buckled the rude armor upon those she loved, and hurried them away to the field of strife to do battle in the great cause of independence and equality. She knows that free and popular government has emancipated her from the despotisms and tyranny of earth, and has raised her to that high and holy office in society which heaven destined her to fill. She has sacrificed her sons upon her country's altar, and given to this bloody and terrible war those dearer to her than life; she has attended upon the camp, bound up the gashed bosom, and cooled the parched lips and fevered brows of the dying, while politicians have been plotting their schemes of mischief. She beckons us onward in this great work of duty by her angel influence, and, by invocations to heaven, inspires us with new hope and courage. Let us, then, neither falter nor fly, but stand like strong men to protect the great and glorious fountain from which so much goodness flows. This is a question which concerns the whole family of man. The ferocious decree of Herod was for the destruction of children of a tender age; but the decree of this hellish conspiracy destroys society in all its elements-it drinks the life-blood of all ages, sexes, and conditions. When the dark wing of the destroying angel trembled over doomed and devoted Egypt, it passed and spared the habitations whose doorposts were besprinkled with blood. But this monster from the infernal region, which bears the death-warrant of rebellion, slays all alike upon whom it can lay its bloody hand. The duty of every patriot is plain. The great struggle for mastery between the good and evil forces of the earth has come. Light and darkness, justice and oppression, order and anarchy, have set the battle in array, and the war must now be one of extermination. There can be no middle ground-no neutrality. The gulf between us is broad and deep and fiery as that which separated the rich fool and the afflicted mendicant of sacred history, and those who indulge a conceit that they can trifle with the occasion or slumber amidst the death-throes of a great and generous nation, or evade the responsibilities of the hour, will awake from their dreams of security on the other side and find themselves associating with Dives in torment. May He who rules the universe, who has upheld and protected us, and showered upon us such blessings as were never before vouchsafed to men, pre serve our beloved country from the grasp of the destroyer as an asylum for the oppressed, a home for the worn and weary pilgrim, a gathering-place for earth's children, where they may meet, like those of a common father, around one sacred hearth -where the great mission of free government may be realized in full fruition, and all worship at the shrine of liberty and law. SPEECH AT THE CELEBRATION OF THE 131ST ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTHDAY OF WASHINGTON BY THE REPUBLICAN CENTRAL DELIVERED AT THE CITY ASSEMBLY ROOMS, NEW YORK, February 22, 1863. [Mr. Dickinson was called on to respond to the third regular toast "The Empire State: Great alike in its power and its fidelity to the cause of the whole nation," and said :] MR. CHAIRMAN, LADIES, AND GENTLEMEN-The natal days of the great and good have been celebrated through all time wherever civilization has prevailed; and among the eminent of the earth, no one subject to mortality has ever lived who has been more worthy of the honor than he whose nativity we have met to commemorate. The name, the character, the memory of Washington, have ever been, will ever be, dear to the American people. He was chief among those chosen ones who founded this free nation and government; who repudiated the idea of heaven-descended rulers, and erected a republic upon the great principle of the equality of all men. They acknowledged no ruler but the Ruler of the skies; no sovereign but the Sovereign of the universe; no protector except Him who notes as well the fall of a sparrow as the destruction of an empire. Well might the shepherds of the political Bethlehem, if they had foreknown the birthday of Washington, have assembled to greet his star, and hail him as the redeemer of his nation and the pioneer in the cause of liberty for all peoples. His valor, his prudence, his calm and resolute endurance, maintained before the world, in the tribunal of last earthly resort, the sublime principle of self-government, which formed the motive of the revolutionary contest and the found ation of our new polity. Having won our independence by the sword, his moderation and wisdom helped to establish it upon a firm and practical basis. Called by the unanimous voice of the people to the highest civil trusts, he adjusted and set in motion the machinery of the new government, gave it a place and a character among the nations, and then, while his countrymen yet hung upon his words and marked his footsteps, calmly retired to the dignity of private life, exhibiting in his career the nearest approach, attained among mortal men, to a perfect character. Having discharged his great and benign mission on the earth, like the prophet Elijah he passed away in glory to heaven. "My father, my father, the chariots of Israel, and the horsemen thereof," was exclaimed by the American people, when earth lost and eternity gained a mighty spirit. But if the mission, if the history, if the work of Washington were a cheat and a delusion; if this government was founded only to blast expectations, only to disappoiut hope, then it would have been far better that George Washington never had been born, and that this government had slept forever in the wide abyss of possibility. Yes, my fellow-citizens, far better that the birthday of Washington had been cursed as the Idumean cursed the day of his nativity. But this cannot, must not be. The effort, the example, the achievements of Washington. will live in history and in the hearts of living men, a beacon to guide mankind as long as time shall last; and this government is destined to pass on by a will stronger than all human power -to pass on to the glorious fruition that awaits it; and we cannot only see this mighty people of this great and free government, but can hear the footsteps of the coming millions in the distance. In this great constellation of political hope; in the midst of these thirty-four sons and these blooming territorial daughters, we see the Empire State, "apparent queen, unvail her peerless light," and shed lustre and glory and genial warmth upon all. She is the second land of promise, and like that region of old, between the Mediterranean and the Jordan, full of all the elements of greatness, of plenty, of wealth, of success, moral and material, that can bless a people. Look out upon her great expanse; her vast inland seas; her rivers, moving majestically to their destination; her bright and beautiful hills; her sunny slopes, and silvery streams, and smiling valleys. See her internal improvements, her contributions to commerce; the productions of her industry; her achievements in letters, arts, and arms; mark all that she has done and is doing in the cause of human happiness and progress, and then say whether such a land is not worth preserving-whether such a Union is not worth fighting for. "Breathes there a man with soul so dead, This is my own, my native land? In the midst of security, the cry of danger has aroused us; in the midst of success and prosperity, a rebellion is upon us. A portion of the States, designated as slave-holding, have been dragged by reckless and ambitious political leaders into revolt against the authority of the government. This government, that hitherto has hardly been felt, so gentle and genial has been its influence; that has come down to bless the people like the sunshine that sheds its rays upon all God's children alike; or like the refreshing rains and gentle dews of Heaven, unseen except in their fertilizing results; this beneficent government has put its nose into the water that came to rebeldom to drink; this wolf of a government has attempted to fasten its fangs upon the lamb, the rebellion. Here are two great antagonisms standing before the world, a government and a rebellion; a government founded by Washington and his compeers; a rebellion hatched in hell. What shall the Empire State say, what shall the Empire State do in this emergency? There is no half-way house, there can be no compromises here. Where shall she cast her political voice? She answered the question when Sumter fell, and party and faction for a time slunk back abashed. She took her position with the government which she helped to establish, and where she should sit, empress, crowning the mighty court. We say the Empire State should say now, as she said at first, "War, uncompromising war, until the rebellion is put down!" Why should party politics interfere to place her in a false position? If a riot should occur in your city, would our friend the mayor send out an ambassador of peace, or would he send out the representatives of the law, VOL. II.-15 |