£ DJ L LAR AND FIFTY CINTS PER ANNUM INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE.
TOWANDA :
Thursday Morning, March 19, 1863.
%\t fvtbtllion.
"Great War Meeting in New York,
The New York papers contain long reports
c f a meeting held in New York, on Friday j
rening, to sustaiu the President in the prose- I
f; tion of the war. Cooper Institute Hall was .
crowded to overflowing, and another large
! Eee tjng was organized on the outside. It
a s iQtended that General Winfield Scott
j-.jjulj preside, but the old chieftaiu was con- i
fined to his room with an incipient attack of 1
peiirisy. 1" bis absence, his Honor George
Ovivke, Mayor of New York, occupied the 1
r Oar space prevents a republication of
;ue full report, but we reprint such portions
of the addresses as williuterest the loyal read- |
tr everywhere.
LUM A BRECKINRIDGE DEMOCRAT THINKS—SPEECH
OF JAMES T BRADY —" ONE CONSTITUTION, ONE I
COUNTRY, ONE DESTINY. ' '
James T Brady, an eminent lawyer of New
York, Breckinridge candidate for Governor
ie 1 SCO, a warm supporter of Iloratio Sey-
Giour, and a rabid Democrat of tiie Southern
school, made the next speech :
But that grave of mine, however unnamed
or unnoticed I want to tie di-tinguisbed by
f . m ■ lingering of aff-eiion in some heart that
cleivi-s io the recollection of him who once
\ras, as the grave of one whose country was
Hi,-United States of America. [Loud cheers.]
That is my country. 1 can admit of no oth
er. There is no name to be substituted for '
t at. There is no fl ig except ours that I
can ever exeept cheers]. no star to be taken i
out of it [cheers , no stripe to be stolen from |
ji rft;,, ( . r> l ; st irs to be added to it without j
number [cheer.-], stiip'S to Iw accumulated j
til th- eve tire- of io k ng at them ; so that, j
with nil the gallant history of its past and glo :
rious associations of its present, however gloo- j
mv the prospect may appear to many, there j
shall he for us now and hereafter, one conn- i
try, one Constitution, one destiny.
cheers j
RESPECT FOR THE YAN IF.E.
Although from the fi"st time that I ever
made a speech in public till cow most of you ;
1 r iv - been opposed to me,as I well understand, !
in political sentiment, I thank Goo that it has
hern permitted me to be present on an occas- j
ion when any one human being would attach j
importance to my voice in saying that 1 stand j
up now, as I always have done, for the pres J
ervatiou of the Union and the Constitution of
the country. [Loud cheers.] When J lie
gati life 1 heard, as I atterward heard, a word
called Yankee. It certainly dose not apply to
m-. But the South has applied that name to ;
all of us at the North. Now J am free to say j
that 1 di-cover in the Yankee character some j
particular feature that I no more admire than j
Ido Mime of the prominent traits in the in
habitant- of the land from which I sprang.—
But 1 nevertheless except the name of Yan
kee as applied to me in the spirit of our fore
father- in the ravolutiouary period; and if the
Boiuh can find no more of disgrace to be at
tached to it than i's undying struggle tor the
preseivation of this Government, whether sla
very exists or fulls, I thank GOD for it. [Loud
applause ]
THE DUTY OF AN IRISHMAN'.
Yon will pardon rue my fellow-citizens, if I
offend the prejudices of some of you in speak- ,
lag my raimJ. The first speech 1 ever tnnde <
for a Presidential candidate was in behalf of
a Southern man. From that time to this my
sympathies have been strongly with that por
tion of the Union. But, gentlemen, to make
the matter pointed, if I lived in a house with
H friend, and he announced to me some day
that under no circumstances would he asso
ciate with me any longer, I wouid propose to
vindicate what 5s manly in my nature by tell
ing him that I would go somewhere where 1
could find suitable company. [Great merri
ment and applause ] And when I came here
to night, and as I passed through the streets j
today, I was beset by gentlemen for whom I
have the highest respect,who wondered wheth
er I would speak at a meeting where gentle
men always opposed to us iu politics would be
present, and where, perhaps, a spirit ot free
dom stronger than any that had entered into
their natures might be exhibited. Gentlemen,
I differ with many of you in regard to the
cau-es, the conduct, the prosecution, and the
probable results of the war in which we are
engaged. But, with the blessing of Heaven,
whoever may applaud and whoever may ceii
sure. L would lie false to the Irish .race, from
which I sprang, to find here a home and a
refuge from the persecution an' oppression of
that detested land to which the fir-t speaker
too politely, referred [applause and a hiss,] if
I did not use my last breath, and employ the
last quiver of my lips, iu the utterance of a
prayer to Heaven against all assailants, inter
nal and external, for the preservation of the
American Government. [Loud applause.]
" A WAR FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF THE GOV
EKNMF.NT."
When this war broke out, I knew that it
was urged by the South. I hoped that it
might terminate early ; I hoped that my
Southern countrymen—for such they are—
Would develop among them some* desire to
vonaam wiih us. I detected with regret that
they hud prepared means to make an assault
ipou a Union that they ought to love. I
maintained silence in regard to it. You will
txci se my egotism, but I now justify myself
10 my own p.esenee. I found that they pro
posed to take to themselves Fort Sumpter,
the forts at Key West and Petsacola. Tortu
jras tind Fortress Monroe. I thought it was
9 u 'te esseolial to the dignity and prosperity of
the country that we should retain these for
tresses. I think so now. I did hope, howev
er, that the Southern people would put their
feet upou the necks of their leaders, and insist
upon the maintenance of the Union. But
they have informed us that they would consent
to no such condition. They have told us that
if we gave them a blank paper and pencil to
write the terms of a new compact, they would
not agree to it. Therefore it is a war declar
ed for all ultimate results that can come, and
I spit upon the Northern man who takes any
position except for the maintenance of the
Government. [Here almost the entire audi
ence rose to their feet, waved their hats, and
cheered vociferously for some moments.]
INTERVENTION BV ENGLAND.
Great apprehensions are entertained lest
England should interfere. I have prayed to
GOD, on ray bended knees, that she would.—
[Loud applause.] Let her but exhibit one
single manifestation in that direction, and
there is not a man of my race that would talk
about the exemption of forty five years of age.
[Great applause.] He would hobble up on
his crutch, in the ardent expectation of split
ting the head of any one who undertook to
interfere in a matter that belongs to ourselves.
Permit me, however, to do justice to those
wise, excellent, and patriotic gentlemen of
England, who have beeu so just toward us
throughout this controversy. I would dia
grace myself, and insult you. if I did not ac
knowledge here my gratitude to those who,
without fear or hope of reward, have stood
bv our cause. I would do myself injustice if
1 did not admire the character of that great
man, John Bright [loud applause], whose last
observation in regard to the London Herald
and Standard is that he does not care much
about their censure, for neither of them,in the
markets ol England, could effect the price of
a pinch of snuff [Liughter and applause ]
The single reason, asyou all know,why France
and England desire to interfere in this tight,
is an acknowledgment, in the presence ol the
world, that they are indebted to us for the
means of employing and supporting their pop
illation. [Applause.]
" HOW DO WE PROPOSE TO END THE WAR ?"
Now, fellow citizens, 1 am met everywhere,
as you are, by the question, " How is this
thing to end ?'' lam sorry to say that the
presupposed answer to the ques ion is inter
fered with by two classes of men. First, by
the women of his country. Bachelor as lam
no doubt this remark will subject me to ceii
sure. But 1 say, if the women of the North
had manifested that interest, which they sho'd
in the success of our cause, which the women
of the South have done in theirs, thousands
more ot men would have been stimulated to
take their position in the field. I can never
find myself en rappant with that class of peo
ple who manifest something like pleasure at
the success of our (oe. What is this wat
about ? It certainly has grown into a war
of lite North against the South. And when
1 talked with Southerners, as I did with three
in Philadelphia last Sunday, as ardent seces
MOnists and as bitter opponents as I can find
anywhere—as bitter as those who cluster in
presence of Jefferson Davis himself—l said,
" Gentlemen, you must admit that there is a
moral superiority iu the people with whom 1
am associated, when you can talk to tne freely
what I would not dare to say at the South,
except at the peril of ray existence." [Ap
plause ] And I said to them as I say to
you, How is this thing to end ? I say, with
your permitiou, gentlemen, to my frieuds of
the Democratic party, whom I cannot meet
one lav one on the street, and who perhaps
would not value my opinion if I did—Sir, how
do you propose to end it ? The South say to
you, ' You are all Yankees ; we propose no
association with you,and will consent to none."
Have you ever seen a man with a white face
upon him or a blaek face upou him who would
pursue, for the sake of society, the person
who spurned ? [Cheers] Y'ou ask me how
this is to end. With the feeble powers that
I have possessed since I arrived at man's es
tate, I have struggled for that which I would
contend for if the Constitution were restored
or continued, that is every right which the
South can justly claim uuder that sacred in
strument. But they say. We will make no
peace.
THE SOUTH AGGRESSIVE —THERE CAN NEVER BE
TWO GOVERNMENTS.
They propose that there shall be two Gov
ernments on this soil, armed governments.—
Sir, I cannot consent to any such condition.
[ "No !"] Rome and Sparta, Carthage and
Athens were all republics ; this was taughted
to you iu your primer. Each of them was a
military power. I refer yon to The Federilis'■
aud the articles of Alexander Hamilton in
regard to the possibility of maintaining sep
arate organizations of govenimeut on this con
tinent. When you can answer them, let me
see your treaties or hear your discourse and
I will be submissive as I hope I have always
been, to the voice of reason. But, Mr. South
erner, listen to me and the men who have
stood by the South agaiust the denunciations
of presses—and, gentlemen, I see them repre
sented on this platform listen to me who,
with the feeble capacity that I possess, have
insisted always that you should have all the
rights to which you are eutitlod. You say
uo. Mr. Lincoln was elected President, bjt
you went into the canvass. He was choseu
President, and yet there was a majority iu
both bruuebes of Congress against him. I
defy you to poiut out a single act of the Gov
ernment which should have provoked any hos
tility on you part. But as long as there is
breath in my body—if you make it a question
between the South and the North—l shonl 1
think I was unworthy of the mother who bore
me if I did not go for any portion sustained
by the Constitution of the United States. [Ap
plause.]
WE MUST TRIUMPH.
Before I saw the ruins of the old world I
thought I should shed a tear over them, but
when I discovered that they were the step
ping-stones by which the human race rose to
its present height, they became a pleasant
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY AT TOWANDA, BRADFORD COUNTY, PA., BY E. 0. GOODRICH.
height, they became a pleasant sight to me.— !
Here civilization has fouud its last resting- ,
place. There is no place to which to go back; j
civilization knows no regurgitation; it has no
refluent wave. Tlie people of the South in
the single State of Virginia would never em
ploy the necessary physical power to redeem '
that exhausted soil. Nobody will say, after j
my discourse closes, that I have been very I
eulogistic to the speaker, but seriously, iu the ;
presence of my GOD, in the exercis of the best j
capacities that T know how to employ, I say
to my friends of the South, however gallant
and chivalric and persevering may be their
struggle in the field, all history will be false,
all analogies fallacious, every promise to the
human race an absurdity, if this people, who
have conquered the barren East and conquer
ed the ocean, aud are willing to cooquer all
circumstances of privation, shall not own the
whole of ibis continent before this conntry ex
pires. [Loud and continued applause ]
SPEECH OF JOHN VAN BUREN.
John Van Buren, well known for the prom
inent part he took in the recent canvass as the
champion of Governor Seymour, and the an
tagonist cf the administration, made the lead
ing speech of the evening. After alluding to
local political history Mr. Van Buren proceed
ed to discuss the national aspects of the ques
tion and the relations of the rebellion to sla
very :
THE SOUTH THE AGGRESSOR—THE INFAMIES OF
THE REBELLION.
There is no doubt tbut there has been for
a great length of time, a large number of poli
ticians in the South who have been determin- ;
ed to extend slavery to the free territory of
the United States. They endeavored to use
the organization of the Democratic party for ,
the purpose, and, in 1848, they assumed such
a position in regard to it as to force what I
consider the regular Democracy of the State
of New York out of the Democratic party. —
[Loud applause.] The election of'4B, and
'52, aud '56, came to pass. The election of
of iB6O was the next that transpired, aud in
the meantime this disposition was manifested,
by various efforts, to force slavery into Kan
sas, and other measures that, it is not necessa
ry now to discuss, and to which 1 was always
opposed. In 1860, in the Democratic Con
vention. tl ey declaied that the platform of
the convention should contain a recognition of i
the legality of slavery iu all territoriis of the
United States, and they declared in addition, j
that slavery should be protected by the Gen
eral Government in all the territories belong
ing to the Union. The Democracy of the
North refused to agree to that, and the con
vention broke up. It reassembled at Balti
more, and again broke up, and the election of
1860 came on the Southern men having a
candidate of their own, and the Northern and
Western Democracy supporting Mr. Douglas,
and a large number of gentlemen supporting
Mr. Lincoln. [Applause.] In that contest
I took no part. I voted, but I did nothing
more. No man never heard me, in public or
in private, express any opinion iu regard to
it, except when the election came off. I de- 1
posited my vote in opposition to Mr. Lincoln
[Voices —" Good."] After that election
Congress assembled. Mr. Lincoln's message
declared in the fullest manner his unwilling
ness to interfere with slavery in the States
It recognized, in the fullest extent, the right
of the different States to have slavery if they
chose, and his entire indisposition to interfere
with it, notwithstanding that several States
seceded from the Union as they said. They
held a convention, and resolved themselves
out. Their representatives abandoned their
seats iu Congress, although they had eoutrol
of the Senate and House of Representatives,
and the Supreme Court of the United States, j
they retired from the Congress of the United
States. They went further and set up a
Government of their own, or said they did.—
Now you nil remember the debates between
Webster and Hayne upon that subject, of the
right to secede from the Union. Mr. Web
ster told Hayne what has since proven true —
that was mere rebellion, aud when they put
it in operation tliev would see that, iu order
to carry out what they assumed to be the right
of}> eaceful secession aud nullification,they must
use force, and be met by force, and the law of
bayonets must decide the controversy. [Ap
plause ] This occurred. They assumed to
set up a Government under the right which
they claimed to destroy the Union. They
formed a Congress and elected a President.—
they were not content with this. They seized
the property of the United States—they seiz
ed its forts, its ships, its treasure. They fired
upon the flag of the United States at Fort
Sumpter, and claimed . the right to exercise
the power of a sovereign Government. New,
you will bear in mind—every fair minded man
in the United States will bear in mind—that
up to this moment not one hair of their heads
had been injured. No right of auy Southern
mau ban been invaded.
NO SUCH REBELLION IN HISTORY.
History will record that the world never
witnessed a rebellion against a governmental
authority before where the rebels could not
lay their finger upon a thing to show that ei
ther their property, their liberty, or their rights
had been, in the slightest particular, invaded.
[Great applause ] This being the fact, the
citj of New York sent forth 80,000 men to
quell this rebellion. Her capitalists advanced
$300,000,000 to put down this rebellion. The
State of New York sent 200,000 men, and I
am to argue, in the face of these facts and the
past history of this contest, that the rebellion
is atrociously unjust, and that the war in which
we have engaged vritb the south is rightfully
prosecuted by us in vindication of the Consti
tution and the Union. [Applause.] Now,
what is the condition of this contest ? Tbey
were not satisfied with what I have detailed,
but they announced they were going to estab
' lish a Republic, the corner-stODe of which
; should be slavery, and they are now engaged
j in that task, iu endeavoring toes'ablish a Re-
I public OD this continent in 1863, the corner-
" REGARDLESS OF DENUNCIATION FROM ANY QUARTER."
stone of which shall be slavery. Now, I went
to Herkimer in 1848 to lay a corner stone,but
it was not this. [Laughter.] It was as much
unlike this as anything you can possibly ima
gine, and it adds no additional attractions to
the contest, as far as I am concerned, that
they should avow this object in prosecuting the
war. It is now a contest forced upon the non
slavcholding and loyal slaveholdiog States,by
those who are endeavoring to build up a re
public based on slavery. To prostrate a rebel
lion that has that object in view, I am willing
to devote any means, any time, any exertions
within my power, during the rest of my life. —
[Applause aud three cheers ]
THE ACTION OF CONGRRSS —THE POWERS GRANTED
TO THE PRESIDENT.
/
Now let us see whether there is anything
worth considering in what is suggested by
those who dissent from us, and are unwilling
to prosecute this war. The measures that have
been recently adopted by Congress are so late
ly adopted, that it becomes any man who is
careful in what he says, to be guarded in
speaking of them. The President issued two
proclamations— both of them, as I have fre
quently stated, I disapproved. He issued both
before I spoke on the 13th of October, and
before Gov. Seymour spoke. Neither of us
saw anything iu them which prevented us from
favoring a vigorous prosecution of the war.—
If there was nothing then, it is certain there
is nothing now. [Applase.] The bill which
has excited the sensibilities of several gentle
men who have spoken in New Jersey, and at
a certain hall in this city, [hisses,] was a bill
which gives extraordinary powers over the
purse and sword to the President of the Unit
ed States. They are bills which seek to pro
tect by indemnity the President and those con
nected with hiin from arrest. They are oppos
ed to another bill, as I understand, which has
become the law, which authorizes the Presi
dent, in his discretion, to suspend the writ
of habeas corpus. I will state now, as
briefly as I can, what are my views in regard
to this. In the first place as to the bill which
gives the President the enormous power over
the sword and the purse, I agree that it makes
him almost a dictator. I agree that it is a
very great stretch of power.
THE POWERS OF THE PRESIDENT —A HISTORIC PAR
ALLEL—THE POWERS GRANTED PRESIDENT VAN
BUREN.
I argue that unless there may boa necessity
f or it, it should not be done. Everybody
knows that in prosecuting a war under a Re
publican Government, which consists of sever
al States, the great apprehension is that there
may not be unity on the part of the States suf
ficient. to impart energy to the executive heads.
That was predicted as one of the grounds up
on which our system of government would fail.
I call the atteution of my Democratic friends
to this because there seems to be particular
solicitude about them now. [Laughter.] The
President was given the power of the purse
and the sword in 1836, when Great Britain
had directed forcible possession to be taken of
a portion of the Slate of Maine, and Sir John
Harvey had moved troops of Great Britain
into that territory to hold it. The Governor
of the State of Maine met this action by mov
ing Maiue troops on to the same territory.—
The President of the United States called the
attention of Congress to it, aud left it to their
own wisdom what ought to be doue. Now I
hold in my hand a copy of the bill that they
passed upon that iccasion, in 1839. 1 will
state to you the substance of the various sec
tions, without detuiuing you at this late hour
by reading the bill. The first sectbu puts the
whole naval aud military force of the United
Slates, aud the militia, at the disposal of the
President. [Applause.] The second declares
that the militia, when called out, shall be com
pelled to serve six months. The third gives
the President power to call out 50,000 volun 4
teers. In those days when our army had nev
er reached 8,000 men, it was a weighty matter
to call out 50,000 men, aud was regarded as
an enormous authority. [Laughter] The
fourth section gives the President power to
complete and employ all the armed vessels of
the United States —thus putting the whole
army aud navy of the United States at his
disposal. [Applause.] The fifth section ap
propriates §10,000,000 to carry into effect the
provisions of this act. In those days ten mil
lions of dollars was a great deal of money.—
[Laughter ] The sixth section appropriates
SIB,OOO to send a special minister to Great
Britain. The seventh section authorizes him
to expend a milliou of dollars in finishing the
fortification upon our seaboard, and building
them. The eighth section directs that the mi
litia and volunteers, when called out, shall be
portions ot the army of the United States.—
Now, how do you suppose that bill passed ? It
put the whole sword aud purse into the hands
of the President of the United States. Clay,
Webster, and Calhoun—men perhaps inferior
to the Solons of our day [laughter] were
members of the Senate. The bill passed the
Senate, and these three statesmen—although
ull violently opposed personally and political
ly to the President of the United States
voted for the bill, and it passed the Senate
unanimously. [Applause.] It passed the
House of Represeusatives, after a full discus
sion, by a tote of 201 to 6, and the leader of
that six was Henry A. Wise [hisses],the bold
brigadier who distinguished himself so greatly
at Nag's Head [laughter], while his brigade
was fighting and his son dying. [Applause.]
WHAT THE DEMOCRACY THOUGHT IN 1839 ON THF.
QUESTION OF ABSOLUTE POWER.
Now, let us see whether the Democracy of
our day was alarmed at this union of the purse
and the sword, and, in the first place, let us
see how the political opponents of the Admin
istration treated it. Gov. Seward was ttien
Governor of New York, having been elected
in 1838, and a political opponent of the Pres
ident. On the 7th of March be communicat
ed this act to the Legislature, with a most
praisewosthy message, concluding thus : " I
respectfully call your attention to this subject,
with the expectation that an expression on our
i part of concurrence in the policy of the Gen
' ral Government will contribute to avert the
calamities of war, and cause a speedy and hon
orable adjustment of the difficulties between
this country and Great Britain." Mr. Isaac
L. Yariaa was then chairman of the Demo
cratic General Committee, and Mr Elijah F.
Purdy was one of the Secretaries. They call
ed a meeting cf the Democrats of this city,
and over that meeting i\lr. Holmes presided,
and for vice presidents were raeu whose names
when read to any democrat, will bring back
associations of great interest, aud perhaps of
some sadness, unless he supposes that the
prominent Democrats in the city now are
more respectable than those whose names I
will read. The vice presidents were Henry
Yates, Walter Browne, Samuel Tappan, Man
dcrt Van Schaick, Gideon Tucker, Abraham
Van Nest ; and they resolved, not that there
was danger in the union of the purse and the
sword—not that it was a usurpation—but that
it was a prompt and patriotic measure on the
part of the House of Representatives. [Loud
cheers.] Let us see how it was received by
the electors. It was the 2d and 3d days of
March, as I have stated to you. The election
in New Hampshire came on then, as it will
now within a few days, after the adjournment
of Congress ; and New Hampshire, which had
been somewhat equally divided, gave 7,000
majority for the Democratic ticket. I shall
be pleased if my Democratic friends find it
gives a large majority now. (Cheers aud
laughter.) The city of New York, by a de
fection io the conservative portion of the De
mocracy, had been thrown into the hands of
what was then called Whigs. The city elec
tion almost immediately followed, and the city
was recovered. Issac L. Varian was elected
Mayor by a thousand majority, and twelve out
of seventeen wards gave Democratic majorities
immediately after this extraordinary usurpa
tion.
THE MEASURES ADOPTED TO SAVE THE REPUBLIG
IN THE EVENT OF A WAR IN ENGLAND.
General Scott, who was to have presided
here this evening, fortunately for the
country, was then prominent in the com
maud of the armies of the United States. On
the 7th of March he went to Maine, aud he
remained there until about the 21st, when lie
concluded an agreement with Lieutenant-Go
vernor Harvey by which the British troops
retired from their position in the State of
M aiue. The Maine troops also retired, and
civil officers were left iu protiction of the pub
lic property, and, by his wisdom and his fore
sight, by the 24th of March, he was able to
report to the Government of the United
States that the whole difficulty had passed
over. (Applause.) Congress assembled in
December, and the President of the LTuited
States made this communication to them :
" The extraordinary powers vested in me by
an act of Congress, for the defence cf the coun
try in an emergency, considered so far proba
ble as to require that the Executive should
possess ample means to meet it, have not been
exerted. They have, therefore, beeu attend
ed with no other result than to increase, by the
confidence thus reposed in me, ray ooligations
to maintain, with religious exactness, the car
dinal principles that govern our intercouse
with other nations. Happily, in our pendiug
questions with Great Britain, out of which
this unusual grant of authority arose, nothing
lias occurred to require its exertion ; and as
it is about to return to the Legislature, I trust
that no future necessity may call for its exer
cise by them, or its delegation to another de
partment of the Government."
Not a dollar was expended, not a volunteer
was called out, not a man from the militia was
brought into the field under this act : and I
would be glad to know why it may not hap
peu that this extrordinary demonstration on
the part of the Congress of the United States
of the power and resources of the loyal portion
of this Confederacy, will not again bo follow
ed up by a similar auspicious result. Tlie suc
cessful way to prosecute a war is to make an
overwhelming demonstration of strength to
satisfy those who are prepared to resist the
rightful authority of the government, that the
resistance is useless, and that this must be
crushed out. (Cheers.) Now, gentlemen,
there is nothing in my humble judgment, there
fore, in the law passed putting: this enormous
power in the possession of the Fresideutof the
United States to deter me from assisting in a
vigorous prosecution of the war. (Cheers )
I can very well understand how. if I sympa
thize with the rebellion—if I deemed that this
war should fail—l could spend hours and col
umns in picking flaws in this act. But if I
believe substantial justice required that the
great ends of prosecuting the war demands
that the whole power of the Government, shall
be lodged by the Constitution of the United
States iu the President of the United States,
I will bow in silence to the act, whether I ap
prove of it or not. [Prolonged cheers ] If
the President of the United States had usurp
ed these powers, there might be a degree of
propriety in denouncing it ; but when the re
presentatives of the the people, legally elect
ed, after due deliberation, assume the respon
sibility cf lodgiug these trusts in him, in my
humble judgment, and certainly in view of
the precedent to which I have referred, no wise
man will ever complain of the act. [Great
applaose.J
THE PROCLAMATION OF EMANCIPATION.
And what I have to say is in reference to
the proclamation of the President of the Uuit
ed States, declaring slaves free in certain parts
of the Union. [Prolonged cheers.] I have
taken occasion, on several times, to state (and
that was perfectly known when I was invited
to speak here this evening) what my objections
were to that proclamation. There are no ob
jections to its constitutionality. The Presi
dent has a right to make any proclamation he
chooses, and so have I. (Applause and laugh
ter.) The ouly question I make is as to the
wisdom and Lgal effect of this proclamation.
Now I say that the proclamation does not set
anybody free. If a man is free by law, he is
free with or without the proclamation, hot I
say it excites the Southern people to this view
of the subject. [Hisses and applause roingl
ed ] Tbey say, " You declare that if we come
VOL. XXIII. —N0.42.
back aud submit to the law aod to the Gov
ernment, then our siave3 are emancipated "
That was not the President's intention. You
may rely upon it that he did not emancipate
the slaves in any territory of the Uuited
States that is under the domination of the
United States. They are uot emancipated in
Kentucky, in Missouri, in Tennessee, or in Ma
ryland—(A voice, " They ought to be," fol
lowed by hisses, applanse, aud cries of ' order'
—and that was, in my humble judgment, DO
part of hi? purpose. In my judgment bis sole
object was to declare, as a general policy,that
as our armies advanced against the rebels,
when the rebels were conquered their slaves
should be legally free. There is no doubt abont
that, with or without the proclamation. Sla
very exists by force, recognized by law; slaves
now are held iu the so called Confederate
States by virtue ol the Confederate State Gov
ernment aud the Confederate United States
authority. When our armies advance, aud
those Governments overthrown, the slavehold
ers who refuse to recognize the Constitution
of the United States lose their slaves by law
beyond proadventure. (Loud applanse.) Thot
being so, it is not wise, iu my humble judg
ment, to continue such a declaration; but that
of course is a matter of the past. 1 say, as I
have frequently said, that in my judgment, all
the good that could have been done by it has
been done.
THE DUTY Of THE PEOPLE TO TtJE PRF.SIDENL, AND
THE PRESIDENT TO THE PEOPLE.
Gentlemen, I believe that it is just as much
our dnty to unite in a vigorous prosecution of
the war under the President of the United
States as it was when the war was first de
clared, notwithstanding anything that may
have been done. Nor am I one of those who
insist that he sbonld put a particular general
in command of the army or any portion of it.
I never suggested that he should make a
change in his Cabinet,that one member should
be put out aud some ether person take bis
place. That belougs to him, and lam uot
dispts d to interfere. It is for him to de
termine how his responsibilities shall be dis
charged, and not me. But what Ido say is,
that he had better trust the people. I am
one of those who am uot in the habit of speak
ing of the people as something separate from
myself. I very often meet men who tell me
that the people want this or that.
Well, I say, I guess not. I am one of the
people. I doo't want it ; and how do you
get at the result ? The only way I know of
is to determine what the people want is to
to make up your mind what you want your
self, and then infer, in the absence of evidence
to the contrary, that other people want it
[Prolonged laughter ] Now, there is a great
anxiety felt as to the course ef the Democrats.
Gentlemen, a Democrat is a peculiar institu
tion. It does 110 good to drive the Democrats,
to bully, or to attempt to intimidate them ;
they will have their own, wa3 always, as I
have found. But I never sbail be made to
believe that the men who stood by George
Clinton, and their fathers before them, in the
Revolution ; who stood by Tompkins and
Jackson in 1812 ; who stood by Polk nud
Marcy in the Mexican war, will be found
wanting in this. It remains to be seen whe
ther they will or not.
' WAR TO THE BITTER END."
But, fellow citizens, whatever 1 am doing
and whatever anybody else does, I shall sus
tain the war to the bitter end, [cheers,] and
the city of New York will do it after sending
eighty thousaud men, and spending three hun
dred million of dollars, tbey will not hesitate
to go through ; and the State, in my humble
judgment, will not hesitate to go through.
Why was there anything eveu more prepos
terous than the idea that when we are told by
the Southern men that we must recognize
their independence before they will treat with
us ; that we should be wasting time in under
taking to negotiate a peace ? When the
President of the Confederate Republic, as he
claims to be, denouueed the best men of the
North, East, and West as pirates and hyena*,
and, what he seems to suppose worse than all,
as Y r aukees, [laughter,] is it possible to make
terms with him, or to listen with composure to
any arrangement for an accommodation ?
[" No."] Why, who are the men that have
been sent from the State of New Y'ork who
are thus denounced by the Rebel chieftain ?
1 have differed from a great many of them po
litically. I have differed from a great many
of them personally, but when you find the
Kearneys, the Rensaelers, the Hamiltons, the
Schuylers, the Dixes, the Campbells, the
Caubrellings, the Dewers, the Kings, the
Wadsworths, the Rowlands, and tho Vos
burgs, the best blood of the State of New
York, who are thus denounced as pirates, why,
1 submit that it requires more thau ordinary
composure to listeu to it. Y'aukees ! They
are the Knickerbockers of New York ; tbey
are the best men of the State of New York ;
and when they peril their lives and shed their
blood in defence of the Constitution of the
country and the Union of the States, he who
denounced them as pirates and hyenas is as
forgetful of the principles of truth and honor
that should govern the language of a gentle
man as he is traitorous to the tug under
which he acquired political fuiao. [Loud Ap
plause.] We have nothing to do hot tight
this matter through. We can have no discus
sion in regard to it, and it behooves us todook
around and see what assistance we are to re
ceive, or what interference we are to meet
with.
WE MC.-T DEPEND UPON OCRSEt.VES —WE MUST
UNITE—UNION 13 VICTORY.
But, gentleman, we must depend apon oar
selves ; it we can fight this battle to victory,
we shall—if we cannot,; we shall be defeated.
But, beyond all earthly considerations, wo
must unite—that is our highest consideration,
and being united I have no doubt about the
result. 1 do not look forward to a long war—
a great many people do. Jt is not the habit
of modern times to have long war. The great
improvement in tbe engines of destrnctlen en
able nations to bring war rapidly to a close.—. .
(Cen'ludtd oin fourth pigt.y