 Hon. GIDEON WELLES, 
 Hon. D. P. HOLLOWAY, 
 HON. ISAAC NEWTON, 
 Hon. W. p. DOLE, 
 THOS. U. WALTER, Esq. 
 JOHN C. RH'ES, Esq., 
 
 JOHN L. HAYES, Esq., Chairifan. 
 
 CHAS. F. STANSBURY. Esq. 
 D. W. MAHON, Esq., 
 Z. D. OILMAN, Esq., 
 WM. H. BALDWIN, Esq., 
 Gen. DeWITT C. CLARK, 
 Mrs. president LINCOLN, 
 Mrs. Gen. w. f. BARRY, 
 Mrs. EDWARD JORDAN. 
 
|iitrobitcti0ii. 
 
 In December last many of the most respectable and patriotic ladies 
 of Watiliington and Georgetown started the idea of following the ex- 
 ample of those of other cities by inaugurating and carrying on a Fair, 
 in the city of Washington, for the benefit of the brave men Avho are 
 fighting the battles of freedom. The idea took form and action by the 
 assembling of the ladies of the District, when an organization was 
 effected, under the name of "The Ladies Soldier's Relief Association," 
 and officers, a list of whom is appended, were chosen. It was resolved 
 that a Great Fair should be the first result of this organization, and 
 that the net proceeds of it should be equally divided between that truly 
 benevolent and religious body, the Christian Commission, and the 
 Committee of the District of Columbia, appointed in August, 18G2, to 
 collect and disburse money for the relief of the soldiers in the 1st and 
 2d reg-iments of District volunteers, and of volunteer soldiers from the 
 
 o 
 
 District serving elsewhere. 
 
 A committee of ladies was appointed at an early meeting of the As- 
 sociation to procure a hall for the Fair, and, upon calling upon Hon. J. 
 P. Usher, Secretary of the Interior, and Hon. D. P. Hollo way, 
 Commissioner of Patents, the immense room on the north front of the 
 Patent Office building, 260 feet long, sixty feet wide, and twent}-six 
 high, was kindly and cheerfully tendered, and, with many thanks, ac- 
 cepted by the Association. Monday, February 22, was fixed upon as 
 the day on which the Fair should open, and the most energetic and 
 laudable exertions were commenced in making preparation for the oc- 
 casion. Perhaps a busier or more patriotic association of human be- 
 ings could not be found in all this broad Union, than those engaged 
 in this charitable and holy enterprise between December and Feb- 
 
(5 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ruary. Plon. L. E. Chittenden was unanimoui^ly invited to deliver 
 tlie opening address; Hon. B. B. French, president of tlie Asso- 
 ciation, was invited to prepare and pronounce a poem ; and Rev. 
 Bvron Sunderland, D.D., was invited to open the ceremonies by a 
 prayer. 
 
 The eventful 22d of February came, and all the preparations bad 
 been made. The hall presented a spectacle of beauty and grandeur 
 seldom surpassed. It was draped, festooned, and ornamented under 
 the direction of a combination of taste and experience in such matters 
 that could not fail. The Hon. Secretaries of War and the Navy, the 
 officers of the army and navy, and hundreds of others having material 
 at their disposal, freely and cheerfully contributed them to the purpo- 
 ses of ornamentation. From the stage, at the west end of the hall, the 
 (.owp d'til was perfectly magnificent, and the flags, guns, drums, swords, 
 and other implements of war which were presented, bore the most 
 striking evidence of the patriotic fire which burned in every bosom 
 connected with it, and that " the red planet. Mars," was just at this 
 time the ascendant star of our national destinies. 
 ^ On the evening of the opening ceremonies the hall was densely 
 packed Avith human beings at an early hour. At half-past seven the 
 President of the United States, with his estimable lady and eldest son, 
 Mr. Robert Lincoln, came in, escorted by the committee of reception, 
 consisting of Hon. John M. Brodhead, Edmund F. French, esq., Hon. 
 Geo. W. McLellan, and Hon. Edward Jordan. The President and his 
 son took seats upon the stage, and Mrs. Lincoln was seated directly in 
 front. The fine military band of the 2d regiment of District Colum- 
 bia volunteers, furnished by General Augur, played " Hail to the 
 Chief" as the President took his seat. 
 
 The opening ceremonies then commenced, and were as follows: 
 
Xll^tX. 
 
 By Rev. BY EON SUNDERLAND, D.D, 
 
 Almighty and everlasting God, the Lord of life and the infinite 
 Source of all our blessings, we, Thy people, desire to lift iip our 
 hearts and our voices together to adore Thee now and forever. We 
 acknowledge our transgressions in Thy sight, trusting alone in Thy 
 mercy. We thank Thee for the gift of Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our 
 only Saviour, for the revelation of faith, for the assurance of pardon, 
 and for the hope of glory. 
 
 We thank Thee for Thy word, and Thy Church established in 
 the earth. We thank Thee for our nation, and for the privilege of 
 living in these momentous times. We thank Thee that, when the 
 defiance of rebellion had been lifted up, anck the flames of civil war 
 had been kindled into a wide-spread conflagration to consume the 
 mighty structure of our Government, and to lay waste all the securi- 
 ties of its peace, its perpetuity, and its dignity among the nations of 
 the earth, then the summons sounded, and millions of freemen arose 
 for its protection and definicc. 
 
 We thank Thee, Lord, that through the long-protracted and 
 bloody struggle, demanding so much sacrifice of life and of treasure, 
 the heart of the nation has never faltered ; and though tears have 
 dropped like the rain upon the halloAved graves of our countrymen 
 who have been slain in battle or have fallen in the progress of the 
 terrible conflict, still they come to fill up anew the decimated ranks, 
 and to offer upon the altar of our common country all that men hold 
 dear. 
 
 We thank Thee for the Christian impulse that in so many cities 
 throughout the land has moved this measure of munificence for the 
 behoof of the suffering fomilies of our brave men shattered in the 
 strife. We thank Thee for Avoman's loyal heart and noble perseve- 
 i"auce, for we know that in sympathies and deeds like these she shines 
 
8 PRAYER. 
 
 in the majesty of more than earthly beauty, and that her prayer 
 ascends to Heaven like the offering of a sweet incense in the name 
 of Jesus. 
 
 We thank Thee that on this great day, so signal in the annals 
 of America by the name and the life of Washington, thy servants 
 have been permitted to inaugurate the scenes of a spectacle which 
 must animate all hearts, and quicken these thronging multitudes to 
 the most prompt and cordial generosities. 
 
 And now we pray that in all these coming days and nights Thy 
 grace may be upon the labors of Thy servants, abundantly to prosper 
 and to bless them. We pray that all things may be ordered to 
 comport Avith the gra^aty of the occasion and the purpose, so that 
 these and all other measures of the people and the Government may 
 conduce to the welfare of the disabled and the destitute. 
 
 And now, Lord our God, Thou hast taught us to reverence all 
 lawful authority, and to pray for those who bear rule over us. We 
 invoke Thy blessing upon Thy servant, the President of the United 
 States. Have him in Thy holy keeping. Give him strength of body 
 and of mind, and inspiration from on high, that he may hold with a 
 steady hand the helm of the Ship of State through this fearful 
 tempest of the voyage. 
 
 Pour out Thy blessing upon the members of his Cabinet — upon 
 the officers and members of Congress, now here convened — upon the 
 Governors of the States — upon the State Legislatures — upon all the 
 Judges and Magistrates of the land — and upon all the Municipal 
 authorities in this and other cities and towns of our common country. 
 
 Above all, we beseech Thee, Lord of Hosts, bless the officers 
 and the men of the Army and of the Navy. Be with them in the day 
 of battle, and gird them for the mighty fight. And now we lift this 
 whole nation in our prayer to God, and beseech Thee, Thou ever- 
 living King, that, since the sword has to be drawn, we may throw 
 away the scabbard and fight on for freedom, and fight it out for Thy 
 glory, even unto the end. Amen. 
 
 J 
 
5 i( I) r c 5 s 
 
 liOlSr. L. E. CIIITTENDElSr. 
 
 Reported expressly for the Fair by G. W. MORGAN, esq. 
 
 Mr. President, Ladies, and Fellow-Citizens: 
 
 In the long \\^t of charities, which have now become as numerous 
 as the sins and wants of man, I know of none that shoukl appeal more 
 strongly to all that is noble in our natures, than the one M-hich holds 
 this evening, within these walls, its inaugural session. 
 
 We /larc had an imperilled country. Treason, with strong hand, 
 has sought to strike down the government which was the pride of our 
 fathers and our pride, and to erect upon its ruins a monument to 
 tyranny, sin, and crime. To save that government, we have been 
 compelled to resort to arms ; and the fathers, husbands, and sons of 
 this nation, leaving all that Avas dear but their patriotism behind them, 
 have gone forth for us and ours to fight, to conr[uer, or to die ! We, 
 who are left behind, would show them by our actions here that though 
 absent, they are not forgotten ; that our hearts are full of them ; that 
 for their minds as for their bodies we will provide ; that for their wives 
 and children they need have no anxiety, for they, each and all, shall 
 be the objects of our tender care ! 
 
 A noble charity, did I say ? The language has no name to express 
 its nobility. It is a combination of all the charities. A very Trinity 
 of Beneficence, Patriotism, and Religion. 
 
 In all that is said or done in connexion with such an enterprise, its 
 success, alone, should be kept in view. If I am to occupy a few min- 
 utes of your time, I would do so to some practical end. I would show, 
 if I could, why it is that such enterprises merit our support, and how 
 great the debt is which the country owes to its defenders ; that debt 
 upon which you here propose to pay a small instalment of interest. 
 
lO ADDRESS. 
 
 It may be thought in bad taste to go back and endeavor to ascertain 
 the cause of the strong agony Avhich convulses this nation. I tliink 
 not. The lesson we are learning would lose much of its value if we 
 did not understand M'hy it is that we must learn it. 
 
 Can it be possible that the nation should be thus afflicted ; that 
 war should be permitted to cover this country, blasting some of its 
 fairest portions ; that our people should become familiarized with 
 scenes of violence and blood, unless there was some good reason ? 
 No such a belief would impugn the justice of Heaven. Nations, like 
 individuals, must be punished for their crimes. Our nation had been 
 guilty of great, of long-continued, and horrible crimes. The time 
 came for their punishment, and that punishment has been made equal 
 to the offences, and adequate to secure a national repentance and 
 reformation ! 
 
 Among the institutions of the Old World that were transmitted to the 
 shores of the New was that of human slavery. At the time of its im- 
 portation it Avas tolerated in most of the civilized nations of the world. 
 It was used as a weapon of war, or as a means of profit ; but in no 
 State was it regarded as an element of political strength or power. 
 In none did it exercise a political influence. After the growth of a 
 hundred years in the New World, the time came when this People 
 was to take its stand among the nations of the earth, and form 
 for itself a system of government. The student of our political 
 history will not need to be informed that he will search it in vain 
 for evidence that previous to 1787 slavery in this country was con- 
 sidered of any political importance whatever. The men who framed 
 our Constitution believed it to be passing away ; they saw state after 
 state in Europe abolishing it in their dominions; that the moral sense 
 of the world was arrayed against it; and they, no ignorant spectators 
 of passing events, looked forward to the time when here also it should 
 come to an end; and deemed it a temporary evil which the virtues of 
 their posterity would soon remove. But that posterity became wise 
 in its generation. The change began, and went on, until men and 
 statesmen rose up to declare that a governn)ent should be founded 
 with this institution for its corner-stone ! 
 
 When I look vipon this change which has taken place in the 
 opinions of our people in reference to this institution I am surprised 
 and startled. I see the hearts of men grow cold in after times as 
 they are told that to build up such a government men went to war. I 
 see them doubting the historic record which declares that there were 
 states and nations, sovereigns and peoples, Avho looked upon the work 
 
ADDRESS. 11 
 
 with approving eyes, and iu their hearts wished it success. It seems 
 as though the counsels of the men from whom the traitors of our 
 time are descended, have lost their virtue or become utterly forgotten. 
 
 The south liad a history of Avhich it might well be proud. She has 
 been fruitful of statesmen. Those engaged in the work of coustruct- 
 ine; our <rovernment were men whose hearts were filled with the love 
 of popular liberty. They made up their record. Let xis go back to 
 that time and listen to their words ! Once more the eloqiient Hexry 
 asserts that " slavery is detested ; we feel its fatal effects ; we deplore 
 it with all the pity of humanity." Once more he says : " I repeat 
 again, that it would rejoice my very soul that every one of my fellow- 
 beings was emancipated. As we ought with gratitude to admire that 
 decree of Heaven that has numbered us among the free, so we ought 
 to lament and deplore the necessity of holding our fellow-men in bond- 
 age." Once more the patriotic Jefferson sends that kind message to 
 the colored author of a book, announcing that he had sent his work to 
 a secretary of the French Academy as a proof of the capacity of his 
 race. Once more the thoughtful and honored old governor of Virginia, 
 the Randolph of his time, rises in convention to declare the hope that 
 " there is none here who, considering the subject iu the calm light of 
 philosophy, will advance an objection dishonorable to Virginia ; that 
 at the moment they are securing the rights of their citizens, an objection 
 is started that there is a spark of hope that those unfortunate men 
 now held in bondage may, by the operation of the general govern- 
 ment, be madey}-ee." Once more G eorgb MasOi\ indignantly exclaims, 
 "the slave trade is diabolical in itself, and disgraceful to mankind. I 
 cannot express my detestation of it. Much as I value the union of all 
 the States, I would not admit one unless it would agree to discontinue 
 the disgraceful trade. Slavery discourages arts and manufactures. 
 The poor despise labor when performed by slaves. They produce the 
 most pernicious effect upon manners. Every master of slaves is a 
 petty tyrant — they bring the judgment of Heaven upon a country. 
 If nations cannot be rewarded or punished in the next world, they 
 must be in this." Another member of the same body declares that 
 " slaveholders see a progressive danger of emancipation. The princi- 
 ple begun with the revolution ; let us do what we may, it toill come 
 round. Slavery has been the foundation of that impiety and dissipa- 
 tion which have been so much disseminated among our countrymen. 
 If it 2ccre totally abolished, it ^ooidd be better for the country T 
 
 And then there was no one to answer these men or defend the 
 subject to which they referred. 
 
1^ ADDRESR. 
 
 Who that listens to these words of warning, of hope, and of prophecy, 
 as they send their echoes down the corridors of history, Avill not ex- 
 claim, " How delusive the hope, how terrible the warning, and how 
 true the prophecy !" No, there was not, in all that galaxy of heroes 
 and honorable men, one, who in their time would have listened to the 
 slogan of the south, that " slavery is divine," and not have rebuked 
 the wretch who uttered it for his blasphemy. 
 
 Let us be cautious not to attribute the secession of the south, or the 
 extraordinary change in the opinions of the north, to wrong causes. 
 These changes have not been wrought by statesmen or politicians. I 
 attribute them rather to the logic of events, over which men have 
 had but little control. The southerner, through various causes, 
 (not to be considered here,) felt that he had a special call to govern 
 men. In his own i-ealm he reigned lord supreme. He was thoroughly 
 convinced of his own nobility and of the inferiority of others. He 
 believed that, on the field or in the senate house, he was more power- 
 ful than a half-score of the lower orders. When his own class became 
 numerous, it did become a power. There never was, in all civilization, 
 a nobility so despotic or so irresponsible. It ruled society with an iron 
 hand. It made honest labor contemptible. At once arrogant and ex- 
 clusive, it admitted none to its society or its alliance who did not 
 adopt its own opinions : all others must bow before its supremacy. 
 They were ostracised and made despicable. Having no other occu- 
 pation, these men began to make politics their study. They laid 
 hold of the government, and their influence pervaded the national 
 Congress and the Capitol. " Now," said they, " will we commence 
 the era of a new statesmanship. We have discovered that all the 
 old theories of government were false. We have the only true one. 
 We will set it up, and it shall rule this nation. Slavery shall be its 
 foundation. We are its nobility, and Cotton is our Ki.\g !" 
 
 The people of this country forbore for a long time ; they waited pa- 
 tiently until longer forbearance Avould have made lliem despicable. 
 The north beheld statesman after statesman falling down to worship 
 the new manunon of unrighteousness. At length the people rose, and 
 the campaign of 1860 and the election of Mr. Lincoln were the conse- 
 quences. 
 
 And then came the war. The south united and made ready 
 by years of preparation; the north divided and disorganized. Tlie 
 people of the north were impressed with the infamy of the trea- 
 son, and kncAv that the salvation of the country demanded a strong 
 and united effort; but they were possessed with the vague idea that in 
 
ADDRKSS. 13 
 
 some uncertaia w.ay, tliey knew not liow, the Union was to be restored, 
 and the treason put down, without distiirbing any of its old elements. 
 
 On that momentous night in which the army of the Union fust ad- 
 vanced upon the soil of Virginia, there were few men in it who under- 
 stood its lofty mission, as there were feAV men in the country who un- 
 derstood the magnitude of the contest upon which we were then en- 
 tering ! 
 
 Our generals refused permission to the negro to come within our 
 lines; his master hunted him down in our very camps, and for a long 
 time no one thought of loosening the bonds which so firmly united the 
 South; but when every loyal man within the slave confederacy had 
 been bound to silence, or hanged, or murdered ; when our soldiers were 
 shot down from the windoAvs of the very property they had protected; 
 our people began to think that, after all, slavery had something to do 
 with our quarrel. The truth makes converts fast when every cannon 
 is a bishop, and every musket a missionary. Now, indeed, there was 
 an uprising of the masses which was majestic! for they rose to the dig- 
 nity of the occasion, and with one voice demanded that slavery, the 
 cause of all our troubles, should die ! The Government readily yielded 
 to the wishes of the people, and adopted the policy they indicated. 
 Our President acted promptly ; the scales fell from the eyes of one 
 race, the shackles from the limbs of another, and then for the first time 
 we begun to wage successful war. 
 
 The change in the opinions of our people which these few years have 
 witnessed, is most surprising. In Maryland and Missouri, in Louisi- 
 ana and Arkansas, we find gentlemen who have all their lives been 
 identified with slavery, now yielding a cordial support to the established 
 policy of the Government. It is not many days since that a dis- 
 tinguished Senator, one of the leading advocates against freedom in the 
 Drcd Scott case, publicly declared that " slavery was a hell-born in- 
 stitution, which he hoped to see banished from the land." I thought, 
 as I heard him, that perhaps some monuments of mercy even now were 
 being spared that they might live to hear withdrawn from the same 
 bench whence it issued, the horrible doctrine, that the negro had no 
 rio-hts which the superior race were bound to respect or recognize. 
 
 Far be it from me to attribute this change to unworthy motives — to 
 any idea that in adopting it men are moved by hope of power or greed 
 of gain! There are few men living who can boast of an ancient ortho- 
 doxy ; few who have not given sanction, express or implied, to opin- 
 ions they now condemn. I have no sympathy with that Phariseeism 
 which says to a War Democrat, or any other loyal man, "stand aside, 
 
14 AODRESS. 
 
 for I am holier than thou!" No! on the contrary, I honor that en- 
 lightened judgment which has led so many, amid all the excitement of 
 war, to consider the subject calmly, and to abandon their old views 
 Avhen they see whither they are leading, and to yield a bold and wil- 
 ling allegiance to the right and the true. The man who travels the 
 journey of life, and whose opinions never change, has either no judg- 
 ment or permits his obstinacy to control it. The honest seeker after 
 truth, as he rises the hill of life, beholds the prospect widening, the 
 horizon extending, and his view growing clearer at every step. Blind 
 leader of the blind he must be, if, having reached the summit, his pros- 
 pect is confined to the narrow limit which bounded it when he began 
 the ascent ! 
 
 We have had almost three years of war, and yet there arc those 
 among us who look to the past Math no pride, and the future with no 
 hope. Alas for the impatience and ingratitude of man ! Carry your- 
 selves back less than three years, to the month of May, 1861. Then, 
 indeed, you had a formidable enemy; one almost to be feared. Choice 
 and Terrorism had united him. He stationed his pickets along the Po- 
 tomac and the Chesapeake — from the mountains to Fortress Monroe ; 
 he held almost every fort upon the coast from Cape Henry to the Kio 
 Grande. He closed the Mississippi, from Columbus to the Gulf. Hold- 
 ing the southern, he disputed with you for the northern half of Ken- 
 tucky ; overran Missouri, and threatened an invasion of Ohio. In 
 all the States south no Union flag floated. He sought to arrest your 
 regiments hastening to the defence of the Capital, in the streets of Balti- 
 more, and men of Maryland came to tell your President that the feet 
 of Union soldiers must not press her soil. Treason Avalked the streets 
 of this city unchallenged and unrebukcd. Your public buildings were 
 barricaded, and the halls of legislation resounded with the clang of 
 arms. Well was it for this nation and humanity in that dark hour, that 
 no premature old age occupied our presidential chair ; that larceny did 
 not hold its revels in the War or Treason in the Treasury Departments. 
 Then, indeed, did timid men forget God, and whisper, with Avhite lips, 
 "Peace on any tei'ms; let them go !" 
 
 Time presses. I cannot fill in the details. Look around you 
 now and answer ! Did ever a people have such cause for gratitude 
 to God? Was his presence and joower ever more signally mani- 
 fested than it has been to us. "Every battle has been a victory 
 for us!" shouts Treason. "You have gained nothing substantial," 
 echoes the English press. And yet how standi the account to- 
 day? Maryland and Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee are ours. 
 
ADDRESS. 15 
 
 not in name only, but in very soul and spirit. Louisiana re- 
 turns, and this very day takes lier place under the honored flag. 
 Hamilton is leading Texas thither in no unwilling spirit, and Ar- 
 kansas is pleading for pardon and remission of sius. The Missis- 
 sippi rolls from Minnesota to the Gulf, with no rebel flag upon her 
 bosom — no rebel gun upon her shores. Along the whole Atlantic 
 coast three ports, alone, acknowledge rebel rule; two of these are 
 closed as by a wall of iron, while the gallant Gillraore rains his 
 avenging fires upon that other, in which the foul buzzard of treason 
 first chipped its shell. Out of the best half of Virginia you have 
 made a free State ! And what remains lapon which treason can found 
 any rational hope of ultimate success ? Three broken armies, each 
 defeated in its last great battle. And listen once to the wail of misery 
 that comes up from eveiy portion of this slave confederacy ! Crime 
 and lawlessness rule it. Famine stalks over every part of it. Its 
 money is gone, and credit it never had. Supplies it has none, nor any 
 way to procure them. Desertion, disease, and death are busy with 
 the remnants of its military power. And now, when its desperate 
 leaders propose to sweep the whole of its people and property into the 
 military service, the proposal is met witli a howl of defiance from 
 every State that remains to them. If the end is not yet ; if it is pro- 
 tracted a little longer, it is for a purpose ; it is that traitors and op- 
 pressors of mankind, the world over, may look thitherward and see 
 how a righteous God punishes those who depart from his law and 
 give car to the counsels of the ungodly and the oppressor ! 
 
 There is nothing in all history to which this majestic procession of 
 the northern arms can be compared. Nature, which displays so many 
 exhibitions of her gigantic power, cannot furnish us with the proper 
 simile. It is only by examining the movements of her Titanic ma- 
 chinery in ages gone by, that we can find a fitting illustration. Philo- 
 sophers believe that once, far in the north, commenced a gentle fall of 
 snow. The sun of summer did not melt it, the winds of spring did not 
 carry it away. On its northern side was eiernal winter; to the south 
 a more genial temperature; and after a time, obedient to the laws of 
 climate, it began its southern journey. At first its slight materials 
 were aff"ected by small irregularities ; obstructions turned it aside 
 or checked its course entirely. But the frosts of a thousand winters 
 hardened it ; the Aveight of a thousand tempests impacted its materials 
 together. The creatm-e grew apace; it extended its enormous propor- 
 tions from sea to ocean. What was once a mass of feathery snow 
 became mighty as the mountain ; hard as adamant ; enduring as the 
 
16 ADDRKSS. 
 
 centuries ; itnyielding as the ji-rave ; and, guided by Divine intelli- 
 gence, tlie noble glaciir, fit tool for the hand of the ALMIGHTY 
 ARCHITECT, began its wonderful advance, and the work of pre- 
 paring the continent for the advent of man. Now, was its progress 
 indeed resistless. It sported with the elements as with playthings. 
 It moved the impending cliff from its foundations, or ground it to powder 
 beneath its feet. It raised the valley to a level plain. It tossed 
 huge rocks upon its shoulders, and bore them onward in its journey. 
 It planed down the mountain side, and filled up yawning chasms 
 below. It seized great masses of quartz in its iron jaws, and with 
 them ploughed deep furrows in the granite and the marble which 
 it polished as it passed along. The thick drift upon which this 
 structure rests, and which is spread so widely around us, is composed 
 of particles, from a grain in size upwards ; of rock and stone, of cliff and 
 boulder; once opposed to the resistless glacier. It is the wreck of oppo- 
 sing forces which have been reduced to their present proportions. At 
 length, its mission ended, its work completed, it receded and left the 
 country for the habitation of intelligent man ! 
 
 I have thought this not an inapt illustration of the progress of our 
 northern arms. At first disorganized and divided, under incompetent 
 commanders, and in pursuance of no well-ordered plan, our soldiers 
 were thrown in detached bodies upon the enemy. They did not con- 
 quer ; they were checked and thrown back. But seasons of adversity har- 
 dened them, experience taught them knowledge, and memories of the past, 
 hopes of the future, patriotism and courage united them together. And 
 now tJieir progress, too, was resistless ; they ploughed their way down 
 the Mississippi and the Atlantic coast. There is no retreat or retro- 
 cession now. The fort they capture, they hold — the city they enter, 
 they occupy. Every rebel obstruction goes down before them. And 
 now, as the serried lines of this human glacier are turned inward and 
 southward, everything gives way, and all along its southern bor- 
 der lays a black moraine, composed of crushed slavery, despotism, 
 and crime ; and inasmuch as these can form no drift useful to God or 
 man in after times, this human glacier must move on until this mass 
 of the relics of a mutilated and dead barbarism are swept away from 
 the land they have so long polluted, and buried forever beneath the 
 waves of the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
 "Who that has witnessed the scenes of the last three years can doubt 
 that the movements of our statesmen, our people, and our armies, have 
 been in the hands of a Greater than any human power ? Who can fail 
 
ADDRESS. 17 
 
 to see that so far as the will of that Power has heon obeyed, just so 
 far has success attended our every enterprise ? Who can fail to see 
 that so long as we acknowledge God and obey His laws, so long is 
 our salvation sure? 
 
 I will not reason or argue with the man avIio cannot recognize in 
 these great events the presence and the power of the Almighty — he is 
 an INFIDEL. No! as well might the prophet of old have questioned 
 whether it was the Lord who said : " I have surely seen the affliction 
 of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry, by reason 
 of their taskmasters, and am come down to deliver them out of the 
 hands of the Egyptians, and to biing them out of that land unto a good 
 land aiid a large — a land flowing with milk and honey ;" or that it was 
 His angel who " went before the camp of Israel by day in a pillar of 
 cloud to lead them the way, and by night a pillar of fire to give them 
 light." Yes! as well might Moses himself have doubted the existence 
 of Him who, upon " the mountain called Horeb, called unto him, say- 
 ing, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of 
 Isaac, the God of Jacob," as for lis to doubt whether the same God 
 to-day rules the nations, and is using our armies to work out his great 
 designs, accomplish his lofty purposes, and to let the oppressed of 
 these latter days go free. 
 
 He caused us to suffer defeat at Bull Run. He permitted us to con- 
 fide our armies to incompetent commanders. He saw us swept from 
 the Peninsula. He made us acquainted with sorrow, because we 
 Avould not acknowledge Him. He caused our first-born to be slain, 
 because we would not let the people go. But at length we saw 
 whither the pillar of fire was leading us in that night of despondency 
 and gloom. Our President spoke the word. That word was Eman- 
 cipation ! And every true heart the world over, responded "^wc«." 
 Then sang our people a "new song unto the Lord, and He became 
 our strength and our song." " We prepared Him a habitation. We 
 exalted Him," and from that hour He became our salvation! 
 
 And now, fellow-citizens, if we have a firm faith in the accomplish- 
 ment of this work ; if we believe that another campaign Avill finish 
 that which is al.eady half performed; if we believe that a divided 
 country is to be again united, and a peace restored which shall be 
 honorable to ourselves and our children, to what under Heaven do we 
 owe it all ] There can be but one answer to such a question. We 
 owe it to the common soldier and the sailor. Our President may dis- 
 charge the duties of his high oflice so as to command our love and the 
 respect of civilization. We may astonish the world by the magnitude 
 2 
 
18 ADDRESS. 
 
 of our resources and the manner in wliicli we develop tliem. Every 
 civil officer may be a model of fidelity. We may have generals as 
 brave and competent as the world ever saw ; they are nothing without 
 the soldier — the man who fills the ranks of our armies, who carries the 
 musket and the knapsack, who in storm or sunshine, in darkness or 
 light, under any and all circumstances, throws himself upon the enemy 
 and Avins the victory. These are they to whom the country has in- 
 curred a debt of gratitude which the labor of a generation cannot 
 repay ! 
 
 This has been an expensive war — a very expensive war. Men may 
 discuss, complain, or prophecy of our national debt ; its magnitude, 
 duration, and consequences. I refer to another cost, little considered, 
 little thought of, but which once appreciated would outweigh the 
 national debt of the world, if it were aggregated in a single balance. 
 How much there is of this war which is unseen ! Sorrow does not 
 court publicity, and because it is so retiring we forget it, until it comes 
 to ourselves. But, alas, in the thronged city, in the country village, 
 and in the wooded hamlet, how many homes there are in which it sits 
 to-day ! How many a mother sits by her cheerless fireside and thinks 
 of that boy of hers — into whose eyes she has looked for the last time ; 
 whose voice will cheer her no more with its accents of affection; whose 
 arm will bear her up no further on the journey of life ! A few months 
 ago, brave, generous, and loving — the pride of her heart, the very 
 darling of her soul — she pressed him to her bosom and gave him to 
 her country. Awhile his letters cheered her, and almost made her 
 forget her loneliness ; and then the rumor came that he had headed 
 the charge at Roanoke, or the column that scaled the heights at Mis- 
 sionary Ridge; that he was beloved by his associates; that he was 
 complimented by his general upon the field; that his government 
 recognized his merit by quick promotion. Oh, how her old heart 
 trembled as she thought "all these things are said of my boy !'' The 
 scene is altered now : he is dead ! — The light of that young life has 
 gone out, and the mother, childless once more as Sarah, is desolate in 
 the home that shall know him no more. How many a Avidow is there 
 who looks sadly upon the faces of her children, and thinks of one 
 who, long years ago, in the valley where her father lived, took her 
 young heart captive ; whose step filled her with rejoicing ; whose voice 
 was sweet as music, and into whose keeping she gave the rich treasure 
 of her love? And how did he prize and guard it! That was, indeed, 
 a happy household, over which affection held sovereign rule. The wife 
 and mother, the husband and father, and the young children ; for Avhat 
 
ADDRESS. in 
 
 upon earth so deai- as wife and children's lo^■e ? How kind was lier 
 farewell in the morning as he went to his daily toil, and what glad 
 voices and welcome greetings rejoiced him on his return at evening! 
 Tiny fingers entwined themselves in his hair ; their owners climbed 
 upon his knee; red lips were very prodigal of kisses, and their prat- 
 tle all the music he craved. His fiiture was as bright as his past had 
 been pleasant. He hoped to see the minds of his children unfolding 
 day by day, as the flower from the bud ; he hoped to see them become 
 his pride, as they were now his joy. Tliat scene, too, is changed. He 
 heard a voice saying, "Young man, thy country hath need of thee," 
 and he obeyed it. Oh ! could not the prayers that went up nightly 
 from those bedsides — could not the unceasing prayer which went up 
 continually from the inexhaustible fountain of that woman's love, avert 
 the stroke of death ! No, no ! he, too, has gone ! Strange hands have 
 committed him to a southern grave, and the Avife and the orphans are 
 alone. Let their grief be sacred, too sacred to be gazed upon ! 
 
 And from these individual instances let us look to the aggregate. 
 Disease, cruelty, rapine, murder — all the grim ministers of the Court 
 of Death, have been busy enough these last three years. Take 
 all the young men of the nation who have been sacrificed ; those 
 Avho have fallen in the shock of battle, or crawled away to lan- 
 guish and to die ; those who have been trodden under foot by 
 charging squadrons ; who have fallen out on forced marches ; who 
 have yielded up their lives in prisons, under treatment which shall 
 make treason infamoi;s while history lives ; those who have been swal- 
 lowed up by the river and the sea; those whose lives have gone out 
 in hospitals, or who have carried to their homes the seeds of mortal 
 disease from the swamps of the Chickahominy or the marshes of the 
 Mississip[)i — take all these, and all the misery and want, the grief 
 and sorrokv, and destitution which with all this has been combined, 
 and say must not that crime be great, that requires such a punish- 
 ment ? Must not that boon to humanity be rich, that is purchased at 
 such a price 1 Oh, could hecatombs of traitors atone for one such life I 
 
 Our hearts grow sad as Ave look over the long roll of the gallant 
 dead. In the army of the great Napoleon was one old grenadier whose 
 courage had been conspicuous on many a bloody field ; so brave and 
 so modest, that when at last he fell, the order was made that his name 
 should always be borne upon the muster-rolls of his company, and 
 whenever it Avas called the bravest man in it should respond, ''Dead 
 upon the field of honor!" Alas! to hoAV many names our hearts give 
 that response as A\'e think of them. Baker, AA'hose eloquent lips will 
 
aO ADDRKSS. 
 
 no more plead for the Pacific shores, or pour their fearful denuncia- 
 tions upon treason in the Senate; Reynolds, of glorious memory ; 
 the enterprising Stevens; the impetuous, dashing Kearney; the 
 hard-fighting RiCHARDSON; McCooK, the fearless and indomitable; 
 the gentle Wfnthrop ; and thou, brave old Admiral, whose name need 
 not be called, for it lives in the memory of every heart that honors 
 Christ and those who serve him. Yes, and scores of others — not less 
 honored because ye are not named ! Ye shall be forgotten, never; but 
 so long as this nation shall endure; so long as there is within it one who 
 loves his country, one man that honors the memory of the brave, one 
 true man, so long shall there be a voice to answer, when your names 
 are called, " Dead njrjn tlm field of honor !" Great have been these 
 sacrifices; but have they been useless or unmeaning? No! No ! A 
 thousand times no ! If the blood of the martyrs has been the seed 
 of the church, so shall the blood of these heroes be the seed of a 
 Nation's honor ; of the liberty of mankind. In the hearts of a patriot 
 people their memories shall be forever green ! 
 
 It would be strange, indeed, if woman should not have found her 
 mission in times like these. She has, and nobly has she performed it. I 
 abvays honored a true woman ; but now, when I see what the women 
 of this country, in this war, have done, I feel proud that I am an 
 American, and prouder that they are my country-women. Oh, ye who 
 have the form and bearing and the speech of men, but who seem to 
 have forgotten that you ever had a mother or a sister — out of whom 
 passion and appetite have eaten the power of appreciating woman — who, 
 because ye have no virtue yourselves, are infidel to her, e^hiink within 
 your soulless shells and stand abashed and silent, as ye hear what 
 woman, whom true men honor, in this war has done ! 
 
 She has illumined the darkness of the time ; the hospital has 
 grown cheerful with her presence ; the heart of the sick soldier has 
 beaten firmer at her approach, and the flowers which she bore in her 
 hand have distilled no richer fragrance upon the air than has her sym- 
 pathy upon his soul. 
 
 There was a svunmer day in Washington ; there had been a great 
 battle ! The hospitals were full ; the surgeon hard at work — his attend- 
 ants were few. In one ward there was no bed that had not its own 
 burden of suffering and pain. There, was the aged veteran and the 
 young soldier boy. Here, incendiary fever was lighting up the vital 
 forces mto flame. There, the demon erysipelas hovered silent and voice- 
 less. Consumption, with icy hands, was tearing the lungs of this one 
 in pieces; and cutaneous disease, with fiery tongue, licked up the juices 
 
ADDRESS. '^1 
 
 from the surflice of that other. Here was a lost arm, there a leg, and 
 yonder, one through whose chest a bullet had passed ! On that table 
 lies one under the very hand of the surgeon. The knife goes hissing 
 through the throbbing muscle ; the saw crashes upon the sentient 
 bone ; but all the horrible enginery of the profession, may cut and 
 saw and tear away at that living trunk, and it cannot extort one groan 
 from the heroic soul enshrined within it ! 
 
 And in that suffering multitude there was one who was very busy. 
 Her face was plain, but her eyes were deep and lustrous, and very 
 full of pity. She was clothed in the simple costume of her order, and 
 her only ornaments were the rosary and the cross. She went from cot 
 to cot, distributing medicines prescribed and cooling draughts. Her 
 very presence seemed to exorcise pain ; the fevered brow of the sol- 
 dier grew cool as she bathed it ; his heart was full of home memories as 
 she soothed him into hcaltli-restoring slumber. Oh, Sister of Charity, 
 I thought, as hour by hour I watched you on that sultry day, dis- 
 pensing more of good to the suffering than most of us in a whole life- 
 time ; your faith may be different from mine ; but if Heaven is not for 
 you, where is the hope for the rest of mankind ! 
 
 And so it has been everywhere. The cry of relief for the sick and 
 suffering soldier went throughout the land ; in the answer there was no 
 delay or procrastination, for it came first of all from woman. She 
 hurried to the hospital and the camp; she went everywhere she could 
 do good ; she labored for the soldier in her own home ; she organized 
 neighborhood societies ; as she rested upon the arm of her brother, a.s 
 her head lay upon the bosom of her husband, or her voice was sweet 
 in the ear of one as dear as either, she pointed them all to the path of 
 duty. No wonder, then, that a stream of bounty began to pour from 
 all parts of the country, to all places where that bounty was needed ! 
 No wonder that when woman was moved to set on foot such enter- 
 prises as this, their success was at once insured! Men may differ, but 
 woman is everywhere the same ; always kind ; always gentle ; always 
 loving ; always good. Oh, men of Washington ! Gentlemen ! While 
 she is here just as good, gentle, and loving, as elsewhere, shall we not 
 show her that she is nowhere better prized, respected, or loved than 
 among ourselves ! 
 
 It is pleasant, among all the calamities of this war, to see how much 
 of the latent goodness of the people it has developed. It is pleasant to. 
 behold such monuments to charity as the Sanitary and the Christian. 
 Commissions ; and in this connexion I have a word to say for the 
 
aa ADDRESS. 
 
 Women of Wasliingtoii. They need some one to speak for tliem, for 
 they are not mncli given to sounding tlieir own praises. In all works 
 of charity and love they need fear no comparison with the women of 
 any other city in the land. There are those who remember the sum- 
 mer of 1862, M'hen every church was a hospital, and grove and hill- 
 side, private house and public biiilding, were familiar with scenes 
 of suffering and pain. You can afford to wait, Ladies of Wash- 
 ington, for from all these places during those months went out a mul- 
 titude of men, now scattered from the mountains of Maine to the 
 prairies of the West, who, so long as they live, Avill be swift and wil- 
 ling witnesses to your goodness, benevolence, and charity. 
 
 A feAV more words and I will bring this weary sermon to a close. 
 The women of our city, our wives and daughters, come to us to-night, 
 the accredited agents of the soldier and his family. They point us to 
 the path of duty. Shall we follow it ? They present their claims. 
 Shall we honor them 1 They point us to what the country has done ; 
 and ask us, will you, in the capital of the nation, disgrace our efforts 
 by doing less? Shall their appeal have no response? If so, let us 
 stand disgraced before the world ! Fellow-citizens — men of Wash- 
 ington — brothers ! When upon the whole earth there is not, nor ever 
 was, nor ever wall be, one single soul who ever regretted a contribu- 
 tion made to a truly benevolent object ; we have a duty to perform. 
 We are privileged to stand face to face wath this great Charity, which 
 is her Avork. A few more years, and those who come after us will 
 gather up every relic, every advertisement, every toy, and every scrap 
 connected with this enterprise, and will guard them under lock and 
 key as precious memories of the great contest for civilization in which 
 we were engaged. Our children will feel all the prouder that their 
 Mothers were engaged in such a work. This is no ordinary charity. 
 We may give here, until we shall be obliged to forego some of our 
 pleasures — nay, until we scarcely know whence the money shall come 
 to pay for our meat, our drink, or our clothing ; and yet uur bounties 
 all go to those who have made sacrifices infinitely greater. Who 
 among you would not rather leave to your children the memory that 
 in times like these you had relieved one suffering soldier, or his wife 
 or child, than houses or lands, stocks or money ? Who would not 
 invest in this splendid stock? Since commerce Avas born, never 
 was a more pi'omising prospectus offered. Miserly must that man 
 be — miserly, mean, pitable beyond expression, whose heart cannot be 
 opened with such a key, and in such a presence as this. Oh, for 
 
ADDRESS. 28 
 
 once be generous, be charitable, be just ! Add one word, if you 
 please, to Scripture, here, for it will be no sin, and act upon the truth 
 of the declaration that he "that givcth to the poor soldier lendeth 
 to the Lord!" 
 
^ e UK 
 
 DELIVKl^ED BY HON. B. B. FRENCH. 
 
 How full our past of glorious memories 
 
 Of those wlio shaped this nation's destinies ! 
 
 And, as we now the patriot roll recall, 
 
 One mighty name stands proudly over all — 
 
 A name that shall descend from sire to son ; 
 
 'Tis now in all your minds — 'tis Washington ! 
 
 And never shall a patriot heart forget 
 
 This blessed day — Freedom's bright coronet, 
 
 Let golden letters thus the front adorn, 
 
 " God bless the day when Washington was born." 
 
 It is the day when a Salvator came 
 
 To cheer a world with his immortal name ! 
 
 On this auspicious day our friends we meet. 
 And wish we may our tens of thousands greet. 
 For the great cause in which we act should be 
 Approved, and honored by your sympathy. 
 Let every mind turn to the past and think 
 Of the dread chasm, upon whose awful brink 
 Our country stood when Traitor influence 
 Burst every bond, uncaring consequence ! 
 When Treason seized the helm and sought to strand 
 Our good old ship on black Rebellion's land : 
 Think how our brave men, at their country's call, 
 Left homes, and wives, and children — aye, left all 
 That man holds dear, and rushed, a war to wage, 
 To save our city from the Traitor's rage ! 
 To save our country from the lust for power 
 That ruled amongst us in that dreadful hour. 
 Since that dread time the North has poured its hosts- 
 Braver or truer men no country boasts — 
 
^6 POEM. 
 
 By hundred thousands — and the rattling drum, 
 And pealing bugle, echo, " still they come ;" 
 Aye, and will come our liberties to save. 
 Till black Rebellion moulders in its grave ! 
 
 And the brave West has met its Traitor foes 
 
 Where the great Father of the Waters flows — 
 
 Met them to drive them from their stolen land. 
 
 To teach them that rebellion cannot stand 
 
 Against our loyal legions of the West, 
 
 Who shall henceforth wear proudly on their crest 
 
 The word " Inv'mcibler 'Tis theirs by right, 
 
 For they have ne'er been conquered in the fight. 
 
 The great Napoleon, ere the fight begun. 
 
 Cheered his brave troops with words of victories won — 
 
 Words such as well the onward rush befits — 
 
 " Remember, men, the sun of Austerlitz !" 
 
 So, on some future field, some gallant chief — 
 
 Our Grant, perhaps, in language terse but brief. 
 
 Shall rush his legions, with the exulting cry, 
 
 " Remember Vicksburg" — on to victory ! 
 
 'Tis for the aid of that blest Christian band 
 Who send relief o'er all this stricken land; 
 'Tis for the comfort of our braves who fight. 
 That we inaugurate this Fair to-night. 
 
 And who are " TFe," who have assumed the power 
 To shape the destinies of this blest hour % 
 We are the almoners to spread abroad — 
 Through the great kindness of a gracioi;s Lord — 
 Life's soothing blessings which, in trust, we hold, 
 To cheer, mid summer's heat and winter's cold, 
 Our soldiers in the field; Avho, for our good, 
 Stand ready to pour out their dearest blood. 
 Whence came these blessings to our trusting care? 
 Ask whence the winds come when the trees are bare ! 
 From many a loyal heart and loyal hand 
 That hopes for Freedom's triumph in our land ! 
 New England ! glorious home of all that's true, 
 We give our earnest, grateful thanks to you ; 
 
POEM. 
 
 And, iiardon our distinctive choice, for ne'er 
 Was merit greater — we award it here 
 To brave Vermont*— oli! worthy your apphiusc— 
 She pours her treasures forth to aid our cause. 
 As her brave sons go forth to fight and bleed, 
 And serve their country in her greatest need, 
 So her fair daughters— faithful as they are fair- 
 Green be their memories as their mountains are — 
 Have given pen, voice, and hand in our behest — 
 May all Heaven's choicest blessings on them rest. 
 From other States and cities far away 
 Came many treasures which we here display ; 
 For many more we have not far to roam. 
 They came from generous hearts and hands at Jiome. 
 To all our deepest, heartiest, thanks are given. 
 While we invoke the blessings of high heaven. 
 
 At man's creation angels good and ill 
 
 Were there assembled by the Sovereign will : 
 
 Perfection for him the good angels claimed, 
 
 Eternal evil by the bad was named. 
 
 Then the Great Father, from his throne of grace 
 
 Breathed his decision for the human race. 
 
 " Evil and good combined in every soul 
 
 Shall strive together — nor shall one control." 
 
 So man came forth, and war and strife were joined 
 
 With peace and virtue in each human muid. 
 
 Scarce had, at Eden's gate, the flaming sword 
 Been placed to shield it, by the Almighty Lord, 
 Ere war began, and the ensanguined cry 
 Rose from the ground, and reached the throne on high, 
 And the first falsehood followed. Thus began 
 Murder and lying in the breast of man ! 
 And war, and strife, and wickedness we trace 
 From this commencement of the human race. 
 
 * The ladies of the members of Congress from Vermont have labored inces- 
 santly from the initiation of the Fair, and the worthy wife of the governor of that 
 State, Mrs. Smith, issued a circular to every town in the State, which brought a 
 large sum of money into the treasury and many donations to our Fair. 
 
'.l^ POEM. 
 
 The earliest war — we learn from Holy AVril — 
 
 Was a rebellion ! Kings engjiged in it, 
 
 And battles raged, and men and sovereigns fell 
 
 In Siddim's vale, and one escaped to tell 
 
 The good old patriai'c'a of that early day 
 
 That Lot was captured and was borne away ! 
 
 Then Father Abram, with his valiant men 
 
 Went forth to battle, fought, and victory then 
 
 Was his reward; then kingly power he broke, 
 
 And brought his brother back from slavery's yoke! 
 
 Then God's High Priest blest Abraham the first, 
 
 Heaven kneAv his cause, and knew that cause was just! 
 
 And when we shall our brethren's rights reclaim, 
 
 Our God will bless tke second of that name! 
 
 From that time forth the world has teemed with strife, 
 And War's red arm been dyed with human life. 
 Till now — aye, at this moment, while we breathe 
 This peaceful air, ten thousand mother's grieve 
 O'er their lost children, as, o'er Abel, Eve. 
 From Fundy's bay to E,io Grande's flow, 
 Alas ! how many homes are filled with woe ! 
 Mothers and sisters weeping o'er their slain. 
 Who ne'er on earth their eyes shall greet again, 
 And in a war where internecine strife 
 Seeks the red current of a brother's life ! 
 
 What caused the struggle of this dreadful hour? 
 'Twas that Ambition might leap into power ! 
 Aye, the false lips that made the treason known 
 Swore slaves and cotton should maintain their throne, 
 And that this oath they would in fight make good, 
 Though the vast Mississippi rolled in blood ! 
 They cast the gauntlet down. We took it up. 
 They tendered, we received, the bloody cup ; 
 And, rallying 'neath our glorious stripes and stars. 
 We faced bold Treason on the field of Mars. 
 Our sons have fought a glorious fight and bled ; 
 Tears — burning tears — in rivers have been shed 
 O'er our dead heroes ; but, to leave the field, 
 To give up Freedom, or to basely yield, 
 
POKM. 29 
 
 We never will while one red drop remains 
 Of the old Pilgrim blood within our veins ! 
 We've made our vow before our God on high, 
 To conquer this rebellion, or to die ! 
 It shall be conquered — this fair land shall be 
 The home that heaven designed it, of the Free, 
 And the base traitors shall endure the shame 
 Of an eternal infamy of Fame ! 
 
 Still the war rages ; still the fields are rife 
 
 With foemen ready to renew the strife. 
 
 And with the opening buds and flowers of spring 
 
 Again shall battle desolation bring; 
 
 Again the booming gun, the exploding shell, 
 
 The rattling fire, the sabre's gleam, the yell 
 
 Of charging squadrons, the wild din of fight. 
 
 The clouds of smoke, obstructing heaven's own light, 
 
 The shouts of victory, and the groans of death ; — 
 
 All this shall come wuth summer's balmy breath ; — 
 
 May we not don the prophet's robes and say 
 
 Our stripes and stars shall triumph on that day 1 — 
 
 But come what may, we know the bloody strife 
 
 Will soak the soil with streams from human life; 
 
 And then, oh woman, in thy loveliness. 
 
 Thou shalt the living aid, the dying bless, 
 
 And men shall deem, while the red life-blood floAvs, 
 
 A host of angels soothing all their woes ! 
 
 O woman, woman, since a traitor band 
 Brought this unhallowed war upon our land. 
 How hast thou labored ! With what holy zeal 
 Your every act has met the stern appeal 
 Of war's dread issue ! To her instincts true 
 Mercy hath left her heaven to go with you ; 
 While from your hands life's dearest comforts went, 
 Forth from your souls you hopes and blessings sent ; 
 Up to Heaven's throne your earnest prayers arise. 
 Like holy incense to the arching skies, 
 Imploring God to smile upon a cause 
 Sacred to freedom, liberties, and laws ; 
 And He who hath our people in his care 
 Will bend his ear and listen to your prayer. 
 
30 POEM. 
 
 When anglit of good is wanted, women then 
 
 Stand glorified in deeds, surpassing men. 
 
 Mid scenes like this is their peculiar sphere, 
 
 Witness the thousand beaming faces here ! 
 
 Where sickness, woe, and death, by heaven are sent, 
 
 There, angel-like, she's in her element. 
 
 For crosses here she'll have, with Christ's dear love. 
 
 Her crown of glory in the world above. 
 
 Now, as the Psalmist did in days gone by. 
 We raise our voices to the throne on high — 
 For thou, oh God, our refuge e'er shall be. 
 Though the vast mountains fall into the sea. 
 Oh thou art with us — on thy sovereign power 
 We lean, and fear not, in our darkest hour. 
 Though, for our sins, we feel thy chast'ning rod. 
 We bow in silence, knowing thou art God. 
 Powerful to save the people of thy choice, 
 In thy salvation let our hearts rejoice; 
 For thou wilt bless us, and our land shall be 
 From this accursed rebellion purged by Thee. 
 Then one great people, in their prosperous hour. 
 Shall own, oh gracious God, Thy mighty power, 
 And centuries of passing years shall see 
 This nation happy, glorious, and Free! 
 
 The President, being called upon by the immense audience, 
 made a few remarks ; after which an eloquent and appropriate bene- 
 diction was pronounced by Dr. Sunderland 
 
 AND THE GREAT FAIR WAS OPEN, 
 
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..oRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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