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SPEECHES

DELIVERED AT THE

REPUBLICAN UNION FESTIVAL,

IN COMMEMORATION OF THE BIRTH OF

WASHINGTON;

HELD AT IRVING HALL, FEB. 22, 1862

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SPEECHES

BY

ELLIOT C. COWDIN, PROF. HITCHCOCK, DR. BELLOWS, WM. M. EVARTS, HON. HENRY J. RAYMOND, HON. HORACE GREELEY, HON. GEORGE FOLSOM,

AND E. DELAFIELD SMITH.

THE Republican Union Festival formed no insignificant portion of the celebration of WASHINGTON'S Birthday. About six hundred guests sat down to a splendid collation, provided in the best style of Mr. L. F. HARRISON, the proprietor of Irving Hall. The collation was most bountiful, and received full justice at the hands of the guests. At the main table sat SHERIDAN SHOOK, Esq., Chairman of the Republican Central Committee, Dr. Tyng, Dr. Bellows, Dr. Hitchcock, Ex-Judge Peabody, Wm. M. Evarts, Hon. Geo. Folsom, James A. Briggs, Geo. W. Blunt, Hon. H. J. Raymond, Joseph Hoxie, Erastus C. Benedict, Col. Frank E. Howe, Hon. Horace Greeley, Hon. Hiram Barney, Rufus F. Andrews, S. B. Chittenden, and others of equal note. The other tables were presided over by Hon. James Kelly, Justice Welsh, Hon. Abram Wakemann, Owen W. Brennan, Timothy G. Churchill, John Keyser, Daniel L. Pettee, Andrew Bleakley, Hon. Wm. A. Darling, Andreas Willmann, and Wm. S. Opdyke. They were decorated with appropriate emblems, comprising national flags, forts, ships, and Union mottoes, of a patriotic nature. At 8 o'clock Mr. SHOOK called the assembly to order, and nominated for President Mr. ELLIOT C. COWDIN, who was unanimously chosen to that office. Mr. COWDIN, on taking the Chair, was received with applause; and spoke as

follows:

SPEECH OF ELLIOT C. COWDIN.

FELLOW-CITIZENS :-My first duty is to thank you for the honor done ine; and I beg leave to make my grateful acknowledgments to this distinguished company for their generous greetings.

Certainly, the position belongs not to me, but I obey the call, and, in discharging the honorable trust assigned me, I ask your kind indulgence.

We are assembled to celebrate a day of happy omen to the friends of civil liberty throughout Christendom, to commemorate the Anniversary of the Birthday of the Illustrious WASHINGTON:

"The world's great master and his own." (Applause.)

It is well that we are here. Manifestations of attachment to our common country and her free institutions are at all times a gratifying spectacle, but in this hour of national solicitude they are of uncommon interest and full of hope. Verily the spirits of

our forefathers hover over us, and the father of his country looks down upon us with approbation, for we are come together in the name of the Union, so truly dear to us, never to be divided. (Loud cheers.)

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We meet, too, for mutual congratulations on the approaching downfall of the most causeless and wicked rebellion the world ever knew. The good tidings that have reached us from the Carolinas, from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri, conveying the brilliant exploits of the army and navy-now moving like an avalanche, carrying victory in their paths-gladdens our hearts, strengthens our faith, and excites our enthusiasm. (Applause.)

All honor to our gallant heroes. Their deeds and daring shall be remembered and cherished by an admiring and grateful people. Encircled with glory shall be their names in the Temple of Liberty, for sacrifices so great, and services so efficient rendered the nation in the hour of adversity.

What a spectacle our country now presents! With an army of more than six hundred thousand men in the field; with a navy powerful and effective; with resources in abundance; we are, moreover, feeding the famine-stricken nations of the world, and thereby putting them under bonds to keep the peace. (Cheers.)

As our gallant men go forth by land and by sea, imbued with the sentiments and interests of the farm, and the shop, and the counting-house; so they will carry back to those fields of industry the military and naval accomplishments there acquired. In peace they were taught to prize their rights, and in war they learn to defend them. Thus shall we teach every nation to value our friendship and dread our enmity.

Nevertheless, the times demand renewed energy, courage, grit. Napoleon was right when he said, "Leave sensibility to women, but men should be firm in heart and purpose, or they should have nothing to do with war and government."

On this auspicious day, at least, and especially in times like the present, it is fitting calmly to recur to the principles of the founders of the Republic.

To cherish most fervently the exalted doctrines of 1776, as set forth in the Declaration of Independence.

To declare our firm devotion to the great principles of liberty stamped upon the

ordinance of 1787.

To venerate the Constitution of the United States, in all its parts, with all its obligations and all its blessings.

To adhere inflexibly to the Union of the States, one and inseparable.

To arouse and foster a spirit of genuine and fervid patriotism among the people.

To inculcate the noble principles of the Father of his Country bequeathed to us as his parting legacy.

To assert, with WASHINGTON, "Let us have a government by which our lives, liberties, and prosperities shall be secure. If defective, let it be amended, but not suffered to be trampled upon while it has an existence." (Applause.)

Let private emoluments and personal honors give place to whatever is most essential and best for the cause of freedom and the perpetuity of a free Constitution; and if, in the Providence of God and the progress of events, the peculiar institution falls, then, like Lucifer, let it fall to rise no more. (Tremendous applause.) Already the lamentation of its votaries has gone forth: "The thorns I have reaped are of the tree I planted. They have torn me, and I bleed."

Forgetful of past jealousies, and bickerings, and petty feuds, let us here and now, once more, renew our vows of unceasing devotion to our common country.

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MACAULAY says: "No men occupy so splendid a place in history as those who have founded monarchies on the ruin of republican institutions." Heaven forbid that such splendor should ever dazzle the eyes or excite the ambition of American citizens. (Cheers.) I cannot but believe that the Federal Union is destined to outlive every vicissitude, and bear up against far greater shocks than it has yet encountered. Its foundation is laid upon public justice, public virtue, and public liberty, and though for a time it may encounter great peril, and suffer momentary eclipse, thank God, it possesses a recuperative power in the hearts of millions of freemen, who will restore its wonted repose and inaugurate a new era of National greatness. But, as good citizens, we must rise to the height of this great occasion, and do our duty. Indifference and repose are unpardonable, aye, criminal, when the very existence of the nation is assailed. We should be recreants and dastards of the basest stamp, if we did not defend-resolutely, unitedly, and to the last-the institutions which WASHINGTON inaugurated—the most beneficent in the history of mankind. (Applause.)

Finally, fellow-citizens, let me conjure you to stand by the Government; it is the guardian of your liberties-of your wealth-of your strength. Stand by the President he is able, faithful, honest. (Cheers.) Stand by the army-it is strong, devoted, invincible. Stand by the navy-it is powerful, efficient, triumphant. Listen to no reconciliation and talk not of peace, until every rebel, by an unconditional surrender, has laid down his arms. (Cheers.) Then may justice be done. But let the first condition of adjustment be the unqualified admission by all, that the Constitution and Laws are supreme and the Union indissoluble. (Loud applause.)

"By our altars pure and free;
By our law's deep-rooted tree;
By the past's dread memory;
By our Washington;

By our common kindred tongue;
By our hopes, bright, buoyant, young;
By our ties of country strong;

WE WILL STILL BE ONE!"

The President concluded his opening address amid enthusiastic applause.

Music "The Star Spangled Banner."

The Chairman said, I rise to propose the toast which is first upon our list, as it is uppermost in our hearts.

1. Our Country; In peace or in war, still our Country, to be cherished with all our hearts, and defended with all our hands.

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The President said the second regular toast is one which needs no comment from me. 2. The President of the United States.

This was greeted with loud and continued cheering.

Music" Hail to the Chief."

The Chairman then announced that, in reply to invitations to be present, letters had been received from the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the United States, and others, a part of which would now be read. He called upon Mr. Henry H. Huelet, to read those of Messrs. Seward, Chase, and Sumner, which are as follows:

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