fields and crowded cities of a refined and civilized population; the Arab and the Hindoo have heard it amid the gardens and spicy plains of Arabia; the peasantry in Wales, in England, in Scotland, in old Ireland, in Germany, and even the uncultured dwellers in Asia, have kindled with delight as they read the Anthem of the Free. It is recorded of Flammius, the Roman General, that when he proclaimed at the Isthmean games, that Greece was no longer tributary to the Roman empire, but free and independent, that the hearts of the plebians were so overpowered with joy that they could scarce believe their own cars, for when the herald proclaimed their liberty, they desired that the sweet word liberty might be repeated.

"O, catch its high import, ye winds as ye blow

O, bear it, ye waves, as ye roll

From regions that feel the sun's vertical glow

To the farthest extremes of the pole,

And wherever the footsteps of man can be found,
May he bind the decree to his heart.'

What a splendid epoch does this grand deed constitute in the annals of the government. The President was called to a difficult and perilous position, his influence extending over a broader land than the Roman eagle ever swept in all the magnificence of his flight. By this crowning act of moral duty the Springfield lawyer was silently lifted up before the nations as God's greatest, noblest man. hereafter will be emblazoned in the vast pantheon of Freedom's champions. How just and beautiful the eulogy of Meagher in one of his splendid orations, distinguished by a lofty eloquence, when he described the assassinated President going to Heaven, bearing in his hand the broken shackles of four millions of slaves!

His name

In our changeful sky-where so many glories at sudden intervals succeed the eclipse and the storm-where crimson clouds for years and years will float over a wilderness of martyr graves-where sunshine comes by fits and starts, chasing those clouds away, and, for a season, warms the shivering earth below into fruitfulness and joy-in this, our changeful sky, we call that name our brightest star. On his brow it may be said with much more truth than of the Ro

man General, "Anneixut Africa Lauros." Though destitute during life of art and pomp, yet his was a radiant life and a noble death, and as he took his place among the immortals one might say, "Way, there, for the brave child of the people, the grand hero of to-day. Servant of the Republic, well done-take your crown and harp and enter into the joy of your Lord."

I am hopeful of the Republic. Struck down in the morning of its bright career-in the bloom and promise of its youth-yet it shall live purified and strengthened by the afflictions through which it has passed. The principles of Liberty shall never die, but like the words of the prophets, they shall endure forever. It is not easy to conquer a freedom-loving people; it is not easy to tear from a great nation the honors which they have worn for so many years. Our mission is not yet completed. The dearest and most precious hopes of the race are interwoven with our existence. The predictions of prophecy applied to us, demonstrate clearly and strongly that the grand design of the Republic is to destroy all systems of monarchical Government, and to propogate the principles of liberty to the ends of the earth. The London Times in 1861 gravely declared that the United States was only suited for fair weather, and not for dark tempests. The British government was unmasked, driven from her position of neutrality, and showed herself the ferocious monster that she has always been. The heart of every aristocrat was glad. Since the days of Waterloo no more welcome tidings reached them than when they heard the mad secession of the Southern States. Rawdon declared in the Commons, that the thunder cloud had vanished-that the bubble democracy had burst. Lord Russell stated at an agricultural banquet that the North was fighting to enslave the South. The hoary headed Brougham averred that the object of the war was infamous; and Palmerston amidst the resounding cheers of Parliament, denounced the slashing Butler the black man's friend-to be a monster. Have these aristocratic ruffians forgot that republics are more vigorous in war than in peace? It is prosperity and not adver

sity that is most dangerous to them. It was not in peace, that Holland from a community of clod hoppers, sprung up into the robust proportions of a great nation-renowned in art, in learning, in commerce and in glory. The Roman republic endured for four hundred and sixty-six years, during which time it ruled the world. Switzerland is now five hundred and fifty years old, and still the Little Giant of the Alps bears aloft above the haughtiest heads of Europe amid the lightnings and the eagles of her mountains, the excelsior banner of Republicanism.

Already our success in the squelching of the slaveholder's rebellion, is finding a response in the hearts of millions who wait impatiently for the universal triumph of liberty. The Irish uprising has taken place as a result of our triumph. The present is the brightest period which the history of Ireland has exhibited for a hundred years. And it seems as if the hopes of the patriots of Ireland are soon to be realized. The work of Irish emancipation is gradually and silently going forward, and the peculiar advantages for successfully realizing such an end as the powerful Fenian Brotherhood affords, will tend to a consummation so long desired-so perseveringly sought by Wolf Tone, and his com-patriots.

"The splendor of her Emmett's fame,
Is Erin's glory and her shame;
Her glory that he loved her well,
Her shame that unavenged he feli,
But soon or late that shame must cease,
Or Erin ne'er again may hope for peace.'

Distant and beloved Isle-the land of Grattan, of Moore, of Sheridan, of Curran, of Corcoran, of Meagher, and of the great hearted Burke, we hope to see thee again in commercial grandeur, thy magnificent rivers again white with the sails of your trade; thy great warehouses swarming with life-thy manufactories, the laboring places of thousands— and thy Green Flag flying in the breeze, giving indications that Ireland is free!

I take hope from the generous sympathies extended to us by the masses of Europe. Among the nations that surround us, there is not one virtuous bosom that does not beat for us, the prayers of down trodden millions followed our ban

ners into the field; and the arms of the patriot soldier was blessed by voices that never reached his ear.

A dear and valued friend of mine, who served with distinction through the first three years of the war, fired by a love of liberty, crossed the ocean and engaged in the struggle for Ireland, that fine old nation, for whose independence Gratton plead and Emmett died—he was cast into prison, and he assured me some time ago, that when he heard the news boys crying through the streets of Dublin, "The North is victorious, Lee's army has surrendered," that he felt the chains on his body grow a little lighter. Thank God that generous voices in all lands were with us-from Ireland to Greece there was but one national

throb. It beat for us. Hungary, the land of Kossuth, the beautiful and gifted Italy, noble Poland, the emancipated Serfs, they cheered us in the struggle. Ireland, sitting like a widowed Queen amidst the wreck of former glories, fought our battle. The presence of her Fenian men, drilling on the hills by night, did more to check the British Lion than all the diplomacy of Seward and Adams. I have said that the heart of every Lord and crowned ruffian wished our overthrow. Have their predictions been fulfilled? Is the Union gone? And has that mighty nation which the sword of Washington evoked, passed away? No, this splendid temple of freedom having the stars of the Union for its coronet, and the Rock of Independence for its footstool, must stand until the first growl of the gathering shall be heard, announcing the downfall of all thrones. The efforts of the rebels at home, and foes abroad, fell short of their terrible aim. They might as well strike against the Heavens with their arms, as lift them against the American Union:

"As long as yonder cliffs shall stand,
Between the ocean and the land,

As long as yonder firs shall spread,

Their green arms round the mountain's heads,
So long shall these cliffs and mountains be,
Proud retreats for liberty."

And while inflexibly demanding that the Reconstruction measures of Congress shall be heartily and promptly accepted by those recently in rebellion, let us also be magnani

mous towards a brave, but mistaken people. They have proved themselves foemen worthy of our steel-they stand before the world as the most masterly revolutionists of any age or history. Let us attach these erring brethren to the Union, not by fear, but by the golden links of gratitude. Any other terms than those proposed by Grant in the surrender of Lee, will overshadow the National cause with opprobrium, and cast a cloud on the brilliant fame of the grand army of the Republic.

General Lee, with the truthfulness and independence of a great soldier, as he unquestionably is; General Johnston, whose sword was invoked at the last moments to save the drowning banners of the South; Generals Longstreet, Beauregard and Thompson-these, and others equally distinguished in the South, have heartily acquiesced in the issues of the late struggle, and with the good faith and frankness of brave soldiers, are now earnestly and sincerely engaged in co-operating with the Washington authorities to repair the breaches of the war. In behalf of the brave men who fought and conquered I vehemently repudiate all ideas of confiscation, of making an Ireland or a Poland of the South, but on the other hand, raptuously hail and welcome the South as one of the wealthiest and noblest sections of the American Union. The war being over, let there be no thorns planted where the olive has taken root. In a divine sacrament of forgiveness, love and patriotism, let us dedicate this beautiful and superb domain to the growth of a stalwart Democracy, to the everlasting brotherhood of those who had been foes upon the battlefield, to the triumphant reign of industry, and to truthful and glorious peace. Let us indulge the hope that the erring stars now dimmed and darkened, will one by one re-appear until the old constellation flashing out in all its ancient splendor on the night again shall blaze, the pride and glory of the sky.

When I look abroad I am encouraged, and when I look at home, my spirits are exalted. The reconstruction measures of the 39th Congress, and the grand enthusiasm of the people for equal rights and universal suffrage-these are omens that